The Song Dynasty on the Sand Table

Chapter 428 We Still Have Yue Fei
The pro-war faction in the Southern Song Dynasty couldn't persuade Zhao Gou, so they could only rely on Li Heng.

At this time, Li Heng had just returned to Xiangyang.

His northern expedition went smoothly all the way to Kaifeng. He thought the Jin people were just a bunch of clowns and not worth mentioning, but he didn't expect to be beaten so badly by Jin Wuzhu that he was almost unable to take care of himself. Several of his generals were all scattered and fled.

This incident shattered his courage, and he will never dare to provoke the Jin Kingdom again in his life.

"Phew, we've finally escaped back to Xiangyang."

When Li Heng saw Xiangyang City ahead, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Just as he was about to return to the city to lick his wounds, a group of knights suddenly rushed over from the south. The leader was actually an eunuch. He came to Li Heng's horse, opened the imperial edict, and began to read it aloud.

Li Heng was not good at writing and was confused by what he heard, but he roughly understood that he was told to continue the Northern Expedition and take Kaifeng.

"Tch!" Li Heng thought to himself, "I only accepted the rewards from the Southern Song Dynasty to build my reputation. I can fight wherever I want, and I won't fight wherever I don't want. I'm not going to listen to your imperial decree."

However, I should still pretend to accept this imperial decree.

He feigned respect and accepted the imperial edict.

Just as he received the imperial edict and before he could even express his gratitude, a scout rushed over from the north, shouting urgently, "Governor, something terrible has happened! A large number of soldiers from the pseudo-Qi Kingdom have appeared behind us and are chasing after us!"

"What?" Li Heng was startled.

The eunuchs who delivered the imperial decree were also taken aback.

Everyone's face showed anxiety.

The eunuch delivering the imperial decree immediately said, "I'm only here to deliver the decree. I can't get involved in the fighting. I'll take my leave now."

After saying that, he turned around and rode away on his horse.

Li Heng thought to himself, "The eunuch ran away so fast, yet he's being told to lead the Northern Expedition to recapture Kaifeng. Why should I? Wasn't I born of parents? If you run, I'll run too. Let's all run together. Whoever wants to resist the Jin can do it."

Li Heng reined in his horse and fled.

The city of Xiangyang was right next to him, but he didn't even go in. Instead, he bypassed the city and sped south.

The people in Xiangyang were dumbfounded: Are you kidding me? You just ran away like that? What about us? What are we going to do? There's no need to think about it, just open the city gates and surrender.

However, what no one expected was that the soldiers from the pseudo-Qi state who had caught up from the north were not there to kill Li Heng; they had actually come to surrender to him.

It turns out that these soldiers of the pseudo-Qi Kingdom were the defeated army that was beaten to a pulp by Yue Wenxuan in the Battle of Taikang County. After their crushing defeat in Taikang County, they were unwilling to return to Kaifeng, fearing that the Northern Song Dynasty's military strength was too great and that if they continued to attack Kaifeng, they would be ravaged by firearms again.

After much deliberation, these soldiers of the puppet Qi regime decided to surrender to the Southern Song Dynasty.

They then followed the direction Li Heng had fled, running south in hopes of seeking refuge in Xiangyang.

To their surprise, when they arrived in Xiangyang, they found that Li Heng, the garrison commander of Xiangyang, had already disappeared. The people in the city showed no intention of resisting. The city gates were wide open, and the local gentry knelt at the gates, saying, "We are willing to surrender."

The defeated soldiers of the pseudo-Qi state: "???"

The defeated soldiers just managed to snatch a city away... They were a little confused, but they didn't care. Since they had the "merit of capturing a city," they could offset the crime of defeat in Taikang Township. Merit and demerit canceled each other out, so they could still get by and continue to get by.

(PS: This is a historical fact. In the tenth month of the winter of the third year of Shaoxing, Li Cheng, a general of the puppet Qi regime, captured Dengzhou. At that time, many members of the puppet Qi regime and civilians fled to Xiangyang to escape the war. However, the Xiangyang garrison mistook them for enemy troops. Coupled with a shortage of military supplies, Li Cheng abandoned Xiangyang and fled to Nanjing, resulting in the fall of Xiangyang. Subsequently, Suizhou, Yingzhou, Tangzhou, and Xinyang Army were successively occupied, leading to a huge gap in the Yangtze River defense line of the Southern Song Dynasty. Li Cheng then planned to join forces with Yang Yao of the puppet Chu regime to attack the capital of the Southern Song Dynasty.)
Two days later, news that Li Heng had abandoned Xiangyang and fled back to the south bank of the Yangtze River was sent to Lin'an by express courier.

Lin'an was shaken!

The pro-peace officials immediately wrote to the court: "See, we were right. The Northern Expedition was a mistake, and we ended up losing Xiangyang."

Li Gang, Zhao Ding, Li Guang, and others, who advocated for war, were so angry they almost fainted.

I wouldn't be this angry if I lost a war!

It was precisely because the other side rushed over with a group of defeated soldiers and fleeing civilians that they occupied a huge city like Xiangyang. Who the hell can we complain to about this?
Li Gang was so angry that he jumped up and down cursing during the morning court session, which angered Zhao Gou and resulted in his demotion.

Zhao Ding was a little smarter. In this situation, he didn't rush to curse. He stayed calm, didn't act recklessly, and first tried to find a way to solve the problem.

Zhao Ding stepped forward and said loudly, "I urge Your Majesty to increase support for Yue Fei and provide logistical support for Yue Fei's army to deal with the puppet Chu. At this time, we must use overwhelming force to eliminate the puppet Chu, otherwise the Yangtze River defense line will surely be breached."

Qin Hui immediately stepped forward: "I second that proposal!"

This guy hadn't said anything until now, and his sudden support for the pro-war faction left everyone bewildered.

Only Qin Hui knew the truth! He knew that Zhao Gou would definitely agree to this proposal, so he came out to second it and take sides, thus gaining the favor of both the pro-war faction and Zhao Gou, killing two birds with one stone.

Although Zhao Gou was a weakling, he still knew the Yangtze River defense line had to be protected. If the Yangtze River couldn't be held, he wouldn't have any leverage to negotiate peace with the Jin army. So he quickly ordered: "All the troops that can be transferred to Yue Fei, transfer them to Yue Fei. Where is the Minister of Revenue? Give Yue Fei as much money as he wants, let him forge weapons and armor, recruit extraordinary people and talents, and resolve the puppet state of Chu and pacify Hunan as quickly as possible."

Zhao Ding couldn't help but sigh inwardly. As a proponent of war, this was all he could do. He couldn't very well end up like Li Gang, running off to insult people and getting demoted, could he? If even he were demoted, who in the court would still advocate for war? Oh, right, there was still Lord Qin Hui!

Zhao Ding turned to look at Qin Hui, only to see Qin Hui sigh deeply and reveal an expression that said, "Great minds think alike; Lord Zhao and I are on the same side."

Zhao Ding felt a warmth in his heart: I have an ally, I am not fighting alone! Lord Qin is truly a pillar of our Southern Song Dynasty.

We also have Yue Fei!

As long as Yue Fei is supported, there is still a fighting chance.

at the same time……

On the shore of Dongting Lake, Yue Fei, who had just turned 30 this year, was dressed in military uniform, looking at the fields along the lake.

The land here is nominally owned by the Song Dynasty, but in reality it is controlled by the pseudo-Chu Kingdom. The crops in the fields are planted by the followers of the pseudo-Chu Kingdom, and when they harvest, they only pay taxes to the pseudo-Chu Kingdom and do not hand them over to the Southern Song Dynasty.

General Gao Chong stepped forward from behind: "This is the enemy's land. Should we burn it?"

Yue Fei shook his head gravely: "The people work hard to cultivate the land; how can we burn it down?"

Gao Chong: "But they will become the military rations of the pseudo-Chu in the blink of an eye."

(End of this chapter)