After watching for a while, he was attracted by the smoke from the city's cooking fires that floated above the moon, and he couldn't help but sigh: "Li Qing, you said that with such a commotion, the Jin army scouts should have noticed it, right?"
"Reporting to the emperor, it must be so." Li Qiong, who had just heard the news and followed not long ago, immediately bowed his head behind him.
"Then do you think we can win this battle?" Zhao Jiu looked up at the sky with his hands behind his back and continued to smile.
"We will definitely win!" Li Qiong answered seriously immediately.
"Is that so?" Zhao Jiu found it interesting and couldn't help laughing again. "Are you so sure?"
"Of course!" Li Qiong replied impatiently. "Your Majesty, this is from the bottom of my heart! This is not a deliberate flattery!"
"Tell me."
"Good instructor, I know." Li Qiong quickly bowed and said, "I am from Xiangzhou, and I have experienced almost all the battles of Jingkang... I just feel that compared with the Jin people, it is not that we have fewer people than them, nor that our heroes are weaker than them, nor that our weapons and equipment are inferior to them... The reason we have been defeated many times is that the leaders are so inferior to the leaders of the Jin army!"
"It's quite interesting!" Zhao Jiu continued to laugh.
"Your Majesty." Li Qiong hurried to explain seriously. "I was in Hebei at that time. Although I didn't go to the battlefield, I also heard and saw some things... It is said that the marshals, princes, and crown princes of the Jin army often personally supervised the battles, commanding the three armies under the crossfire of arrows and stones, and they were self-confident. Although they were arrogant, they had to admit that they had the spirit of heroes. Once these people came to the front line in person, they did not take refuge, and even led the people to cross the river naked. Who in the Jin army would dare to cherish their lives? It is precisely because of this that the Jurchens were able to move forward and conquer thousands of miles. And what about the generals of the Song Dynasty? They were often not as talented as the average people. Whenever they went out to fight, they had to stay hundreds of miles away, claiming to be cautious. They summoned the troops and replaced the officers, but they only sent a messenger with empty documents to issue orders, claiming to win the battle thousands of miles away... In such a situation, it is not surprising that they were defeated repeatedly, the country was destroyed, and even the two saints were hunted in the north?"
"Is it the same for Zong Ze and Du Chong?" Zhao Jiu suddenly turned his head and asked.
"That's what I want to say." Li Qiong responded earnestly. "My mentor, Vice Marshal Zong, once became a general, he was able to wear coarse clothes, carry cooking utensils, lie on straw, and ride a cart in the army. So even though he was only a 70-year-old man with no military experience and had difficulty riding a horse into battle, he was able to win the hearts of the army, and defeated the Jin army at its sharpest point, saved Tokyo from being abandoned, and turned the surrounding bandits into soldiers in his hands. And what about Du Chong? Although he is my superior, what is the difference between his attitude and that of the group of people in Jingkang? What about communicating with the Jurchens without fighting? No wonder everyone was in a panic, forcing the emperor to come here in person to rectify the military law."
Zhao Jiu shook his head slightly, not knowing what he was thinking.
At this time, Li Qiong's three-part logical deduction finally came into place: "And today, the emperor did not avoid the sharp arrows, pierced through the enemy's cavalry, and came to the front line in person. The people were excited. Isn't it consistent with the attitude of my mentor as a commander? The dragon flag is raised. Who dares to cherish the life of the 80,000 people under the city of Yanling? And 80,000 people are willing to die for it, so what battle can't be won?"
Emperor Zhao shook his head again, but still remained silent.
By the way, Zhao Jiu didn't know whether this was the man's true words, or just flattery out of fear of his relationship with Du Chong and a special desire to show his loyalty... But no matter what, at this point, Emperor Zhao knew very well that since he had killed Du Chong with an axe in broad daylight, he had also cut into the foundation that he had worked hard to build in Nanyang for more than half a year, causing an irreversible rift between him and some people, so he must win this battle!
Because only by winning this battle can they continue to have Han Shizhong and Yue Fei as their advisors, and then control the Tokyo Liaison Office, which is actually a semi-independent Hebei exile group, and then gain an unquestionable huge political reputation... Only with this level of reputation can Nanyang pretend to forget Du Chong, continue to be obedient, and play the game of top-down unity.
Of course, after killing Du Chong, Emperor Zhao had actually done everything he could... It felt like sage time, and next was Yue Pengju's time... And this was the fundamental reason why Emperor Zhao did not refute Li Qiong's crude words. He was inexplicably full of confidence in the upcoming battle.
PS: Sorry... I wanted to take a leave at one point... I had a spicy chicken in the evening, and then I felt a severe pain above my forehead... I almost thought it was high blood pressure or something, but it actually got better slowly.
Still need 5.5k?
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