The Second Master of the Red Chamber

Chapter 900 The Great General Who Pacifies Liaodong

Just as the Jurchen leaders were discussing how to find another opportunity to teach the Wei people a lesson, a secret report was suddenly delivered.

Luo Jue Anchang unfolded the sheepskin scroll and immediately became suspicious.

Seeing this, the others hurriedly asked what had happened.

"The Wei army has reinforced its troops in Liaodong again!"

Upon hearing this news, everyone found it unbelievable, and then they were filled with uncontrollable rage.

The Wei people clearly agreed to negotiate peace with them, but secretly sent reinforcements to Liaodong. Wasn't this a mockery of the great Jurchen warriors?
Some people questioned the reliability of the information and asked where it came from.

“I have my own spies in Wei. He even reminded me that the Wei general leading the troops this time is a trusted close advisor to their emperor, a duke named Jia Lian.”

Luo Jue Anchang is the leader of the Wanyan tribe, the largest tribe of the Jurchen people today.

Although he was over sixty years old, he was an extremely ambitious man.

Emperor Taizu of Liao once said: "The Jurchens are invincible if they number less than ten thousand, but if they number ten thousand!"
Now, his Wanyan tribe not only has a population of over 10,000, but also over 10,000 men.

He felt it was time for the Golden Man to rise again.

So over the years, he not only actively contacted various Jurchen tribes, annexed and subjugated other small tribes, but also specially recruited some Wei people to serve him.

Because in his plan, the Wanyan tribe would one day unify all the Jurchen tribes.

At that time, the Changbai Mountains and the Heilongjiang River would certainly not be enough to realize the great revival of the Jurchen people, and their power would inevitably move south to confront the Wei Kingdom.

The state of Wei had a large population, and many people there were depressed and frustrated.

It wouldn't be difficult for him to recruit and gather a group of Han people to work for him, provided he was willing to pay the price.

At worst, they could send troops south to plunder.

Just like the middle-aged scholar who accompanied his son Murhaji on his mission to the capital of Wei, he was a scholar whom he had abducted from Han territory. After promising him women and wealth, he began to work for the Wanyan tribe.

The news that Wei was secretly increasing its troops in Liaodong was delivered by Wei officials whom he had bribed with a great deal of gold and silver.

Of course, he would never easily reveal such a secret to other tribal leaders.

"I wonder how many troops the Wei people have reinforced this time."

"It's said there are fewer than 10,000 people..."

Upon hearing that the Wei reinforcements numbered less than 10,000, the tense atmosphere immediately dissipated.

Many people laughed and mocked, "These Wei people are really courting death. It seems they haven't learned their lesson."

Previously, they dared to pursue my Jurchen cavalry with only 20,000 men, but we used a little trick to kill them all.

Of those 20,000 Wei people, those still alive have probably all fled into the deep mountains and become savages, hahaha…”

The leaders all burst into laughter, completely disregarding the powerful state of Wei.

Luo Jue Anchang felt that something was amiss.

While the Wei people were negotiating with them, they were secretly increasing their troops in Liaodong. This move seemed to him like a conspiracy.

But he couldn't figure out what kind of conspiracy the Wei people might have.

So he could only say to everyone, "You must not underestimate the Wei people. They have a vast territory, abundant resources, and a large population."

Even if they lost 20,000 men in the previous battle, it was nothing to them.

Unless absolutely necessary, we don't need to fight the Wei people to the death.

We can defeat 20,000 of them, but we may not be able to defeat 100,000 or 200,000.

If they really do send a large army to deal with us regardless of the consequences, even if we win, we will inevitably suffer heavy losses.

In that case, it will only benefit the Tatars.

Upon hearing this, the leaders didn't really object.

In any case, this military expedition was initiated by Luo Jue Anchang. As long as it does not harm their own interests and they can gain more benefits, they are naturally willing to listen to Luo Jue Anchang.

So the many bandit leaders discussed and speculated on the intentions behind the Wei people's actions.

Ultimately, a near-unanimous consensus was reached:
"The people of Wei were cowardly in battle, yet arrogant and overconfident."

Either they are unwilling to lose face and give up their interests in Liaodong, so they secretly reinforce their troops, wanting to reclaim their lost territory before forming an alliance.

Or perhaps they fear our cavalry will continue south and threaten their capital, so they are reinforcing their defenses.

Otherwise, why would they only send 10,000 troops?

Although Luo Jue Anchang was somewhat uneasy, he felt that there was no third possibility besides these two.

After all, 20,000 troops have already been lost, so what's the use of secretly sending another 10,000?

Finally, when they learned that Jia Lian was just a member of the royal family in his early twenties, they were completely relieved.

They began to deploy tactics, keeping a close eye on the reinforcements, intending to find another opportunity to annihilate them in one fell swoop, completely cutting off the Wei people's hopes and forcing them to obediently cede the fertile plains of Liaodong.

……

The sun rises in the east at dawn.

Suddenly, ripples spread across the calm sea outside Liaodong Bay.

The ripples continued endlessly, wave after wave, sweeping across the vast sea.

The petrel, which was foraging high in the sky, suddenly spotted something, spread its wings with all its might, flew northward, and disappeared in the blink of an eye.

As it disappeared, masts suddenly appeared on the distant sea.

What followed were large ships.

These ships, lined up neatly and fluttering with banners, stretched across the sea like a high wall, seemingly endless.

If a fishing boat were operating in this area right now, the fishermen would be terrified.

As these ships drew closer, their shapes gradually became clearer.

These ships, stretching as far as the eye can see, are actually warships!
Each warship was enormous and imposing, far surpassing ordinary fishing boats. Rows upon rows of soldiers in bright armor could be seen on board.

With such a massive fleet of warships and so many soldiers, is this an attempt to launch a war of annihilation?
Jia Lian, clad in armor, stood at the bow of the ship, gazing at the vast and magnificent sea before him, especially at the layers of waves churned up by the massive fleet behind him. A sense of pride welled up within him.

Footsteps suddenly came from behind, along with Zhao Sheng's voice: "Second Master, Commander Su and Commander Feng have arrived."

"Greetings, General."

Jia Lian turned to look at the generals, nodded, and gestured for them to step forward.

Then he pointed to the vast sea and asked with a smile, "What are your thoughts upon seeing such a scene?"

Su Keguang and the others did not understand Jia Lian's meaning, but they still looked at the sea with thoughtful expressions.

Jia Lian didn't seem to expect them to answer, and continued, "Do you all know that if we go east and go around Korea, we can reach Fusang Island?"

Everyone nodded after hearing this.

Even those who had never studied geographical maps before did some research before coming with Jia Lian on this trip.

"Do you know that if you sail across Fusang Island and continue eastward, crossing the vast ocean, after a journey of ten thousand miles, you can reach a completely new continent?"

It was a vast and beautiful land, in no way inferior to the beauty of my own China.

Everyone was stunned.

Su Keguang couldn't help but ask, "Is what you say true, Rong Gong? I've only ever heard of many countries in Southeast Asia and the West, but I've never heard of any country existing outside of Japan in the East."

Jia Lian looked at him and smiled, "Perhaps there is indeed no country in that land yet."

Everyone was even more puzzled.

Especially Jia Lian's trusted generals. The longer they followed Jia Lian, the more they felt that their general was born with innate knowledge.

Even the naval commanders and the military officers of Chang'an, seeing how convincing Jia Lian's words sounded, couldn't help but believe a little.

Because they simply couldn't understand the point of Jia Lian fabricating such statements to fool them.

It was Feng Ziying, a descendant of a military family, who seemed to grasp Jia Lian's meaning and asked, "I wonder what the general's purpose is in telling us all this?"

Jia Lian turned his head and looked north again.

"What I want to tell you is that this world is very, very big. There are many rich and fertile lands outside of China."

And we, along with you, are fortunate to have been born in China, and even more fortunate to be among the rulers of this nation.

Therefore, we should never focus solely on the small territory of the Central Plains, allowing foreign tribes to seize profits and grow stronger, ultimately overshadowing our Chinese nation.

What we need to do is, in our lifetime, lead our country and our nation to go global.

Go and see what the outside world is really like.

Therefore, my leading you all to quell the rebellious Jurchens is only the first step.

If the opportunity arises in the future, I would like to join you all in heading north to subdue the Tatars, crossing eastward to conquer Japan, and then together we will travel to the far eastern continent.

When that day finally comes…

Jia Lian turned around, looked at the generals who were all in shock, and laughed, "When that day comes, you gentlemen may also be eligible for the positions of kings and marquises."

All the generals and soldiers present were shocked by Jia Lian's words.

This was the first time they had ever heard that their great general had such grand ambitions!
Many people even unconsciously began to reflect that they seemed to have only focused on the Central Plains in the past.

They all held a unified attitude of contempt towards the countries of Southeast Asia and the West.

At most, I'm just occasionally curious about how they manage to come up with so many ingenious gadgets.

From Jia Lian, they vaguely realized that they seemed to have underestimated the world outside of China.

They were further swayed by Jia Lian's vision, which sparked some ideas that didn't exist before.

As a general, who doesn't dream of killing enemies, achieving merit, and being ennobled and promoted?
Their biggest dream used to be that one day the imperial court would fight against the Tatars and other bandits in the surrounding areas, and that they would be able to lead troops and achieve great merit.

However, they also knew in their hearts that such an opportunity was not only rare, but even if it did happen, it might not be their turn.

If, if what Jia Lian said is true.

There are so many vast and fertile lands overseas waiting for them to conquer, which would undoubtedly greatly increase their opportunities to achieve great things!
The throne of a king or nobleman—what an enticing delicacy!

Every man should want something.

In short, most people present were shocked and impressed by Jia Lian's grand ambitions, and at the same time, a sense of ambition was planted in their hearts.

Some people even suddenly thought:
The civil officials in the court were mostly conservative and sought only stability.

Take this campaign against the Jurchens, for example. It is said that the Duke of Rong petitioned Emperor Ningkang several times before the campaign was finally successful.

And so, he was only given the title of "General Who Pacifies Liaodong" and a force of ten or twenty thousand men.

I truly hope that one day, the imperial court will be ruled by someone with great talent and ambition like the Duke of Rong, so that the court will have the will to make progress.

Only when the imperial court has the ambition to make progress will these generals have the opportunity to achieve merit.

Only then is there a slight possibility of attaining the position of king or nobleman.

But could someone like the Duke of Rongguo become a powerful figure in the court?

Probably!

The Duke of Rongguo is only twenty-three or twenty-four years old, in the prime of his youth, yet he is already famous throughout the world.

His achievements and reputation in the court, as well as his favor with the emperor, are unparalleled.

It can be said that if things continue to develop in this way, as long as the Duke of Rongguo remains in power, he will inevitably become a pillar of the imperial court in the future.

It even reached the point where their word was law.

Don't forget, he is also the grandson of the retired emperor, a true descendant of the founding emperor...

……

(End of this chapter)