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

Chapter 516: The General and the Prime Minister Are Not in Harmony

It happened to be a south wind today, and the ships were traveling very fast on the canal. On the second day, the three ships arrived at Baoying County where the Dongping Army was stationed.

Afterwards, Zheng Yiqi walked down from the boat with more than ten medical officers and more than twenty clerks.

These people were not transferred to the Dongping Army from then on. Instead, they were backbone members drawn from the Jingnan Army to help the Dongping Army build its army. They would have to go back when the time came.

Zheng Yiqi and his group showed their badges and entered the Dongping Army camp. As soon as they arrived near the commander's tent, they heard the sound of a dispute coming from inside.

Xiao En stood at the entrance of the general's tent, holding his sword. He looked a little embarrassed, but he still accepted the military order receipt handed to him by Zheng Yiqi. He then pointed to the tent next to the general's tent and said, "Everyone, please wait a moment. Someone will serve you food and tea later."

Zheng Yiqi bowed and said, "Chief Executive Xiao, there's no need to be so polite. Who is making such a commotion in the commander's tent?"

Xiao En saw that the others had gone to the tents beside him, then he smiled bitterly and said, "Who else could it be? Mr. Chen."

Zheng Yiqi glanced at the commander's tent and asked in a low voice, "Is it because the cleanup of the military farms is not going smoothly?"

Xiao En hesitated to speak and just shook his head.

In the general's tent, Zhang Baiyu looked normal, his handsome face as expressionless as iron, he just held a cup of tea and drank by himself.

Chen Junqing lost his usual elegant demeanor, his face flushed, and his fingers, which were pointing at Zhang Baiyu, were trembling.

"Zhang Baiyu! Zhang Silang! Do you understand what I'm saying?!"

Zhang Baiyu placed the teacup back on the table, nodded, and said calmly, "Not only do I understand, but I also understand the source of my troubles."

Chen Junqing was stunned for a moment, then flew into a rage: "Are you saying the source is me? Are you saying that I'm unworthy of my position? Are you saying that I'm stupid and incompetent?"

"No." Zhang Baiyu had completely copied Liu Huai's infuriating attitude. He shook his head calmly and said, "I'm not just talking about you, Mr. Chen."

"You!" Chen Junqing became even more furious.

"Besides Prime Minister Chen, there's Prime Minister Zhang Jun, who recruited troops during the spring plowing season, and Shao Hongyuan, the chief steward, who championed the local tyrants, and Jia Hezhong, the second oldest son of the Jia clan, who was rude to me the other day and got beaten half to death by me."

Zhang Baiyu refilled his teacup and looked up into Chen Junqing's eyes. "There's a saying among our Jingnan army that's true. You are the source of the chaos that has divided the Han Empire into two."

Upon hearing this, Chen Junqing calmed down and looked at Zhang Baiyu as if he were a madman. "So, you are the only capable and virtuous minister in the world who is wholeheartedly devoted to the public good?"

Zhang Baiyu shook his head and said sincerely, "Mr. Chen, in my opinion, my husband, the commander-in-chief, is a hero in the world, but he is the one who creates the times.

The Duke of Wei of the Loyal Army and the current Prime Minister Yu are both people who can carry on the past and open up the future.

Others who dared to die for the country, such as my father, Li Dao, the commander, and Shi Jun, the commander, though powerless, had the will to do so, and their names should be recorded in history and sung by the world.

But people like Zhang Jun, the Prime Minister, are incompetent and useless; people like Shao Hongyuan, who are greedy and profit-seeking; people like Jia Hezhong, who are cowardly and arrogant.

And then there are people like Mr. Chen who are so restrained, so careful about their reputation, so obsessed with fame, not only afraid to take on responsibilities, but even now, he is scolding me, who has put life and death aside for the sake of doing things. How can I respect him?"

Chen Junqing began to tremble violently again and was almost angry to death.

Zhang Baiyu's words were still sincere. "Mr. Chen, if you really are irresponsible, I advise you to resign and retire to the countryside, enjoy your grandchildren, and write. Who knows, maybe a thousand years from now, you'll still have some literary fame, and you won't have to be angry with me here."

Chen Junqing swayed on the spot and sneered, "Then the affairs of the two Huai regions will be decided by you. You will send those Jurchens to kill all the disobedient members of the Wenhua Family?"

Zhang Baiyu wasn't fooled. "Mr. Chen, what nonsense are you talking about? We don't have any Jurchen soldiers here. The Dongping Army is made up of Han Chinese. If you continue to slander us, don't blame me for being even more harsh."

This is the root of the dispute between the two.

It is an indisputable fact that there are several groups of Jurchen cavalry roaming in Lianghuai. These Jurchen cavalry not only robbed wealthy families, but also often killed all the male members of a family. Their methods were extremely brutal.

Chen Junqing is certainly not a fool. He had just said a few days ago that this landlord was an obstacle to land measurement. That wealthy family had connections in the court and was in trouble. A few days later, the Jurchen cavalry showed up and directly cleared away the obstacles. It would be strange if he didn't become suspicious!
Zhang Baiyu immediately pushed the issue aside. "The Dongping Army has also killed many small-time tyrants and wiped out many bandits these days. You can't just say I'm doing the same thing and lump me in with the Jurchen bandits, right?"
Be careful or I will sue you for defamation.

As for why the Jurchens robbed the wealthy, it was simple. With the Huai River and Huai River regions now devastated, how could ordinary people possibly make a living? If they didn't rob the landlords, would they go door to door and plunder their property?
At first, Chen Junqing was a little skeptical, but when he asked the Dongping Army to go and wipe out the Jurchen cavalry, Zhang Baiyu simply shook his head and refused sternly.

When the Dongping army raided Tushan Zhen that day, the cavalry suffered heavy losses and could not catch up with the Jurchen cavalry who moved like the wind. Chen Junqing was stunned after hearing this.

Although I don't know anything about military affairs, your excuse, Zhang Baiyu, is too much!

The waterways in Lianghuai are crisscrossed, and your Dongping Army has a large number of ships. Are you kidding me when you say you can't catch the Jurchen cavalry in such a place?
Chen Junqing knew that he had no way to deal with this foreign military leader, so he immediately mobilized Jia Hezhong's troops, the most intact ones in the Huaidong army, to march north to wipe out the Jurchen cavalry.

However, just as Jia Hezhong broke camp, Zhang Baiyu, who had previously said that the Dongping army lacked cavalry, led fifty cavalrymen to attack Jia Hezhong's camp at night, and directly pulled Jia Laoer out of the arms of his concubine and brought him back to the Dongping army camp.

The reason why the Dongping Army suffered heavy losses was because of this bastard who watched them dying without helping!
This guy must be skinned alive!
When Chen Junqing learned about this, he was shocked again and rushed to stop it in person, thus saving Jia Hezhong's life.

But you can avoid the death penalty, but you can’t escape the living punishment.

In front of Chen Junqing, Zhang Baiyu personally whipped Jia Hezhong thirty times and made a harsh statement that another thirty whips would be waiting for him when they met again.

Jia Hezhong was beaten for no apparent reason and was driven back.

Chen Junqing was completely furious and wanted to summon Shao Hongyuan. However, as soon as the military envoy set out, he was captured by the cavalry of the Dongping Army along with the letter.

This time, Chen Junqing finally couldn't bear it anymore, and went straight to Zhang Baiyu's tent to question him.

Zhang Baiyu didn't bother to refute Chen Junqing's heartbreaking words. Instead, he was practical and told Chen Junqing to take advantage of this good opportunity to quickly complete the land measurement and land distribution, making the matter a done deal instead of arguing with him.

I have taken the initiative to do all the dirty work for you, and you are still complaining here. Do you still want to take on the responsibility of being your husband?

The reason why Zhang Baiyu felt that time was so urgent was not only because the Jingnan Army might return to Shandong one day, but more importantly, Zhang Jun was really capable of making trouble.

Selecting strong and brave men to form a new army and pacifying refugees and resuming production are two contradictory things.

For example, Su Kuan and others, who were minor officers with official military positions, still left the army and prepared to become small landlords after hearing the news that they could be granted land. What's more, those ordinary people who had no combat experience.

The task of measuring land in Huaidong was so difficult. First of all, there were the overt and covert counterattacks from the powerful and noble families in various places. Dian Lun and others could pick out a few typical ones to make an example of them, but with a total of 200 cavalrymen, it was impossible for them to kill all the landlords in Huaidong.

The second was Zhang Jun. He was too ambitious and lacked the ability to achieve his goals. He just kept assigning tasks to his subordinates, and those officials did not take them seriously. As for the military leaders, they took the Prime Minister's decree and started to conscript young men.

It's fucking spring plowing time.

If Zhang Jun continues to act this way, there will be a big mess sooner or later!
Seeing Zhang Baiyu's unmoved expression, Chen Junqing sighed deeply, "Strongness is easily broken. Zhang Silang, and your Lord General, take care of yourselves."

As he spoke, Chen Junqing shook his head and walked towards the door of the general's tent.

Zhang Baiyu didn't even stand up to see him off, but said coldly, "Mr. Chen, although I'm a junior, there's something my Lord Commander-in-Chief says that I can teach you."

"When a man acts, how can he only consider the benefits and harms, without considering right or wrong?"

Chen Junqing paused, then strode away.

His son, Chen Shou, stood trembling with fear outside the general's tent. After following his father back to the government office, he said, "Zhang Baiyu is truly a disloyal man! My Lord, you should submit a petition to impeach him. I don't believe he still has the guts to rebel! Father, calm down and don't bother with him."

Chen Junqing raised his head and looked at his second son curiously: "Erlang, how did you see me angry?"

Chen Shou was dumbfounded.

Seeing his son's attitude, Chen Junqing could only make his words clearer: "Zhang Silang does things without hesitation, but the matter is too big. By then, who knows how many people will hate him deeply. Even I can't stop so many people.

He's not afraid because after he's done, he can just walk away to Shandong. But I'm still afraid. If I don't stop him, if I don't break with him, the resentment of Jiangnan and Huaibei will all be on me, and my old bones can't bear it."

"As for what Zhang Silang did, it's not about right or wrong. He has his reasons, and I have mine. But the millions of people in Huaidong were able to survive because of his kindness."

After Chen Junqing finished speaking, he waved his hand and sent his still stunned second son out: "Watch your mouth, gather the officials, and don't waste the opportunity Zhang Silang has given us to tear it apart."

(End of this chapter)