Chapter 14 What's Wrong with Him?

"What's wrong with him? Has he always been like this?"

The fourteenth day of the first month, just one day away from the Lantern Festival, inside Taiyuan City, Zhao Guan, after Wu Jie left, pointed to the silent man sitting in the hall below and asked curiously.

This person was none other than Wanyan Salihe, the Jin army's ten-thousand-household commander who had been captured two nights before due to the fall of Xihe City.

"Yes."

Dong Xian, the Imperial Guard's Central Army Commander, standing respectfully to the side, stepped forward slightly awkwardly and cupped his fist in explanation. "To let the Emperor know, this fellow has been acting like this since the city fell... He doesn't surrender, doesn't die, doesn't escape, and doesn't resist. He eats when given food, drinks when given water. If you speak to him nicely, he responds normally, but as soon as you mention military or political intelligence, he refuses to say another word, let alone surrender..."

"Oh!"

Zhao Guan, being worldly-wise, immediately understood in his heart... Wasn't this nonviolent non-cooperation?

That being said, those around him couldn't possibly read Zhao Guan's mind, but with this 'Oh,' they immediately realized that the Emperor had given his judgment on the matter. And since the Emperor had given his judgment, they, as subjects, naturally had to try to pretend they understood the Emperor's meaning.

"The Emperor means to say, this person wants to imitate Su Wu?" Fan Zongyin, the chief academician of the Yutang Hall and the most esteemed courtier in the army, stepped forward and spoke.

"How could he be the same as Su Wu?" Zhao Jiu was almost speechless. "Su Wu was an envoy detained while on a mission; he was an envoy himself. This fellow is a military general whose task was to fight and defend the city... The battle was lost, the city was breached; what's there for him to be faithful to?"

Fan Zongyin looked slightly embarrassed.

"Your Majesty, rest assured." Niu Gao interjected from the side, earnestly making a fist-and-palm salute. "Since this person didn't die at the beginning, he must have had thoughts of surviving. He's just putting on an act now because he still has some Jin pride in his heart... After a while, he'll naturally surrender."

Niu Gao was rough on the outside but meticulous on the inside, but Salihe, sitting on the ground and being humiliated, pretended not to hear, which made Zhao Jiu even more thoughtful.

"Your Majesty," Dong Xian was also a little impatient. "According to your subject, it doesn't matter whether he surrenders or not. If the Emperor finds him displeasing, just chop him down with a knife. It's not like the Emperor has to humor a prisoner..."

"It doesn't matter," Zhao Jiu waved his hand. "Your merits are so clear, they won't be erased..."

"That's not what your subject meant..."

"Let's not talk about that for now." Zhao Jiu finally turned his gaze back to the person in the hall. "In any case, this Northern Expedition has finally produced the first Jin ten-thousand-household commander to abandon the darkness and turn to the light... This is a great thing."

The hall was silent for a moment. Even Dong Xian and Niu Gao were stunned. Even Salihe, who had been keeping his head down, finally raised his head blankly, seemingly not understanding what was going on.

"Issue an edict," Zhao Jiu continued to instruct. "Although Salihe is guilty of participating in the Jingkang Incident by invading the South, considering that he is the first Jin imperial clan member and ten-thousand-household general to surrender, We shall treat him with courtesy as agreed... Grant him the surname... Jin, grant him the given name Bu-hui (No Regrets), add the title of Duke Guizheng (Returning to Righteousness), grant him a residence in Dongjing (Tokyo), and allow him to attend public cabinet meetings."

"Your subject congratulates Your Majesty." Just as Salihe was becoming increasingly flustered and many of the generals in the hall were still confused, Fan Zongyin, the Tri-Academician, was the first to come to his senses and took the initiative to offer congratulations. "Moreover, such a wonderful event should be published in the Dibao (official gazette) and made known to the world. At the same time, this matter should be used as a standard to send documents to various places in Hebei, urging them to recruit and surrender various Jin prefectures, counties, divisions, and brigades."

"Well said," Zhao Jiu nodded repeatedly, then turned to look at Dong Xian. "When Xihe was captured, were there any written documents from the Duke Guizheng seized in the city?"

Dong Xian was still confused, probably not even realizing who the Duke Guizheng was. Niu Gao quickly reported, "To let the Emperor know, not only were there written documents, but the Duke Guizheng also wrote a military journal in Khitan, recording his experiences, big and small, since joining the army... It should be useful."

"That makes it even easier. There are Khitan Ban-zhi (guards) in my Red Heart Team. Have them help the Duke Guizheng write a few surrender documents in Khitan and send them out together, especially not forgetting the Jingxing direction. I heard that Yelu Ma Wu is about to retreat. I don't expect Yelu Ma Wu to surrender, but it might have a miraculous effect on the many Mo'an (chieftains) and Mou-ke (captains) under Ma Wu who are of Khitan origin." Zhao Jiu continued to instruct as usual. "The letters must be serious, and the handwriting and tone must match the Duke Guizheng's writing habits in his military journal..."

Hearing this, almost everyone present came to their senses and responded in agreement.

Salihe finally couldn't help but speak, "How can Your Majesty turn black and white upside down like this? I clearly haven't surrendered!"

"Whether the Duke Guizheng surrenders or not is not up to the Duke Guizheng himself to decide, but up to Us," Zhao Jiu said nonchalantly from above. "We will tell you plainly that as long as We issue an order, not only will the Dibao (official gazette) say so, but even future official histories will record that the Duke Guizheng, Jin Buhui, surrendered to Us today. Even if the various Southeast Public Cabinets consult with Us today, as long as We ask them a favor, when they go back and write their own notes, like you writing your military journal, they will probably be happy to write that you surrendered to Us today... At that time, not only now, but even future official and unofficial histories will unanimously tell the world that the Duke Guizheng, Jin Buhui, surrendered to Us today."

The hall burst into laughter, and many people echoed the sentiment, while Salihe was already dumbfounded.

The laughter gradually subsided. Zhao Jiu paused, then continued to say to the already dumbfounded Salihe, "Duke Guizheng... Actually, the essence of world affairs lies in victory and defeat. Since you have been defeated and cannot die for your principles, then why should your reputation be up to you? We still remember that during the Jingkang Incident, when Our Emperor Taishang Yuansheng entered the Jin camp for the second time, he wanted to return to the city, but Nianhan laughed at him, saying that since he had been defeated, how could he still expect to be treated with courtesy? The Emperor Taishang Yuansheng could only be speechless. Later, when he was completely captured, he was not even allowed to cry out during the escort... This moment is just like that moment... Weren't you there that day?"

Salihe, beyond being dumbfounded, gradually turned red in the face, but remained silent.

Zhao Guan lost interest at this point and simply waved his hand. Someone would naturally escort him down and countless officials would carry out Zhao Guan's instructions.

However, this matter was just a small interlude and didn't seem to be worth mentioning in the grand scheme of the Northern Expedition.

In fact, Yan'an Prince Han Shizhong, the Imperial Guard's Central Army Commander Li Yanxian, Ma Kuo, who was in charge of supervising the army's logistics camps, and even Wang Yan, Zhao Guan's chief staff officer, almost none of these so-called high-ranking commanders came to watch the excitement... And Zhao Jiu knew what they were busy with.

In the big picture, the handling of Salihe was not as meaningful as the fall of Xihe City.

The fall of Xihe City meant that the Song army, at least the Hedong (East of the River) Army, no longer had any large Jin strongholds or organized Jin troops with combat capability behind them. Precisely because of this, the supply line from Henan to Taiyuan was completely worry-free, and the main force of the Song army in Hedong was able to gather in the Taiyuan Basin at ease... The fact that the two generals Niu Gao and Dong Xian, who were gradually emerging in this Northern Expedition, gathered here with Salihe was clear proof of this.

At the same time, considering that Datong to the north had been opened, and both the north and south of Yanmen Mountain and the front and rear of the Hutuo River were in the hands of the Song army, then it could be said that Jundu Xing (Jundu Pass), Puyin Xing (Puyin Pass), and Feihu Xing (Flying Fox Pass) were also in the hands of the Song army. Even with the advance on Longde Prefecture, Fukou Xing (Fukou Pass) should be about to fall or have already fallen into the hands of the Song army... The strategic significance of the Jin army's control of Jingxing was constantly weakening.

This seemed to be verified by the intelligence that Yelu Ma Wu was showing signs of retreat.

It could only be said that the Black Dragon King's defeat at the bottle-shaped stronghold was still a defeat, but it couldn't be said that his military arrangements there were completely worthless.

All in all, logistics had been opened, troops had been reassembled, and the enemy's control of the most important military passages was in a sort of chicken-rib situation (something worthless if obtained but regrettable to lose). At this time, the necessity of the next military action was already obvious.

The only concern was Zhao Guan's decision.

Many people speculated that the several commanders would probably wait until after the Lantern Festival to join forces and request a battle, urging Zhao Guan to send troops... In any case, as one of the most important festivals of the Song Dynasty, they could always wait for just one day.

"Are they making dumplings?"

On the day of the Lantern Festival, Zhao Guan didn't stay in the city, nor did he go to the Fen River to read the news and fish to avoid things, but instead took the rare initiative to inspect the army camp. After walking around for a while, he set the main destination of this trip to the cooking camp.

As for Li Yanxian and Ma Kuo, they might have been of a higher rank, but they hadn't spent much time alone with Zhao Guan. To some extent, they were quite self-conscious, so they were also feeling a headache and had stiff expressions.

"To let the Emperor know."

Unfortunately for the hundreds of cooks and thousands of auxiliary laborers in the cooking camp, they had already been dumbfounded when Zhao Guan, wearing a plain robe but leading hundreds of richly dressed and armored civil and military dignitaries, poured in. Now, when asked in person about the stuffing they were chopping, several cooks were even more stunned and speechless, forcing the bald-headed monk, Dharma Master Dahui, who was helping to collect pig blood, to come over and take over the conversation. "Isn't this the Lantern Festival? Chief Supervisor Ma gave a military order to open up some of the meat in the storeroom for a slight extra meal... They are making dumplings."

Zhao Jiu didn't recognize him at all, only thinking that he was a clever manager in the cooking camp, so he nodded slightly, but soon shook his head repeatedly.

The Dharma Master Dahui was considered knowledgeable, having already chatted and laughed with the Emperor at Phoenix Mountain in Hangzhou. Seeing this reaction, he pretended nothing was wrong. Ma Kuo, on the other hand, panicked for a moment and hurried forward with a fist-and-palm salute, "May I ask Your Majesty, is there something inappropriate?"

"Indeed, it is inappropriate."

Zhao Jiu was somewhat helpless. "Who eats dumplings on the Lantern Festival? During the New Year, isn't it northern dumplings and southern New Year cakes issued together?"

"Your Majesty is right," Ma Kuo was half relieved and half helpless. "But in a hurry, and in the army camp, we really don't know how to cater to the customs..."

"How about releasing a hot air balloon?" Han Shizhong, who was extremely bored, suddenly interjected from behind, patting his belt.

Everyone was speechless and turned back to look.

Even though Po (Rogue) Han Five had been Po Han Five decades ago, he was a little embarrassed at this time and could only smile sheepishly.

However, Zhao Guan, standing in front of a pile of stuffing, thought for a moment and actually nodded, "Yes, and we can also hang some large characters under the hot air balloon... Good Minister, go and do it yourself!"

Han Shizhong was stunned on the spot, and after a long time, he came to his senses and asked, "Does Your Majesty want your subject to write a poem or a riddle as a lantern riddle?"

"How can we write any poems or lantern riddles?" Zhao Jiu turned his head and was speechless. "Poems and lantern riddles have so many characters. If you write them small, you can't see them clearly; if you write them big, they won't hang steadily... I remember there are eight hot air balloons in the camp. Fly them all up today, and you go and write eight big characters... 'May the Lantern Festival be peaceful and the world be auspicious'... Write them on large wooden boards, neatly and stably, and each character must be bigger than a dipper!"

Po Han Five had traveled north and south, suppressed the world, and considered himself to be ahead of everyone else, but at this time, he could only nod blankly, and then left confused to become a laborer.

Zhao Guan also turned back to speak to the cooks and laborers, "Let's continue talking. It's not that I'm saying dumplings are bad, but the main point is still the customs... How do I remember that the Lantern Festival has always been about eating floating yuanzi (sweet glutinous rice balls) and noodles?"

"To let the Emperor know," Ma Kuo helplessly came forward again at this time. "According to custom, that's indeed the case, but today, we can't make these in the army, because military rewards should be practical, and if there's meat, we have to give meat, and we can't spread it out. It must be seen to be believed... Floating yuanzi have sweet fillings, so it's not good to put meat in them... If you put meat in noodles, the soldiers won't be able to see how much meat is in other people's bowls, and they will all have suspicions."

Zhao Jiu nodded, "That's the right principle, just like the principle of putting whole eggs... But if that's the case, can't you see how much dumpling filling there is either?"

"Your Majesty is wise, that's indeed the case. And because there are too many people in the army, to prevent the pot from becoming mushy, the dumpling skins have to be extra thick, so they can't be cooked through at all," Ma Kuo said with a wry smile. "But it's the Lantern Festival, so there always has to be some saying, which is nothing more than trying to compromise as much as possible."

"What kind of filling?" Zhao Jiu temporarily put aside this question, leaned over and smelled the mountain of stuffing on the cutting board, and continued to ask the cooks.

"Half pork, half mule and donkey meat," Dharma Master Dahui explained slightly. "Various offal and a little mutton will be used to make soup later, and a very small amount of chicken, duck, and fish will be supplied to the officers... Besides that, today is a special case, each person gets a cup of sweet wine, but they have to receive it and drink it on the spot."

Zhao Jiu nodded slightly.

"The pork is bought from surrounding towns and villages, and the mule and donkey meat is from animals that died during the transport of supplies," Ma Kuo further added. "These two types are the most plentiful, and nothing else can compare... The muddy wine is all privately brewed from Hedong, and there's not much of it to begin with. Considering that there might be major battles soon, we don't dare to release too much."

Hearing the last sentence, many interested people stole glances at Zhao Guan's reaction.

However, after listening, Zhao Jiu simply nodded and seemed to be leaving, which disappointed many people.

However, after taking a few steps and just as he was urging the crowd to turn around, the Emperor seemed to suddenly think of something and turned back to curiously ask the bald-headed cook, "Do you know how to make baked flatbreads? The kind that's crispy on the outside and soft on the inside? Some are fried in oil, and some are baked in a furnace."

"Your Majesty is joking," Dharma Master Dahui laughed on the spot. "How could we not know how to make that? It's called tie-cui-bing (crispy flatbread), also called ying-shaobing (hard baked flatbread). During the Partisan Proscription in the Han Dynasty, Zhao Qi sold this item in Shandong. Wherever there is wheat flour, they can make this kind of fire-baked crispy flatbread."

Hearing the Zhao Qi allusion, Zhao Jiu glanced at the other party, seeming to recognize him, but he was too lazy to investigate further. He just continued to seriously discuss cooking-related matters:

"Then divide the meat filling in half. The pork filling will still be used for dumplings, and the mule and donkey meat will be cooked thoroughly, then chopped into filling. Then, when the soldiers receive their wine, take a hot crispy flatbread directly from the pot, cut it open with a knife, and stuff it with the cooked meat filling. How about that? By doing this, the filling is placed in the flatbread, but it can be seen at a glance, so it seems fair, right? Moreover, this huoshao (baked flatbread) is also a Hebei specialty, so it's not in vain to celebrate the festival."

Flatbreads with fillings... Who doesn't understand that?

It's just that meat is precious, and even a small amount of offal has to be used to make soup, and precious meat has to be carefully served, so few people would handle it like this.

However, as Ma Kuo said before, the army has its own way of doing things. Fairness is the most important thing, and real ingredients are the most important thing, so this direct method of sandwiching cooked filling with a hot flatbread is also suitable.

Of course, more importantly, the Emperor has said so, so how can you say it's not suitable?

As for what kind of huoshao (baked flatbread) and what kind of Hebei specialty it is, no one will investigate further.

So, after a little discussion, everyone agreed.

Among them, after Han Shizhong left, the military officers, led by Li Yanxian, Wang Yan, and Ma Kuo, didn't dare to say anything, because Li Yanxian had a cold and arrogant personality, Wang Yan was also arrogant, and Ma Kuo was serious and simple... However, the first batch of Southeast consultants had already taken up positions in the Hezhong and Linfen areas, and seeing that the appointments in Taiyuan Prefecture were about to come down, who wouldn't be considerate of the Emperor?

This person said that the Emperor was distributing rewards, all openly and visibly, which was in line with the style of ancient wise rulers.

That person said that this was the Emperor's benevolence, caring for the soldiers, uniting the top and bottom, and that they would surely be able to go straight to Huanglong (Jin capital).

Someone else said that this was a great military innovation that would be promoted in the army in the future... They didn't know how turning the usual flatbread with vegetables into one with meat filling became an innovation.

Even more, a Southeast acquaintance finally pointed out Dharma Master Dahui, saying that the Dharma Master's slaughtering pigs for the army was a way of cultivating true Buddhism and that he would become a Buddha in the future. The Emperor's personal concern for the meat rewards on the Lantern Festival was like governing a large country as if cooking a small fish, which had the same wonderful effect.

This attracted countless people to marvel, and Dharma Master Dahui quickly declared that he was only helping to collect pig blood and did not kill any living beings.

"We also remember Dharma Master Dahui."

Zhao Jiu was overjoyed and immediately clapped his hands in front of the cutting board, completely ignoring Dharma Master Dahui's explanation. "With such a grand and wonderful event, Dharma Master Dahui can slaughter pigs to cultivate himself, so how can We not personally cook for the soldiers? This matter should be done personally... You with official positions go and busy yourselves. Today, We will stay here to help Dharma Master Dahui bake flatbreads!"

The cooking camp was silent for a moment, with only the boiling water in the pot gurgling.

It wasn't that these people were too embarrassed to contradict themselves at this time, nor was it that no one dared to dissuade him. It was that this seemingly tactless Emperor really didn't understand some mundane principles?

Most importantly, who could stop the Emperor from doing something frivolous and outrageous?

In the end, after some tossing and turning, Li Yanxian, Ma Kuo, Wang Yan, Fan Zongyin, and other high-ranking officials in the army were all chased out, while the consultants who had praised Zhao Guan before stayed behind with Zhao Guan and confusedly started cooking... But even so, they didn't dare to let these Southeast celebrities fry in the oil pot. They could only let them boil the soup pot.

They didn't know how these people would arrange Zhao Guan's hypocrisy and trouble-making in their notes when they went back tonight.

However, aside from these troubles, Zhao Guan's flatbreads did have some miraculous effects... After the news spread, countless officers and soldiers peeked in through the front and back doors of the cooking camp. Even from hundreds of steps away, they didn't know what these people saw, but anyway, they all said they saw it clearly.

This person said he saw with his own eyes that the flatbreads were made by the Emperor himself. That person said he saw with his own eyes that the meat filling was chopped by the Emperor himself. Someone else said he saw with his own eyes that Zhao Guan tied a cloth around his waist to protect against oil stains and was personally slicing the flatbreads and stuffing them with filling... It seemed to ignore that Zhao Guan was only helping to heat the pots!

By the afternoon, no one knew how the news had spread. Before dinner was even served, it had spread like wildfire throughout the various camps dozens of miles inside and outside Taiyuan City. They all said that Zhao Guan and a great Dharma Master had jointly invented a kind of flatbread to feast the entire army. The flatbread tasted extremely delicious, almost like dragon meat from heaven!

"Dinner hasn't even been served yet. How do they know it tastes so good? And like dragon meat... Who has ever eaten dragon meat? I only know that horse meat is too rough! Donkey meat is better, and dog meat is even more tender!"

Outside the south gate of Taiyuan City, north of the main army camp, in a roadside shed that provided hot water, Wang Yan was furious when he heard this news. "Besides, the camp is dozens of miles wide, with hundreds of thousands of soldiers and laborers. There are one hundred and thirty-seven cooking camps alone. Is the Emperor like the Monkey King in the *Miscellaneous Records of Subduing Demons in the Journey to the West*, with the ability to split himself into multiple bodies? The few pots that the Emperor cooked are probably not even enough for the Ban-zhi (guards) to share."

There were only four people in the shed, namely the four commanders Han Shizhong, Li Yanxian, Ma Kuo, and Wang Yan, including Han Shizhong, who had just returned from writing the characters. No one else was allowed to approach, not even the commanders and personal guards. Hearing Wang Yan's words, the other three remained silent in the shed.

After a long while, Wang Yan couldn't bear it any longer and directly gritted his teeth and pointed out, "Is the Emperor avoiding us because he's afraid we'll ask for battle?"

"What else could it be?" Han Shizhong smiled helplessly, touching his wrist.

"Isn't this fear of battle?" Wang Yan suddenly became angry.

"Of course it's fear of battle," Li Yanxian said calmly. "But this fear is not of the enemy, but of our own inadequacy... Because once we go east, there's an eighty or ninety percent chance that we'll have to fight a decisive battle immediately, and this Northern Expedition will also be completely clear... It's only human nature to want to be more stable at this time."

"That's right. If you say that the Emperor is afraid of the enemy's strength, that would be a joke," Han Liangchen said calmly. "Since Huaishang, the Emperor has never been afraid of difficulties or enemies. At this time, he's just seeking stability, probably wanting to wait for Yue Fei's army to push up, the Jin army's morale to be difficult to sustain, and then combine all the troops to attack."

"But can this matter be avoided?" Wang Yan was still a little angry. "If we leave Jingxing and go east now, the Jurchens haven't gotten rid of the panic of losing Taiyuan and Daming. To seek a way out, they can only bite the bullet and fight. If we win this battle, we'll still have the余裕 (margin) to sweep across the old lands of the country after the war. Maybe we can even save enough military rations after the army withdraws to leave a elite force of three to five thousand to go straight to Yanjing... But if we delay and seek stability, insisting on waiting for that Yue Fei fellow to come, even if we win, we don't know how many cities we can attack and how many lands we can take with insufficient logistics at that time?"

Everyone nodded in agreement.

That being said, Wang Yan's personal grudge with Yue Fei was hard to resolve. Even the Heavenly King and the Emperor together couldn't mediate it. Everyone knew about this, and it was normal for him not to want to wait... In fact, not to mention that Wang Yan didn't want to wait for Yue Fei to fight together, how would Han Shizhong and Li Yanxian be willing to wait? Even Wu Jie, who went north to Datong to deal with the Mongols, Qu Duan, who was in Longde Prefecture in the southeast at this time, and Wang De, Li Qiong, Wang Sheng, and even the nearly 200,000 troops in Hedong, who would be willing to wait for Yue Fei?

Only Ma Kuo, who had no desires in the war at this time, couldn't possibly offend his colleagues for this kind of thing, given the atmosphere around him.

Besides, more importantly, aside from the factions and personal grudges, what Wang Yan said was also reasonable.

Yue Fei's main force was after all in Daming Prefecture, and they were all infantry battalions. Facing the Jin army's hundreds of thousands of troops, they couldn't launch a large-scale attack without protection. That would be suicide, so they could only advance step by step, attacking cities and capturing strongholds. While this stable advance and then a decisive battle was certainly stable, one was that the so-called delay would lead to changes and the opportunity would be missed; second, how should the hundreds of thousands of troops and laborers stationed here, consuming resources like flowing water, be calculated?

To put it bluntly, when the Yellow River is full, Yue Fei, Zhang Rong, and Tian Shizhong advance by land and water and stab into Hejian, forming a so-called pincer attack on Zhengding with Hedong... Even if they win steadily, can the logistics and rations at that time support the troops to continue north to attack Yanjing?

Of course, there are advantages to waiting for Yue Fei, and there are reasons for not waiting for Yue Fei and immediately advancing east, but no one in Hedong would agree to wait for Yue Fei, but the decision-making power was only in Zhao Guan's hands.

"After all, it's the Lantern Festival." Seeing that everyone agreed, Han Shizhong, as the head of the crowd and the nominal marshal, always had to express his position. "Let's go see the Emperor together tomorrow morning after today..."

Although the others had different attitudes, they could only nod at this time.

Just like that, while Zhao Guan was making flatbreads, the several commanders began to drink tea and wait for the flatbreads in boredom...

However, while the several commanders were drinking tea and waiting for the flatbreads, a Red Heart rider with bells suddenly came to report.

"What is it? Does the Emperor have an order?" Han Shizhong rose and asked without yielding.

"No," the rider dismounted and made a fist-and-palm salute. "Reporting to the Prince, the Imperial Guard Cavalry reports that Commander Zhang Zhongfu suffered a great defeat against the Jin cavalry in She County, in front of Fukou Xing (Fukou Pass)... Commander Qu and he jointly sent a letter to ask for punishment. The Emperor heard the news in the cooking camp and had us forward it to the various commissioners."

Saying this, the Red Heart rider, ignoring the four commanders' changing expressions, went forward and presented a document, then turned around and took a basket from his horse, placed a dozen steaming flatbreads on the table, then turned around, mounted his horse, and left.

As soon as the other party left, Han Shizhong, ignoring those flatbreads, opened the document to read first, but after only a few glances, he slammed the document on the table and became furious, "Compared to Zhang Zhongfu, Wang Sheng at least had some face at the bottle-shaped stronghold!"

Li Yanxian and others took turns to read, and their expressions were also extremely bad.

For no other reason, Zhang Zhongfu's defeat three days ago was indeed a great defeat, and it was a great defeat with no reason to look for.

That being said, according to the military report, the Jin army, as everyone had expected, knew that Longde Prefecture could not be defended, and directly strategically abandoned this place. However, this place had always been the core area where the five ten-thousand-household commanders of the Jin East Route Army were stationed, and many of the Jin senior officers' families and properties were there.

Therefore, as soon as Daming Prefecture exploded, Wushu (Wanyan Zongbi) immediately responded to the request of the generals of Longde Prefecture and divided eighty Mou-ke (captains), a total of eight thousand riders, and quickly entered Longde Prefecture, dividing into routes to retrieve everyone's families and wealth, and to burn as much as possible of the remaining property and military resources.

However, the Jin army went quickly, and the Imperial Guard Cavalry, which was originally southwest of Longde Prefecture, also went quickly. They only delayed a little time at the Taihang Xing (Taihang Pass) along the way. By the time the vanguard Zhang Zhongfu led five thousand riders into the hinterland of the Shangdang Basin where Longde Prefecture was located, the Jin army's withdrawal operation had only been half completed. At this time, seeing the large Song army, they were even more terrified and simply abandoned the withdrawal from the surrounding small towns and hastily prepared to withdraw from Fukou Xing (Fukou Pass).

Seeing this, Zhang Zhongfu did not go to take those large cities, but chose to actively follow and pursue them.

The first half of the pursuit went extremely smoothly. The Jin army had no will to fight, and at first they were divided into small groups, so facing the Song army's iron cavalry battalions, they could only flee in embarrassment... For a time, Zhang Zhongfu's unit had a great many kills, captures, and occupations.

However, as Zhang Zhongfu's troops pursued all the way across the Zhuozhang River and came to the area between She County and Licheng between the Qingzhang River and the Zhuozhang River, the Jin army's various routes naturally gathered together with the terrain, and seeing the Song army cavalry pursuing closely, the Jin army cavalry, which had less than five thousand riders, finally could not bear it any longer.

In order to protect their families and property, after scouting that the main force of the Song army cavalry behind them had only about four thousand riders to maintain the pursuit, the five thousand Jin army iron riders also divided into two, one thousand riders continued to escort their families and supplies to the north, while the other four thousand riders quickly assembled, turned around, and met the same number of Song army cavalry in a cavalry battle on the edge of the Shangdang Basin.

The battle process had no drama or complexity to speak of. Two groups of nearly the same number of heavy cavalry met, and the equipment was similar, theoretically completely equal. However, the battle was fought from morning to afternoon, and in the end, the Song army cavalry gradually became unsustainable and was completely overwhelmed by the Jin army. Zhang Zhongfu fled in embarrassment.

If the Jin army had not had no intention of fighting, and had not pursued, the Song army cavalry might have suffered large-scale losses on the banks of the already thawed Zhang River.

Objectively speaking, this battle had no unexpected feeling... There have been many cases of greed for merit and rash advances recently, and this is not the only one.

Moreover, the Imperial Guard Cavalry was initially considered to be less experienced in combat than the Jin army iron cavalry.

In addition, the Jin army had the reason of protecting their families to fight, which could be said to be a state of grief, so it was no big deal to be defeated.

However, it was very bad for this kind of thing to happen at this juncture... Because it would remind everyone that the main force of the Jin army was still there, and the core cavalry combat power was still there.

What's even more fatal was that in the field, once the Jin army cavalry gathered to form a heavy force group, their combat power advantage would be even more obvious.

This battle was likely to further shake Zhao Guan's determination to launch a decisive battle immediately, and it might greatly boost the morale of the Jin army's main force, which was rapidly withdrawing to the north.

In fact, considering that Zhao Guan forwarded the news to the four commanders who were holding a small meeting as soon as he heard it, he was probably already giving a silent reminder.

That's why Han Shizhong was so angry.

"Zhang Zhongfu should be killed!"

Wang Yan, holding a horse meat flatbread, became more and more angry the more he thought about it, and finally turned angry and slammed the flatbread on the table, and the meat filling immediately scattered.

The expressions of the other three were also very ugly, but after looking at each other, they maintained a certain degree of calm.

"How can you treat the Emperor's gift like this?" Han Shizhong said coldly.

Li Yanxian also frowned and looked at Wang Yan.

"Commander Wang, even if it's not a gift from the Emperor, when you and I were in the Taihang Mountains, we couldn't sleep or eat in peace. Now that we're sitting here so comfortably, how can we waste food?" Ma Kuo also seriously persuaded him with rare seriousness and took the initiative to put down the flatbread in his hand and carefully gathered the scattered meat filling.

Wang Yan was embarrassed for a moment and could only turn his head and lower his head without speaking. After a long while, he picked up the flatbread on the table and swallowed it in two bites.

But things didn't seem to be over.

As the four of them ate a basket of more than a dozen flatbreads, the atmosphere eased slightly, and just as they were about to drink some hot water and say something, there was another chaotic ringing of bells, and this time, it actually came from the direction of the city... The four of them looked up and saw that it wasn't a Red Heart rider, which made them even more puzzled.

However, the riders who could be riders were at least clever and quick-witted people, and seeing the four commissioners and their subordinates all sitting in the roadside shed, they turned directly around to report.

"Prince, various commissioners!"

The rider dismounted and was not flustered. "There's nothing major, it's just that Salihe didn't know when he hanged himself in his room with his belt... He left a Khitan will, the general idea is that the Great Jin has risen for more than twenty years and has its own destiny, and that the Jin Emperor Taizu Aguda was like a saint, and he, as a member of the imperial clan, received great kindness from the Jin Emperor Taizu and was raised under