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

Chapter 957 Loyalty Dies, Pettyness Lives
"...That concludes everything that happened on the fifteenth."

"Since the State of Song is going to declare war on the King of Han, we should naturally respond immediately. But the first thing we need to do is to determine our objective."

“We only have a little over a hundred people in Lin’an, and now that they’ve all been exposed, we should try to maximize our profits.”

Luo Huaiyan told a colossal lie without batting an eye, poked the campfire with the fire tongs, and then continued, "Therefore, if we can kill Zhao Gou and rescue Zhao Shen, that would be the best outcome. But if not, then we can only use a feint."

"In the end, I set my sights on rescuing the Yu family members, collecting the remains of Prime Minister Yu, and burning down the Hall of State Affairs."

"The attacks on Deshou Palace and the Imperial Palace were all feints, intended to disrupt the troop strength in Lin'an and prevent the Song army from attending to both ends."

"However, I didn't expect that Zhao Shen's close ministers would be so loyal and brave, gathering several hundred soldiers to try to storm the palace and rescue Zhao Shen. They really helped me a lot."

Hu Quan listened quietly as Luo Huaiyan addressed the Song emperor by his full name, until finally he could no longer contain himself: "I wholeheartedly agree with rescuing Prime Minister Yu's body and family, but why burn down the Hall of State Affairs? Is your aim to kill all the important officials of the Song Dynasty?"

Luo Huaiyan shook his head: "Of course not. Our King of Han once said that if you want to do great things, you must use fair and square means. Even if the other party is wrong, you should punish them in a fair and square manner. Therefore, assassination is the worst possible strategy."

Seeing the suspicion on Hu Quan's face, Luo Huaiyan laughed and said, "Lord Hu, if we really wanted to kill the prime minister, we wouldn't need to set fire to the palace. Our armored cavalry could just charge into the Hall of State Affairs, block the door, and kill anyone we saw. Do you think that with the palace in such a state of chaos, anyone would care about the Hall of State Affairs?"

“That makes sense, but then, what is your purpose…” Hu Quan opened his eyes wide and looked Luo Huaiyan up and down: “It’s those household registration books and tax documents.”

Luo Huaiyan nodded: "That's right. To be honest, if time weren't so tight, we would have packed these things up and sent them to Shandong. The Prince of Han will definitely need them."

Hu Quan sighed, "You've succeeded. Now... the Song Dynasty is going to be in chaos for a while."

The Council of State Affairs includes the Ministry of Personnel, the Secretariat, the Chancellery, and the Six Ministries. Its documents are as numerous as mountains and seas. If Luo Huaiyan were to set them all on fire, the Song Dynasty would have a good time.

Just mentioning a single household registration information is enough to give the Minister of Revenue a real headache.

If local officials can't handle household registration information, they'll be able to arbitrarily evade tax collection next year.

"I hope it will be a complete success." Luo Huaiyan only sighed, "The fire prevention preparations in Lin'an City are quite sufficient, especially since it is snowing today. How badly it burns depends entirely on fate."

At this point, Luo Huaiyan asked curiously, "Master Hu, I originally thought you would be furious, why are you so calm?"

Hu Quan smiled and said, "You young man, you naturally haven't met many of the high-ranking officials of our Great Song Dynasty. And since you're from Shandong, the people you've met the most are probably Minister Yu and Minister Lu, right?"

Given their temperaments, they'd probably fly into a rage upon hearing your outrageous words, wouldn't they?

Luo Huaiyan nodded: "That's natural, especially since Prime Minister Lu is so angry that even the Prince of Han has to back down."

Hu Quan's smile faded, and he sighed heavily. Looking at the coffin in the shadows, he murmured, "What can this old man do? Loyal ministers and filial sons all died without knowing why. So the only way to survive is to become a treacherous minister or a rebellious son."

As he spoke, Hu Quan was overcome with grief again and burst into tears on the spot. In just a moment, he was wailing.

Luo Huaiyan originally wanted to offer some words of comfort, but after thinking for a moment, he sighed and remained silent again.

Is there anything more tragic in the world than "We are about to fight to the death, why has Your Majesty surrendered first?"
Zhao Gou used facts to tell the world: Yes.

That is, "We were about to fight to the death, why did Your Majesty kill us?"

From the Jingkang Incident onwards, how many people did Zhao Gou betray in order to survive?

Zong Ze, Li Yanxian, Ma Kuo, Yue Fei, Zhao Ding... Behind this string of names are tens of thousands of lives, enough blood and tears to fill the Yellow River!
What could these scholar-officials do when they had such an official as their master?

After crying for a long time, Hu Quan finally wiped away his tears: "You're telling me all this because you don't want to let me go back?"

Luo Huaiyan nodded: "Of course I have to go to Shandong. The decision will be made by the Prince of Han then."

Hu Quan looked at the campfire and gritted his teeth, saying, "Then I'll go and see what kind of hero this King of Han you speak of really is!"

On the morning of October 17th, the sky cleared, and Luo Huaiyan led everyone on their way.

By this time, according to Luo Huaiyan's calculations, Lin'an City should have been stabilized. However, even if Yang Yizhong discovered some clues, it would be impossible for him to immediately investigate.

Moreover, a way out is already within reach.

At noon, the group arrived at Jiangwan Town at the mouth of the Wusong River. There, Luo Huaiyan boarded the waiting fleet, and the group headed directly north by sea.

By this time, the north-south waterway had matured, and the fleet successfully left the Huaihe River region and entered Shandong.

After arriving in Donghai County, Luo Huaiyan instructed the rest of the group to continue north along the coastal road directly to Jinan Prefecture.

He personally disembarked, sent a message to Liu Huai through the channels of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and then immediately led a few personal guards, rushing westward.

Finally, on October 25th, Luo Huaiyan arrived in Pengcheng and met Xin Qiji, who had already received the news.

After hearing the report from the person in question, Xin Qiji finally gained a comprehensive understanding of the current situation.

Seeing Xin Qiji deep in thought for a long time, Luo Huaiyan couldn't help but feel uneasy: "Fifth Brother, is there something wrong?"

Xin Qiji shook his head with a wry smile: "If we're talking about the whole thing, there are too many inappropriate aspects. If I were Zhao Gou, even if I had gone mad, I wouldn't have killed Prime Minister Yu in public. Even if I had exiled him to Yazhou and let him die of illness, it would still have been somewhat of a cover-up."

The Song Dynasty was founded on the scholar-officials; Zhao Gou's actions, by damaging his own foundation, were akin to chopping off the leg of his own chair with an axe. "Therefore, I think perhaps it wasn't Zhao Gou who was so determined to kill, but someone else entirely. Just like the matter of Marshal Yue Fei."

Luo Huaiyan, holding his rice bowl, looked somewhat bewildered and apprehensive: "Then... uh, did I do something wrong?"

Xin Qiji immediately shook his head and laughed, "How could that be? You only had so few people that day, even I couldn't have done any better. Besides, being able to rescue Lord Yu's body and family members, not to mention giving Dalang a handle, is itself a great achievement."

The burning of the documents in the government office was enough to throw the Song state into chaos for a while.

Luo Huaiyan finally felt relieved.

Xin Qiji waved his hand: "Let's not talk about these things anymore. My eldest son has already conquered Youzhou and destroyed the Eastern Jin. Do you know that?"

Luo Huaiyan was delighted upon hearing this: "Of course I know, and I've also heard about that wonderful poem. It's truly stirring and passionate, but alas..."

At this point, Luo Huaiyan's expression darkened: "It's just that Prime Minister Yu won't be able to see it."

Liu Huai accomplished a momentous feat in the north, fulfilling a long-cherished wish that heroes across the land had not achieved for centuries. What a magnificent and moving story this was!

Based on this, Liu Huai wrote a timeless poem and presented it to Yu Yunwen and Lu You.

However, on roughly the same day, Yu Yunwen died at the hands of a villain, never learning of the restoration of Youzhou, nor seeing the "Broken Formation" written to him by Liu Huai himself.

Even if such a thing were recorded in history books, it would be enough to make later generations regret it repeatedly, let alone when the person involved directly faced it.

Xin Qiji then paused to show his composure, took out a letter from his desk, and displayed it to Luo Huaiyan: "Although you didn't write me a poem, you did write a sentence to encourage me. I haven't shown it to anyone else."

Luo Huaiyan opened the letter. Although it was just a sentence, "You'an, you're finally at peace. You've lived a life without regrets," it still made his eyes red with jealousy.

"Sigh, I even served as the eldest son's personal scribe, how come he never thought to write me a single sentence so that I could also be remembered for eternity."

Luo Huaiyan reluctantly sent the letter back, but he also knew how urgent the siege was. Even if Liu Huai did nothing but write his feelings down outside the city, he couldn't possibly send a letter to everyone in the Han army.

It's only natural to feel a little envious.

After exchanging a few more pleasantries, Luo Huaiyan finished his meal and then took his leave to rest.

He had just stepped out of the government office when he encountered Chen Wenben, the deputy commander of the Flying Tigers.

"Luo Erlang is back."

"Just got back..."

"Good thing you're back, good thing you're back, hehe, did Fifth Brother show you that letter?"

"Oh? You saw it too?"

"Of course, Fifth Brother has shown it to almost every prominent person, and it's almost time to make a banner to hang on the city wall..."

As the sounds outside faded into the distance, Xin Qiji blushed slightly. He carefully put the letter away, then rested his chin on one hand and tapped the table with the other, lost in thought.

He was worried about dampening Luo Huaiyan's enthusiasm, so he didn't say some things.

Luo Huaiyan's actions dealt a severe blow to Zhao Gou's rule, causing turmoil in the Song Dynasty.

But for the Han army, this may not be good news.

Because if a regime cannot resolve its internal contradictions, it often resorts to external wars to export those contradictions.

The most typical example is the Jin Dynasty. The greater the internal conflicts became, the more they had to fight their way outwards.

As for who the State of Song intends to attack, that is quite obvious.

On the one hand, although the Eastern Jin had been destroyed, the Western Jin still existed, and Wanyan Liang was still alive and kicking. Last year, he even achieved the so-called Guanzhong victory. If Liu Huai hadn't led the Han army to deliver a crushing blow to Pusan ​​Zhongyi in Bianliang, the situation might have been turned around by Wanyan Liang.

It would be quite difficult to establish the Song army's authority by attacking the Western Jin.

On the other hand, all the main forces of the Han army are currently in Youzhou. They have just finished the Northern Expedition and there are still many things to finish up. It is impossible for the troops to suddenly fly back. Shandong and southern Henan are extremely vulnerable.

In addition, Zhao Gou had just declared Liu Huai a traitor and had been humiliated by the Embroidered Uniform Guard, so it was impossible for him to remain inactive.

Moreover, Zhao Gou also wanted to thoroughly criticize and discredit Yu Yunwen, and refute the major national policies arranged by Yu Yunwen.

In summary, the probability of the Song state attacking the Han army has greatly increased.

However, Luo Huaiyan's efforts were not in vain, as his destruction in Lin'an was real. Although the probability of the Song Kingdom sending troops was much higher, the probability of victory was decreasing rapidly.

As for the possible direction of the Song army's deployment.

Xin Qiji frowned as he looked at the map.

(End of this chapter)