Chapter 151

Let us speak then of Du Chong. After arriving at Yancheng, he drove away the Heilong Wang Sheng, a subordinate of Han Shizhong who had been stationed there, and now the defense of Yancheng was in the hands of Li Qiong, a fellow townsman of his, Yue Fei, Zhang Yong, and Kong Yanzhou.

As for this Li Qiong, his experiences up to now actually had a strong "protagonist aura."

First, although this man loved archery, horsemanship, and martial arts, and was known for his bravery, he was a graduate of the prefectural school... This status originated from a seemingly sensible reform by Cai Jing, which established a universal system of government schools at the local level, with county schools, prefectural schools, and the Imperial Academy forming a three-tiered structure, selecting candidates through examination results. If an Imperial Academy student performed excellently multiple times, he could be directly appointed as an official without taking the imperial examinations.

In other words, before the chaos arrived, this Commander Li had both a diploma and a proper background. Compared to colleagues like Yue Fei, who rose from the mud, Han Shizhong, a military drifter, Li Yanxian, a fugitive, and many others who came from bandit origins, his image was far better.

Secondly, as just mentioned, Xiangzhou in this era, for good or ill, produced talents in abundance. Li Qiong, who was skilled in both civil and military arts, adept at socializing, and clearly from a good family, naturally possessed a layer of personal connections.

However, among all his connections, the most obvious and valuable one was that when he was a prefectural school student, the Prefect of Xiangzhou happened to be Zong Ze, Zong Rulin—as a student of the Xiangzhou Prefectural School, Li Qiong could naturally claim to be Zong Ze's disciple, and during the Jingkang and Jianyan years, this was an enormous backing.

In fact, Li Qiong first appeared in Zong Ze's army as his student. And very early on, he had returned alone to the fallen Xiangzhou, raised a volunteer army of about seven or eight hundred men under his own command, used this as his personal foundation, and then continued to follow Zong Ze.

Not only that, during the last Jin army's southern campaign, the battle between the Kaifeng Marshal's Office and the Jin army took place at Huazhou, and he had been stationed there the entire time. Thus, he accumulated enough military merits and gained sufficient battlefield experience. After the war, he also became a commander, was always valued by Zong Ze, and was consistently regarded with extra respect by everyone in the Kaifeng Marshal's Office.

And now, with Zong Ze fallen ill and his fellow townsman Du Chong rising to power, he not only did not decline but was directly promoted to the rank of Commander, becoming the actual controller of the core troops of the Kaifeng Marshal's Office. He also became Du Chong's "second favorite general," used to counterbalance Yue Fei, the "chief favorite general," gaining his own unique status and considerable military authority.

As for the discord between Li Qiong and Yue Fei this time, to some extent, it stemmed from this... He understood Du Chong's needs well, which was why he fell out with Yue Fei.

Essentially, there was actually no personal grudge or genuine conflict between the two sides.

Therefore, when Yue Fei suddenly led his troops into the city, first "peacefully" took control of a city gate, and then immediately led the Tabai Army towards the county government office where Du Chong was stationed in the city, the alarmed Li Qiong immediately fell into panic and hesitation.

He couldn't help but react this way, because this Commander, who held the military authority of Yancheng, instinctively thought Yue Fei was staging a "military remonstrance"!

And if Yue Fei was staging a military remonstrance, what should he, Li Qiong, do at this moment?

Du Chong was indeed his benefactor, but Li Qiong, as the defending general of Yancheng, knew better than anyone about the neglect of these past days; Yue Fei was his "political enemy," but in reality, there was no real conflict between them. On the contrary, ever since Yue Pengju had cut through enemy lines and led his troops back to Kaifeng, he had felt some admiration and gratitude in his heart...

But regardless, now that Yue Fei was about to commit an act of insubordination, what exactly should he do?

Immediately mobilize and fight Yue Fei to the bloody end? Not to mention whether that would be aiding a tyrant, but if he did that and couldn't control the situation, leading to a full-scale internal mutiny that attracted the Jin, then all the troops of the Kaifeng Marshal's Office would likely be finished here!

Or should he pretend not to know and sit idly by while Yue Fei accomplishes his goal?

But Yue Fei couldn't possibly succeed. This man's military remonstrance was definitely about wanting to fight. However, even if he actually managed to control Du Chong, what authority did this Pacification Commissioner Yue have to order men like Wang Yan and Ma Gao to send their troops to the front lines? Although Du Chong was negligent, he was the recognized leader within the Kaifeng Marshal's Office and by the court, possessing official rank, seniority, and the moral authority of the imperial court.

You, Yue Fei, don't have that! And among those so-called Ten Commanders like Ma Gao, at least half harbor ill intentions, or at the very least, a desire to preserve their own strength.

Moreover, since you, Yue Fei, wanted to stage a military remonstrance, why didn't you coordinate like last time? At the very least, you should have asked me first. Why did you suddenly lead your troops into the city?

But there was no time to think too much, because Li Qiong soon realized that if he continued to sit idly by, others might be fine, but he, as the defending general of Yancheng, would definitely be held accountable afterwards as an accomplice of Yue Fei!

At this point, the young Li Qiong was truly panicked.

In gaming terms, this was a classic case of being ambushed and afflicted with confusion and panic.

However, as it turned out, neither Yue Pengju nor someone else could possibly overlook this Li Qiong.

"An imperial edict?"

In a large mansion in the west of the city serving as the central command, Li Qiong, who had just fallen into chaos and didn't know how to respond, stared dumbfounded at the junior officer who came to report, then flew into a rage. "What imperial edict? It can't be an edict from the Marshal, can it? Others might not know the Marshal's health, but don't I? After this battle, I might have to wear mourning clothes. How could there be an edict from the Marshal?"

Having said this, Li Qiong was about to shout at the messenger to get out, but then hesitated, thinking to lure the messenger, Li Kui, into his presence and capture him to use as an excuse later. But then, on second thought, he felt that Yue Fei's move might be giving him a way out... He could claim he was deceived by Yue Fei's false edict, which would also be an explanation for the future.

And with this thought, having just finished his outburst, as if possessed, he instead ordered the messenger to enter, leaving the reporting junior officer utterly bewildered.

"Insurbordination is an unforgivable crime. Does Pacification Commissioner Yue have anything else to say?" Seeing Li Kui enter first, Li Qiong immediately put on a stern face, and the dozen or so officers and armored soldiers in the room, who had been instructed beforehand, also rattled their armor and drew their blades.

However, Li Kui entered the door and paid him no attention, completely ignoring the armored soldiers who had drawn their blades.

Not only that, he actually stood sideways beside an armored soldier holding a blade inside the door, standing solemnly with his hand on his own blade, like a guard, not moving, causing everyone in the room to look at Li Qiong again.

And before Li Qiong could speak, at that moment, another man, who, though hard to hide his fatigue, was even harder to hide his scholarly and noble air, strode in wearing a bright red official robe.

Seeing this second person enter, Li Qiong's bluster completely evaporated. Having been a student for many years and accustomed to seeing high officials, he almost instinctively rose to greet him.

But before he could do so, the man facing him spoke, completely stunning Li Qiong in his seat:

"I am a Presented Scholar of the Zhenghe era, named Lin Jingmo. At the end of the Jingkang era and the beginning of the Jianyan era, I was the Prefect of Shouchun. I am now a Hanlin Academician, in charge of internal edicts... His Majesty has an oral instruction: Li Qiong, Commander of the Kaifeng Marshal's Office, is to immediately assist Yue Fei, Pacification Commissioner of Jizhou, in rectifying the city's defenses and pacifying the people. Then, you will follow me quickly to the government office in the city to have an audience with His Majesty!"

Li Qiong was once again dumbfounded, feeling that today's events were utterly absurd!

But seeing the man standing there imposingly before him, he couldn't utter a single word of rebuttal. His knowledge and experience told him that this man was indeed a Hanlin Academician, and moreover, the most trusted Xiao Lin Academician rumored to be close to His Majesty. Therefore, what this man said could not be false... Not only that, but Yue Fei's sudden absurd action also received a completely reasonable explanation.

Everything, everything, made sense now!

Confused, his mind a muddle, Li Qiong hesitated for only a moment before, under the stern gaze of the newcomer, he rose directly from his seat, bowed respectfully, and said, "I receive the edict!"

Let us speak then. After Xiao Lin Academician had bloodlessly controlled Li Qiong, and while a messenger was galloping to report this, His Majesty Zhao Jiu and Yue Fei had already arrived before the government office in the city and were preparing to dismount and enter.

Hearing the report, Zhao Jiu turned back and said, "Li Kui is, after all, only a Commander. Pengju, wouldn't you like to go take over the city defenses first?"

Yue Fei was momentarily startled, then realized that His Majesty was not worried about the city defenses, but rather afraid that he might be constrained by their shared hometown ties when facing Du Chong later. But things had come to this point, how could he care about such things? He immediately shook his head: "Let Your Majesty know, Li Qiong is a graduate of the prefectural school, a man who follows the rules. Since Academician Lin has him under control, there will be no further trouble."

"Then go and summon all Commanders and above from the entire army to meet here in the city... Can you do it?" Zhao Jiu asked again.

"I can! And it must be me!" Yue Fei suddenly became serious.

"Then go. The military situation is urgent; let's not waste time!" Having said this, His Majesty Zhao Jiu said no more and directly led his men into the government office before him.

Correspondingly, Yue Fei did not dwell on it either. He merely ordered Zhang Xian to have the Tabai Army surround the county government office and leave some men to protect His Majesty, then immediately turned and mounted his horse, riding out of the city alone.

As Yue Fei had said, Du Chong had shut himself in for dozens of days, completely losing the hearts of the army and the people. The officers of various units had long been gossiping, with rumors flying everywhere. Moreover, the units were not subordinate to one another. At this time, hastily summoning the generals into the city in Du Chong's name would only arouse suspicion and cause chaos.

Under these circumstances, the only person who could simultaneously gain the recognition of Wang Yan's troops and the rest of the Kaifeng Marshal's Office was probably him, Yue Pengju, alone... Especially Wang Yan. He had led his Eight-Character Army south, abandoning their base, familiar with the terrain but unfamiliar with the people, and was quite isolated. Comparatively, although Yue Fei had a personal grudge against him, they knew each other's backgrounds well, and on major matters, he would actually trust him more.

Let us set this aside. After Yue Fei left, Zhao Jiu, guided by Zhang Xian and surrounded by armored soldiers, strode into the county government office of Yancheng. It went surprisingly smoothly... This was not only because Yue Fei had sent Zhang Xian and the Tabai Army to accompany him, nor because Li Qiong's military orders had been transmitted so quickly, but because there was more than just Du Chong inside the government office.

You must know that many of the senior civil officials of the Kaifeng Marshal's Office and the subordinate officials of the Kaifeng Prefectural Office were currently inside this county government office in Yancheng. And among them, not a few recognized the face of His Majesty Zhao Jiu.

In fact, the officials inside the county government office had just seen the streets outside filled with cavalry and armored soldiers and had also thought it was a military remonstrance. They had just found the few leaders inside the office and gathered in the main hall, but before they could even exchange two words, Zhao Jiu had already rounded the screen wall, crossed the front courtyard, and arrived at the threshold of the main hall.

At this moment, the leading man in the hall was Guo Zhongxun, a Presented Scholar and the Judge of the Kaifeng Marshal's Office, who was accompanying the army and in charge of military law. The man took one look at the newcomer, and as if struck by lightning, he prostrated himself in a grand bow amidst his panic, crying out "Long live Your Majesty," catching the clerks and soldiers in the county government office off guard, forcing them to prostrate themselves as well.

In fact, Guo Zhongxun was a Presented Scholar with a high official rank. According to the status of civil officials in those days, a sudden meeting between sovereign and subject would not normally require such a grand bow. The reason he did so was that, as the Judge of the Marshal's Office and the second-ranking civil official on this campaign, he was generally aware of how damaging Du Chong's recent actions were. He also knew that the disappearance of Du Yan a few days ago would surely have consequences. So, upon seeing His Majesty, he instinctively guessed the worst-case scenario and prostrated himself with an attitude of guilty plea.

"Where is Du Chong?"

Zhao Jiu didn't recognize the man at all and couldn't care less about his petty thoughts. He stood with his hands behind his back in front of the main hall and got straight to the point.

"Perhaps he hasn't gotten up yet, or perhaps he has and is drinking in the back courtyard," Guo Zhongxun, prostrate on the ground, dared not hide anything, but was extremely nervous. "Your servants usually dare not go to the back courtyard and don't know the details... How about your servant goes to invite the Vice Marshal to have an audience with Your Majesty?"

"No need to invite, and no need to kneel. Everyone, rise. This is the army's field headquarters; there must be a drum. Find the largest and loudest one. You yourself will strike it in front of the hall to summon Du Chong to come before me in this hall." Zhao Jiu gave the order, then turned to gesture to Mo Qixie behind him. "Mo Qing, ask the soldiers to help hang my imperial standard in front of the hall."

Upon receiving the orders, there was naturally a flurry of activity inside and outside the hall. Zhao Jiu, however, went straight up into the hall, wiped the dust that had accumulated on the main seat with his sleeve, and then sat down to wait. Hu Yin, Lan Gui, and Liu Yan also took their positions. Among them, Hu Yin, wearing a purple robe, stood to the lower left of His Majesty; Lan Gui stood behind and to the side of His Majesty; and Liu Yan remained standing at the door, still holding his saber and carrying his short axe... Ever since Wang De had verified the effectiveness of hammers, axes, and other armor-breaking weapons against the Jin, almost every Imperial Bodyguard carried a hammer or an axe.

Regardless, a moment later, as Guo Zhongxun himself took the drumstick and struck a powerful blow, the drumbeat suddenly rang out, and the hall immediately became solemn. The previously quiet back courtyard of the county government office, however, instantly erupted into chaos... After all, Du Chong had a stern personality and was known for his love of killing. Now that he commanded a large army, no one dared to show the slightest sign of defiance.

It was that even when Yue Fei, Ma Gao, and Wang Yan came together to remonstrate, they only did so tearfully—how could they dare to cause such a disturbance?

And sure enough, only a moment later, Du Chong, who had just risen, flew into a rage. Without even donning his official robe, he came clattering out from the rear courtyard in ordinary clothes, barefoot in wooden clogs.

However, no sooner had he turned the corner and entered the front courtyard than this great minister of the Great Song, a *jinshi* graduate from the Zhezong era, noticed the banner fluttering high above the courtyard.

Compared to that object, the armored soldiers packed all along the way were of little consequence.

Unexpectedly, after standing there stunned for a moment, Du Chong, knowing full well what was happening, did not flee or hide. Instead, he turned back and ordered someone to fetch his purple robe. Right there by the wall, amid the urgent drumbeats, he changed into it expressionlessly, then, still in his clogs and bareheaded, made his way toward the hall.

Turning the corner, passing the corridor pillars, under the gaze of everyone along the way, he strode boldly into the hall, performed the rites with composure, and addressed the throne as "Your Majesty."

Zhao Jiu, seeing the red-robed official who had been beating the drum stop, and then a purple-robed elder stride in to bow to him, knew it was Du Chong himself. He responded calmly:

"Since things have come to this, Minister Du, do you have anything to say?"

"I do!" Du Chong clasped his hands from below the hall.

"Speak!"

"Your Majesty, the state of the Great Song has come to this—it is not my doing!"

"Then whose doing is it?"

"First, the sovereign was without the Way!" Under the gaze of the entire hall, Du Chong replied sternly. "The Two Sages brought chaos upon themselves, shifting blame out of selfishness or seeking advantage through opportunism—not a single one was proper. Even Your Majesty, who today appears so bold, charging straight here with the style of Han Gaozu seizing Han Xin's army, yet in the past you first abandoned your father and elder brother in Kaifeng, hurriedly ascended the throne in Nanjing; then you abandoned the millions of people in the Two Rivers, intending to find temporary peace south of the Yellow River—can these be denied?"

The hall fell silent, faces changing color. Hu Yin instinctively wanted to step forward but somehow held himself back.

Seeing that Zhao Jiu and the others said nothing, Du Chong, in his purple robe and wooden clogs, continued bitterly in the hall: "And look at the lords of the court—from Huang Qianshan and Wang Boyan to Li Gang, and now the two Lüs. Whether they advocate peace, war, defense, or offense, who among them escapes the charge of stubborn self-will and factionalism? Over the matter of a secondary capital, they delayed for a year, wavering back and forth. Those who advocated peace first let Your Majesty abandon all of Hebei, causing the overall situation to collapse, and then those who advocated war pushed Your Majesty into that harsh war strategy, inviting today's disaster! Are these people ministers to be relied upon?!"

Zhao Jiu still said nothing.

"And then there are the military commanders of the various garrisons since the Jianyan era—Han, Zhang, Li, Qu, Wang, Liu. Apart from Yue Fei, who is neither here nor there and has some semblance of an ancient famous general, the rest are either utterly rogue, insatiably greedy, fame-seeking, arrogant and rude, brave but foolish, or incompetent and base. Which of them can be relied upon as a right arm?" Seeing this, Du Chong's momentum grew. "As for those below, the so-called generals of the Eastern Capital Rear Area Command, the so-called righteous armies resisting the Jin—one can't even say whether they are bandits or soldiers. What use are they? Does Your Majesty know that when these people were bandits in the past, they treated the people more cruelly than the Jin? Their armies, often hundreds of thousands strong—where did they come from? Does Your Majesty know?! Behind the million-strong army in the memorials Zong Ze wrote to Your Majesty, how many families were torn apart? Does Your Majesty know?! That the state has fallen to this point is precisely because from top to bottom, there is not a single usable person! Does Your Majesty know?!"

"I know." Zhao Jiu finally spoke. "Minister Du, I know all of what you have said."

Du Chong was suddenly taken aback.

"Minister Du has said so much, and I am too lazy to debate it point by point. I only want to ask you two things, if I may?" Zhao Jiu continued, expressionless.

Du Chong gave a cold laugh, flicked his sleeve, and stood to the side.

"I do not deny what you have said. But in the current situation, are there no other reasons besides what you have mentioned?" Zhao Jiu sighed slightly. "At the root of it, is it not because of the Jin invasion? Are the Jin blameless?"

Du Chong opened his mouth to speak but could only give another scoffing laugh.

"Secondly, from top to bottom, from the sovereign to the righteous armies, all are useless, all are at fault. Then you, Minister, as a high official of the realm, and a man of Hebei from the fallen lands, what useful thing have you actually done for the overall situation?" Zhao Jiu finally shook his head and frowned. "Secretly making peace with the Jin commander before the battle? Is that like the lotus emerging unstained from the mud?"

Du Chong shook his head again: "Your Majesty speaks well, but I have said all I wanted to say. I have nothing more to say now."

Zhao Jiu also shook his head: "I know your thoughts, Minister Du. It is nothing more than seeing the situation as hopeless, thinking victory unlikely, and thus losing all faith... Speaking selfishly, I ought to debate and refute you publicly, perhaps even share some of my own reflections on being the sovereign these days, on how a ruler and his ministers should act. But with the current situation as it is, I truly cannot spare the time to deal with you further... Minister Du, I am sorry!"

With these words, Zhao Jiu raised his hand and pointed to the Red Heart Squad armored soldiers accompanying him below the steps: "Men, bind this man and hold him here in the hall. Then remove the screen wall, open the main gate wide, and wait for Pacification Commissioner Yue to lead the generals here."

At this time, Li Qiong had also roughly handed over his duties to Li Kui and led his personal guards to the county office. Hearing the conversation inside through the screen wall, he suppressed all his thoughts, first helped Zhang Xian's unit clear the front courtyard, then, under the guidance of Academician Lin, ignoring his 'benefactor,' who was still in his purple robe but now bound and held in the hall, he cautiously stepped forward to pay homage to the Son of Heaven.

Zhao Jiu naturally adopted a relaxed posture, asked his name, age, and other information, offered some kind words, and then had him stand in attendance with Zhang Xian.

For a time, no one in the hall spoke, all silently waiting for the generals to gather.

And sure enough, Yue Pengju did not disappoint. By the afternoon, he had finally arrived with several dozen officers... Besides the commanders of the Eastern Capital Rear Area Command, there was also Wang Sheng, nicknamed Black Dragon, a general under Han Shizhong originally stationed in Yanling; the remaining two commanders under Yue Fei, Fu Xuan and Li Bao (a naval general, nicknamed Splash Li the Third, not to be confused with the other Li Bao, Sick Guan Suo); seven or eight commanders under Wang Yan, including Meng De and Jiao Wentong; and even Niu Gao, the leader of the Ruzhou righteous army under the Lü Qiong sequence, who had also been invited along.

Now, whether it was Wang Yan or those from the Eastern Capital Rear Area Command, when they heard that the Zhao sovereign had arrived, many did not believe it. It was only because Yue Fei was always so serious and solemn that they had to believe it. Yet their minds were still churning with doubts. Even when they saw the imperial banner, they still harbored their own thoughts, hesitating and lingering on the street before the gate, unwilling to enter, afraid they would be beheaded once inside.

However, when these men, hesitating and uncertain, finally came before the main hall and saw Du Chong bound beneath it, past the front courtyard where the screen wall had been removed, they had no more room for thought... That is human nature—one's heart does not die until one reaches the Yellow River, but once there, it is what it is. They could only swarm into the hall, perform their bows, rise, and then, in the dead silence, steal glances at the young man on the dais.

"Are all assembled?" Zhao Jiu asked Yue Fei softly after the men had risen.

"Reporting to Your Majesty." Yue Fei quickly stepped forward again, clasping his hands. "Under myself and Commissioner Wang, the three armies have a total of twenty-three commanders, plus one independent leader of the Ruzhou righteous army, Niu Gao, and one regularly leading officer, Lady Wang of the Ma family. That makes twenty-five in total, and all are present here."

Zhao Jiu nodded slightly, then sat upright and looked around at the dozens of men in the hall. Some he had heard of by name or nickname before his transmigration; others he had learned a little about from official documents during his year and more as sovereign. But now that they were all gathered before him, there was no time to delve into their backgrounds.

Therefore, only a moment later, seeing that many lowered their heads when they met his gaze, Zhao Jiu smiled and spoke: "Gentlemen, just now Vice Commissioner Du said that you are either bandits or mountain outlaws, of no use... I also know that in the Eastern Capital Rear Area Command and in Hebei, you have had no military pay or provisions. From what I saw along the way, your troops also seem rather lacking in armored soldiers, showing that your weapons and equipment are inferior to the other imperial armies. But with the state having fallen to such a pass, it is you who are called upon to risk your lives. I wonder what you think of this—do you have any complaints?"

"Your Majesty speaks too gravely!"

Wang Yan, whose official rank was actually a bit higher than Yue Fei's, naturally took the lead and stepped forward excitedly. "Your subjects' loyalty has never wavered! That the mountains and rivers are shattered is also due to your subjects' incompetence..."

"What does that have to do with you?" Zhao Jiu suddenly stood up and interrupted him, then walked slowly into the hall, one hand on the golden belt at his waist. "How can the weight of the world be placed on one man's shoulders? It is nothing more than the whole body working together, doing one's utmost! It was with this thought that I resolved to come here from Nanyang... However, I have brought no great army with me on this journey, nor any military pay or supplies. If I have truly brought anything, it is only myself! So, I want to ask you all: today, I, in my capacity as Marshal of All Under Heaven, will command all the troops here. Is there anyone who objects?"

Wang Yan and Yue Fei took the lead, along with Ma Gao and his wife, who had long been shaken and lost, and they all knelt down together, saying they dared not.

"Your subject finally understands Your Majesty's difficulties!"

Just then, as the Zhao sovereign, who had moved to stand before the table, was about to speak, someone below the hall suddenly spoke up. Everyone turned to look, and there was Du Chong, still in his purple robe and wooden clogs, bound on the ground.

Zhao Jiu did not speak, and Du Chong continued: "In truth, Your Majesty is the most helpless one under heaven... The Jin troops are nearly invincible. Facing this great tide, from Your Majesty on down, the Grand Councilors and ministers can resign, can surrender to the Jin; the generals can become bandits, or can also surrender to the Jin. Only Your Majesty has nowhere to go. Other than fighting to the death, what else can you do?"

The hall was dead silent. Zhao Jiu smiled, then stepped past the leading generals, Wang and Yue, and continued walking forward through the open space between the dozens of commanders on either side, all the way to the side of Zhang Xian and Li Qiong by the door, in front of Liu Yan, before stopping and speaking: "Earlier, Minister Yue said this battle could be won?"

"Yes!" Yue Fei's voice rang out solemnly from the other end of the hall.

"When and where is the opportunity for victory?" Zhao Jiu asked loudly without turning his head.

"It is now, and it is here!" Yue Pengju replied seriously. "Our army has not sallied forth for days. The Jin army was strict at first, but now they have grown lax. Their troops are scattered among the five rivers, and as the weather has warmed for days, the rivers have thawed, making it increasingly inconvenient for their cavalry to support each other. And Your Majesty's sudden arrival here is something the Jin army is completely unaware of, or at least they have not yet learned of it in time. This is the perfect moment to concentrate our forces, attack the unprepared with superior numbers..."

"Enough!" The Zhao sovereign, who had bent down to take something from Liu Yan's waist, suddenly spoke up to interrupt him. "I understand the general idea. As for the specifics of how to fight, if you have a plan in mind, you can give the orders yourself later. I will speak for you here. There is no need to go into such detail, as if someone would refuse to send out troops if it were not explained thoroughly..."

"Understood!"

Under the gaze of Wang Yan and the other generals, Yue Fei bowed his head in acknowledgment.

"But before Pengju gives his orders, I have one more thing to say." Zhao Jiu turned around with his hands behind his back, walking behind Du Chong amid the alarm of the commanders behind him. "Do you know how I came to be here?"

Without waiting for a response from those around him, the Zhao sovereign asked and answered himself in a calm tone: "I used my own Imperial Guard and the most elite troops of the Central Imperial Army, who had fought in the Huai River campaign—the units of Wang De and Zhang Jing, ten thousand armored men in total—as bait to lure the main Jin force south. Then I led a lone force across the Baihe River at night, heading east to this place. I came in haste, and I do not know how many of those ten thousand armored men died for my sake. But thinking of the tens of thousands of iron cavalry under Wanyan Wushu outside Nanyang city, I imagine that place has already become a river of blood! And since the Jingkang era, in the Two Rivers, beneath the Eastern Capital, in Guanshan and Shandong, how many more places have become rivers of blood like that?"

No one in the hall dared to speak, and everyone's breathing grew heavy.

After pausing there for a moment, Zhao Jiu finally gritted his teeth and spoke the words he had been wanting to say for the past two days: "Gentlemen, I do not care how you fight, and I do not care what you think. I have come here in person for only one thing: I want to see with my own eyes the Jin also become a river of blood!"

As he swallowed the last word, Zhao Jiu suddenly raised the short axe he had hidden behind his back and swung it down with all his might at the neck of the man before him.

One stroke of the axe, and the purple robe was stained with blood. Du Chong did not even have time to grunt before he fell forward with the axe, a pool of blood instantly spreading beneath him. The entire hall erupted in shock.

Now, Zhao Jiu had never intended to debate right and wrong with this man. He had kept him alive only to use his head to intimidate those commanders of the Eastern Capital Rear Area Command, who were clearly unstable and came from bandit backgrounds.

And from the look of it, the effect was not bad.

PS: Thanks to Three Cups of Pig for the 59th *meng* and to the book friend for the second *meng*... I continue to be unworthy of such kindness.

Then continue to offer up the new book "This Ninja Is Clearly Not Strong Yet Excessively Courting Death," a two-dimensional big shot, fifty thousand collections before even going on the shelves, everyone can go take a look.

Finally, guess how many K are left to complete the task this month?