Madam, don't do this!

Chapter 283 has truly fallen (1)

Dingzhou Prefectural Governor's Office.

The pavilion shielded him from the overhead sunlight, and a breeze brought a touch of coolness, but it couldn't extinguish the burning heat in Jiao Junze's chest.

He had underestimated Song Yan; with his natural silver tongue, he was quite a persuasive speaker. Even Jiao Junze, who usually prided himself on being a gentleman and disdained such underhanded and despicable acts as killing innocent people to claim credit, was now tempted. He even prepared an excuse for himself: what kind of good citizens were those Jurchen barbarians? They were nothing but a group of savages who ate raw meat and drank blood, their hands stained with the blood of Han Chinese from the Central Plains; if they died, they died.

Song Yan is truly audacious.

The Anchegu tribe is still doing well, but after news spread that Wanyan Guangzhi was trying to wipe out the Anchegu tribe, the tribe's 100,000 people were divided equally between them.

They're not afraid of overeating.

Even if things really did develop as Song Yan predicted, did you kill those 100,000 people? You dare to take the credit for that?

If the matter is exposed, it would be a crime of deceiving the emperor.

But then I thought, even if those civil officials in the court had doubts, so what? Did they really have the courage to go and investigate the Jurchen territory? If those civil officials were truly so brave, Ningguo wouldn't be in such a degenerate state now.

Seeing Jiao Junze's eyes, Song Yan knew that the governor was already tempted. As the saying goes, there is only one reason for non-cooperation in this world: the benefits are not enough. Simply making empty promises is not enough; there must be tangible benefits. As long as the benefits are big enough and tempting enough, even someone like Jiao Junze can lower his bottom line.

Song Yan seized the opportunity and once again spoke in Jiao Junze's ear with a seductive voice: "Brother Jiao, why don't you think about it again? What exactly is the difference between the army of my Ning Kingdom and the Jurchens and Xiongnus?"

Jiao Junze let out a breath: "Morale."

"Soldiers do not receive sufficient pay and are often bullied by civil officials. They do not know why they are fighting. When they arrive on the battlefield, they are lucky if they can use one or two tenths of their skills."

Jiao Junze was helpless in this situation.

The prevailing atmosphere in Ningguo is something Jiao Junze can't change. Dingzhou Prefecture and Pingyang Prefecture are better off, because with him and Song Yan there, they pay more attention to soldier training and try their best to make up for the soldiers' lack of food and pay. The civil officials below also dare not be too harsh on the soldiers because of the two prefects.

Aside from Dingzhou and Pingyang, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that the soldiers lived worse than dogs.

Not to mention civil officials who had entered the ranks in the imperial court, even those clerks, clerks, and even uneducated scholars would dare to spit on soldiers. What's more, even third-rank military officers would take the initiative to bow and even kneel when they saw sixth- or even seventh-rank civil officials.

The faces and dignity of the generals and soldiers were utterly trampled into the mud.

Under such circumstances, how could these soldiers be willing to risk their lives to defend the country?
It was precisely because of this that several years ago, hundreds of Japanese pirates committed arson, murder, and looting within Ningguo's territory... That pirate attack completely humiliated Ningguo.

For Ningguo, raids by Japanese pirates were commonplace and not uncommon. A few hundred pirates were not a large number; they would simply loot the surrounding villages and then leave, without causing much unrest. However, perhaps because the area where the pirates landed was frequently looted, that group of pirates did not obtain the wealth they had imagined. As a result, they became dissatisfied. Seeing that they could not take the county town, they bypassed it and headed straight for the prefectural city.

All the villages and towns along the way were massacred.

Countless people from Ningguo were massacred.

The looted grain and wealth were countless.

Those Japanese pirates seemed to have gone mad with greed. When they reached the prefectural city and found it too tall and impregnable, they simply bypassed it again and headed straight for the heart of Ningguo. Along the way, they passed through thirteen counties and three prefectural cities, and even disguised themselves as disaster victims to infiltrate one prefectural city and directly attack the governor's mansion.

The governor's head was also cut off.

Were there any guards intercepting them?
It certainly exists.

But when those soldiers saw how ferocious the Japanese pirates were, and thought about how they had been owed military pay for several years, they decided not to risk their lives.

They drew their bows and fired all their arrows from a few hundred paces away, thus concluding the engagement. They then headed back. Even though the Japanese pirates were ferocious, they dared not directly attack the military camp of more than ten thousand men. Whether others died or not was none of their concern; there was no need to risk their own lives.

This incident has become an indelible stain on Ningguo's history.

It was thought that after this incident, the Ningguo court would value soldiers, elevate the status of military officers, and prioritize military preparedness. However, after much debate, the court concluded that the problem stemmed from a lack of oversight in the army. Thus, the position of military supervisor was created, wielding immense power. Even border generals were subject to the supervisor's control. Otherwise, Generals Dou Xian and Liang Youde wouldn't have been framed and killed by Qian Yaozu.

Because of the presence of the military supervisors, the already insufficient food and unpaid military pay were further skimmed off by the supervisors, so the situation of ordinary soldiers not only did not improve, but even got worse.

Incompetent scoundrels and treacherous officials who have ruined the country—that's all there is to it.

Dingzhou is a special case. There are military supervisors here, but three of them died in succession due to acclimatization problems. The fourth one is currently bedridden and recovering. He hasn't been affected much by the military supervisors. In Pingyang Prefecture, there probably isn't any civil official who would dare to serve as a military supervisor.

These two places should be considered the least affected by the civil service group.

This was not the answer Song Yan wanted to hear, but he agreed with Jiao Junze's statement: "Brother Jiao is right, but Brother Jiao might as well think about it. If we had 100,000 heads in hand, and could extend the border of Ningguo to the territory of the Jurchens, with such solid merits, would those civil officials still dare to look down on us and our brothers?"

“If we’re lucky, we might also kill that old bastard Wanyan Guangzhi. At least the Liaodong border will have thirty years of peace. This achievement deserves not only the title of viscount, but also the title of earl or marquis.” After a pause, Song Yan continued, “Moreover, Brother Jiao, don’t forget that there is something in the Jurchen territory that is extremely important to both of us.”

"Warhorse!"

Upon hearing this, Jiao Junze's eyes suddenly brightened.

Perhaps because they had been suppressed by civil officials for too long, they had forgotten that such a treasure existed in the territory of the Jurchens.

The Central Plains lacked warhorses.

This is the biggest disadvantage for soldiers from the Central Plains when facing the Jurchens and Xiongnu. Even if you have exhausted all your schemes and surrounded the enemy, and it seems like you are about to annihilate them, the enemy will simply ride their warhorses and break through the encirclement. You can only watch helplessly as they escape.

There is probably nothing more frustrating in the world than this.

Song Yan's smile deepened: "When I was with the Wugulun tribe, I acquired more than three thousand warhorses and more than one thousand cavalry. The Anchegu tribe has several times more warhorses than the Wugulun tribe. I estimate that they have at least tens of thousands of warhorses and several thousand cavalry."

"At that time, the two of us brothers will split the spoils equally, and we will have at least several thousand more cavalry under our command."

"Moreover, these are all uncastrated horses, which can be used as stallions."

"Brother, don't hesitate any longer. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. If we miss it, even the heavens won't forgive us. This credit is practically lying on the ground, waiting for us to pick it up. I'm not afraid to tell you, even if you, Brother Jiao, don't plan to take action, my Pingyang Prefecture is still prepared to act. It's just that the credit will be a little less. I only came to inform you because I admire you, Brother Jiao, as a good person."

"Brother Jiao, please don't let my good intentions go to waste."

Song Yan's voice kept echoing in Jiao Junze's ears. Jiao Junze didn't even notice that his breathing had become more and more rapid and his eyes were bloodshot.

Suddenly, Jiao Junze slammed his hand on the table and stood up abruptly: "Damn it, bottoms up!" Song Yan clapped his hands and laughed: "Not bad, not bad, this is the Jiao brother I know."

"However, if there are any calls for impeachment in the court, you must help me suppress them."

"no problem."

How many people are you planning to ask me to send?

"The more the better." Song Yan picked up his wine cup and drank it all in one gulp. "If there are any cavalry, bring them along. As for the other soldiers, make sure they are mainly infantry archers. Leave the task of defending against the Jurchen cavalry charge to me."

As he spoke, Song Yan took out a map from his pocket.

This map was drawn based on information from the caravans. It's not perfect, but it's the most accurate one available.

“Wanyan Guangzhi is ruthless. Since he has decided to take action, he has no intention of leaving a single survivor in the Anchegu tribe. Therefore, according to my speculation, Wanyan Guangzhi will probably arrange a large army to bypass the rear and flanks of the Anchegu tribe to form an encirclement. After the Anchegu tribe is defeated, they will also encounter the hidden ambush.”

He gestured on the map and said, "Their ambush is probably in this area, so we can enter the Jurchen territory in advance and ambush a little further south. When the fighting is nearing its end and both sides are exhausted, we can launch a surprise attack from the rear. Even if we are outnumbered, the sudden barrage of arrows should be enough to take down a lot of heads."

"Wanyan Guangzhi was extremely ambitious and proud. Even though he had just been through a battle and his soldiers were exhausted, he still could not tolerate the provocations from the Han people. After all, in the eyes of the Jurchens, the Han people were docile sheep."

"He would think that even a weary army could easily crush the Han army."

"He even wanted to annihilate the Han army in order to completely crush the Han people's will to resist."

"Moreover, if we retreat without saying a word, the deterrent effect of the massacre of Anchegu will be greatly reduced, and Wanyan Guangzhi will not tolerate this situation."

"Therefore, he will definitely order his iron cavalry to charge at us, while my eight thousand black-armored soldiers will hold the enemy soldiers back tightly. They will not be able to break through the black-armored soldiers' blockade, and the infantry archers will be able to seize the opportunity to continuously fire and reap heads."

Song Yan quickly explained the general battle plan.

It's simple, crude, and not particularly refined.

However, Jiao Junze, who was also a general, knew very well that overly detailed battle plans were not advisable and had too little room for error. A rougher approach was not necessarily a bad thing, since the battlefield situation was constantly changing and often required the general's on-the-spot command.

"Two questions. First... wouldn't Anche's troops have received advance notice and either retreat or surrender directly?" Jiao Junze asked.

“No, the tribes on the Jurchen side are all very far apart, and now the mountains are blocked by heavy snow, so there is almost no contact between them, and news spreads very slowly.” Song Yan said confidently, “According to the intelligence from the caravan, almost every road leading to Anchegu is ambushed by the royal court. Even if someone tries to pass on a message, they will be intercepted and killed. This time, Wanyan Guangzhi is determined to devour Anchegu and establish his own authority.”

"The final question is, can your black-armored warriors really withstand the charge of the Jurchen cavalry? Are you truly confident that you can use infantry to fight off cavalry head-on?" Taking a deep breath, Jiao Junze pointed out the most important part of the battle plan.

If they cannot hold them off, exhausted cavalry are still cavalry; if they charge into the infantry archers' ranks, it will be a one-sided massacre.

“I once tried to withstand a charge of a hundred Jurchen cavalry with a hundred black-armored soldiers, and I finally managed to stop them.”

Jiao Junze was somewhat surprised, then nodded: "In that case, there's no problem..."

"When to set off?"

“Wanyan Guangzhi’s operation should be on New Year’s Eve or New Year’s Day. We need to arrive at the location at least one day in advance, so… two days later.” After considering it for a moment, Song Yan said.

"Two days from now, I will lead 15,000 of my troops to Pingyang Prefecture to meet you." Jiao Junze grinned, a slightly manic and eccentric expression spreading across his face.

For him, this was truly the first time he had ever been this crazy.

Surprisingly, I didn't feel much regret. In fact, I even had a strong urge to try. A real man should do something that will leave his mark on history.

If one can leave a mark on history, then one's life will not have been in vain.

As for the arrangements made by the person behind it, they no longer care.

Song Yan has already left.

Jiao Junze, however, continued to gaze in the direction Song Yan had left, a hint of fear on his face. After a long while, he shook his head bitterly. He, Jiao Junze, was supposed to be an upright gentleman, but look at what he had done recently! First, he was in dire need of military funds, and against his conscience, he unleashed a volley of arrows, killing hundreds of servants, maids, guards, and household servants from the Fan family branch. He even plundered the Fan family branch completely and used those hundreds of military crossbows to extort hundreds of thousands of taels of silver from the Fan family main branch.

Although the other party is not a good person, such behavior is still somewhat shameless.

Now, persuaded by Song Yan, he is preparing to fraudulently claim the 50,000 beheadings for the sake of the title.

They've fallen.

They've really fallen into some kind of decadence.

I have a feeling that my bottom line has been getting lower and lower since I met Song Yan.

Jiao Junze shook his head. He must have been corrupted by Song Yan. He wasn't like this before.

He grumbled to himself, then got up and headed towards the military camp. Since he had decided to take action, he needed to be prepared. He had to check the quantity of the troops' rewards, arrows, crossbows, and other supplies before the battle. However, as he passed through the inner quarters, his gaze inadvertently swept over the study, and through the window, he saw a figure that had appeared in the study at some point.

Jiao Junze frowned, hesitated briefly, and then strode towards the study.

Squeak.

The study door was pushed open.

Behind the desk, a fat figure suddenly came into view.

For no apparent reason, Jiao Junze's body trembled.

His face, which had turned strangely rosy after Song Yan's words, suddenly turned pale, and as if by instinct, he bowed and clasped his hands in a salute:

"Your Majesty!"

(End of this chapter)