April began with incessant rain.

Yet, all of a sudden, the military camps around Nanyang became active. Even soldiers on leave in the city and officers participating in the Imperial-sponsored 'Nanyang Marriage Fair' at the east gate of Nanyang Prefecture city hurriedly returned… The reason was simple: the Emperor suddenly left the city and personally stationed himself at the large camp below Yu Mountain, then issued a decree ordering the entire Imperial Central Army to assemble.

Such a posture made it clear what was happening. There must have been a weakness in Xiangzhou to the south, and the Emperor was going to fulfill his promise made at Fangcheng Mountain and personally supervise the army to brave the rain and attack the rebel Fan Qiong.

As for this matter, the various units of the so-called Imperial Central Army currently stationed in the auxiliary capital of Nanyang were naturally eager to fight… Judging by this morale, those who didn't know might think the young Emperor Zhao was divinely gifted, like Emperor Taizong of Tang resurrected, having transformed this Song army of complex origins into an iron-willed force in just a few months, with everyone willing to die for the Emperor.

But those who knew understood. Wasn't this just going to fight Fan Qiong?

Fighting the Jin was one thing, but fighting against former colleagues turned rebels was another. Everyone knew each other well, so who was afraid of whom?

Once the fear was gone, the army naturally rushed to the front… The soldiers were thinking about spoils, the officers were thinking about earning merit, and even the generals of the Imperial Central Army were eager to expand their units.

It had to be known that the Emperor's favoritism towards Han Shizhong, nicknamed Poured Han Five, was almost universally known. Previously, Ding Jin's 30,000 troops from HuaiXi, as well as Zhai Chong's unit that saved the Emperor, were all assigned to Han Shizhong's Imperial Left Army, while the Imperial Central Army, which had been following the Emperor himself, had not received a single replenishment.

This time, no matter what, Poured Han Five would not come to snatch people.

Not to mention, there was also Wang De, known as Wang Yaksha, who had always wanted to remove the "Deputy" from his title of Deputy Commander, and the Xin brothers, who had been eager to prove themselves since they were unable to fight in the battle of HuaiShang, among other commanding officers with special reasons.

"Brother, can we take some other path?"

The expedition was to begin tomorrow. The large camp of the Imperial Central Army below Yu Mountain was almost shrouded in rain. Inside a dry military barrack, two men sat opposite each other at a low table, frowning and looking worriedly at the two petitions on the table. These were none other than the Xin brothers, Xin Xingzong and Xin Yongzong. After a long silence, the fourth brother, Xin Yongzong, finally broke the silence with a tight frown. "What's the use of submitting them directly like this?"

"There's no time. The moment the drums sound, it'll be our last chance." The eldest brother, Xin Xingzong, sighed. "Besides, those people in the central government are avoiding us like the plague. How would they be willing to help easily? Even giving them money is useless."

"That's true." Xin Yongzong became even more despondent upon hearing this. "Speaking of which, isn't this all up to the Emperor? But why would the Emperor give us brothers face?"

"It's all my fault for dragging you brothers down." As the eldest brother, Xin Xingzong's expression darkened when he saw his younger brother's attitude. "Fortunately, the Emperor hasn't specifically rejected us, so we can at least have a comfortable life… If you ask me, just submit them. If we can't get the vanguard, then we won't fight for it. At this point, it's better for us brothers to be stable."

Xin Yongzong wanted to say something but stopped, clearly unwilling, but he fidgeted and couldn't come up with any brilliant ideas.

Correspondingly, Xin Xingzong also looked sad at his younger brother's unease, but he had nothing to say.

It was no wonder the Xin brothers were in such a state.

It had to be known that the Xin brothers consisted of four: the eldest, Xin Xingzong, the second, Xin Qizong, the third, Xin Daozong, and the fourth, Xin Yongzong, plus a cousin, Xin Yanzong, making five brothers, all of whom were influential figures in recent years:

The eldest, Xin Xingzong, was the one who competed with Han Shizhong for merit during the suppression of Fang La. However, saying it was a competition for merit was a bit of an exaggeration of Han Shizhong, because Xin Xingzong's official position was much higher than Han Shizhong's at the time; at most, it was concealing merit… In fact, during the subsequent expedition against the Liao, Xin Xingzong was essentially on equal footing with Zhong Shidao, serving as the commander of the Western Route Army.

Therefore, although he had no achievements in the years of turmoil after the Three Kingdoms period and had repeatedly been defeated, he managed to secure a position as the commander of the Imperial Central Army based on his seniority, which could not be lower.

The second brother, Xin Qizong, was currently in Guanxi, his situation unclear, but before it became unclear, he was also a military commander leading four or five thousand troops.

The third brother, Xin Daozong, was the only one of the brothers who tried to become a civil official. When Zhao Jiu ascended the throne in Shangqiu, he was appointed by the temporary government as the Judicial Intendant of Jingzhao (Chang'an), but due to the obstructed roads, he couldn't go (or rather, he didn't die), so he went to the southeast with his elder brother and fourth brother to prepare for the temporary government's move to Yangzhou.

Later, because of the urgency on the Huai River, Li Gang sent the three brothers back. However, Zhao Guan-jia then personally appointed him at Bagong Mountain, making him a military commander leading troops to Jingdong with Zhang Suo, the Pacification Commissioner of the two Jingdong circuits.

The fourth brother, Xin Yongzong, had basically the same trajectory as the eldest brother. He was also a military commander at this time, but his troops were simply divided from his elder brother's.

As for the four's cousin, Xin Yanzong, he was also quite capable. When Zhao Lao-jiu was still the Grand Marshal, he led his Bazhou troops to the Grand Marshal's mansion. At that time, he was the Vanguard Commander of the Grand Marshal's mansion. He seemed to be stronger in battle than Xin Yongzong, but he stayed in the southeast this time and didn't return. And a few days ago, a document was sent by Li Gong-xiang, he was organized with Miao Liu two generals, and another commander named Wang Yi, together, was compiled into the Imperial Rear Army, becoming one of the main generals of the Imperial Rear Army.

Objectively speaking, these five brothers, five commanders, were a bit stronger than the nine prefects of the Lin family in this special period. It was truly a great hand… because the nine prefects were appointed gradually over several decades, while the five commanders of the Xin brothers were appointed at the same time.

In fact, before Bagong Mountain, there was a saying in the army about the four great generals of the Imperial Army: Liu, Zhang, Han, and Xin. Liu was Liu Guangshi, Zhang was Zhang Jun, and Han was Han Shizhong. These three were all independent generals in different areas, while Xin referred to Xin Xingzong, who led a bunch of brothers.

However, heroes don't dwell on past glory. The fact that Xin Xingzong, who was good at flattery, never thought he would be robbed of the Emperor's favor by Poured Han Five was truly a great joke!

It really was Poured Han Five's problem.

Not only the Xin brothers themselves, but even the horse feeders in the Imperial camp knew that the reason why the brothers were in this situation was because of Han Shizhong.

Putting aside the Emperor and Li Gang's well-known intentions to deliberately separate the brothers, the two major blows the Xin brothers encountered were actually under Bagong Mountain. One was their failure to participate in the HuaiBei retreat, which completely made them representatives of the second-rate troops in the Imperial Army; the other was that during the reorganization, Xin Xingzong, who had extremely old qualifications, stopped at the position of commander and became just another face in the crowd.

However, the planner of the Battle of HuaiBei was Han Shizhong himself, and it was unknown whether he did it intentionally or unintentionally, but he simply didn't mention these brothers in front of the Emperor. As for the Emperor's actions during the reorganization, they were clearly to give face to Han Shizhong… There was no choice. At that time, the temporary government was going to move west, and it was the Imperial Left Army and the Imperial Central Army. According to the tradition of the Song army, the two sides were originally mutually opposed. If Xin Xingzong were to rise to prominence, given Poured Han Five's arrogance at the time, he might have secretly pulled out his knife and stabbed him!

Everyone said that the Emperor was biased towards Poured Han Five. The civil officials said it, Zhang Jun also said it, and even Wang De, known as Wang Yaksha, would ramble when drunk, saying that if the Emperor hadn't been biased towards Han Shizhong, he would have been this and that… However, the civil officials felt it was bias because of the conflict between civil and military affairs. Zhang Jun felt it was bias because it was just a power struggle among the victors. Even Wang De, did he dare to mention "bias" in front of the Emperor? It was as if Wang Yaksha wasn't the highest-ranking officer in the Imperial Central Army right now.

In fact, the biggest victim of the Emperor's bias towards Poured Han Five was none other than the Xin brothers. However, compared to Zhang Jun and Wang De, the Xin brothers didn't even have the ability to complain…

"Defensive!"

Just as the Xin brothers were frowning and waiting for the drums to sound in the Central Army, someone suddenly called out from afar outside the military barrack. "Is the Defensive here?"

The so-called "Defensive" referred to the title of *Defensive Commissioner* (*Fang Yu Shi*).

A few days ago, several councilors in the auxiliary capital, along with the Ministry of Personnel, sorted out the various appointments made by the temporary government and made rough patches on the various chaotic assignments pointed out by Emperor Zhao… For example, Zhang Suo, the Pacification Commissioner of the two circuits, was appointed by Emperor Zhao in a muddled way without mentioning his cabinet rank. At the suggestion of the Ministry of Personnel, he jumped from the Academician of the Dragon Diagram Pavilion to the Academician of the Zizheng Hall in one go.

Ma Shen, Liu Hongdao, and others were also given full benefits. Li Gang even specifically added the title of Military Commissioner, becoming a bizarre existence of "Councilor plus Commissioner."

Correspondingly, the commanders of the various units in the Imperial Central Army were also uniformly sorted out in terms of their honorific rank. They were generally at the scale of "Deputy Envoy Who Walks in the Palace" (*Heng Xing Fu Shi*). Wang De's highest rank was only the 30th-grade Military Integrity Grand Master (*Wu Jie Da Fu*), on par with Yue Fei, and had not reached the "Right Envoy of the Various Departments" (*Zhu Si Zheng Shi*). Only Xin Xingzong had the longest qualifications and was the Military Training Commissioner of a remote prefecture in his early years. This time, the central government had no choice but to pinch their noses and give him the title of *Defensive Commissioner of a remote prefecture*.

As for Wang De's recent grumbling, hoping to advance to the position of Commander and Defensive Commissioner of the Four Walls of Nanyang with this military merit, that was another matter… This position was a bit muddled due to the two sieges of Tokyo.

Back to the present, according to the titles of this era, the Xin brothers of the Imperial Central Army were naturally called "Great Xin Defensive" and "Little Xin Grand Master." It was fortunate, otherwise, they were all commanders. If the five brothers gathered one day, what would they be called?

"Three Greatest Under Heaven?" "Four Yong Unparalleled in the World?"

"It's Hu Hongxiu." Xin Yongzong was invigorated when he heard the voice. "He's a rare scholar in the army, has ideas, and is well-connected. Let's hear what he has to say."

The elder brother, Xin Xingzong, shook his head repeatedly, disagreeing: "This person certainly has ideas, but he has too many, and he's been distant these days. Given our current situation, it's unlikely that he'll give us any ideas."

However, even though he said that, the man was already outside the military barrack, and he was a proper scholar who had been with the brothers, wandering with Fan Qiong for more than a year after the Jingkang Incident, and he was also a 'well-connected' person. The Xin brothers were currently down on their luck, so how could they be negligent?

Therefore, the brothers actually went out together to greet him and brought this mere "Bao Yi Lang" Hu Hongxiu into the barrack… *Bao Yi Lang* was the same official position that Niu Gao had just received from General Cui in Luoyang a few days ago. It was the 50th grade in the 53 grades of military official titles of the Song Dynasty, about 20 grades lower than Yue Fei's *Wu Jie Da Fu*.

In history, Niu Gao was Yue Fei's deputy commander, while Hu Hongxiu was Yue Fei's chief of staff and a commanding officer in one of Yue Fei's armies.

Hu Hongxiu was in his twenties this year, with a fair complexion and a tall stature, a full forehead, and a slender nose. If not for a scar on his temple and a leather belt around his waist, he would have been the perfect model of a fine young man from outside Donghua Gate… In fact, he came from the Imperial Academy. He abandoned his pen for the army during the Jingkang era and was responsible for defending the city walls under Fan Qiong. Later, when Fan Qiong turned traitor, he abandoned Fan Qiong and followed the Xin Daozong and Xin Yongzong brothers, who were heading from HeDong to Nanjing (Shangqiu) to find the Grand Marshal's mansion.

The person entered the door, then casually sat down, just a little looking at the petition on the case, and then heard Xin Yongzong say urgently, he shook his head and laughed:

"You are really going in the opposite direction."

Upon hearing this, the Xin brothers, whether it was the fourth brother, who had high expectations, or the eldest brother, who was originally somewhat disappointed but still had faint expectations, all became disheartened.

However, Hu Hongxiu turned a blind eye to the expressions of the two. He wrung the water out of his sleeves, re-tied the belt, and then calmly and unhurriedly continued to speak slowly:

"In my opinion, you brothers have two big mistakes. One is that Defensive, you don't know when to advance or retreat…"

Hearing the last two words, Xin Yongzong instinctively wanted to refute, but Xin Xingzong's heart moved and immediately held down his own brother.

"Grand Commandant Han has been conferred a title, he holds the military power of HuaiXi, and all the rewards that come from Nanyang Prefecture, the ones that give to the military officer, he must be the first; The gifts to the counselors are also definitely bring Han Taiwei; Gift to close courtiers, also has a share of Han Taiwei… not only, I heard that since the official family gave the jade belt, not even in the great court meeting of Fangcheng Mountain, is the gold belt…"

Having said that, Hu Hongxiu, who was sitting on the stool, smiled slightly, and then looked at Xin Xingzong, who was already pale: "Excuse me, Defensive, how can you easily shake this grace and reuse? And according to the grievances between Defensive and Grand Commandant Han, how can you come forward as long as he is there?"

"Then what should I do?" In a daze, Xin Xingzong almost blurted out.

"What can you do?" Hu Hongxiu smiled. "Defensive, forgive me for speaking frankly, if an old soldier like you doesn't want to surrender to the Jin, and doesn't want to end up like Fan Qiong, and you still yearn for the wealth of the Great Song… Of course, that's probably exactly what you want… then there's only one way, and that is to take the initiative to ask to retire. Once you retire, the other Xin commanders will suddenly see the light and be able to move forward."

Little Xin was furious when he heard this, but Great Xin sighed: "Actually, I thought of this a long time ago, but no one sorted it out for me clearly. Thank you for reminding me, Young Master Hu."

"It's okay. If you ask me, take this opportunity. There are seven troops in the Imperial Central Army, plus the Imperial Guards, a total of eight places. Everyone must want to be the vanguard, but one troop must stay in Nanyang to guard the area, which everyone avoids. Defensive, why not speak directly to the Emperor and say that old wounds are difficult to endure in the rain, and ask to stay and guard the area, and ask to garrison Wuguan after the war…"

"I understand what Young Master Hu means." Xin Xingzong glanced at his younger brother and tried to cheer himself up. "If I do this, and then the fourth brother asks to be the vanguard, he'll have a high chance of winning!"

The fourth brother, Xin Yongzong, was happy at heart, but he immediately got up and personally poured a bowl of ginger soup for Hu Hongxiu.

Hu Hongxiu was not pretentious, took the bowl and drank it all, wiped his mouth, and continued to shake his head and smile: "This is the other of the two big mistakes that I just mentioned Defensive, and it is the root reason why I came to find you two this time… In this battle, if you want to seek military merit, how can you fight for the vanguard? It is destined to be going in the opposite direction to be the vanguard!"

Before the eldest brother could speak, the fourth brother, Xin Yongzong, pulled a stool and sat next to Hu Hongxiu, learning the handshake etiquette that was popular in Nanyang recently, and held the person's hand and sincerely asked:

"Please, Brother Hu, for the sake of our year of wandering together, point out a clear path for us brothers!"

"I was going to say it anyway." Hu Hongxiu withdrew his hand calmly. "Xin *Wu Jing* (Xin Yongzong's newly obtained rank, *Wu Jing Da Fu*, the 32nd grade), I will ask you, if you win the vanguard, where will you fight?"

"Naturally, we will go south along the White River (Yu River), break Deng City, and take Xiangyang!"

"Is Deng City so easy to break?" Hu Hongxiu suddenly asked seriously. "Is Xiangyang so easy to take?"

"It won't be too difficult, will it?" The Little Xin *Wu Jing* was obviously puzzled. "Does Fan Qiong still have a way out today?"

"It will still take some time." The eldest brother, Xin Xingzong, was more experienced. "The Emperor's decree did not pardon those soldiers who surrendered to the Jin, and Fan Qiong took the opportunity to pile those Jin-surrendered soldiers in Deng City north of the Han River, and gathered his own troops in Xiangyang. In other words, the soldiers in Deng City have not been pardoned, and this kind of military situation may resist stubbornly for a few days. After seeing blood, they will scatter in confusion, which can always delay some time. As for Xiangyang…"

"What about Xiangyang?" Xin Yongzong was still puzzled.

"Isn't it raining?" Xin Xingzong sighed. "If you want to break Xiangyang, you must first break Deng City, and then cross the Han River. However, how difficult is it to cross the water in the rain? Not to mention that the water will inevitably rise by the time you cross the river, and Fan Qiong, no matter how bastard he is, has defended the city of Tokyo… The ferry must be his most elite and reliable unit."

Hearing this, Little Xin couldn't help but look at Hu Hongxiu again.

Hu Hongxiu did not hide anything, but directly offered a plan: "Xin *Wu Jing* can request to be a separate army, go out of the upstream Niushou Town, attack Zongyin Monk, and then cross the river from there, and then raid Xiangyang City from the south bank!"

The Xin brothers looked at each other. The fourth brother, Xin Yongzong, was obviously asking for help, because he did not understand the benefits of this plan. The eldest brother, Xin Xingzong, was silent for a while, and also bluntly said embarrassedly: "Little Hu, I must not have understood the key to this strategy… Although there are few soldiers in Niushou Town, the Zongyin Monk who leads the troops there has also not been explicitly pardoned, let alone a lone army crossing the river and raiding Xiangyang City, which is garrisoned by ten thousand troops. If we brothers have a commander, commanding 1,500 people, wouldn't the entire army be wiped out if we are not careful?"

Hu Hongxiu was extremely helpless and could only explain a little: "Defensive, let me ask you two more things. Zongyin Monk has not been pardoned, but has he ever surrendered to the Jin? And have his subordinates been explicitly forbidden to be pardoned? And at this time, the rain is so heavy, but the Emperor has to move troops at this time. Is the Emperor out of his mind, or are the many staff and generals beside the Emperor confused?"

"You mean…" Xin Xingzong was silent for a while, then said somewhat difficultly. "Zongyin Monk must be a soft egg and a waste. We can promise his subordinates to lure his troops to surrender. And in Xiangyang City, there must have been a major change?"

"Otherwise?" Hu Hongxiu saw that Da Xin had clearly figured it out but was still hesitating, while Xiao Xin was still ignorant, he was extremely disappointed, and he couldn't help but be cold.

However, Xin Xingzong was a figure who had risen from the ranks beside Tong Guan in the Western Army. It was difficult to say anything else, but at least he was good at observing words and expressions. Seeing that Hu Hongxiu's face had changed, he sighed:

"Young Master Hu, I must know what you mean, and I also know that what you said is very good, but although we brothers can't be said to be at the end of our road, we are also in danger… Let me ask you two questions before making a decision, how about that?"

"Defensive, please speak." Although Hu Hongxiu did not understand, he was still frank.

"First of all, Young Master Hu, you have been in our brother's account for a year, and everyone knows that you regard the Jingkang Incident as the shame of your life and dare not forget it for a moment. However, if you want to do things, you must first have a position." Xin Xingzong paced back and forth in the barracks and sighed. "And you are a student of the Imperial Academy, have extensive contacts, and have experience in the battlefield. Your father-in-law, Wang Shuzhan, is the Vice Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, and your brother-in-law and close friend, Wang Ruohai, has recently been selected as a close attendant to the Emperor. Your sister has become the daughter-in-law of the Imperial Uncle Zhao Shi-yan, who had the merit of supporting the Emperor in Nanjing on that day… In other words, if you want a position, you can always jump up, but in the past few months, you followed us back from the southeast. Seeing so many people around you rising up one after another, why did you, who wanted to do things, stay still?"

Hu Hongxiu suddenly laughed again: "Defensive's other question must be to ask, why did I stay still before, but suddenly I want to jump out like a frog with the rain today? And since I'm out, there's a shortage of people everywhere, so why don't I go to my own father-in-law, but instead come to the army to find two frustrated generals?"

"Exactly!"

"Then I'll be frank." Hu Hongxiu sighed. "My best friend in the Imperial Academy is Chen Dong. Although I heard that the Emperor exiled Huang Qianshan in the southeast and cleared Chen Dong's name, I was always worried, hating that Wang Boyan was not demoted, and wondering whether the Emperor had really changed… If I couldn't get over this knot in my heart, how would I be willing to ask for an official position?"

"So that's how it is." Xin Xingzong suddenly realized. "Yes, you were all influential figures in the Imperial Academy during the Jingkang era, how could you not know each other? I didn't even think of it."

"Whether you think of it or not, the dead can't be brought back to life." Hu Hongxiu said with emotion. "And these days, from Bagong Mountain to Caizhou, and then to Nanyang, although I'm still worried about Wang Boyan, I've seen that the central government has somewhat improved, and the Emperor seems to be really doing things, not deceiving us like he did in Nanjing that day, so although I'm uneasy, I can't help but want to come out and try."

"Who isn't like this? After going to the southeast, the Emperor seemed to have changed into a different person. Everyone is suspicious…" Xin Xingzong could also understand.

"As for why I have a little thought now, but why I'm looking for you two instead of my father-in-law's side, I have nothing to hide…" Hu Hongxiu smiled bitterly. "First, my brother-in-law, Wang Ruohai, must also be a former close friend of the Imperial Academy, and he must also be a partner of Chen Dong, Ouyang Che, and others, but he has been jumping up and down these months, willing to flatter various counselors in order to seek an official position, even walking the path of Wang Boyan, and I have become disgusted with that side!"

"…"

"Second, naturally, Fan Qiong had a entanglement with me in Tokyo. I couldn't wait to kill him that day, but because I was powerless, and I was so cowardly at the time, I could only cry and leave the city holding the proclamation to dissolve the city defense. This is one of the biggest regrets in my life!"

"We met that day." Xin Yongzong couldn't help but interject.

However, when Hu Hongxiu said this, he was obviously reminded of the old events in Tokyo, but he completely ignored 'Fourth Xin', just hating and unable to calm down, which was overflowing on his face. He stopped for a long time before he eased up, and then sat there word by word, continuing to say awe-inspiringly:

"Third, since the Jingkang era, after personally experiencing the siege, I have decided that if you want to appease the world, the affairs of the world must be based on soldiers and horses first! And if there is a real opportunity to revive the two rivers, welcome back the Second Emperor, and avenge the previous shame, I, Hu Hongxiu, would rather be a centurion than be a minister! What is a mere official position, and the division of civil and military affairs, in the face of the tens of millions of people in the two rivers?!"

Xin Xingzong stared at the leather belt on the other's sleeve for a long time, and actually ignored the difference in status, and bowed his hands in return: "If that's the case, this time I will entrust my younger brother to Young Master Hu!"

Hu Hongxiu knew that there was a difference of dozens of ranks between the two sides, and quickly avoided it… However, just as he got up, a drum sound came from afar through the rain, which shocked the two of them.

Without a doubt, this was naturally Emperor Zhao, who was 'suspicious to look at' but couldn't help but want to jump out and take a look, was drumming to gather the generals in the central army.

ps: In order to make up the setting of big and small defensive, I made a mistake… Only Xin Xingzong is qualified to be a Defensive Commissioner, all the rest, including Wang De, are not enough… The main thing is that when I started writing, I actually regarded the Remote County Defensive Commissioner and the fifth grade military officer as two different things, but they are actually very relevant… I apologize to everyone, and it has been modified.