The gods began by supporting Guo Jing to become emperor

Chapter 179: Euphemistic Persuasion, Change of Attitude
They had not seen each other for a long time, and they met again in such an environment. Guo Jing felt both happy and puzzled. He invited them into the tent, and then his personal soldiers served them tea, wine, meat, etc.

Guo Jing sat at the bottom and said respectfully, "Master, the conditions in the army are simple and the hospitality is not good enough. Please forgive me."

Han Baoju drank from the wine jar, and then heaved a long sigh, "We have finally caught up with them after all the hassles. Jing'er, something big has happened in the south."

Guo Jing didn't pay attention to this matter. Instead, he comforted him, "Master Wu, don't worry. Eat first and then have a good rest. You must be exhausted after running all the way."

Han Baoju was stunned and opened his mouth. Zhu Cong beside him quickly interrupted, "We are indeed very tired. We should have a good rest."

Ke Zhen'e sat in the main seat, eating meat and wine leisurely, a hint of anger flashed across his face, and finally turned into silence. Although he had a strange temper, he was not stupid. After all, they came here to ask for a favor.

After the meal and wine, Guo Jing ordered his personal soldiers to take them down to rest. He was the only one left in the big tent again. Guo Jing lowered his eyebrows and thought carefully, "No one comes to the temple for no reason. It seems that the war in the south is not optimistic."

Guo Jing knew the characters of Ke Zhen'e and the others very well. The fact that they were asked to come north to find him in person must be something they could not solve. In the battle at Misty Rain Tower, the Seven Freaks of Jiangnan defeated Qiu Chuji and became famous. All the people in the martial arts world, both the underworld and the white world, had to give them some face. This status was naturally earned through fighting.

Even though the Seven Freaks of Jiangnan were easily killed by Ouyang Ke and Ouyang Feng, back then the seven of them were able to fight back and forth with Qiu Chuji, their martial arts were not bad, and with their qualifications, there were not many things in the world that could stump them.

The answer is already obvious, that is the war between Jin and Song.

In the clash between the two countries, the power of these heroes is insignificant. Unless they assassinate the king outside the city of Xiangyang like Yang Guo did, it is difficult for them to influence the outcome of a war.

Guo Jing walked to the center of the tent, where a sand table was placed, marking the terrain and city of Tongguan. He reached out and took the symbol representing Tongguan in his hand and played with it, "A battle in Guanzhong is inevitable. I have been preparing for this for two years. How can I fail at this moment?"

The Guanzhong area was very important to the Jin Kingdom. With Guanzhong in hand, they could use the terrain to recuperate, resist Western Xia, and even maintain suppression on Shuzhong. But if they lost Guanzhong, their strategic depth would be further compressed, and most importantly, they would lose a large number of population resources. How could they compete with Mongolia?

He hoped that the war between Jin and Song would last longer and longer so that he would have enough time to plan for Guanzhong.

Then, he looked towards the south and said to himself, "Master, I'm sorry, I can't promise you."

……

The next morning, Ke Zhen'e and his group came to the tent again. Guo Jing knew they would come, so he ordered the soldiers not to worry, as they were not stopped along the way.

At this time, Guo Jing was bending over the table to eat a bowl of corn porridge, two steamed buns, and a plate of mutton.

"Come here, serve tea!"

Seeing them coming, Guo Jing hurriedly ordered his personal guards to serve tea. He finished the food on the table in a few bites and stood up from his seat, "Master, please sit down."

Ke Zhenwu leaned on his iron staff, his sallow face expressionless, and said in a deep voice, "Forget about sitting down, Jing'er, we came from the south to ask for something."

Guo Jing also put away his respectful attitude and replied, "Master, please tell me. If it is within my ability, Guo Jing will do my best."

Ke Zhenwu's expression changed slightly, and he explained his purpose. "There is a war in the south, the Jin Kingdom is attacking our Song Dynasty. In just one month, we have lost cities and land. The war is critical. You Mongolians have signed an alliance with the Song Dynasty before. This time the Song Dynasty is invaded by the Jin Kingdom, and Mongolia should help. Therefore, we would like to ask you to send troops to help the Song Dynasty repel the Jin Kingdom."

Guo Jing shook his head and declined politely, "Master, you are joking. Although I have tens of thousands of soldiers under my command, the Khan has ordered that I should march to Guanlong. The north is under the charge of the Mongolian Grand Tutor Mu Huali. The war between Jin and Song is for the control of the Huai River. Even if I want to lend a hand, distant water cannot quench immediate thirst. It is difficult for me to help the Song Dynasty." Although this was a bit unkind, Guo Jing felt that it was better to make it clear as soon as possible.

Ke Zhen'e's expression turned cold instantly, and he asked, "Why can't you help? I see you don't want to help!"

Zhu Cong felt something was wrong and stepped forward quickly, "Brother, please be patient. Jing'er must have his reasons for saying this. Let him explain first."

Ke Zhen'e's cold words naturally had no effect on Guo Jing. He didn't want to make things awkward, so he explained, "Third Master, although I have soldiers under my command, how can they fly across a thousand miles to help the Song Dynasty resist the Jin people? Secondly, I am now attacking Guanzhong, which is actually helping the Song Dynasty."

"In the past few years, the Jin Kingdom was defeated by us Mongols and lost cities and land, and lost the Youyan area in the north. If the Khan had not marched west, the Jin Kingdom would never have dared to attack the Song Dynasty. Unfortunately, the Khan led the main force of Mongolia to the west and only left two small armies in the Central Plains."

"Mu Huali and I want to conquer the Jin Kingdom, but we don't have enough troops, so we can only take it step by step. The Song Dynasty has the danger of the Yangtze River. Even if the Jin Kingdom takes Huaibei, it will not be able to move south. What's more, their navy has always been inferior to the Song Dynasty. This war will not end so easily."

Zhu Cong hesitated for a moment and asked, "You mean, the Song Dynasty can stop the Jin Kingdom?"

Guo Jing nodded. "Masters, I admire your sincere patriotism. When the Jin Kingdom was at its peak, it couldn't defeat the Song Dynasty. How much less now that they have lost half of their territory. Even if I send troops south, I can't force the Jin Kingdom to come back for help."

"On the contrary, my attack on Guanzhong is to attack the enemy and then rescue him, to besiege Wei and save Zhao. They can't just watch me take Guanzhong. As long as the Song Dynasty can hold out for a while, they will definitely send troops to rescue it."

Nan Xiren, carrying the iron shoulder pole, suddenly realized, "So that's it. Your Third Master misunderstood you."

Guo Jing smiled faintly, not taking the matter to heart at all. "Sixth Master, you are too kind. Third Master is also eager to save the country. I can understand that."

After saying that, he did not continue talking, but waited for them to figure it out on their own. He had already been tactful enough and had said all that needed to be said. It was up to them to figure it out on their own.

Two quarters of an hour later, Ke Zhen'e let out a long breath, "You are right, distant water cannot quench immediate thirst. We were too abrupt. The war in Guanzhong is more important. We will not disturb you. Let's go."

With that said, he turned to leave.

But they couldn't be allowed to leave like this, so Guo Jing immediately said, "Third Master, we haven't seen each other for such a long time, and it's not easy for you to come here, please stay for a while, so that I can show my filial piety. I will send soldiers to take you there in a while, which will be faster, what do you think?"

"Brother, please stay!"

"Big brother!"

As soon as Guo Jing opened his mouth, Zhu Cong and others immediately joined in.

Ke Zhen sighed in disgust and nodded, "You are thoughtful."

After the work was done, they stopped bothering him and returned to their own tents. Guo Jing also arranged for someone to look after them to prevent them from running around.

After a while, two figures stepped into the tent and saluted Guo Jing. They were servants of the Marquis' Mansion. After listening to their story of what happened in the mansion, Guo Jing sighed in his heart, "It's hard for her."

"I will have a letter later. You must deliver it to Madam."

"As ordered!"

"Da Hu, Tongguan is near. You must go south immediately to collect information about the war between Jin and Song. Be sure to collect it in detail and quickly. This is my token. Take it with you. Someone will contact you when you reach the south."

Under the dim light, a black figure stood in the tent. It was his confidant, Da Hu.

Da Hu bowed his head and said, "I obey your orders!"

Guo Jing walked forward slowly, his resolute face half in shadow and half in the light, "I not only want information about the Jin-Song War, but also about the court of the Song Dynasty. Bring more money with you. Remember, no matter what method you use, I want to know what's going on in the court of the Song Dynasty. Do you understand?" After saying that, he bent down and helped him up.

Da Hu's body was shaken, and he said in a deep voice, "Don't worry, my lord. I will definitely accomplish this."

A faint smile appeared on Guo Jing's serious face, "Da Hu, your boy is not a child anymore, right?"

"My Lord, he is four years old this year."

Guo Jing's eyes gleamed with a gleam, "He's four years old, it's time for him to go to school. Send him to my house later. My two kids also need to go to school, so he can be a good companion."

Even though Da Hu had seen many secret things, he still couldn't help but feel excited, "Thank you, Lord!"

"Okay, let's go down and start early."

"As ordered!"

Da Hu slowly retreated, opened the tent and walked out. Once again, Guo Jing was the only one left in the huge camp.

He walked to the table, took out a map and opened it. On it was a topographic map of the Southern Song Dynasty.

He held up the lamp and looked at the direction of the water veins on the map. He seemed to have remembered something and his expression was quite complicated. After a long while, he murmured, "It's almost there, it's almost there."

……

Jin Kingdom, military camp.

Yang Kang stood out in his silver armor. He was reporting the war situation at his desk. "Father, the Song's counterattacks are getting fiercer and fiercer. Several armies have been repelled."

There was a huge map in the tent. Wanyan Honglie was looking at it and said without turning his head, "Keep fighting. Send another 10,000 people up. We must take over the entire Huainan area."

Yang Kang hesitated a little, "But, in the past two months, we have suffered nearly 50,000 casualties, and there are not many people left to move."

Suddenly, Wanyan Honglie turned around and said coldly, "Then push forward with all your might! The riverside defense line is so long, I don't believe we can't break through. Order the navy to fight and clear the way for the infantry. Even if they are completely wiped out, we must fight through. Do you understand?"

"I understand, son!" Yang Kang was shocked and quickly retreated.

After he left, Wanyan Honglie was no longer as cold as before, and his brows were full of fatigue. Since he ascended the throne, he had been working day and night, racking his brains to revive the Jin Dynasty. However, the Mongols were too strong, and they were defeated again and again on the battlefield.

Now, relying on his power, he suppressed the conflicts in the court and forcibly launched a war in an attempt to break through the Yangtze River defense line and force the Song Dynasty to move its capital.

But he never expected that after the war broke out, the Song Dynasty, despite losing tens of thousands of soldiers, was still so resilient and turned the situation around bit by bit. Today, the war situation has begun to become unfavorable to the Jin army, many cities have been lost again, and the Song army has launched fierce counterattacks from all sides.

The most hateful thing is that there were voices within the court calling for peace with the State of Song and for the army to return to rescue Guanzhong.

In addition to the war in Guanzhong, the "Red Coat Army" composed of Han armed forces in Shandong was growing in strength and spreading everywhere. In addition, in the Liaodong region, where the Jin Dynasty's original rule was relatively stable, there were rebellions by the Khitans Yelu Liuge and Puxian Wannu.

For a time, the north was ablaze with flames and smoke everywhere. The remaining ruling power of the Jin Dynasty was crumbling and faced a situation where it was surrounded by enemies.

However, the only thing to be thankful for was that Mu Huali was stuck in Hebei and Liaodong due to these things and was unable to move south for a while, which alleviated a lot of military pressure.

There was nothing that could be done. A man's reputation is like the shadow of a tree. Mu Huali did not have many soldiers under his command, but the previous battle of Yehuling made him famous. The Jin people changed color when they heard about it. No one wanted to face such an enemy.

In just two months, the situation changed so much that Wanyan Honglie's hair had turned completely white and he looked like a sixty-year-old man. But now, he had no way out.

The fate of the north is already determined. Even if the Jin Dynasty rises again, it will not be able to take back the north. If they want to fight a major war in the north, they must use cavalry. The Jin Dynasty's infantry is okay, but how can the cavalry compete with Mongolia?

The stalemate with Mongolia in the north is nothing but continued bloodshed, which is not worth the cost. In Wanyan Honglie's eyes, Youyan, Jizhou, Qingxu and other places have been regarded as abandoned pawns by him, and the only way out for the Jin Kingdom is in the south.

As long as the Song Dynasty is defeated and forced to move south, the Jin Dynasty will have a chance to breathe again. Wanyan Honglie has staked his entire fortune on this battle. If this battle fails, his prestige as an emperor will be greatly damaged and he will find it difficult to command the court.

At this time, he cast his gaze towards Chang'an and sighed, "Guanzhong, you have to hold on a little longer!"

……

"Master Three, Master Four, Master Five, Master Six, Master Eight, take care!"

In front of the military camp, Guo Jing rode a little red horse to bid farewell to the Seven Freaks of Jiangnan.

Ke Zhen'e and the others each rode a green horse, and their expressions were very complicated when facing Guo Jing. After staying in the military camp for a few days, they finally understood how powerful Guo Jing was. Tens of thousands of soldiers all obeyed his orders, the camp was piled up like mountains of food and grass, and the scenes of tens of thousands of war horses kept shocking their minds.

Except for Ke Zhen'e, the other people unconsciously lowered their attitudes when facing Guo Jing, and were no longer as arrogant as before they came.

Rejecting Guo Jing's suggestion to send troops to accompany them, Zhu Cong and others bowed to him and said, "Jing'er, take care of yourself too!"

After saying that, they urged their horses to ride away, "Gee!"

Guo Jing stood in front of the camp, looking at the direction they left with a complicated look in his eyes. The huge gap in their identities ultimately made them go separate ways. He also saw the change in the attitudes of his masters, but he did not feel happy. Instead, he felt lost.

The closer you get to the end, the lonelier you feel. I guess this is what the teacher meant by the path to becoming an emperor, lonely and aloof!

(End of this chapter)