Simulates history, but Chongzhen is the Divine Emperor at the beginning

Chapter 304 Chen Chiyan
[In the 223rd year of the Shaoxing reign of the Song Dynasty, at the very same time you forced Wuzhu to commit suicide and seized supreme military and political power from the Jin Dynasty, Zhao Gou of the Southern Song Dynasty, sensing an opportunity in the Jin political upheaval, immediately launched a northern expedition!]

That year, Marshal Yue Fei of Xiangyang, acting on the imperial edict of the Song Emperor, led an army of 100,000 men out of the Xiangyang defense line, crossed the Han River to the north, and marched straight for the Central Plains!

The news sent shockwaves through the Central Plains...

The Song army's northern expedition caught you completely off guard. Furthermore, you are currently at a crucial juncture in your purge of the old guard, including landlords and bureaucrats. Both political stability and the army's combat effectiveness are at their lowest point. If Yue Fei were to invade, you could very well be completely overwhelmed!

[While you've always sympathized with Yue Fei's deeds and enjoyed seeing him defeat the Jin dynasty, recover the Central Plains, and achieve unparalleled feats in the stories, ... that was then, and now is now!]

The Jin Dynasty of today is no longer the Jin Dynasty of the past. After the Tumu Crisis and the Fengtian Rebellion, which you orchestrated, the ruling machine of the Wanyan clan of the Jin Dynasty has effectively collapsed, and the ruling order of the Jin Dynasty jointly constructed by the Jurchen nobles and Han landlords has also crumbled... It can be said that the Jin Dynasty of today, apart from still bearing the name of "Jin Dynasty" and having a half-dead Jin emperor, can be considered a fallen state!

The old Jin dynasty of the Wanyan clan has been destroyed, and it has been replaced by the "Jin Zhou Clan Grand Tutor's Government," controlled by you, the Grand Tutor of Jin!

The fruits of victory are already in your grasp; how could you possibly allow the Southern Song to reap the rewards? Therefore, even if Yue Fei leads his army on a northern expedition, you will absolutely not bow down in submission!

However... then again, you clearly lack the ability to engage the Song army in direct combat right now...

The reason is simple: you are not a subject truly trusted by the Jin Emperor. Having seized power by force and severely humiliated the Jin Emperor, you no longer possess the "spiritual authority" that Wuzhu had...

In other words, if you were to actually encounter the Song army, no matter how large your forces were, they would lose their fighting ability due to mutation and loss of intelligence. At that point, apart from your own Imperial Guards, none of them would be a match for Yue Fei's elite troops!

While the Embroidered Uniform Guards are capable of confronting Yue Fei's army, they only number three thousand. Yue Fei's army of one hundred thousand could overwhelm them... Besides, your Embroidered Uniform Guards just fought desperately for you in the Tumu Crisis, defeating the Jin Emperor's five hundred thousand imperial guards. Their divine power has been greatly depleted, and they are far from recovered. If they rashly engage the Northern Expeditionary Song army, they will most likely be wiped out on the spot...

Therefore, you are now in a dilemma: if you surrender, the fruits of your labor will be reaped by the Southern Song Dynasty, and as we know from the previous failed branch, even if the Southern Song Dynasty unifies the Jin Dynasty, it will still not solve the fundamental contradiction... But if you do not surrender, Yue Fei's Northern Expeditionary Army will have to repeat the "Battle of Fei River" for you...

What to do? Surrender or fight? You don't know...

[Ding! Faced with this tricky problem, you are really torn, so you choose: (?)]

[A: He slid down and surrendered! He wrote a letter to Yue Fei on the spot, asking to surrender his territory and become an annexed country. He cried and said: If the marshal does not abandon me, I am willing to become his godfather!]
In this way, I believe the Song Dynasty will not break its promise to me, and I will remain a wealthy man in the future...

[B: I'd rather die than surrender! Damn it! I captured the Jin emperor, and I forced Wuzhu to his death. Why should I hand over the fruits of victory to the Southern Song?]

They dared to launch a northern expedition against the Grand Tutor; these are no ordinary Song troops. We must strike hard! [Imperial Guards, mobilize!]

……

"War or surrender?"

Looking at these two different choices, Zhou Liang couldn't help but ponder:
To be fair, we have finally seized power from the Jin Dynasty, so we cannot give it up easily.

Even if the opponent is Yue Fei, so what? Does that mean I have to kneel down and surrender just because the opponent is Yue Fei?

The fruits of victory were hard-won and should not be easily handed over. We are not inherently compromising members of the bourgeoisie, so why should we kneel?

So ultimately, it all comes down to skill and ability!

However, Zhou Chi's concerns were not without merit, because objectively speaking, the current "Grand Tutor's government" was indeed no match for the Southern Song's Northern Expeditionary Army. If it refused to surrender, it would only be defeated and annihilated...

"In short, a direct confrontation would definitely lead to certain death... Therefore, surrendering is actually a better option..."

After careful consideration, Zhou Liang quickly made his choice:

"Choose A, let's surrender first!"

"But remember to tell him that surrendering is one thing, but he can't actually give up the fight... In any case, let's test the waters with the Southern Song first, and he can't surrender completely unless absolutely necessary..."

[Ding! You have chosen option A, slide to your knees and surrender! You immediately write a letter to Yue Fei, requesting to surrender your territory and become part of the empire, and tearfully declare: If the Marshal does not abandon me, I am willing to become his godfather!]
In this way, I believe the Song Dynasty will not break its promise to me, and I will remain a wealthy man in the future...

[Ding! You have implemented an additional strategy to make the emulator think twice before acting. The strategy is being transferred...]

【…】

[You ultimately chose to surrender on your knees under pressure from Yue Fei, but then inexplicably felt that you couldn't surrender too readily. After much deliberation, you told your advisor your thoughts and asked him to give you further advice.]

Upon hearing this, the Prime Minister initially seemed thoughtful, but then his expression revealed understanding...

[The Prime Minister said earnestly, "You made the right choice. You should indeed surrender first, because if you don't, Yue Fei's Northern Expedition will inevitably destroy all your achievements."] ["However, if you surrender too readily, you may very well play right into Zhao Gou's hands, making his determination to destroy the Jin dynasty irrevocably firm..."]

【Um? 】

The Prime Minister's words startled you: Did this play right into Zhao Gou's hands? Could it be... that Zhao Gou's resolve to destroy the Jin dynasty wasn't so firm?

Thinking about it this way, it suddenly dawned on you: That's right! Zhao Gou really didn't expect to be able to wipe out the Jin Dynasty in one fell swoop this time!

In the previous failed side quest, Zhao Gou, in order to destroy the Jin dynasty, directly ordered the four generals of the Restoration to launch separate northern expeditions, with a total army of nearly a million... However, this northern expedition only has Yue Fei's army, and the expeditionary force is only 100,000... This is clearly not for the purpose of destroying the Jin dynasty.

"This is a test!"

You raised an eyebrow: "Zhao Gou, far away in Jiangnan, was unaware of what had actually happened in the Jin Kingdom. He only knew that a power shift had occurred within the Jin Kingdom, and that veteran generals like Wuzhu had been replaced by a new Grand Tutor..."

"He was unsure whether I, as Grand Tutor, had actually received the authority bestowed upon me by the Jin Emperor, and therefore unsure whether the Jin Dynasty could now suppress the Song army's northern expedition with absolute force as before. Therefore, He decided to conduct a small-scale northern expedition to test my capabilities."

"If I am powerless to resist, it means I have not received the authority bestowed upon me by the Jin Emperor. This signifies that the time is ripe to destroy Jin, so He will not hesitate to continue sending troops to destroy Jin!"

"If I still have the ability to resist, it means that although I replaced Jin Wuzhu by means of 'suppressing the rebellion,' I still have the trust of the Jin emperor and the power to control the thoughts of the Jin people... In this way, He will no longer blindly send troops to destroy Jin, and I will be safe..."

Thinking of this, you immediately breathed a sigh of relief: in other words, this battle doesn't need to be won, as long as it generates value!

Conversely, you can no longer choose to surrender, because surrendering would only prove that you are nothing but a paper tiger, and Zhao Gou would then be just as determined to destroy the Jin dynasty...

[With that in mind, you suddenly hesitated: "If that's the case, then why should I surrender? Why not just fight?"]

"No way!"

[The Prime Minister shook his head: "Given the current situation, you can't fight head-on, because you really can't win... At the same time, you can't surrender completely, because surrendering would only show weakness..."]

"In this way, you are left with only one path: although you will inevitably surrender, you must surrender within limits..."

"You must convince Yue Fei and Zhao Gou that although you are the highest-ranking official in the Jin state and a trusted minister entrusted by the Jin emperor, your heart still belongs to the Southern Song Dynasty, and you are a loyal follower of the Zhao Emperor in the north..."

You frowned slightly, then suddenly realized!

【…】

In the 225th year of the Shaoxing reign of the Southern Song Dynasty, General Yue Fei led 100,000 elite troops across the Han River to the north, aiming directly at the Central Plains, with the intention of taking advantage of the internal strife within the Jin Dynasty to strike at its heart!

That year, Grand Tutor Zhou Jinu of the Jin Dynasty immediately led his troops south, disguising himself as ordinary mutated Jin soldiers under the guise of the Imperial Guard, to confront the Song army in the Xinye area!

The two sides fought to a standstill as soon as they engaged in battle...

Upon seeing this, Yue Fei couldn't help but sigh: The fact that the two sides were still fighting evenly showed that although the Jin state had experienced power turmoil, and even its "old friend" Wanyan Wuzhu had been killed in a coup, the current Grand Tutor of Jin was still a trusted minister of the Jin emperor. In other words, this northern expedition was destined to fail!

[But Yue Fei had some doubts: If the Jin Grand Tutor was capable of confronting the Song army, why didn't he send a large army to confront them directly, instead of only sending three thousand men? Wasn't he afraid of being completely annihilated?]

In short, Yue Fei was very puzzled...

But just then, a special letter arrived, specifying that it was to be delivered to the Emperor of the Song Dynasty and that no one else was allowed to see it!

Of course, if Marshal Yue wants to see it, that's not impossible...

Yue Fei was very puzzled, but for various reasons, he still opened the letter from an unknown source and took a look. And with just that simple glance, Yue Fei was completely stunned!

Because the letter begins with a single sentence...

"Zhou Chi, the false Jin Grand Tutor, respectfully pays homage to His Majesty the Great Emperor of the Song Dynasty! Long live the Emperor!"

"Your subject Chiyan..."

……

(End of this chapter)