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

Chapter 76 Where is the Road Ahead (Part )
Not to mention that after the Dongping Army generals sobered up, Zhang Rong quickly expanded the Dongping Army into the Dongping Army, nor did he mention that the Zhongyi Army quickly counted and confiscated the land as a reward for their merits.

Just as the Northern Expedition was actively carrying out the anti-Jin cause, a military meeting was about to begin in Tai'an Prefecture, more than 200 miles northwest of Haizhou.

Lianglu, Shandong, is a typical area with high terrain in the middle and low terrain on both sides. The highlands in the middle are Mount Tai and Mount Meng, while the lowlands around them are plains formed by the impact of the Yellow River and the Huai River.

Tai'an Prefecture is located between Mount Tai and Mount Meng, on a narrow plain formed by the impact of the Wenshui River. It is a place with poor mountains and bad water.

Come to think of it, let’s not talk about Mount Tai on the north side of Tai’an Prefecture, let’s just talk about the area formed by Mount Meng and Yishui on the south side, which was directly called the Yimeng Mountain Old Area in later generations.

If this place is really a fertile plain, it cannot become a guerrilla base!
But the poor mountains and bad waters also have their advantages. At least the heavy cavalry and heavy armored infantry that the Jin Dynasty was proud of would not go into the mountains to chase the rebels.

In fact, when Geng Jing started the rebellion in Dongping Prefecture, Xin Qiji gathered 2,000 soldiers at Sifengzha in Jinan Prefecture, and there were many large and small rebel forces. They gathered together and tried to capture Jinan Prefecture and Yanzhou.

However, after the Jin Dynasty's Yidu Prefecture Military Command officially sent troops, they had no way to gain a foothold in the vicinity of Jinan. They first fled to Dongshan, Weizhou, and then turned to Tai'an, Laiwu and other places.

Jia Rui, who had just joined the gang, even came from Laizhou, four hundred miles away.

To put it nicely, he moved in like the wind, but to put it bluntly, he was beaten and ran around everywhere.

However, this is where the weird thing happens. These rebel forces have been defeated so many times that they are almost becoming refugees. They should have been wiped out long ago as they have nowhere else to turn.

But whenever these remnants of the defeated army arrived at a place, they would raise their flags and immediately gather tens of thousands of troops, and then they would attack the city and capture the land, becoming unstoppable again.

For example, when Geng Jing was pursued by the Jin army in Weizhou, he had only a thousand men left with him. But once he arrived in Tai'an and had just captured one or two Jurchen farming camps, the powerful families in Fengfu County, the capital of Tai'an Prefecture, rebelled, killing their officials and raising a banner with the word Geng in its name, and welcomed Geng Jing into the city.

Three days later, Laiwu County and Xintai County, upon hearing the news, followed suit and killed Jin officials one after another. Some of the former officials even took the lead in spontaneously clearing out the Jurchens in the state and officially raised the flag of rebellion.

During this period, Geng Jing didn't even have time to send a messenger.

The recovery of Tai'an Prefecture was so confusing and inexplicable.

However, the reason is very simple. The great shortcomings and virtues of the Jin Dynasty rulers made the Han people, including the common people, unable to tolerate their pride and strength.

Shandong, Hebei, and the Central Plains were like huge powder kegs, and they were relatively stable only because of the hundreds of thousands of regular troops of the Jin army. However, everyone knew that these hundreds of thousands of troops were going to march south to attack the Song Dynasty.

It can only be considered a minor fight now. When the Song-Jin War officially begins, it would be a miracle if the entire north is not in chaos.

Liu Huai knew these things, Wei Sheng knew them, and Xin Qiji, who was in Tai'an Prefecture at the time, naturally knew them as well.

After all, although he has the nickname of Da Qingsi, he is by no means a man of courage but no strategy.

At this time, Xin Qiji had just arrived at the foot of Fengfu City. He took a few personal soldiers from the same clan with him and first took care of the injured Xin Wenyuan. Then, he took the seal of "Jiedushi of Tianping Army" and the head of Monk Yiduan, and strode into Fengfu City with Li Tieqiang.

Although it was almost noon, there was a faint sense of desolation in the city. This was not to say that there were few people, but that there were too many soldiers coming and going, which affected the normal lives of the people in the county and caused a rapid decline in commercial activities that best reflected the prosperity of a place.

Take a soup noodle stall, for example. The owner isn't afraid of extortion from thugs, as officials and yamen runners have to accept tributes, so they'll naturally fight back. Some gangs are even paid by officials, so the shop can survive. But when soldiers come and eat and drink for free, the shop owner is truly helpless. Sue the government? Sorry, they own the government. Find a strongman? No way, they're the most powerful in this area.

After encountering this problem once or twice, merchants will naturally close their businesses temporarily and wait and see what happens next.

Once business activities stop, the market naturally appears depressed.

This cannot even be considered a military disaster. The Tianping Army led by Geng Jing was able to do this. They were just taking bribes and extorting money, instead of killing entire families, taking their property, and looting women. This was already a rare violation of military discipline.

This was naturally due to the fact that there were rebels in Tai'an Prefecture, but the role of people like Xin Qiji who wanted to do great things should not be underestimated.

"Brother Xin Wu, why are you so gloomy? You're back, so why are you still unhappy?"

Li Tieqiang had just greeted a familiar soldier when he turned around and saw Xin Qiji with a gloomy face, so he asked hurriedly.

Xin Qiji sighed deeply, "I just saw that fellow Yelu Xingge outside the city. He was training his soldiers in his camp. You say that even a Hu person knows how to stay with his own troops, but why doesn't our Jiedushi understand?"

Li Tieqiang looked around and, seeing no one was paying attention, whispered, "Brother Xin, when you see the Marshal, please don't try to persuade him again. Although Yiduan deserved to be hacked to pieces for the seal loss, it was you, Brother Xin, who sprained your ankle. Fortunately, the seal was found. If you say a few nice words, this little thing will be over. Besides, the Marshal has been fighting for a long time, so what's wrong with being a little indulgent?"

"But how can we achieve great things like this?"

"Achieve great things? What great things?" Li Tieqiang retorted in a low voice. The two men rode their horses separately. Li Tieqiang pulled his horse closer, his head almost reaching Xin Qiji's chin. "Can the Marshal become an official? If he becomes an official, then you will be appointed as a minister? We rebelled against the Jin because we couldn't survive. We wanted to find a way for our brothers to survive. It's not that easy to conquer the world. We might all die."

Xin Qiji looked at Li Tieqiang in surprise and said, "Big Tieqiang, you're starting to think about these things too?"

Li Tieqiang's expression darkened. "Being caught on this trip south wasn't a big deal; it was pure bad luck. But I accidentally revealed my identity when I was escaping, and lost several of my old brothers for no reason. If it weren't for Liu Huai, I might not have been able to return."

"Liu Chuibing, that was my brother who followed me more than ten years ago. He didn't even leave his body behind. If I really don't think about it again, these people will have died in vain."

Seeing Li Tieqiang's bitter expression, Xin Qiji's stern face softened a little, but he really wasn't good at comforting people, so he could only change the subject: "Is that Liu Dalang you mentioned really going to launch a Northern Expedition?"

Li Tieqiang sat on his horse, stroking the horse's mane, and nodded. "When he rode back alone to rescue us, I believed everything he said. A hero like him risked his life to save us. It's impossible that he was just trying to trick me."

As they were talking, the two of them had already arrived at a large house in the city. This was the residence of the former prefect, and it was now occupied by Geng Jing and his personal soldiers.

Xin Qiji threw the reins to a soldier guarding the door and said, "Cao Shiba, is the governor at home?"

The soldier gripped the reins, looking embarrassed. "The commander is busy. Please go back first."

Xin Qiji and Li Tieqiang's expressions changed at the same time.

(End of this chapter)