Destroy Jin and conquer Song, and carry the Northern Expedition through to the end

Chapter 115: The Tianping Army Should Create Peace (Part )
This time the silence was much longer than before.

The four main generals of the Tianping Army seemed to be lost in thought, with different expressions on their faces.

The meaning of Liu Huai's words is very clear. Your Tianping Army cannot just be a migrant armed force that does not know how to build. Instead, you should open up a base and establish a certain order in the base.

Since you need a base, you cannot just take the lives of the soldiers seriously, you must also cherish the lives of ordinary people.

If you, Geng Jing, only want to be a general to put it nicely, or a leader of the refugees to put it bluntly, then just treat the above words as a fart from me, Liu Huai.

But if Geng Jing wants to be the leader of a real political force, then our Loyal Army is willing to assist him. Together, our two armies will become bigger and stronger and create greater glory.

Geng Jing panted heavily, and after a long moment, he forced a smile and said, "I've heard your father was a fierce general in the Song army. He came all the way north to this point, and he's actually promising to establish his own kingdom with peasants like us?"

Liu Huai smiled and said, "Captain Geng has misunderstood. Although my father was once a general of the Song Dynasty, he has long since left the army. This Northern Expedition was caused by the efforts of Lan Shiji, the governor of Chuzhou, to consolidate the defenses of Chuzhou before the Song-Jin War. My father simply took advantage of the situation and led his army straight north to reclaim the Han homeland."

Geng Jing took two more deep breaths, then narrowed his eyes and said, "Song State still has heroes."

Liu Huai nodded. "Of course, Song has its heroes, but they're fighting the treacherous thieves in the court while preparing for war against the Jin thieves. How could they have the energy or the time to care about Shandong's affairs?"

As soon as these words were spoken, the four Tianping Army generals' expressions changed dramatically.

Xin Qiji's face was serious, and he wanted to say something but forced himself to hold it back; Li Tieqiang's expression remained unchanged, but Zhang Anguo beside him was eager to try, and even looked very excited.

Geng Jing's face was a mixture of joy and sorrow, and then something like that. "Brother Liu, I'll tell you the truth. I don't have any great ambitions. I just want to return to Song and become a wealthy man. I won't even talk about how I can establish a foundation under the siege of the Jin. Let me ask you, if I really do seize control of one or two states, how will the Song tolerate me? If both Song and Jin are enemies, then there's nowhere else in the world for me to go."

Liu Huai replied sternly, "If the Jin invaders can conquer Song in one fell swoop, then the outcome is self-evident. We would rather die than surrender and fight to the death against the Jin. If the Jin invaders and Song can maintain a stalemate, or even if Song can defeat them, then we can declare war on Jin. Chief Geng can bring an entire state south to surrender to Song. How can Song refuse him?"

"If Chief Geng doesn't want to be suspected, then he can just let the Song court appoint him as a temporary official. If he still has ambitions, he can ask to lead troops elsewhere. If he just wants to live a life of wealth and luxury, then serving as an official in the capital and being granted a title in Jiangnan would be a great option as well."

Geng Jing nodded slowly.

This makes sense, because according to political common sense and simple understanding, those who are generally suspected are those who obey orders but not announcements, or even those who neither obey orders nor announcements. How can it be reasonable to suspect those who obey orders and announcements? Isn't this just idle talk?

Geng Jing leaned forward, shook Liu Huai's hand, and said sincerely, "Liu Dalang, you see how I look, and you know I'm not very knowledgeable. Please stay for a few days. I also want to have some time to discuss things with my confidants. After we capture Fei County, I will explain to you, Dalang. How about that?"

Naturally, Liu Huai did not expect that just a few words would make Geng Jing, a group that could not even be considered a military group, change its established course, so he nodded in agreement.

Geng Jing called a personal guard named Shao Jin and asked him to take Liu Huai to eat and water the horses first.

Liu Dalang felt that Shao Jin's name sounded familiar, but before he could remember who he was, another question arose in his mind.

"Captain Geng, there's something concerning military strategy that I'm not sure if I should ask."

"Dalang, please speak."

"Why not go through Juzhou and then go south along the Yishui River, instead of crossing the Mengshan Mountains?"

Geng Jing smiled and said, "I thought it was no big deal. There's no other reason. It's just because the road is close."

Liu Huai was stunned: "Just because the road is close?"

“It’s just because the road is close.”

Liu Huai was speechless, and his evaluation of the military quality of the Tianping Army's senior leaders dropped a little. He bowed and said goodbye.

After Liu Huai left, Li Tieqiang frowned and asked, "Gengtou, why didn't you tell Liu Dalang that we took this remote road specifically to avoid wasting the crops? Why did you let Liu Dalang look down on us for no reason?"

Geng Jing glanced at Li Tieqiang and said, "I don't have that many tricks. I really think this road is shorter. As for the issue of minimizing the damage to crops and which road is easier or harder to take, that's what Xin Wulang said. I don't understand that.

Besides, the crops on both sides of the Yishui River are crops, and the crops on both sides of the Anzi River are weeds? A large army will always destroy the people when it marches, so how can I be complacent about this?
Let Liu Dalang look down on me, I am not a hero anyway, so I am not afraid of that."

Seeing his confidants remain silent, Geng Jing sighed again: "Tell me, what do you think of what Liu Dalang said?"

"Brother, this Liu Dalang isn't being honest." Zhang Anguo spoke first. "At first, I was indeed tempted, but I just realized that if we were to settle down, it would only be in Tai'an Prefecture and the northwest of Yi Prefecture, right to the northwest of their Loyal Army. If the Jin bandits come to attack, they won't cross us to attack the Loyal Army. We'd be just a scapegoat for the Loyal Army! Damn it, where's the loyalty of the Loyal Army?!"

Zhang Anguo became angrier and angrier as he spoke, and in the end he almost burst into cursing.

Xin Qiji was silent for a moment. Seeing that everyone else was looking at him, he finally said, "Liu Dalang is indeed dishonest, but not in the way Zhang Qi said."

"What do you say?" Geng Jing was cheered up when he saw the man who was recognized as wise and brave gave his own judgment, and asked hurriedly.

"What Liu Dalang said is nothing more than the two paths of survival and expansion. It depends on which one Geng Jiedu chooses."

"The path we're on now is one of survival, just like all refugees, bandits, and roving bandits throughout history, simply begging for life. But to be unlucky, no matter how powerful this begging army becomes, unless they can be absorbed and resettled by a great power, their end will be in vain."

"The other path is to grow stronger, establishing a foundation and system in one area. While this may lead to attacks from powerful enemies, if you can hold on, this area can become a foundation and a major force. Just like Liu Xuande in the late Han Dynasty, no matter how miserable he was in the past, once he gained half of Jingzhou as a foundation, he was able to divide the world into three parts and gain a foothold in the world."

"Thus, throughout history, anyone who has been able to establish a kingdom, rule a region, or even conquer a region has invariably strived to follow the second path. This is precisely why those who seek survival are unable to survive, while those who grow stronger have a glimmer of hope."

Geng Jing heard this and quickly shook his head: "Wu Lang, I don't have any ambitions to become a duke or a prince. I just want to help everyone survive."

Xin Qiji was silent for a moment before he answered with difficulty: "This is where Liu Dalang is dishonest. Geng Jiedu must know that people can change.

Or in the late Han Dynasty and the Three Kingdoms period, when Cao Cao beat his treacherous uncle to death with a five-colored club, wasn't he also trying to be a loyal minister of the Han Dynasty? But why did he later usurp the Han Dynasty? It was simply because he had territory, loyal followers, and a powerful army, and he felt that the world was just like this. If the Liu family could sit on the throne, then he, the Cao family, could sit on the throne too.

"Geng Jiedu," Xin Qiji said sternly, "When the time comes, you'll have two or three states, tens of thousands of soldiers, me, the great iron spear, and a man like Zhang Qi sworn to death. Can you really give it all up and become a wealthy man? Even if you're willing, and I'm willing, will Zhang Qi be willing? What about Zhang Qi's subordinates?"

Zhang Anguo felt that Xin Qiji was most likely targeting him, and he immediately became angry.

Geng Jing smiled and waved his hands: "We've gone too far, too far. Wulang, we still need to give birth now."

Xin Qiji fell silent again. He had been silent more today than in the past ten days. After a long pause, he said, "Let's take Fei County first. Then we can establish a foothold in Yizhou. We'll use Liu Dalang's promise today to talk to the Loyal Army. The bottom line is that we'll divide Yizhou with them through the Yishui River, and we'll both defend each other and attack the Jin bandits. What do you think?"

Geng Jing pinched his beard and nodded repeatedly.

Seeing this, Xin Qiji hesitated for a moment before finally gritting his teeth and saying, "Once things settle down, I'm going to deal with a group of bandits. I hope the governor will approve."

Zhang Anguo was listening with great anger.

He already knew that Xin Qiji wanted to punish him because he presented two beauties to Geng Jing a few days ago.

At this time, I feel annoyed when I hear the word "disposal".

Deal with bandits?

Who is the bandit?

This fucking big blue rhinoceros is never going to end, right?!
Geng Jing continued to wave his hands: "Wu Lang, after all, we know each other, so we can just part ways amicably. Why do you have to kill someone?

By the way, Wulang, I have an important matter for you. Life in Mengshan is not easy. If those idiots don't cause trouble, you have to keep an eye on them for me. If anything goes wrong, your Xinzi Army may have to be busy again."

Seeing that Geng Jing forced the topic to change again, Xin Qiji could only sigh softly and bow his hands in obedience.

"Da Tieqiang, Zhang Qi, you two should not be idle either. Even though our three armies have come together, we still have a lot of things to do."

Li Tieqiang and Zhang Anguo also bowed at the same time.

The three men left the general's tent, and Zhang Anguo stayed behind. Seeing that the other two had left, he quickly took two steps at a time and came to Geng Jing's side.

"Brother Geng, that Xin guy has bad intentions." Zhang Anguo did not hold a grudge overnight, so he directly slandered Geng Jingjin.

Geng Jing didn't indulge him either, and frowned directly: "Get lost, get lost, you are all looking for trouble. You are so bored that you have to go to the stable to pick up horse manure."

"No, big brother, Xin said that starting a business is difficult, but at the same time he urged you to become a rich man after you have established your career. What's the logic behind this?" Zhang Anguo was very anxious. "It seems that he made you suffer all the hardships, but he didn't let you enjoy the happiness. He deserves to be killed!"

Geng Jing got impatient when he heard this: "Get lost, Zhang Qi! If you keep talking nonsense and don't pick at that horse manure, I'll stuff it in your mouth! Get lost!"

Zhang Anguo finally shut up and retreated reluctantly.

Geng Jing sat in the tent in a daze again. After a long time, he stretched out his hand and looked at the nail marks on the palm of his broad hand.

What no one knew was that when Liu Huai and Xin Qiji were talking about "foundation" and "kingship", Geng Jing had to clench his fists tightly to suppress the excitement and surging desire in his heart.

The force was so great that it left a row of deep fingerprints on the palm of the hand, which lasted for a long time.

(End of this chapter)