However, thinking about it the other way around, Emperor Zhao went straight into the camp yesterday, found me, and entrusted the fate of the country to me. Although it may seem like he is at the end of his rope, it also shows his trust in me.
So, after thinking for a while, Yue Pengju carefully reminded the so-called half-prime minister who had recommended him to be the governor that day:
"Minister, forgive me for speaking frankly, but today's victory cannot be repeated lightly... Today's incident was caused by Du Chong, and our army lost all opportunities and had no control. Seeing that the overall situation was about to deteriorate, the emperor came here alone and made a desperate move..."
"alright!"
Hu Yin had tolerated Han Shizhong and Wang Yan, but now that he saw Yue Fei, whom he had recommended in the past, he no longer had to tolerate him and immediately interrupted him. "I know that we cannot fight in Nanyang!"
The reason for his temper was unclear, but Scholar Kobayashi, who remained silent, and Wanqi Xie, who was standing there, guessed a little bit of the reason. They probably understood that Hu Mingzhong was fed up with the label of "ignorant of military affairs" and wanted to correct it. However, the attitude of the three generals confirmed his reputation of "harming the country and the army", so he lost his temper.
However, only the two civil servant elites understood this kind of thinking, Han Shizhong and Wang Yan did not, and Yue Fei, who was meeting such a high-level official for the first time, did not understand it even more. He thought he had committed some taboo and offended this benevolent prime minister!
However, this Prime Minister was the only purple-robed civil servant at the table. If he really had to make a decision, according to previous knowledge, he was more useful than Han Shizhong. So Yue Fei was angry and even a little aggrieved, but for the sake of the overall situation, he could only try to whisper and persuade carefully:
"Zhongcheng, there is another reason why we cannot go to Nanyang... Now Wanyan Talan has retreated to the north. He has ten Meng'an. After Yelu Mawu joins him, he will have seventeen or eighteen Meng'an. Their fighting power is still not weak. There are enemies in both the north and the south. So whether we go south or north, we must divide our forces to block the other side to prevent the two from merging... And once we divide our forces, how can we still fight against the powerful enemy in Nanyang?"
Hu Yin was a man who was definitely one of the most elite figures in front of Emperor Zhao when he was not involved in military affairs. Seeing Yue Fei's expression and tone, how could he not understand his intentions? But he couldn't get angry again and cause misunderstanding, so he could only watch him carefully "explain" to him, as if he could really interfere in military affairs in front of Emperor Zhao.
But secretly, he was already so angry that his whole body was cold, and his hands were shaking under the desk.
Yue Fei finished speaking carefully and looked at Hu Yin again. He felt relieved when he saw that the other party stopped talking. Little did he know that his prime minister was already furious.
Fortunately, Han Shizhong could no longer hold back and continued with Yue Fei's words, "In fact, General Yue and General Wang's previous remarks were quite insightful..."
Yue Fei was stunned for a moment, but didn't dare to interrupt.
"That is, even though we won this battle, our troops were damaged and our supplies were limited. Secondly, this place connects the north and the south, so we need to send some troops to act as a barrier to prevent the Jin army from joining the north and the south." Han Shizhong held his head high and finally continued his speech at the banquet. "And if this is the case, we must be careful when sending troops again... It is absolutely impossible to go to Nanyang. Although we won today, I still have to say that Nanyang is really difficult to win; but the rest of the east, west, and north are all feasible."
When everyone heard the word "minister", they all looked at Emperor Zhao who was sitting in the main seat. Unexpectedly, they saw Emperor Zhao looking up at the skylight above his head in a trance. However, this did not prevent him from calmly lowering his head and looking at the other person with a serious expression:
"Good minister, please tell me!"
"Yes, Your Majesty." Han Shizhong hurriedly held his belt and continued. "To the north, of course, we should pursue Wanyan Talan. Talan has lost his courage after this defeat. In addition, Pucha Hubalu is dead. Even though they have 17 or 18 Meng'an, they may be able to take advantage of the situation to pursue us... This strategy is the most urgent and risky, but once it succeeds, it will completely put an end to the Jin army's southward advance."
"It's true that Pucha Hubalu is dead, but what about Yelu Mawu?" Zhao Jiu thought for a moment and asked seriously.
"Yelu Ma Wu is not incapable." Han Shizhong sneered. "But his troops are the surrendered Khitan soldiers under Yelu Yudu. I advised you to be careful of Pucha Hubalu before, not only because he is still brave enough to fight, but also because he is Talai's son-in-law. At the critical moment, Talai can let go and entrust the matter to his son-in-law. But now, Talai's army has been defeated and he only has ten Meng'an, while Yelu Ma Wu still has seven or eight Meng'an... Therefore, if our army advances quickly tomorrow to force him, he may not trust the surname Yelu!"
Zhao Jiu suddenly understood, and Yue Fei, Wang Yan, and even Hu Yin and Wanqi Xie all nodded at this time... Obviously, even if Yue Fei was sitting here, considering his age, Han Shizhong was still the "first in the world" in military strategy anyway, and this analysis was enough to convince everyone.
"As for going east... it's to get food in Huaixi, join forces with General Zhang, and besiege Nanjing." Han Shizhong continued. "Nanjing has the smallest number of Jin troops, and by joining forces with General Zhang and taking military rations from Huaihe, we can naturally gather a large army back to Wuhe to confront the enemy and look for an opportunity to fight again... This is the safest way, but it will inevitably miss the opportunity, and changes will occur if we delay."
Zhao Jiu nodded again: "What about going west?"
"Going west doesn't really mean going west, but it means that after the army sweeps through the Five Rivers and relieves the siege of the cities, it will defend this place." Han Shizhong became a little more serious. "But we must go west and set up troops in the Ruzhou area to completely cut off all the retreat routes of the enemy troops in Nanyang... This is actually a return to the old policy of the Privy Council, the so-called closing the door and cutting off the rear!"
Zhao Jiu understood in his heart, but he smiled again: "Which one do you think is better, Liangchen?"
"Of course I want to go north and have a good fight first!" Han Shizhong sighed. "But from the overall situation, it is better to go west, that is, to re-deploy the troops between the Five Rivers and force Nanyang Wanyan Wushu to withdraw... Of course, the three strategies are just about speed, slowness, stability and risk, and the emperor can decide for himself."
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