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

Chapter 669 With one heart and one mind, even mountains can be shaken

The third day of the third lunar month, the second day of the military council.

North of Licheng, on the banks of the Beiqing River, a high altar was built.

Led by Wei Sheng, all those who had attended the grand military council yesterday gathered together again, their expressions solemn.

This is a spring festival, held both to ensure good weather and to commemorate the soldiers who died in last year's great battle.

Meanwhile, in Lin'an, Jiangnan, Yu Yunwen, holding a report of victory, slowly ascended to the imperial court.

Although Zhao Shen, who was sitting upright on the dragon throne, tried his best to maintain his expression, the joy in his eyes was impossible to hide.

This year is the first year of the Longxing era. Zhao Shen has just ascended the throne and has already achieved such a victory in the Northern Expedition. How can people not be excited?
After news of this great victory spread, even some of the veteran officials in the court treated Zhao Shen with great respect, no longer regarding him with the same disdain as before.

It has to be Liu Dalang from Shandong!
Thinking of Liu Huai, Zhao Shen's smile widened.

This is the first powerful general to pledge allegiance to me; he deserves to be commended.

At this moment, Shi Hao, who had become a Vice Chancellor, had a somewhat gloomy expression.

Zhao Shen, born and raised in the inner palace by women, was naturally somewhat naive, but Shi Hao was astute. He knew perfectly well what the situation was like with Liu Dalang from Shandong.

A wolf from Zhongshan!

With such an army stationed outside, the general in command could easily become ambitious. He might be exceptionally obedient today, but it's not impossible for him to declare himself king tomorrow.

However, the pro-war faction, led by Yu Yunwen, kept praising Liu Huai in the court, to the point that Shi Hao sometimes couldn't even remind his foolish student.

Previously, when Liu Huai and Zhao Shen met privately, Shi Hao had a heated argument with Liu Huai. At that time, whatever Shi Hao said would be taken as hostile attacks by Zhao Shen, and its credibility would immediately drop by 50%.

In the current situation, Zhao Shen, as the new ruler of the Song state, is like a newly appointed head of a family, while Zhao Gou is like an old patriarch enjoying his retirement.

At home, there are old and new managers, some diligent and some mediocre.

Among these shopkeepers, it's not necessarily true that the older ones will be loyal to Zhao Gou, or that the younger ones will be loyal to Zhao Shen. It all depends on who you follow to make a big business.

Now, Yu Yunwen, as the head manager, has worked with the second manager Liu Huai to successfully carve out a market, and his future status and prospects are limitless.

Although Shi Hao became a Vice Chancellor and even held the position of Privy Councilor, he was still not satisfied.

However, if he wants to become the sole prime minister, he must produce some political achievements.

The race for the Northern Expedition was already too crowded, not only with veterans like Zhang Jun, but also with rising stars like Yu Yunwen.

Besides, this was a fight to the death against the Jin army. How could Shi Hao compete with Yu Yunwen in battle? He couldn't win!
Therefore, the only option left is to take a different approach and open up a new path.

Thinking of this, Shi Hao's face grew even more gloomy.

Shi Hao had originally planned to shift his stance to the moderate faction, or rather, the defensive faction, back in December of last year. To this end, despite the favorable situation in Guanzhong, he wanted to persuade Zhao Shen to force Wu Lin to withdraw his troops.

Don't be fooled by how outrageous this idea seems; it is indeed feasible to some extent.

First of all, those who have lost power and are either conservatives or peace advocates will definitely support Shi Hao, even if it's not for the sake of national policy, but simply to prevent their own official positions from being replaced by those who advocate war.

Secondly, Wu Lin was a senior general, and Shen Jie, the Pacification Commissioner of Sichuan, could not control him and could only let him do as he pleased. This kind of military leader acting arbitrarily in the field might have been normal in the Tang Dynasty, but it was not acceptable in the Song Dynasty.

Finally, Wu Lin was different from his elder brother Wu Jie. Wu Lin was a respectful person, and now that the new emperor had just been established, with the example of Yue Fei before him, as long as the central government issued an edict, there was no fear that Wu Lin would disobey.

In actual history, Shi Hao actually managed to accomplish it.

At that time, Wu Lin suffered a minor setback in Guanzhong. When Zhao Shen's edict to withdraw troops arrived, it was already December. The edict was very stern and ordered Wu Lin to withdraw his troops back to Shu.

To avoid suspicion and to maintain the new emperor's authority, Wu Lin had no choice but to hastily order a withdrawal of troops.

The Song army recovered the lost territory in Guanzhong, but all thirteen prefectures in three routes were once again occupied by the Jin army.

During their retreat, the Song army was pursued by the Jin army, resulting in over 20,000 casualties.

But the situation is somewhat different now.

While Shi Hao was causing trouble, the Shandong rebels were fighting fiercely with the Jin army. Yu Yunwen was in Lianghuai. Although he did not understand the specific military situation, he knew that the war was urgent. Therefore, he kept writing to Zhao Shen, asking him to persevere and not to have any thoughts of negotiating peace.

This is Zhao Shen's first battle after ascending the throne. If he can win, even a small victory, it will be enough to solidify his position as emperor.

In actual history, Yu Yunwen did not govern the Huai River region, but went to Shu. The journey was long, and he did not have time to analyze the situation with Zhao Shen. By the time Wu Lin withdrew his troops, everything was over.

But now that Yu Yunwen is in Luzhou, if he doesn't mind the trouble, he can simply choose a day off to return to Lin'an and meet Zhao Shen in person. Naturally, he won't let the other party make a mistake.

At Yu Yunwen's insistence, Zhao Shen did not order the Shandong rebels to withdraw, and thus did not grant Shi Hao's request.

There is another crucial point.

At this time, the Jin army in Guanzhong was not as powerful as it had been in history.

On the one hand, the Jin state was divided into two parts, east and west, and they were fighting a civil war with each other, leaving them no time to support Guanzhong.

On the other hand, many of the Jin generals who fought Wu Lin in Guanzhong in history came to the Shandong and Hebei battlefields to stabilize the situation.

Take Wanyan Shoudao for example. If he hadn't come to guard Daming Prefecture, he might have been captured by Geng Jing in one fell swoop.

As a result, Wu Lin's battle plan went very smoothly, even capturing two more prefectures than in history. This time, Shi Hao not only exposed his political leanings and attracted the attention of Zhang Jun and others, but also gained nothing, a classic case of trying to steal a chicken but losing the rice instead.

Now that Yu Yunwen has led the Shandong rebels to such great success, Zhao Shen's will to launch a northern expedition will be even stronger, and Yu Yunwen will rise to prominence, making his position unshakeable.

Shi Hao wasn't the only one with a bad complexion; Zhang Jun looked even worse.

He didn't expect the Northern Expedition to fail, but rather he hoped it would succeed under his leadership.

This is more than just an ambition; it's an obsession.

Amidst the varied expressions of the court officials, Yu Yunwen held several victory reports and read them aloud on the spot.

The content roughly describes a battle fought on a certain date, how many enemies were killed and captured, and includes enemy heads, as well as golden drums and banners as evidence.

So-and-so fought bravely and was the first to break through the enemy lines, and should be rewarded; so-and-so fought to the death and ultimately perished in battle, and should be posthumously honored.

Then came a string of flattering remarks, such as "Your Majesty governs the world with virtue, and wherever the Northern Expeditionary Army goes, the people bring provisions and follow in its wake..." and "When the Heavenly Army is everywhere, the enemy army is terrified..." These kinds of words just kept popping out of the air.

Zhao Shen felt overjoyed and nodded repeatedly on the dragon throne.

"Your Majesty, this great victory is due to Your Majesty's benevolence. The people of the north long for the Heavenly Army like withered rice longs for rain, or starving children long for their parents. Therefore, wherever the army goes, it is invincible. The Jin army is terrified, and the enemy chieftains flee."

After reading the victory report he had personally polished, Yu Yunwen bowed to Zhao Shen and said, "Your Majesty, the world is about to be at peace, and the Great Song Dynasty will surely prosper!"

Yu Yunwen's tone was calm, yet full of strength.

As if infected by his words, the other ministers bowed and sang praises to Zhao Shen.

"The Great Song Dynasty shall rise!"

"The Great Song Dynasty shall rise!"

Zhao Shen was somewhat excited, and even the scarlet robe he wore and the turban behind his head trembled.

But he didn't speak. He simply stood up slowly and looked through the main entrance of the hall at the scales in the distance, as if he could truly see a new era about to begin.

The former residence of Qin Hui, located east of Wangxian Bridge and north of Phoenix Mountain in Lin'an Prefecture, had by this time been designated by Zhao Gou as a place for his retirement.

Qin Hui had already built his residence to the level of a king or nobleman. After Zhao Gou renovated it, it became even more magnificent, with more than ten palaces standing side by side, complete with pavilions, towers, gardens and landscapes, exotic flowers and rare plants, and rocks piled up to form mountains, known as Feilai Peak and Wanshou Mountain, which were the most beautiful sights in Lin'an.

At this moment, Zhao Gou was also in a pavilion, looking at the sky, holding a cup of tea in his hand, listening to Yang Yizhong's report.

"...Your Majesty, this is the situation. Geng Jing is dead, the Shandong West Road has been recovered, and the three Jin commanders in Xuzhou are either dead or have fled, and are no longer a threat."

"Your Majesty, this time the Central Plains are truly within reach, and the Jin invaders can be defeated."

When Yang Yizhong finished speaking, he heard Zhao Gou stop drinking tea and immediately realized that he had said something wrong, so he immediately shut his mouth.

"Zhengfu, do you think this is a good thing or a bad thing?" Zhao Gou asked calmly.

After a long silence, Yang Yizhong did not give a direct answer: "Your Majesty, the people's hearts are already somewhat unsettled."

Zhao Gou chuckled, then his expression turned cold.

The "hearts" that Yang Yizhong referred to were not the Song court or the people, but the hearts of the peace faction.

In theory, Zhao Gou is still the core of the peace faction, but if Zhao Shen continues to win victories... even if they are only nominal victories, many of these peace faction members will change their stance in order to preserve their wealth and status.

What will Zhao Gou have left then? Will he still have any influence in the court?

Wouldn't Zhao Gou then have to live by the whims of his adopted son, Zhao Shen?
Yang Yizhong's meaning is simple: it's hard to say whether the victory of the Northern Expedition was a good thing or a bad thing for the country.

But for the appeasement faction represented by Zhao Gou, it was almost a catastrophe.

“I told my eldest brother a long time ago that after I die, he can do whatever he wants. Now it seems that the child has grown up and has become more cunning. He won’t listen to me anymore.”

After scoffing a few times, Zhao Gou tossed the teacup into the lake outside the pavilion.

……

Ripples spread across the water, and on the altar, Wei Sheng slowly poured the wine from his cup into the Ji River.

Then, Wei Sheng stepped back a few steps and placed the incense and candles he had lit himself into the incense burner.

His words were neither impassioned nor eloquent; he simply raised his wine cup in a voice audible to those around him and said loudly, "To Governor Geng, and to the soldiers and civilians who sacrificed their lives in the fight against the Jin, may you accept this offering!"

Liu Huai also raised his wine cup: "May you enjoy this feast!"

The sound echoed outwards in circles until it reached the thousands of people on the outermost edge, who simultaneously bowed to the altar and chanted in unison, "May the spirits of the fallen rest in peace!"

The sound was deafening, like spring thunder, rolling in all directions, and for a moment it actually drowned out the sound of the waves of the Ji River.

Liu Huai, standing among them, felt a strange sense of感慨 (gǎnkǎi, a complex emotion encompassing feelings, thoughts, and reflections).

The combined prayers of a thousand people can drown out the roar of a great river.

With the concerted efforts of 100,000 or 1 million people, what can't we accomplish?
Volume Five: No Hegemonic Ambitions Yet to Be Established, Regional Powers Emerge as Heroes Emerge

(End of this chapter)