Besides, Zhao Jiu and the others in the hall heard it clearly and naturally knew the real intention of Liu Qi's strategy... to continue to smooth things over by delaying giving orders to Qu Duan.

Of course, for many shrewd political animals in the hall, Liu Qi's attempt to smooth things over may also be due to his consideration of the position of commander.

Regardless of whether Emperor Zhao personally went to the frontline once he decided to go to war as rumored, or whether he would let Yuwen Xuzhong take command, in any case, just as Yue Fei had to take command in Yanling before, the frontline always needed a general to actually take charge of the command, and the importance of this position of general was self-evident, and it was very likely that he would be promoted to Jiedushi if the battle was successful.

Well, since Han Shizhong cannot leave Tongzhou easily, Liu Xi, Liu Qi's elder brother, Qu Duan and Wang Yuan are theoretically the three candidates for the actual commander-in-chief... Today, Wang Yuan performed outstandingly and almost overwhelmed the only opponent, Liu Ziyu. As Liu Xi's younger brother, it is natural that Qu Duan's southward movement is a matter of speculation.

But then again, apart from Liu Ziyu who would be ruthless, no one would directly point out these things that were not to be put on the table. Moreover, it was indeed necessary to use some means to smooth things over at this time. Liu Qi's idea was a good idea from a military point of view, so even Liu Ziyu surprisingly did not say anything. Zhao Jiu also immediately followed suit and asked Scholar Xiao Lin to write several "envoys' orders" to Qu Duan and the Wu brothers on the spot.

Just as Mr. Kobayashi was writing and reporting the "Daily Military Meeting", there was a commotion outside the hall.

No one cared about this, as if they had gotten used to it.

After all, it was already quite late, and Chang'an City was crowded with soldiers and horses inside and outside, with tight defenses and a curfew at night. The only possible reason for the commotion at this time was urgent military intelligence. In fact, similar situations had occurred many times before. For example, after the Dragon Boat Festival, the main force of the Jin army left Baishui City and crossed Xiaobaishui to the south. At that time, officers from all over the front line were busy sending messages.

Therefore, everyone was silent, except for Scholar Kobayashi who continued to write, and they all waited for Yang Yi Zhong to go out and hand over the documents in person.

A moment later, Yang Yizhong hurried back, and indeed brought a document. Zhao Jiu took it and opened it. He was moved, but laughed on the spot, and spoke directly:

"Does anyone of you recognize Li Yongqi?"

Many people at the table looked at each other in bewilderment, and then almost all the people with a Western Army background, from the brothers Liu Xi and Liu Qi, to Tian Shizhong who was sitting inside the door, to Yang Yizhong who was standing next to Zhao Jiu, almost all bowed and spoke.

Even Yuwen Xuzhong was beside him, twirling his beard and saying, "I also know this man. He was born in the Suide Army and is a local Tangut noble. After Loushi occupied Yan'an last time, his entire clan was isolated in the rear, so he led his people to surrender to Xixia. Because he was a famous Tangut, he was highly valued. Loushi also did not pursue the matter because of the ambiguous relationship between Nianhan and Xixia. However, not long after that, Li Yongqi sent someone to send a document to me in a wax ball hidden in silk, saying that he cared about the country, but because the emperor had an order not to surrender to Jin, he was afraid that he would not be able to meet in the future, so he followed Huang Quan's example and surrendered to Wei... I had asked Xixia to send troops through him before, but Xixia did not agree."

Zhao Jiu nodded slightly and asked Yang Yizhong to hand the document to Yuwen Xuzhong, who was the first on his left hand, but he said with emotion:

"Since Xixia didn't agree, he agreed on his own. Here is Hu Yin's urgent document, saying that Li Yongqi saw that Xixia had no intention of sending troops to attack Jin, so he simply pretended to convey the will of the Xixia king, took more than 4,000 local war horses, took more than 2,000 subordinates from his own army, and then went west along Hengshan and headed south. They spent all their wealth along the way, recruited Hengshan tribesmen, and resisted the pursuers. When Qingzhou was supported by Wu Lin's troops, the number of soldiers and horses had reached the full quota of 4,000, and they were all cavalry... Do you think this person can be trusted?"

The whole room was silent.

On one hand there was astonishment, on the other hand there was suspicion.

Of course, the astonishment is understandable. This kind of story of returning home is almost a plot in history books. It always seems absurd and unbelievable when it happens to someone I know. And the suspicion is also understandable. The Dangxiang people surrendered to the Western Xia and were spared from death by the Loushi. How could they suddenly return at such a critical juncture? What if they were spies? Who would be held responsible?

In fact, Li Yanxian had done something similar in Shanzhou that day. When he was sweeping Shanzhou in Loushi, he asked some of the Song troops who were ready to go into the mountains with him to fight guerrilla warfare to surrender to Jin. Then this group of people really became the defenders of Shanzhou. As a result, as soon as Loushi moved into Guanxi, Li Yanxian directly entered the city with the help of an insider.

So if Li Yongqi is a spy arranged by Lou Shi, who is responsible?

But if not, can the math problem of the Song-Jin decisive battle in Guanxi be recalculated again?

"I think it's credible." After a while, Liu Ziyu was the first to speak up to guarantee it. "And when you employ people, you should reward them well and use them boldly, just like buying bones with a thousand gold coins."

"Why is Yan Xiu so confident?" Zhang Jun asked his good friend seriously.

"Two reasons." Liu Ziyu responded seriously. "First, the Jin army surrendered to Zhe Keqiu with the intention of establishing a vassal state in Guanxi. Zhe Keqiu was able to preserve the military power of the three states because of this. However, after the battle of Yanling, Talan fled north, and only the pseudo-Qi was established... May I ask, given the situation at that time, if Li Yongqi really wanted to surrender to the Jin, the Jin people would have given him the entire Suide Army, so why did he have to flee north to join the Western Xia? And is Lou Shi a god? At that time, it was considered that the Yanling army was defeated and the last invasion ended in vain?"

This analysis is well-founded and convincing. In fact, from a rational point of view, Zhao Jiu and many people present have already believed it.

My dear, there is more to this chapter. Please click on the next page to continue reading. It’s even more exciting later!