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

Chapter 58: The King's Teacher Values Benevolence
A quarter of an hour later, dozens of riders came galloping from afar.

After approaching, the people of Dayi Town saw that most of the Song army knights on horseback looked a little tired, with blood on their bodies, but their looks showed their bravery, and it was obvious that they were proud soldiers who had just returned victorious from the battlefield.

But what is surprising is that each of these knights is carrying a young boy on his horse.

"Erlang!"

Luo Shenyan couldn't help but shout out in surprise and joy. His sharp eyes saw from a distance that the man held in the arms of the Song army's leading knight was his brother.
"Brother, father!"

"teacher!"

"Brother!"

More than twenty half-grown children were carried down from their horses by the knights. As soon as they landed, they quickly ran towards Luo Guzi.

Only Luo Huaiyan ran forward two steps, then stopped and bowed to Liu Huai: "General, let me introduce my father to you."

Seeing Luo Huaiyan acting like a little adult, Liu Huai couldn't help but laugh. He took off his helmet and placed it on the saddle, without wiping the blood off the armor, and followed Luo Huaiyan to Luo Guzi.

"Father, this is Liu Huai, the commander of the Loyal and Righteous Army of the Great Song Dynasty. It was this man who saved me and my fellow junior brothers yesterday. It was also this man who led the cavalry as the vanguard and defeated the armored cavalry of the Jin army today." Luo Huaiyan first bowed to Luo Guzi, and then hurriedly introduced Liu Huai to prevent his father from making any misjudgment.

Luo Guzi bowed, but before he could say anything, his hands were held.

He only saw the tall young general in front of him with a smile on his face: "Mr. Luo, I have heard of you for a long time."

Liu Huai had never heard of Luo Guzi in history, and he didn't think he was a famous official or general. But during his conversation with Luo Huaiyan yesterday, he learned about Luo Guzi's heroic feat of repairing the Shu River, and immediately felt that he had to win him over.

You must know that river management is a top priority in the agricultural era.

When managing a river, one aspect is how to get wealthy households to contribute money, how to get ordinary households to contribute labor, and how to plan irrigation channels.

What is more crucial is that after the successful river management, how to divide paddy fields and dry fields, how to ensure that everyone can eat meat and drink soup, and how to make everyone satisfied is a big question.

In modern terms, Luo Guzi is the kind of tough guy who can both make cakes and divide them.

And the cake he made was the most valuable thing in the agricultural age - arable land with a supporting irrigation system!

To be able to do this, both ability and prestige are indispensable!

Under normal circumstances, a shrine would be built for Luo Guzi, and he would be treated as a mountain god or a river god, and sung and praised by the people on both sides of the Shuhe River.

But the Jin Dynasty has its own national conditions.

On the one hand, the administration was in chaos, local powerful families were deeply rooted, and corruption among officials was rampant. Luo Guzi, a small county magistrate, was powerless to resist.

On the other hand, when the river repair was partially completed, the Jurchen people happened to be moving south to resettle. Under the leadership of Meng Tian, the governor of Haizhou at that time, all the paddy and dry fields that were originally intended to be allocated to the Han people were distributed to the Meng'an Mouke households, and many civilians were also divided into slaves.

After toiling away and dedicating countless manpower to a project, they only succeeded in doing good for others. Both the landlords and the common people suffered heavy losses, and their frustrations faded. The remaining section of the lower Shuhe River was never completed, and Luo Guzi, enraged, resigned from his official position and became a teacher in his hometown.

In just four or five years, even if Luo Guzi's prestige was not as high as before, he must have a good understanding of the mountains, rivers and terrain of the powerful landlords in various parts of Haizhou.

Thinking of this, Liu Huai looked at Luo Guzi with some eagerness: "Mr. Luo, my Northern Expedition Army has defeated the main force of the Jin bandits in Haizhou. Can you teach me about the current situation?"

Luo Guzi let Liu Huai's bloodstained hands hold his wrist. After a long silence, he asked, "General, what do you think we should do now?" Liu Huai knew this was a test, so he said sincerely, "In terms of overall strategy, we should attack Qushan County, the seat of Haizhou, with one push. As long as we kill Gao Wenfu first, and then wipe out the Meng'an garrison and the Meng'an Mouke households in the countryside, Haizhou will naturally be pacified!"

Luo Guzi nodded slowly. He naturally knew that this plan was extremely feasible - at least it was feasible in Haizhou.

As for how the Jin Dynasty's Yidu Prefecture and navy, and even the main force of the Jin army that had already gathered in Bianliang would react, even if Liu Huai had some plans, he would not tell Luo Guzi everything at this time.

"As for the present..." Liu Huai waved his hand and said, "Our army is marching north to appease the people and punish the criminals! After punishing the criminals, we will naturally restore order and relieve the suffering of the people."

"Mr. Luo, the vast majority of these conscripted soldiers are civilians who were forcibly conscripted. Naturally, they should be released. However, they must not be disbanded at this time, otherwise they might turn to thieves. Mr. Luo, you should use your prestige to maintain order, allow them to return to Dayi Town, and then distribute food to stabilize their hearts. Only then can you find a way for them to survive."

Luo Guzi kept looking straight into Liu Huai's eyes until he heard this, then he withdrew his hands and bowed.

He had imagined many things, and felt that the young general before him would show off his military prowess;

I also thought that the other party would directly conscript these soldiers as laborers;
Some even thought that the so-called Song army was a powerful group of bandits, and that this battle was just to make a big fortune.

This is not surprising. There have been countless bandits in Shandong since the time of Emperor Huizong of Song. In recent years, whether it is Kaishan Zhao, Zhang Wang, Xu Yuan or Geng Jing, they have all been using the banner of the Song Dynasty.

But what Luo Guzi never expected was that Liu Huai actually gave the answer of punishing the criminals and his specific means of pacifying the people were even more comprehensive than he had imagined.

The matter was so outrageous that even Luo Guzi found it a little unbelievable.

How many years had it been since a true master teacher appeared in this world? How could I have come across one?
However, there was no time to think about it. Seeing Luo Guzi's gesture, Liu Huai laughed and once again grabbed his arm with his dirty hands. He asked again, "Mr. Luo, are you teaching me?"

"Just one word," Luo Guzi said sternly, "regardless of whether we win or lose this battle, we must not delay the autumn harvest! Otherwise, Haizhou will be filled with starvation and war!"

This is both an exhortation and a condition for cooperation.

Yes, it is indeed just cooperation, not dedication.

A real man is willing to entrust his life and death to his country when he joins the army. How can he be persuaded by just one sentence?

Luo Guzi’s meaning is also very simple.

I can help you stabilize the situation, but my purpose is to protect the people of Haizhou, not for any bullshit like the grand ambitions of the Song Dynasty.

Your success or failure has nothing to do with me, Luo Guzi!

Liu Huai could naturally feel Luo Guzi's alienation, but he didn't care.

As long as Luo Guzi joins the group, he has to work hard. And after building a career, will he just sit back and watch his hard work go to waste?
"Of course." Liu Huai responded sincerely, then looked back at the road he had come from as if he had realized something.

Luo Guzi followed Liu Huai's gaze and saw an army marching in orderly steps along the official road.

The army was in neat formation, their flags flying high. Most strikingly, even though the farmland on either side of the official road had been trampled beyond recognition by the Jin army, the officers still kept their soldiers on the road, not allowing them to cross the ditches or ridges.

"My father is here." Liu Huai smiled slightly and said loudly.

Luo Guzi's eyes froze as he stared at the large flag with the Chinese character "Wei" on it, as well as the four flags with the words "expel the Tartars, restore China, establish rules and regulations, and save the people" written on them. He was completely stunned.

(End of this chapter)