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

Chapter 485: General Husband Thinks Far Away

"What? Is Liu Dalang crazy? Daring to start a war, how is this different from being a rebel?"

At Yuxikou, Shao Hongyuan was cursing loudly in the commander's tent. Although he was pointing to the East Gate in the north, his words were actually directed at Ye Yiwen who was sitting in the first seat.

Ye Yiwen's expression was gloomy.

In his view, it was not just that the cavalry was defeated and some Song soldiers died, but that someone took the imperial edict of him, the Privy Councilor, and Liu Huai did not take it seriously.

To put it bluntly, how could this be a slap on the Song army's butt?! It's clearly a slap on Mr. Ye's face!
Zhang Zigai's expression changed as he gritted his teeth and said, "Tomorrow I will personally challenge him. I just don't believe that Liu Dalang is so arrogant that he dares to kill a steward in public!"

Zhang Zigai already had some grudge against Liu Huai. Although he was the one who caused the grudge, people like Zhang Zigai are all like this. I can bully you a hundred times, but if you fight back once, it will be a big mistake for you.

Ye Yiwen waved his hand and said, "Manager Zhang, I will go to Dongguan to meet Liu Dalang tomorrow. You guys wait at Yuxikou for a while."

Liu Bao was about to say something when Ye Yiwen continued, "Liu Dalang knows his limits and has made great contributions. You can't push him too far. And if he really turns against you, can you withstand his hateful attack?"

Having said that, Ye Yiwen stood up and left the tent without waiting for the generals to reply.

Mr. Ye’s meaning is very simple.

You, several thousand cavalrymen, gathered together, but were defeated in one fell swoop by a small group of tired soldiers led by Liu Huai. What kind of waste are you?

Since you can't win, don't start a war!
Ye Yiwen didn't know how many people were dispatched by the Jingnan Army at this time. If he knew that Zhang Baiyu defeated nearly a thousand Song cavalry with just six people, he would definitely look down on these people even more.

Zhang Zigai was furious, not knowing who to vent his anger on. Finally, he yelled at Zhang Guang, "What's wrong with that confidant of yours? How could he be so useless?"

Zhang Guang was also angry, but he didn't dare to talk back to Zhang Zigai. He could only curse at Liu Huai.

The tent where Ye Yiwen was resting was not far from the general's tent. Hearing Zhang Guang's angry shouts and curses, he sighed.

Why is it so difficult to do something?
On the second day, which was December 30th, the last day of the 31st year of Shaoxing, Ye Yiwen arrived at the ruined Dongguan with several close followers and escorted by nearly a hundred personal guards.

Contrary to what was imagined beforehand, Liu Huai led several prominent generals and civil officials and waited at the city gate early. When they saw Ye Yiwen arrive, they stepped forward in person and bowed respectfully.

Ye Yiwen's anger immediately subsided by more than half.

"Alas, Liu Dalang, why are you so unstable?" Even though he had lost his anger, he still had to maintain his composure. Ye Da Xianggong said with some disapproval, "You are so young, how can you have such a reputation as a tyrant? You must know that people's spit can drown people!"

Liu Huai smiled bitterly and said, "Mr. Ye has a deep misunderstanding. I would like to invite Mr. Ye into the city to discuss this matter so that I can explain everything clearly."

Ye Yiwen rolled up his sleeves and looked at Yuxi beside him and said, "No, just explain it clearly here."

Liu Huai sighed and took a thick document from the hand of the military advisor beside him: "Mr. Ye, please read this."

Ye Yiwen frowned and took it. He opened the first page and saw that it was a report of the victory in the Battle of Chao County. The person ranked first was not Yu Yunwen, nor Liu Qi, nor Liu Huai, but him, Lord Ye.

"Mr. Ye, I know how those people deceived you. It's nothing more than this battle. No matter what, you must be in Chao County. Only then will you be able to make a contribution, and it will look better in the report."

Liu Huai said earnestly, "But they didn't tell Lord Ye that he was in charge of the Lianghuai War. He needed to take both the responsibility for the defeat and the credit for the victory. This wasn't a temporary rule, but a military law, and it has been a military law since ancient times."

"When Gao Xianzhi conquered the Kingdom of Little Bolor, he bypassed his superior, Fu Menglingcha, to claim credit for his achievements. Fu Menglingcha immediately called Gao Xianzhi a "dog shit-eating Korean slave." If it weren't for Emperor Xuanzong's mediation, Fu Menglingcha could have even executed Gao Xianzhi on the spot according to military law. That's the reason."

Ye Yiwen's face turned pale and blue.

Because according to Liu Huai, this report of merit must be submitted through his hands to be considered a legal document.

Although reporting to higher authorities is a major taboo in all walks of life, Ye Yiwen has seen many lower-level officials who want to be in the spotlight and want to use this method to get promoted. Therefore, putting himself in other people's shoes, Ye Yiwen feels that if he were in Yu Yunwen's position, he could also make a big move for the position of prime minister.

However, Liu Huai then told him that military affairs were different from government affairs, as the army was to fight a life-or-death battle with the enemy. As the saying goes, military affairs are a matter of great importance to a nation, a matter of life and death, a matter of survival and destruction, and they must be carefully considered. Therefore, there was no bargaining in the army; the military commander's words were theoretically final, and he had the power to make them final.

As the Privy Councilor, Ye Yiwen did not use this power because he knew nothing about military affairs, because he respected the court, and because of political conventions, but not because he did not have it.

Yu Yunwen himself did not want to fall out with a Privy Councilor over a trivial matter of competing for merit.

Ye Yiwen is already old, but Yu Yunwen is still young and in the prime of his political career. If Ye Yiwen is really furious and takes out the royal banner of "Yiwen's presence is as if I am there myself", let alone killing someone, what if he beats Yu Yunwen up and breaks his legs?
Liu Huai sighed and said, "Prince Ye, think about it again. Since those of us who fought to the death in Huaixi would never abandon you, and those in Jiankang also know that we would never abandon you, why did they push you to the front and send a large army to Chao County?"

Ye Yiwen's face turned ashen.

Liu Huai did not stop talking and continued: "Prime Minister Ye needs to take charge of the war in Huaibei and Huainan, not only in Huaixi, but also in Huaidong.

Now, Huaixi has won a great victory and is about to be recovered. The army that was originally supposed to be sent to Huaidong wants to come to Huaixi. What should Huaidong do? If the court asks about the battle situation, will Ye Xianggong say that he will ignore Huaidong and send the Jin army out of the country?

Liu Huai’s meaning was very simple.

As the Privy Councilor and the commander-in-chief of the front lines, Ye Yiwen was responsible for everything good and bad that happened in Huaixi and Huaidong. He had contributed to Huaixi and was also responsible for Huaidong. Now that Yu Yunwen had made it clear that Ye Yiwen's contribution to Huaixi could not be ignored, Zhang Zigai and others who had urged him to give up pursuing the enemy in Huaidong were worthy of death!

These bastards clearly sacrificed Ye Yiwen's political future and tricked him into taking the lead, helping the Jiankang generals to take advantage of the situation!
Ye Yiwen's face turned pale and gray, and soon turned red. He was both embarrassed and annoyed.

In theory, he was also a veteran scholar-official who had experienced many ups and downs in the officialdom. Even if Lu You, with his external military brain circuit, was in Huaixi at this time, he could figure things out as long as he calmed down and thought about it.

However, Ye Yiwen was blinded by the petty gains and regarded the future arrival in Chao County as a huge matter, but lost the awareness of taking the overall situation into consideration.

"Liu Dalang, my dear nephew." Ye Yiwen handed the document to the guard beside him, then stepped forward and shook Liu Huai's hands, saying sincerely, "I came here in a hurry because I was worried about the battle in Huaixi. Everyone said that the Song Dynasty won a tragic victory and it would be difficult to recapture Huaixi. Tell me the truth, is Huaixi still in danger?"

Liu Huai was at a loss for words. "The Jin army has been routed. They've killed and captured over 20,000 people. Even their leader, Wanyan Liang, has been captured. How can the Jin army still be strong enough to fight? All we need to do now is march north and reclaim the lost territory."

"That's good, that's good." Ye Yiwen nodded repeatedly: "Then I will lead the army back to Huaidong now."

Liu Huai smiled bitterly and shook his head: "It's too late. If we had headed north along the canal from the beginning, we might have been able to catch Tu Shanzhen's tail. But now it's too late."

Ye Yiwen sighed repeatedly, "My dear nephew, at this point, is there anything else you can teach me?"

Liu Huai nodded. "I dare not preach. But I still have some words of advice. First, let all these useless people go back and send a troop with decent military discipline to recapture the lost land in Huaidong. The number of troops does not need to be too large, but the military discipline must be good.

The Huai River and Huai River regions are devastated and in urgent need of food aid. We must not waste any more. Furthermore, there is indeed no food left in Huaixi to feed them."

Liu Huai pointed to the Yuxi River beside him and said, "The Jin thieves' fleet was burned and sank in the Yuxi River. The river is blocked and it is difficult to transport food. The food shortage in Huaixi is definitely not a perfunctory statement."

Ye Yiwen nodded heavily, and Liu Huai continued, "Secondly, please have Wanyan Liang and his group of ministers and eunuchs brought to the court by Lord Ye. General Liu, General Cheng, General Li, and other generals will also follow them back to the court. When the time comes, they will be reported to the court to commend their achievements."

Ye Yiwen's whole body trembled, and he quickly began to tremble with excitement.

Ye Yiwen had never thought about this achievement before, because it was evidence of the great achievements made by the Huaixi generals. If they were to rob it, it would really lead to a falling out.

Originally, I thought it was Yu Yunwen who was going to do this, but now it seems that Yu Yunwen still wants to give such a great credit to him and let Ye Yiwen take the lead.

What an honor is this?
It will definitely go in the history books!

The family tree can be reopened!
Who was the famous general who captured the emperor of a great country last time?

Oh, it was Wanyan Zongmou, and the person he captured was... Don’t think about it, don’t think about it.

In a moment, Ye Yiwen's thoughts had turned seven or eight times, and finally he forced himself to calm down: "Does Yu Xianggong think so too?"

Liu Huai nodded: "This is indeed what Xiang Gong Yu said, but Xiang Gong Ye still needs to go to Chao County in person to discuss the specific measures with Xiang Gong Yu and the other general managers."

Ye Yiwen nodded hurriedly, rubbing his hands together, without any of the dignity of a husband. "What about you? Liu Dalang, are you coming back to the court with us this time?"

Liu Huai smiled, a little embarrassed. "I was hesitant. First, I still have some issues to deal with in Huaixi. Second, I have a very bad temper and cannot stand the arrogant words of the Jin thieves. Li Tong said some treasonous words before, and I chopped him into pieces in a rage."

Ye Yiwen was stunned for a moment, then stamped his feet: "He's the prime minister of the Jin Kingdom, how dare you! If you escort him back to the court, alas! You might even be at fault this time."

In the end, Ye Yiwen could only sigh.

Liu Huai smiled bitterly and said, "Then I hope Mr. Ye can give me some perfunctory advice. Just say that this guy was injured in the battle that day and died of his injuries."

Ye Yiwen thought for a moment and could only nod in agreement.

This is the willingness to take responsibility.

There was no way. Liu Huai handled things too openly. Ye Yiwen had received so many benefits, so he shouldn't be so irresponsible.

But Ye Xianggong couldn't help but complain: "Liu Dalang, I treat you as my nephew, so don't think I'm being blunt. You really should change your temper, especially when you're working in the court. How can you kill people at will?

For example, what happened the other day, even if the Jiankang soldiers' words were offensive, they could have been stopped. Why did they resort to fighting? It would have created a huge enmity for no reason."

Liu Huai smiled bitterly again: "Mr. Ye, this is really not my fault. Our army only sent seven armored cavalry out of the city to rebuke them. Who could have thought that the enemy's thousand-plus soldiers and horses would be scattered by such a charge?"

Ye Yiwen stopped in astonishment: "Seven riders?"

Liu Huai nodded: "It is indeed the Seven Riders. If you don't believe me, you can look at the merit list in our army. It must be true."

Ye Yiwen was speechless. After a moment's silence, he simply stopped beside his warhorse and asked his attendants to take out the pen, ink, paper and inkstone. He wrote the document on the spot, used the big seal, sealed it with sealing wax, and handed it directly to the military envoy.

"Tell Zhang Zigai and his group to return to Jiankang immediately and not embarrass themselves here."

(End of this chapter)