Chapter 326 Return
The Jinhepo League held on June 6, the sixth year of Jianyan seemed extremely hasty and casual.
The altar was a stone altar built in one day. The sacrificial text was copied word for word from history books. There was not even a seal for enthroning emperors and kings, they could only be crowned, but even the golden crown for coronation was a second-hand item picked up from the battlefield of Western Xia.
As for territorial boundaries, trade terms and the like, they were only roughly stated orally, and I don't know how many lawsuits will be involved.
However, no one could deny the effectiveness of this alliance, because there were hundreds of thousands of troops and heads of various military and political entities present. These troops and these people were enough to give anything casual or even absurd a serious and even sacred nature.
Therefore, after the meeting, as a semi-passive participant, although the international friend Zheng Zhichang almost suffered from heatstroke and was a little flustered about some words in the sacrificial text, he still wrote down his experiences of the day as soon as he returned to the tent... He planned to organize his legendary experience of accompanying the Emperor of Zhao Song and compile it into a note as soon as he returned to China.
But it is inevitable to polish it yourself.
In addition, it is said that several cultural figures including Lu Benzhong, and even Yue Fei, Qu Duan, and Liu Yan, also recorded this alliance in detail in the form of notes.
Of course, Emperor Zhao would definitely disdain such low-end expressions. He was much more high-end. He did not record things... He just recorded his life insights in his notebook that night, lamented the misery of the Khitan people leaving their homes, and expressed his simple national feelings.
At the very end, he briefly pointed out the significance of his small work, such as constructing a unified Chinese consciousness and the concept of the Chinese nation through this alliance, and cleverly bypassing the military to inflict a huge blow to the Jurchens.
Without further ado, the alliance has been concluded, and there is unlikely to be any domestic shock in the next few days. Instead, the army will be disbanded in a boring and cautious confrontation.
The Song army first made a large-scale corresponding action. The troops began to disperse gradually in sizes of two to three thousand people under the leadership of various commanders, but they did not retreat all at once. Instead, some crossed the river and went outside the river, and some advanced forward to the capital of Dongsheng Prefecture. Those who went back did not retreat directly, but established withdrawal routes behind them.
However, perhaps the previous alliance had seriously stimulated the Jurchens, so although the logistical pressure was also huge, the Jurchens still took the opportunity to launch several small-scale exploratory attacks, but they were properly dealt with by Yue Fei, the commander of the Song army who was well prepared.
In this way, by late June, the Jurchens finally could not hold on any longer and began to move south in an organized manner to find food and settle down, while most of the coalition forces also officially carried out a large-scale retreat along the Hetao-Xingling Road.
After many years of war, the reward and punishment system of the imperial camp system has become very credible. According to past practice, there is indeed not enough material preparation around Hetao, so large-scale military merit statistics and rewards should at least wait until returning to Chang'an. However, there is an emergency. Qu Duan, who was the deputy commander in attacking Xingqing Prefecture and whose merits were second only to Yue Fei and Hu Hongxiu, still received the imperial edict on the spot, becoming another general who was awarded the title of Jie after Han Shizhong, Yue Fei, Li Yanxian, Zhang Jun, Zhang Rong, Wu Jie, and Wang Yan.
Taking into account that Wang Yan was transferred to a civilian position early on, and Qu Duan was a full-fledged military commander in the imperial camp system, it is safe to say that after several ups and downs, Qu Duan officially became the seventh general of the Song Dynasty in name only.
As for Wang De, he is also participating in the war as a deputy commander this time. With his resume and his status as the deputy commander-in-chief of the imperial camp, it is very likely that he will eventually be awarded the title of general and become the eighth commander-in-chief... But that will probably have to wait until the emperor returns to the capital, goes through the Privy Council, and is discussed by the prime minister before it can happen.
After all, he was one step slower than Qu Duan.
Of course, Yue Fei must also follow Han Shizhong's example and become a Jiedushi of three towns, but it is hard to say whether he will be granted the title of a prince, because Yue Pengju is too young after all, and he himself may not want this. There is some discussion between the monarch and his ministers.
Li Shifu, on the other hand, had made great contributions this time, and had been promoted to deputy commander-in-chief of the Imperial Cavalry at an early stage. However, he was too young, a Dangxiang, and had a hereditary military rank. It was really hard to imagine how he would be rewarded this time.
Of course, these are all matters for the future. There is a reason why Qu Duan was directly appointed as the governor. He will lead a considerable number of armored cavalry and Yelu Yudu to stay in the Hetao area.
On the one hand, it means to assist in defense and establish border defense, and on the other hand, it is also necessary to supervise the Khitans to hand over the Khatun City to the Western Mongolian King Huerzahusi... In addition, there is also the intention of joining forces with Han Shizhong and Wu Jie's subordinates to search for Li Ganshun and his son, and there is also the task of obtaining food and war horses from this place, and recruiting Mongolian and Dangxiang soldiers who are good at riding and shooting to join the imperial cavalry.
At the same time, Wu Jie, who took over the Hewai defense zone, would cross the river directly from Jinhepo and lead his headquarters and Han Shizhong in the south to advance north and south to take over and control the six states outside the Hewai.
The six states outside the Yellow River are also very troublesome. Three of them are the former Khitan territories and are border areas. There are many remnants of the Liao Dynasty. In addition, the Khitan and Xi tribes gathered in Hengshan must be given to Yelu Dashi according to the alliance. However, Zhao Jiu cannot allow Yelu Dashi's army to stay in his own territory for a long time... At the same time, there is also the Zhe family in the other three states, which is extremely sensitive within the Song Dynasty and involves many basic political attitudes of the court. It must be controlled first and then the outcome can be determined.
What's more, they had to take into account the Jurchens who were across the river, and they also had to consider that the autumn harvest was just over a month away.
In short, the entire Northwest was a mess after the war. It could not be slow or fast, impatient or delayed.
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