The total journey is 2,300 to 2,400 miles, half of which will be carried out in the mountainous Hedong area.

The second possible way is that Daming Prefecture would send the news of the Third Prince's death directly to Taiyuan via Zhending Prefecture or Longde Prefecture while reporting to Yanjing, and then Taiyuan would pass it down to Hezhong Prefecture.

Doing so can directly save about a thousand miles of travel and more than one-third of the time.

If this is the case, Taiyuan or Longde Prefecture should have known the news by now, but Hezhong Prefecture may not have.

There is also a third way of transmission, which is the most direct and simple. While Gao Jingshan was reporting to Yanjing, he directly sent a message to Longde Prefecture. Longde Prefecture sent a message to Taiyuan at the same time and to Hezhong Prefecture at the same time.

There are three possibilities, all of which exist, but many people believe that it is the first one, because Gao Jingshan is the Eastern Army, and Wanyan Balisu of Taiyuan is the Western Army. There is no reason for the Third Prince, a king in charge of the front line, to privately pass on the news of his sudden death to Balisu, who is in a different system. Instead, he should have reported it to Yanjing as soon as possible.

Regarding this, although Zhao Jiu was very eager and thought it was the first one, he still did not express his opinion like Prime Minister Lu and President Wang. He did not say that the front line would give feedback in a few days, but that as an official he had to maintain this calm and composed attitude, as if he could expect everything.

By the same token, Zhao Jiu also had guesses about Eastern Mongolia and Goryeo, but he also did not interrupt.

In Eastern Mongolia, probably because of the vigilance against the surname Borjigin, even though several of Hebula's brothers and sons were patting their chests to express their loyalty, it did not prevent Zhao Jiu from creating an image of the final boss and the ultimate beneficiary of this battle in his mind.

The official believed without any reason that Hebula would most likely make a selfish choice based on the development of the war situation. He would unite with the weaker side and participate in the final decisive battle, just like the Eastern Wu in the Battle of Red Cliffs.

As for Goryeo, Zhao Jiu felt that those guys would never take action until the Song Dynasty was forced out of the Great Wall, but they would never turn against the Song Dynasty either. They would just keep being cautious and perfunctory.

The reason is simple... The North-South conflict among the Koreans, that is, the confrontation between the Pyongyang yangban and the Kaesong yangban, is itself a kind of unequal distribution of spoils.

The downfall of powerful officials brought the greatest political benefits to the group headed by Kim Bu-sik, a member of the Kaesong Yangban.

The rapid rise of the Jurchens greatly reduced the scope of Goryeo people's activities in the north, and the direct economic losers were the Pyongyang yangban in the north.

Therefore, the two groups in Pyongyang, whose politics and economy have been taken advantage of by others, frequently make trouble and call for the destruction of Kim.

But now, with the unexpected development of re-export trade, both parties, including the initiator Zhao Guanjia, have underestimated the scale and potential of this trade. As a result, the Pyongyang yangban, as the connector of the north, has greatly benefited from the trade, which has made them lose their basic desire to cause trouble with the Kaesong yangban.

It’s not that there is no more party strife, but that people in Goryeo, both north and south, are unwilling to disrupt the current situation of reaping the benefits of re-export trade.

In fact, the rapid rise of Eastern Mongolia in recent years was also stimulated by the re-export trade between Song and Jin... Even Emperor Zhao himself has been reluctant to stop this trade until now.

Because the benefits are so great.

In a sense, this is trade between the two largest and richest countries in the world today... enough to make a country prosperous or a nation weak... otherwise, how could Emperor Zhao make up the financial gap for the Northern Expedition that seemed out of reach back then.

War is war, and business is business.

In this way, everyone talked a lot, and it was rare for them to speak freely. This also helped Mr. Lu Yihao to have a better understanding of the situation and geography in the north, which played the intended role.

After talking for more than half an hour and everyone was still in high spirits, suddenly, the sound of horse hooves and bells could be heard in the distance. Liu Yan nodded and signaled, and several Mongolian princes who had long been unable to stand in the Loyalty Team rushed out. A moment later, a messenger really came, and then through Liu Yan's hands, he carefully delivered a letter of urgent military intelligence to Emperor Zhao.

After opening it and scanning it, Zhao Jiu handed the document to Lu Yihao beside him, and then said in a deep voice without changing his expression:

"Li Yanxian replied that he did not go to Hezhong Prefecture."

Lu Yihao continued to read the documents without saying much. Wang Yan, the general commander of the imperial camp, immediately expressed his dissatisfaction: "The court has been planning for many years, and these strategies were approved by these generals themselves. How can they act on their own when the war breaks out?"

"It is said that the military situation has changed." Zhao Jiu looked around at everyone and responded casually, as if he didn't care about the matter. "He said that he originally wanted to close the door and fight the dog, first sweep Jiezhou and enter Jiangzhou. By then, with Tieling Pass in hand, on the one hand, he can seal the Chenguan Pass and block the reinforcements from Longde Prefecture in the southeast, and on the other hand, he can organize a defense line on the spot to resist the reinforcements from Taiyuan in the north, and then he can turn back and slowly deal with Hezhong. But he didn't expect that after the order arrived, as soon as he sent troops, he received a request for help and warning from Ma Kuo, saying that the main force of the Jin army in Taiyuan had been mobilized, at least three Wanhu around Taiyuan had suddenly come, but he didn't know if there would be any follow-up... So he simply led the entire army to Jiezhou, hoping to quickly open Jiezhou, and join forces with Ma Kuo to stop the Jin army in Taiyuan."

After hearing what Emperor Zhao said, not only Wang Yan, but also the other attendants and close ministers changed their expressions several times... They said that the military situation had changed and he intended to close the door and fight the dog, so they calmed down a lot. But when they heard that the main force of the Jin army from Taiyuan was coming so quickly, they became panicked again.

"Why are you acting like this? Isn't this what we just said about the officials urging at home, but the generals have to make decisions on the spot?" After reading the document, Lu Yihao didn't even bother to look at Wang Yan and the others, but directly put it away and handed it to Liu Yan, who was in charge of the military affairs, and argued. "From Hewai to Donghai, the battle line of the two countries stretches for 3,000 miles, but how can this 3,000 miles be a line? Each of them has depth in front and behind, cities and markets, dangerous passes, rivers and mountains, which are all different. Moreover, the hundreds of miles of Luliang Mountain in the middle cannot support the logistics of the army at all. After Taihang Wangwu separated the east and west routes of the Jin army, it is bound to separate us now... The general who is capable but the king who does not control will win... A river separates us. At this time, such an urgent military situation should rely on the generals on the front line to make decisions on the spot, and it must not be easily investigated."

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