The Song Dynasty on the Sand Table

Chapter 341 God helps me
Yue Wenxuan nodded: "I see."

He then changed the subject and asked, "Aren't you afraid of being punished for doing business with the Northern Song Dynasty and transporting goods back to the Southern Song Dynasty?"

The merchant laughed again: "What's there to complain about? As long as Zhang Jun doesn't say anything, the officials have no idea where we brought our cotton from."

Yue Wenxuan: "Won't Zhang Jun tell you?"

The merchant said, "Young master, you are unaware of this. Zhang Jun reported to the court that he had fought dozens of battles with the Northern Song army, leaving the city of Chuzhou littered with corpses and rivers of blood. However, the Northern Song army possessed sorcery, and every time they clashed, thunder roared in the sky, frightening his soldiers into shrinking back and daring not to advance. That is why they have been unable to capture Chuzhou... He spouted this nonsense, and the civil officials in the court actually believed it. Anyway, these civil officials dared not come to Chuzhou to see for themselves; they are less courageous than chickens."

Yue Wenxuan couldn't help but laugh. They actually believed such nonsense? The Southern Song Dynasty was truly amazing.

The merchant laughed: "Anyway, the current situation in Huainan depends entirely on Zhang Jun's words. If he says it's black, it's black; if he says it's white, it's white. As long as we give Zhang Jun the money as a bribe, the origin of the cotton is not an issue at all."

Yue Wenxuan nodded. At this moment, Gong Erniangzi suddenly popped her head out from the side and whispered, "True Lord, Zhang Jun's way of doing things might be something we can use."

Yue Wenxuan: “Oh?”

Gong Erniangzi: "The True Lord told me last time that our real enemy is the Jin Dynasty. The southward attack is just a show. We don't really want to fight the Southern Song Dynasty and let the Jin Dynasty reap the benefits. So... Zhang Jun might become a very important buffer between us and the Southern Song court."

Yue Wenxuan chuckled inwardly: Gong Er Niangzi has really grown up! Not bad, not bad, she has an idea: "Yes, continue!"

Gong Erniangzi continued, "We can secretly send someone to contact Zhang Jun and work together to stage a scene, pretending that the fighting in Huainan is very intense, and even deliberately staging a few major defeats. This will make the Southern Song reward Zhang Jun, and make Zhao Gou think that sending Zhang Jun to Huainan to deal with our Northern Song is a very suitable choice, so he won't send any other generals. We can help him stabilize his position in Huainan! As long as this useless guy is there, he can't threaten us at all. We can boldly promote people's livelihood, encourage agriculture and sericulture, and even use Zhang Jun's cover to do business with the Southern Song. With money and grain, we can better attack the Jin Kingdom in the future."

Yue Wenxuan: "He's becoming more and more strategic."

This is actually a strategy that Yue Wenxuan is considering!
Having Zhang Jun in Huainan is very advantageous; it's much better than having the Southern Song send Han Shizhong or Yue Fei to deal with them.

Although the Northern Song Dynasty was no less capable of confronting Han Shizhong and Yue Fei head-on, Yue Wenxuan did not want to fight them out of some sentiment. If he were to fight these pillars of the state, the Jin Dynasty would gain a huge advantage.

Thinking of this, Yue Wenxuan couldn't help but sigh: No wonder the Jin Dynasty let Qin Hui go home in history! It's really satisfying to stuff a coward into the enemy's den.

"Second Madam, arrange for someone to contact Zhang Jun. Our army can cooperate with him in putting on a show so that he can 'make a great contribution,' on the condition that he does business with us."

Gong Er Niangzi nodded in agreement and went to make the arrangements...
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A few days later, Qi Chongwen led a group of his men onto a merchant ship carrying cotton and set off south along the Grand Canal.

After traveling south for several miles, they encountered Zhang Jun's sentry boat.

Sure enough, the merchants on the ship only needed to pay Zhang Jun's men a small sum of money to travel freely on the Grand Canal. Zhang Jun's men didn't care who these merchants were doing business with; as long as they were paid, they didn't care whether the merchants were traitors or not.

Qi Chongwen revealed that he came from the Northern Song Dynasty and wanted to speak with General Zhang Jun. The soldiers were startled and quickly treated Qi Chongwen and his party like royalty as they arrived at Zhang Jun's camp.

Zhang Jun was fiercely aggressive against weaker opponents, but became as subservient as a quail when facing stronger ones. He was exactly like that with Qi Chongwen, speaking politely and courteously. Skipping over the usual pleasantries, Qi Chongwen said, “General Zhang, we are all subjects of the Song Dynasty. The princes above are tearing each other apart in their fight for the throne, forcing us subjects to fight and kill each other as well. It’s truly unpleasant and damages our brotherhood. If one day the two Song dynasties unite, we will still be serving under the same ruler. Fighting to the death now will only make us a laughingstock.”

Zhang Jun immediately echoed his words, "That makes sense! I think so too. If the two emperors were to distinguish between right and wrong one day, our two Song dynasties would be united and we would become brothers again. Why should we fight to the death now?"

Qi Chongwen said, "That's why the Privy Council sent me to see the General. I want to discuss with you whether we should put on a show instead of risking our lives following orders from above..."

Zhang Jun's eyes lit up: "How do we act it?"

Qi Chongwen: "This Huainan region, let's divide it up! Our Northern Song Dynasty will only take the area near Chuzhou, while the south will be controlled by General Zhang Jun. Our Northern Song Dynasty guarantees that we will not fight in the south again, and the general will not send troops into the Chuzhou area again."

Zhang Jun readily agreed, of course; he truly dared not fight the Northern Song Dynasty. He was already grateful if the Northern Song didn't attack him. Such a ceasefire agreement was entirely beneficial to him.

Qi Chongwen added, "However, we all have imperial orders to carry out, and if we don't fight, we can't answer to the emperor."

Zhang Jun nodded: "Yes, I also have responsibilities. If I don't send troops out for a long time, I will also be punished."

Qi Chongwen said, "So we still have to put on an act, pretend to fight a battle, bring out the army, find a deserted place, shout a few times, pretend to have fought a battle, you win a few battles, I win a few battles... and each of us will have a way to go back and report."

Zhang Jun was overjoyed: "This plan is brilliant!"

Qi Chongwen said, "We can also join forces to make some money... You send more merchants from over there to our side, and our merchants from our side to your side, and we can collect some tolls. Wouldn't that be wonderful?"

Zhang Jun chuckled: "I've been working on this for a while now. You came here by merchant ship, didn't you?"

Qi Chongwen: "That's why I think the general can be a friend."

The two of them burst into laughter.

Zhang Jun was overjoyed. He felt like he had found a powerful patron. From now on, no matter which side won, he wouldn't be afraid. The feeling of being a fence-sitter was incredibly satisfying!
Immediately, he discussed "fighting a battle" with Qi Chongwen. The two of them sent out their troops, found a valley, and fought a fierce battle. The shouts of battle shook the heavens, and people outside the valley thought that a bloodbath was taking place inside. In reality, the soldiers of the two armies did not even touch a hair on each other's head.

In this battle, Zhang Jun "defeated the Northern Song army," causing "heavy casualties among the Northern Song army, which dared not launch any more military campaigns to the south for two months."

When the good news reached the Southern Song Dynasty, Zhao Gou was overjoyed and promoted Zhang Jun to Grand Commandant and Pacification Commissioner of Huainan.

The intelligence also reached the Jin Dynasty. Upon hearing it, Emperor Taizong of Jin was overjoyed: "Hahaha, the bloody war between the Northern and Southern Song Dynasties is truly a blessing from heaven."

(End of this chapter)