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

Chapter 821 A Clearly Disloyal Intention: Who Can Control It?

Revenge is a feast that has cooled down.

Cutting off the head of an enemy is always just an appetizer for the main course.

But the real feast must ultimately be a sacrifice to one's loved ones using the head of an enemy.

After killing Liu Bao, the Han army went in and out, setting up tables and incense burners in the hall, offering melons, fruits, rice, and wine, and establishing a simple mourning hall.

Wei Chang placed Liu Bao's head aside, carefully took out a memorial tablet from the bundle on his back, and placed it on the table.

Whether it was the Han army generals with somewhat intense expressions or the Song army generals with varying expressions, they all watched Wei Chang act without uttering a word.

After the altar was set up, everyone looked and saw that several large characters were indeed written on the memorial tablet:

First, examine the memorial tablet of Duke Wei, whose personal name was Sheng.

Wei Chang placed Liu Bao's head in front of the altar, then took a package from the Han soldiers, took out a head that had been preserved with lime, and placed it next to Liu Bao's.

Then, Wei Chang kowtowed heavily before Wei Sheng's memorial tablet: "Father! There are many enemies who harmed you. Your son is incompetent. Today, I can only offer the heads of Heshi Lie Liangbi and Liu Bao to your spirit in heaven!"

Liu Huai was still holding Zhang Jun's hands, so at this moment only Wei Chang was bowing and taking the oath.

However, Wei Chang's declaration alone was shocking enough.

Yu Yunwen sighed, first bowing to Wei Sheng's memorial tablet, then pointing to the head covered in lime and asking, "Was this man Heshilie Liangbi?"

Liu Huai nodded and said, "It was Heshilie Liangbi, the Left Prime Minister of the Jin Kingdom. After I besieged Mengcheng, he felt that he was guilty and had nowhere to go, so he gouged out his eyes, cut off his ears and tongue, and disemboweled himself to apologize."

Yu Yunwen's eyebrows twitched a few times upon hearing this, then he looked at Heshi Lie Liangbi's head and said to Liu Huai, "Is Liu Dalang satisfied with this result?"

Liu Huai, holding Zhang Jun's hands, glanced sideways at Yu Yunwen: "Is Prime Minister Yu satisfied?"

Yu Yunwen remained silent for a moment before shaking his head amidst the complex gazes of both Han and Song officials, and said sincerely, "Of course I am dissatisfied, even heartbroken. However, I have cried a few times in private before, so I can still bear it a little now."

"Oh? I wonder why Master Yu is crying?"

Yu Yunwen clasped his hands, his words becoming increasingly earnest: "Naturally, I am mourning for Duke Wei, for the nation, for the state of the world, and also for you, Liu Dalang."

Liu Huai stared at Yu Yunwen, but ultimately remained silent.

Yu Yunwen continued, "You haven't answered my question yet, Brother Liu. Are you satisfied with this result?"

Liu Huai sighed and looked up at the sky: "Lord Yu, do you know? At some point, I really wanted to follow my father and become a loyal minister and general of the Song Kingdom."

Putting aside other matters, during Wanyan Liang's southern expedition, I ultimately risked my life to rescue him, displaying unparalleled bravery among all the armies. Even in the annals of history, no one can call me a two-faced person.

At this moment, not only Yu Yunwen, but even Zhang Jun, whose hands were sweaty and extremely disheveled from being gripped, had to admit this.

They were not time travelers. In their view, if it weren't for the great battle in Chaoxian, the Song Kingdom might have already perished by now.

Liu Huai, who was the first to sound the horn of counterattack and served as the main force, was naturally the great hero who saved the Song Kingdom.

"The State of Song is truly wonderful. Its culture is flourishing and its economy is thriving. To be a noble official in the State of Song is truly the best thing in the world."

Liu Huai smiled, but then changed the subject: "Even though the Song Dynasty had a thousand good points, it still handed over half of its country to others and sent the Han people of the north to the barbarians as slaves and servants, to be treated like cattle and horses."

"It's easy for me to be a noble official, but who will save the people of the North?"

Yu Yunwen remained silent for a moment, then simply shook his head slightly.

Lu You listened and simply sighed softly.

He was a quick-witted person and immediately understood the subtle exchange between the two.

Yu Yunwen sarcastically remarked that now that Wei Sheng was no longer able to restrain Liu Huai, he could finally do whatever he wanted and declare himself king.

Liu Huai, on the other hand, was saying that the Song state in the north had abandoned itself. He was launching the northern expedition in the name of relieving the suffering of the people. Just because the Song state didn't come to recover its lost territory, he couldn't stop others from doing it, could he?
After a moment of silence, Yu Yunwen continued, "Are you satisfied with this decision?"

After a long silence, Liu Huai seemed unable to suppress his anger. He opened his eyes wide and suddenly shouted angrily: "You, and He Shilie Liangbi, one by one, tried to figure out my thoughts, used the most pliable tactics, and went to great lengths to make me vent my anger."

Why not fight me to the death?! Why not steel your bones and fight me to the bitter end?!

The Han generals, who had already noticed Liu Huai's strange mentality, need no further explanation, and some Song generals also realized it.

On the surface, after Liu Huai personally led his army to defeat the Jin army and besieged the remnants in Mengcheng, he only issued an ultimatum, which led to Heshilie Liangbi committing suicide in the most cruel way to atone for his sins.
Liu Huai led his army straight into the Song army's central camp. He only reprimanded them twice before the Song prime minister, Yu Yunwen, pushed the commander of one of the troops under Liu Huai's blade, allowing him to vent his anger.

The sheer power of one man commanded the respect of the prime ministers of two vast empires; what a formidable reputation he was!
But for Liu Huai, it was like punching cotton; he felt utterly powerless. His anger had no outlet.

Admittedly, from a rational point of view, subduing the enemy without fighting is the best of all, and minimizing the loss of even one soldier is a great blessing.

But even the most politically-minded person cannot live a lifetime solely on reason.

Conversely, by this point, not only was the Han army exhausted and unable to launch a large-scale invasion, but also, considering Liu Huai's political promises to Wei Sheng and the fact that both the Song and Jin armies were so flexible, he simply could not bring himself to use force.

This was the root cause of Liu Huai's sudden loss of composure. Yu Yunwen remained silent for a long while before saying solemnly, "Except for Minister Lu, Chief Steward Xin, and Military Governor Li, everyone else, get out!"

The Song generals need no further explanation, but the Han army all looked at Liu Huai, awaiting his orders.

Liu Huai sneered twice: "Achang, you stay here too. The rest of you, go out and wait in the courtyard!"

"Here!"

Amidst a resounding response, everyone filed out. In the large hall, apart from Liu Huai and Zhang Jun, whose hands were still clasped together, there were only five others: Yu, Li, Xin, Lu, and Wei.

Seeing this, Liu Huai finally released Zhang Jun's hands, letting him slump into his seat: "Lord Yu, what do you have to say?"

Yu Yunwen pulled a book from his sleeve and threw it to Liu Huai: "This is a military report from Xiangfan. The Song Dynasty has completely occupied Nanyang. Grand Commandants Cheng Min and Wu Gong have defeated Wuyanpuluhun. Young Master, the affairs of the world are about to be settled."

Liu Huai glanced at the document, then looked up at Yu Yunwen with disdain: "Prime Minister Yu, you want to use Grand Commandants Cheng and Wu to pressure me? You want to rely on them to change the course of the world? Fine, then go ahead."

Putting everything else aside, now that the Song army has completely occupied Nanyang, they should be heading north through the Wuguan Pass into Guanzhong, or continuing north into Luoyang.

"If we capture either of these two places, what hope does the Western Jin have? Destroying the Jin dynasty would be enough to awe the world, wouldn't it? Why not go?"

Yu Yunwen fell silent again.

What else could it be?

The Song army's complete occupation of the Nanyang Basin was a clever tactic, taking advantage of the fact that the main force of the Western Jin army was engaged in the battle in Huaibei, and thus they exerted all their strength to gain an advantage.

Don't forget that even now, the combined forces of Wanyan Liang and Pusan ​​Zhongyi of the Western Jin Dynasty still number in the tens of thousands. If the Song army advances any further, it will have to confront these troops head-on.

Can we win?

The best outcome would be a 50/50 split.

To put it bluntly, wasn't Cheng Min the one who got beaten up by Pu San Zhongyi before?
If they lose, they will have to give up the Nanyang Basin, which they have just acquired and has not yet stabilized.

Yu Yunwen: "Brother Liu, what I mean is that the world is about to be settled, and from now on it will be a peaceful and prosperous era. Brother Liu, please don't make a mistake."

Liu Huai still sneered disdainfully: "Whose peaceful and prosperous age? The Zhao Emperor and the retired emperor in Lin'an? In this peaceful and prosperous age, is there a place for those of us who are willing to risk our lives for the country?!"

If there were reinforcements, why did my father fight to the death without any help? Who is truly risking their lives for this peaceful and prosperous era? And who is reaping the benefits without lifting a finger?

Faced with Liu Huai's rebuke of the imperial carriage, the three Song state ministers and a military governor pretended not to hear. However, Liu Huai showed no sign of stopping. Pointing at Zhang Jun, he said loudly to Yu Yunwen, "Minister Yu, I have never placed any hope in such a pure-blooded good-for-nothing, nor in cowards like Liu Bao and Shao Hongyuan. My father and I truly regarded you as a comrade-in-arms to pacify the world. But what have you taken us for? Used and discarded like toilet paper?"

Zhang Jun was shocked and then filled with resentment. But then, for some unknown reason, he didn't refute anything and immediately became dejected. In the end, he looked as if he had aged ten years, sitting slumped in his seat, silent.

Yu Yunwen, who was publicly criticized, also knew that this might be the source of Liu Huai's greatest anger towards the Song Kingdom.

It's one thing for the Song state not to treat the Northern Expeditionary Army soldiers as human beings, but it's another to treat them like comrades who are united in purpose and political allies of the Northern Expeditionary Army in the Song court, which is extremely infuriating.

Zhang Jun is all talk and no action. It's only natural that a useless person who's written in history can't accomplish anything. Do you, Yu Yunwen, really want to sit at the same table with him?
You also betrayed the cause of the Northern Expedition?

"Do you...do you know that even on his deathbed, my father was still pleading for the Song Kingdom? He still wanted me to make a promise to show some mercy to the Song Kingdom?"

Faced with Liu Huai's questioning, Yu Yunwen could only look at Wei Sheng's memorial tablet and sigh, "Lord Wei was naturally a loyal minister and general of our Great Song Dynasty."

Liu Huai stared at Yu Yunwen and said, "Yes, a loyal minister and a good general. That's why my father eventually asked Fan Pang's question: If I want you to do evil, then evil cannot be done; if I want you to do good, then I will not do evil."

“My father did not want me to become a traitor, but he was a loyal minister and a good general, yet he ended up like this. Back then, none of the great Confucian scholars of the Han Dynasty could answer Fan Pang’s question. Now, I ask you, Lord Yu, to answer my father’s question.”

Yu Yunwen sighed repeatedly, ultimately speechless.

Who could answer such a question?
Lu You, who had been silent all along, finally spoke up: "Elder brother, Duke Wei is naturally a loyal minister and general of the Song Dynasty. Given the current situation, do you intend to start a war with the Song Dynasty?"

In the dark room, several important figures, all of whom were considered to be of great influence in the world, held their breath.

Although Li Xianzong had made preparations in advance, having previously dispatched Dai Gao to lead troops into the city, and they were currently facing off against the Flying Tiger Army, the high-ranking generals of the Song army were too close to Liu Huai's personal guards.

If Liu Huai really decides to go to war, what will become of the Song state, what will be the outcome for the Song army in Xia Cai, and even whether Liu Huai can successfully leave the city amidst the chaos of battle are all uncertain.

But one thing is certain: all the high-ranking Song soldiers in the government office are doomed.

Liu Huai stared at Lu You for a long time before turning to Yu Yunwen: "Prime Minister Yu, I cannot disobey my father's last wish. I also request that Mr. Lu be appointed as the Military Commissioner of Hebei and add the title of Prime Minister of the Song State."

Yu Yunwen glanced at Lu You and nodded in agreement: "That's perfect. But let's be a little clearer: you cannot rebel until both Jin kingdoms are destroyed, how about that?"

Liu Huai gripped the silver cup in his hand, staring intently at Yu Yunwen. After crushing the cup, he stood up angrily and walked towards the door: "Prime Minister Yu, you must not die, otherwise my last bit of trust in the Song Kingdom will vanish!"

The hall doors opened, and Liu Huai personally carried Wei Sheng's memorial tablet as he stepped out.

Behind him, Yu Yunwen shouted again, "Liu Dalang, I will do my best to live. I want to see you become a loyal minister and general of the Song Dynasty again!"

Liu Huai remained silent, looking up at the autumn sunlight, which appeared deathly pale.

(End of this chapter)