Chapter 124: Temujin

"Your Highness, may I ask why you are so anxious? Although the forty thousand-strong army requires a vast amount of grain and logistics, given the Jin Chao's foundation, it should be able to hold out, right?" Temujin asked in confusion, feeling that Wanyan Honglie must have a major issue behind this question.

"How to put it? This time, when the forty thousand-strong army marches against the Mongols, the Inspectors of the several prefectures along the route are all from the Revolutionary Army. I fear that when the great battle begins, these people might sabotage things," Wanyan Honglie sighed and said slowly.

Time froze at this moment; no one knew what to say. Fighting an enemy while the person responsible for escorting the logistics is an enemy's man—how could this not be a certain defeat?

Do you even need to fear sabotage? They will definitely sabotage. As soon as the great army marches out beyond the Great Wall, they will cut off all grain and supplies.

"Your Highness, your Jin Chao commands a million soldiers, and you have absolute control over the lands under your rule. How did you allow these people to grow so powerful?" Temujin asked, suppressing his anger.

"Actually, our Jin Chao does not have absolute control over the Jin Chao. At least in the countryside, we mainly rely on the gentry to rule there. Of course, since ancient times, Han dynasties have done the same; we are just following local customs."

"However, when these people first began to grow powerful, they never attacked county towns. After the county magistrates sent troops to suppress them without success, seeing that they did not attack county towns, they did not report it. They waited until their term ended to transfer, leaving this mess to the next incumbent. The next incumbent, seeing they did not attack, simply ignored them."

"Although county towns are political and economic centers, the countryside is far more extensive with a huge population. Moreover, our Jin Chao is indeed unstable, with various anti-Jin uprisings emerging one after another. Many officials within the Jin Chao have risen in rebellion. Compared to the commotion caused by these people, the Revolutionary Army's commotion is little more than banditry, so naturally no one wanted to pay attention to them?" After Wanyan Honglie finished speaking, Temujin's heart tightened; the person who researched this strategy of surrounding the cities from the countryside was truly a master.

This was too brilliant; not only did they develop their power, but they also avoided attracting the court's attention. But why did your Jin Chao not only fail to exterminate and suppress them but even let them serve as officials within your territory?

Regarding this question, Wanyan Honglie chose to refuse an answer. Since Wanyan Honglie did not answer, he did not ask further.

What currently troubled him was that he had fallen into the political power struggle within the Jin Chao court. Just based on Wanyan Honglie's hospitality today, that Wanyan Hongxi must have already recognized him as Wanyan Honglie's man.

However, judging by Wanyan Hongxi's behavior in extensively enlisting members of the Revolutionary Party, this person was quite foolish. Dealing with him should not be difficult. Yet, at today's banquet, Wanyan Honglie behaved with propriety and composure; why would he lose to such a foolish Wanyan Hongxi?

Although Wanyan Honglie did not want to speak, the impact of the struggle for the heir was so great that the Jin Chao court could not hide it; they could easily find out.

Regarding the matter of gathering intelligence, he entrusted it to the most reliable Muqali. Sure enough, in less than a day, Muqali returned.

After returning, Muqali had a strange expression. Temujin was certain he had learned some bad news. Temujin comforted him repeatedly: "Muqali, do not be like this. Yesterday we had so much bad news, yet we got through it. Is there an even worse situation now?"

"Great Khan, you should listen to me finish," Muqali said concisely. He recounted how Wanyan Honglie lost his throne, how he was ambushed by Qiu Chuji at Ox Village and saved by Bao Xiruo, how to obtain Bao Xiruo he colluded with the Song officer Duan Tiande to kill the Guo and Yang families, ultimately causing their families to be destroyed.

At that time, Bao Xiruo was already pregnant, yet Wanyan Honglie still married her as his Princess Consort. Moreover, for all these years, Wanyan Honglie had only one son, Yang Kang.

Temujin was numb, utterly numb. Previously, he thought Wanyan Honglie had an extraordinary bearing and wondered why he lost to Wanyan Hongxi. Now, he only wanted to gouge out his own eyeballs and use them as cannonballs.

Raising someone else's son is acceptable; it is not shameful. After all, his own eldest son, Jochi, was not his biological son. But the problem is you cannot have only this one son; does that not mean this son is definitely going to inherit your throne?

Your ancestor Wanyan Aguda worked so hard to win this Jiangshan, yet you handed it over into the hands of an outsider. Temujin felt that the Jin Chao Emperor truly doted on this Wanyan Honglie. If it were his own son, it would be uncertain whether this son could even keep his life.

The key is how to clear this dungeon. Temujin scratched his head and asked Muqali: "Muqali, how much chance do you think there is for the Great Jin to ally with the Great Song to deal with the Revolutionary Army?"

Muqali wore a bitter smile: "Great Khan, I knew you would ask this question, so I inquired about the relationship between their two nations. Let me put it this way: whoever it is, if they cripple the Jin Chao or even destroy it, the Song State will have to help out."

"Such a deep grudge? That doesn't make sense. It is normal for two warring nations to have some conflicts. Would they face the risk of national annihilation just to help the Revolutionary Army fight the Great Jin?" Temujin asked with a puzzled expression.

"It is actually quite possible." Muqali recalled the so-called Humiliation of Jingkang and could not help but twitch the corners of his mouth.

The fact that two Song Emperors and a large number of royal family members were captured and taken to Wuguocheng was nothing to mention.

They were even forced to perform the "Sheep-Leading Ritual" in front of the temple of Jin Taizu Wanyan Aguda. This was a Jin custom: bare-chested, draped in sheepskin, with a rope around the neck, being led like sheep.

Even worse, after the Song Emperors died, their bodies were refined into corpse oil.

On the surface, they were buried, but in reality, the coffins contained only a few pieces of wood; there were no bodies. Because the Song Gaozong of the Southern Song had requested his coffin back, but by then, Song Gaozong could no longer trace the whereabouts of his remains.

Song Princesses and Commandery Princesses were sold by the Jin people at fixed prices: Princesses and Imperial Consorts at one thousand taels each, Commandery Princesses and Young Ladies at five hundred taels each, and ordinary women at one hundred taels each. At that time, even the mother of Song Gaozong, Empress Dowager Wei, was assigned to the Laundry Bureau, where she had to work during the day, bare-chested, and serve the Jin people for pleasure at night.

A person nearly fifty years old received at least a hundred guests a day, and this person was the birth mother of the succeeding emperor of the Southern Song.

The Songhui Sect and Song Qinzong, the two emperors, were after being demoted to commoners by the Jin Dynasty, further bestowed with the titles "Duke of Humbling Virtue" and "Marquis of Double Humbling" to humiliate them.

It is said that Song Qinzong was required to ride a horse for the Jin people's entertainment alongside the Liao Tianzuo Emperor.

Although it was called horse riding, the two of them were actually prey, and eventually, they were chased down and trampled to death by the Jin people's horses.

Temujin was shocked. The hatred of having one's father killed, the hatred of having one's wife taken, and that well-known national essence—any one of these three matters constitutes a hatred that ends only in death. Yet you have gathered them all, and not only gathered them but upgraded them.

Temujin recalled his own difficult and arduous life: at nine years old, his father was poisoned; he and his mother were expelled by their clan and sought out by his father's enemies.

His wife was captured by others to save him and bore a child that was not his. After finally becoming the Great Khan, he encountered the Revolutionary Army.

My life has been like walking on thin ice; can I reach the other shore?