Great Song Pirate

Chapter 682

After Zongwang's death, Zongbi (Wu Shu) took over the command of the army and replaced Zongwang's position in order to ensure the peace of mind of the army. However, he strictly blocked the news of Zongwang's death and kept his funeral secret.

Suppressing the severe pain in his heart, Wu Shu began to put all his strength into preparing for the battle. After receiving Zongwang's order and briefly arranging the matter at hand, he hurried back to Yanshan Mansion. Finally, before Zongwang's death, , met him.

Before his death, Zong Wang finally explained to Zong Bi personally what happened behind him, and Zong Bi came to his senses. Zong Wang was right. Although the Jin army was stronger than the Song army, it was far from being able to control the generals now. In the vast land of Song Dynasty, their military strength is not enough for them to do these things, and in the homeland of Song Dynasty, they are hostile by the local people everywhere, and they must always be on guard internally and externally, so the army lost the original kind flexibility.

As far as the current plan is concerned, the only way to regain the initiative in the war against the Song Dynasty is to withdraw troops from a large number of Song Dynasty lands according to Zongwang's arrangement, gather the main elite soldiers and horses together again, and form a fist.

So on the day of Zongwang's death, Wushu began to order the Jin army in many places to abandon the city and began to shrink. They carried out a looting, and then threw those cities to the traitors they found to be in charge, and left some puppet troops they were worried about to these traitor officials to serve as their soldiers and horses to resist the Song army. Make some trouble for Song Jun.

As for the matter of the Fubo Army, Zong Wang also explained, but this time Zong Wang did not have the foresight, but was finally fooled by Xu Yi. He originally guessed that the Fubo Army sent troops after they captured Jinzhou Zhou, and then they will go all the way south, relying on the advantages of their sea navy, develop along the coast, fight to the southern Jiaodong area, and connect with the Song army there, so the left army of Wushu will be sent from Laizhou, Qingzhou, Withdraw troops from Weizhou and other places to avoid being flanked by the Fubo army and the Song army, and cut off their retreat at that time.

But before Zongwang died, he did not receive the news that the Fubo army went south to attack the cities of Jiaodong. Be careful what the Fubo army does behind them.

Wu Shu also took note of this matter, but before learning about the movements of the Fubo Army, he still had to be busy fighting against the Song Army first.

It is not an easy task to quickly gather an army and retreat from so many places, so while he is busy with these things, he keeps paying attention to the news around the Zhongjing Road behind him.

Just when he was mobilizing troops and preparing to use the old method of deep penetration from two fronts at the same time to attack the two Song armies in Shandong and Hebei head-on, he finally received a huge bad news.

"What? What did you say? Say it again! Dading Mansion? How is it possible?" Wu Shu, who was dealing with military affairs, jumped up in shock when he heard the news that Dading Mansion was captured by the Fubo Army. Come on, as a general, he has never been so surprised by anything!
The flustered scout quickly fell to his knees and said, "Report to the deputy commander! This matter should not be false! The younger one just came back from the north of the city, and he heard many people talking about this matter! That's why we I will hurry back and report to the deputy commander!"

The scouts called Wu Shu that way because they didn't know that Zong Wang was dead. Wu Shu declared that Zong Wang was seriously ill and was recuperating.

When Wu Shu confirmed that he had heard correctly, he was completely stunned, and waved his hand weakly to the scout and said, "Investigate again and report again!"

Sitting in the commander-in-chief's mansion, Wu Shu was in a state of confusion. Xu Yi of the Fubo Army was really a treacherous person. He actually imitated the Jin Army's method against the Song Army, and made a big detour in the hinterland of the mighty Jin Kingdom , led the army to go deep alone, and directly took down their hinterland city, Dading Mansion. Such an action would never be possible without courage!

Numerous possibilities flashed in Wu Shu's mind, the first thing that came to mind was to immediately march northward, go straight to Dading Mansion, and strangle Xu Yi's army in Dading Mansion, this idea is extremely tempting , It made him feel as if his heart would tremble just thinking about it.

If he can block Xu Yi in the Dading Mansion at this time, and capture or kill him, then he will become the second Wanyan Zongwang of the Dajin Kingdom. Compared with the great defeat of the Song Dynasty, killing Xu Yi Yi, it seems that the credit is greater. If Xu Yi dies or is captured, the Fubo army will naturally be in a mess. At that time, as long as they swing their troops to strike, it will definitely not be a problem to drive the Fubo army out of the Kingdom of Jin.

After Wu Shu thought of these benefits, he was eager to try it out, and when he was about to issue an order to raise the account and discuss matters, when he dispatched troops to Dading Mansion, Zong Wang's legacy appeared in his mind again.

Before dying, Zong Wang grabbed his hand and said, "Wu Shu, you are not low in bravery and intelligence, but you are still a little impatient, and you are not calm enough when encountering major events. Now I can't do it. Our entire army, more than ten The lives of thousands of soldiers are in your hands, you must not be as impatient as before when you encounter problems, think more before making a decision! Remember, remember!"

When Wu Shu thought of Zongwang's last words, he immediately suppressed the thought and began to think carefully.

After thinking about it, Wu Shu broke out in a cold sweat, because he found that he was only thinking about the benefits of this matter, but forgot to start from the overall situation and consider the problem!

Although killing Xu Yi can gain many benefits, if he really sent his troops to Dading Mansion, would he really be able to get rid of Xu Yi?How many troops did Xu Yi bring to Dading Mansion this time?If it was less, how could he take down a strong city like Dading Mansion in one day?Could it be that the defenders in the city took the plate with both hands?Even if there are few defenders in the city of Dadingfu, given how tall and strong Dadingfu is, how could it be captured by the Fubo army in such a short time?Thinking about it this way, the number of Fubo troops attacking Dading Mansion this time will definitely not be too small.

If Xu Yi has a large number of men, then they have that terrible weapon. Once they gain a firm foothold in Dading Mansion, if they lead their own troops to Dading Mansion, will they be able to take down Dading Mansion?And even if he could send troops there, how many soldiers and horses could he draw from here?

You must know that after the spring of the Song Dynasty, hundreds of thousands of soldiers and horses were invested in Hebei to attack themselves. Originally, their own strength was already stretched. Is Song Jun in front of him?
You must know that this year's Song Army has undergone great changes from the Song Army at the beginning of last year's war. It will never see the Jin Army again, Lima will collapse, and you can kill them all. Now those generals in the Song Army, Although the tactics are still a little raw, but everyone is full of blood, daring to fight and fight, and the soldiers gathered under him are similar to them, a group of masters who dare to risk their lives.

If he makes a wrong step and let them come to kill him, then the situation that his brother Zongwang worked so hard to defeat before will be completely ruined in his hands, then even if he can really win Fubo Xu Yi of the army can only balance his merits and demerits, and he might be impeached by Xie Ye and others, and in the end he will end up in a thankless end, not to mention whether he can really take down Dading Mansion and solve Xu Yi , is also an unknown, if he was defeated by Xu Yi, then his end would be to kill himself with a knife.

no!Absolutely not!Now he must not attack Dading Mansion, it would be reckless to do so!After Wu Shu figured out these things, he finally rejected his idea.

But what would he do if he didn't fight Dading Mansion?Dading Mansion is hoarding a large amount of food and fodder needed by their troops on the southern front, and their own army needs this food and fodder to support the battle with the Song Army. Once Dading Mansion is lost, the food and fodder of their own army will soon be in short supply. With the shortage of food and fodder, there is no need to fight this battle anymore. It will be a matter of time before the collapse of one's own army.

what to do?what to do?Wu Shu was very irritable, he stood up and walked around in the hall, as anxious as a dog can't cross the river, his mind was in a mess, and he lost his mind for a while.

But at this time, in the imperial city of Bianliang, Tokyo, there was an atmosphere of joy, and there were frequent reports of success from various armies on the front line. Although there were some false reports, on the whole, Zhao Xu could also see that, The war situation in the north is changing in favor of the Song Dynasty. After the spring, all the armies started the Northern Expedition together. Although they failed to recover all the lost ground and drove the Jin army back to the north of Yanshan Mansion, overall, the battle situation Zhao Xu was still satisfied.

The most basic thing is that at the beginning of the Northern Expedition, the Song Army did not experience a large-scale defeat. Compared with the situation when it first started fighting with the Jin Kingdom last year, when almost all the troops in the North faced the Jin Army , are like boiling water splashing snow, it will collapse at the touch of a touch, or even collapse without touching it. This is unprecedented good news.

Even though there were still defeats from time to time as a whole, the armies also began to win some partial victories and captured some lost ground, which greatly boosted the morale of the army and the people, and made domestic public opinion once again push his reputation to the top. At the peak, the voices of praise filled his ears. He was very happy to see such a situation. After all, his previous position was a bit unjustifiable. His resolute Northern Expedition this time gave the Song Dynasty a glimmer of hope and won the unanimous support of the whole country. Even after the Northern Expedition started, some local armed forces stopped the rebellion and began to voluntarily die. Zhaoan, there are many signs that his position has become much stronger than before. Even the unfavorable public opinion that he killed Xu Yi a few years ago began to disappear after the Northern Expedition started. What could be better than this Woolen cloth?
However, the original group of peacemakers headed by Wu Min, Tang Ke, and Qin Hui, after seeing Zhao Xu's determination to make the Northern Expedition, no longer dared to go against the current, uttered nonsense, and encouraged the cession of land for peace. He honestly cooperated with his will, and started to get down to do things. After Li Gang, Chen Dong, Zhang Jun and other capable ministers made a thunderous rectification, a large number of new inspectors were dispatched to picket local officials and rectify the administration of officials. Let the officials from all over the country restrain themselves, and have to do some practical things for the local people honestly. The domestic situation has also begun to show signs of improvement in a short period of time. Small groups of civil unrest, under such weather, It began to gradually extinguish, and Zhao Xu also implemented a policy of tolerance for those who had participated in the rebellion, and announced amnesty. As long as they put down their weapons and accept the recruitment, they can forget the past and return them innocent. The rioters and soldiers saw that there would be no good fruit to eat if the riots continued, so a large number of them began to accept the local government's recruitment, which relieved the domestic pressure a lot.

On the whole, the situation of Da Song in the past year has been developing towards a good trend, while Xixia was disabled by Tong Guan's army in the early years, and last year wanted to take advantage of Da Song's weakness to make money. However, he was once again given a harsh lesson by the Western Army on Qinfeng Road, and now he has calmed down. Besides, the party members are not all fools. Since the beginning of winter, they have heard that the Fubo Army beat up Dajin He quickly realized that the situation might change, so he consciously stopped harassing Da Song, came to sit on the mountain and watch the tiger fight, stretched his neck to watch the development of the situation, and let the situation on the west front of Da Song begin. The relaxation also relieved the pressure on Da Song, allowing Da Song to concentrate on dealing with the war with the Kingdom of Jin.

So after getting a lot of good news these days, Zhao Xu's tense nerves can finally relax a little bit, and he has a little leisure time to walk around the palace.

"Your Majesty Qizuo, Li Xiang said at the gate of the palace that he had something to ask to see His Majesty!" A man from Huangmen ran over and bowed to Zhao Xuqi.

Zhao Xu was in a good mood at the moment, so he waved his hand and said, "Bring Li Gang in, I also want to see him, and I will inform the Imperial Dining Room to have a banquet at the Green Bamboo Pavilion, and I want to have a drink!"

Seeing that Zhao Xu was in a good mood, the Little Huangmen were also very happy, so they hurried down to make arrangements. Zhao Xu walked into the small pavilion in the green bamboo forest in the imperial garden and sat down, waiting for Li Gang's arrival.

Not long after, several Huangmen brought food and wine, and put them on the stone table. Soon Li Gang was also brought here by the Huangmen, and kowtowed to Zhao Xu.

After receiving the oral order from Zhao Xu to make him flat, Li Gang got up and looked at the table. After seeing that there were only four delicate but ordinary side dishes on it, Li Gang's eyes revealed a hint of joy.

Since Zhao Xu came to the throne, because the national treasury was very empty, Zhao Xu personally ordered the government and the people in the country to be diligent and thrifty, stop the extravagant style that his father Zhao Ji admired before, and set an example by abolishing many departments that specialize in serving the royal family , cut down a lot of palace maids and maids, and sent them back to the common people, let them make a living by themselves, and even asked them to be diligent and thrifty in their own lives. Li Gang also admired the complete stop and no longer entering the palace from private draft girls.

Seeing Zhao Xu today was in a good mood, but he still only made these few small dishes, which made Li Gang feel much more relieved. No matter what foolish things Zhao Xu did some time ago, this can show that he, the emperor, is in harmony with There is a big difference between the previous saints.

Zhao Xu even stayed away from the Taoism that the Emperor Daojun worshiped, let alone trying to practice Taoism and alchemy. Since he ascended the throne, he has never been to Gen Yue, which was built with a huge amount of money by the Emperor Daojun. Working diligently in the palace all day long, if this continues, how can Song Dynasty not be able to rejuvenate?

What made Li Gang most gratified was that Zhao Xu could at least listen to honest advice and dared to recognize his mistakes before adopting his own suggestions, allowing Song to recover in such a short period of time, and stopping the giant that was heading towards destruction. car, so Li Gang has been very respectful to Zhao Xu during this time.

"Come here! Li Xiang has been busy with state affairs all day long. It's rare that I'm in a good mood today. Let's have a drink with me!" Zhao Xu beckoned Li Gang to sit by himself and let Huangmen serve wine.

After Li Gangqian gave way, he carefully sat down on Zhao Xu and said to Zhao Xu, "Congratulations, Your Majesty, Congratulations, Your Majesty!"

"Oh? Li Xiang's words are so strange today, why am I so happy today?" Zhao Xu picked up the wine glass and smiled at Li Gang.

"Great joy, Your Majesty! I have just received a report from Zhang Shuye on the East Road. Under the offensive of our army, the left army of Wushu in the Kingdom of Jin began to withdraw from Laizhou, Weizhou, and Qingzhou. Some puppet troops are stationed in those cities. Now Zhang Shuye is ordering Guan Sheng, Zhang Qing, Lu Cheng and other generals to lead the army to attack these cities. Once the Jin army retreats, these puppet troops who lost their land will never last for a long time. The recovery of the Jiaodong area is imminent. Ah! Isn't this worthy of congratulations?" Li Gang said to Zhao Xu with a smile on his face.

"Oh?! Is there such a good thing? Good good! I really have to be happy! Very good! This is the biggest victory we have obtained after the Northern Expedition recently! The Jin Army finally knows that our Song Dynasty is not so easy to bully! Come, come! Let's toast together! Drink this glass!" Zhao Xu was overjoyed after hearing this, so he immediately drank a full glass.

Li Gang was also in a good mood, so he picked up the wine glass and drank with Zhao Xu.

"I'm afraid I have to thank King Jinghai for his help! This retreat of the Wushu army may have something to do with King Jinghai's actions!" Li Gang then said to Zhao Xu.

Zhao Xu frowned. Now he is also a little sensitive to the words King Jinghai. Although he adopted Li Gang's suggestion and canonized Xu Yi as King Jinghai, from the bottom of his heart, he was unwilling to do this. , but the situation at that time did not allow him not to do so, so even if Xu Yi was named King of Jinghai, he still had a knot in his heart. The most taboo in Song Dynasty was the self-respect of warlords. Although Xu Yi did not rebel, he possessed such great power and occupied a large area of ​​land. In addition, after he was named the King of Jinghai, once he defeated the Kingdom of Jin in the future, he would be able to establish the country alone. It's a matter of course, will he still be so polite to Da Song?Zhao Xu was faintly worried about this matter.

But after a period of experience, he is no longer the Zhao Xu who just ascended the throne. Although he was a little unhappy, his face did not change at all, and he asked with a smile: "What is the basis for Xiang Li to say that?" Well, could it be that Xu Yi won a big victory in Liaodong?"

Li Gang shook his head and said: "I don't know the situation in Liaodong, I just heard the news from the messenger who delivered supplies to Liaodong that Zonghan and Zongpan's army from the Jin Kingdom surrounded the city of Liaoyang. However, Weichen heard that the King of Jinghai, Xu Yi, was out of Jin people's expectations this time, and actually led his army to raid the Jinzhou City of the Jin Kingdom by water, taking away a granary of the Jin Army on their southern line. And also captured Laizhou in the south of Jinzhou, so I feel that the Jin army must have been threatened by the Fubo army, so they had to withdraw from the Jiaodong area and retreated to the Hejian area of ​​​​Dezhou. This Xu Yi is really unexpected. No one would have thought that such a surprise soldier could be dispatched at a time when the battle in Liaodong was at its peak!"

After hearing what Li Gang said, Zhao Xu felt both happy and uncomfortable. Although Xu Yi had helped Da Song a lot, his strength was also increasing day by day. It was a good thing to defeat Da Jin, but Xu Yi Yi's sitting big also made him a little more vigilant.

"Then Li Xiang thinks what will Xu Yi do after doing this?" Zhao Xu didn't pay for military affairs in vain. After learning about Xu Yi's trend, he naturally thought of Xu Yi's next move. So he discussed with Li Gang.

After Li Gang lowered his head and thought for a while, he shook his head and said: "This humble minister can't figure it out, this Xu Yi always does things unexpectedly, but according to common sense, after he leads the army to take down Laizhou, he is likely to continue to go south to open the way. , to contact our army, but whether he will do this next step, please forgive my stupidity, I can't guess!"

After Zhao Xu lowered his head and pondered for a while, his heart jumped a few times, and suddenly he had a not-so-good idea. If Xu Yi conquered Laizhou, he himself started his business at sea and owned a large number of ships on the sea. He can come and go freely on the sea. Once he leads his army into Jiaodong in the name of regaining his homeland, and starts from the sea, and captures Dengzhou, Laizhou, Weizhou and other places, then the Jiaodong area of ​​the Song Dynasty will belong to him. The Fubo army is in the hands. Once he controls that area, if he refuses to hand over the defensive power to the Song army, then shouldn't Da Song be in trouble?
At that time, if Xu Yi refuses to hand over these places, if he wants to return to the land around Jiaodong, wouldn't he turn against Xu Yi again?Can Song Jun be the opponent of Xu Yi's tiger and wolf army?

"Well! What Li Xiang said is very possible. If this is the case, then our Song army can't wait for the Fubo army to go south. It is best to capture Dengzhou, Laizhou, Weizhou, Qingzhou and other places as soon as possible, and prepare to welcome the Fubo army. Your preparations are good, and you should quickly convey my order on this matter, so that Zhang Shuye can take these places as soon as possible, and there will be no mistakes!" Zhao Xu suddenly became anxious, and said to Li Gang.

(End of this chapter)