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

Chapter 510 Undercurrents and Crisis

On the 20th day of the first lunar month, after numerous debates in various court meetings, the Song court finally had to make a difficult decision.

All requests of the Jin envoy Liang Qiu were rejected, including those for peace talks between the two countries, releasing Wanyan Liang back to the Jin Dynasty, and redefining the border between Song and Jin.

The beam ball should go back to where it came from!

This does not mean that Zhao Gou really regained his strength.

There are mainly two reasons.

One is that the bubble of the Shaoxing peace talks had been completely burst by this time. The peace talks, which cost huge amounts of wealth, manpower and material resources, and even the death of Yue Fei, would have been achieved if they could have maintained peace for a hundred years like the Tanyuan Alliance between Song and Liao.

It’s only been twenty years and the Jin Kingdom attacked again.

If we negotiate peace again, will it just be a ceasefire of another ten or twenty years?

It goes on and on, endlessly, right?

Based on this idea, the power of the pro-war faction expanded rapidly among the people, scholars, and the government, and especially after the Battle of Chao County, it became the mainstream.

Secondly, Wu Lin also made a lot of progress.

Although they did not defeat the army and kill the generals like in Huaixi, they still invaded the territory of Jin and defeated Tu Shan Hexi and Zhang Zhongyan.

After losing Fancheng, Wu Gong withdrew his troops and fought to defend Xiangyang, finally withstanding Pushan Zhongyi's offensive.

When the news of the great victory in Chao County and the capture of Wanyan Liang reached Pushan Zhongyi's central army, he and Liu E became paralyzed and did not dare to make any major military moves for a while.

If Geng Jing and Wei Sheng in Shandong are included, the situation in Song State is not just slightly better, but very better.

If the operation is done properly and there are no accidents, it will be no problem to recover the old territories south of the Yellow River in one go.

Of course, given the political environment of the Song Dynasty, that would be impossible unless something unexpected happened.

First, Chen Junqing, the assistant minister of the Ministry of War, submitted a memorial requesting to go to Huaidong to clear the military farms and appease the refugees.

This is only natural. A senior official from the court should have gone to the local area to do these things. Moreover, spring plowing is about to begin, so how can we delay?

Then Chen Junqing's next two sentences caused an uproar.

The first was that I heard that there were still many stragglers of the Jin army in Huaidong, which was very dangerous.

The second reason was that he had heard that the Dongping Army was powerful, and the general manager Zhang Baiyu was a loyal and righteous man. Moreover, the Dongping Army was also a Shandong volunteer army and had less involvement with Lianghuai, which was just right to protect him and clear the military farms.

This time even Zhao Gou was a little confused, and he suddenly didn't know what Chen Junqing was going to do.

It can't be that this guy wants to control the military power and live out his Sima Yi's charm, right?
Moreover, those landlords and literati had already been buying up land on a large scale and also did not want the Dongping Army to get involved.

The Jiankang Palace was instantly filled with impeachment memorials that came in like snowflakes.

Everyone in the palace and government was hesitant, but the several memorials attacking each other from Zhang Zigai, the Huaidong pacification envoy, and Liu Huai, the commander-in-chief of the Jingnan army, further caused confusion among the officials and ministers.

Zhang Zigai said that the Dongping Army was going to rebel, and they did not obey the orders of him, the Huaidong Recruiting Envoy, and they wanted to kill the generals he sent to the Dongping Army to stabilize the situation.

Liu Huai said, "You're talking nonsense! The Dongping Army is the national army. What are you trying to do by secretly annexing it now? Are you trying to emulate Sima Yi and raise a loyal army of assassins?" And don't you know how your men died? They were clearly killed by stragglers of the Jin bandits. How can you blame Zhang Baiyu? If Zhang Baiyu hadn't led his troops out of the camp to fight, none of your men would have been able to return!
Both sides insisted on their own opinions and the quarrel was intense.

Of course, neither Zhao Gou nor Chen Kangbo lacked channels for information. Soon, their disciples, former officials, and secret spies confirmed a very important piece of news.

There really were Jin cavalry.

Moreover, on that day, many people were driven out of the Dongping Army camp naked. At that time, there were indeed Jin cavalry attacking these naked men, and there were indeed more than a hundred Dongping Army armored cavalry rushing out of the camp and driving away the Jin army.

Now both Zhao Gou and Chen Kangbo were very upset.

Didn’t Huaixi win a great victory?

Why are there still Jin troops in Huaidong?
Yu Yunwen was present and explained that since the 30,000 soldiers of Huaidong Tushan Zhen were not hurt at that time, it was normal to leave a few troops behind.

Just when the emperor and the prime minister were gradually reaching a consensus on the policy of reprimanding Zhang Zigai and appointing Chen Junqing, Zhang Jun jumped out and interfered.

This guy's methods are completely opposite to Yu Yunwen's.

Yu Yunwen wanted to implement policies quickly, quell the chaos in Lianghuai, provide relief to the people, reorganize the farmland and taxes in Lianghuai, and quickly build Lianghuai into a forward base.

According to his idea, by the year after next at the latest, the grain and grass stored in Lianghuai would be enough to launch a Northern Expedition.

However, Zhang Jun meant exactly the opposite.

Lianghuai has always been an excellent source of soldiers. Now that Lianghuai has suffered from war, it is better to take the opportunity to recruit soldiers. This will not only train a new army, but also eliminate possible unrest.

This is killing two birds with one stone. In fact, this method has been used frequently in history, especially in the Song Dynasty.

During the Northern Song Dynasty, annexation was not suppressed, and when a major disaster occurred, there were refugees everywhere. The most common method used by the Song Dynasty government was to train the young and strong among the victims into garrison troops.

It's okay once or twice, but if it happens every time, it's like the country raising an army that can only eat but not fight.

The so-called three problems of redundant soldiers, redundant officials and redundant expenses are caused by redundant soldiers.

In the end, this problem that even Wang Anshi's reforms could not solve was actually solved by the Jin army that came south. It can only be said that history has its own black humor.

It is undeniable that readily recruiting refugees into the army is like drinking poison to quench thirst.

Is it okay for Zhang Jun to want to reverse history now?
Moreover, if we do this, will the people’s livelihood in Lianghuai be preserved?

Yu Yunwen's defense in court was effective, and Zhang Jun's memorial was kept in the court and not sent out.

But the next day, the government and the prime minister reached an agreement to let Zhang Jun and Chen Junqing set out together. Zhang Jun was responsible for organizing the recruitment of soldiers, while Chen Junqing was to clear the military farms, appease the refugees, and prepare for spring plowing. Zhang Baiyu, the new general manager of the Dongping Army, escorted Chen Junqing to do this.

In order to appease Yu Yunwen, Chen Junqing did not just clear the military farms in Huaidong, but also cleared the military farms in Lianghuai, which greatly expanded his powers and responsibilities.

Although this was a compromise, it almost pissed Yu Yunwen off to death.

How can he be so perfunctory and wishy-washy when it comes to national affairs?

And why did Zhao Gou and Chen Kangbo change their minds?
After careful investigation, Yu Yunwen discovered that it was Yang Yizhong who spoke for Zhang Jun.

When did these two form a political alliance?

But at this point, Yu Yunwen had no other choice but to come to Duting Station again to discuss with Liu Huai.

Liu Huai was sitting in the courtyard, munching on a pancake while reviewing documents. When he saw Yu Yunwen arrive, he pointed directly to the seat next to him.

Yu Yunwen was not surprised. After sitting down and drinking a cup of hot tea, he asked, "Why does Liu Dalang always like to work in this courtyard?"

Liu Huai sneered, "It's better to be open and aboveboard. If you hide your head and show your tail, you might be accused of forming a clique for personal gain."

As he spoke, Liu Huai looked up at Yu Yunwen and said, "Why does Minister Yu come to see me so frequently? Is it permissible for a court official to communicate with a general?"

Yu Yunwen waved his hand: "Don't overthink it. The Song Dynasty is no different from other countries. There are too many officials and generals who are in conflict with each other. Besides, I am here to send Minister Liang off for the last time, so I must have some excuse."

Liu Huai scribbled a few words on the document with his brush, then closed it and put it aside. "If Minister Yu is too busy with government affairs, I won't keep you here."

Yu Yunwen shook his head and laughed, "Why is Liu Dalang so distant?"

Liu Huai said sternly, "It's not that I'm distant, but if Yu Xianggong can only use words like "people of the world" to manipulate me, but can't clean up the political situation and deal with political enemies, then is it necessary for us to be close to each other?

I have won every battle I could, done everything I could, and cooperated wherever I could. What else does Yu Xianggong want me to do?

Upon hearing this, Yu Yunwen did not refute but just smiled bitterly.

Seeing this, Liu Huai added another handful of firewood. "If you, Lord Yu, want to use some other methods, I have plenty of soldiers under my command. As long as you are determined, Zhang Jun and his entire family will not survive this night."

In Liu Huai's expectation, the biggest enemy this time should be Zhao Gou and the peace faction he represented. Who would have thought that the first person he had to deal with this time was Zhang Jun, the leader of the pro-war faction?
Tang Si is watching the joke!
Yu Yunwen naturally did not expect that Zhang Jun, his senior and fellow villager, would act so aggressively. Therefore, he was not mentally prepared at all, so his methods were a little gentle.

You can treat Tang Situi to death, but can you do the same to Zhang Jun?
Liu Huai lost his temper, but seeing that Yu Yunwen was still in deep thought, he sighed, "Prince Yu, I'll help you two more times. I'll do something big before the spring plowing is over. You must contact your followers and get rid of Zhang Jun!"

Liu Huai's words have become naked.

There is no way. Zhang Jun’s military record is too scary. If this guy is really allowed to take charge of the military and political affairs of Lianghuai and command the Lianghuai and Shandong armies to march north, something big will definitely happen!

Yu Yunwen sighed, bowed to Liu Huai as a token of his gratitude, then drank the tea in his cup, stood up and left.

After Yu Yunwen walked away, the door of the house behind Liu Huai opened. Li Tong walked out, stroking his chin, followed by Liang Qiu.

"It seems that Lord Yu is also powerless." Li Tong said with a smile.

Liu Huai also laughed: "Then let's help him again."

As he spoke, Liu Huai looked at Liang Qiu and said, "Minister Liang, I'm sorry for the hard work you've put in this time."

Liang Qiu knelt down and bowed respectfully as if he had received an imperial decree: "I am willing to run for you, my Lord, even if it means death."

Liu Huai quickly stood up and helped the other person up.

A good water conservancy expert should never develop into what Li Tong was before.

(End of this chapter)