The Song Dynasty on the Sand Table

Chapter 259 Go back and report a message
The thirty-second eunuch perked up and immediately bowed his head and approached meekly: "What are your orders, Your Highness?"

Yue Wenxuan smiled and said, "How did you feel about watching the battle today?"

Thirty-two Eunuch: "May Your Highness live a thousand years and unify the martial world!"

Yue Wenxuan's tone changed: "Oh? Just unify the martial world? You eunuch, deep down you still consider me and Gong Er Niangzi as a bandit force, so when asked this question, you blurted out the word 'martial world'."

Thirty-two-year-old Gonggong immediately broke out in a sweat and quickly changed his words: "Unify the world."

Yue Wenxuan: "No, no, no, unifying the world is too much of a stretch. Do I look like someone who's going to rebel and seize power? I'm a good person!"

The thirty-second eunuch thought to himself: "You're such a devil! You've started to build up your little Ministry of Works, Ministry of Revenue, and Ministry of Personnel. Although you've given them all ninth-rank officials for now, deliberately suppressing their ranks and not openly defying the court, if they really grow big in the future, it won't be a problem for you to promote these ninth-rank officials to first or second-rank."

Yue Wenxuan: "After today's battle, it will be about time for Father-in-law to return to Jiangnan."

Thirty-two eunuchs: "Ah? Back to Jiangnan? There has only been one battle! Although Guwei is dead, the Jin Kingdom's Left Deputy Marshal Talan is still stationed in Changyi County. He will definitely lead a large army to come again. There will be another great battle then. Let me watch that battle first before going back."

Yue Wenxuan shook his head, revealing a mysterious smile: "Ta Lan won't be able to come anytime soon. He has to wait for the army that marched south to return and gather a large force before he can come to Jiaodong again. He definitely won't dare to come when his forces are small. As for his army that marched south... hehehehe..."

Thirty-two-year-old eunuch: "What happened to those troops?"

Yue Wenxuan stretched out his hand, making a calculation motion with his fingers, and chuckled: "Within a few months, Talan's nephew Jin Wuzhu will be surrounded by Han Shizhong at Huangtiandang and beaten badly. Talan's son-in-law Puchagubalu and Talan's beloved general Wanyan Teli will both be defeated by Liangshan hero Zhang Rong at a place called Suotouhu."

Thirty-two Eunuch: "Huh?"

He was completely bewildered. What... what kind of great prophetic technique was this?
If you said these Jin armies would be defeated, I might believe you, but to be able to tell where they were defeated and who defeated them is a bit too much of a charlatan.

Yue Wenxuan: "I know you don't believe me, but it doesn't matter, keep listening."

He changed his tone and chuckled, "After these battles, Talan became afraid. He began to realize that the Song Dynasty was not a weakling that could be defeated in one fell swoop, but a very resilient weakling."

Thirty-two-year-old eunuch mentally scoffed: "So, in the end, they're all just weaklings?"
Yue Wenxuan spread his hands: "So, from then on, Talan turned over a new leaf and became a proponent of peace, just like the emperor of our Great Song Dynasty, who began to fear war."

Thirty-two eunuchs were internally fuming: Has Talan grown up or fallen into depravity?
Yue Wenxuan chuckled: "So, Talan will no longer personally lead his army to attack the Jiaodong Peninsula. He will retreat and return to the north. Next, the Jiaodong Peninsula will enter a short period of safety, at least half a year without any fighting. So, Father-in-law, there's nothing left for you to see here."

Thirty-two old men: "Huh? Oh?"

He really wanted to say: What if your great prophecy is wrong, and the Jin army attacks right after we leave? Wouldn't we miss an important battle?
But he dared not say that!

Eunuchs would never say things like "the master is wrong," as this is not part of their survival wisdom.

Yue Wenxuan said, "So, Eunuch, you should set off back to Jiangnan and go to the Emperor. Tell him everything you saw and heard on your trip to the Jiaodong Peninsula, and tell him that his seventeenth brother is fighting against the Jin on the Jiaodong Peninsula, helping him protect two prefectures and eight counties." The thirty-second eunuch blinked: "Tell the Emperor everything?"

Yue Wenxuan emphasized, "Yes, tell him everything! Including our powerful firearms, tanks, everything, tell him everything."

Thirty-two felt a strange unease rising within him, thinking: "If you tell the Emperor about all these powerful weapons, it will surely arouse his suspicion. The Emperor suffered a mutiny earlier this year and was nearly forced off the throne by a powerful general. Now, at the mere mention of a general who holds sway over his troops, he'd want to kill him. What are you trying to do, asking me to tell him all about the strength of the Jiaodong Peninsula? Are you courting death? Or courting death? Or courting death?"
However, eunuchs are creatures with extremely high political sensitivity.

After a brief moment of confusion, the thirty-second eunuch suddenly realized what was happening and bowed deeply, saying, "I understand. I will prepare to return to Jiangnan. However, the land route is difficult to travel now. I would appreciate it if Your Highness would send a boat to take me back."

Yue Wenxuan: "Looks like you understand! Tsk tsk, you're quite clever! After you go back and deliver the message, find a chance to sneak over to the Jiaodong Peninsula. I'll protect you."

The thirty-second eunuch was overjoyed: "Thank you, Your Highness."
-
While the two were having an awkward conversation...

Jin Wuzhu, a famous general of the Jin Dynasty, is crossing the river at this time!

The mighty Yangtze River!
In his attempt to cross the Yangtze River, Cao Cao was nearly beaten to a pulp at the Battle of Red Cliffs and chased relentlessly at Huarong Road.

Ordinary nomadic peoples would cower at the sight of the Yangtze River and wouldn't even dare to dream of crossing it to kill someone.

But Wuzhu refused to accept it!
At this time, the Jin Dynasty was like the rising sun, and all its people were filled with pride and confidence. What was the mere Yangtze River compared to their grand ambitions and hegemony?
The Jin dynasty employed various tools for crossing the river, including but not limited to rafts, doors, and pillars...

The Jin soldiers rode on wooden pillars or lay on door panels, wading through the water with their bare hands to forcibly cross the Yangtze River, creating a miracle of crossing the Yangtze River that has been unique in thousands of years. If this were written by a novelist instead of a historical record, it would be sure to be torn to shreds by those who believe in rationality. I wonder how many people in the comments section would be cursing the author for "lacking common sense".

They simply don't understand how someone who fights based on common sense can become a famous general who goes down in history.

Song general Chen Cui led his troops to try to stop the Jin army from crossing the river, but he was defeated by the Jin army at Majiadu and died for his country, failing to stop this army that was made of door panels and wooden pillars from crossing the river.

In the blink of an eye, 100,000 Jin troops crossed the Yangtze River, and Jiankang (Nanjing) surrendered without firing a single arrow.

Jin Wuzhu led a group of Jin soldiers who crossed the Yangtze River using door panels. As if they had a cheat code, they traversed mountains and valleys and launched a swift attack on Lin'an.

On the night of December 15, 1129, Lin'an fell into the hands of the Jin army, and Zhao Gou had no choice but to flee south in a sorry state. He changed to a sea voyage and fled from Mingzhou to Dinghai County. On the 12th, he crossed the sea again to Changguo County.

Even under these circumstances, Zhao Gou still harbored illusions about negotiating peace with the Jin people, ordering Fan Zongyin, the Vice Chancellor, and Zhao Ding, the Censor-in-Chief, to remain in Mingzhou to await the Jin envoy. Soon after, the two received a letter from the Jin dynasty, which contained nothing but a scathing rebuke of Zhao Gou. Subsequently, the Jin army captured Yuezhou and Mingzhou, and in January of the fourth year of the Jianyan era (1130), pursued Zhao Gou at sea.

Zhao Gou fled by sea all the way to Taizhou and Wenzhou!
I wonder if he took the opportunity to learn the Minnan dialect.

At this time, Jin Wuzhu was riding high and extremely arrogant. Little did he know that at the next turning point in the wheel of fate, there was a place called Huangtiandang, where a man named Han Shizhong was waiting for him...

(End of this chapter)