The Jin army envoy was Zhang Jun's fellow villager, a native of Fengxiang Prefecture, and a former comrade-in-arms of the Western Army. He surrendered in the extremely cowardly Battle of Taiyuan. His name was Zhao Qiu. Now he was leading a few hundred people in the Jin army as the deputy of a certain Meng'an (a thousand-man captain). In fact, he was a supplement to the vassal army of this Meng'an.
But no matter what, Zhang Jun naturally gave enough face to his fellow villager and old friend who met in a different place. He personally entertained him in his own residence. No one knew what he said, but everyone saw him leave the city contentedly in the afternoon, so the morale of the army was inevitably shaken; and the newly appointed Shouzhou prefect Zhao Ding heard the news and went to the residence of Zhang Taiwei to inquire, but he did not come out, so the morale of the army became even more shaken!
"That's what he said?"
To the east of Xiacai City, in a newly built open camp near the river bank of the Jin army's main camp, Jin Wushu, who was patrolling on horseback, was overjoyed when he heard the report.
Of course I was overjoyed!
Last night, the fourth prince of the Jin Dynasty was floating on the river. He saw with his own eyes the steep mountains, fast-flowing rivers, strong cities, and the advance arrangements made by the Song army. Although he was confident that the Jin army was invincible in field battles, he couldn't help but feel secretly frightened... To be honest, with such a terrain and preparation, if Liu Guangshi had not run so embarrassedly, Jin Wushu almost thought that he had fallen into the trap of the Song emperor's strategy of luring the enemy, deliberately luring him here alone, and then returning empty-handed to boost morale.
But on the other hand, Liu Guangshi's escape was so embarrassing that it was impossible for him to fake it; an extremely important link in the Huaihe River defense system, that is, the large-scale interactive channel between Xiacai City and Huainan Camp, was cut off again; the strategic goal of this southward march was just on the other side of the river... If Jin Wushu didn't do something about it, he would be missing the opportunity to fight!
Coming back to the present, Zhang Jun's answer was so direct and straightforward that it naturally made Jin Wushu feel that the fog had cleared up - this group of Song people were still the same as most of them after all, and those from Taiyuan and Shanzhou were rare.
"Reporting to the Fourth Prince, he told me personally that he wanted 1,000 taels of gold and 30,000 taels of silver, and the rest of the treasures and wealth would be given by the Fourth Prince as a reward!" Zhao Qiu knelt down and said. "He said that the silver was used to buy soldiers and civilians in the city, the gold was used to buy officers, and the treasures and wealth that came later were the Fourth Prince's rewards to him personally... He also asked the Fourth Prince to sign a written receipt so that he wouldn't regret it later!"
"I regret it!" Jin Wushu laughed even louder, causing the Jurchens around him to laugh as well. "But this general is too greedy... I believe he can bribe officers, but how can he bribe soldiers and civilians? He just wants to enrich himself. Go back and tell him that I do have some treasures in my account, and I can give him half of them, but how can you ask me to find so much gold and silver in such a short time?"
Zhao Qiu wanted to say something but hesitated, but did not dare to refute at all. He just accepted the order and left.
After Zhao Qiu left, the short Ali next to him couldn't help but frowned: "Fourth Prince, since Xiacai City is in turmoil, after the men drive the surrounding Han people here to cut wood and start construction, should we use siege equipment first, or build a floating bridge and pull boats first?"
"No matter whether Xia Caicheng is shaky or not, we must first build a floating bridge to pull the boats." Jin Wushu replied with a disdainful look. "I have said it many times, this battle is mainly about the man on the southern mountain range of Huaibei! What's the use of the troops and horses in other prefectures? If we really want to take the military prefectures, aren't there seven or eight military prefectures south of Mount Tai available for us to take now? And why does General Ali have to pretend? If I want to attack the city first, why don't I put this timber yard to the north of the camp to protect it? Putting it here is to cross the river first! Of course, if we can take Caicheng without fighting, that would be great!"
Ali frowned more and more: "I heard that there were only flags on the other side, and the Emperor of Song had already fled..."
"No!" Wuzhu replied proudly. "I saw it with my own eyes in the river last night. The camp on the other side was very orderly. If there was no Emperor of Song, how could Liu Guangshi's defeated soldiers obey the command so well? Even Wang Yasha couldn't control them! In short, General Ali, if you are sober, don't say too much. Although I am leading a large army for the first time, I grew up in the army. I did nothing wrong in the two battles in Jingdong East Road. Why do you want to point fingers at me?"
Ali was helpless and frowned without saying a word. Even Erlubu, another captain who was about to speak, showed no intention of talking.
However, another Han surrendered man, originally a county magistrate in Jingdong Road, saw an opportunity and could not help but speak carefully: "Fourth Prince?"
"If you have something to say, just say it!" Wuzhu rode on his horse without turning his head. "Are you afraid that I will eat you?"
"Yes... although the official... although the Zhao Song official may indeed be in Bagong Mountain in the south, the ferry in Xiacai City in the north has been burned down, and the two sides can only communicate through messengers. Therefore, ordinary soldiers in Xiacai City may not believe that the Zhao Song official is still here. Why not take advantage of the unrest in the city and forge letters and notices, saying that the Zhao Song official has indeed fled, and there is only a dragon flag here to deceive them, and then let that Zhao Qiu Zhao... Zhao Taiwei bring him into the city to shake Zhang Jun's determination?"
"Forget about Zhao Qiu." Jin Wushu seemed to be thinking. "Because Zhang Jun is a general who leads 10,000 people, it's up to him whether he believes this or not. But the soldiers in the city can give it a try... This is a good idea. I will promote you to be my assistant and do this!"
"Thank you, Fourth Prince, for your grace!" The man was excited for a moment, quickly dismounted and bowed, then hurriedly got on his horse and left.
After the man left, Wuzhu inspected the area again. In addition to urging people to drive the surrounding Han people to come and cut wood for work, he ordered the separation of three elite Meng'an (a team of one thousand men, with a captain of one thousand men)... One team was to sweep to the north, in order to get in touch with the troops that had gone to Jeju before and open up a retreat; the other two teams were to go east along the Huai River, and the other team was to bypass Xiacai City and cross the Feishui River, in order to collect boats along the way, find a suitable ferry, and gather military intelligence.
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