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

Chapter 283: Loyalty to the Country, Not to the Emperor

As soon as Hesheli Zhining said this, he immediately realized that he was too anxious. In his anger, he actually said this in public. But he immediately held the knife and swept his lightning-like eyes towards Pushan Shigong and others.

He is only thirty-seven years old this year, in the prime of his life, with a sturdy build, sharp eyebrows and bright eyes, and an imposing demeanor. His many years of official career and the experience of commanding a large army have made Hesheli Zhining even more powerful.

Normally, he looked down on those who were lucky enough to get promoted, and he was even more unhappy when facing these guilty officials.

Why not just kill them all and be done with it? Why keep these gluttons and waste food?

At the same time, Pushan Shigong and others wished they could poke out their ears.

Is this the kind of thing they can listen to?

The Jin Dynasty had been established for so many years, and every time a royal family rebelled, there would be a sea of blood and corpses.

When Wanyan Liang ascended the throne, that was also a rebellion of the royal family!

What's more, it is still unclear whether Wanyan Yong was rebelling or being rebelled against!
Hesheli Liangbi did not react much, but stroked his beard and said, "It's okay. They are all loyal ministers of the Great Jin. If you have anything to say, just say it directly."

The relationship between Hesheli Liangbi and Hesheli Zhining was not close. Even though Hesheli Liangbi was the patriarch of the Hesheli tribe, the Hesheli tribe, like the Pushan tribe, was too large.

Not to mention the conscious split of the Wanyan clan, as a fishing and hunting nation, the Jurchens also have the habit of living by following water and grass. If they were scattered like this, after two generations, it would be difficult to organize all the people with the surname Hesheli under the title of a clan leader, except for the name of the Hesheli tribe.

For example, Hesheli Liangbi was from Huipachuan (now the Huifa River Basin in Jilin Province), while Hesheli Zhining was from Huta'an in Shangjing (now Baichengzi, south of Acheng, Heilongjiang Province). If we force the argument based on age, they might be related, but it would be an exaggeration to say that they had a blood relationship that was thicker than water.

As for the reason why Hesheli Zhining came to find Hesheli Liangbi at this time, it was very simple, because he thought he was just a general, and the ministers should be the ones to decide the major affairs of the world.

Seeing that Zhining still looked at Pushan Shigong and others with distrust, Liangbi said gently: "Zhining, tell me everything in detail. I will take care of everything."

It was only then that Hesheli Zhining said respectfully, "Sir, I cannot tell you the details of this matter. After all, this is a major act of treason. If you are not involved, who knows what the situation is. However, I heard that the news of Wanyan Yong's rebellion has spread throughout Liaoyang Prefecture in Tokyo.

Yesterday, Gao Cunfu, the deputy governor of Tokyo, sent me here with his wife, saying that he was deeply grateful to Your Majesty and wanted to repay His Majesty with his death.

Hesheli Liangbi nodded, this was in line with Gao Cunfu's personality.

This person was sent by Wanyan Liang to monitor Wanyan Yong. Although he was cowardly and incompetent, he was loyal to Wanyan Liang. Now that he had said such words, it was natural that he saw that he could no longer stop Wanyan Yong's rebellion, so he wanted to repay his gratitude with death.

"Go on. I want to know how bad the situation is. I want to tell you everything, whether it's good or bad."

"Yes!" Hesheli Zhining, ignoring the sweat dripping from the several criminal officials beside him, perked up and said, "Also, there are rumors that Wanyan Fushou, Gao Zhongjian, Lu Wanjianu, and other generals who were supposed to march south have already turned back from Shandong. Their number exceeds 20,000, and they seem to be heading to Liaoyang Prefecture to support Wanyan Yong!"

"Also, Wanyan Mouyan, the military commander of Posu Road, seems to be a little unstable. He has gathered troops in Chang'an. I wonder if he has some ulterior motive."

"Who?" Xiao Ze couldn't help but ask loudly, "Wanyan Mouyan? Is that Wanyan Mouyan?"

Although the words were incoherent, Hesheli Zhining quickly understood what the other party meant and nodded heavily: "It is that Wanyan Mouyan."

Except for Hesheli Liangbi who remained calm, the others looked at each other in horror.

the reason is simple.

Wanyan Mouyan's deceased father was Wanyan Loushi, a founding general of the Jin Dynasty and one of the three leaders of the Western Army; his deceased brother was Wanyan Huonu, the left inspector of the Marshal's Office and Duke of Sui.

With this status, even if Wanyan Mouyan was a complete loser, he could still pull out a large number of poles by relying on the connections accumulated by his father and brother. Moreover, he also participated in the war against Song Dynasty, so how could he be a complete loser?
If this kind of person stood on Wanyan Yong's side, he could be worth ten thousand soldiers alone.

"Write to His Majesty!"

"Yes, Wanyan Yong is highly respected by the people. No one else can compare to him."

"If Duke Cao raises an army in Liaoyang, then the army on the front line..."

Seeing that Pushan Shigong and the others were talking and making a commotion again, Hesheli Liangbi glanced at them and said, "If the army had marched according to the plan, Your Majesty would have almost crossed the Huai River by now. The battle has already begun. How can we turn back? Besides, can we expect Your Majesty to fly over when the time comes? We can only rely on ourselves. If you have time to cause trouble here, you might as well think about how to defeat the bandits."

Xiao Ze hesitated and said, "Can't I seek refuge with Duke Cao (Wan Yanyong)? I have an old relationship with him..."

Hesheli Liangbi was too lazy to talk nonsense. He pointed at Xiao Ze and said to his guards, "Drag him away and behead him." Xiao Ze was stunned and then became panicked.

But before he could utter a word of begging for mercy, Hesheli Zhining, who was standing beside him, kicked him in the knee, knocking him to the ground. He then drew out his long sword and swung it down, chopping off Xiao Ze's head with one blow.

"What a filthy thing, you've dirty my precious sword!" After saying this, Hesheli Zhining looked at the other three people with a cold gaze.

Hesheli Liangbi seemed oblivious to the heads still rolling on the ground. He continued calmly, "You're overthinking it. From a personal perspective, you should know that Zhining and I can still serve the new master. Why would Wanyan Yong accept those of you who rose to high positions through sheer luck? Didn't you also participate in suppressing him?"

"In your opinion, most of the country's elite troops are fighting the Song Dynasty. If chaos breaks out in the rear and morale on the front collapses, the Song army will seize the opportunity to attack, and the Jin Dynasty may be destroyed. By then, no matter how great the wealth and glory are, it will not be your turn to enjoy it!"

Hesheli Zhining nodded heavily and shook the blood off his knife. "What you said makes sense, sir. This is exactly what loyal and righteous people worry about."

Both Liangbi and Zhining were men of great ambition and wisdom. If one wanted to win their hearts and minds, it would not be possible just by relying on the title of emperor.

So it is not certain how loyal they were to Wanyan Liang, but they were loyal to the Jin Dynasty that their fathers and brothers had risked their lives to establish, and they would let the Jin Dynasty continue even if they died nine times.

This is also why Wanyan Liang was able to morally blackmail Hesheli Liangbi, Pushan Zhongyi and others: Anyway, the southern expedition has begun, you can no longer stop it. Now, are you going to fight to the death to stabilize the situation? Or are you going to drag the Great Jin into the abyss?
Of course, no one expected that the Song State’s combat effectiveness would be so poor.

In real history, even though the Jin army on the front line had fought hard for a long time, failed to cross the river, and had its emperor assassinated, they were able to return intact. This was naturally due to the extraordinary ability of Wanyan Yuanyi, who was in charge of military affairs, but more importantly, the Song Dynasty did not send troops to pursue them.

However, it must be said that the Song army's temperament of doing things for a living was not innate. It was mainly because the ruling class was too inhumane, and the Song army knew too much about the morality of the Song court. Why bother to risk their lives for it?
As the saying goes, "Every round of arrows you shoot deserves a reward." You laugh at the Song army for not understanding war, and the Song army laughs at you for not understanding the Song State. If you don't ask for rewards, you'll lose them!
At this time, Hesheli Liangbi, who had no idea how weak the Song State was, scolded the others and looked at Hesheli Zhining again: "Since we are talking about rebellious people, there must be loyal and righteous people."

Zhining nodded and said, "Yes, the Northern Commander Bai Yanjing, the Huining Prefecture Governor Wanyan Puluai, and the Lishe Military Governor Du Jiyi are all loyal and righteous people who are willing to contribute to the country."

Hesheli Liangbi closed his eyes and remained silent for a long time before he said, "What about you?"

"Ok?"

"What about you, Zhining? What do you think?"

Hesheli Zhining knelt on one knee and said, “During the Shenlong coup in the former Tang Dynasty, General Li Duozuo said to Prime Minister Zhang Jianzhi: If you are connected to the royal family, you will only obey your orders and will not care about your wife’s life.

Today, even though I am a crude warrior, I want to say to you: I have received the grace of the country for generations, and I will obey your orders and will not hesitate to sacrifice my life for the benefit of the country!

Hesheli Liangbi nodded and said, "That's good. Bai Dutong is a man of wisdom but slow to act. He can make plans later, but he can't make decisions. Fortunately, I am here.

Pu San Shi Gong, do you want to be a servant or an important official?

Pushan Shigong, who was still staring blankly at Xiao Ze's head, shuddered. After coming to his senses, he immediately gritted his teeth and said, "My lord, although I am not very capable, I also want to be an upright and important official!"

"what about you?"

With Xiao Ze's previous experience as a lesson, Xiao Tu La and Xiao Huai Zhong dared not refuse and simultaneously bowed and said, "We are willing to obey your orders, sir."

Hesheli Liangbi nodded in satisfaction. "Although your skills in battle may be lacking, you have fought the Khitan bandits for a long time. You know who can fight and who can't, who are heroes and who are cowards, much better than I, the Shangshu Zuocheng, who is completely clueless. I want you to work together with Bai Du to organize 5,000 elite soldiers and horses and hand them over to Zhining for unified command."

Master Pushan responded respectfully, but then hesitated and said, "Isn't the number of men a little too few? Five thousand soldiers...are they enough?"

Hesheli Liangbi looked at Pushan Shigong with surprise. "Do you really want to unleash a bloodbath in the land where the Great Jin Dynasty was born? Wanyan Yong was trying to usurp the throne, not to conquer the world all over again. Didn't Your Majesty also gather tens of thousands of troops to attack the palace?"

Master Pushan shuddered again and said no more.

Hesheli Liangbi continued, "Zhining, inform the Huining Prefecture Governor Wanyan Puluai and the Lishe Military Governor Dujiyi to gather their troops but not to move out. They must wait for my orders.

Also, tell General Bai that by tomorrow at the latest, he must gather all the horses and mules in the army and give each of these 5,000 men three spare horses. After we set out, he must guard the Huangshui River carefully and not let the Khitan bandits take advantage.

"Yes!" Seeing Hesheli Liangbi's quick decision, Hesheli Zhining instantly gained courage. After mounting his horse, he turned back and asked, "When I passed the news to General Bai, he was always worried that it wasn't accurate and asked me to double-check. Sir, aren't you worried that Wanyan Yong didn't rebel, and that we're wrongly accusing a good man?"

Hesheli Liangbi smiled and shook his head. "Don't worry. Whether it's true or not, everything will become clear once we meet Wanyan Yong. If he's truly wronged, I can at most offer him a drink to apologize. But do you think he'll still be so aggressive and won't let an old man like me go?"

Hesheli Zhining was slightly stunned, then burst into laughter and left. For a moment, he felt that all the fear and disappointment of the past few days had disappeared.

(End of this chapter)