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

Chapter 530 The snipe and the clam fight and the fisherman wins
The reason why Yu Yunwen did not take action is very simple.

He is waiting for an opportunity.

Although the pro-war faction is powerful now, there is also a considerable number of pro-defense factions among them. They do not want to launch a northern expedition, but want to establish a solid defense line in Lianghuai and Jingxiang, so that they can live their own lives behind closed doors.

The leader was the prime minister of the time, Chen Kangbo.

The remaining pro-war faction was divided into two parts. One part supported Zhang Jun's restoration as prime minister and his presidency over Jingxiang and Huaibei; the other part supported Yu Yunwen, the general who fought in the Battle of Chao County, and hoped that he would go to Huaibei and Huaibei to cooperate with Shandong in the Northern Expedition.

No matter how powerful the war faction is, it is impossible for them to defeat the peace faction head-on if they are so fragmented.

What's more, Zhao Gou was taking sides.

Therefore, Yu Yunwen could not attack Zhang Jun directly. He was waiting for the peace faction to attack so that he could fish in troubled waters.

Yu Yunwen was also anxious, but he knew that with the growing power of the pro-war faction, the pro-peace faction must be even more anxious.

And on March 21st, the opportunity that Yu Yunwen had been waiting for finally arrived.

Wang Che, the envoy of Hubei and Jingxi, was summoned to the capital and arrived in Jiankang. He was then appointed as prime minister and vice-chancellor.

Wang Che is fifty-four years old this year, which is the golden age of his political career. His faction is also very obvious, and he is a genuine pro-war faction.

In fact, if Wang Che was not a pro-war faction, then when Wanyan Liang invaded the south, he would not have been sent to Jingxiang and became a general, mobilizing Cheng Min and Wu Gong in the middle.

As a die-hard advocate of war who had proposed to develop armaments and reorganize the troops in Lianghuai and Jingxiang ten years ago, and who was a political enemy of Tang Shitui, Wang Che's appointment as prime minister shocked the court and the public, and they were confused about which direction the wind was blowing.

Is Wang Che going to become the Jianghuai Envoy?
But in fact, Zhao Gou's move was not to launch a northern expedition to recover lost territory, but to make Chen Kangbo and Wang Che cooperate so that he could abdicate smoothly.

However, what is quite blackly humorous is that the surge in the power of the pro-war faction has caused some stress reactions from the pro-peace faction.

Tang Shitui quickly realized that if he didn't take action, he would really have no chance.

On the second day, just when Wang Che had not yet figured out the political situation, Liu Gong, the eldest son of Liu Ziwu, who was also the attendant of the emperor and the acting secretary of the imperial court, caused trouble.

Zhao Gou already wanted to return to Lin'an, but before he left, he had to settle the military affairs in Lianghuai.

Therefore, Zhao Gou issued an edict to appoint Yang Yi Zhong as the envoy of Jianghuai, but Liu Gong, who was in charge of drafting the imperial edict, did not write it at all and rejected it.

After several times, the eunuch Zhang Qu came to scold Liu Gong in order to cooperate with Tang Situi.

Liu Gong was an extremely upright person. When he saw that it was Zhang Quwei who forced him to draft such an edict, he immediately flew into a rage and wrote a thousand-word impeachment article in haste.

The central idea is very clear.

Now that the country is in ruins, positions like the Jianghuai Xuanfu Envoy should be given to capable people.

Regardless of Yang Yizhong's abilities, he had been dismissed from an important position before because of excessive power. This was the government's good intention to protect him, so why would all his efforts be wasted now?
If it is believed that Yu Yunwen's qualifications are not sufficient, then a person with rich qualifications and mature and steady experience should be chosen to govern.

This time it was like poking a hornet's nest.

Although attacking Yang Yizhong is politically correct, but to say it so clearly and explicitly saying that Yang Yizhong is incompetent, you really have guts, Liu Gong.

And who is this experienced and mature person you're talking about? Who is the one who surpasses Yang Yizhong and Yu Yunwen? Can you explain it clearly?
It doesn’t matter. If you don’t explain it clearly, someone else will explain it for you.

Tang Shitui and others took the opportunity to write a letter to impeach Zhang Jun for forming cliques, and even winning over figures like the Secretary of the Central Secretariat, making it impossible for the emperor to draft imperial edicts. If this continues, the country will no longer be a country!

Zhao Gou was also very angry and went straight to the Prime Minister Chen Kangbo: "Liu Gong's father, Liu Ziyu, was recommended by Zhang Jun. Liu Gong's behavior is just to promote Zhang Jun! He is the Secretary of the Central Secretariat! He actually promotes a foreign minister!"

The words were harsh, but Chen Kangbo was also a man who had seen many storms. He immediately comforted Zhao Gou and personally went to find Liu Gong to ask him to draft the document appointing Yang Yi Zhong.

Chen Kangbo personally persuaded Liu Gong that if he continued like this, Zhang Jun would definitely be implicated.

Liu Gong also knew that he seemed to have caused a big trouble, but at this point, if he retreated, it would really harm Zhang Jun. Therefore, he could only bite the bullet and say that this was for the country, not for Zhang Jun!

Chen Kangbo had no choice but to walk away in anger when faced with this stubborn guy.

Just when Liu Gong returned home to pack his things and prepare to be exiled, the matter came to an end.

It is not known whether Yang Yi was getting carried away or was really old and confused, but he actually planned to let Zhao Mi take the Infantry Division to Chuzhou to act as the vanguard.

This is a bit much.

Although Yang Yi Zhong personally went to Zhao Gou to apologize the next day, Zhao Gou still had some hesitations about the appointment.

Furthermore, although the court officials were blaming Zhang Jun, they were still reluctant to allow Yang Yizhong to govern Lianghuai. Even though Zhao Gou was furious, some people continued to impeach Yang Yizhong, which made Zhao Gou even more hesitant. The government seemed to be at a stalemate at this time.

The position of the Jingxiang and Jianghuai Xuanfu Envoy is nonsense, but the position of the Jianghuai Xuanfu Envoy must be given out. The two Huai regions are in such a state of ruin. If there is no frontier official to preside over it, how can it be recovered?
As long as there was no important official in charge of the Huai River and Huai River regions, Zhao Gou would have to continue staying in Jiankang and would not be able to return to his comfortable home in Lin'an.

However, it now seems that neither Yang Yi nor Zhang Jun can succeed, and it seems that this heavy burden will fall on Yu Yunwen.

Yu Yunwen was waiting for this opportunity.

Before the peace faction and Zhang Jun had time to focus their attacks on him, Yu Yunwen quickly nominated someone.

This person quickly gained recognition from all camps, and within just two days, the imperial edict was issued, allowing him to take office.

The new Jianghuai envoy is our old acquaintance, Ye Yiwen, the Prime Minister Ye, who performed particularly cowardly in a series of political struggles.

Yu Yunwen also successfully became the deputy envoy of Jianghuai Xuanfu, and finally became the legitimate Xuanfu Prime Minister.

Regarding this result, all the factions, whether pro-war, pro-peace or pro-defense, were quite satisfied.

For the defensive faction, even though Ye Yiwen once presided over the Lianghuai War as the Privy Councilor and had a record of capturing the Jin Lord alive, any discerning person would know that the Battle of Chao County had nothing to do with this old man.

This guy is a useless guy who knows nothing about military affairs and is completely unable to promote the Northern Expedition.

For the peace faction, Ye Yiwen could not accomplish anything. After Zhao Shen ascended the throne, if he dared to use him as the commander-in-chief of the Northern Expedition, he would be faced with a great defeat.

Zhang Jun still had a huge reputation after all, Ye Yi asked what was the point?
To the pro-war faction, Ye Yiwen was still a waste, but he was so useless that he could neither accomplish anything nor cause harm. Yu Yunwen, the deputy envoy of Jianghuai, could easily sideline him.

By then, with the Song Dynasty's number one general in command, wouldn't it be easy to conquer the empty Central Plains in the north?
As for Zhao Gou's selfish mentality, Ye Yiwen was too perfect. He had no roots in the court. Although he was a pro-war faction, he had not formed his own power. This had been clearly revealed in the political struggles of the previous two months.

As a privy councilor who had just won a great victory, it was really pathetic that Ye Yiwen was impeached and forced to try to retire and return home.

Therefore, Ye Yiwen is truly the one that everyone expects!

Ye Yiwen, who had been lamenting his future the day before, suddenly became a rising star in the political arena. He was immediately ecstatic and pulled Lu You to dance with joy.

"If it weren't for my nephew's advice, I would have retired and returned home!"

The wrinkles on Ye Yiwen's face were all transformed into a flower by his smile. He held Lu You's hands tightly and shook them up and down.

Lu You was at a loss for words: "Mr. Ye, it's not time to celebrate yet. The Jianghuai Commissioner is both powerful and a huge responsibility."

Ye Yiwen also calmed down at this time.

Originally, when Lu You asked him to show weakness and not do anything these days, Ye Yiwen was a little depressed, thinking that all his political allies had abandoned him, but at that time Lu You patted his chest and guaranteed that there would be a turning point.

Ye Yiwen thought he was comforting himself at the time, but he didn't expect that there would actually be such a thing as a pie falling from the sky.

At this point, Ye Yiwen already had enough confidence in Lu You's wisdom and strategy, so he immediately pulled Lu You back to sit beside the table and said, "My dear nephew, I have become a little too proud of myself. I hope you can give me some advice on what to do next."

Lu You smiled bitterly and shook his head: "Mr. Ye, there is no need for any advice or suggestions. I am just concentrating on the king's affairs."

Seeing Ye Yiwen's bewildered look, Lu You sighed and made his words clearer: "My nephew's words may not be pleasant to hear, I hope Mr. Ye will bear with me."

"Prime Minister Ye is good at governing the people, but not at military affairs. This is not a big mistake," Lu You said sincerely. "Why not separate the military affairs and let Prime Minister Yu worry about it, while Prime Minister Ye comforts the people of Huaibei and Huainan and prepares food and fodder. As long as the Northern Expedition goes smoothly, Prime Minister Ye will naturally be a famous general and can be appointed Prime Minister."

Ye Yiwen had calmed down by now, realizing that Lu You was asking for a political commitment on Yu Yunwen's behalf. He nodded immediately, "Okay, I'll speak to Prime Minister Yu right away, but..."

At this point, Ye Yiwen hesitated for a moment before saying, "But in this case, does Liu Dalang have any other explanation?"

Originally, Ye Yiwen thought that Liu Huai, as his political ally, had abandoned him, and was very angry for a while. But now that he suddenly became the Prime Minister, he immediately remembered the saying that Lianghuai and Shandong were one, and he couldn't wait to continue to build a relationship with Liu Huai.

Lu You shook his head secretly in his heart, but did not show it on his face: "Mr. Ye, it would be too conspicuous to meet in Jiankang City at this time. When Mr. Ye goes to govern the two Huai regions, then you, Mr. Dalang, will naturally come to pay your respects."

Ye Yiwen nodded slightly: "I don't know what Liu Dalang is doing right now. In this political struggle, it is obvious that Yu Binfu and Liu Dalang have contributed the most, but all the benefits have gone to me. I feel bad about it."

This time, Lu You really began to shake his head slightly.

This Mr. Ye is too impatient.

But what exactly was Liu Huai waiting for? Lu You really didn't know.

(End of this chapter)