Destroy Jin and conquer Song, and carry the Northern Expedition through to the end

Chapter 210: God's Will is Vast and Discusses Advance and Retreat
Just as the Wuxing Army was marching into Yishui County, Liu Huai also returned to the front army camp with the last batch of refugees.

Yishui County is not a high-ranking county, and it has been uneasy in recent years, with soldiers and bandits everywhere, so the population is relatively small, and the number of people who followed Liu Huainan is even smaller, but this small number is only relative to the entire county.

In fact, the number of people who arrived in the past two days, including the elderly, the weak, women and children, was as high as five to six thousand.

This was obviously not something that could be accommodated by the vanguard army with only 2,600 men, not even with the 800 infantrymen under Wang Xiongyi.

Fortunately, when Liu Huai launched an ambush on Tu Danzhang, he had thought about what might happen next and informed Wei Sheng.

Wei Sheng was not vague and immediately sent out Lu You, the chief steward of the Loyal Army.

Lu You was indeed capable, and the treasury of Yizhou was very rich, so the people of Yishui County who had become refugees were resettled in batches and registered in an orderly manner, without any chaos at all.

Of course, Lu You left behind a lot of affairs not just to resettle these thousands of refugees.

"what is this?"

In the central military tent, Liu Huai took the brocade box handed to him by Lu You and asked with a frown.

Lu You gulped down his cold tea, wiped the water stains from his beard, and said with a smile, "Open it and take a look."

Liu Huai opened the brocade box and found a document inside. At Lu You's suggestion, he opened the document and took a closer look. It turned out to be a memorial.

"On August 25, the 31st year of Shaoxing, I, the humble servant, bow twice before my death and submit this memorial to His Majesty the Emperor..."

After reading the beginning, Liu Huai's heart skipped a beat.

It's time to come.

This is a memorial to the Song court. The general meaning of the memorial is that the righteous people of Shandong have risen up to resist the Jin Dynasty and have now occupied Haizhou, Yizhou, Mizhou, and Tai'anzhou. They have also beheaded the Jin thief Gao Wenfu, the governor of Haizhou, and defeated Pushan Damo, the governor of Yizhou. The memorial hopes that the Song Dynasty will grant them a legitimate status and allow the Shandong heroes to return to the Song Dynasty.

These were all repetitive words with no nutritional value, but the signature at the end left Liu Huai stunned.

Because the people who signed the agreement were not only Wei Sheng and Lu You, two loyal ministers of the Song Dynasty, but also a group of generals including Zhang Rong of the Dongping Army, and even a large group of people led by Geng Jing of the Tianping Army.

It can be said that in the entire memorial, only the first page describes the Northern Expedition, and the remaining pages are all lists of high-ranking officers of the three armies, asking the Song State for rewards, recognition, and local civil officials.

Isn't this equivalent to begging the State of Song to throw sand in the sand and drive nails in?

Liu Huai frowned and asked, "Is Geng Jing of the Tianping Army also going to submit a joint petition?"

Lu You smiled and said, "Exactly. Although Chief Geng had long harbored this intention, it was only after Duke Wei paid five hundred infantrymen and a large amount of food and fodder that he agreed to submit a joint petition with our army. I believe that with three armies and four states submitting a petition together, the high-ranking officials in the court will surely take it seriously."

Liu Huai sneered inwardly, but said nothing. He simply held up the memorial and said, "Since Father and Mr. Lu have already made a plan, why did they bring this to me? Did they want me to review it again?"

Lu You shook his head, his expression becoming solemn: "Do you know that whether it is the Loyalty Army, or the Dongping Army, or the Tianping Army, there are a large number of people who are unwilling to return to the Song Dynasty, and whether you are willing or not, Dalang, you have become the leader of these people.

They are all watching your statement. If you can sign this memorial and set an example for them, you can bridge the rift between the two sides and prevent the Northern Expedition Army from splitting up."

Liu Huai sighed, put the memorial into the box and closed it. "If Mr. Lu hadn't said this, I wouldn't have had any problem signing it. But now, I've made up my mind not to sign it."

Lu You didn't seem surprised. He just stared at the soldiers coming and going outside the tent, lost in thought. After a long moment, he slowly asked, "Da Lang, why do you hate the Song Dynasty so deeply? Has the Song Dynasty ever wronged you?"

Liu Huai said sincerely: "It's not hatred, but disbelief."

Lu You fell silent again. "Is it because of Yue Pengju's incident? Dalang, listen to me. The person in charge of this incident was Qin Hui, followed by Wanqi Xie, Zhang Jun, Gou Longruyuan and others. Most of them are already dead. It's not surprising that you hate them, Dalang. I hate them too.

If one day I were in power, even if the whole world was in turmoil, I would definitely kill all the male members of their nine clans to clear Yue Pengju's name. But why do you hate the Song Dynasty? Why can't you help the Song Dynasty unify the world and achieve unparalleled fame?

Liu Huai laughed: "Mr. Lu, I said, I don't hate it, I just don't trust the Song Dynasty..."

Lu You shook his head, obviously not believing it.

Liu Huai stood up, walked to the door of the general's tent, and looked at the rolling hills in the distance: "Mr. Lu, you said I hate the Song Dynasty, but what do I hate? Do I hate these mighty rivers, the setting sun on the mountains, the gentle breeze and the bright moon? Or do I hate my father and Mr. Lu, two loyal ministers? Do I hate people like Yue Fei, Han Shizhong, Li Yanxian, and Zong Ze? Do I hate Lord Lan and Judge Xu? Or do I hate the aunt selling meat buns at the doorstep, the old man repairing the wheel of the car at the intersection, and the young woman selling wine at the bar?"

Liu Huai turned his head and looked directly into Lu You's eyes. "None of that, Mr. Lu. I don't hate them at all. Rather, these are the reasons why I have always been determined to fight the Northern Expedition and never regret it, even if I die."

It is precisely because I want to protect these beautiful people, beautiful things, and beautiful objects that I want to level the world and clear the air!"

"I just don't believe that the Song State can help me accomplish this." At this point, Liu Huai sneered: "Speaking of which, just now when I heard Mr. Lu say that the masterminds of the murder of Yue Fei were Qin Hui, Wan Qi Xie, Zhang Jun and others, I felt like laughing.

Mr. Lu, Mr. Lu, you are such an intelligent person, why are you pretending to be stupid with me? Isn't the biggest mastermind of this matter the current Emperor Zhao Gou of Song?"

Lu You didn't seem shocked, his expression unchanged. He simply looked at Liu Huai coldly. "In the past, Zhao Gou was able to recall Yue Fei with twelve golden medals, thus thwarting the Northern Expedition to the Central Plains. How can you guarantee, Mr. Lu, that he won't recall our three armies with twenty-four golden medals in the future?"

Lu You replied with difficulty: "I believe that after the emperor experienced the Jin thieves breaking the alliance, he will surely let go of his illusions about the Jin thieves and advocate the Northern Expedition."

Liu Huai sneered again: "When the Jin Kingdom betrayed the 'Sea Alliance' and swallowed up all of Hebei and the Central Plains, Emperor Zhao did not advocate war; when the Jin Kingdom betrayed the 'Tianjuan Peace Agreement', Emperor Zhao did not advocate war; now that the Jin Kingdom has betrayed the 'Shaoxing Peace Agreement', Emperor Zhao is about to rise up and advocate war.

Mr. Lu, your tricks are so deceptive that you won't earn enough to feed people by fortune-telling. "

Lu You blushed and wanted to retort, but was speechless.

It’s not that he’s not good at speaking, it’s mainly because the State of Song is too disappointing.

Seeing this, Liu Huai didn't want to bully such an honest man anymore, so his tone softened: "Mr. Lu, you are the elder. Just treat the above words as my youthful and impulsive nonsense. Please don't take them to heart."

As he spoke, Liu Huaifu pointed to the brocade box on the table and said, "There is another important reason why I don't sign my name."

"Mr. Lu, people like He Boqiu, Zhang Xiaoyi, and Li Xiu will not change their minds because of my stance. I don't have that ability." Liu Huai slowly explained: "For example, Li Xiu, Li Sanlang, first followed the founding Zhao uprising, and watched with his own eyes as the Song State abandoned the founding Zhao; then he followed Zhang Wang, Xu Yuan, and Donghai in the uprising, and again watched with his own eyes as the Song State rejected him.

How could such people change their views on the State of Song just because of a word I said?"

"Mr. Lu, you only see that these people are implicitly following me, but you don't see that they don't follow me because they regard me as a god, but because they share the same ideals.

If I change my stance and completely submit to the State of Song, they will not follow my example, but will simply abandon me, and then another powerful person will take their place among them.

My role is to bridge the gap between the two factions and use strategy to persuade the others to follow my father's military strategy. If I weren't in this position, the Northern Expedition Army might split in an instant, and the favorable situation might even be ruined."

"Don't say it's impossible. Yesterday, when Xiemao Zhanggu woke up, it happened that Deputy Commander Li Huoer was in charge of the camp. After he arrived, he directly told the Jurchen that we were the Song army. Xiemao Zhanggu was about to say goodbye and leave."

At this point, Liu Huai was also a little amused. "Later, it was that bastard Shi Qilang who persuaded Ximao Zhanggu to stay by saying that northerners ruling the north would bring about a peaceful world. Even now, he still refuses to change his surname. And since he has the merit of reporting intelligence, I can't force him. What the hell is going on?"

Lu You finally sighed, as if he had aged several years in an instant. He reached out to take the brocade box and walked out of the tent.

When they reached the door, Lu You turned back again and said seriously, "Da Lang, the current emperor is already old. If the mausoleum collapses and the crown prince succeeds to the throne and is determined to launch a northern expedition to recover lost territory, can you from now on be a loyal minister and a good general like the Duke of Wei?"

Liu Huai looked at the sky and remained silent for a long time.

Who was the crown prince of Emperor Gaozong of Song?

Song Xiaozong!

He was the Song Xiaozong who said, "I pity him as a peerless hero and would rather give him his life to Emperor Xiaozong than delay his death."

This person was cowardly, easily influenced, and even became semi-crazy in his later years.

But since later generations lamented that Yue Fei had no wise leader and Emperor Xiaozong had no famous generals, it shows that Emperor Xiaozong of Song, Zhao Shen, still had some determination to recover the country and launch the Northern Expedition.

Regardless of whether this determination is too small, it is much better than Zhao Gou who is too impatient to give up the Central Plains and the two rivers.

In this world where everyone competes to be the worst, Zhao Shen is already considered a wise leader.

And if the heroes in Shandong today had really taken a different path from history under Liu Huai's interference, they would have recovered the Central Plains, pacified the world, destroyed the Jin Dynasty, subdued the Mongols, and the world would have been at peace.

Even if Liu Huai was in his prime and had become the ruler of the Song Dynasty due to his great achievements, and could have made great strides and reformed the country, would he still rebel at that time?
do not know.

"I don't know." Liu Huai stared into Lu You's eyes and said earnestly, "I really don't know."

Lu You seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, and a smile appeared on his face.

However, Liu Huai did not let Lu You go, but instead asked him: "Mr. Lu, I also have something to ask.

If one day, a Northern Expedition would mean losing loyalty to the Song State, and if loyalty to the Song State meant losing the Northern Expedition, then Mr. Lu, will you return to the Song State, or will you join us in reclaiming the Central Plains and attacking Huanglong?"

Lu You lowered his head and thought for a moment, a wry smile appeared on his face, but his answer was the same as Liu Huai's.

"I don't know. I really don't know either."

Liu Huai and Lu You stood side by side at the door of the big tent, looking to the north, and for a moment they both lost the desire to speak.

(End of this chapter)