Fearing being killed for his overwhelming merits, the empress decided to marry him.

After Yue Pengju took his seat, Shen Lang personally poured him a cup of tea.

"With the fall of Bianjing, the two emperors were taken to Shangjing, and 300,000 Song citizens were imprisoned. The Song Dynasty can now be described as a broken country with a devastated landscape."

Upon hearing Shen Lang's words, Yue Pengju's eyes reddened, and he instinctively wanted to stand up and make a passionate statement.

But before he could speak, Shen Lang stopped him: "Calm down. Lofty rhetoric won't save the Song Kingdom, nor will it solve the problems we face right now."

Cast aside all your useless emotions, think things through, and then answer me.

After saying that, he gestured to Yue Pengju to take a sip of tea.

Upon hearing this, Yue Pengju picked up his teacup and took a big gulp, trying to calm himself down.

After about ten breaths, Yue Pengju's initially agitated emotions gradually calmed down.

"Your Majesty, I request permission to lead an expedition against the Song Kingdom."

"Are you sure about how to play?"

Yue Pengju nodded vigorously: "The first step is to use the Independent Brigade as the center to call on more righteous armies from the Song Kingdom to join, so that they can merge into a single army for the Northern Expedition."

The second step was to proactively seek opportunities to annihilate scattered Jin troops and boost morale.

The third step is to concentrate forces, seize the opportune moment, and recapture Bianjing in one fell swoop.

The fourth step is to wait for the opportune moment to launch a northern expedition, seize the capital, and avenge the previous humiliation.

After listening to Yue Pengju's four-step strategy, Shen Lang simply smiled and poured him another cup of tea.

Yue Pengju frowned, changed his form of address, and asked, "Principal, is there anything wrong with the student's strategic steps? Do you need me to point it out?"

Shen Lang sighed: "No, your strategic plan is perfectly fine, but have you considered the environmental issues you are in?"

"Environmental issues?" Yue Pengju was taken aback, then immediately cupped his hands in a gesture of respect to Shen Lang, "Please enlighten me, Principal."

Shen Lang: "The circumstances of the Song Kingdom are vastly different from those of the Chu Kingdom. Although Bianjing has fallen, the Song Dynasty still has the imperial family by its side."

For example, Guangling County, where Prince Kang (Zhao Gou) resides, is currently supported by powerful families in the Song Dynasty. If you were to lead troops back to Song territory...

He wants to invite you to serve him. What do you plan to do? Will you submit to Zhao Gou's control, or will you withstand all unavoidable obstacles and continue your northern expedition?

Yue Pengju remained silent.

Shen Lang: "You need to think this through carefully, otherwise I won't send the Independent Brigade to fight on the battlefield in the Song Kingdom."

After all, although the independent brigade was composed entirely of Song people, from the moment they agreed to serve in the Great Chu army, they held the military status of Great Chu.

The men of Great Chu are willing to shed their blood and sacrifice their lives for the sake of their allies, but I will absolutely not allow such sacrifices to be in vain.

Yue Pengju was about to say something, but Shen Lang waved his hand to stop him.

"Human life may be just a number in the eyes of many powerful people, and in the writings of scholars and poets, it is merely a tool to leave behind a record of 'one general's success is built on the bones of ten thousand' to showcase their literary talent."

But putting all that aside, they are all living, breathing human beings, just like the powerful and wealthy. They have their own thoughts, emotions, and desires.

Their parents, wives, and children, like everyone else, did not want their fervent hopes to be met with nothing but a cold, lifeless corpse.

Pengju, you have the talent of a general, and you will surely become a legendary commander who will be remembered in history. But you also have a fatal weakness.

That would be blind loyalty. When you were in military school, you knew your colleagues were bullying you Song Dynasty students, yet you chose to compromise and tolerate it.

Even though they knew there were two common-sense errors in the professor's lesson, they didn't point them out in class.

I know you are in a foreign land, and you have chosen to endure everything in order to learn new knowledge.

But this is a school, and my students should bravely stand up and refute injustice when faced with it.

Even if it causes resentment among other students, don't back down.

If you don't even dare to express your true thoughts while in military school, how will you handle the situation when Zhao Gou tries to recruit you after you return to the Song Dynasty? Are you capable of doing so?

Yue Pengju, with a slightly embarrassed expression, clasped his hands and said, "Principal, loyalty to the emperor and love for the country are the first lessons students learn upon entering the Jinling Army Academy."

The students still remember what the principal once said: Loyalty to the emperor is the most basic quality of an official.

If King Kang were to summon the students to serve him, it would be impossible for them to remain indifferent.

After all, the student's status remained that of a captain in the Great Song Dynasty's Valiant Warriors Battalion.

Shen Lang immediately countered, "Then let me ask you, what would you do if Zhao Gou opposed your Northern Expedition? To put it bluntly, if he asked you to hand over military power, would you hand over the Independent Brigade?"

Yue Pengju immediately shook his head: "The student would never do that. The Independent Brigade is the army of the Great Chu, even if it is composed entirely of Song people."

But every soldier in the army is already registered in the Chu state's household registration system, that much is certain, and the students will absolutely not hand them over.

Then he added, "The Song Kingdom is in ruins. As a member of the royal family, how could Prince Kang not want to launch a northern expedition to reclaim our lost lands?"

Shen Lang shook his head: "Pengju, you don't understand just how dark the mind of an emperor can be. It's probably too profound for you to comprehend. It's best if you never do."

I'll just say one thing: Do you think Zhao Gou, who was controlled by powerful families, had any room to make his own decisions?

Even assuming Zhao Gou was not a puppet, he was capable of making his own decisions.

"So, would you dare listen to the decision of a nine-year-old child?"

Yue Pengju's pupils contracted.

Shen Lang continued, "It seems you really didn't understand this first lesson. Loyalty to the emperor doesn't mean blind loyalty."

When your ideas conflict with the monarch's, and the monarch is wrong, you must correct his mistakes promptly to avoid making an irreparable error.

This is true loyalty to the emperor. Besides, you really didn't heed the second half of the statement about patriotism. Patriotism doesn't mean you should make meaningless sacrifices.

Instead, they are willing to pay any price to ensure the continuation of this nation.

This sacrifice doesn't mean that the country is already riddled with problems, and that we must fight to the very last moment before the building collapses.

Instead, we should find a more stable haven for this country as soon as possible. Do you understand?

Yue Pengju lowered his head and remained silent for a long time until tea began to seep from the lid of the purple clay teapot placed on the charcoal fire, at which point his gaze finally hardened.

"Principal! The students know what to do!"

Shen Lang: "How do we do it?"

Yue Pengju: "The Song Dynasty is already in its twilight years and is beyond saving. Only by destroying and rebuilding can it be reborn?"

Shen Lang: "If Zhao Gou were to recruit you, what would you do?"

Yue Pengju: "We must obey orders but not proclamations. The Northern Expedition must not be hampered by anyone."

Shen Lang: "What if King Kang forces you to withdraw your troops, in the name of the monarch?"

Yue Pengju replied proudly, "Before the world, personal reputation is insignificant. What I care about is the livelihood of millions of people in the Song Dynasty, not an unambitious and mediocre ruler!"

"it is good!"

Shen Lang slapped his thigh, then took out a booklet from the drawer.

"Yue Pengju, heed the imperial decree!"

Yue Pengju immediately knelt down on one knee.

"Yue Pengju, a student in the first class of Jinling Military Academy, excelled in both theory and practice."

In the Battle of Nanyang, he was among the first soldiers to scale the walls and stabilize the situation, earning him remarkable military achievements.

Now, Pengju yearns for his homeland and intends to avenge the humiliation, which deeply moves me.

Today, I hereby bestow upon you the name "Fei" (飞), wishing you a swift fulfillment of your long-cherished wish!

Yue Pengju frowned.

To be personally bestowed a name by the ruler of a nation, Jiang Mengxuan, is an immense honor.

"Pengju, get up at once."

Shen Lang handed him the Empress's booklet and helped him up.

"From now on, Pengju will be your courtesy name, and you will be called Yue Fei!"

Yue Fei bowed solemnly to Shen Lang and shouted, "Yes, thank you, Your Majesty, thank you, Regent!"