"It's gone. We just chopped it down." Zhao Guanjia, who was sitting by the river, blurted out.
Zhang Zhongfu was surprised and responded quickly.
But before he could turn around and give orders, Emperor Zhao in the seat continued speaking: "Draft a few orders..."
As soon as these words were spoken, several close ministers and scholars stepped forward to listen, preparing to draft a formal decree after hearing the decree.
"The first one is for Liu Qi. Tell Liu Qi to continue to lead the army eastward and pursue the enemy relentlessly. He must join forces with Yue Fei and Zhang Rong to prevent the defeated Jin army from returning north. Don't pay any more attention to anything else."
Having said this, Zhao Jiu paused slightly, and a close minister repeated it. Then, seeing that Emperor Zhao had nothing to add, he stepped back slightly and went to draft an imperial decree under the shade of a tree not far away.
"The second one... is for Liu Qi and all the officers chasing the fugitives. Tell them that I don't want generals, I only want soldiers... At this time, capturing more Jin soldiers is the top priority. Don't be blinded by military achievements. Generals and the fourth prince can all be put on the back burner! If I find out who caused the Jin army to flee north in large numbers in order to pursue the generals, I will punish them!"
As soon as these words were spoken, not to mention that there were civil officials repeating their words and preparing to draft an imperial edict, Zhang Zhongfu, who was standing there, turned pale... It was obvious that Emperor Zhao was very dissatisfied with the fact that the imperial cavalry captured a Wan Hu and then hastily sent troops to escort him back.
"The last one... I remember that I have pardoned Liu Xi's crime. I will find a border military state in Ningxia Road and let him transfer to a real position." Zhao Jiu hurriedly said the last order, waved his hand to dismiss Zhang Zhongfu, and then called for someone else. "Wu Jie!"
Upon hearing this, Wu Da hurried forward and said, "I am here."
"Has the withdrawal sequence been drawn up?" Emperor Zhao's words seemed a little aggressive.
"Yes..." Wu Da replied with a stiff face. "Western Mongolia will withdraw first, and then the central army, left army, and rear army of the imperial camp will be reduced by half..."
"It can't be reduced by half." Zhao Jiu was getting impatient. "The treasury in Zhending is quite sufficient, but most of it is armor, weapons, gold and silver. They can be used as rewards, but there is more fodder than grain... Why keep so many soldiers? Will it waste food or delay spring ploughing? We need to reduce it more."
Wu Jie didn't dare to speak for a moment.
"Send the rewards as soon as possible, and then withdraw." Zhao Jiu took a deep breath, then slowed down his tone. "It is enough to leave 70,000 to 80,000 infantry and cavalry here, and we also need to count the garrison troops in Taiyuan and Datong, and Wang Sheng's 10,000 troops... Yue Fei's troops should also be withdrawn appropriately, leaving 50,000 to 60,000 troops will be enough... Then we need to arrange for the civilians and auxiliary soldiers who were unable to return in time to do spring ploughing and replanting in the local area."
"Yes." Wu Da breathed a sigh of relief.
"And..." Zhao Jiu hesitated for a moment, and finally took it seriously. "After we have cleaned up and rested here, and after the meeting in Hejian, we should let Liangchen be the commander in chief, and Jinqing and Shaoyan be the assistants... Let Yue Fei and Tian Shizhong be the successors. If the Jin people are still stubborn after the advance to Yanjing, let Yue Pengju be the commander in chief and fight outside the border... How do you think?"
Han Shizhong and Li Yanxian, who had remained silent, also stepped forward and said yes.
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 destroyed, and it is a waste to maintain such a large field attack group. Only by withdrawing the troops and relieving the logistical pressure can they continue to move north, maintain the offensive, and advance to Yanjing.
But the question is, who should be sent to attack Yanjing and who should withdraw the troops back to the garrison?
From the perspective of military convenience, the next step should undoubtedly be to let the Hebei Front Army led by Yue Fei, Zhang Rong, Tian Shizhong, etc. gather the Imperial Camp Cavalry that was pursuing this time, as well as the Khitans and Mongols and go northward from Hejian.
But this also means that most of the central army, rear army and left army of the imperial camp must be withdrawn.
So why?
These troops in Hedong suffered heavy casualties in the Battle of Huolu and made outstanding military achievements, winning the world with one battle. Why should they, who had made greater contributions, be allowed to go back directly, while the Front Army and the Right Army of the Imperial Camp go to reap the fruits of Yanjing?
Shouldn't the Hedong Front Army take the lion's share of the gold, silver, merits, and honors in Yanjing?
Therefore, Zhao Jiu had to consider the morale of the Hedong Front Army, which had just made great contributions. Han Shizhong, Li Yanxian, and Wu Jie also needed to consider the opinions of their subordinates and not let them suffer any grievances.
However, as an official, Zhao Jiu could not only consider this point. He also had to consider food issues, political issues, and military discipline issues... Therefore, he came up with this compromise plan and withdrew the Western Mongolian army, which had the worst military discipline.
All I can say is that after a great victory, the road seems to be smooth, but there are new problems along the way.
Fortunately, after this battle, Emperor Zhao's authority was obviously stronger. As long as he could ensure rewards and punishments, no one would be able to openly oppose his opinions.
Turning back to the present, after presenting his compromise plan and obtaining the approval of his ministers, Emperor Zhao looked a little tired, but he immediately pointed towards Hebula, attracting everyone's attention.
Without a doubt, this is another troublesome matter.
"The young king greets the official."
Hebule knelt down from a distance. "Sorry to have kept you waiting for so long."
"Get up." Zhao Jiu said calmly, his face calm. "I have kept you waiting for so long."
Hebule stood up immediately and said nothing... Some things were already known to both parties, and they just said those words, but their attitude must be correct.
"Come a few steps closer." Emperor Zhao continued to order.
Hebule felt more and more relieved, and hurriedly took a few steps forward and came in front of Emperor Zhao. But even so, several officers followed him quietly, and several generals also slightly moved to the side and front, secretly trapping him.
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