Chen Qing's ship finally arrived in Runzhou. In the morning, when the ship was still several miles away from the canal mouth, they were intercepted by a patrol boat on the river, and a dispute broke out between the two sides.
Yan Jun, the leader of the soldiers, came to Chen Qing and said: "Commander, go and take a look! Those bastards want to commandeer our ships and horses."
"What!"
Chen Qing suddenly became angry. Are these officers and soldiers bandits?
He immediately came to the bow of the ship, and saw a Yuhou shouting angrily: "This is the order of my family's Xuanfu envoy. All ships with a thousand stones or more and all horses must be conscripted for military use. I don't care where you come from.
Runzhou must obey the orders of my Xuanfu envoy!"
"Your Xuanfu envoy must be Liu Guangshi!"
Chen Qing stepped forward and said to Marquis Yu: "I know him very well. If he knew it was my ship, he wouldn't be in trouble."
Although Chen Qing's words were not harsh, he was very imposing, which made Yu Hou a little unsure.
Marquis Yu quickly clasped his fists and said, "I wonder if the general has the arrows or warrants from our Xuanfu envoy? If so, we will never be in trouble and evacuate immediately!"
Chen Qing took out the gold medal, showed it to Marquis Yu and said, "This is the emperor's gold medal. Is it more useful than the arrows of your Xuanfu envoy?"
Marquis Yu was stunned. He couldn't afford the Emperor's Gold Medal, but he didn't know what the Emperor's Gold Medal looked like. What if the Emperor's Gold Medal was fake?
He hesitated for a while, and then said more politely: "I have a humble official position and can't make the decision. Can you please ask the general's ship to stop at the dock for a while, so that I can ask General Li for instructions."
Chen Qing saw that there were more than a dozen patrol boats around him, and they probably would not let him go. More importantly, the horse boats were already under their control.
Chen Qing nodded, "I won't make it difficult for you, so let's go to the dock first!"
Marquis Yu was overjoyed and quickly ordered the patrol fleet to give way. Chen Qing's two large ships, one behind the other, sailed towards Runzhou Pier.
The pier was filled with all kinds of ships that had been commandeered, as many as the previous ships. There were hundreds of large tents on the shore, and soldiers stood guard around them.
Chen Qing felt a strong atmosphere of war.
At this time, a general followed Marquis Yu and walked quickly, followed by more than a dozen soldiers.
The general stepped forward and clasped his fists and said, "I am Li Wu, the commander under Liu Dutong. May I ask where your army is from?"
Chen Qing replied: "I am Chen Qing of the Western Army. I have been summoned by the emperor to go to Lin'an to report on my duties!"
"Ah! It turns out to be Chen Tongzhi, disrespectful! Disrespectful!"
Chen Qing handed him the gold medal for verification. These generals were just being polite, but what had to be done had to be done. Without this gold medal, Chen Qing knew that he would definitely not be able to save his ships and horses.
Li Wu looked at the gold medal and returned it to Chen Qing: "There is no problem with the gold medal. Chen Tongzhi is under special circumstances and he can leave at any time!"
Chen Qing asked again: "I wonder if it is convenient for General Li to reveal that the imperial court is about to start a war?"
Li Wu looked both ways and lowered his voice and said: "The Jin soldiers from Yangzhou have withdrawn. Now is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Both the officials and the court agree with my Xuanfu envoy to seize Yangzhou."
"The golden soldiers have withdrawn?"
Chen Qing was a little puzzled. How could the Jin soldiers withdraw from Yangzhou, such an important strategic place?
"I wonder where the Jin soldiers retreated?"
"It is said that he was transferred to Guanzhong?"
"No way! Wanyan Wushu has already led 50,000 troops to Guanzhong. Besides, the Yangzhou Jin soldiers are Wanyan Nianhan's East Route Army. How can they be transferred to Guanzhong?"
"I don't know the specific position, but the officials have approved it and the war will start soon. Please leave Chen Tongzhi as soon as possible."
"Has the East Route Armistice Agreement expired?"
Li Wu nodded, "It's due today!"
After speaking, he gave a few instructions to Marquis Yu, bowed and left.
The armistice agreement has only expired today, and the court is eager to launch a war. Is this too hasty?
If it wins, it's easy to say, but if it fails, the favorable situation created by the Western Army's hard work will be completely destroyed.
Chen Qing just secretly thought that he couldn't control the affairs on the Eastern Front, so he told the ship's boss: "It's time to set off, and head to the Jiangnan Canal!"
...........
Early in the morning, Lu Yihao came to the official room of the Political Affairs Hall. As soon as he walked to the door, he heard a quarrel coming from the courtyard.
"How can combat decisions be based on probabilities? Don't the Jin people know that Yangzhou is such an important place? This is the Jin State's strategy and a tactic to lure the enemy."
"This is a matter decided by the court and the officials. You don't have to worry about it. Just mind your own business!"
Lu Yihao frowned and asked the official at the door: "Who is arguing inside?"
"Reporting to your Majesty, this is the envoy of Yue Dutong and Privy Li!"
Lu Yihao walked into the courtyard and saw Yue Fei, the commander-in-chief, standing on the steps, blocking the path of Privy Councilor Li Hui. The two of them were quarreling with each other. At this time, Li Hui saw Lu Yihao at the door and shouted quickly: "Mr. Lu is here."
Just in time, please come and comment!”
At this time, Yue Fei also realized that his attitude was too fierce. He took a few steps back, stepped forward and bowed, "See Mr. Lu!"
"When did Yue Dutong arrive in Lin'an?" Lu Yihao asked with a gentle smile.
"My humble duty arrived the day before yesterday. I will arrange to report on my duties today!"
"I just heard what Yue Dutong said. The imperial court's decision to attack Yangzhou was wrong. Why did Yue Dutong say this?"
Yue Fei sighed and said: "I have fought with the Jin people for many years, and I know the Jin soldiers very well. They are by no means as crude and ignorant as the rumors in the market. On the contrary, they are extremely cunning and very good at using tricks, and many of their tricks are often used very extensively.
It looks like they discovered some opportunity by chance, but in fact it was a carefully planned strategy. Even a small person was arranged by them to trick us without knowing it.
For example, Liang Shiyao was defeated twice by his humble position the year before and was demoted to the rank of commander. Now he has not made any achievements and his reputation is not good. He was suddenly appointed as the general manager of Yangzhou with a status comparable to that of the capital commander, commanding an army of 20,000 people.
It’s very strange no matter how you look at it.”
"What is your conclusion?"
"The humble official believes that this is the Jin people's plan. They appointed a wine general with a bad reputation among the Song army as the chief general of Yangzhou, and spread rumors that the Jin soldiers had withdrawn from Yangzhou. This was just to get us to take the bait, send troops to Yangzhou, and then set up a trap to make us miserable.
defeat."
"Then what do you think Jin Bing's motive is?"
"I don't know what Jin Bing's deep-seated intentions are, but it must be related to the subsequent armistice negotiations. If we fail miserably in Yangzhou, then we will not be able to straighten our backs during the negotiations."
Lu Yihao smiled slightly and said: "I understand the truth of Yue Dutong's advice. I will tell the officials and inform Liu Guangshi to be cautious and not to rush into anything greedy for credit!"
"Can't this military operation be cancelled?" Yue Fei looked disappointed.
Lu Yihao shook his head, "The army has already set off. It is impossible to withdraw at this time. We can only remind them to be careful!"
Yue Fei was really helpless, clasped his fists in a salute, and left with a long sigh.
Li Hui came over and said angrily: "I came here early in the morning to make a noise. I told him that it was decided by the officials, but he refused to go, so I decided that it was the responsibility of the Privy Council!"
Lu Yihao said lightly: "He reminds me of Di Qing back then. He was just as good at fighting, just as upright, and just as easy to offend people. But what he said made some sense. Could this really be a tactic used by the Golden Army to lure soldiers?
?”
"According to what he said, the imperial court will stop the Northern Expedition from now on. Everything is a conspiracy and a trick to lure troops. If we take Yangzhou, the Jin soldiers will certainly be anxious and counterattack. It depends on how we hold Yangzhou.
This is a normal battle, how does it have anything to do with luring troops? He just can't see Liu Guangshi taking the lead!"
Lu Yihao knew that Li Hui did not have a good impression of Yue Fei, and it was normal for him to speak harshly. He smiled, did not respond, and walked directly into the official room.
But Lu Yihao had a hidden worry in his heart. If it was really the Jin man's plan to lure soldiers, what should he do?
"Ms. Lu, Chen Qing is coming back, right?" Li Huicha asked with a smile, changing the topic.
"It should be coming soon. Yesterday, the officials praised him for defeating the water thieves in Yuezhou, saying that famous generals are dazzling everywhere?"
"When we come back this time, let's just get married between him and Axiu!"
"His original intention of coming back this time was not to arrange a marriage. The marriage is not urgent. Let everything take its course!"
Li Hui felt a little strange in his heart. He felt that Lu Yihao was perfunctory and seemed not as enthusiastic about the marriage between Chen Qing and his granddaughter as before.