Destroy Jin and conquer Song, and carry the Northern Expedition through to the end

Chapter 377: His Highness Jianzhang Eats His Son

"I came here this time not because I don't trust you, but because I want to personally convey military intelligence."

There were still some water stains on Wei Sheng's robe. It was not known whether they were condensed from the morning mist or accidentally splashed on it when crossing the river. The cold wind was biting while he was on the road, and the water stains had frozen into icicles.

After entering the central military tent, the ice melted quickly beside the simple stove, making the robe wet.

However, Wei Sheng didn't care at all. He went straight to the point when they met, without even having time for a greeting.

There were only Huyan Nanxian and Liang Yuaner in the tent, both of them obeyed orders respectfully.

Wei Sheng walked to the edge of the map and pointed at the mountains and rivers with his scabbard. "The Dongping army has expanded to ten thousand men. One group of five thousand soldiers, led by me personally, has already captured Beihai County in Weizhou. Another group of five thousand soldiers, led by Hu Yanchuo, has set out from the cities of Mizhou and has reached Gaomi, Jiaoxi, and the three prefectures of eastern Shandong. Laizhou, Dengzhou, and Ninghaizhou have already been divided and cut off by our army."

As he spoke, Wei Sheng cut out the entire Jiaodong Peninsula like cutting a cake.

He then pointed to Weizhou, east of Yidu Prefecture. "The Wucheng Army, with six thousand soldiers, is advancing along the Qu River, attacking from south to north. Zhang Qing is leading five thousand Dongping troops, attacking from the east from Weizhou. By attacking from both sides, the Jin thieves will be unable to protect themselves."

On this map, the Wucheng Army and the Dongping Army formed a huge pincer attack, which seemed to be ready to crush the entire Yidu Prefecture.

All military deployments and personnel allocations are just right, giving a sense of the art of antelope hanging horns.

Huyan Nanxian looked at the map, hesitated for a moment, then, adopting the upright attitude he had shown during the Loyalty Army's military meetings, he said with a folded hand, "Marshal, if that's the case, why don't you send a lieutenant general or a military envoy to deliver the message, instead of coming here in person?"

Wei Sheng smiled and shook his head: "Just as Geng Jiedu conveyed the message before, the Jin thief Weiyi Army has been completely annihilated on the banks of Liangshan Marsh, and the Tianping Army has completely occupied Dongping Prefecture.

Shandong no longer had any major Jin forces. In Dalang's words, the battle ahead would not only be a military one, but more of a political one.

Huyan Nanxian was silent for a long while before he gritted his teeth and said, "Marshal, I know what you mean, but the Wucheng Army and the Jurchens have a deep hatred for each other. If we don't let them vent their anger on the Jurchens, they might vent it on us.

By then, the army will be divided, which may affect the subsequent battles."

This can be regarded as a formal questioning of the Loyal Army's anti-enemy policy.

Wei Sheng was not angry either.

In fact, this set of enemy policies also encountered a lot of criticism when it first appeared, but at that time, the loyal and righteous army was either Wei Sheng's confidants or generals who were recruited to surrender and rebel along the way. There was no need to compete with Liu Huai on such matters.

Later, when Jurchens such as Dianlun, Ximao Zhanggu joined the Loyal Army and fought side by side with Khitans such as Yelu Xingge and Xiao Pennu, the Loyal Army finally understood Liu Huai's painstaking efforts.

Liu Huai also explained the specific reasons clearly to everyone in the Loyal Army.

Politics is about making the number of enemies smaller and the number of friends greater.

Turning the enemy into our side and letting the Jurchens rebel against the Jin would also reduce the number of enemies.

For example, how could Huo Qubing of the Han Dynasty be found anywhere he wanted on the grasslands? It was because he had many sinicized Xiongnu soldiers under his command.

There is also Jin Midi, who, as a Xiongnu prince, became an assistant minister of the Han Dynasty and devoted his life to the Han Dynasty until his death.

The opposite example is Li Guang. Why did he get lost when he arrived at the grassland? It was because of the killing of prisoners that no Xiongnu dared to surrender to him, let alone serve under him.

What Liu Huai did not say was that even the Ming Dynasty, which raised the banner of "expelling the Tartars and restoring China", did not simply kill all the Mongols.

For example, Huo Zhen, the general who fought in the Jingnan Rebellion under Zhu Di, was a genuine Mongolian. Huo Zhen's descendant Huo Bin, a captain of the Guanhai Guard, followed Qi Jiguang in the fight against the Japanese pirates and was already a Han Chinese.

The reason was clear, and the Loyal Army did not grant a uniform amnesty in the form of letting the sheep run wild. The grammar official system organized by Lu You, Wei Jiao and others had been conducting public trials. After the main culprits were executed, the lower-class ethnic minority people who were already living a very miserable life were dispersed and resettled.

Because of the military-civilian nature of the Meng'an Mouke households, the punishment was relatively severe. Almost all the young and strong people who survived were sent to mines and salt fields for labor reform.

But Huyan Nanxian was different from other Tianping Army generals.

Although he also escaped from the Jin army in a mess, he still brought more than 2,000 elite soldiers with him. He was a shareholder with capital and had a certain degree of independence. At the same time, he did not follow the Loyal Army in the early wars and had no systematic understanding of the anti-enemy strategies set by Wei Sheng and Liu Huai for the Loyal Army.

"General Huyan, you're worrying too much." Wei Sheng waved his hand and said, "It's not that we won't retaliate against the Jurchens, but as a large army, the Wucheng Army must obey orders. The army's duty is to capture cities and territories. As for subsequent political affairs, rewards and punishments, and the handling of the Meng'an Mouke households, Wei Jiao has already led the legal officials here. We will definitely not let any criticism arise in the army."

At this moment, Wei Sheng could only say this. After experiencing a few major battles, Wu Chengjun naturally knew that the implementation of every policy had a reason.

Of course, empty words are not convincing. Not to mention Hu Yannanxian, even Liang Yuaner felt that this was purely a woman's kindness, an act of seeking fame and reputation. However, the next day, November 18th, the two men changed their minds.

Wei Sheng had just brought two people to distribute rewards to the entire Wucheng Army and opened the treasury to provide relief to civilians and stabilize food prices. Before noon, several scouts came running, saying that they were from the north of the city and wanted to see Huyan Nanxian, the commander of the Wucheng Army under the Zhongyi Army.

Huyan Nanxian was a little confused.

This person must not be from Weizhou, because the Dongping Army knew that Wei Sheng had arrived, so if they wanted to see him, they would have to ask to see Wei Sheng first.

Then they can only be old friends and relatives.

Huyan Nanxian was also born into a good family in Shandong. In addition to farming, his middle-class family also had some business dealings and social connections with the powerful. It was possible that an old relative had popped up from some remote corner and was trying to get benefits by claiming that he had held him in his arms when he was a child.

However, since Wei Sheng was by his side, there was naturally no reason for them to meet privately. It was not a big deal anyway, so Huyan Nanxian acted openly and honestly and asked the scouts to bring everyone over.

Wei Sheng had no objection.

A moment later, five visitors arrived. Seeing Wei Sheng in the main seat in the general's tent, they immediately kowtowed and said, "General Huyan, please spare our lives for the sake of our shared service in the court!"

Wei Sheng frowned and turned to look at Huyan Nanxian.

Huyan Nanxian was even more confused.

Although he wanted to kill all the Jurchens in the Jiaolai Plain, Wu Cheng's army had just captured Linqu and was still resting and had not yet made a large-scale move, so it was impossible for them to plunder the surrounding areas.

Wu Chengjun is an army after all, organized and disciplined. How could he allow his soldiers to let the sheep go?

What's more, as soon as these five thieves entered the general's tent, they knelt down before Wei Sheng and addressed him as "General Yan." It was obvious that they were not familiar with him. How could there be any friendship between them as officials from the same court? Where did this even begin?
Huyan Nanxian stepped forward, pointed his halberd at the five men, and shouted, "This is Duke Wei, the Grand Marshal of the Loyal Army. I am Huyan Nanxian. If you have any grievances, please speak clearly to my face. If I, Huyan Nanxian, have done anything vile, I will endure it without a wink. But if you dare to make a false accusation, I will never let it go."

Huyan Nanxian had originally intended to intimidate the five men, but she hadn't expected that when they heard the man before them was Wei Sheng, they were only slightly startled before falling to the ground and wailing loudly, "Duke Wei, we've been waiting for you so hard!"

As he spoke, the leader crawled forward a few steps and was about to hug Wei Sheng's legs.

The guards drew their swords and stepped forward, forcing them back with their blades.

After a while, when the five people's emotions had calmed down, Wei Sheng finally spoke: "Who are you all? What grievances have you suffered? Also, what did you mean by serving in the same court as General Huyan?"

The leader of the five wiped the tears from his face and said, "My name is Pu Sulie, and I am a Meng'an who commanded 3,000 households in the Hushui River. I once served as the deputy commander of Tai'an Prefecture, so it's not wrong to say that I served in the same court as General Huyan."

"Jurchen dog!"

Huyan Nanxian cursed angrily at first, then felt inexplicably respectful.

You guys are really brave! You actually dared to break into the Wucheng Army’s camp. Don’t you know how many people here want to kill the Jurchens’ entire family?
Obviously, the Jurchen woman named Pu Sulie knew about it. After Huyan Nanxian shouted, he prostrated himself on the ground again, shaking violently all over.

Wei Sheng originally thought that the five people were dressed and had the same hairstyle as the Han people, and that they were some wealthy and powerful family that had been robbed and came to beg for mercy. However, when he heard the leader claim to be a Jurchen, his tone turned cold.

"Since they are enemies, not friends, how can I save you? Did you go to the wrong mountain gate and worship the wrong Bodhisattva?"

Even though it was necessary to have a correct policy toward the enemy, from a personal point of view, Wei Sheng also wanted to kill all the foreigners, but as the commander-in-chief of the Northern Expedition, he could only speak in a harsh tone.

Pu Sulie kowtowed and replied, "It is precisely because we know the benevolence of the Loyal Army that we have come to General Huyan and Marshal Wei for help. Now the lives of fifteen of us, and forty thousand households, hang by a thread. If the Marshal cannot save us, we are doomed!"

Having said this, Pu Sulie pounded the ground and burst into tears.

After hearing this, Wei Sheng was fine, but Huyan Nanxian and Liang Yuaner were both in a trance.

Could it be that he was still in the Jin army, an officer of the Jin army, and the previous mutiny and escape in a panic were all a dream?
Of course, this was only a moment of confusion, and then the two former Jin army generals regained their clarity.

Then the two of them felt that things were even weirder.

Pu Sulie has always said that the loyal army should rescue them instead of sparing them. The difference between the two is too big.

What is the situation?
(End of this chapter)