"Let's not dwell on these matters." After shooting down the crow, Zhao Jiu finally lowered his bow and accepted the sweat cloth from Consort Wu, who was dressed in military attire. He then inquired about the matter at hand. "The combat strength of the four forces in the three routes of Guanxi, plus the troops here in Chang'an, do you have a clear assessment of them?"

"Your subject can only offer a tentative opinion," Yang Yizhong replied earnestly.

"Speak."

"The Xihe Route is the best, followed by Xingyuan Prefecture (Hanzhong), then Jingzhao, and lastly the Qinfeng Route," Yang Yizhong answered without hesitation.

"The Xihe Route borders Qinghai and has a larger number of cavalry. Since the Jingkang Incident, not only has it not suffered losses in battles with the Jin army, but it has also repeatedly defeated the Western Xia. I am aware that the state of the troops in this route is the best." Zhao Jiu wiped his sweat while listening attentively. "Jingzhao hastily gathered militia, which is almost unusable, I am also aware of this. But why is the Qinfeng Route actually worse than Xingyuan Prefecture? Isn't Xingyuan Prefecture Hanzhong, which belongs to Shu? How can that place compare to the proper Guanxi troops? Moreover, the Qinfeng Route has always been second only to Jingzhao, a fundamental place in Guanxi?"

"Your subject believes it is due to the Wang Xie Rebellion," Yang Yizhong replied seriously. "After the Jingkang Incident, the Qinfeng Route was used to accommodate Wang Xie, and Wang Xie was truly a nation-misleading person. His troops were undisciplined and fled at the slightest sign of trouble, almost useless... After Zhang Yunshi (Zhang Jun) dealt with Wang Xie, Chancellor Yuwen issued an order to transfer Zhao Zhe from Zhang Yunshi's transport office to serve as the military supervisor, but only for half a year."

Zhao Jiu nodded after wiping his sweat, signaled Consort Wu to return, and then turned to speak, but sighed instead.

The reason why Qu Duan was able to survive, and why Wang Shu, the theoretically perfect victim, was never able to bring down Qu Duan in Dongjing and vent his anger, was partly due to Wang Xie, another of the so-called 'Old Three' in Guanxi at that time... Looking back now, this person was simply of the same ilk as Liu Guangshi and Fan Qiong, even worse than those two. Liu Guangshi could at least rely on his family's favor to win over his subordinates, and Fan Qiong had the courage to fight the Jin in the early stages. What did Wang Xie have?

His existence perfectly highlighted Qu Duan's abilities and his contribution to maintaining northern Shaanxi. It also made Wang Shu, who had been using Wang Xie to deal with Qu Duan, unable to raise his head in Dongjing, a place that 'only valued anti-Jin merit,' despite becoming a powerful secretary upon his return.

By the time Zhao Jiu could no longer bear it and instructed Yuwen Xuzhong, Zhang Jun, and Hu Yin to kill Wang Xie, nailing him to the identity of a 'nation-misleading traitor,' the situation between Wang Shu and Qu Duan became even more of a mess.

But regardless of these old grudges, the problem now is that the entire country has to pay the price for the series of infighting between these three people at this critical moment – risking the return of Qu Duan is one example, allowing Wu Jie to suffer defeat after defeat is another, and accepting a Qinfeng Route with collapsed combat strength is yet another.

Otherwise, what other options are there?

"How do these routes compare to the Imperial Guard?" After watching Wu Yu leave for another courtyard, Zhao, the Emperor, still asked this question.

Although Yang Yizhong had anticipated this question and had already prepared his response, he became more cautious in his words: "In terms of military appearance, equipment, discipline, and the proportion of combat soldiers, they are all inferior to the Imperial Guard. Only the Xihe Route has more warhorses, and they are newly acquired..."

Yang Yizhong continued to speak, while Zhao Jiu listened and walked along the corridor, meeting Scholar Lin who was waiting there, preparing to go to the back hall to see Yuwen Xuzhong and others. However, when he heard the words behind him suddenly stop, the Song Emperor couldn't help but pause and turn to look at the person behind him.

Yang Yizhong had said many 'inferior' things, all of which could be easily verified, but he never gave a conclusion, that is, he didn't say 'inferior' in terms of combat strength or a final summary of 'inferior.'

This was very interesting.

"Your subject is ordered to oversee the Imperial City Division, and should only speak of what he sees before his eyes," Yang Yizhong said earnestly, cupping his fist when he saw the Emperor stop to look at him. "But your subject is also the commander of the Imperial Bodyguard, and military affairs are where your subject can rarely express his opinions..."

"Then speak plainly, why be so cautious?" Zhao Jiu asked with his hands behind his back.

"Because your subject is from Guanxi and has vested interests..." Yang Yizhong replied earnestly.

"So, you mean that although the Guanxi troops have been ravaged by two sweeps by Lou Shi and one internal rebellion, and they have only had a year to settle down, receive supplies from Sichuan, and reorganize, they still have merits, and may even be comparable to the Imperial Guard in battle?" Zhao Jiu asked with a frown.

"Yes."

"What is the reason?"

"First, they are defending their homeland, and the soldiers are brave; second, they are fighting on their own territory and are adapted to the terrain and climate," Yang Yizhong said more earnestly. "Therefore, your subject believes that in certain battlefields, the Western Army may not be inferior to the Imperial Guard... Of course, many troops in the Imperial Guard are originally from the Western Army, so there is no comparison."

Zhao Jiu pondered for a moment and nodded slowly. He turned and continued to follow Scholar Lin to the back hall, but after taking two steps, he stopped again and turned back: "Have you found your grandfather's remains?"

Yang Yizhong was stunned for a moment, then shook his head sadly.

Zhao Jiu said nothing more and finally walked quickly into the back hall. At this time, Yuwen Xuzhong, Zhang Jun, Liu Ziyu, and three regional commanders, as well as messengers from Hu Yin, Han Shizhong, Li Yanxian, Luoyang, and Dongjing, and even messengers from Yue Fei, Zhang Rong, Lü Qin, and Zhang Jun, were all gathered there.

This was not a coincidence, but a routine report.

Before Zhao Jiu left, when he re-appointed court officials as military supervisors for each army, he privately issued an order that, regardless of distance, the commander, garrison commander, and chancellor of each army should report to this place every day. Guanxi would send reports directly, while Guandong would take the small Nanluo River path... Daily reports had almost become a custom.

In fact, Zhao Jiu, dressed in tight-sleeved cotton clothes, entered the hall and sat down directly under the lamp, without speaking to Yuwen Xuzhong and others. Instead, he personally took the daily reports from the messengers and opened them to read. After reading all the reports and letting the messengers rest for a while, he began to discuss the situation.

"The Jin army in Hedong has been gathering, and Jin flags are everywhere in Hezhong Prefecture. Baishui City has also fallen. The Jin army may launch a large-scale southward attack soon. Han Shizhong's pressure is too great. I hope Li Yanxian will not withdraw the troops from Pinglu on the north bank of the Yellow River, and try to delay them as much as possible." Zhao Jiu's face was as usual, and he handed several reports to Liu Yan beside him, as he always did.

The latter then distributed these things to Yuwen Xuzhong and others.

"I wonder what Grand Commandant Li has to say?" Zhang Jun, who received a daily report, asked hastily before he could even read it.

"Li Yanxian didn't mention this matter in his report," Zhao Jiu replied calmly. "He only abruptly requested official ranks and hereditary titles for Shao Yun, the defending general of Pinglu..."

"Then he has agreed," Yuwen Xuzhong sighed, holding the daily report in his hand. "Although Pinglu City may not be able to be defended, and even if it cannot be defended, they may still be able to escape back or enter the Zhongtiao Mountains to the north, how easy is it to talk about under the overwhelming pressure of hundreds of thousands of Jin troops gathering in Hedong?"

Zhao Jiu didn't respond, and the others in the hall were mostly silent.

In fact, some things everyone knows clearly, and may not be said, especially in the current situation. With a great war about to break out, matters of life and death are usually viewed with indifference. To be sentimental would only harm morale... Remember it, keep it in your heart, and then when you can survive, you will be qualified to be sentimental and repay it.

Of course, for Zhao Jiu, the best is to reward.

As for Yuwen Xuzhong saying this, there is no way. It must be known that this person was always of a romantic nature in his early years. He rushed to the temporary capital early in response to the call, mostly because he had been an envoy during the Jingkang Incident and felt guilty towards the country and the Emperor... From his more emotional nature, he is actually not a qualified Chancellor. Only his qualifications and status are there. He was already a Scholar of the Zizheng Palace and led the Secretariat even before the Jin invasion, and he also has the merit of rushing to the temporary capital, so it is neither good to worry about the previous appointment, nor is it good to worry about his current words.

"Commander Hu said... Wu Jie won a small victory at Fangzhou City?" The matter of Anlu passed like this, and after a moment of silence, Liu Ziyu, the Privy Council Administrator, quickly noticed a strangeness from the daily report in his hand. "The date of the letter is the day before yesterday, the news of the small victory is the day before that, and what day did Baishui City fall?"

"Yesterday."

Zhang Jun glanced at Han Shizhong's daily report and quickly gave the answer.

This is the trouble with war, thousands of threads, the dates are all different, and after summarizing them, they need to be sorted out. This is also one of the reasons why Zhao Jiu has to share intelligence to a certain extent.

"Baishui City is some distance from Fangzhou City, and the Jin army's vanguard attacked with a speed that is not as fast as a messenger," Liu Ziyu blurted out immediately after hearing this news, pointing out the problem. "If Fangzhou City was still winning a small victory the day before yesterday, and Baishui City was captured yesterday, then it can only mean that Wanyan Loushi directly divided his troops to advance south without taking Fangzhou City... This is a bit unreasonable."

"What does Ziyu mean?" Zhang Jun was immediately alerted, and then reminded with a serious expression. "Although Hu Mingzhong is a bit pedantic, he would never lie!"

"But the Western Army practices favoritism, and Wu Jie is a true Western Army, having been honed in the Western Army for nearly twenty years," Liu Ziyu said calmly, first glancing at Zhang Jun, and then glancing at the Liu brothers diagonally opposite him, not leaving any face at all. "In my opinion, Wu Jie knew early on that he would inevitably be defeated, that Fangzhou would inevitably be lost, and maybe Fangzhou had already been lost the day before yesterday... But he had been repeatedly defeated before, but he was promoted by the Emperor to the regional commander, and he couldn't help but panic. This time, in order to cover up and embellish, he first falsely reported a victory, then said that the city defense was tragic, and finally said that he had to withdraw, which may also be the case."

The summer night was hot, but Zhao Jiu had both hands in his sultry sleeves, thoughtfully throughout, neither speaking nor showing any expression.

As for the others, they reacted differently... Yuwen Xuzhong and Zhang Jun both sighed, Zhao Zhe, who was promoted by Yuwen Xuzhong and was actually Zhang Jun's personal subordinate, turned a deaf ear, and Liu Qi wanted to defend Wu Jie but was stopped by his brother Liu Xi.

Obviously, 80% of the people in the back hall of this garrison chancellor's office agreed with Liu Ziyu's words and judgments, because it was too common for the Western Army to do this kind of thing... These bastards have done things like killing good people and claiming credit, and things like refusing to help in danger and vying for merit are even more commonplace, let alone falsely reporting military exploits, just deliberately misreporting the date by a day or two?

They really did kill good people and claim credit. Wang Shunchen, who was promoted by Li Gang and caused the mutiny in the southeast, was demoted ten levels in those years because he killed good people and claimed credit, but later his daughter married well, and he became a regional commander again.

In short, to put it bluntly, it is because they are now so overwhelmed by the Jin that they cannot breathe. If there really comes a day when they can live in peace, if Zhao Jiu does not reorganize the Western Army and the previous righteous armies like bandits, then he is simply a disgrace to time travelers.

But then again, isn't the Jin army overwhelming everyone right now? Aren't all the atrocities, all the infighting, all the collusion and stupidity, so pathetic and ridiculous in the face of the Jin's systematic massacre of cities and systematic enslavement of the people in the two rivers?

Moreover, there is no evidence yet.

Therefore, although he also believed most of it in his heart, reason told Zhao Jiu that he could not make malicious speculations about a general who was likely still fighting the enemy on the front line without evidence, and he could not allow civil officials like Yuwen Xuzhong, Zhang Jun, and Liu Ziyu to collectively convey some inappropriate signals to several military generals.

"Military affairs are serious, do not slander colleagues without evidence," After a while, Zhao Jiu came back to his senses and rarely scolded Liu Ziyu. "But military affairs should also be lenient... It may be helpful to calculate the gains and losses of Fangzhou City together."

"Your subject misspoke," Liu Ziyu reluctantly stood up to apologize, and then quickly returned to the main topic. "In fact, now that Baishui has fallen, Loushi's intentions are already clear. He will either turn southeast from Baishui to Tongzhou, and attack Grand Commandant Han from both sides with the Hedong troops; or turn southwest from Baishui, go south from Pucheng or simply Fuping, directly pointing to Jingzhao..."

"Then how should we respond?" Zhao Jiu asked calmly.

"Your subject believes that we should still respond to all changes with constancy, continue to defend the city, and resist layer by layer," Liu Ziyu's military strategy was as consistent as ever. "Of course, Tongzhou, the Wei River, and Chang'an City are three major nodes, and we should focus on managing and deploying them carefully, and try to preserve the troops as much as possible. In this way, regardless of temporary victories or defeats, as long as we can drag it out until the autumn rains and mud, the Jin people will not be able to support it from logistics to morale, and Guanxi will naturally be preserved."

Yuwen Xuzhong nodded directly, and Liu Xi and Zhao Zhe also nodded together. Zhang Jun and Liu Qi stared at Zhao, the Emperor, under the candlelight for a while without speaking, obviously these two old and new Emperor's confidants were waiting for the Emperor to express his position.

"Let me ask Yanxiu (Liu Ziyu's courtesy name), if the Hedong Jin army cannot cross the river in a short period of time, let's just say Loushi, how many troops can he bring south?" Zhao Jiu suddenly asked an inexplicable question.

The reason why it is said to be inexplicable is that the Privy Council has said this many times, and Zhao Jiu and many ministers and generals have asked many times, but I don't know why he asked again.

"Forty thousand!" Liu Ziyu repeated patiently. "Among them, 30,000 elite Meng'an Mouke troops, and 10,000 auxiliary soldiers... But this does not include Wanyan Huonv's 10,000 troops."

"So, at most, it's 50,000... right?" Zhao Jiu took a deep breath suddenly, attracting the attention of many people in the seat. "If you want to block all these 50,000 people in the White River and prevent them from entering the plain, how many troops are needed?"

Liu Ziyu stared blankly at the Emperor above, and then stood up and seriously advised: "Your Majesty, it is not appropriate to take risks at this time. There are hundreds of thousands of Jin troops in Hedong. Although there are more Han troops among them, they are still hundreds of thousands of Jin troops. Under the overwhelming pressure, Pinglu will inevitably not be able to hold, and the Yellow River will inevitably be able to be crossed... Since ancient times, it has never been heard that controlling Hedong can prevent entering Guanzhong!"

"I'm just asking," Zhao Jiu also became serious. "If the Hedong Jin army cannot cross the river, block these 50,000 Jin troops in the Yuan land and river mouth to the north... How many troops are needed?"

"This question is unreasonable. Your subject is ordered to lead the Privy Council's Ministry of Personnel. I should plan for the country's major affairs for Your Majesty. I will not answer this kind of imaginary question," Liu Ziyu bowed to the end, and his expression became more serious after he got up.

"It doesn't matter," Zhao Jiu nodded, and then directly named Liu Xi's name: "Commander Liu, you are the commander of the three routes of troops, tell me, how many are needed?"

"The White River is a place where one side is hills and Yuan land, and the other side is rivers and swamps," Liu Xi stood up. Unlike Liu Ziyu, he didn't dare to hesitate at all. "Logically speaking, there are some geographical advantages, but the Jin army is really brave in battle. If you really want to block the enemy in the wilderness, you must be prepared for field battles, and once there is a field battle, the Yuan land can still run horses and charge, so your subject believes that three times the troops are needed to make one..."

"That's 150,000," Zhao Jiu frowned.

"It doesn't take that much," Liu Xi quickly added. "120,000 to 130,000 is enough. Among the 50,000, only less than 40,000 are real Jurchens. The other 10,000 troops are either surrendered soldiers from Yan'an Prefecture, or soldiers from the Zhe family in the three prefectures outside the river, and their combat power is no different from our troops. Besides, doesn't Your Majesty have extra backup here? Where is the combat power of the Imperial Bodyguard and the elites transferred from the Imperial Guard comparable to your subjects' subordinates?"

Zhao Jiu nodded slowly, but looked at Zhang Jun again: "If we gather such troops, is the logistics sufficient?"

"Let Your Majesty know, the transfer from Shu is not over yet at this time, it must be sufficient..." Zhang Jun quickly replied.

"Your Majesty!" Liu Ziyu, who had not returned to his seat, was breathless and could no longer endure it, and directly interrupted his friend's words. "For major military and state affairs, do not take chances. How is it possible for the Hedong Jin army not to cross the river? Do not have the heart for field battles at this time! The situation in Yanling is different from what it was at that time! At that time, there was no way to go!"

Seeing this, Zhao Jiu laughed again: "Since you know that the Hedong Jin army will inevitably cross the river, why should Commander Liu worry that I will take it seriously? Besides, even if the Hedong Jin army cannot come to aid, according to what Grand Commander Liu said, how to gather 120,000 to 130,000 troops? Han Shizhong has to guard the river, he cannot move, only 30,000 to 40,000 in the Imperial Guard's central army, and the five Guanxi routes plus Xingyuan Prefecture are only barely 50,000 to 60,000 people. If Fangzhou is lost, it will be reduced again... What do I have to go to the field?"

"Your subject has lost his composure," Liu Ziyu took a deep breath and apologized again. "Your subject is mainly seeing the increasingly gathering elite troops in Chang'an, fearing that Your Majesty has a sharp blade in his hand, and the killing intent arises spontaneously, but he forgot that Loushi is not an ordinary Jin general, and the Western Route Army has never feared hard battles!"

Zhao Jiu nodded and directly changed the subject: "Qu Duan has disappeared without a trace. Hu Mingzhong said that he passed through Ning Prefecture, and after a hurried meeting, he went directly west and north to Jingyuan to gather troops... Although the main thing is to annoy Loushi's side, we still have to find a messenger as soon as possible to ask about the situation."

These words seemed appropriate, and Liu Ziyu and others nodded.

Since then, Zhao, the Emperor, never mentioned nonsense such as field battles and blocking Loushi. The Emperor and his ministers discussed military intelligence for a long time, specified a plan for Han Shizhong's troops to retreat safely when necessary, and the deployment of the Wei River defense line, etc., and ended late at night as in the previous days.

The meeting ended, the Emperor left first, and Yuwen Xuzhong and others also withdrew.

However, Yuwen Xuzhong, the Chancellor of the Secretariat, who was half the host of this place and had been conveying orders on behalf of the Emperor for several days, was suddenly stopped by Yang Yizhong as he was about to leave... Seeing this, the others accelerated their pace to leave because they did not want to eavesdrop on the words of the Chancellor of the Secretariat and the Emperor's confidant... Of course, in reality, Yang Yizhong stopped Yuwen Xuzhong just for a small matter.

"The number of daily reports is incorrect?" Yuwen Xuzhong was puzzled for a moment. "The envoys gathered and handed them to the Emperor face to face. We saw it with our own eyes? Even Zhang Boying's envoy from Huai'an came. The Emperor even asked specifically about Qu Duan's missing news, how could it be wrong?"

Yang Yizhong was stunned for a moment, and also smiled for a moment, holding the few daily reports in his hand: "Perhaps one was dropped, or someone took one, it doesn't matter, we will look for it again tomorrow..."

Seeing this, Chancellor Yuwen smiled again: "The information has already been checked. In fact, as long as it is not from Hu Mingzhong, Grand Commandant Han, and Grand Commandant Li, it doesn't matter if someone took one and forgot to return it... It doesn't hinder military intelligence."

Yang Yizhong nodded repeatedly, saluted the other party, and then carefully held the daily report and turned out of the back hall. As soon as he left the back hall, he saw Zhao, the Emperor, and Liu Yan, the sword-carrying attendant, waiting in the slightly dark back courtyard corridor.

Interestingly, Yang Yizhong did not show any surprise at all.

"Commander Yang, tell me, if you want a field battle, how many people can trap those 50,000 of Loushi?" Zhao Jiu asked with his hands behind his back. "Tell the truth."

"One hundred thousand!" In the twilight, Yang Yizhong raised his head and said solemnly. "Even if you count the backup force that Your Majesty has reorganized here, you need 100,000! Otherwise, you can't trap them... Your Majesty, Loushi's trip is obviously well calculated. Even if Commander Zhang does his best to bring 20,000 more troops this time, northern Shaanxi is broken, and Grand Commandants Han and Li are restrained by Hedong, our troops are still insufficient."

Zhao Jiu sighed lightly... How could he not know?

Wang De and Wang Yan add up to 40,000, the Jingzhao troops gathered here, the Xihe, Qinfeng, and Xingyuan Prefecture troops are more than 30,000, and he has drawn elite troops from various departments and gathered a 'elite collection' along the way, which has reached 5,000 to 6,000, plus the Imperial Bodyguard, barely 80,000. Even if the three routes of northern Shaanxi, that is, Yanfu Route, Jingyuan Route, and Huanqing Route, still have some remaining troops, it is really less than 100,000!

Not to mention, this is just theory, the theoretical proportion of troops.

Of course, Zhao Jiu, who has also fought two battles, knows clearly that if you really want to fight a war of annihilation, it is not impossible for Han Shizhong to abandon the Hedong Jin army before the battle and come to aid in a time difference... But this is too idealistic, it is really no different from a gambler.

"Forgive your subject for speaking bluntly." In the silence, Yang Yizhong raised his head, and a pair of eyes shone slightly in the dark night. "Your Majesty, Chancellor Liu's words are actually from the bottom of his heart, and can be regarded as being selfless, unless Your Majesty has other information..."

Zhao Jiu nodded: "Of course I know that what Liu Ziyu said is very right, but today it is not really a sudden whim... Yue Peng reported that he intends to cross the river from Xiangzhou in early next month, connect with Ma Kuo, and involve the Hedong Jin army! And since I have already granted him the power to act independently, there is no reason to stop him."

"It may have a miraculous effect." Yang Yizhong suddenly realized, but quickly shook his head again. "But Your Majesty, this can only involve it temporarily. As long as Hedong and Daming Prefecture send troops to attack from both sides, Grand Commandant Yue is destined not to be able to stay in Hebei, and it is also unknown how much it can involve."

"I know," Zhao Jiu replied calmly. "I just couldn't hold back for a while..."

After speaking, Zhao Jiu turned around, and the hands behind his back were holding a daily report, which was indeed the one that Yang Yizhong had not found, and it was Yue Fei's. Instead of handing the daily report to Yang Yizhong for collection, the Emperor held the daily report and paced away into the twilight.

Yang Yizhong wanted to speak, but eventually gave up.

ps: Thank you camelyexs for the moe... 79th moe.

I am still alive... I won't say anything... I will still ensure 150,000 words this month.