You have truly caused me great suffering!

The fact that Chen Shao is stationed in Taiyuan, the capital of Hedong, and refuses to leave is no small matter.

However, compared to the war in Hebei, it seemed insignificant, so although his actions were essentially tantamount to rebellion, no one blamed him.

The situation has reached a point where many things can no longer be handled using the old standards. He even executed the prefect of Fenzhou, and now he's silencing everyone, forbidding anyone to mention it.

The imperial court dispatched Yuwen Xuzhong, who had recently gained considerable favor, hoping to persuade Chen Shao to advance eastward and go to Zhen Ding Prefecture to block the enemy.

Throughout the journey, Yuwen Xuzhong remained frowning.

He was indeed called a strategist, but he couldn't see through Chen Shao at all.

When they fought together to defeat Fang La, Yuwen Xuzhong couldn't understand him; he just thought he was a very pragmatic and practical military general.

The situation in the Song Dynasty has changed. Although many people cannot see it yet, Yuwen Xuzhong had long ago foreseen the future.

He felt that the Jurchen's western army had no chance of advancing south, but the eastern army was simply unstoppable.

Once the Jurchen Tartars invade the heart of the Central Plains, Bianliang will be defenseless.
The officials don't seem shrewd or capable, nor do they appear calm in the face of danger. There's no guarantee that something big won't happen!

Don't be fooled by his recent apparent change of heart. Yuwen Xuzhong has been in the capital for a long time and has long seen through the Emperor. He won't be able to keep this up for long.

At that time, chaos ensued. The competition was no longer about which year's Jinshi (successful candidate in the highest imperial examination) was held, or whose disciple it was, but about who had the most powerful soldiers under their command!

This situation in the Song Dynasty, where civil officials are valued more than military officers, cannot last long. If nothing unexpected happens, many military generals will seize the opportunity to rise to power.

As for Chen Shao, he already has a strong army in the Northwest...

In the Song Dynasty, the only force that could restrain him was the former Western Army, since that group was created to guard against the Western Xia.

To put it bluntly, Chen Shao was the successor to the Western Xia dynasty.

His territory completely overlapped with that of Western Xia, and most of his subordinates were former subjects of Western Xia.

Rather than saying that the Song Dynasty destroyed the Western Xia, it would be more accurate to say that it was a change of regime within the Western Xia.

However, after the failure to conquer Liaodong, the Western Army is now unable to fight against him. In fact, many Western Army soldiers have secretly run away to become Chen Shao's subordinates.

He has now occupied Yunzhong Prefecture, and when his territories are connected, they look like a giant, open mouth on the map.

Shaanxi and Hedong are both beneath his fangs and within his gigantic mouth.

Over the years, the Song Dynasty has shown Chen Shao no favors whatsoever.

Even if we assume he was a Han Chinese with loyalty to the emperor and patriotism.

Would his arrogant and fierce generals allow him to sacrifice the interests of his own group in order to drive out the Tartars and give up the territory he had just acquired for the Song Dynasty?

"Yuwen Xuzhong?"

Chen Shao was in the military camp when he saw off the merchant escort team that was heading to Yingzhou.

Then a guard came over and reported that the imperial court had sent Yuwen Xuzhong to reward the troops.

Every time there's a reward for the troops, there's a purpose behind it, and this time is certainly no exception.

Chen Shao didn't need to rack his brains much; he just thought about it casually and figured out their little scheme.

It's nothing more than sending someone to Yunzhong Prefecture, or even worse, sending someone to lead troops to Hebei.

He waved his hand and said, "Whoever comes, even if it's Emperor Huizong of Song, we're holding this place."

What a joke! This is Taiyuan, territory that Wanyan Zonghan fought for a year but couldn't conquer.

I've come all this way, can't I just leave now?
Three days later, Yuwen Xuzhong and his party arrived outside Taiyuan City.

They did not enter Taiyuan City, nor did they go directly to see Chen Shao; instead, they went to Wang Bing's camp first.

In mid-September, the imperial funds were finally allocated, and Wang Bing began to prepare a new army in Hedong, which was already taking shape.

He and Yuwen Xuzhong were not familiar with each other, but they knew each other and admired each other.

After a brief exchange, we got straight to the point.

After learning their purpose, Wang Bing remained silent, thinking to himself that they still didn't quite understand Chen Shao.

That person is unlikely to leave.

Seeing his expression, Yuwen Xuzhong guessed what was going on and laughed, "How many times have Grand Commandant Wang and Commander Chen met?"

"To be honest, I have to go there every three to five days," Wang Bing said with a wry smile. "His men clear roads through mountains and build bridges over rivers. Sometimes I even have to borrow grain from him first."

"He himself hasn't been idle either. I heard that he's recently started frequently associating with gentry from Hedong near Taiyuan, eating, drinking, and making friends."

Yuwen Xuzhong's face darkened; things seemed to be worse than he had imagined.

Chen Shao's refusal to leave Hedong was not due to any resentment towards the court, but rather to his ambitious nature.
It seems that his ambition is not just to have a foothold in Taiyuan, but to establish a firm foothold in Hedong!
"That would be terrible!"

Yuwen Xuzhong suddenly stood up, letting out a long sigh. Even though he was known as a strategist and was calm and capable, he panicked at this moment.

If things really develop in that unimaginable direction, then the threat to the Northwest will be far greater than that to the Jurchens!
The Jurchens were truly foreign invaders, enemy leaders. They invaded southwards, whether in Hebei, Shaanxi, Hedong, or Jingdong.
In every place, Han Chinese will rise up in rebellion, and everyone will unite as one to drive out the Tartars.

Chen Shao was different. His titles as the Pacification Commissioner of Yunzhong Prefecture and the Military Governor of Dingnan Army were very impressive. As long as he did not openly rebel, the court could not do anything to him.

He could freely employ various methods to gradually encroach upon the territory of the Song Dynasty.

If you push him too hard, and the court has no troops to restrain him, he can easily accuse the court of suppressing loyal officials, which will greatly reduce the intensity of the people's resistance against him.

Wang Bing was certainly aware of these matters, but there was currently no way to resolve them; Chen Shao and his Northwest Army were an unsolvable problem.

To be honest, if Chen Shao hadn't come, he might have already been dealt with by the Jurchens.

Along the way, Yuwen Xuzhong had already considered the worst-case scenario, but reality was even more despairing than he had imagined.

Sitting in Wang Bing's tent, he couldn't think of any other solutions. His only option was to go see Chen Shao and see if there was any other way.

Yuwen Xuzhong clasped his hands and said, "Grand Commandant Wang, there is no time to lose. I will go to the Lingwu military camp now to meet this Commander Chen!"

“I’ll go with you,” Wang Bing said.

Yuwen Xuzhong shook his head and said, "There are some things that would be inconvenient for the Grand Commandant to do."

Wang Bing lowered his head, pondered for a moment, and then said, "I will send some guards."

"No need for that."

Yuwen Xuzhong clasped his hands in a fist salute, then hurriedly left, leading his troops to the Lingwu camp not far away.

Upon learning that they had come to see the military commander, the guards led them to the riverbank, where Chen Shao was directing his men to chop wood and fetch water.

He required the Lingwu Army to bathe and wash their clothes whenever possible to avoid plague and disease. If the soldiers did not change their clothes for several months, lice would breed in the lining of their cotton clothing, causing typhus, also known as camp fever.

Cao Cao learned this lesson the hard way, as historical records state that "armor and corpses were piled up in the camp".

Conditions like colic and dysentery are caused by poor hygiene.

In fact, the army already had some countermeasures at this time, such as using Atractylodes lancea to fumigate the camp, and military orders stipulating that bandages could only be used after being steamed or boiled.
However, these things are often overlooked. After all, the soldiers at this time were mostly ordinary people, and when they gathered together in groups of thousands or tens of thousands, it was difficult to pay attention to hygiene.

At this moment, he was surrounded by a group of military officers, and he was telling them about the epidemic and disaster.

After Yuwen Xuzhong and the others arrived, they stood aside and listened for a while.

He was increasingly surprised; Chen Shao seemed even more pragmatic than he had imagined.
Such a person is undoubtedly difficult to deal with.

At this moment, a guard stepped forward and reported something to Chen Shao.

Chen Shao nodded and ordered everyone to disperse, and to have each camp boil water for bathing after returning.

Then he clapped his hands and came to Yuwen Xuzhong and his group. Before Yuwen Xuzhong could speak, Chen Shao said with a smile, "Brother Shutong, it's been a long time since we parted ways in Jiangnan!"

Yuwen Xuzhong was slightly taken aback. He had considered Chen Shao's various attitudes towards him: disdain, contempt, rebuke, arrogance.
I didn't expect Chen Shao to be so polite, and you couldn't tell from his expression that he was faking it. It was as if he really respected me, someone he had only met once or twice.

He must be a shrewd person to have built such a substantial empire in such a short time.

He could certainly guess his purpose in coming, yet he still treated him with such courtesy. Yuwen Xuzhong began to wonder, was he truly sincere?
Yuwen Xuzhong quickly returned the greeting, saying, "Greetings, Commander."

"Don't be so polite!" Chen Shao said, "Back when we were fighting Fang La, I saw through you long ago. Only you are capable. I only respect those who are capable. Although we haven't spent much time together, I admire you greatly. As for the likes of Tan Zhen, they are just petty acquaintances, nothing more than casual acquaintances."

Yuwen Xuzhong chuckled. Chen Shao dared to say that, but he was hesitant to respond.

Chen Shao invited him into the tent and asked with a smile, "Is everything alright in the capital?"

Yuwen Xuzhong quickly recounted how the Emperor had heavily relied on Li Gang, promoted a large number of virtuous officials, and how Commander Gao had diligently trained the troops.

Chen Shao sneered inwardly.

That bastard Zhao Ji was like that; he would occasionally act like a human, but most of the time he was like a ghost.

You should ask him if he's genuinely making changes or just pretending.
Then all I can say is: If he changes!

Before long, this grandson will be unable to resist relapsing into his old illness.

Having any hope for him is an insult to one's own intelligence; it just means one has wasted their history lessons.

Yuwen Xuzhong observed his expression and saw that he seemed unconvinced, so he secretly wiped a bead of sweat from his brow.

He himself didn't believe it, but he had no choice but to convince Chen Shaoxin.

"Now that Yanshan Prefecture has just been defeated, the surrendered general Guo Yaoshi is rampant. Yanshan Prefecture has completely fallen, and the bandit chieftain has gathered his troops at Yishui, ready to march south at any time."

Halfway through the conversation, Chen Shao, who had been listening quietly, suddenly slammed his hand on the table and said, "The so-called redemption of Yanjing is nothing but self-deception. In the end, the so-called Yanshan Prefecture is nothing but a mirage."

"Without the handover of Gubeikou, Yanshan Prefecture has never belonged to the Song Dynasty. This is merely a shattering of illusion and a return to reality."

"I think the most important thing right now is to strip Tong Guan of his title of Prince of Guangyang and then tear him to pieces. This scoundrel is already over seventy years old, and if we wait any longer, I'm afraid he'll die of old age."

Tong Guan's failed campaign against the Liao exposed the weakness of the Song Dynasty and led to the demise of the Western Army. The ransom payment for Yanjing (Beijing) further drained the people's resources, and they even had to pay the Jurchens a million shi (a unit of dry measure) of grain. This time, his retreat from Hedong without a fight is an even greater crime deserving of death!

Yuwen Xuzhong swallowed hard. Even he, known as a strategist, didn't know how to respond.

Chen Shaoyou was still not satisfied and cursed, "And Wang Anzhong actually killed Zhang Jue, which was an even worse move! By killing Zhang Jue, Wang Anzhong pushed all the Han people in Yan to the side of the Jurchen Tartars."

"The right thing to do is to bring this scoundrel back and kill him. I've also heard that killing Zhang Jue wasn't Wang Anzhong's own idea; someone in the court instructed him to do it. This matter must be investigated!"

Yuwen Xuzhong was completely stunned. This matter was indeed instigated by someone, and everyone knew who it was: the current emperor.

Although the emperor later regretted his decision, claiming that Wang Anzhong had misinterpreted the emperor's intentions, he demoted Wang Anzhong to a local position as a military commissioner.

But who would believe that?

Yuwen Xu felt a pang of bitterness in his heart; before he could even speak, the emperor had already begun to subtly mock him.

If he were to actually suggest sending someone to Hebei, one could expect to hear some outrageous and inflammatory remarks from his mouth.

Having come with a mission, he couldn't leave without mentioning it. After a moment's hesitation, Yuwen Xuzhong said, "The court has made many mistakes in handling the affairs of Yanshan Prefecture. His Majesty also feels deeply guilty and has wept bitterly for Yanshan Prefecture on several occasions."

"I do not believe."

Chen Shao uttered three words calmly.

The tent fell silent instantly; you could hear a pin drop.

Yuwen Xuzhong was completely out of options. He could only pretend not to hear and continue, forcing himself to speak: "If the commander can lead troops to Zhen Ding and stop Guo Yaoshi's 50,000 elite troops, he will have made an unparalleled contribution to our Great Song!"

"I can't leave."

Chen Shao's tone remained calm, and sounded very sincere. He stood up, drew a line on the map behind him, and said, "Shutong, I know you are knowledgeable in military affairs. Look here."

“I am already a thousand miles away from Xiping Prefecture! This place used to be the Western Xia, which confronted the Song Dynasty for more than a hundred years. I only took over this place a few years ago. If I were to lead my troops far away again, with 100,000 troops abroad, what would I do if the rear became unstable?”

"My troops have marched thousands of miles for our Great Song Dynasty, yet they haven't even tasted a single grain of rice from the imperial court. As a Song citizen, I, Chen Shao, can naturally be loyal to the emperor and love my country, but my men are already very dissatisfied. If I lead my troops to the even more distant Zhen Ding Prefecture, with these arrogant and fierce soldiers so far away from me, how can I still control them?"

Chen Shao became more and more agitated as he spoke. In fact, what he said was half true and half false. Although he was confident in his strong control over the Northwest, he was worried that if something happened to him once he got to Hebei.
Even if someone with ulterior motives spreads false information, saying that he is dead, it will shake the people of Northwest China.

In this era, debunking rumors is not so simple. If chaos breaks out in the Northwest, it will be fragmented, and with various forces losing their mediators, they could fight to the death.

Therefore, Chen Shao definitely won't leave; he will remain in Taiyuan, a relatively safe place where he can control all sides.

"If 50,000 Qiang soldiers from Yinzhou and 50,000 Fan soldiers from Xiazhou were to cause trouble, their harm might not be less than that of the Jurchen Tartars," Chen Shao continued.

In fact, whether it was the Yinzhou Legion or the Xiazhou Legion, Han Chinese made up half or even more of the ranks, but that's what Chen Shao said, and no one doubted it.

After all, the imperial court was quite successful in blocking information from the Northwest.

Faced with Chen Shao's threat, Yuwen Xuzhong remained silent, knowing that Chen Shao was actually right.

If he were to offer any further advice, it would be blatantly disregarding Chen Shao's life and his legacy.

He even began to doubt whether Chen Shao could control his subordinates. How could the Northwest region so easily submit to a Han Chinese?

Chen Shao walked to the center of the tent. His gaze swept around, exuding a majestic and imposing aura. The confidence he possessed, commanding an army of 100,000, was something that could not be faked.

"Uncle Tong, you've come at just the right time. I need to ask you to go back to Bianliang to convey some messages to the Emperor and the officials in the court. There are two things in total."

"First, this year's harvest is bountiful, especially in the Huai River region and the Jiangnan region. We must quickly distribute grain to appease the morale of the Northwest army; otherwise, I will be unable to control the situation."

"Second, execute Tong Guan swiftly, before he dies of old age. And those scoundrels Wang Fu, Liang Shicheng, and Cai You—they're all treacherous and greedy officials. Killing just one of them would be enough to feed tens of thousands of soldiers for months." (End of Chapter)