The Jin envoy was a fellow townsman of Zhang Jun's from Fengxiang Prefecture, a former comrade-in-arms from the Western Army. He had surrendered during the humiliating Taiyuan campaign. His name was Zhao Qiu, and he was now leading a few hundred men in the Jin army as a deputy to a certain *meng'an* (chieftain of a thousand households), in reality a supplement to this *meng'an's* auxiliary troops.

Regardless, an old friend and fellow townsman meeting in a foreign land, Zhang Jun naturally gave him a great deal of face. He personally hosted Zhao Qiu in his residence. What they discussed remained unknown, but everyone witnessed the man leaving the city satisfied in the afternoon. Consequently, the morale of the troops was inevitably shaken. When the newly appointed Prefect of Shouzhou, Zhao Ding, heard the news and went to inquire at Grand Commandant Zhang's residence, he entered but did not leave. Thus, the troops' morale wavered even more!

"Is that what he said?"

East of Xiacaicheng, in a newly erected and spacious camp near the riverbank of the Jin army's main camp, Jin Wuzhu, who was inspecting on horseback, couldn't help but be overjoyed upon hearing the report.

Of course, he would be overjoyed!

The night before, this Fourth Prince of the Jin Dynasty had sailed on the river and personally witnessed the perilous terrain, the rapid currents, and the fortified city. Seeing the Song army's thorough preparations, although confident in the Jin army's invincibility in field battles, he couldn't help but feel a secret sense of trepidation... To be honest, given such terrain and preparations, if Liu Guangshi hadn't fled so pathetically, Jin Wuzhu would have almost suspected that he had fallen into the Song emperor's trap, deliberately luring him to this isolated location for a fruitless campaign, all to boost morale.

But conversely, Liu Guangshi's flight was so wretched that it couldn't possibly be feigned. This crucial link in the Huai River defense system, the large-scale communication channel between Xiacaicheng and the Huainan camp, had been severed. The strategic goal of this southern campaign was still on the opposite bank of the river... If Jin Wuzhu didn't try something, that would be a dereliction of duty!

Returning to the present, Zhang Jun's direct and straightforward reply naturally made Jin Wuzhu feel as if the clouds had parted – these Song people were, after all, mostly what they always were, with the likes of Taiyuan and Shanzhou being rare exceptions.

"Reporting to the Fourth Prince, he personally told me that he wants one thousand taels of gold, thirty thousand taels of silver, and whatever other treasures and valuables the Fourth Prince deems worthy as a reward!" Zhao Qiu said, kneeling on the ground. "He said the silver is to buy off the soldiers and laborers in the city, the gold is to buy off the officers, and the later treasures and valuables are the Fourth Prince's reward for him personally… He also wants the Fourth Prince to provide a written guarantee to avoid going back on his word later!"

"I'd go back on my word my ass!" Jin Wuzhu laughed even louder, drawing laughter from the Jurchen people around him. "But this Grand Commandant Zhang is too greedy... I believe him about bribing the officers, but where is the logic in bribing the soldiers and laborers? Isn't he just trying to enrich himself? Go again and tell him that I do have some treasures and valuables in my camp, and I don't mind sharing half of them with him, but where am I supposed to find so much gold and silver on such short notice?"

Zhao Qiu hesitated, but didn't dare to refute, and simply accepted the order and left.

After Zhao Qiu left, the short-statured Ali couldn't help but frown: "Fourth Prince, since Xiacaicheng is wavering, after our men drive the surrounding Han people here to cut wood and work, should we build siege engines first, or floating bridges and towboats?"

"Whether Xiacaicheng is wavering or not, we must build floating bridges and towboats first," Jin Wuzhu replied haughtily. "How many times have I said it? This battle is primarily about that person on the northern embankment of the Huai River! What use are the other prefectural cities and troops? If we really wanted to take prefectures, aren't seven or eight prefectures south of Mount Tai ours for the taking right now? Besides, General Ali, why pretend? If I really intended to attack the city first, why wouldn't I put this lumberyard on the north side of the camp to shield it? Placing it here is precisely to facilitate crossing the river first! Of course, it would be excellent if we could take Xiacaicheng without a fight!"

Ali frowned even more: "I heard people say that there are only flags on the opposite side, and the Song emperor ran away long ago..."

"That's not true!" Wuzhu replied proudly. "I saw it with my own eyes in the river last night. The military camp on the opposite side is very orderly. If there were no Song emperor, how could Liu Guangshi's defeated troops be so disciplined? Wang Yecha couldn't control them! In short, General Ali, if you're sober, don't talk so much. Although I'm leading a large army for the first time, I grew up in the military and made no mistakes in the two battles on the Eastern Circuit of Jingdong. Why should you be pointing fingers at me?"

Ali was helpless and immediately frowned in silence. Even the other commander of ten thousand, Elubu, had no intention of speaking.

However, another Han Chinese defector, a former county magistrate from the Eastern Circuit of Jingdong, saw an opportunity and couldn't help but cautiously open his mouth: "Fourth Prince?"

"Speak if you have something to say!" Wuzhu said without turning his head while riding his horse. "Are you afraid I'll eat you?"

"Yes... Although the official... Although the Zhao Song emperor may indeed be in the Bagong Mountains to the south, the ferry in the northern Xiacaicheng has been burned down, and the two sides can only communicate simply through messengers. Therefore, ordinary Xiacaicheng soldiers may not believe that the Zhao Song emperor is still there. Why not take advantage of the wavering morale in the city and forge letters and proclamations, saying that the Zhao Song emperor has indeed fled, and there is only a dragon banner here to deceive them? Then let that Zhao Qiu, Zhao... Grand Commandant Zhao, bring them into the city to shake Zhang Jun's resolve?"

"Forget about Zhao Qiu," Jin Wuzhu said thoughtfully. "Because for Zhang Jun, a general leading ten thousand men, whether he believes it or not depends entirely on himself. However, we can try it with the soldiers in the city... That's a good idea, promote you to be my staff officer and do this!"

"Thank you for the Fourth Prince's grace!" The man was excited for a moment and quickly dismounted, bowed his head to salute, and then hurriedly mounted his horse and left.

After this man left, Wuzhu inspected again. In addition to continuing to urge people to drive the surrounding Han Chinese people to cut wood and work, he also ordered three elite *meng'an* (thousand-man teams, thousand-man commanders) to be dispatched... One to sweep to the north, to make contact with the troop from the direction of Jizhou earlier, with the intention of opening up the rear; and the other two, one along the Huai River to the east, and the other bypassing Xiacaicheng and crossing the Feishui River, to collect ships along the way, look for suitable crossing points, and scout military intelligence.

These are all the duties of a military commander, and there is no doubt about them.

After issuing these orders, even though Jin Wuzhu was full of ambition, he had nothing to do, so he simply returned to the camp with the two commanders of ten thousand. But before he could return to the military camp, Zhao Qiu, who had entered the city for the second time, returned again.

"Zhang Jun's conditions remain unchanged, his intention is firm?"

This time, Jin Wuzhu frowned slightly. The Fourth Prince looked at the sturdy Xiacaicheng not far away from the gate of the camp, pondered for a long time, and then couldn't help but ask for the other party's opinion. "You are an old friend of Zhang Jun, do you think his words are credible? If he wants to surrender, why does he dare to bargain with me like this?"

"This humble general thinks it's credible," Zhao Qiu said, gritting his teeth after hesitating for a moment. "To tell the Fourth Prince the truth, Zhang Boying is good at everything else, but he is famously greedy. His reputation for greed is known from Fengxiang Prefecture to Taiyuan Prefecture, from Jingdong to this Huai River. Moreover, this time he also said..."

"Said what?"

"He said that the Zhao Song emperor has actually been kind to him. If Liu Guangshi hadn't burned the inner ferry, making Xiacaicheng an isolated city, he wouldn't have surrendered. But given the current situation, if he is forced to become a defector, he doesn't plan to lead troops against the Zhao Song emperor again... Therefore, his own ten thousand soldiers in the city, plus ten thousand local Shouzhou strong laborers, and seven or eight thousand routs from the Eastern Circuit of Jingdong who fled with Liu Guangshi, totaling thirty thousand men, countless supplies, and seven thousand armored soldiers, he can all hand over! He only asks for a county magistrate or deputy magistrate in his old home of Guanxi, so that he can live as a wealthy man..."

"I understand what he means. This money is not only to buy him, but also to buy his troops, is that what he means?" Jin Wuzhu was excited for a moment.

"That's what he means," Zhao Qiu said, sweating profusely, continuing to speak laboriously under the horse. "Moreover, he also said..."

"Can't you say it all at once?" Jin Wuzhu hadn't even opened his mouth yet, but the other commander of ten thousand who had returned with him, Elubu, was already exasperated.

"Speak quickly!" Jin Wuzhu also urged repeatedly in his excitement.

"Zhang Boying also said that he knows the Fourth Prince's army must have such a sum of money, both gold and silver. The price he quoted is not a false quote, and he asks the Fourth Prince to show a little sincerity..."

"Nonsense!" Jin Wuzhu immediately rebuked on his horse. "I've been chasing Liu Guangshi all the way here, and I haven't had time to loot along the way. Where would I get so much gold and silver? Even if there were some north of Mount Tai, would there be time to send it here?"

Zhao Qiu hesitated.

"Speak!" Elubu was completely exasperated and directly whipped Zhao Qiu's helmet.

Zhao Qiu quickly bowed his head and gritted his teeth and said: "Zhang Boying said that Liu Guangshi definitely has this money! Liu Guangshi's usual practice is to keep gold and silver for himself, and reward copper coins. This money must have been obtained by the Fourth Prince now!"

Jin Wuzhu, Elubu, and Ali looked at each other, but they didn't know what to say... Because Zhang Jun had hit the nail on the head!

That night, after the three Jurchen nobles carefully discussed it, they sent Zhao Qiu into the city overnight, considering it a principle to agree to the other party.

There were many reasons for this:

First of all, buying Xiacaicheng and the two or three thousand people under Zhang Jun's command with this money was definitely worth it, it was value for money. Jin Wuzhu and the other three had not fallen to the point of thinking that the army was inferior to gold and silver.

Secondly, after destroying Liao and Song, especially after the Jingkang Humiliation, the Jin army obtained a massive amount of gold and silver loot. The Great Song's accumulation of a hundred years was all in the city of Tokyo, and as a result, it was all obtained by the Jin people in one fell swoop. In other words, although this money was a lot, it was not in the eyes of the three powerful Jin nobles. Their inventory in Yanjing was real gold and silver!

Not only that, but the leader of this campaign, the Fourth Prince Jin Wuzhu, also promised the two commanders of ten thousand to borrow the money temporarily, which was equivalent to contracting the debt risk this time.

Finally, they specially found many Song Dynasty defectors and carefully inquired about Zhang Jun, and the results were the same... This person was indeed famously greedy, and it was said that his business acumen was even more adept than his military skills!

However, these were only public discussions. The three of them actually had two tacitly understood important reasons:

First, although Taiyuan was eventually captured by the Jin army, and they didn't think that Wanyan Lou Shi couldn't take Shanzhou there in the end, this kind of siege attrition warfare was too scary for the Jurchens, who had a small population. They still left a deep impression on these high-ranking Jin military officials. In fact, avoiding attacking fortified cities was truly in line with the simple military knowledge that the Jurchens had obtained from their hunting and fishing life. Barbarian and mindless were just misunderstandings of the arduous style of the Jin people in the battles between the Song and Liao dynasties;

Secondly, the war was still continuing, and the Jurchens still more or less followed the rules when dealing with defectors with troops. Perhaps Zhang Jun opened this condition because of this, and perhaps Jin Wuzhu would not go back on his word... But as the saying goes, when hunting prey, one must always put out bait, but once the prey is in hand, even the fur must become the hunter's clothes. This time, even if Zhang Boying went to Shaanxi with so much money, Jin Wuzhu would have ten thousand ways to slowly make him spit it all out in the future!

In short, these reasons, combined with the fact that Xiacaicheng was indeed an isolated city and the widespread existence of Song Dynasty defectors, the Jurchens, or rather Jin Wuzhu, still felt that this deal could be done!

Of course, they definitely couldn't agree in one breath. Zhao Qiu entered the city for the third time in one day, bringing the condition that the document could be written, and the Fourth Prince could even personally sign it, but a lot of gold and silver had indeed been scattered in the camp, and it was difficult to collect it all, so they hoped to pay half first, and the second half would be paid to him after Zhang Jun opened the city and handed over the troops, and took office in Guanxi!

What kind of person was Zhang Jun? How could he agree to such a muddled account? Not only did he bite very hard, but that night he even put on his armor in front of Zhao Qiu and participated in the night patrol on the city wall.

The next day, that is, in the afternoon of the second day of the first month, Zhao Qiu entered the city for the fourth time, changing the condition to pay 70% of the gold and silver first, and proposing that Jin Wuzhu was willing to give Zhang Jun himself some more treasures and valuables as the final condition!

This time, Zhang Jun pondered again and again, and finally reluctantly agreed, and agreed that as soon as the gold, silver and valuables entered the city, and after he counted and distributed them in front of the envoy, he would open the city and surrender the next day to welcome the Jin army!

ps: Thank you very much to the light-colored ear-folded psychic monster boss for the alliance, the 28th cute... another Zhihu boss has been pitted.