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

Chapter 559: A Fool Can't Tell Right from Wrong

In the Jiedu Mansion of Tianping Army, after Shi Baiju and Kong Duanqi left, Geng Jing sat in the Jiedu Mansion for a while, feeling extremely melancholy. He wanted to find someone to discuss things with, but then he thought of Xin Qiji, Li Tieqiang and Jia Rui who stayed indoors and did not come out, and he felt even more depressed.

How come these people who were so close to each other when they started the uprising have become like this now?
After thinking for a long time, Geng Jing finally called Zhang Anguo and Shao Jin over. These were the two people with whom he could discuss private matters without reservation.

After recounting the entire incident, Geng Jing saw anger rising on their faces. He quickly waved his hands and said, "I know what you two are thinking, but I don't need you to swear or swear anything today. I just want to ask you one question: did I really do something wrong?"

Hearing Geng Jing say this, Zhang Anguo was stunned for a moment, then asked anxiously: "Brother, why do you say that?"

Geng Jing sighed, "Don't I know who I am? Besides my strength, what else can I do? But this Liu Dalang is a man of great ability and wisdom. He said such harsh words. I'm wondering if I really did something wrong."

Zhang Anguo was instantly furious: "Brother, how could you think that? Do you think Liu Dalang is some kind of living Buddha? Doesn't he collect taxes? If he doesn't collect taxes, how will he support his troops?
There are also quite a few tenants in the Loyal Army, but they are just being dignified and directly asking for rent from the government land. But what difference does that make? It’s just that before, the officials collected the rent, and now the government collects the rent.”

Shao Jin was also somewhat angry: "Brother, I know you want to be good to the people, and I want to be good to the elders too. But if we give all the benefits to the people, what will happen to our soldiers? If the army is defeated, those people will have no choice but to be slaughtered! Brother, at this time, don't be soft-hearted! It will kill everyone!"

Geng Jing nodded repeatedly, then sighed at the end: "I do know that Liu Dalang loves his people like his own children. To restore the people's strength, he sent all the troops to garrison in the countryside. What were they called? Oh, yes, garrison troops. In this regard, I am not as bold as him."

Hearing this, Zhang Anguo became even more furious. "God damn Liu Dalang! If he were in Shandong, facing the Jin bandits head-on, do you think he would still be so calm? It's because we're their shields that they can talk about restoring the people's strength! If you ask me, when we go on a winter expedition and run out of food, we should ask the Loyalty Army for it! If they don't give it to us, we might as well let the Jin army into the heart of Shandong and teach them a lesson!"

Geng Jing slammed the table. "Seventh Brother! How dare you say such a thing?! Are you still trying to make peace with the Jin thieves?!"

Zhang Anguo immediately admitted his mistake: "Brother, I was careless with my words, but Liu Dalang is really infuriating!"

Geng Jing, however, began to speak up for Liu Huai: "It's tough over there, too. They hadn't had a break all last year, and even Zhang Rong, the chief steward, was caught up in it. It's clear that the Huai River and Huai River regions are truly dangerous. It's understandable that he wants to rest and recuperate now."

"I also believe that Liu Dalang has no hostility towards us. If he had any other ideas, he would not have exchanged for 7,000 soldiers and horses."

"Those commanders and captains all regard Liu Dalang as a god. Even if Da Tieqiang and the others are willing to come back, how many people can they bring back?"

Speaking of these seven thousand soldiers, a complicated expression appeared on the faces of the three men.

This is really a happy trouble.

On the one hand, there are more than 7,000 mouths to feed, including many elite armored cavalry, and the expenses are enormous.

But on the other hand, who would complain about having too many soldiers and horses in troubled times?

"Seventh Brother, how are you doing with those 4,000 soldiers assigned to you?" Since the topic had come up, Geng Jing continued, "Wu Lang and the others are doing me a favor by closing the door to visitors. I can't just let them hide in the house forever. That would be unreasonable. Now that they've almost won over, I'll invite them out myself."

Zhang Anguo sighed, "It's not that simple. A few days ago, those Huaixi people asked me if they could go and pay a visit to General Xin. I almost wanted to replace them all."

Geng Jing shook his head again: "How can it be that simple? The war will start in the autumn. Changing the generals now would only disrupt the formation."

Zhang Anguo: "Big brother is right, but we have allocated a lot of land to them in the past few days, so they should be able to settle down."

Geng Jing sighed, as if he didn't want to talk about the land grabbing topic anymore: "Get ready for the battle. If we can seize more territory and rob the Jin Kingdom's treasury, life will be better."

After the words fell, the three of them fell silent. After a moment, Geng Jing smiled and said, "I called you here just to reassure you. I..."

At this moment, footsteps were heard outside the door, and a guard knocked on the door: "Jiedu, a military envoy has arrived from Yanzhou and brought a letter."

Zhang Anguo immediately stood up and welcomed all the guards and military envoys in. The military envoy handed over the letter and said with a bow, "Jiedu, I am General Ye's man. He said that Yelu Xingge's entire tribe has gone east!"

"What?!" Zhang Anguo jumped up immediately.

The Tianping Army had few cavalrymen to begin with, and now that the Khitans had all left, wouldn't the main force in the autumn battle have to be infantry?
Geng Jing remained calm and took two letters behind him. One of them was written to Geng Jing by Liu Huai a few months ago. The letter described in detail the plight of the Khitan tribe and hoped that Geng Jing would treat Yelu Xingge and other Khitan people well.

The other one was written by Yelu Xingge.

Originally, after contacting Liu Huai privately, he wanted to relocate his entire clan. However, before he could negotiate with Geng Jing, Geng Jing gave the Khitan tribe some food and war horses because he had decided to send troops to fight in the autumn.

This also made Yelu Xingge very embarrassed. He felt that he was judging others by his own standards, so he suppressed the matter.

The key point is that Yelu Xingge had no face to face Liu Huai, so he could only pretend that nothing had happened and deal with it coldly.

But after a few months, things started to change.

The Khitan tribe was originally an outsider, and the conflict between the host and the guest was very serious. The Tianping Army did not consciously try to solve this problem, so they had friction with the surrounding Han people on a daily basis.

When the Tianping Army tried to complete feudalization, the surrounding powerful families had a reason to unite and prepared to drive out the Khitan tribe first.

Since half a month ago, the Khitan tribe has not been able to buy a single grain of food, a single bundle of hay, or a single piece of ironware, and has been completely isolated.

Yelu Xingge was helpless and felt that there was no point in staying any longer, so he could only send a letter to Geng Jing to say goodbye. At the same time, Yelu Xingge's tribe had already started their journey.

After reading the letter, Geng Jing felt powerless.

The consequences of the Tianping Army's excessive focus on military affairs and its neglect of local civil officials were fully exposed at this time.

There was no one to mediate such a serious conflict between the host and the guest.

To be fair, was it Geng Jing who was wrong in this matter?
With such a small amount of money and food, shouldn't he be frugal? And he also provided another batch of support later, so Yelu Xingge had to admit it!
But Yelu Xingge was not wrong. The Khitan tribe really could not survive. Even so, Yelu Xingge did not leave immediately. As long as there was a chance, he would stay in the Tianping Army.

He has lived up to the conscience of heaven and earth!
Is Liu Huai wrong?
nor!
The wording of this letter was quite appropriate. It was just a few words of persuasion, and in the last few words he said that if Geng Jing really didn't want the Khitans, he would be willing to take them over.

Although those landlords and powerful people took action, it was understandable. After all, no one wanted a foreign tribe living next to their own home.

This is reality.

Everyone has their own difficulties. Even if they make the right choice, they will always push things to an irreversible point.

"Hurry up and send a message to Ye Shichan, tell him to stop Yelu Xingge!" Zhang Anguo shouted, "If we don't go now, it will be too late."

"Forget it." Geng Jing waved his hand, his face full of dejection: "Let him go. After all, he has made great contributions. In the end, I am sorry for him."

Zhang Anguo stamped his feet heavily, sighed repeatedly, and wanted to say something again and again, but nothing came out.

(End of this chapter)