Chapter 164: The Southern Song Court

Lin'an, Chuigong Hall.

The late autumn wind poured in from the direction of Xihu, carrying the cloying sweetness of osmanthus. Inside the hall, high-quality agarwood incense burned, yet it could not suppress that faint, lingering smell of mold—emanating from old maps brought over from the Bureau of Military Affairs.

Su Shidan, the Director of the Bureau of Military Affairs, knelt beneath the vermilion steps, a fine layer of sweat beading on his forehead. He held a thick stack of military reports in his hands; the paper edges were frayed, clearly from being read over and over again.

"Speak." Han Tuozhou's voice came from beside the Shanghe Yuan. He wore no court robes, only everyday attire, with a jade-hilted sword at his waist. His demeanor was relaxed, a faint smile even playing on his lips.

Su Shidan swallowed, then began: "Reports from the north are growing more frequent. I have synthesized intelligence from various border outposts, accounts from border merchants, and news brought by returnees, and can roughly piece together a picture."

He turned the first page.

"This spring, a great war erupted on the steppes. On one side stood an alliance of Wang Han's Kereit tribe, Jamukha's Jadaran tribe, the Naiman's Tayang Khan, and over a dozen other tribes, claiming a hundred thousand cavalry."

"And the other side?" Han Tuozhou asked.

Su Shidan paused, glancing down at the papers in his hand, seeming to find the notion absurd himself: "The other side... was an organization called the 'New Ming Party'. According to the returnees, their leaders are a man named Zhang Chu'an, who appears to be only seventeen or eighteen, and another, even more preposterous, a ten-year-old child named Guo Jing."

Silence fell over the hall for an instant.

Han Tuozhou laughed aloud.

"Seventeen or eighteen? Ten years old?" He shook his head. "Do the people of the steppes decide who to fight by comparing how many children each family has?"

Su Shidan did not laugh. His fingers trembled slightly as he continued reading.

"The result of this battle... the alliance was utterly annihilated. Wang Han was killed in action; the Kereit tribe was reorganized and absorbed. Jamukha was captured and executed. Tayang Khan of the Naiman fell in battle; his people scattered, and his son Kuchlug led the remnants fleeing west. When news reached the various steppe tribes, within a month, the Tatar, Merkit, and Oirat tribes either surrendered or were destroyed. The entire Mongolian Plateau now possesses no force capable of challenging them."

Han Tuozhou's smile froze on his face.

"... Utterly annihilated? A hundred thousand cavalry?" His tone shifted. "Has this news been verified?"

"Verified by multiple sources." Su Shidan's voice was dry. "Among the returnees are several Han slaves who escaped from the Kereit tribe; their accounts match. Additionally, the mission sent to Jin has brought back some indirect intelligence—the Jin's northern border markets have mostly closed, all border troops have entered a state of imminent combat, the Jin ruler Wanyan Jing has ordered three thousand elite troops moved north from Zhongdu, and even two commands have been withdrawn from the garrison at Tongguan."

He presented several silk scrolls: "These are military reports sent back by spies within Jin territory. The Jin are constructing fortifications on a massive scale along the northern line: three lines of trenches dug, arrow towers every hundred paces. This is not the standard for repelling small tribal raids; it looks as if they are preparing to defend against a large army moving south."

Han Tuozhou took the scrolls, scanned them quickly, and his brows gradually furrowed.

"This 'New Ming Party'... what is their origin?" he asked. "Which tribe are they from? What is their background?"

Su Shidan's sweat beaded even more densely.

"Replying to Grand Preceptor, this is precisely the most difficult part. They are not a tribe." He said, "According to the returnees, the 'New Ming Party' has a rigorous organizational system, divided from top to bottom into 'Committees' and 'Branches'. Their army is not called an army, but 'People's Armed Forces'; they are not organized by tribe, but reorganized into divisions, brigades, regiments, and battalions, with uniform uniforms and unified commands. Soldiers attend 'political classes' daily, learning to read and studying some 'ism'. The leader Guo Jing does not call himself Khan, nor King, but only 'General Secretary'."

He paused, his voice dropping lower: "There is one more thing... they have purged the nobility of the steppes, regardless of tribe; anyone who did not surrender was eliminated. All populations were scattered and reorganized; pastures were redistributed. Returnees who witnessed it say the corpses of those tribal leaders were hung along the way, and the wind blew across the steppes for half a month before they were all collected."

The hall fell completely silent.

The column of agarwood smoke rose straight up, not a single waver.

Emperor Ningzong Zhao Kuo, seated behind the Shanghe Yuan, had remained silent until now; only then did he speak softly: "Then what is their attitude toward our Great Song?"

Su Shidan shook his head: "No contact has been made yet. They are separated from the Jin border by hundreds of li of steppe, with no signs of moving south. The Jin have not launched an offensive either, merely defending desperately. Additionally, there are reports that someone in Western Xia seems to have attempted contacting this force, but there has been no follow-up."

"Have they fought the Jin?"

"Not a single battle." Su Shidan said. "The Jin dare not fight; they have no intention of fighting either. The two sides simply face each other across the border."

Han Tuozhou fell silent for a moment, then suddenly laughed. This laugh was different from the last—the first had been disdain; this one was relief.

"Your Majesty," he turned to Zhao Kuo and bowed with clasped hands, "this is a heaven-sent opportunity."

Zhao Kuo looked at him, his eyes seeking counsel.

"I was somewhat worried just now, but hearing this, I now understand." Han Tuozhou spoke confidently. "This 'New Ming Party' can indeed absorb the various steppe tribes; they possess some skill. But consider, Your Majesty: the steppes have always been thus. A great ruler emerges, absorbs the tribes, and then what? Then comes fragmentation. The Xiongnu were so, the Turks were so, the Uighurs were so. This is a dead cycle of the steppes; no one can break it."

He walked to the map, pointing his finger north.

"Moreover, the fact that they are not moving south to attack Jin now proves what? It proves they lack confidence. Absorbing tribes is one matter; assaulting fortified cities and breaking major strongholds is another. Steppe cavalry come and go like the wind; open-field warfare is their strength, but the Jin's northern defense system has been cultivated for decades. The walls are high, the moats deep; they are not so easily bitten."

He turned around, a sharp light flashing in his eyes: "And what of Jin? Wanyan Jing was so frightened he withdrew troops from Tongguan! Tongguan is the Jin's first gateway defending against our Great Song. By withdrawing troops from here, what does it signify? It signifies the Jin have lost their composure; the pressure from the north has become so great they must tear down the eastern wall to patch the western one."

"This is the heaven-sent opportunity for a northern expedition!" His voice rose several degrees. "Jin faces a powerful enemy pressing from the north, while internally they suffer years of famine, their treasury is empty, and their forces are stretched thin. If our Great Song launches troops now, recovering the Central Plains is but a matter of days!"

Su Shidan hesitated, then spoke: "Grand Preceptor... the methods of that New Ming Party seem quite different from previous steppe rulers. Their training methods for the 'People's Armed Forces', along with purging nobles and scattering tribes, do not sound like mere steppe tribes..."

"Just a band of horse thieves." Han Tuozhou waved his hand, his tone dismissive. "Burning, killing, and plundering; has any tribal annexation on the steppes ever been otherwise? They simply change the style of killing. It may frighten the steppe barbarians, but it cannot frighten our Great Song. As for those 'political classes' and learning to read—a ten-year-old child as leader, what do you expect him to teach? It is merely playing with ghosts and spirits, using tricks to win hearts. Once this momentum fades, the steppes will be the steppes once more."

He looked at Zhao Kuo: "Your Majesty, opportunities vanish in an instant. With Jin tied down in the north, this is the best moment for our Great Song to recover the Two Capitals and wash away the shame of Jingkang. I beg Your Majesty to issue an edict, ordering troops from the Jianghuai and Jingxiang circuits to intensify preparations; by next spring, we can swear the army to the northern expedition!"