The Song Dynasty on the Sand Table

Chapter 280 Southern Expedition
The fourth year of the Jianyan era, at the end of October.

Yue Wenxuan, controlling Wang Zhaoshi—no, no, now Emperor Zhaoshi of the Northern Song Dynasty—stood on the city wall of Jiaoshui County.

Below the city walls were all the civil and military officials, and a large number of soldiers.

Gong Erniangzi stood at the very front.

Yue Wenxuan smiled at Gong Erniangzi: "Gong Aiqing, now it's time to see your abilities."

Gong Erniangzi stepped forward and clasped her hands in a fist salute: "Leave it to me with peace of mind."

After saying that, she turned around abruptly. Someone handed her the reins, and Gong Er Niangzi mounted her horse. Sitting on the horse, she shouted to the large group of generals and soldiers behind her, "Let's go to war!"

The soldiers shouted in unison, "Southward Expedition! Southward Expedition!"

The Northern Song army began its southern expedition.

This was the opinion Yue Wenxuan came up with after discussing it with his father. Starting by attacking north would force the Jin army into a decisive battle. It would be unwise to fight the Jin army when the "national strength" was not yet strong enough. Therefore, they should attack south first... first reach the north bank of the Yangtze River, swallow up a large part of the territory of the pseudo-Qi state, and divide the country with the Southern Song Dynasty along the river. It would be best to create some friction with the Southern Song Dynasty, so that the Jin state would be happy to "sit on the mountain and watch the tigers fight" and would not be in a hurry to take action to bite the hard bone.

Wu Jialiang led Guan Sheng and Yu Fanwen to garrison Weizhou.

Gong Erniangzi led generals such as Zhang Yong and Zhang Dashu to march southwest and first capture Yizhou.

Yizhou administers six counties: Linyi County, Fei County, Tancheng County, Juzhou, Mengyin County, and Yishui County, with its capital in Linyi.

The closest county to Mizhou was Yishui, so Gong Erniangzi personally led a large army straight to Yishui.

For the past year or so, she has been stationed in Jiaoshui County and has not moved from her post.

Therefore, the focal point of the sand table has always been locked on Jiaoshui County, and it hasn't been moved for a long time.

This time she finally moved, and the scenery in the sand table began to move with her.

After she left, Yue Wenxuan could no longer directly send anything to Jiaoshui County. So, before she went to war, he sent in a large amount of grain, seeds, and fertilizer, which he then entrusted to the Right Chancellor Qian Zhuoqun to distribute slowly.

These things invested in advance consume a lot of command power, but fortunately they will be gradually consumed and released over time.

A life-size figurine of Yue Wenxuan also set off with Gong Erniangzi. The two rode side by side, creating a rather strange scene.

Gong Erniangzi was dressed in full armor, looking heroic and valiant, while Yue Wenxuan was dressed in a scholar's robe, looking like... a cunning strategist?
"Report! There's a small village ahead, and there are still villagers there."

The scouts reported back.

Yue Wenxuan perked up: "Villages with villagers are quite rare. Let the scouts go ahead and greet them, telling them not to be afraid. Then the army will pass by slowly, so as not to frighten the villagers."

The scouts began cautiously approaching the village!
Yue Wenxuan thought to himself: Even if we are very careful, the villagers will still be afraid, right? I'm afraid they will pack up their valuables and run out of the village as fast as they can, hiding in the nearby mountains and forests.

Just as he was thinking this, he saw a strange scene: the villagers didn't hide or run away, but instead took their farm tools and stood guard in front of their own doors, looking like they were ready to fight to the death.

"what?"

Yue Wenxuan was momentarily stunned for a few seconds, but then he immediately realized that it was late October, shortly after the autumn harvest. These villagers had probably harvested some grain, and if they abandoned their homes and fled now, they wouldn't be able to take any of their grain with them; it would all be robbed. So they had no choice but to grab their farm tools and prepare to defend themselves to the death.

However, these villagers clearly underestimated the size of the army. When they first saw the vanguard of the Northern Song army, they thought it was just a small contingent passing through, perhaps one they could fight back against, which is why they stubbornly held onto their meager food supplies. But after standing there a while longer, and seeing the main force of the army approaching, with soldiers covering the entire hillside, the villagers realized the danger and trembled uncontrollably…

This is no longer a situation they can hold onto even if they fight desperately.

The little bit of grain that I painstakingly grew from the remote corner of the field was about to be stolen right after the harvest; I was so unwilling to accept it.

Yue Wenxuan sighed and turned to the soldiers around him, saying, "Several hundred men, stand at a distance and shout in unison that we are the army of the Great Song Dynasty, and that we will not harm the people in the slightest. Tell them not to be afraid."

The soldiers received orders not to approach the village, but instead shouted loudly from a distance.

After being called out several times, the fear on the villagers' faces gradually faded, and they put down their farm tools.

Yue Wenxuan, alone on horseback, left the army and rode to the village entrance.

Dressed in a scholar's robe, he didn't look like a soldier, so the villagers weren't afraid anymore and stared at him with wide eyes: "Are you really from the Song Dynasty?"

Yue Wenxuan said, "Yes!"

The villagers looked bewildered: "Didn't the Song Dynasty already run away? Not long ago, a general came over, saying he was a general from the State of Qi, and that this place was now Qi territory, and the Song Dynasty had been driven away by Qi. He also said that we would be Qi citizens from now on, and that we would have to obey the orders of Qi officials."

Yue Wenxuan: "He's making that up. The State of Song still exists."

The villagers were completely bewildered, but after the initial shock, smiles finally appeared on their faces: "That's alright, that's alright."

Although the Song Dynasty wasn't exactly kind to them, they still felt that being a citizen of the Song Dynasty was better than being a citizen of Qi. They had never even heard of that damned Qi.

From their conversation, Yue Wenxuan deduced that the State of Qi had begun to take over the administration of the Jiangbei region, sending officials to win over the people and restore control over the countryside.

Hey, you've come at the perfect time!

They seized large swathes of the Jiangbei region before the puppet Qi regime could, and the common people, without even realizing that a new dynasty had been established, inexplicably became their own.

Yue Wenxuan put on a serious expression and said to the villagers, "Don't worry, everyone. Our Great Song Dynasty is still powerful. You will receive news in a few days that our Great Song Dynasty has defeated the Qi Kingdom. You don't need to listen to them. You will still be subjects of the Great Song Dynasty. Live your lives in peace."

The villagers looked on blankly: "Oh!"

Yue Wenxuan: "After we drive away the Qi Kingdom, we will exempt you from taxes for a year."

The villagers' blank expressions instantly melted away, and their faces beamed with smiles: "Really?"

Yue Wenxuan: "Really! You said you'd get a year off, and you actually did? If you're lying, may I be struck by lightning, may my son be born without an anus, and may there be no seasoning packet in my instant noodles."

The villagers didn't know what instant noodles were, but they understood the first two sentences.

Overjoyed, he cheered, "Great Song! Great Song must defeat Qi!"

In that small village, all the villagers, at that moment, sincerely hoped that the Song army could defeat the Qi army.

Yue Wenxuan returned to his unit and instructed the scouts: "Continue to scout ahead. If you find any villages, shout to them from a distance that the Song army will exempt them from taxes for a year after they win."

(End of this chapter)