Lu Benzhong suddenly realized that it must be because of the passage of time. Nan Taihang could hear news from Henan to some extent, so the matter of the fake Prince Xin was gradually exposed, and Ma Kuo's credibility in this regard was gradually ruined.
"Whether you bring it or not, you have to report it!" Zhao Jiu thought about it and responded seriously. "After Ma Qing leaves, I will have the details of your visit to me published in the official newspaper, from Brother Liang to Zhang Heng, and then to the matter of the conferment of the imperial seal, all published together... It's better to have it than not to have it."
"Thank you, Your Majesty." Ma Kuo felt relieved.
"The most reliable route to Taihang Mountain now should still be the one to Jiezhou (north of Shanzhou), right?"
"yes."
"I will ask Li Yanxian to send some military equipment to you. It will be best to have a strong army and powerful horses."
"Forgive me for speaking frankly," Ma Kuo quickly became serious again. "It would be best if the emperor did not send any good weapons, not even a crossbow, a big axe, or iron armor. Used leather armor and ordinary swords would be the best..."
"Are you afraid of being intercepted by the Jurchens?"
"yes."
"Thank you for your hard work." Zhao Jiu was full of emotion. "It's really difficult behind enemy lines."
Ma Kuo did not try to be modest or anything, he just sighed among the people present.
So far, he had asked about Ma Kuo's condition. After a while, Zhao Jiu regained his spirits, but did not speak directly. He just glanced at his accompanying ministers. At one time, at least three or four people understood, but Ren Baozhong, who was white-haired, was the fastest.
The man took a step forward and immediately bowed to Ma Kuo, "General Manager Ma, I am Ren Baozhong, the doorman of the cabinet, and I am here to assist the emperor in military affairs. I have something to ask you, General Manager. As soon as you landed, you told the emperor that it is not appropriate to march north at this time... Then, General Manager, when can we march north? You should have a plan in mind."
"That's right." Direct Scholar Lu Benzhong also looked serious. "Ma Zongguan has a hard time in the north, but he may not know that the government is also in a very difficult situation in the south. There are always people who want to abandon the two rivers in order to live in peace. Every now and then, they force the government to get rid of many people. These people gather in the south, rely on the Taoist Academy, and respond to things. There is a tendency to form a party. We must guard against it... If we can't fight north for a long time, I'm afraid it will be difficult to unite the people in the south."
Ma Kuo frowned slightly, obviously unable to digest it properly for a while.
At this time, Liu Hongdao, the assistant minister of the Ministry of War and the chief water conservancy officer, suddenly stepped forward for some reason and said seriously, "In fact, the South often discusses military affairs because they have their own difficulties. In order to recover the Central Plains, pacify Guanxi, and support 200,000 imperial troops, the taxes in the South have been extremely heavy, and the people have many complaints..."
"But the people of the two rivers are in dire straits?" Ma Kuo was shocked when he heard this and hurriedly stood up to protest. "Do I need to say more about the cruelty of the Jurchens? When the Eight Character Army left, we were defeated from the northern Taihang Mountains, but in just half a year, we restored the previous 30,000 regulations. It can be seen that the people of the two rivers have been tortured. The Meng'an and Mouke were settled in the two rivers, forcibly occupying the land and forcing the Han people to be slaves. These have been said thousands of times. If I say it again, I'm afraid everyone in the central government will be tired of it... But Minister Liu, do you know that the Jurchens still have a hair-cutting order? It is to force the people to shave their hair like them."
Liu Hongdao was caught off guard.
"Although this order has been gradually relaxed, it is because the people have been resisting every day, and it is only because the government won the victory in Yaoshan that it has gradually become so! If you meet someone with a violent heart, you still have to do this... Last year in Shizhou, there was a Han official who passed the imperial examination in the Marshal's Office of Nianhan and became a county magistrate. He first shaved his head, and then stood on the street, demanding that the people on the street must not let their hair touch his hair, otherwise he would be beheaded... Minister Liu, no matter how hard the people in the south of the Yangtze River are, how can they be compared with the people in the two rivers? How can you use these words to prevaricate the Northern Expedition?!" Ma Kuo scolded continuously, and he was very emotional, as if he was irritated again.
When the man was angry, not to mention Emperor Zhao was a little furious, Ren Baozhong and Lu Benzhong also felt disgusted with Liu Hongdao for ruining the situation... Especially Ren Baozhong, although he didn't say it, he was secretly worried about the hair issue, fearing that Emperor Zhao would notice it and then dislike him... He hated Liu Hongdao's talkativeness.
As for Liu Hongdao, after a moment of surprise, he also became a little angry: "General Manager Ma! Where did I say a word that the Northern Expedition is not allowed? Instead, why did you persuade the emperor not to go on the Northern Expedition as soon as you landed?"
Ma Kuo lost his composure when he heard this, and his eyes turned red in an instant: "It is because I am worried every day, looking forward to the royal army going north, that I am worried about gains and losses, fearing that if I make a mistake one day, the Yanyun incident will happen again! Minister Liu, is it appropriate for me to flatter you and many other senior officials, but not speak for the people of Lianghe?"
Liu Hongdao was completely speechless due to embarrassment.
"Ma Qing, don't pay attention to them." Zhao Jiu saw that the situation was out of control, so he had to speak again. "I will take care of everything... They originally wanted to ask you about the strength of the north! For example, how many soldiers do the Jurchens have?!"
Ma Kuo forced himself to calm down, turned around and saluted, "Your Majesty, I really don't know the total number of Jurchens' troops at the moment... but I can roughly calculate it."
"How do you calculate it?"
"During the Jingkang period, when the Jurchens were at their peak, the total number of soldiers and horses was very simple." Ma Kuo replied seriously. "The East and West armies each had 10 Wanhu and 100 Meng'an, but each Meng'an had no reinforcements at that time. There were about 5-6 Mouke and 500-600 cavalry for each Meng'an. In other words, the East and West armies each had 60,000 soldiers! This was the foundation of the Jurchens' nation!"
Zhao Jiu nodded slowly.
"At the same time, there was also the Ever-Victorious Army that was captured during the annihilation of Liao." Ma Kuo continued to explain. "It didn't matter how many soldiers the Ever-Victorious Army had at the beginning, but when Guo Yaoshi was fickle and rebelled against the Song Dynasty, he took away a group of 50,000 people. I estimate that he actually had more than 40,000 people... However, the Ever-Victorious Army had a lot of contact with the Jurchens, and most of them were from Liaodong. They were not afraid of the Jurchens in their hearts, and they were also fickle, so they attracted fear. So after Guo Yaoshi surrendered, the Jurchens worked together to imprison the generals and kill the officers for several years. Basically, they cleared out all the generals of the Ever-Victorious Army. Because some of the generals resisted, they simply killed 7,000 to 8,000 people with their soldiers. In the end, there were about 20,000 to 30,000 left, as if they had been completely drained of their bones. They were directly dispersed, and most of them served as reinforcements for the various Meng'an."
My dear, there is more to this chapter. Please click on the next page to continue reading. It’s even more exciting later!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
