You have truly caused me great suffering!

The Jurchen Tartars were only evenly matched when they encountered the Dingnan Army.

They still held an absolute advantage when fighting other Song troops.

Even Yue Fei, who blocked Zong Han at Zhen Ding Prefecture, was still unable to compete with the Tartars in open field battles on the plains.

His forces had only been assembled for six months, while his opponents were elite troops who had conquered a nation over ten years.

After news of the fall of Wuhuiling and Yizhou spread, various forces mobilized to intercept the retreating Jurchen army.

Zhang Shuye from Jingdong East Road (Shandong), Zong Ze from Hebei, and Li Gang from Bianliang.
Without exception, they were all defeated.

Du Chong, who lived in Daming Prefecture, became "undefeated" because he did not participate in the battle. He was smug and felt that he had made a contribution every day.

At this moment, Qu Duan also made his move, and he began to head north from the Baima defense line.

They were about to approach Daming Prefecture.

Because Qu Duan was impatient and ruthless, and had repeatedly caused trouble since the start of the campaign, Du Chong was somewhat reluctant to let him pass through Daming Prefecture.

Instead of directly contacting Qu Duan, he sent someone to the imperial court to file a complaint, requesting the court to issue an edict to transfer Qu Duan.

Some ministers in the court were not entirely useless; most officials had already noticed Qu Duan's unusual nature.

They were afraid that Qu Duan would destroy Daming Prefecture.

After the Dingnan Army occupied Hedong, they immediately cut off the connection between Fugu Zhejia, Fuyan Road and the imperial court.

If they were to seize Daming Prefecture, a crucial transportation hub, many territories would likely be secretly changed hands.

At the Weidian Canal Wharf, a wheeled barge had docked and anchored, and Qu Duan was on board.

This is a multi-story ship without sails. It has six large waterwheels on the left and right, which are driven by mules and horses in the cabins below the deck. It can also be driven by manpower.

Qu Duan stepped off the dock, and then someone delivered a document from the Privy Council, instructing him not to linger and to continue pursuing Wanyan Zongwang.

After reading it, Qu Duan had the document put away and ignored it.

You cannot slow down the Tartars' retreat along the way, so how do you plan to pursue them?
The best course of action now is to acquire Daming Prefecture as soon as possible, so that this place will remain useless when the Jurchen Tartars return.

Qu Duan ignored it, and his subordinates remained silent. At this moment, the three southern city gates of Daming Prefecture were firmly in Li Yanqi's hands.

He could easily get in, but he hadn't yet figured out how to bring Du Chong to justice.

Given Du Chong's actions, killing him ten times wouldn't be an exaggeration.

However, given his official rank and position, it was not easy for him to take action.

Thinking of this, Qu Duan reached out and called over a guard, whispering a few instructions to him.

Qu Duan rarely acted like this in his own army; he was a man who was not afraid of trouble and was prone to causing it.

It's obvious that what would make him give such cautious and whispered instructions must be quite unusual.

Everyone else was silently speculating what unusual thing this general, who was known for his unconventional tactics, was going to do this time.

Soon the guards went to deliver the order, and someone carrying a tattered message went to Taiyuan.

Although he often does things out of line, he usually tests Chen Shao's reaction.

If Chen Shao clearly expressed his opposition, even a traitor like Qu Duan would not dare to disobey.

In the Daming Prefecture, Du Chong looked worried.

The Tartars had retreated, which made him breathe a sigh of relief.

For some reason, he couldn't muster any will to resist when facing the Jin soldiers.

Perhaps it was during his time as the prefect of Cangzhou that Du Chong became accustomed to the refugees fleeing from the north, and from their accounts, he learned of the brutality of the Jurchen Tartars.

His ability to remain in power for so many years is certainly not simply because he dares to kill people and is ruthless towards displaced people.

His network of relationships was intricate and complex; he had connections with people such as Lü Yihao, Cai Jing, Huang Qianshan, and Zhang Jun.

Therefore, he was confident that the imperial court would definitely issue an order to transfer Qu Duan, this traitorous soldier.

He truly hated Qu Duan. Not only did Qu Duan forcibly occupy military camps in nearby prefectures and counties outside Daming Prefecture, but he also frequently boasted in public that he feared Jin like a tiger and was as cowardly as a mouse.

You should know that this kind of truth is the most hurtful.

However, he couldn't touch Qu Duan, and now that the Dingnan army was powerful, no one wanted to provoke them.

Du Chong was bad, but he wasn't stupid. He even took the initiative to make friends with Qu Duan a few times, sending him some valuables and women, which Qu Duan returned untouched.

Several trusted confidants watched Du Chong remain silent, unsure of his thoughts, and dared not speak rashly.

Du Chong was extremely strict, a typical example of someone who fawned over superiors and was harsh on subordinates.

If you speak rashly and startle him, you're likely to get a beating.

Last month, a concubine offended him with her words, so Du Chong arrested the concubine's entire family, arbitrarily fabricated a charge of treason, and beat all nine members of the family to death.

He bowed slightly and asked, "Have the ministers in the court replied?"

"Not recently," the aide replied respectfully.

Du Chong sighed. Bianliang must be in chaos and turmoil right now.

All of this is because of the Dingnan Army!

Only if this group of Northwest bandits and convicts could be completely wiped out could the Song Dynasty be said to have returned to its original peaceful and prosperous era.

Du Chong was a Jinshi (a successful candidate in the highest imperial examinations) and thrived in the scholar-official system, enjoying favorable circumstances from all sides.

He was a typical scholar-official of the Song Dynasty, one of the people who should have lived the most comfortable life.

Unfortunately, due to unfavorable circumstances, the Song Dynasty was on the decline.

They were also the most afraid of Chen Shao's rise to power.

Once those bandits and convicts, and the barbarians of the northwest, rise to power, they will surely squeeze out their position.

They earned military merits and wanted official positions, territory, and benefits, but now all of these are in the hands of people like Du Chong.

In a sense, Du Chong and his men hated the Dingnan army more than the Jurchen Tartars.

In their minds, no matter how ferocious the northern barbarians were, they would only plunder and leave, and would not stay to compete with them for the greatest benefits.

The Dingnan Army would obviously do so.
They have already taken over the east bank of the river.

The land of Hedong, which used to contribute countless riches to the Song Dynasty every year, has now all fallen into the hands of the barbarians in the northwest.

“I have prepared some gifts. You go and select some skilled soldiers to send to Bianliang. I have a use for them.”

In another residence in Daming Prefecture.

Yang Keshi walked to the table and sat down in the chair. In this brief moment of silence alone, Yang Keshi did not feel a trace of shame or regret.

His hand was on the seal of the victorious army, and then he subconsciously pressed it hard on the table, a hint of anger rising from the depths of his pupils.

Yang Keshi had been fighting on the front lines. Although his record was not good, when he was under Commander Xuan, he and his men were full of passion and risked their lives on the battlefield.

After the defeat in the campaign against Liaodong, Shengjie Army and Commander Xuan were branded as figures of shame.

Admittedly, Xuan Shuai and Sheng Jiejun made mistakes, but are all the blames on Xuan Shuai?

Yang Keshi knew perfectly well that some people in Bianliang were playing power games!
They treated the soldiers on the front lines like fools and the affairs of the nation like child's play.

With a major battle imminent, they transferred low-ranking military officers from the army and replaced them with sons of powerful officials from the court.

The credit for conquering Liaodong and recovering Youyan was not something these traitorous convicts could enjoy.

Your ancestors for three generations were farmers, or they were old soldiers who died in battle. They risked their lives in the Western Army and only managed to become low-ranking military officers.

This is your fate. You deserve such great merit as conquering the Liao.

Yang Keshi sighed; he didn't know why Commander Xuan had agreed.

Those fools in the capital know nothing about warfare, Commander Xuan, you know that, do you really underestimate the Khitan so much?

Although Yang Keshi suffered many defeats, he did not start out by giving up like this.

He was indeed no match for Wanyan Zongwang in defending Yanshan, but how many people could defeat Wanyan Zongwang?

His change of attitude occurred precisely after Tong Guan was killed.

Not only him, but after Tong Guan's death, the entire Shengjie Army lost its will to fight.

Don't worry about how Tong Xuanshuai treats others, what kind of person he is, or whether he is a corrupt official.

He truly had nothing to say about the victorious team.

Now that Commander Xuan is dead, his personal guards have lost their original support.

In the Song Dynasty, they were like rootless weeds, drifting wherever they landed, without any fighting spirit.

Because most of the soldiers in the victorious army were the young sons of fallen generals adopted by Tong Guan.

Tong Guan served as the border general for ten years, and these young men, after about ten years of training, grew into loyal personal guards of Tong Guan.

Therefore, most of them did not have any clan concept and only knew to be loyal to Xuan Shuai.

Life is like duckweed adrift in the rain, its ups and downs.

Yang Keshi, as the current commander of the Shengjie Army, is in a very awkward position.

Firstly, because of Tong Guan, he was not considered one of their own by the Song court.

The military generals of the Song Dynasty who are currently recruiting and training troops in various places are all trusted and important officials of the court, and have been fully promoted and given important positions.

For example, there were Zong Ze, Zhang Shuye, and Zhang Suo, who were previously frustrated in their careers; and there were also their old partners Wang Bing and Ma Kuo, who had previously enjoyed successful official careers.

They all commanded large armies, held high-ranking official positions, and had timely supplies.

The Shengjie Army, which initially enjoyed the best treatment among the Song Dynasty's troops under the protection of Commander Xuan, has now become an abandoned and rootless force, neglected by both its own people.

Others might surrender to Chen Shao's Dingnan Army, but their Shengjie Army would never surrender to that ungrateful scoundrel Chen Shao.

He was clearly from the Victorious Army and was promoted by Commander Xuan, yet he was determined to kill Commander Xuan!

The Jurchens of the Jin Dynasty also had enmity with them.
To be honest, in all the world, there is only one power they can rely on.

That was the Ever Victorious Army, with whom they had fought side by side in Yanshan Prefecture.

Guo Yaoshi now occupies Pinglu and Liaodong, full of ambition and self-importance.

Chen Shao was able to rise to power in the northwest because the Western Xia was about to be destroyed by Xuan Shuai, and he seized the opportunity. Now that the Jurchens and the Dingnan Army are about to fight a decisive battle, Guo Yaoshi has the opportunity to replicate Chen Shao's success and seize a large area of ​​land when the Jurchens are defeated.

If Chen Shao could rise to power in the wild and untamed Northwest, how much more so would Guo Yaoshi, who occupied Liaodong?

He had already decided to leave, and he felt no remorse towards the Song Dynasty.

Yang Keshi originally intended to empty Daming Prefecture, but Qu Duan had already arrived outside the city.

He hadn't expected Qu Duan to arrive so quickly, so he had to leave immediately.

Now, all forces are pursuing the retreating Jurchen troops, and Yang Keshi is planning to use this pretext to travel from Cangzhou to the Pinglu area.

Soon, several trusted confidants of the victorious army entered.

Like the Ever Victorious Army, the Victorious Army was very united internally, with its members basically of one mind and one purpose.

"Is everything ready?" Yang Keshi looked up at the person who had just entered.

"Commander, rest assured, the brothers have been waiting for this day for a long time."

Yang Keshi nodded, stood up, drew his sword, and said, "One day, I will fight my way back to Tokyo and avenge Commander Xuan!"

"revenge!"

The others also drew their swords and pressed them together to swear an oath.
-
Taiyuan City.

Li Qingzhao and Maode were already quite familiar with each other. They walked through the corridor of the Prince of Dai's mansion and came to the inner courtyard.

The two walked into the courtyard together. Zhong Lingxi was reading a book at the time and nodded gently with a smile.

Because of her physical limitations, she did not stand up.

These days, Maode often comes to see Lin Niangzi to help him with his health.

Gradually, they became closer, and he would often visit her even when he wasn't taking care of his health.

Lady Lin was too embarrassed to tell her that she and her husband had no children and had little to do with the princess.

In fact, Lin Niangzi had never seen such a fertile constitution, with abundant blood and qi and a well-proportioned figure.

There were several of the Prince's concubines in the room, and they all greeted him with slight smiles.

After all, social interaction was limited at that time, and the women in the Prince's mansion didn't have many friends.

After the two entered, they subconsciously looked at Li Shishi, who was sitting to the left.

She was probably the most beautiful woman in the Prince of Dai's inner quarters; her appearance was so striking that anyone with eyes could see it. Not only men would notice beautiful women, but women were no exception.

Of course, if we compare it to Mode, then it's a matter of each having its own strengths.

Just by looking at Li Shishi's complexion, all the other women around her suddenly seemed rather dull and lackluster.
Shishi's skin was like jade; a comparison was enough to make it obvious. Her jet-black hair, bright and spirited eyes, and smooth, light red lips were all exceptionally beautiful and pure, making her look like a figure straight out of a painting.

Moreover, her figure was quite remarkable; her already ample bosom seemed to have grown even larger after she became pregnant.

For the past two or three months, Maode and Li Qingzhao have both noticed that the women in the Prince of Dai's residence have a very good relationship.

This is extremely unusual! Especially for a powerful family like the Prince of Dai.

A woman who outshines all others in beauty but is of slightly lower status is unlikely to be favored by the mistress; even a stunning concubine will harbor resentment and inevitably have a desire to steal the limelight.

This is the ironclad rule of wealthy families. Of course, ordinary concubines would never take the initiative to provoke the master, but they would do their best to make him suffer.

Princess Dai should also be wary of her beautiful concubines.

As they spent more time together, they gradually realized that this might be related to their personalities.

Li Shishi is unassuming and gentle, and apart from Chun Tao, it's difficult for anyone to anger her.

Huanhuan is innocent and carefree, straightforward, and speaks her mind on the spot.

I don’t know if they will have any grudges in the future, but at this moment, despite both being pregnant, they clearly don’t have any conflicts.

Both Maode and Li Qingzhao were somewhat envious of Chen Shao.

Li Qingzhao, in particular, felt that her husband was very cold towards her lately, and would quarrel over the slightest thing.

Li Qingzhao assumed that he was upset because his career was not going well and his family was in financial difficulty. She simply tried to be careful and not get angry with him.

Look at the Prince of Dai; he had so many wives and concubines, yet he managed to maintain harmony.
Maode said a few words about the war, which were nothing more than thanking the Prince of Dai for driving away the Tartars.

Although Huanhuan came from a military family, she didn't know much about these things and only replied with a few words of little interest.

The person who actually manages these things in the household is Li Yumei.

She is now a prominent figure in Taiyuan Prefecture. Firstly, she is a lady-in-waiting from the Prince of Dai's mansion to entertain noble ladies and gentlemen. Secondly, she is the daughter of Li Tangchen.

The whole area of ​​Hedong is like her maternal home.

It is conceivable that Chen Shaozhen succeeded; she became the representative of the Hedong forces.

Moreover, Li Yumei herself is also very capable and considerate in her dealings with people.

These people who came to Hedong to seek refuge originally planned to return home after the Tartars withdrew their troops.

But given how things have turned out, many of them no longer want to leave.

Out of consideration for face, and not wanting to directly contact the Dingnan Army, he asked the women in his family to smooth things over.

When Chen Shao returned to his residence, he happened to catch the two women leaving.

The three exchanged glances, nodded and smiled at each other, and were about to leave.

Chen Shao suddenly reached out his hand and said, "Princess, please wait a moment."

"What are your orders, Prince Dai?"

"Your Highness, what are you saying?" Chen Shao chuckled and said, "No matter what, I, Chen Shao, am still a subject of the Great Song Dynasty. How dare I order Your Highness around? I have some wine sent from Liangzhou, which is called 'Ruqinglianlian'. Take it back for your family to taste."

Maode blushed, and Li Qingzhao pursed her lips as well.

This act itself was immoral, but the two of them felt a certain beauty in it because they sensed Chen Shao's care for his sister-in-law, Song.

Of course, the most important reason was that Cai You was universally disliked.

People in the Song Dynasty actually loved wine. The famous gourmet Su Shi had a friend who gave him wine.

Su Shi specifically wrote in his poem "Thanking Magistrate Zhang of Taiyuan for Sending Wine": "Only Magistrate Zhang of Taiyuan sends grapes every year."

His "Ode to the Glutton" even includes the line, "Drawing glass from the South China Sea and sipping grapes from Liangzhou."

However, the best wine at this time was produced in Liangzhou, which originally belonged to the Western Xia and was hostile to the Song Dynasty.

Even the emperor could no longer easily obtain authentic Liangzhou wine. Within the Song Dynasty, the only place where wine was produced was Taiyuan.

Now that Liangzhou and Taiyuan are both Chen Shao's territories, he can drink as much as he wants.

Chen Shao then had some of the items moved and placed inside their carriage.

He's been so busy these past few days that he hasn't been able to see Mrs. Song for a long time.

Upon seeing Maode, he was reminded of Song's doting nature and felt a pang of pity. He sent her some gifts so that she wouldn't think he was neglecting her.

When Chen Shao arrived at Zhong Lingxi's residence and saw that Shishi was also there, he was in a great mood.

Huanhuan truly loves reading. Chen Shao sometimes thinks that if it were his previous life, Huanhuan would probably have been a literary girl.

Looking at her pure and lovely face, she was tall, with long and slender legs that were so white they seemed to glow.

Just imagining her wearing glasses made Chen Shao feel refreshed and happy.

"Ring."

Zhong Lingxi finally put down her book and asked, "What's wrong?"

Do you have any letters at home?

"No."

Chen Shao frowned slightly. "Old Zhong, have you been living a leisurely life for too long and become addicted to it?"
Is this a time when you have free time?

Let bygones be bygones. Your Zhong family has its own ancestral precepts and family traditions. Not expressing your opinion is already a form of support for me.

Now that the decisive battle is about to begin, does your Zhong family army really intend to lay down your arms and return to the countryside?
Chen Shao intends to transfer both the Zhe family army and the Fuyan army to the battlefield, or at least half of them.

The same applies to farming.

This is not only about needing their combat strength, but also about getting them to choose sides.

Shaanxi Fifth Route is like your back, such an important position. If you don't take sides, then I'm sorry.

Even my wife's family must leave this place.

No one would leave their back to a force that is not one of their own.

If Lao Zhong doesn't bring it up himself, then I'll send someone to remind him.

Moreover, Chen Shao valued the fighting strength of the Western Army, even though the Western Army was heavily criticized after the conquest of Liao.

But Chen Shao and his men all understood that the Western Army was actually quite capable. The main force of Chen Shao's elite Helan Mountain Corps was the Western Army.

Their poor record against the Jurchens in history had many reasons, and it did not reflect their true abilities.

Having fought for so long, Chen Shao could naturally see this.

The Western Army has always been a cradle of famous generals. Later, the Jurchen Tartars invaded the south, leading to the fall of the Northern Song Dynasty.

The reason why they were able to hold onto half of the southern territory was that most of their capable generals came from the Western Army.

Zhong Lingxi said with a smile, "I heard that my brother's health is getting better and better."

Chen Shao couldn't bear to discourage her, so he nodded in agreement, but he wasn't optimistic.

How could someone who went to war at a young age possibly have good health in old age?

He's just gritting his teeth and enduring it; his old injuries will surely torment him and keep him from finding peace.

However, it is still better than in history.

After all, in the original timeline, at this time, Lao Zhong was still leading his troops to fight the Jurchen Tartars head-on.

He also suffered torment from the Song court, which stripped him of his power several times at crucial moments.

Seeing that they couldn't win the fight, they brought him out again.
Finally, I witnessed the death of my husband, Master Zhong, in battle. (End of Chapter)