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

Chapter 381: Shandong Man's Loyalty

"Where are those warriors?"

"I heard that they were all invited by the Wuyan family elders."

"Alas, considering his background, why would he bother to take credit for something like this? Could a seventy-year-old man also be ambitious?"

"Who knows? The situation in Hebei and Shandong won't improve even if Your Majesty wins a great victory in the southern expedition. A seventy-year-old can die, but what about a twenty-year-old? Forget it, let's not talk about the distant future. Let's focus on the present."

Listening to the voices of several people gradually fading away, Pu Sulie sighed deeply and slowly returned to his own hall.

As the landlord of Shangqushui Meng'an, Pu Sulie had a very torturous time in the past two days. As the Meng'an closest to Yidu City, his place became the base camp where everyone gathered, regardless of whether he wanted to or not.

In addition, Wuyanhu Shahu lives here, so all conspiracies and transactions will be carried out here.

After entering the hall, in addition to Wuyan Hushahu who was still sitting in the main seat, three of the dozen or so loyal army cavalrymen who came today also sat there.

In addition to Dian Lun and Liu Pingge who were very presumptuous today, there was also a strong warrior who called himself Ximao Zhanggu.

Seeing the landlord return, Wuyan Hushahu asked, "What preparations have they made?"

Pu Sulie shook his head and sighed, "There's no preparation at all. Kong Damu has only a few Han troops under his command. If we gather all the Meng'an together, we can always get a thousand or two thousand soldiers. Yidu Prefecture also has some national officials. When the time comes, we can cooperate internally and externally, open the gates, kill Kong Damu, and surrender the entire city to the Duke of Wei."

It’s true, although this plan is simple, it has a very high success rate. It feels like you can kill a master with random punches.

Wuyan Hushahu continued to ask: "And then?"

Pu Sulie shook his head: "Then, then we can only hope that Duke Wei really has a fair and kind heart."

Dian Lun sneered: "Pu Sulie, do you think everyone is the same as you Jurchen nobles?"

Pu Sulie didn't want to argue, just shook his head.

But Wuyanhu Shahu said: "Dianlun, you are still young, don't you know that Jurchen nobles were not like this from the beginning."

Dian Lun spread his hands, too lazy to argue.

You are old, so whatever you say makes sense.

"My younger brother Puluhun and I are both from ordinary tribesmen." As if opening a conversation box, Wuyanhu Shahu fell into memories: "It was because we were brave and daring that we caught the Second Prince's eye and were accepted into his service. We both have good backgrounds. My brother Ximao Ali, who followed the Fourth Prince across the river to attack Jiankang, and I were born into the lowest class of Alixi.

At that time, anyone with talent, even the humblest slave, could ascend to the hereditary rank of Meng'an or the rank of a military commander. That was the glorious moment of the founding of the Great Jin, fifty years ago now.

Dian Lun shook his head: "Even if you talk about the kindness of the Jin Dynasty a hundred times, and talk about the Jurchen nation at the founding of the country ten thousand times, it still cannot compare to the cruelty of the government to the people today, nor can it compare to the fact that you nobles treat the lower classes as dirt.

When I entered the village, I saw many people outside the village setting up huts by the Qu River. They must be from the Jurchen nation, right? Do you really regard them as human beings?"

Wuyanhu Shahu shook his graying hair. "It's all the same, Han or Hu. Do you think Han people don't regard the lower classes as dust? If they truly regarded all Han people as brothers, why did Zhao Gou of the Song Dynasty abandon the Central Plains? Why did he kill Yue Fei?"

Dian Lun's expression also turned serious: "Duke Wei and Lord Liu are different."

Wuyan Hushahu smiled. "Because they have a kind heart? Would they sacrifice everything for an unrelated person?"

"No, quite the opposite," Dian Lun said solemnly, "because they want to do their best to do the right thing. If they fall short, they will quickly make a choice. This is why I volunteered to come here.

Duke Wei wanted to save more lives, so it would be best if the 40,000 households in Yidu Prefecture could be saved. If not, he had to consider the overall situation of Shandong and would not hesitate to kill them all.

You still don't understand. Duke Wei and his men have the heart of a bodhisattva, but they also have the means to wield thunderbolts!" Wu Yanhu Shahu laughed. "So, Duke Wei is somewhat similar to that Liu Yanzong. When Zhang Jue rebelled, although Liu Yanzong had a good relationship with Zhang Jue, in order to calm the situation, he still helped the Second Prince to kill Zhang Jue."

At this point, Wuyan Hushahu sighed inexplicably: "This is why I don't want to join the army anymore. My old friends who once trusted me with life and death have broken up, and fighting on the battlefield is so heartbreaking."

Seeing that Wuyanhu Shahu was immersed in memories of the past again, Dianlun stood up and said goodbye with the other two.

They don't want to know the past of these old crows and ladles at all, so let Wuyanhu Shahu take all the past to the grave.

Wuyan Hushahu watched the three of them leave and said to Pu Sulie, who had remained silent, "Are you all ready?"

Pu Sulie nodded, but still hesitated and said, "Do we have to go to this extent?"

Wuyan Hushahu laughed and said, "You are a smart man. Don't you understand the third condition proposed by the Loyal Army? If we do these things or let Wei Sheng do them, the results will be completely different.

That little fellow was rude today, but he still said one thing correctly: the Jurchen nation has reached this point, and it is still the fault of us leaders. In that case, let us atone for our sins."

Pu Sulie sighed deeply, but remained silent in the end.

At the same time, Kong Damu, the governor of Yidu Prefecture, who was on the city wall of Yidu, was also sighing deeply.

Because the Jin Dynasty had a system that combined tribal and feudal systems, it had two sets of teams in both the military and political fields.

Just as the Jurchen army was governed by the Meng'an and Mouke systems, while the Han army was governed by the general manager, the Yidu Prefecture Military Command, the core of Shandong's rule, also had two systems: the Hu and Han systems.

Therefore, the position of Qianxia, the theoretical highest military commander of a prefecture, was very awkward. Although he could theoretically command all the military forces of Yidu Prefecture, the Meng'an Mouke households, the largest military force of Yidu Prefecture, had a different system and ignored him completely.

It was impossible for Kong Damu to recruit soldiers from the Meng'an Mouke households, and the person who could do this should have escaped to the vicinity of Daming Prefecture if he had a smooth journey.

Thinking of this, Kong Damu couldn't help but greet Wanyan Xiongju's eighteen generations of ancestors.

To be honest, as a Han Chinese, Kong Damu does not need to be loyal to the Jin Dynasty in the current situation. If he raises the banner of rebellion, both Wei Sheng and Geng Jing will accept him very happily, and even reserve a position for him in the army, and he will embark on the road of resisting the Jin Dynasty from then on.

However, people are different after all. Even if they are all Han Chinese, the differences in their identities and experiences will lead to a wide variety of different ideas.

Wanyan Bendu, the former chief military commander of Shandong, was very kind to Kong Damu. Even though Kong Damu despised the Jin Kingdom, he had to repay his benefactor with his death.

Of course, Kong Damu still had some confidence in defending Yidu City.

As the ruling core of the Jin Dynasty in Shandong, Yidu City is surrounded by mountains on three sides and faces water on one side. There are also small cities and camps around it to support it. It is extremely easy to defend and difficult to attack.

However, the biggest problem Kong Damu faced at this time was that although the city was strong, there were not many people to guard it. With only a thousand or so Han soldiers under his command, they could not even fill the mountain city outside the city, let alone the top of Yidu City!
Under normal circumstances, Kong Damu could have summoned young and strong civilians to defend the city, but weren't all the Han people in Shandong rebelling? How could he expect the Han civilians to fight to the death to defend the Great Jin Dynasty against the rebels?
Therefore, no matter how difficult or reluctant it was, Kong Damu still sent an eloquent clerk to Meng'an Mouke to request reinforcements.

However, the few minor officials did not bring back reinforcements, but instead brought back a piece of shocking news.

The Jurchens are going to join the Loyal Army to seize and surrender the city of Yidu!
This time, not only Kong Damu, but also the officials of Yidu Prefecture were dumbfounded.

These Meng'an Mouke households were talkative and had no sense or ability to keep secrets. In less than two days, they spread the news of the only way to survive given by Wei Sheng.

The Meng'an Mouke households were the masters of the Jin Dynasty, military households, and the rentier class. Their actions quickly gave Kong Damu a feeling of powerlessness: "I am about to fight to the death, why did Your Majesty surrender first?"

Can we still defend Yidu Prefecture?
　Sorry, I forgot to set the scheduled update.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)