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

Chapter 383: Don’t Disappoint Gods and People

After Shi Dunhu cut off Kong Damu's head with his own hands, he hung the head on the side of the saddle and came to the city of Yidu with a stern face.

"Open the door! I'm Shidunhu! Everyone in Shishui, Shidun and Meng'an, get out!"

Shi Dunhu was in a very bad mood. He originally thought that Yidu Prefecture could be easily taken, but he did not expect Kong Damu to go out of the city and fight to the death, giving everyone a warning.

After finally killing Kong Damu, the gates of Yidu City were closed, and the golden flags on the city walls were gone, replaced by the flag of loyalty and righteousness.

Which company succeeded in this?

Doesn’t that mean that Shi Dunhu’s great achievement of surrendering the city has been wasted?
Thinking of this, Shi Dunhu felt even worse.

"Open the gate! Who is this bastard guarding the city gate? Why won't you open the gate when you see me?"

Shi Dunhu shouted and cursed again, but there was still no movement at the city gate, while there was a sound of footsteps on the top of the city.

Shi Dunhu looked up and saw several officers dressed in Han'er clothes pointing at him and shouting, "The man under the city is the old thief Shi Dun. Shoot him to death!"

As soon as the order was given, a sparse burst of arrows shot down from the top of the city wall.

Seven or eight of the Jurchen cavalrymen in the front fell immediately. Shi Dunhu, relying on his complete armor, turned his horse and fled.

After escaping a few dozen steps and out of the range of the arrows, Shi Dunhu turned around and cursed: "Li Xiaosan, did you take the wrong medicine? Are you crazy? How dare you shoot an arrow at me!"

The officer named Li Xiaosan did not respond, but just sneered and threw the object in his hand far away.

The braids were flying in the air, and Shi Dunhu looked closely and saw that it was the head of a Jurchen.

"You! You!..." Shidunhu's mind went blank, as if he saw a cat that had been crawling at his feet stretching out its sharp claws to bite someone. He was speechless for a long time and couldn't say a word.

This was not the end yet. It seemed that everyone on the city wall was holding heads and throwing them down from the city. The Jurchen heads were like raindrops, arcing through the air and rolling on the ground.

In the end, the Jurchens who were tied up were simply pushed onto the parapet on the city wall, and were chopped down with swords. In front of more than a thousand Jurchen cavalry, the Jurchens in Yidu City were executed one by one.

At first the Jurchen cavalry were still shouting and cursing, but in the end, when heads and corpses had piled up in a shallow layer under the city, the more than a thousand Jurchen cavalrymen fell silent, with only occasional low cries and the neighing of horses.

Although I knew that the purges against the Jurchens were breaking out in various parts of Shandong, hearing about it was one thing, and seeing it actually happening before my eyes was another.

All the Jurchen cavalry could never have imagined that the Han people's revenge would be so cruel and merciless.

A chill rising from the bottom of their hearts spread among the Jurchens, making all the cavalrymen seem to be frozen. Not to mention moving, even speaking was difficult for them.

"Jurchen dogs!" Li Xiaosan shouted loudly, "Even though I killed so many of your people today, I'm telling you, this isn't over yet. When I chew up all your bones and swallow them, we'll be even!"

At this time, there were not only Han soldiers on the city wall, but also young and strong Han people organized in Yidu City. Hearing Li Xiaosan's scolding, they all cheered and clamored.

Shi Dunhu's gaze finally pulled away from the pile of corpses below the city. He first looked at the top of the city wall in a daze, then looked back at his own thousand-plus cavalrymen who were shivering like quails in the cold wind, and finally he sighed.

The morale of the army has been broken. Not to mention the lack of siege equipment, even if there was, these more than a thousand cavalrymen would not have the courage to fight.

After all, they were not real female soldiers, but just a group of militiamen left over by the government.

After a long silence, until a confidant came to ask, Shi Dunhu finally sighed and said, "Let's go! Go back and defend the city and wait for the Loyalty Army to come and deal with Yidu Prefecture."

"From then on, Shandong was no longer under the control of the Jin Dynasty."

After saying this, Shi Dunhu turned his horse around and returned with these cavalrymen in vain.

More than a thousand cavalrymen dispersed and returned to their own villages. Only their leaders followed Shi Dunhu with pale faces and returned to Shangqushui Meng'an.

"So, you didn't even enter Yidu City?" Wuyanhu Shahu was also stunned.

He originally thought that no matter how useless Shi Dunhu and his men were, any trouble they were going to cause would only happen after Yidu City was captured. However, he did not expect that they could not even take over Yidu Prefecture.

This is the location of the Shandong Military Command!
The Jin Dynasty had a total of three military command offices and three siege offices, which were the ruling core of the Jin Dynasty in a certain area. How could they be lost so easily?
Even if it's empty, it's impossible, right?!

But the facts were right in front of him, and Wu Yanhu Shahu had no choice but to believe it.

Wuyan Hushahu was stunned for a moment, then shook his head and laughed out loud: "Forget it, no matter what, Yidu Prefecture has been returned to the Loyal Army. After all, I have fulfilled my promise to Wei Sheng."

Shi Dunhu and the others were all stunned, then sighed again: "But if that's the case, without any merit, how can we be looked up to by Duke Wei after the rebellion?"

Wuyan Hushahu nodded: "This is a big problem, but first let those warriors report back to the Loyal Army. At least let Wei Sheng know about the change of situation."

"This……"

"This kind of thing can't be concealed. If we don't proactively ask them to report it, and they find out and exaggerate it, we won't be able to do anything about it."

Pu Sulie stamped his feet upon hearing this and said, "I'll go and inform them right now."

After saying that, he quickly stood up and left.

Wuyan Hushahu nodded and continued, "As for what to do next, I'll have to discuss it with the other leaders. You must be hungry after all the traveling."

After saying this, Wuyan Hushahu had food and drinks brought quickly and distributed them in front of each leader: "The loyal army is about to arrive, let's talk while we eat."

The thirty or so chiefs were also very hungry, and they all started to eat voraciously. In just a few moments, they had eaten most of the food on their tables.

Wuyan Hushahu also took a few bites of his food and drank a cup of rice wine before speaking, "Actually, it's quite easy to stay safe in front of the Loyal Army, because Wei Sheng only gave us three conditions. As long as we meet these three conditions, the 40,000 households in Yidu Prefecture will be approved."

As he spoke, he held up three fingers and said, "The first condition is that we figure out who is wrong."

Shi Dunhu put down his chopsticks, twisted his butt uneasily, and felt inexplicably nervous.

Wuyan Hushahu continued, "Now it seems that the Great Jin Emperor was wrong, and the Great Jin government was wrong."

"The second condition is how to deal with those who made mistakes." Wuyan Hushahu held up his second finger. "We are now barely halfway through this task."

Shi Dunhu felt a slight pain in his stomach, but he didn't think much of it, thinking it was just from the long ride and the heavy eating and drinking. He shook his head and replied, "The people of the Great Jin government were killed by the Haner army. After all, it wasn't us who did it."

"That's not what I meant." Wuyan Hushahu smiled and shook his head. His next words were earth-shattering: "Ahu, you are just pretending to be confused. The government of the Great Jin has always been jointly governed by the government and the Meng'an Mouke households. Take you, for example, Ahu. The General Command can give you orders, but can Kong Damu Kong Qinxia give you orders? We, the leaders, are also part of the Great Jin government."

"Master... what you said... I don't understand what you mean." Shi Dunhu felt even more pain in his stomach, and could only force a smile.

Wuyan Hushahu smiled and said, "If you don't understand, then don't understand, because this is related to the third condition. Wei Sheng wants us to promise not to make mistakes next time. Have you ever thought about what this means?"

"It's nothing more than asking us to pledge allegiance to the Loyal Army." Someone else responded. Wuyan Hushahu: "You are wrong. Today you can give up your identity as a Jurchen nation to save your life. It is not surprising that you will betray the Loyal Army for wealth and fame tomorrow.

Let me put it this way, what Wei Sheng wanted to do to our 40,000 households was simply to register them as equals. Making all the Jurchens change their surnames to Chinese and adopt Chinese customs was all preparation before this. He wanted to firmly control over hundreds of thousands of people."

"Uh……"

"abdomen……"

"This food, wine and meat contains..."

At this time, not only Shi Dunhu, but the others also felt a stomachache and became weak all over.

"This food is poisonous, Hushahu, why did you do this?" Shidunhu tried to stand up by holding the table, but was unable to do so due to the pain. He could only half-lie on the table, and questioned Wuyan Hushahu loudly and angrily.

Wuyan Hushahu shook his head and said in a tone of hopeless despair: "We are all members of the government, and it is impossible for you to truly give up your status as a chief. When the time comes to register all the people, you will definitely incite your people to cause trouble.

But the Jurchens and the Han have a mortal feud. Even if Wei Sheng suppresses them, the Han will not give us a second chance. By then, who knows how many of the 40,000 households will die."

Upon hearing this, someone pushed over the table in front of them, scattering the leftovers all over the floor. While screaming in pain, he shouted, "Just because... just because of the possibility... that they're going to kill us all?"

Wuyan Hushahu stared at the man and said, "You may not regard these 40,000 Jurchen households as human beings, but I cannot do that. I have lived here since the founding of the Jin Dynasty. At that time, even the Taizu lived in a thatched hut. During the military meetings, everyone sat around the campfire and spoke freely regardless of their status. The Taizu was just an extra tiger skin on his chair.

Compared to these 40,000 households, killing more than 30 of you is nothing? I wouldn’t even blink an eye if I killed 300 people.”

Shi Dunhu slumped behind the desk, black blood flowing from all his orifices. He stretched out his hand with difficulty and pointed at Wuyanhu Shahu, who was sitting high on the main seat: "I... I wouldn't even become a ghost..."

Before he could finish his sentence, Shi Dunhu collapsed on the table and died on the spot.

Wuyanhu Shahu still sat in the main seat, sighed, and murmured: "There is no need to worry about what happened when you became a ghost."

Pu Sulie came in from outside with a few trusted soldiers. After seeing the messy hall, even though he was mentally prepared, he couldn't help but burst into tears.

Dian Lun, who was following behind him, was also stunned.

He never expected that things would end this way.

"Pu Sulie." Wu Yanhu Shahu, who was sitting in the main seat, shouted loudly.

"Lord Wuyan." Pu Sulie was startled and immediately bowed in agreement.

Wuyan Hushahu was truly like a tiger at this moment, his beard and hair standing up as he roared, "What time is it now? You have a heavy responsibility, yet you still want to cry and act like a child? Listen to my last words. The final fate of the 40,000 households in Yidu Prefecture depends on you!"

"I...I..." Pu Sulie became extremely flustered in an instant.

However, Wuyan Hushahu ignored the others and simply looked up at the sky, as if he could see the spirits of the founding heroes of the Jin Dynasty through the rooftops. "Grandmaster! Second Prince! Everything Hushahu did today was for the survival of the Jurchen nation, without a trace of selfish motive! Heaven and earth can bear witness to this, as can the sun and the moon. I will now dig out my heart and show it to you!"

After saying this, the veteran who had experienced a series of wars during the founding of the Jin Dynasty pulled out a sharp knife from his sleeve, tore open his collar, stabbed it hard in the heart, and pulled it down with all his strength.

Of course, even for Wuyanhu Shahu, it was impossible to take out his heart after his death. He fell directly on the table in front of him, and blood immediately spread out.

The hall was silent again. There were two poisoned Bohai chiefs who were struggling hard, but after seeing this scene, they lost all hope. They sneered like night owls and closed their eyes, waiting to die.

"My dear warriors, this is what has happened." Pu Sulie forced back his tears. After a long pause, he bowed to Dianlun and said, "I hope you can tell Duke Wei the truth about everything. I will send you the list of the 40,000 households in Yidu Prefecture shortly. I hope Duke Wei will show some mercy to us for our hard work."

Dian Lun nodded silently, bowed to Wuyanhu Shahu who was sitting on the main seat, then turned around and left with his sword in hand.

After Dian Lun walked away, Pu Sulie finally couldn't bear it anymore, collapsed to the ground, and cried loudly.

At this time, the Loyal Army was very close to Yidu City. However, two moments later, Dian Lun arrived at the marching Wucheng Army and met Wei Sheng and Huyan Nanxian.

After briefly recounting the events, Huyan Nanxian remained stunned for a long moment before turning to look at Wei Sheng. "Did Duke Wei foresee this outcome from the very beginning?"

Wei Sheng smiled and shook his head: "It's just the general trend of the times. No result is surprising. However, I originally thought that the 40,000 households in Yidu Prefecture would require some deaths in civil strife before they could be settled. I didn't expect that Wuyan Hushahu could have such a method. He is really impressive."

Huyan Nanxian lowered his head and thought for a moment, wanting to refute a few words, but in the end he had to admit that the reason why Yidu Prefecture was pacified so quickly was because the anti-enemy policy of the Loyal Army had a significant effect.

There are 40,000 households in Yidu Prefecture, which means more than 100,000 people. Even if there are more than 100,000 pigs, it will take several months to catch them!

However, Huyan Nanxian would not be defeated: "Duke Wei, if these Meng'an Mouke households don't die in large numbers, how can the grain last until next autumn harvest?"

Facing his subordinate's slightly malicious question, Wei Sheng actually nodded directly: "General Huyan is right. This is a huge problem."

As he spoke, Wei Sheng turned around and called out, "Erlang."

Wei Jiao, who was talking to the military staff behind him, immediately rode forward and asked, "Father, do you have any military orders?"

"Exactly."

Wei Jiao quickly dismounted. With the clerk preparing the four treasures of the study, he leaned directly on the saddle, ready to write the military order.

"Pass on my orders. Command Zhang Qing, the rear commander of the Loyal and Righteous Army, to lead the Dongping Army to continue their westward advance, dispersedly stationed along the Xiaoqing River, and block any possible reinforcements from the Jin Army in Hebei."

"I appoint Cui Hama, the magistrate of Linyi, as the prefect of Yidu Prefecture, to oversee the civil affairs of Yidu Prefecture, provide relief to the victims of disasters, prepare for famine relief, dredge ditches, and register the 40,000 households in Yidu Prefecture and resettle them."

"Order the Loyal Army's Military Advisor, Wei Jiao, to lead forty-seven land division teams to measure the fields. Remember, although their leaders have been executed, the others should not be spared. Let them each report the perpetrators, and a public trial will be held. Regardless of whether they are Han or Hu, those who are guilty of the most heinous crimes will be executed immediately. The rest will be resettled according to the normal system."

"Order the Wucheng Army of the Loyal and Righteous Army, and command Huyan Nanxian to take charge of the military affairs of Yidu Prefecture and coordinate with the government of Yidu Prefecture."

As he spoke, Wei Sheng reached out and grasped Huyan Nanxian's hands, saying sincerely, "General Huyan, I will grant the Wucheng Army 10,000 soldiers and grant you the authority to act as you see fit. You can advance and retreat as the situation demands. The defense of Yidu Prefecture is now entirely entrusted to you."

Even though he had seen many scenes, Huyan Nanxian was still deeply moved that he, a surrendered general, was given a task. He was speechless for a moment and could only bow his head and agree.

"As for me," Wei Sheng paused, then continued, "I'm about to go get food and fodder for Shandong. I hope there's still time."

After saying that, Wei Sheng looked towards the south.

Huyan Nanxian couldn't help but follow Wei Sheng's gaze.

The two people's gazes seemed to have passed through the vast Yishan Mountain, across hundreds of miles of mountains and rivers, and arrived at the banks of the Yellow River.

Over there, the main force of the Loyal Army has gathered here, ready to attack the Jin Army's main logistical artery.

　For the sake of reading experience, the two chapters are combined into one.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)