Zhao Jiu has no interest in whipping an old man in the middle of the night. He really doesn't have that problem.
When Hebule, who was covered in sweat and smelled of corpses, arrived at the Yamen Hall of the Zhending Mansion, the official did not perform any performance art such as asking someone to temporarily wash the footbath. He just looked tired.
Sitting there silently.
However, after Hebule knelt down on the ground in the ring of soldiers, and after the respectful and serious greeting was over, Zhao Jiu fell asleep directly in his seat... In the silent night, the whimpering all over the city yesterday had long disappeared.
There was no sound, except for the slight snoring of Zhao Guan's family, which was particularly clear in the back hall.
Hebule lay motionless on the ground, and the soldiers around him stood still. However, in front of Zhao Guan's house, Liu Yan, the imperial commander, and Shao Chengzhang, the chamberlain's provincial guard, looked at each other, but they had no choice but to stand still.
I don't know how long I waited, but it was already dark and my legs were completely numb before I suddenly heard a rustling sound, and then some movement.
After a while, I heard the voice I had heard several times before:
"Aren't you okay? I wasn't trying to embarrass you just now."
"Xiao Wang knows." Hebule still didn't raise his head, and his tone seemed a little difficult. This was not only because his Chinese outside the Great Wall was difficult, but also because he had been kneeling for too long and had not slept all night, making his whole body stiff.
"If the officials were pretending to be asleep, there's no reason to pretend for so long. It's because Xiao Wang came at a bad time and disturbed the officials' rest..."
"You should go and have a rest too!" Zhao Jiu wiped his face and continued. "Let's talk about things after you have had enough rest. Your mind will be clear... Today I am not as free as the previous two days, and I have to do some things.
.”
With that said, the official stood up, turned around from Hebule, and walked straight out of the back hall. As for Hebule, as the footsteps behind him receded, he suddenly fell from a kneeling position to a side paralysis.
.
No matter what, Hebule finally got a chance to rest. Not only that, when he woke up, someone led him to have a simple and sufficient lunch breakfast, and even took a bath and changed.
He had taken off his clothes... By the time he walked out of Zhending City with several Mongolian princes from the Red Heart Team to meet Zhao Song's family outside the city, it was obviously already afternoon.
Compared with last night, the smell of corpses in Zhending City was greatly reduced at this moment, and there was already a constant flow of civil and military officials, leaders of various ethnic groups, generals and soldiers, auxiliary soldiers and civilians, plus a few merchants and civilians, rushing in and out one after another.
Like flow.
The heritage displayed by just one important military town dwarfs all the tribes in the entire Mongolian Plateau. And because of the trade exchanges in the past few years, Hebul has long known that with the size of China, such a large
The town does not have hundreds, but probably dozens.
After walking out of the city, Hebule saw many familiar people - in the open space to the north of the city, there was a large typical Mongolian camp, surrounded by carts, patched yurts scattered around, livestock gathered in the middle, and many other people
The familiar Mongolian headmen from the central and western regions were coming and going from the camp gate with their light cavalry, constantly coming in and out.
Some of these people were neatly equipped, riding on horses, and leading one or more teams of light cavalry at the edge of the camp to shout military orders to the Song officers, as if they were preparing to go or had just completed military duties; some were dressed in casual clothes and were leading war horses.
, taking some loot with him, he stopped at a Song people's shop on the roadside, gesticulating, preparing to exchange iron pots, needles and threads, and cloth; and the scene that shocked Hebule the most was when he turned around this camp that was obviously a Mongolian camp.
After turning a corner, we could clearly see that the open space in front of the central tent behind the camp was almost filled with loot!
Countless armors, gold, silver, copper ingots, iron ingots, silks, and furs were piled naked in the open space, while a group of nobles from various Mongolian tribes who had already changed into armor were arguing there with red faces...
If it weren't for the fact that there were civil servants and soldiers of the Song Dynasty next to these things, I'm afraid these people would have fought on the spot.
Hebule knew very well that the Zhao Guan family asked him to come out from this road just to see this scene for himself, and also for these Mongolian leaders to see him... As he walked along the way, he was certainly looking at these people, but these people
He also noticed that he was surrounded by the Imperial Guard...but even though they knew this, neither of them could look away.
Everyone in the Ximengu tribe knew that Hebule Khan came to see Zhao Guan's family alone to plead guilty, and Hebule confirmed two undoubted facts from what he had seen and heard before - first of all, of course, this battle was really
It was an unprecedented victory, and the Jurchens really collapsed in one battle; secondly, the Zhao and Song officials did have clear rewards and punishments.
If either of them were missing, it would be impossible for the Mongolians to take away so many trophies.
However, after witnessing this scene, Hebule breathed a sigh of relief for some unknown reason.
After passing through the camp area in the north of the city and crossing an open space where corpses were being buried (this should be the source of the smell of corpses last night), Hebule finally came to the bank of a large river, and saw here that he didn't dare to look up and see clearly last night.
The last Zhao Song official family... The latter was dressed in plain clothes and was sitting by the river. In addition to being surrounded by soldiers, there were countless civil and military people gathered around him. At this moment, someone was reporting something.
It can be seen that what this official said this morning is not false.
In fact, Hebu Le was still not summoned and could only be held on one side like a prisoner, waiting for the summons.
"So by the side of Beishui (a semi-artificial and semi-natural river running from north to south connecting the Hutuo River and the Hulu River), although you swept away many Jin troops, you only captured Wulin Da Taiyu's ten thousand households?" Zhao Jiu thought thoughtfully.
"Yes." A Song general in front of Zhao Guanjia responded respectfully, but it turned out to be Zhang Zhongfu, a commander of the imperial cavalry. "So that the officials will know that when Deputy Liu captured Wu Lin and answered Taiyu, this
He had already changed into ordinary clothes, but he had lived in Yanjing for many years and was not good at running when being driven. This was seen through... It can be seen that the other generals of the defeated army had long given up their positions as leaders and escaped one by one.
, I’m afraid it will be extremely difficult to catch him in a hurry... Do the officials want to see this person?"
"It's gone, just cut it down." Zhao Guanjia, who was sitting by the river, blurted out.
Zhang Zhongfu was surprised and quickly responded.
But before he could turn around and give instructions, Zhao Guanjia in the seat continued: "Let me draw up a few decrees..."
As soon as these words came out, several close officials and scribes immediately stepped forward to listen. They were prepared to listen to the order before formally drafting it.
"The first one is for Liu Qi. Tell Liu Qi to continue to lead the army eastward and pursue him relentlessly. He must join forces with Yue Fei and Zhang Rong to prevent the Jin army from retreating to the north. Don't pay much attention to anything else."
After saying this, Zhao Jiu paused for a moment, and then a close minister repeated it. Then seeing that Zhao Guanjia did not add anything, he retreated slightly and went to the shade of a tree not far away to draft the decree.
"The second... is for Liu Qi and all the chasing officers. Tell them, I don't want generals, only soldiers... At this time, capturing more Jin soldiers is the first priority. Don't be blinded by military achievements. What?
General, any fourth prince can move to the back! If you let me know that someone made the Jin army break up and return north in order to pursue the general, I will have to deal with it!"
As soon as these words came out, not to mention that some civil servants repeated the words and prepared to draft an edict, Zhang Zhongfu's face turned pale... It was obvious that Zhao Guan's family had captured ten thousand households of the imperial cavalry and hurriedly sent troops to escort them away.
I came back very dissatisfied.
"The last one... I remember that I have pardoned Liu Xi's crime, so I am looking for a border military prefecture on Ningxia Road and let him transfer to a real job." Zhao Jiu hurriedly finished the last decree, waved his hand to reject Zhang Zhongfu, and then called for people again.
."Wu Jie!"
Wu Da heard this and hurried forward: "I'm here."
"Has the withdrawal sequence been drawn up?" Zhao Guanjia seemed a little aggressive in his words.
"Yes..." Wu Da said bravely. "Simon Gu will withdraw first, and then the central army, left army, and rear army of the imperial camp will each be reduced by half..."
"We can't just cut it in half." Zhao Jiu became a little impatient. "The treasury here is definitely very full, but most of it is armor or weapons, gold, silver, money, and silk. They can be used as rewards, but there is a lot of grass and little food... leaving so much
Why are we fighting? Wasting food or delaying spring plowing? We need to reduce it more."
Wu Jie did not dare to speak out for a while.
"Distribute the reward as soon as possible, and then withdraw it after you distribute it." Zhao Jiu took a deep breath when he saw this, and then slowed down his tone and said. "It is enough to leave only 70,000 to 80,000 infantry and cavalry here, including those from Taiyuan and Datong.
The remaining troops, as well as Wang Sheng's 10,000 troops... Yue Fei's troops must also be withdrawn appropriately. It is enough to leave 50,000 or 60,000... Then we must arrange for the civilians who are too late to return, and auxiliary troops to do spring plowing and replanting in the area.
."
"Here." Wu Da breathed a sigh of relief.
"And..." Zhao Jiu hesitated for a moment, and finally spoke seriously. "After the cleanup and rest here are completed, and after the Hejian rendezvous, we will advance to the battle of Yanjing. Let the good ministers be the commanders, and Jin Qing and Shaoyan be the assistants... let
Yue Fei and Tian Shizhong will be his successors. If the Jin people are still stubborn after Yanjing advances, just let Yue Pengju be the commander and go out to fight... How about that?"
Han Shizhong and Li Yanxian, who had remained silent, also came out to say yes.
Let us say that this is the real key to the issue of troop withdrawal.
First of all, the troops must be withdrawn. The main force of the Jin Army has been eliminated. It is really a waste to maintain such a huge field attack group. Only by withdrawing troops and reducing the logistical pressure can we continue to move north, maintain the offensive, and advance towards Yanjing.
But the question is, who will be asked to attack Yanjing, and who will withdraw the troops and return to their base?
From the perspective of military convenience, there is no doubt that the Hebei Front Army of Yue Fei, Zhang Rong, Tian Shizhong and others should be allowed to gather the imperial cavalry that pursued the past, as well as the Khitan and Mongolians to move north from Hejian.
.
But this also means that most of the imperial camp's central army, rear army, and left army will have to withdraw.
So why?
These troops in Hedong suffered heavy casualties in the Huolu War and made outstanding achievements. One battle could determine the world. Why should they, who had made greater achievements, go back directly and let the Imperial Army and the Right Army pick the fruit of Yanjing?
Shouldn’t the Hedong Front Army get the lion’s share of the gold, silver, merits, and honors in Yanjing?
Therefore, Zhao Jiu must consider the military morale of the Hedong Front Army that has just made great achievements. Han Shizhong, Li Yanxian, and Wu Jie also need to consider the opinions of their subordinates and prevent their subordinates from being wronged.
However, as an official, Zhao Jiu cannot only consider this point. He also has to consider food issues, political issues, and military discipline issues... Therefore, he came up with this compromise plan with Xini, and made it before
The Mongolian army, which had the worst general discipline, withdrew first.
It can only be said that after the great victory, the road seems to be smooth, but without delay there are new problems along the way.
Fortunately, after this battle, the authority of Zhao Guan's family is obviously stronger. As long as he can ensure rewards and punishments, no one can openly oppose his opinions.
Turning back to the front, after laying out his compromised plan and getting approval from the commanders, Zhao Guanjia looked a little tired, but he still pointed to Hebule immediately, causing everyone to look over.
There is no doubt that this is another troublesome matter.
"Xiao Wang pays homage to the officials."
Hebule knelt down on the ground far away. "Let the officials wait for a long time."
"Get up." Zhao Jiu's tone was calm and his face was calm. "I asked you to wait for a long time."
Hebule stood up immediately, and then said nothing... There were some things that both parties already knew by heart, and those words were all they said, but their attitudes must be corrected.
"Stand over a few steps." Zhao Guanjia continued to order.
Hebule became more and more relieved, and hurriedly took a few steps forward to reach Zhao Guan's house. But even so, several officers followed him faintly, and several commanders also moved slightly to the side and front, hiding him.
live.
"The last time I met King Khan was by the Yellow River, this time it was the Hutuo River. Is there such a big river in Mongolia?" Zhao Jiu waited for the other party to stand still before asking, but he did not directly talk about the business.
"So that the officials know that there are rivers in Mongolia." Hebule stood there with his hands crossed and answered seriously. "Our Qiyan tribe is nomadic around the Onan River... However, the rivers on the grassland are not as good as
The rivers in the Central Plains are large and change a lot with the seasons."
"The Onan River... the Qiyan Department... the baby is only a catty... Hebu Le." Zhao Jiuzhuang was thoughtful and sighed, but he seemed to have finally gotten to the point. "The Onan River directly leads to Huining Mansion, right?
"
"So that the officials know." Hebule continued to answer seriously. "It can be connected by water, but it is not directly connected. Downstream from the Onan River is the Halamu River. The Halamu River is confused with Huining Prefecture.
The rivers merge into one further downstream... However, although this road exists, no one dares to walk on it because it is dangerous and cold along the way. From the Onan River to Huining Mansion, it is faster to go to Linhuang Mansion."
The Halamu River and the Huntong River are both Heilongjiang rivers, but the names of the upper and lower reaches and the north-south flow are different.
"So it turns out that when Hebul Khan went to Huining Mansion (Harbin area) to meet the old leader of the Jin Kingdom, he went from Linhuang Mansion?"
"yes."
"That being the case, I have questions."
"Please tell me, officials."
"Why did King Khan dare to stroke people's beards in front of Jin Taizong that day, but he was so respectful in front of me last night?" Zhao Jiu asked seriously.
Hebule hesitated for a moment, and finally did not say those clichés, but responded honestly:
"Because I know that the Jin people only occupy the east and south of the Eastern Mongolian tribes, and cannot reach Mobei and Moxi at all. Even if there is a fight, we can use the geographical advantage to deal with it. When we should hide, we should fight...
... But here in the Guan family, they not only defeated the Jin people, but also wanted to capture the east and south, and also captured the western Mongolia. They know everything about us..."
Zhao Jiu smiled slightly, but said nothing. On the contrary, several commanders and generals present sneered.
"Besides, after this battle, Ku'erzahusi Khan got so much armor, equipment, and so much money that he was probably eager for the official order to take the opportunity to eradicate the Mongolian tribes in our east and let the Klei tribe and his family
Duda...you need to be even more careful." Hebule continued. "There are also officials who are willing to do business with us. Many people in the tribe are grateful to the officials and are not willing to go against them."
As soon as these words came out, the people present who really understood the stakes of Kabul-Eastern Mongolia affairs immediately understood the meaning of this person's words, but they laughed even more.
Even Zhao Guanjia also smiled slightly:
"Look, aren't you quite smart?"
Without waiting for Hebule to respond, Zhao Jiu suddenly became serious after a slight smile: "But if you are so smart, why did you let Nulu Guan go in Datong before? It was because you felt that I couldn't win this battle.
, or do you think that even if the Song Dynasty wins this battle, it is not that simple? So you can take advantage of the opportunity to do something? Or maybe you think that with the Jin people, you can still advance and retreat freely by relying on geography, and once you control Simon Gu
By seizing Zhongjing Road and Linhuang Road, your Eastern Mongolia will be tied up on three sides...so you deliberately indulge the Jin people?"
"In any case, Xiao Wang has absolutely no intention of deliberately indulging the enemy's troops." As early as when Zhao Guan's family talked about blackmailing Lu Guan, Hebule knelt down on the spot again and kowtowed in front of Zhao Guan's family. "That day in Datong, it was really...
The Jin people fled too fast, and the troops in the vanguard did not know the terrain... Besides, I also asked me to deal with the Tatars in the vanguard."
"So what?" Zhao Jiu responded with emotion. "Hebu Le... We have a saying in the Central Plains that to determine a person's merits and demerits, you cannot guess what he is thinking, but what he has done.
... Although no one can prove that you have malicious intentions in this matter, no one can prove your innocence in the end. In any case, in the end, not only did your troops fail to join the war in time, but they also forced me to fight again in Datong.
Putting aside the troops for surveillance, I directly lost tens of thousands of people in the previous battle... This is always right, right?"
Wu Jie turned sideways and stared at Hebule, but Hebule did not say a word this time.
"I know what you are relying on, or in other words, half of the people here must know what you have been implying before." Zhao Jiu squinted his eyes and continued to look at the other party. "The reason why you are afraid of me, Hebu Le, is because I can
Controlling Mongolia puts the tribes of Eastern Mongolia in real danger of annihilation... On the other hand, if the tribes of Eastern Mongolia are gone without you and Mongolia expands alone and takes over the grassland, I seem to have lost control of Mongolia.
Control! So, you have made up your mind and decided that I will not deal with you, right?"
Hebule still didn't speak.
"But... the so-called rewards and punishments are clear. Mongolia will be rewarded for his great contributions, and Eastern Mongolia will be punished for delaying the war. If I, the emperor, want to continue to do something, I must try to be as fair as possible? What's more, since I came to the throne, I have ignored the overall situation twice.
, all the people who kill with their own hands are big men like you who 'avoid war'... You violated my biggest taboo in Datong!" As he said that, Zhao Jiu suddenly pointed at the other party.
Following this action, several Ban Zhi behind him stepped forward and squeezed Hebule's shoulders tightly on the ground.
Hebule did not resist, but remained silent.
"This is true. Do I dare not kill you?" Zhao Jiu laughed again.
"Xiao Wang never meant this." Hebule said calmly on the ground. "The reason why Xiao Wang was not too frightened was because he knew before he came that he would not be able to go back even if he died on this trip.
He didn't care about life and death... But when he got here, he found that the official family had no intention of indulging Mongolia and annexing Eastern Mongolia.
Family wishes!”
"Tell me."
"Hebule is Hebule! The Qiyan tribe is the Qiyan tribe! Eastern Mongolia is Eastern Mongolia!" Hebule suddenly raised his head. "Although these three things are connected, they are by no means the same thing.
thing!"
"You are so smart!" Zhao Jiu finally laughed. "This is what I originally wanted to tell you... and I also want to say that your begging department is the begging department, and your cousin, I, is the begging department.
The Taichiwu tribe is the Taichiwu tribe, and Boerjijin is naturally Boerjijin.”
Hebule was finally stunned, but then shook his head: "I am my brother, he will not betray me."
"I didn't say that I would betray you... but after I and you die, the Qiyan Department and the Taichiwu Department with mixed origins are destined to fall apart." After Zhao Jiu finished laughing, he couldn't help but shake his head. "
I have 10,000 ways to make your children fall into civil strife."
"It's useless to think too much about things after death." Hebule tried his best to correct it again.
"That makes sense." Unexpectedly, Zhao Guanjia nodded in approval. "Then let's just talk about living things. The current affairs... can't be settled."
"Xiao Wang is here."
"Hebule, you are absolutely right... I must keep the Eastern Mongolia." Zhao Jiu answered frankly. "But you and your cousin I Ba'ai must be punished... and Qiyan
Whether the Ministry and the Taichiwu Ministry can be retained depends on your performance and you can fight for it for yourself."
"There are still thousands of horses in Eastern Mongolia, and they are willing to serve as the vanguard for the government to capture Yanjing." Hebule came to his senses and quickly expressed his stance.
"You don't need to go to Yanjing, and you are not allowed to go." Zhao Jiu continued to shake his head. "Yanjing is my Yanjing... You people rush over all the way to burn, kill and loot, how can you restrain them? I even came back from the ancient capital of Mongolia.
.”
"That……"
"You and I have to take the Zhongjing Road (today's Chifeng and Chengde area) together with me." Zhao Jiu finally revealed his final verdict on Eastern Mongolia. "If everything goes well, you and I can survive."
...But you have to take two hostages and the heir to live in Tokyo together; if things don't go well, both you and my baby will die... If you don't want to die, or don't want to come, or if you only want one to come, I will
Let Tuoli take care of the Qiyan tribe for me, and then find someone from the Merqi tribe or even the Tatar tribe to be the leader."
"Tuoli..." Hebule suddenly panicked.
"Yes, Tuoli...Suddenly Zahusi Khan died in battle." Zhao Jiu responded calmly. "My bodyguard, his son Tuoli used a spear to tie Simongu's crown and charged for me...just this morning.
, he just came back from the defeated Jin army for me, and then I distributed the spoils of war to him here as agreed in advance, and then crowned him... This is also the second thing I want to say, from now on.
, I don’t care about other places, but East and West Mongolia, as well as Goryeo, including the Jurchens, if they can survive, if they want to inherit the royal family, they must be crowned by me, otherwise they will be traitors and they will be cut into pieces! These two things
, what do you think? Can you handle it?"
Hebule was silent for a moment and did not answer directly.
And Zhao Jiu didn't urge him, he just looked up at the Hutuo River in front of him in a daze... Han Shizhong and others looked at each other, and it was hard to interrupt for a while, but there were a few people who were ready for consultation. They couldn't help but look at the water of the Hutuo River, guessing if this Eastern Mongolia
If the king refuses to respond, the official will sink him to the bottom of the river.
After a long time, Hebule finally spoke again: "The official family."
"What?"
"I saw someone burying a body on the road." Hebule said seriously as he lay on the ground.
"yes."
"Are those corpses of Song people or Jin people?"
"The golden man's?"
"Are they all from Jin people?"
"yes."
"How many Jin people died?"
"It must have cost more than 30,000 yuan on the spot. They have been dying non-stop in the past few days...the smell of corpses cannot be dissipated, forcing me to send the bedridden prime minister to another place for rest."
"What about the Song people?"
"What?"
"How many people from the Song Dynasty died?" Hebule looked sincere and serious. "How many of the official army died in this battle?"
Zhao Jiu finally became alert, as if a cat that had been lazy and depressed suddenly arched its body: "Why do you ask this?"
"Knowing this, I can roughly know whether to agree to the two conditions of the official." Hebule was still very serious.
Zhao Jiu looked the other person up and down, waited for a while, and then calmly informed: "More than 8,000 people died at that time, and over 10,000 people have died in the past few days... None of them are buried here, they are all buried on a high ground on the other side."
"Then what do the officials think of these dead subordinates?" Hebule continued to ask seriously.
This remark also aroused the curiosity of many people present.
Zhao Guanjia paused for a long time before suddenly speaking seriously:
"The earth collapsed and the mountains destroyed the strong men, and then the stone stacks of the ladder to the sky were connected... In other words, so many people died before a road was paved... Therefore, no matter how many weeds are on the road, I will walk down it! And!
I also need to mow the grass clean!"
"This is what Xiao Wang wants to know." Hebule finally nodded: "This is what Xiao Wang wants to know... Xiao Wang is willing to accept the two conditions from the official family! But he also asks the official family to agree to Xiao Wang.
A small request."
"Where does the courage come from..."
"Speak." Zhao Jiu stopped several subordinates from getting angry.
"If Xiao Wang does not make any more mistakes, please ask the officials to let Eastern Mongolia be the same as Mongolia, where the father dies and the son succeeds... After Xiao Wang takes the Zhongjing Road for the officials, let Xiao Wang's youngest son Hutula succeed Xiao Wang
...Before that, let Hutula come and serve as a bodyguard for the official family." Hebule gritted his teeth.
"Okay!" Zhao Jiu didn't hesitate at all. "Who made me not come?"
Hebule immediately kowtowed again, and the soldiers behind him also let go of their hands in time.
Zhao Jiu immediately went to look at the left and right people: "Is there anything else you need to do today?"
The people around him were completely helpless.
Ps: Continue to dedicate a book, "The End of the World: Infinitely Upgraded Shelter"!