"Mr. Lu has never let me down, and neither has the governor." Zhao Jiu sighed. "And Mr. Wang has never let me down either..."
Xu Jingheng was silent for a moment.
"What?" Zhao Jiu immediately noticed something.
"I have a few recent events to discuss with you..." Xu Jingheng became more solemn. "Old Taiwei Yang, the commander of the Imperial Camp's rear army, came to Tokyo to help as quickly as possible, but he fell ill after arriving in Tokyo. He passed away the night before I set out, when the Jin army withdrew from Luoyang."
Zhao Jiu was also silent for a moment.
"There was also one of the generals defending Luoyang, Zhai Xing, the eldest of the two Zhai. When the Jin army withdrew, he handed his subordinates over to his brother, and then led a small force out of Sishui Pass to pursue the Jin army. In the end, he died on the bank of the Yellow River."
"He feels guilty and is paying for his life... It's unnecessary."
"yes……"
"Zhai's soldiers are all from the clan. As an exception, let his son Zhai Cong inherit his position... Is there anything else?"
"Also, we just mentioned Yue Pengju's crossing the river to the north. That was what we said at the time, but now it seems that the fall of Luoyang, the death of Prime Minister Wang, and the death of old Taiwei Yang may not be unrelated to the advance of the Imperial Camp's front army to the north. Even the word "involved" seems a little insufficient..." Xu Jingheng continued to answer seriously. "After all, didn't the Hedong Jin army still have 20,000 troops coming from Longmen in this battle? I heard that the outcome of the decisive battle was almost shaken. Even the stability of Dongjing City was thanks to the timely arrival of the Imperial Camp's rear army, which divided its troops to block Songshan and Sishui Pass. Therefore, before I came here, the people in the capital were excited about your majesty's great victory, and public opinion was vaguely blaming Yue Pengju for the incidents of Prime Minister Wang and Taiwei Yang, and even Prime Minister Lu!"
Zhao Jiu nodded, not surprised, but soon shook his head and formally expressed his position: "In this battle, the victory of Guanxi, the defense of Shanzhou and Tongzhou, the loss of Luoyang, the stability of Dongjing Huaidong, and the advancement of Hebei are all one. In the end, we were able to drive the Jin people back because of the unity of the top and the bottom, the advance and retreat, the gains and losses... If there must be someone who is responsible, it is me. In fact, I knew about Yue Pengju's advance to the north before I set off and made a promise... How can the victory be mine and the loss be the fault of some ministers and generals? What's more, this battle was very dangerous from beginning to end. Even if Ziyu insisted on defending before, after this battle, I also felt that he was very reasonable at the time and fulfilled his duties."
"The governor also meant the same thing." Xu Jingheng glanced at Liu Ziyu, who looked calm, and was not surprised by Emperor Zhao's response. "How can we use the gains and losses after the battle to calculate the decision at that time? Moreover, Yue Pengju's move did involve the Hedong army, and also made Talan of Daming Prefecture almost unable to do anything. He was said to have made great contributions but no mistakes."
Zhao Jiu nodded, but seemed to be thinking: "Anything else to say?"
"Yes." Xu Jingheng continued to speak, but stood up and bowed solemnly. "Your Majesty, although we won this battle, the Central Plains is exhausted, the Jingxiang rebellion has also swept over more than ten states, and there is also the Wuling Rebellion that has not been dealt with for four or five years... Under such circumstances, Henan, as a place that has suffered repeated wars, can't possibly learn from Guanxi and Bashu to advance the taxes from the people next year, right? Therefore, the provincial government sent me here to congratulate you on your victory, to welcome you back to the throne, and to ask you to formally issue an order to order Yue Pengju to withdraw his troops immediately and return to Henan... In addition, I heard something else on the way and I am just going to discuss it with you."
Zhao Jiu looked at Xu Jingheng who was on high alert, and Yuwen Xuzhong and others who stood up when Xu Jingheng stood up. He hesitated for a moment, then sighed slightly:
"I cannot promise any of these four things!"
Xu Jingheng was stunned for a moment, but then he responded with a serious face: "Please speak frankly, so that I can respond."
"First, although this battle killed Lou Shi, captured Han Chang, annihilated more than 10,000 enemies, forced the Jin army to retreat, and saved Guanzhong, it can be regarded as the first great victory of the dynasty since the Jingkang period. But our army suffered heavy casualties, and the number of martyrs and those who died in battle, from Prime Minister Wang on down, totaled more than 10,000... The so-called great victory was also a tragic victory. I accept condolences but not congratulations!" Zhao Jiu faced the table solemnly. After speaking solemnly, he simply opened the gauze that had been covered after Xu Jingheng came, revealing several piles of names and the like.
Xu Jingheng was slightly startled, then took a few steps back and bowed respectfully: "I am ashamed!"
"Secondly," Zhao Jiu covered the wound with gauze again and continued to face him seriously. "Before the war, I made a promise to the young men of Guanxi and the soldiers of the imperial camp, that they would be granted land in exchange for their military merits... My words are as good as white on soap, and I must not go back on them. When this matter is settled, I will return to Tokyo!"
Xu Jingheng thought about it seriously, turned around and looked at Yuwen Xuzhong, then nodded heavily: "If that's the case, I have nothing to say."
"Third, Yue Pengju is a general who led tens of thousands of people to Hebei. We know nothing about the situation there. He has the power to decide whether to advance or retreat... I think that we should explain the difficulties in Henan to him and let him decide for himself, so there is no need to issue a special decree in my name or in the name of the provincial government or the Privy Council."
Xu Jingheng hesitated for a moment, then nodded slightly: "If so, I'm afraid he has already received the message from Tokyo City. However, I would like to write another letter in my personal name and send it by express horse."
"Okay." Zhao Jiu nodded in agreement.
"There is also a fourth matter..." Xu Jingheng continued. "The government hasn't even asked what it is, so are you going to deny it?"
"Didn't I confer the title of Prince to Han Shizhong on a blank sheet of paper, so that Li Shifu could inherit his father's title?" Zhao Jiu finally smiled. "Or did I guess wrong? Didn't Yuwen Xianggong mention this to Xu Xianggong along the way?"
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