"Your Majesty!"

Zhang Jun paused for a moment, then quickly dismounted, immediately pointing to the sky with his finger in the snow. "May Your Majesty know, Han Shizhong had already discussed this matter with me when passing through Shouzhou. I share the same view. If the Jin soldiers dare to come against the favorable timing and terrain, with over 30,000 troops, I dare not guarantee defense. However, if they number less than 30,000, and are led by someone like Wanyan Wushu, who is new to commanding large armies, then with Han Shizhong, and the combined forces of Liu Guangshi and Liu Zhengyan, relying on strongholds and joint defenses, we will absolutely not allow the Jin soldiers to cross the Huai River! If we fail, let me die before Your Majesty's horse!"

"That's good then," Zhao Jiu nodded repeatedly from above. "As I said before, I will stop at Shouchun, on the opposite bank of the Huai River, and not move! I will personally lure the enemy for you! If we succeed, I will certainly not forget you, Grand Commandant Zhang, when I celebrate with a feast; If we fail, I will not force anyone. You are free to die or surrender as you wish. I only ask that Grand Commandant Zhang never come to see me again, so as to preserve the heroic spirit we share in the snow today!"

Zhang Jun was naturally speechless.

In fact, apart from the traitors who judged others by their own standards, Zhao Jiu's intentions were not lost on those with discerning eyes. Everyone said they couldn't fight, so he naturally had to ask if they could defend.

Everyone said they couldn't even defend the Central Plains, so he naturally had to ask if they could hold the border of the Central Plains, relying on the Huai River and the advantageous terrain.

Even if the main force of the Jin army was difficult to defend against at the Huai River, he naturally had to ask how many troops would constitute the main force of the Jin army.

Finally, cornered by the Emperor, Han Shizhong drew a red line: if they could gather all the forces of the Imperial Guard, and deploy them properly along the Huai River, relying on strongholds and the river, they could defend against the Jin army if they numbered less than 30,000.

Therefore, Zhao Jiu proposed this rough plan according to this condition: He would act as bait to see if he could attract a detachment of Wanyan Wushu's army, in order to achieve at least a seemingly successful defense on the Huai River, to boost morale and public confidence.

As for where Zhao Emperor got his confidence?

In the eyes of some ministers, this was of course due to a kind of blind confidence that Zhao Emperor had developed after single-handedly quelling the rebellion that day. However, in all fairness, it wasn't so much confidence. That pacification and the meeting with Han Shizhong were more of a catalyst. What truly prompted Zhao Emperor to make such a desperate attempt was a transmigrator's desperate struggle, an action to try to prove his existence.

In Zhao Jiu's view, it was either success or death. This wave of completely independent action would either completely turn him into Zhao Emperor, and he would live his life according to the pattern of the Qin and Han emperors; or it would all be just a dream!

This kind of thing, put positively, is called being inspired by the times, reckless, and willing to sacrifice; plainly, it's called a normal person's positive self-protective reaction to a sudden and dramatic shock; put negatively, it's called a fool's self-destruction.

But regardless, back to the present, this kind of thing still seemed absurd in the face of the Jin army's absolute strength. Therefore, even Han Shizhong, who feared neither heaven nor earth, took the initiative to make three agreements with Zhao Jiu:

First, as soon as the Jin people came, Zhao Emperor had to immediately move to the south bank of the Huai River, to Shouchun, which was safer, to 'command' the war;

Second, if the Jin people exceeded 30,000, or if the weather suddenly changed and the Huai River froze thick, then Zhao Emperor had to retreat unconditionally;

Third, Zhao Emperor had to personally deal with the central government officials.

It was precisely based on these principles that Zhao Jiu went around and around, making a big show, fearing that the north wouldn't notice, while also trying to strip away the central government officials who could hinder him, layer by layer, through the transfer.

Li Gang, the most troublesome and greatest threat, was sent away with Consort Pan and her son while he was ill, whether it was real or fake; then the main body of civil officials was divided from Yingkou, and that wasn't the end… After capturing Zhang Jun, Grand Commandant Zhang, on this day, Zhao Jiu went with him to Caicheng, under the jurisdiction of Shouzhou, but dispersed several old and respected ministers who were originally used to reassure people.

Among them, Zhang Que, the associate privy councilor who actually managed the Ministry of Revenue, was sent to Huaidong to sell salt licenses and monk certificates to raise funds; while Xu Jingheng, the new Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, was dispatched to Shouchun to be responsible for the resettlement of those officials who had fled south.

These were all legitimate and necessary important tasks, and the two didn't suspect anything, which meant that although Zhao Jiu still had the heads of the Eastern and Western Secretariats and the commander of the Imperial Guard beside him, only the kind old Lu Haowen presided, while Wang Boyan, Wang Yuan, and others were purely yes-men.

By the fifteenth day of the twelfth month, two important pieces of news arrived simultaneously, and Zhao Jiu finally entered the state of being ready for everything except the east wind.

One definite piece of good news was that, under tremendous political pressure, Liu Zhengyan adopted the strategy of a feigned attack suggested by Liu Yan, Liu Pingfu… The strategy was extremely simple, basically imitating Dong Zhuo's old trick: eight hundred loyal cavalry, flaunting their power and entering the military camp during the day, and secretly going out at night… After seven or eight consecutive days, the bandit soldiers in Huaixi finally couldn't withstand the pressure and surrendered voluntarily.

Now, Liu Zhengyan was accepting the surrendered bandits, and would be able to join the Imperial train in Shouzhou before the New Year.

The news that should have been bad was that, he did not know exactly how long ago, Wanyan Wushu had defeated a rebel army of unclear status, whether it was an anti-Jin volunteer army or one that wanted to take advantage of the situation and seize territory, at the Yimeng Mountain pass… The only thing was that this army numbered in the tens of thousands, and the location was on a key route south, so it could be said that after this battle, Wanyan Wushu was only separated from Zhao Jiu by Liu Guangshi.

Therefore, it would soon be known whether this fourth prince of the Jin Kingdom would come to find Zhao Jiu or not.

"Wushu, what nonsense are you talking about?"

Inside a large mansion in Yidu City, Qingzhou, in front of a hall full of Jin country generals and staff, Wanyan Talhai, the Jin country's deputy marshal of the Eastern Route Army, dressed in a brocade and silk robe, looking more like a short, stout landlord than the commander of an army of 100,000, slammed his wine cup heavily and shouted coldly. "This time southward, the Great Emperor's decree clearly stated that the purpose was to take the Eastern Route of Jingdong, clear the periphery to stabilize Hebei. Now that the battle is going smoothly, you should quickly return to Hebei and attack Daming Prefecture..."

"Does Daming Prefecture need me to attack it?"

Before Talhai could finish speaking, a young Jurchen nobleman sitting in the first seat on the left in the hall also snorted coldly, not giving his nominal superior any face at all. It was none other than Wanyan Wushu, the vanguard of the Jin country's Eastern Route Army, the son of Aguda, commonly known as the Fourth Prince.

This Wanyan Wushu was only twenty-five or six years old this year, only four or five years older than Zhao Jiu, but like most of the Jurchen generals present, because he had been on the battlefield early and weathered the frost, his beard was sparse, so he looked as old as thirty-five or six. But whether he was thirty-five or six, or twenty-five or six, whether he was a vanguard or not, whether he had shallow qualifications or not, no one dared to interrupt when he argued with Wanyan Talhai... Because the name of Wanyan Aguda's own son was harder than any qualifications or official position.

(There's more)