Chapter 1 The Beginning

It was said that Zhao Guan Jia (Official Zhao) formally issued the order for a full-scale military attack on the evening of the twentieth day of the ninth month. Immediately afterward, he held hands with Yue Fei to bid farewell, leading only the Imperial Bodyguard westward according to the original strategy.

Beside him, Lu Yihao, the Grand Commander of Hebei and Chancellor of the State, though over sixty years of age, was still vigorous and hale. Dressed in purple robes, he did not neglect horsemanship or archery and accompanied Zhao Guan Jia with composure.

The Grand Commander of the Imperial Army, Wang Yan, the Duke of Jie, personally wore high-quality mountain-pattern armor, scarred from the bloody battle of Yaoshan, as he solemnly followed.

Below Lu and Wang, civil and military officials were arranged in order. Civil officials wore purple, scarlet, azure, and white robes, in perfect order. Military officials wore clear armor, displaying their martial prowess... Figures like Yang Yizhong, with his might, Liu Yan, with his composure, Fan Zongyin, with his calmness, Ren Baozhong, with his uprightness, Yu Yunwen, with his efficiency, and Mei Yue, with his prudence, even those Mongol princes, Japanese samurai, Tangut nobles, and foreign hostages within the Imperial Bodyguard, were all the elite of their time.

Such a posture was naturally uplifting. With the overall situation in motion, three years of silence were broken in a single morning, causing Zhao Guan Jia to feel a surge of revolutionary romanticism.

Even riding on horseback felt like it had its own background music.

This feeling became even more pronounced as the official gathered various units of Li Qiong's command, the Deputy Commander of the Right of the Central Army of the Imperial Army stationed along the northern line of Tokyo, which were originally the Eight Character Army (Ba Zi Jun) units led by Wang Yan. The accompanying troops grew stronger, and it was clear that the Eight Character Army was excited about the Northern Expedition.

However, on the twenty-second day of the ninth month, Zhao Guan Jia had just arrived at The Filature of the Song and met with Li Qiong, exchanging a few passionate words. That very evening, he received a strange memorial from Zhang Jun, the Privy Councilor, requesting to supervise the military in Hebei.

Zhao Jiu was stunned for a full incense stick's worth of time before he realized what was happening—Zhang Jun felt wronged! He was unhappy with the Northern Expedition!

Of course, this wasn't to say that Zhang, the Privy Councilor, had changed or betrayed the revolution. It was just that things had happened so suddenly. Zhao Guan Jia had launched everything ahead of schedule due to the death of Eliduo, completely disrupting Zhang's personal plans.

As everyone knew, Zhang De Yuan had always harbored ambitions like those of Zhuge Liang, the Marquis of Wu.

And Zhuge Liang, well, without personally participating in the Northern Expedition, without presenting a memorial before the expedition, without staging an empty fort strategy while wearing a feather fan and silk scarf, how could he be considered Zhuge Liang?

Zhang De Yuan's true intentions were clear to many in the court, from Zhao Guan Jia on down. He wanted to cross the river north with Zhao Guan Jia—either to be with Zhao Jiu on the main western front to oversee the big picture or to separate from Zhao Guan Jia and go east to supervise Yue Fei.

But could Zhao Jiu let him go?!

Staying behind to maintain the stability of the court and oversee the transportation of military supplies from the south was the task Zhao Jiu had assigned him.

For a moment, Zhao Guan Jia was a little angry.

Zhang Jun had shown this tendency before and had made political attempts for personal gain before. When Zhao Guan Jia had returned to Tokyo with Lu Yihao just half a month earlier, he had been quickly driven out, partly because Zhang Jun had stirred up political strife regardless of the overall situation.

At that time, it was one thing that Lu Yihao couldn't control his temper, but it was another thing that Zhang Jun couldn't allow others to hold the position of Grand Commander of Hebei... Both sides were responsible.

And don't underestimate this Privy Councilor Zhang. In terms of foundation, his so-called Mu Party had already grown to a considerable size. How could Lu Yihao, who was intolerant of others and had spent a long time in the southeast, compare?

Therefore, despite Lu Xiang Gong's show of force in Tokyo, he was actually at a disadvantage when facing Zhang, or perhaps it was precisely because he was at a disadvantage internally that he was so outwardly tyrannical, while Zhang was outwardly non-contending because he was internally invincible, in order to achieve the effect of Zheng Bo overcoming Duan Yu Yan.

Even Zhao Ding, the Chancellor of State, who had even greater political strength, probably saw that Lu Xiang Gong's real opponent after entering the court was actually Zhang, and that Lu Xiang Gong, who had obtained the position of Grand Commander of Hebei, was a thorn in Zhang's side... That's why he maintained a certain high profile in the previous process.

All those who play politics are dirty.

But these were all old stories, and it was impossible for everyone to be as selfless as Zhuge Liang. Who couldn't have a little personal ambition? Even Zhao Jiu had chosen to smooth things over for the sake of the overall situation, directly bringing Lu Yihao out. And it was conceivable that Zhang Jun would definitely be unwilling and would definitely try again, and at that time, it seemed that he should still have half a year to carry out detailed operations.

But then, Eliduo died.

A fine Third Prince, who had been decisively commanding in Zhending Prefecture a few days earlier, suddenly died in Qinghe.

Then the war suddenly broke out, and Zhao Guan Jia directly issued an order for a full-scale mobilization and advance.

At this time, Zhang, the Privy Councilor, who had always longed to become a martial marquis, was stunned to find that because of the sudden outbreak of the war, he had completely lost the space to maneuver. Instead, Lu Yihao, who had been driven out by him before, had directly caught a favorable wind and secured the position of Grand Commander of Hebei.

Of course, he was unwilling, of course he felt wronged, of course he wanted to try again.

Eight years of service!

Zhang De Yuan had always been one of Zhao Jiu's most trusted and intimate civil officials in the court, even perhaps more than that. Therefore, Zhao Guan Jia was of course well aware of his thoughts and even understood his grievances... But knowing was knowing, and understanding was understanding. When it came down to it, his reaction still disappointed Zhao Jiu greatly.

Because the weight of his personal ambition was overflowing.

This memorial, along with Wang Gang's arrogance and underestimation of the enemy, added a trace of shadow to Zhao Jiu's heart.

Of course, in any case, Zhao Guan Jia still gritted his teeth and endured it. He had endured for eight years, and had endured so many things, one more wouldn't make a difference... He reacted, called for a cup of tea, and used the tea to write a private letter to Zhang De Yuan in The Filature of the Song.

Roughly, the private letter told Zhang Xiang Gong that supervising logistics was Zhuge Liang's role. The current situation wasn't Zhuge Liang's Northern Expedition at all, but Liu Zhaolie's decisive battle in Hanzhong... Of course, Zhuge Liang had to stay in Chengdu to prepare the logistics, and the one accompanying him must be Fazheng!

Zhuge Liang personally leading the Northern Expedition could only happen when Liu Chan was on the throne!

Half comforting, half warning, after writing it, he didn't use a seal, nor did he call Lu Yihao and Fan Zongyin over. He directly used Zhao Jiu's signature from Cangzhou and found Liu Yan and Taira Kiyomori, instructing them in person to have Taira Kiyomori use the secret route, but actually without alarming anyone, to send the letter to Zhang Xiang Gong in Tokyo overnight.

The letter was sent out, and before a reply was received, he received Zhang Jun's plea letter in the middle of the night, requesting to withdraw the memorial and apologizing to Zhao Guan Jia. This made Zhao Jiu feel much better... He just took it as a temporary shock and emotional outburst.

In this way, early the next morning, Zhao Guan Jia saw Zhang Rong again at The Filature of the Song's The Filature of the Song Ford, but because Zhang Rong had to rush to Zilu Sao to join Yue Fei, there wasn't much communication between the two sides. They just shook hands and bid farewell, saying some words that were half formalities and half sincerity, asking him to cooperate well with Yue Fei, and then they separated.

Setting out again, because of Zhang Jun's antics, Zhao Jiu no longer had the same high spirits as before, but overall his mood was still positive. By the afternoon, the official's mood had risen again, because he had seen the mobilization of the laborers along the river.

South of the Yellow River, countless laborers had begun to be conscripted. Among them, the laborers along the river that Zhao Jiu personally saw were mostly military farms and civilian farms that had been uniformly settled before. These people were mostly those who had lost their homes in the previous Central Plains turmoil and Hebei wanderings, as well as veterans who had retired from the army in the past five or six years.

They would receive simple weapons, restore a certain military organization according to the garrison, and then undertake the labor of transporting military grain to Hebei, and serve as auxiliary soldiers when necessary, and even become a necessary military force to defend the Yellow River defense line.

However, they had no military pay, only the necessary food, and only those who crossed the river to serve as auxiliary soldiers would have a small amount of money as a subsidy.

This was also something that couldn't be helped, just like the south had to increase taxes and levies, it was all something that couldn't be helped.

But even so, this scene of everyone contributing money and effort, and the whole country working together to the north, still made Zhao Jiu feel a sense of excitement and an extra bit of confidence, because he deeply understood the power of this force.

Moreover, Zhao Jiu already had a plan for post-war compensation in his mind, but it was too early to say at this time.

All in all, Zhao Guan Jia was just like this, rising and falling all day long, and his mood quickly rose again. And when the official was happy, everyone naturally followed suit.

But on the evening of this day, Zhao Guan Jia, who had arrived in Zuo City, received a piece of news that made him furious - a huge military oversight had occurred at the Yuetai camp.

It turned out that the edict was issued from Zilu Sao on the evening of the twentieth day of the ninth month. The knights of the Red Heart Team used the relay stations along the Yellow River that had been prepared in advance, changing horses and people along the way, and spent only one day and night to deliver the edict to Tokyo, more than three hundred miles away. After receiving the edict, the Imperial Cavalry Army of Yuetai Camp quickly assembled under the leadership of Qu Duan, and took the lead in advancing westward, and on the twenty-second day of the ninth month, it directly launched the entire army.

It could be called miraculous.

However, Li Shifu, the Deputy Commander of the Imperial Cavalry Army, had actually forgotten the Po Xi Army that had been allocated to him last year, the so-called newly formed army, and stationed in the open area south of the city!

Poor Wei Ming Yunge, the commander of the Po Xi Army, had always been conscientious and never dared to slack off for a moment in several years, wholeheartedly helping the Great Song Dynasty restore the establishment of the Po Xi Army. After receiving the edict, he immediately prepared the three hundred camel cannons of his command at his garrison, as well as three times the number of spare camels, and two times the number of small crossbow cannon replacement parts... But after preparing in a hurry, he never received a direct military order. It wasn't until he discovered that almost all of the 30,000 troops of the Imperial Cavalry Army to which he belonged had left that he panicked and went to the Ministry of War and the Privy Council.

The Privy Council and the Ministry of War were also dumbfounded. In the end, Hu Yin, the Minister of Public Works in charge of frontline military supplies, decisively assigned the Po Xi Army directly to Zhao Guan Jia's imperial guard, telling him to wait temporarily and prepare to act with the Imperial Bodyguard. This was considered to have settled the matter.

And Zhao Guan Jia received the memorial under these circumstances.

To be honest, two things in a row, plus the previous defeat of Wang Gang, had completely alerted Zhao Guan Jia. He keenly realized that since ancient times, there had been no plan for such a large-scale war.

Or rather, the preparation work for this kind of large-scale war would definitely be a disastrous existence for the upper and lower levels of the feudal era.

Three hundred thousand combat soldiers, and possibly the same number, or even more, of laborers. Even if the opposite bank of the river was much worse, it was still of the same order of magnitude. This scale of war was probably one of the few in the entire history of China's feudal era.

The reason why he didn't dare to say unprecedented was because Zhao Jiu knew that the mobilization scale of the five-way campaign against Xia in the Shenzong Dynasty was very large... However, that time, the Song army was directly brought down by its own terrible logistics.

Back to the present, after a little mental preparation, Zhao Jiu immediately adjusted his mentality, and then summoned Li Qiong, asking him to continue to march properly, but decided to lead the accompanying personnel and the Imperial Bodyguard to accelerate forward and return to Tokyo... Because that was where the army was most concentrated, the bureaucratic institutions were also the most concentrated, and the political effects would definitely be the most obvious... And the mistakes made would definitely be the most absurd.

Of course, Li Qiong had nothing to say, and although some of the accompanying civil and military officials felt that Zhao Guan Jia was a bit neurotic, they would definitely not advise him on this matter.

And so, early on the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, the Imperial Bodyguard once again broke away from the main force, accelerated hastily, escorted Zhao Guan Jia towards Tokyo.

And whether it should be said as expected or however, along the way, Zhao Guan Jia didn't hear any good news!

The Imperial City Division and the Military Intelligence Division kept sending all kinds of messy bad news that, on the other hand, had to be admitted should have been expected all along...

Things like: the Zhengzhou relay station was blocked, the straggling soldiers of the Imperial Cavalry Army occupied the relay station, and conflicts occurred with Wang De's troops who were coming later;

As soon as the edict to start the war was issued, some officials took the opportunity to engage in the apportionment of the Northern Expedition national debt in order to gain political achievements;

There were also officials who, after the edict was issued, followed the original plan to dispose of hoarders and speculators, taking the opportunity to expand the scope in order to amass wealth;

Even more than just officials, some large merchants, after discovering that they couldn't raise prices in Tokyo, simply had plans to avoid Tokyo, and Tokyo was likely to experience a certain shortage of supplies in the future;

In addition, some merchants and monks took the opportunity to lend money, and some disgraced dignitaries took the opportunity to spread rumors, all of which were quite numerous.

These broken things, even if he had been mentally prepared for them, still made Zhao Jiu anxious and furious when they crashed into him one by one, to the point that his journey became faster and faster, making some of the accompanying civil and military officials gradually feel strained.

In the end, it wasn't until he saw that Lu Yihao's body couldn't hold on any longer that the official gave up his plan to return to the capital that night, and then stationed in Chenqiao Town, north of Tokyo, that evening.

However, just as they had entered Chenqiao Town, the official and the accompanying civil and military officials and the Imperial Bodyguard were dumbfounded... Because as night fell and the distance narrowed, they clearly saw the firelight in the southwest direction!

The southwest was Tokyo, wasn't it?

In the dark, the only thing that could be certain was that the Jin army had definitely not come.

However, even the Red Heart Team knights who had just come from Tokyo to deliver the memorials couldn't say anything for sure, because they had been fine when they were in Tokyo during the day!

Oh, such a big Tokyo, it was fine during the day, and at night it was filled with firelight, and it was still the critical time when the war had just begun?

Zhao Jiu couldn't stand it anymore.

He prepared to immediately leave behind the somewhat exhausted old ministers like Lu Yihao, and lead a portion of the Imperial Bodyguard's cavalry back to the capital at full speed to find out what was going on.

However, someone quickly stopped him.

"What do you mean, Mei Qing?"

Zhao Jiu, holding his warhorse, faced him coldly. He wasn't so polite to a court gentleman, especially when his Tokyo was burning.

"Your Majesty." Under the dense torchlight, Mei Yue bowed his head in response, obviously also somewhat nervous and fearful. "Your subject believes that Your Majesty should not go there lightly at this time..."

"Why?"

"Your Majesty." Mei Yue suppressed the unease in his heart, trying hard to explain. "At this time, such a scene can never be caused by the Jin army coming, nor can it be caused by a mutiny before the Imperial Army's departure... because Duke Qu, the commander of the Imperial Cavalry Army, has already sent out all his troops, and Duke Wang, the commander of the Central Army of the Imperial Army, also sent out all his troops today... They should have all left the Yuetai camp by now... Your Majesty has already known all this through the daytime messengers."

"Then say something that I don't know!" Zhao Jiu shouted impatiently, holding the reins on his side with one hand and severely reprimanding him with the horse whip in the other.

"Your Majesty, what I want to say is that no matter if it is the Jurchen spies taking the opportunity to set fire, or some other incident, or even an accidental fire in the city, this matter can't get any worse..."

Zhao Jiu's heart skipped a beat slightly. Under the torchlight, the other close ministers who had been traveling all day also had many reactions. Even Lu Yihao, who had recovered, couldn't help but take a look at this small court gentleman who was said to be a rising direct line of Zhang De Yuan's faction.

Lord Mei raised his eyes and looked at Zhao Guan Jia, and when he saw that the other party had calmed down and obviously understood, he was slightly relieved and continued to say, "Your Majesty, I believe that even if there is trouble now, it is something that the ministers who stayed behind can handle. Will Your Majesty's going there at this time make the firefighting speed any faster? Or what can it do?"

"But if I don't go, isn't it just standing there doing nothing?" Zhao Jiu scoffed, his hand still not leaving the reins.

Seeing this, Lord Mei quickly made his intentions clear: "But Your Majesty's rushing back overnight is enough to make everyone think that Your Majesty is panicking... Your subject is presumptuous, the death of Eliduo, the Third Prince of the Jin Kingdom, was sudden, which is indeed a great benefit, but our Great Song's sudden launch was also caught off guard. Moreover, such important military and national affairs are unprecedented since ancient times, and frequent chaos is natural..."

"Natural?"

"Yes, your subject believes that this kind of chaos is natural. Your Majesty should not be anxious about it, to the point of putting the cart before the horse, nor should Your Majesty go over the level to deal with these matters." Mei Yue tried hard to respond. "At this time, it is impossible for Your Majesty to take care of all aspects. The only thing that can be done, or rather, should be done, is to show composure to the outside world in order to reassure the public. Because the ministers will only be more chaotic than Your Majesty... Only when Your Majesty himself acts frankly and naturally can the civil and military officials below be at ease and begin to deal with the incidents. If Your Majesty is impatient, it will only make the people below follow suit and be at a loss... Your subject is presumptuous, why not stay frankly in Chenqiao, send the Imperial City Division and the Military Intelligence Division to investigate, and then return to the capital calmly tomorrow morning to find out the cause?"

The night wind was cool and clear. Under the distant firelight and the nearby torchlight, Zhao Jiu was silent for a while, and Mei Yue had nothing to say, and could only bow his head and wait for orders.

"I second the motion." Suddenly, Lu Yihao cupped his hands forward.

Zhao Jiu glanced at Lu Yihao, thought for a moment, and then nodded: "Good."

After saying that, the official glanced at Yang Yizhong and Yu Yunwen again.

The latter two understood and immediately bowed their hands and strode away, which was to deploy manpower.

Seeing this, Zhao Guan Jia sighed and turned to go to the Chenqiao official post to rest, and at this time Lu Yihao raised his voice again from behind: "I request that Court Gentleman Mei Yue be promoted to Hanlin Academician... in order to show that rewards and punishments are clear."

"Good." Zhao Jiu didn't turn his head back and finally went to the official post to rest.

There was no talking all night. Early the next morning, Zhao Guan Jia led his people to Tokyo, but he learned on the way that it was not a fire in the city last night, but a fire around Yuetai.

Moreover, it was not an accident, nor was it a Jurchen spy. It was an incident caused by an organizational problem that everyone had not expected, but had to admit that they had neglected afterward - and this incident was indeed directly caused by the Northern Expedition.

It turned out that the army had suddenly set off, first the Imperial Cavalry Army, and then Wang De's Imperial Central Army, with a total number of more than 50,000 or 60,000 troops. The continuous launch caused a disturbance around Yuetai.

The reason for the disturbance was also very simple. You should know that the Song army of this year was a typical recruitment system, and family members were generally allowed to follow the army, otherwise it wouldn't cost 100 strings of cash a year to support an Imperial Army soldier.

Therefore, as the edict was issued, the Imperial Cavalry Army set off in a hurry. On the one hand, the military families were snapping up things such as earmuffs, masks, safety charms, and medicine bags, including hoarding rice for their families, and on the other hand, many Imperial Central Army soldiers who were leaving late took the opportunity to borrow money and cause trouble before leaving. On the other hand, some unscrupulous merchants took the opportunity to raise prices, and some immoral monks and Taoists took the opportunity to collect money.

For a time, multiple emotions were in opposition. In the previous few days, several vicious incidents had broken out around the Yuetai camp.

But at this time, the central government, which had long been too busy with military and national affairs to cope, simply ignored this phenomenon, and even Kaifeng Prefecture was busy following the original plan to deal with hoarders and speculators in the city.

Come to think of it, Zhang, the Privy Councilor, was feeling wronged, and even a huge Po Xi Army could be left behind. Who would care about a few criminal and civil cases related to low-level soldiers and their families?

And the result of this neglect was that as Wang De's Imperial Central Army also set off yesterday, the Yuetai camp suddenly became empty. The suppression of the army was lost, and a mass incident was completely brewed - it was said that a family whose women had been harassed by Imperial Central Army soldiers before their departure came to the families of the soldiers to demand an explanation, and as a result, they encountered the younger generation of Imperial Army soldiers who had lost the control of their fathers, and a group fight broke out between the two sides.

Then, somehow, a rumor spread, saying that some people would bully the military families as soon as the army left, which directly caused hundreds of people to gather, and then dragged everyone in.

Finally, three markets and two cities around Yuetai broke out in riots. Dozens of houses were burned, several shops were robbed, nearly ten people died, and the number of injured was countless.

After the incident broke out, the huge bureaucratic system in the city realized it belatedly. The first two people to react, Chen Gui, the Deputy Military Commissioner of the Privy Council and concurrently the Defense Commissioner of the Four Walls of Kaifeng, transferred Guo Zhongxun's reserve army to Yuetai overnight. Yan Xiaozhong, the Governor of Kaifeng Prefecture, also personally led the yamen runners to sit in the west of the city overnight to deal with the aftermath.

Then, the Department of State also directly issued a document requiring all departments to immediately form a joint investigation team, headed by Zhang Jiucheng, the Deputy Minister of Public Works, and filled it with people from the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Punishments, the Censorate, and the Military Ordnance Supervision Department, in order to cut the knot quickly and quickly settle the matter.

However, how could this kind of thing be cut quickly and settled, and how could it be said that the aftermath could be handled?

Moreover, during this period, countless officials inevitably fought for merit and shirked responsibility for themselves and their departments... For a time, it was simply smoggy and chaotic.

And it was at this time that Zhao Guan Jia, with a group of close ministers and the Imperial Bodyguard, returned to the capital calmly, but still did not enter the city. Instead, he directly stationed in the Yuetai camp and chose to ignore the matter... Zhang Jiucheng, Yan Xiaozhong, and others came to meet the emperor in a hurry, but they could only follow this calm official to Yuetai next to the Yuetai camp, and once again paid tribute to those tombstones.

This made everyone feel relieved and at a loss at the same time. Zhao Guan Jia did not severely reprimand them, but this reaction made them even more flustered - specifically, this emotion was called shame and remorse.

The matter was not over yet. This day was the twenty-fifth day of the ninth month. The Prime Minister Zhao Ding and even the Duke Lu Haowen, upon hearing that the official had suddenly returned to the capital, almost all the central officials in the capital went out of the city to Yuetai to pay their respects to Zhao Guan Jia. No less than dozens of people together presented memorials on the various incidents that had occurred before and asked for forgiveness.

Then they received Zhao Guan Jia's face-to-face comfort.

That's right, this official who was still anxious yesterday, almost exhausting Lu Xiang Gong on horseback, and almost whipped the Hanlin Academician Mei at night, showed more calmness than anyone else today... He confessed that it was indeed a hasty incident, which caused trouble for everyone, but the opportunity for war could not be lost. Even if there were a few obstacles, everyone should be of one mind and overcome them together.

That's not all. The official listened to the reports of the Imperial City Division and the Military Intelligence Division in public, and relayed a few secretly delivered memorials that had been hurriedly sent to everyone.

At this time, everyone up and down knew that the Zhengzhou relay station was blocked, officials took the opportunity to engage in the apportionment of the Northern Expedition national debt, the scope was expanded during the disposal of hoarders and speculators, some large merchants tried to avoid Tokyo, and some merchants and monks took the opportunity to lend money, and some disgraced dignitaries took the opportunity to spread rumors, those things.

Immediately, Zhao Guan Jia sat upright in the Yuetai camp and issued these matters one by one to the Privy Council, the Department of State, and the Censorate, without even directly assigning the matters to the Six Ministries and Kaifeng Prefecture.

And since the matters had been assigned, the official shook hands and said goodbye to a few chancellors, and then, so-called passing the door without entering, he directly set off from Yuetai that afternoon, turned to the northwest, and gathered Li Qiong in Wansheng Town the next day, and then went west together.

This performance really moved everyone up and down in Tokyo. Even Zhang Jiucheng, the Deputy Minister of Public Works, couldn't help but praise Zhao Guan Jia as 'having the potential of a mountain collapse and earth crack in his heart, the power of ten thousand thunderbolts, but with a face without the autumn wind wrinkling a pool of clear water, and the grace of the spring breeze transforming the rain' on the way back.

It attracted countless colleagues to nod their heads and prepare to write it down in their notebooks, until Hu Quan, the editor of Hu, opened his mouth next to him, saying that he wanted to publish these words in the next issue of the Dibao, and then it stopped.

On the first day of October, autumn leaves were falling, and early winter had arrived. The Yellow River's water volume had not decreased. On this day, Zhao Guan Jia crossed Zhengzhou, arrived at Sisui Pass, and gathered Fan Yihong, the last scattered garrison commander of Li Qiong's troops (formerly the Eight Character Army).

So far, after ten days, the Imperial Central Army had been fully mobilized.

On the same day, the main force of Yue Fei's Imperial Vanguard Army, which had been assembled first, also officially crossed the river on a large scale at Zilu Sao under the escort of the Imperial Navy.

On the opposite bank of the river, although Ali had won in the field, Liaocheng was originally an important river-facing military formation that the Jin army had worked hard to build. This time, it was suddenly captured by the Song army without any damage. Ali was unable to capture this big city, which was still defended by three or four thousand troops, within ten days, and had already been discouraged.

However, Gao Jingshan, the general commander of the Jin Kingdom's Daming Prefecture, simply could not have the power and courage to make the decision to fight a decisive battle on the spot... Or rather, Yue Fei had accurately calculated that after losing Eliduo, the Jurchens would not be able to have a truly ambitious commander arrive here within ten days. That's why he calmly gathered and launched the crossing of the river... In short, facing the almost overwhelming crossing of the river by the main force of the Song army, Ali directly chose to retreat north and give up Liaocheng.

Before crossing the river, Yue Fei sat upright in the military camp, trying to write a poem to a senior monk of Lingjiu Temple whom he had met in Jinan. However, for some reason, after writing half of the poem, he could no longer write it, but threw away his pen and put on his armor, and crossed the river with Zhang Rong, who had come to urge him.

Only half of the poem was left in the Henan camp, and no one cleaned it up.

As the saying goes:

"How many autumns have passed over Liangshan on Pinghu Lake? The great river turns ten thousand times eastward.

A man should aspire to support the royal family, and the Holy Lord will conquer and destroy the local chiefs.

The achievements must be engraved on the Yan Stone, and return..."

The handwriting came to an abrupt end, and in the end, what was said later was unknown, which could be regarded as a rare unfinished poem.

On the same day, Zhao Guan Jia on the Sisui Pass side did not know this story... At this time, he had already learned that Li Yanxian had quickly sent troops after receiving the edict, and also knew that Wang De and Qu Duan had arrived in Luoyang, but he did not have any additional military orders. Instead, he wrote a private letter to Han Shizhong, who did not know the situation, and sent someone to send it away quickly.

After the letter was sent, Zhao Guan Jia went out into the night, sighed at the sky, and seemed to want to write a poem, but after thinking about it, he did not get a single poem, but inexplicably remembered the rather second-year, but seemingly philosophical, sentence he had heard when he was young.

As the saying goes:

"Why does the fire of war burn? Why do autumn leaves fall?"

Facing this almost absurd and stupid question, Zhao Guan Jia was actually a little obsessed with thinking, and then attracted many senior military officers in the Eight Character Army, who sighed from a distance - Zhao Guan Jia sighs day and night, and is truly concerned about the world.

ps: Thank you for the third Moe of the Water Long East ~ big guy, thank you for the Moe of the big guy I am Rebirth... Big guys, happy new year!

Then continue to sacrifice a new book "I, Chongzhen, will never hang myself".

Finally, I continue to wish everyone a happy new year...