Usurpation of Mongolia: My father-in-law is Genghis Khan

Chapter 236: To share the world with the scholar-officials or with the warriors?

Dong Songchen said, "Bianliang surrendered without a fight! One prefecture and two counties in Henan, Caizhou, Guide Prefecture, and Kaifeng Prefecture, all surrendered without a fight! The entire Henan has fallen into Zhao Shuo's hands, and I'm afraid he will soon march his troops into Xiangyang. I urge Your Majesty and all the ministers to make a decision as soon as possible!"

After speaking, he knelt down and held up an urgent official document.

"Let me see!"

Wei Liaoweng quickly took the official document and examined it carefully. He saw that the document was written by Meng Gong, the ambassador of Jinghu, and it detailed the surrender of this prefecture and two counties in Henan.

On the third day of the ninth month, the first ten thousand households of the Plain Red Banner, the first ten thousand households of the Plain Blue Banner, and the first ten thousand households of the Plain Yellow Banner of the Han Army suddenly set out from Luoyang, dividing their forces into three routes to directly attack one prefecture and two counties.

When Wei Ting, the prefect of Caizhou, saw that the army had besieged the city, he quickly summoned all the generals in the city to a meeting and preached the great righteousness of loyalty to the country.

As a result, Wang Yong, the general in the city, shook his head and said, "Of course we are loyal to the country, but my brothers don't understand what danger the country is in. Whether we win or lose, the government will still be under the Zhao family. What does the Zhao family's affairs have to do with us?"

Wei Ting was furious and said, "We've raised an army for a thousand days, only to use it for one. The court has treated you well, yet you have no shame and surrender to Zhao Shuo?"

Wang Yong sneered, "Not bad? In the eyes of the imperial court, who are the good men? Those who are called out outside Donghua Gate, not us warriors!"

Then, he gave a signal, and his officers rushed forward, hacking Wei Ting to pieces before surrendering the city.
Sun Wanquan, the prefect of Guide Prefecture, consulted with General Xie Liao, subtly probing whether he was confident in defending Guide Prefecture. He suggested that if they lacked confidence, they should surrender directly to avoid further bloodshed.

Xie Liao laughed heartily. Actually, my men had already asked me about these words before I came here.

Sun Wanquan asked, "What did the general say in response?"
Xie Liao said, "Look, isn't my head securely on my neck? Is there even a need to ask?"
Subsequently, Sun Wanquan and Xie Liao surrendered the city together.

Quan Zicai, who guarded Bianliang, did the most ruthless thing.

After Zhao Shuo issued the "Order to Annihilate the Song Dynasty," Quan Zicai immediately sent his eldest son as an envoy to contact Guo Baoyu, the commander of the first ten thousand households of the Han Army's Plain Red Banner stationed in Luoyang, wanting to surrender and leave his eldest son as a hostage.

Therefore, Zhao Shuo's army knew that there were 50,000 Song troops in Bianliang, but he only sent a Han Chinese Plain Red Banner 10,000-household commander to Bianliang.

Before the Han army even arrived, Quan Zicai had already changed his flag and banner.

Now, Zhao Shuo has arrived in Luoyang and has purged the 80,000 Song troops left in Henan, reorganizing them into the 20,000th Household of the Bordered Yellow Banner of the Han Army. Quan Zicai has been directly appointed as the head of the 20,000th Household of the Bordered Yellow Banner of the Han Army.

The remaining 70,000 men were converted into local soldiers to transport provisions for the main army.

Now, Zhao Shuo's army attacking the Song Dynasty has exceeded 300,000, and they are very aggressive. It is likely that they will soon march on Xiangyang.

Since being promoted to the position of Military Commissioner of Jinghu, Meng Gong has been closely observing Zhao Shuo's movements and has arranged many spies in Henan.

Because these newly surrendered generals were publicizing their resolute defection and expressing their loyalty to Zhao Shuo, Meng Gong was very clear about what had happened and quickly reported it to the court.

"This isn't true! This isn't true!"

If Wei Liaoweng didn't believe her ears before, she now doesn't believe her eyes.

He shook his head repeatedly and said, "It's one thing for ordinary soldiers to be afraid of death, but how could those generals surrender to Zhao Shuo so easily? You should know that the court has long known that Henan is difficult to defend, and the families of the generals above the rank of commander are all in Lin'an!"

Shi Songzhi's expression was solemn. He took the document, glanced at it a few times, and then handed it to Zheng Qingzhi and the others to look at.

He thought for a moment, then smiled wryly and said, "I originally thought that with all the officers above the rank of commander in Lin'an, we could hold out for a while. But upon closer inspection, Prime Minister Wei has already made the reasons very clear!"

"What...what did I say?"

"Lord Wei said, 'Our Great Song Dynasty shares the world with the scholar-officials, while Zhao Shuo shares the world with the military men.' Isn't it only natural that the military men, for the sake of wealth and power, have sided with Zhao Shuo?"

"Even for wealth and status, he wouldn't abandon his wife, would he?"

"Minister Wei also said that those warriors are shameless and harbor treacherous intentions. Doesn't this confirm what he said?"

Shi Songzhi not only looked down on Wei Liaoweng, but since Zhen Dexiu and Wei Liaoweng came to power, he had practically become Zhao Yun's mouthpiece, hindering him in many ways, and his tone inevitably became sharp and sarcastic.

Zheng Qingzhi, however, displayed the demeanor of a prime minister. He handed the document to Zhao Yun, shook his head slightly, and said, "Prime Minister Shi, there's no need to make things difficult for Prime Minister Wei. Actually, if you think about it carefully, if Zhao Shuo is certain to destroy our Great Song, will the families of those generals who died for our Great Song have a good ending? Moreover, even if their families are in Lin'an, can we really exterminate them all?"

Shi Songzhi shook his head and said, "I'm afraid not."

Why not? No explanation needed.

The Song Dynasty naturally had loyal ministers. As long as Zhao Yun issued an edict, the prime minister would sign it, the army would carry it out, and the entire families of those surrendered generals would be exterminated.

The question is, would Zhao Yun dare to issue an imperial decree?

Zhao Shuo's "Decree to Annihilate the Jin" says everything except how to deal with the Song Dynasty's imperial family, especially Emperor Zhao Yun.

With Zhao Yun's audacity, he dared to kill the entire families of these surrendered officials, demonstrating his attitude of preferring death to surrender and fighting Zhao Shuo to the bitter end.
Of course, although everyone understands this principle, there's no need to bring it up in public.

Zhao Yun blushed slightly and said somewhat awkwardly, "Actually, upon closer examination, Henan is a vast plain, which is most suitable for cavalry to gallop, making it impossible to hold out. The court has put those 80,000 troops in a life-or-death situation, and has failed the soldiers first. We should not be too harsh on them."

Qiao Xingjian said, "Your Majesty is wise. In fact, we shouldn't have taken half of Henan in the first place. With the capital here, we had to send heavy troops to guard it. It was simply giving it to Zhao Shuo for nothing and wasting our military strength."

Zheng Qingzhi said, "This matter was brought about by my own efforts. Now it seems that I have been tricked by Zhao Shuo. I beg Your Majesty to punish me!"

"This matter was discussed and agreed upon by the court; how can we place all the blame on Prime Minister Zheng?"

Zhao Yun was of average appearance, not mentally challenged, so of course he wouldn't do anything to the current prime minister and his own teacher in such a critical moment.

Besides, when the agreement was signed with Zhao Shuo, didn't everyone in the Song Dynasty want to save face by recovering the old capital? How can you blame Zheng Qingzhi, who was directly doing the work?
He sighed and said, "My dear ministers, tell me, what should our Great Song Dynasty do in the future? If everyone surrenders without a fight like Henan, the fate of our Great Song Dynasty will be in danger of collapse soon!"

Shi Songzhi said, "Actually, it's not that serious. Meng Gong, the military commissioner of Jinghu, Zhao Fan, the military commissioner of Lianghuai, and Yu Jie, the military commissioner of Sichuan, are all loyal to the court. They have well-trained troops and ample supplies, and they also have the advantage of terrain. They will definitely be willing to fight Zhao Shuo to the end. The Henan incident is absolutely impossible to happen again."

"Look at what Minister Shi is saying, as if Quan Zicai had never shown any disloyalty to the court before?"

Wei Liaoweng looked at the emperor on the throne and said, "These military men are absolutely untrustworthy! I beg Your Majesty to send a high-ranking official to Sichuan, Jinghu, and Lianghuai to supervise the troops! This old minister is willing to go!"

He just agreed to guard Bianliang; he's really not a coward who's afraid of death.

Zhao Shuo's plan to abolish the privileges of scholars and divide up the land of scholar-officials was like a knife to Wei Liaoweng's throat; he and Zhao Shuo were irreconcilable enemies.

Zhao Yun also felt that military men were too unreliable, and said, "Now that the country is in crisis, it is the prime minister's duty to supervise the troops. I think it is appropriate."

“In that case, I’ll go to Jinghu. I was General Meng’s superior before, and we got along quite well,” Shi Songzhi quickly said.

His statement can be described as completely selfless.

If possible, Shi Songzhi would advise the emperor to appoint these three men as commanders to guard against Zhao Shuo, and that would be sufficient.

There was nothing that could be done. In Shi Songzhi's view, besides himself, these three were the most capable fighters in the Song Dynasty.

Sending a prime minister to oversee the troops is utterly superfluous; it will likely not only fail to strengthen the fighting capabilities of these three locations but may even weaken them.

However, the Song Dynasty had its own ancestral system of governing the military with civil officials, and the emperor had already given his approval.

Shi Songzhi had no choice but to settle for the next best thing.

Now that Zhao Shuo has captured Henan, his next target will likely be the Jinghu region. He has always cooperated well with Meng Gong, and at least he won't hold them back.

However, Zhao Yun shook his head and said, "No! It is generally acknowledged in the court that Minister Shi is the most knowledgeable about military affairs. I cannot be separated from him for even a day. Please send someone else."

This is also true.

Otherwise, why would Shi Songzhi's current position be the military commander of Lianghuai, Sichuan, Jingxi, and Hubei?

Furthermore, Wei Liaoweng's "Ten Victories and Ten Defeats" discussion had everyone nodding in agreement, except for Shi Songzhi, whose tone was quite unfriendly.

As it turns out, the truth was indeed in Shi Songzhi's hands.

Although Zhao Yun had never liked Shi Songzhi, he understood that among the five prime ministers, Shi Songzhi was the most capable in military affairs.

If Shi Songzhi were to leave, who would be in charge of the overall military arrangements for the Song Dynasty in the imperial court?
Shi Songzhi asked helplessly, "Then who will go to the Jinghu region?"

"Let Prime Minister Wei go! Prime Minister Qiao will go to the Huai River region! Zhen Dexiu will go to the Sichuan region. What does Prime Minister Shi think?"

"Your Majesty is wise!"

These three people are actually about the same in terms of ability.

Although Shi Songzhi always disliked Wei Liaoweng, it's hard to say that Wei Liaoweng's abilities were inferior to those of Qiao Xingjian and Zhen Dexiu.

Shi Songzhi nodded in agreement.

Thus, Qiao Xingjian went to the Lianghuai region, Zhen Dexiu went to the Sichuan region, and Wei Liaoweng went to the Jinghu region.

However, Zhao Shuo's advance was extremely rapid. Before Wei Liaoweng even reached the Jinghu region, the two armies' outposts had already clashed.

In front of Tongbai Mountain, in the Song army camp.

Although it was called a large camp, it was actually just a small one, with a thousand cavalrymen stationed there. The purpose of these thousand cavalrymen being stationed there was not to hinder Zhao Shuo's army's advance, but to serve as a warning.

After all, Meng Gong couldn't be sure which route Zhao Shuo would take after marching out of Henan and heading towards Hubei.

Therefore, some cavalry were deployed in key locations at the front. As soon as Zhao Shuo's army was spotted arriving, they would immediately send a messenger to Meng Gong without engaging in battle.

Then, Meng Gong decided how to fight against Zhao Shuo's army.

However, the commander of these thousand men was Liu Zheng, a fierce general under Meng Gong. After hearing the news about Zhao Shuo's vanguard, he changed his mind.

This Liu Zheng is no ordinary person.

Historical records state that when Meng Gong attacked Xinyang, a city of the Jin Dynasty, Liu Zheng served as the vanguard. At night, he led twelve valiant men across the moat and scaled the city walls, capturing the defenders. Meng Gong was greatly alarmed upon learning this, believing that the famous Five Dynasties general Li Cunxiao had captured Luoyang with only eighteen cavalry, and now Liu Zheng had taken Xinyang with even fewer troops. Therefore, he called Liu Zheng "the next Li Cunxiao"!
Although Zhao Shuo changed history and Liu Zheng did not attack Xinyang, his abilities remained unchanged.

Now, Liu Zheng's reputation for fighting prowess has surpassed that of the 42-year-old Zhang Jun, making him the most formidable general under Meng Gong.

"What? The Zhao Shuo army on the other side is flying the banner of the 20,000th household of the Bordered Yellow Banner of the Han Army, and there are only about a thousand men?"

Liu Zheng was overjoyed upon hearing the scout's report.

"Yes."

The scout said, "There should be other troops from the Bordered Yellow Banner behind them. However, their scouts are also quite capable, and we lost seven or eight of our men, so we can't find out more about the enemy. But we can guarantee that there shouldn't be any other troops of Zhao Shuo behind them within thirty miles."

"They are the 20,000th or 1,000th household of the Bordered Yellow Banner of the Han Army?"

"The 8,000th household!"
"That's even better!" Liu Zheng became even more excited and said, "According to our intelligence, the commander of the 8,000th household of the 20,000th household of the Han Army's Bordered Yellow Banner is Zhang Jin!"

"This fellow was originally a general of the Jin Dynasty, but after our Great Song Dynasty destroyed the Jin, he surrendered to our Great Song. Now that Zhao Shuo's army has arrived, he has surrendered to Zhao Shuo again and become Zhao Shuo's commander of a thousand households. How can such a traitor lead troops? How can he be a match for me? Our chance to make a name for ourselves has come!"

Having said that, he shouted, "Guards!"

"exist!"

"Beat the drums! All troops assemble! Let's first eliminate Zhao Shuo, a commander of a thousand, and achieve the greatest merit in this battle!"

"Yes!"

Boom~~
A thousand Song cavalrymen, led by Liu Zheng, headed toward Zhang Jin.

……

……

"What? Those thousand Song soldiers, upon learning of our arrival, not only did not surrender, but instead led their troops to fight?"

Upon receiving the scout's report, Zhang Jin burst into laughter. He looked at his son, Zhang Rongshi, and said, "Son! You're lucky! You've only just joined the army and you already have the opportunity to make a name for yourself! Unlike your father, who has wasted half his life and accomplished almost nothing."

Zhang Jin's words were truly heartfelt.

He was from Baoding, Bazhou. Before Zhao Shuo attacked the Jin Kingdom for the second time, Zhang Jin had already occupied Xin'an City and was granted the title of Duke of Beiping.

Unfortunately, a transfer order from the Jin dynasty sent him to Henan.

Later, Zhao Shuo and the Song Dynasty allied forces to destroy the Jin Dynasty. Unfortunately, Zhang Jin was serving under Shijia Niulehuan in the defense of Guide Prefecture. After the city fell, he surrendered to the Song Dynasty.

He considered himself a brave and valiant general, one of the best in the world, but now he was only a minor Eight Banners commander, feeling that he had wasted half his life.

His son's name is Zhang Rongshi, and he is only fifteen years old this year.

After hearing his father's words, Zhang Rongshi was eager to try, saying, "Our men are not only the elite soldiers of the original Song army, but since they surrendered to King Zhao Shuo, their morale has completely changed! We're determined to win this great victory!"

Boom~~
The newly formed 20,000th and 8,000th households of the Bordered Yellow Banner of the Han Army sped toward the front.

Let's see whether the elite troops of Xiangyang from the Song Dynasty are more powerful, or the former Song army that has just surrendered to Zhao Shuo is more formidable!
(End of this chapter)