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

Chapter 483: The involvement of officials and civil officials

Liu Huai looked at Li Tong, who was shivering beside the fire, and yawned. "Do you know why I made up my mind within a few hours?"

Li Tong picked up the hot porridge on the table in front of him, held it in his hands, nodded and said, "Although I don't know, I can roughly guess."

"Say it."

Li Tong, worthy of being a former prime minister of the Jin Dynasty, immediately made his own judgment: "I speculate that there are only two possibilities. One is that Wu Gong has been completely annihilated by Pushan Zhongyi, and Xiangfan has been completely lost. The Song Dynasty is planning to establish a defense line in Ezhou.

Second, Tushan Zhen had already retreated safely, and the Song army in Huaidong stood by and watched, escorting them out of the country with courtesy."

As he spoke, Li Tong observed Liu Huai's expression. Seeing that he was just eating his porridge expressionlessly, he swallowed his saliva and said, "Your Majesty, in my opinion, this is probably the matter of Shan Zhen, the leader of Huaidong. Duke Wei must evacuate Pizhou as soon as possible, otherwise..."

Li Tong shook his head. Seeing that Liu Huai's expression remained unchanged when the Loyal Army was mentioned, he could only continue, "If I were to speculate further, the Song army might not have the guts to fight the Jin... Jin bandits, but they are not only brave enough to steal the credit, but also very brave."

"The Song army must have learned all about the battle in Huaixi, so they're eager to share in the spoils. Considering the heavy losses suffered by the participating armies, they certainly wouldn't dare to resist them." Li Tong's tone slowly deepened. "Therefore, I suspect that Your Majesty wants to use me to offer advice and eliminate the Song army that's come to steal the credit."

Liu Huai drank the hot porridge in his bowl, wiped his mouth and looked at Li Tong: "First, you can call me Da Langjun or Dutong Langjun from now on. Don't mention the word "Jun Shang" anymore. I don't have that problem. You should change your self-proclaimed name as well."

Li Tong nodded in agreement.

"Secondly, you need to change your name. Jin's Prime Minister Li Tong angered me yesterday and was beaten to death on the spot. From now on, you should avoid showing up in front of outsiders. Although Minister Yu and his men didn't have time to interrogate you, it's possible that one or two of them have seen you."

Li Tong nodded. "When I was little, I had a nickname, Zuo Wentong. My son's full name is Zuo Wenyuan. From now on, I will be called Li Wentong, so no one will mistake me for Li Tong."

Liu Huai nodded, then said: "You will stay by my side first and serve as my military advisor. We can discuss other matters after we return to Shandong."

"Here!"

"Staff Officer Li, you are an extremely intelligent person. Otherwise, you wouldn't have survived a tyrant like Wanyan Liang and become a prime minister. You wouldn't have been able to see through the current situation so easily." Liu Huai said calmly, "But I need you, not just to deal with the Jiankang army before us. Even though our army is exhausted, I have a hundred ways to deal with those small fry."

At this point, Liu Huai glanced at Li Tong and said, "I'm hiring you because I want to restore the Han Dynasty and stabilize the world. I need to deal with internal and external enemies, and you're quite capable of dealing with the Song Dynasty."

"My lord, your desire to pacify the world is..." Li Tong instinctively wanted to flatter, but was interrupted by Liu Huai with a wave of his hand.

"I'm different from Wanyan Liang. I don't need so much flattery, and you don't need to protect yourself like this." Liu Huai said, "Use your ability to read people's expressions and do what I need.

Didn't you say that a capable minister who follows a foolish ruler will become a treacherous minister, and a treacherous minister who follows a wise ruler will become a capable minister? Now I need you to be a capable minister."

Li Tong nodded repeatedly, drank the porridge in his bowl, and then said seriously: "Sir, the secret to dealing with the Song State lies in one thing, and that is tough!"

"go on."

"Sir," Li Tong began to analyze the State of Song for Liu Huai. "The current situation of the State of Song is ultimately due to their refusal to annex."

Liu Huai narrowed his eyes.

This Li Tong does have some skills.

This is the first time since I came here that someone has explained the problem from an economic perspective.

What is the most important means of production in the agricultural era?
Of course it’s the land!
"It was precisely because there was no ban on annexation that large landowners emerged. It was precisely because of these large landowners that the emperor had no choice but to cooperate with them, which is why there were so-called famous and important officials, such as Han Qi in the pre-Song Dynasty. Zhaozhou actually belonged to their Han family." "However, the Song Dynasty did not develop into the situation of the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties. On the one hand, it opened schools and printed books, ultimately preventing the classics from being monopolized by aristocratic families. As long as one had high grades and a solid political record, a commoner could theoretically become a prime minister."

"On the other hand, the Song emperor always held military power. My dear, the Song state emerged from the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, a period when the people were dominated by beasts that devoured humans. To curb the trend of those who acted recklessly with weapons in hand, Zhao Kuangyin devised a system of layers of repression and constraints. The emperor was the supreme military leader, and it was impossible for the literati and officials to completely control the military."

As he spoke, Li Tong stretched out his hands and clenched them into fists. "Thus, the two factions of the Song State—one consisting of the large landowners and literati, the other the emperor and the military—formed a balance between the two. They supported each other, but also opposed each other."

"However, the Song emperor was weak and unwilling to fight. As a result, the Song army was so weak that the Western Xia, the Liao Dynasty, and the Jin Dynasty were able to defeat the Song army."

"Therefore, as long as we can hold our ground against the Song State, your greatest threat will be the Song army. With your extraordinary bravery, the Song army will be nothing but chickens and dogs. Unless that eunuch Zhao Gou can lead the army himself, there is no need to worry."

"Furthermore, the Song Dynasty's literati will also be fighting internally because they are large landowners. Especially after twenty years of seclusion, the literati in the north of the Song Dynasty are almost all old and sick, leaving only the powerful literati in the south. For them, going to war abroad will only bring harm and no benefit!"

Li Tong lowered his right fist, representing the Emperor of Song, and raised his left fist, representing the literati and officials: "However, if we are willing to be a minister of Song and make peace with Song, then the literati and officials of Song will point their spearheads at us.

They will use all sorts of tactics to harass the Shandong rebels. As long as our army doesn't dare use hard knives, they will recklessly use soft knives to cut flesh. "Sir, soft knives can also kill. Remember, figures like Di Qing of the Song Dynasty died of fear under the soft knives."

Liu Huai listened quietly, took a sip of tea and asked, "As Chief of Staff Li said, should our army rise up against the Song Dynasty now?"

Li Tong shook his head decisively: "Absolutely not."

"At this time, the world is still divided between the Song and Jin. Since Dalangjun is determined to destroy the Jin, he must not openly antagonize the Song before he does so. Moreover, many of the Shandong righteous army are loyal to the Song. Given the unstable situation in Shandong, if it is attacked from both sides by the Song and Jin, the situation will be disastrous."

Liu Huai said with a half-smile, "Staff Officer Li, do you know that if you had said you wanted to rebel against the Song Dynasty right now, I would have killed you immediately?"

Li Tong's expression remained unchanged as he spoke sincerely, "Lord, since I sincerely surrender to you and want to do great things for you, to stabilize the world, I won't be playing tricks at this moment. Lord, you just told me to be honest, so why are you using such cunning tactics to test me now?"

Liu Huai exclaimed in his heart, "What a great guy!"

Li Tong was worthy of being the prime minister. The speed at which he transformed from a treacherous villain to a loyal and upright minister of remonstration was so fast that it almost caused Liu Huai to sprain his waist.

However, Liu Huai would not hesitate at this time and apologized directly and sincerely: "Staff Officer Li, this is my fault. I hope you can forgive me."

Li Tong had not expected Liu Huai to apologize so cleanly and neatly. He understood him better and could not help but chuckle a few times before saying seriously, "Lord, to deal with the Song State, we must be tough, but we must not tear our faces apart.

"But I think you know your limits, because unless the situation becomes irreversible, the Song State will never dare to initiate a war. Even if the Zhao Song government wants to go to war, there will be scholars and officials who will hold it back."

"Therefore," Li Tong concluded proudly, his tone filled with confidence: "You, the eldest son, may do as you please, but you must not remain an official in the court of Song."

Liu Huai nodded, stood up and said, "I will be sending troops to the East Gate soon. Staff Li, please take a rest first and change into a new robe. Then come to the East Gate to find me."

"Yes, sir." Li Tong saluted respectfully.

Liu Huai walked out of the tent, but he still had some questions: "Staff Officer Li is talented, so why did he choose to join me?"

Li Tong smiled bitterly and said, "I was the prime minister by Wanyan Liang's side, and I've offended too many people. No matter which royal family member becomes emperor, or even if a righteous army like Dalangjun takes over the world, I will not have a good ending. As for the Song Dynasty..."

At this point, Li Tong sighed deeply, "I have a lot of talent and knowledge, and after experiencing life and death, I have seen things more clearly. I must accomplish something great to justify the mediocrity of my first half of life. How can I sell my life to such a country?"

(End of this chapter)