Chapter 55: Expedition

Liu Lin knew that the peace talks were fruitless, so he left with his men in the afternoon.

In fact, Song Yuzhu quite admires this person.

This person's ancestors were very important. His great-grandfather was Xu Yuan, a famous prime minister during the reign of Emperor Chonghua. His family was well-educated and was a serious scholarly family. It would be great if he could be kept for his own use.

Unfortunately, Liu Lin has a wife and children at home, so he can only wait until he captures Shangjing before recruiting this person.

After Xu Dingkun saw the carriage of the envoy from the Sheng Dynasty leave, he quietly came out of the tent. The news of his defeat and surrender had not reached Shangjing, and in order to protect his daughter and son-in-law, he had been hiding in other tents when Liu Lin came and did not dare to show up.

After everyone left, they went to Song Yuzhu's tent to discuss the matter.

"If the peace talks fail, I guess they will send troops to fight soon."

Zhao Xiao: "Just come over, I'll give you a try on the marching formation you taught me."

Xu Bing stayed in Xuzhou. With a veteran general like Xu Dingkun as his military advisor, they were naturally invincible. In the past few months, he taught Zhao Xiao a lot of useful marching and fighting skills.

On the way north, he encountered Sheng's army and fought a few small battles, but he never felt satisfied, so he was waiting to meet the Huaihua general Ye Qing.

Xu Dingkun said: "Ye Qing is a man who should not be underestimated. He followed his father Ye Changsu into the army when he was sixteen years old. He had defeated the Jin people more than ten times and forced the Jin Kingdom to move its capital thousands of miles to the northwest."

They moved almost to the border area between Outer Mongolia and Russia in later generations.

After Ye Changsu passed away, Ye Qing was squeezed out by the old officials in the court and went to the border to guard the national border. He has been guarding it for fifteen years and is now over 40 years old.

"Ye Qing has not returned to Shangjing in these years, so I am not sure what his current situation is. But one thing is certain, this man is very difficult to deal with."

Song Yuzhu asked, "I wonder how many soldiers General Ye has under his command?"

"The Northern Pass Army always has more than 100,000 soldiers. The imperial court has frequently cut military spending in recent years, and Ye Qing doesn't have the money to recruit soldiers. The maximum number is 150,000."

Zhao Xiao said: "We also have 100,000 soldiers and horses, so it should be about the same."

Xu Dingkun said self-deprecatingly: "Beiguan is a bitter and cold place, where we often fight with foreign tribes. The soldiers there are experienced in many battles, and they are not comparable to those wimps under my command."

Song Yuzhu looked a little worried, thinking that this battle might be difficult to win.

He took out the map he had drawn and said, "We only have 100,000 soldiers, some of whom are civilians recruited from behind. They have almost no combat experience. We are definitely no match for them in a head-on confrontation. Can we win by taking advantage of the terrain?"

Xu Dingkun stroked his beard and looked at the map carefully. Seeing the numbers marked on it, he was a little puzzled and asked, "Your Majesty, what do these thirty-two and one hundred and fifty-nine mean?"

"This is the distance on the map. This section of the road is thirty-two miles, and the road ahead is one hundred and fifty-nine miles."

Xu Dingkun asked in surprise: "You, how did you know?!" Could it be that he sent someone to measure this road?

Impossible, even if the mountains and rivers beside the road were measured, could they have been measured? What kind of magical power does King Chengtian have... Is he really a golden dragon descended to earth?

Song Yuzhu had no way to explain it to him, and besides, it was hard to explain the matter clearly, so he could only vaguely say, "I saw it in a travel book, General, just use it, there will be no mistakes."

Xu Dingkun stopped asking questions, but his eyes changed. He picked up the map and said, "Let me take a closer look and study a formation to defeat the enemy."

*

On March 17th, Ye Qing returned to Shangjing from Beiguan with 80,000 troops.

In fact, there were far more soldiers stationed at the North Gate, but he didn't dare to take all the soldiers away. The Jin Kingdom had shown signs of resurgence in recent years, and if he was not prepared, it would be easy for them to counterattack.

As soon as Ye Qing came back, the ministers in the court immediately straightened their backs again.

Who is this? This is the invincible General Huaihua. How can those scoundrels be his opponents?

In order to welcome Ye Qing, the ministers in the court held a grand welcoming ceremony for him. They collected more than 100,000 taels of silver, hung lanterns and decorations, spread red silk for ten miles, and set off firecrackers for two whole days, making it more lively than the Chinese New Year.

Ye Qing was riding on his horse, looking at the luxurious and cheerful scene in the city. He felt it was absurd and a little angry. It was hard to imagine that the rebels were almost at their doorstep, but they were still enjoying themselves.

Moreover, he wasted so much silver, which was enough to buy a thick coat for each of his soldiers! God knows how much effort he had to put in when he petitioned the court to allocate military funds. Even his own uniform was patched up. The soldiers could imagine how difficult it was.

After being summoned into the palace, Ye Qing knelt in the hall to pay his respects.

The seven-year-old Yang Rui was so frightened by the aura around him that he couldn't speak, and he looked up at his companion beside him.

The eunuch whispered in his ear: "General, please stand up."

"General, please stand up." The tender voice of a child echoed in the empty hall, and Ye Qing stood up from the ground, holding his knees.

The eunuch continued to whisper in his ear, "Thank you for your hard work, General."

Yang Rui whispered: "I don't want to say it anymore..."

"Your Majesty, what did the Queen Mother just tell you?"

"My mother said that I can only eat honey cakes in the evening if I am obedient."

"Hey, please tell me now."

"General, you...you...wow!!!" Yang Rui suddenly burst into tears.

The eunuch looked up and saw that Ye Qing's eyes were red and his face was as black as the bottom of a pot. Even he was shocked. What happened?

The seven-year-old Emperor Shengwen was so scared that he wet his pants and hid in the arms of the eunuch next to him and refused to show up.

It's normal to think about it. A seven-year-old is just a first-grade child in modern times. How can he not be afraid when he sees a soldier with murderous aura?

But other children can do this, but he can’t, because he is the emperor of Dasheng!

Anyone who sees this scene will feel discouraged.

Back then, when Emperor Chonghua ascended the throne, he was barely ten years old. Faced with external and internal troubles, the Jin army was about to reach Shangjing, but he was able to sit comfortably in the palace and stabilize the morale of the army.

Now seeing such a new emperor, Ye Qing felt mixed emotions. If he was not supported by enough faith, he would have wanted to hand in his military token and return to the countryside immediately.

The empress dowager, who was hiding behind, heard the sound and hurried over, hugged her son and tried to comfort him.

"General, please don't be angry. The emperor was young and a little scared when he saw you for the first time. He won't be like that next time."

Ye Qing said solemnly: "Your Majesty, Queen Mother, rest assured, I will...definitely kill the rebels and pacify the world..."

Qi nodded and escorted her son back to the harem.

*

At the welcoming banquet in the evening, the little emperor simply claimed to be ill and did not come, so the banquet was hosted by the empress dowager's brother, the emperor's uncle, Marquis Yongping, Qi Fan.

This man was just a dandy young man before, and now he is the uncle of the emperor but he has no future. The welcoming banquet he held was like a brothel of the lowest class.

A group of scantily clad dancers surrounded the officials and twisted their waists. Some even sat directly on their thighs and fed them wine. The scene was simply disgusting!

Ye Qing was so angry that his hands were shaking and he almost crushed the wine glass in his hand. After enduring for half a minute, he finally couldn't bear it anymore. He pushed away the charming dancer beside him and left the palace banquet angrily.

Is this still the Shangjing in his memory? Is this the prosperous dynasty that he and his son risked their lives to protect?

Qi Fan was shocked and immediately sent someone to inquire whether he had failed to take good care of the child.

The man caught up with Ye Qing and before he could even open his mouth, he was kicked away by Ye Qing and half lost his life.

The next day, Ye Qing assembled his army and headed straight to the front line. He didn't dare to stay in the imperial city, as he was afraid that his beliefs would be completely destroyed by that group of people.

*

The Chengtian Army also set out, with tens of thousands of soldiers and baggage wagons crossing the Yellow River.

The ice on the river was more than a foot thick, and there was a layer of snow on top, so it could withstand a carriage running over it.

After crossing the Yellow River, you will reach Jizhou. It is only 500 miles from here to Shangjing. If you march quickly, you can reach the emperor's lair in five days at most.

At night, the army set up camp in Shuyang County. The local people were so scared that they packed up their bags and ran to the nearby mountains.

As a result, they found halfway through the journey that the army did not enter the city, but set up camp outside the county.

The brave ones returned home and stayed there for a night. When they woke up the next day, they found that the army had quietly left.

The common people were amazed. Since ancient times, when the government went to war, they were the ones who suffered. In many armies, food and fodder were sent ahead before the army moved.

Why does food and fodder come first?

The vanguard troops robbed the people's food, fighting and looting at the same time, just like Yang Yuanqing did, naturally without spending a penny.

Fighting a war is actually fighting for subsequent reserves, silver and food.

The Chengtian Army is supported by the Dongzhou Salt Field. They are rich and have no worries about food and fodder. They are fully equipped with armor and even the best weapons. Who would care about the meager income of the common people?

In the military tent, the hot water had just boiled, and Ma Zhenwei made a pot of tea and brought it over.

A circle of people sat around the square table. Song Yuzhu, the leader, sat alone, while Zhao Xiao and Xu Dingkun sat on both sides of him. Behind them were three deputy generals and the baggage guards who guarded Anfeng.

"There is a slope from Jiamengou to Ruyipo, which is a natural place for charging and fighting. If we can set up an ambush here and the war horses rush down, we will definitely have the upper hand." Xu Dingkun fiddled with the sand table to simulate the local terrain.

Deputy General Du Chong said: "But we are still a long way from this position. The spies reported that the army heading to the capital has already set out."

Xu Dingkun: "So, we must be one step ahead of them."

Zhao Xiao: "Go and inform all the soldiers to march quickly tomorrow." Normally they can cover 40 miles a day, and quickly they can cover about 80 miles, so they can almost get here before sunset.

Ma Zhenwei: “Yes!”

Chai Rong seemed to have something to say. He raised his hand and then put it down.

Song Yuzhu asked: "Deputy General Chai has something to say?"

Chai Rong scratched his head and said, "I...I have a few words to say, but I don't know whether I should say them or not."

"I called you here today just to discuss this, but you can talk as you please."

"General Xu said that we set up an ambush here, but the snow on the road is too heavy. The army will leave footprints when they pass by. If an enemy soldier explores the road, it will be easy to find him."

Xu Dingkun pinched his beard and said, "This is a problem."

When marching and fighting, both armies have spies. If they find anything unusual on the road, Sheng's army will naturally be on guard. If the other side does not attack forcefully, their ambush will be useless.

Zhao Xiao said: "Why don't I lead some of the troops to fight head-on first. If we can't win, we can withdraw. When they catch up, the others can set up an ambush here."

Xu Dingkun said: "This method is feasible, but you will take some risks."

When two armies are fighting, the war situation is unpredictable at any time. I am afraid that even if I want to retreat, I will not be able to do so.

Du Chong said, "Let me go, General, stay and set up an ambush."

Xu Dingkun shook his head: "Ye Qing is a very thoughtful person. He won't catch up unless the commander comes."

It seems that Zhao Xiao must lead the troops personally to provoke a fight.

(End of this chapter)