A few days later, Dong Wenbing and Oruchi led the army back to Jinan, the base camp of the Yuan Army's East Route Army.
As soon as he returned to the city, Dong Wenbing felt that Jinan's guard Hahewu looked a little strange. At first, Dong Wenbing thought it was because of Haciwu's death in battle, which made Hahewu hold a grudge. Within a few days, Dong Wenbing continued to receive news. , Officials and people throughout Jinan City are spreading legends that Dong Wenbing and Li Tingzhi of the Song Dynasty negotiated a peace with each other, which caused the Yuan army to retreat without a fight in the Battle of Yizhou. What's more, Dong Wenbing did not want to be a traitor with eternal infamy, but intended to Imitate Lu Wenlong, the double spearman from a hundred years ago, and return to the Song Dynasty.
In short, there are many rumors about Dong Wenbing, which has almost become the only hot spot in Jinan City in recent times.
Dong Wenbing, who had always been steady, finally couldn't bear it anymore and asked Dong Shixiu to call Oruchi and Hahewu.
After the three of them sat down, Dong Wenbing got straight to the point and said: "Recently, rumors have been spreading in the city, saying that Mr. Dong and the Song Army commander Li Tingzhi secretly negotiated a peace and retreated without a fight. Mr. Dong has always been loyal. I don't know why the rumors started. General Hahewu. , as a Jinan garrison, have you investigated this matter?"
Hahewu said coldly: "Dong Shuai, this matter has been widely spread in the city. It can be said that everyone knows it. I sent people to investigate, but they can't find out who did it. Dong Shuai, you Han people have an old saying. , it is called 'the pure will become clear from itself, and the turbid will become turbid from itself'. If this matter is just a fiction, why does Dong Shuai need to take it seriously?"
Oru Equator: "Hahewu, although Dong Shuai is a Han, his contribution lies in Sheji. During the war between the Yuan and Song Dynasties, it must be the Southern Dynasties who are doing something to sow discord and frame Dong Shuai with counterintuitive tactics. Even though you and I both believe in Dong Shuai's innocence." , but what about the people in the city and the middle- and lower-level officers? What's more, if this matter spreads to the court, it will inevitably have an impact on Dong Shuai's official career and the prospects of our East Route Army. Therefore, this matter should be investigated strictly and still Dong Shuai’s innocence,”
Regarding Oruchi, who was also a Mongolian noble and had a high official position, Hahewu did not dare to rebel, so he said: "Yes, Commander-in-Chief, I will obey your orders."
Ten days later, Dong Wenbing did not wait for Hahewu to find out the source of the rumor, but suddenly an imperial edict came from Dadu. Dong Wenbing was shocked and hurriedly ordered Dong Shixiu to set up the desk to receive the edict.
The person who served as the imperial envoy was Lu Huantuohua, the commander of the Dasu Guard of the Qiongxue Army. This man and Oruchi were from the same hometown, and they were in the same batch of soldiers who joined the Qingxue Army. Therefore, the relationship between the two was very good. After exchanging pleasantries, Lu Huantuohua Hua first said: "Dong Wenbing, commander-in-chief of the East Route Army of the Dayuan Dynasty, has received the imperial edict."
Dong Wenbing hurriedly knelt down and kowtowed: "Please, the Imperial Envoy, declare the decree."
Lu Huan took off her flowers and opened the imperial edict and read out: "His Majesty the Emperor of the Yuan Dynasty declares to all the officers and men of the East Route Army of the Dayuan Dynasty and all the officials and people of Jinan City that General Dong Wenbing, the commander-in-chief of the East Route Army, has outstanding military exploits and commendable loyalty, and is hereby promoted to the second rank. title, and be given a gold medal with two beads and a tiger head as a token of commendation."
"Your Majesty, Dong Wenbing, accepts the imperial edict. I thank the Emperor for his grace." Dong Wenbing received the edict and kowtowed again to express his gratitude.
On that day, when Kublai Khan was marching to the south, he gave Ashu, the general of the expedition, a two-bead tiger head gold medal. Even his deputy commander Boyan only received a one-bead tiger head gold medal, which was enough to see Kublai Khan's opposition to Dong Wenbing’s respect.
In Dong Wenbing's memory, since the time of Genghis Khan, he was the first Han general in Mongolia to receive the two-bead tiger head gold medal. Although Kublai Khan's imperial edict came somewhat inexplicably, it gave Dong Wenbing a piece of reassurance.
After the ceremony, everyone came to the backyard of the handsome manor.
Lu Huan Tuohua first said: "Shuai Dong, General Oruchi, General Hahewu, I got the emperor's order and came here to issue the imperial edict. This is actually the emperor's trust in Dong Shuai and your East Route Army. Everyone, Rumors are spreading all over Jinan Prefecture, even in Dadu,”
"Ah," Dong Wenbing and others were shocked, "There are also rumors about Mr. Dong."
Lu Huan took off her flowers and said with a smile: "Exactly, many Mongolian ministers in the DPRK proposed during the DPRK meeting that they hope the emperor will investigate the matter strictly and let the Austrian commander take over the east route army for the time being before the rumors are clarified to avoid changes. After all, our army One-third of the military strength is in the hands of Dong Shuai,"
Dong Wenbing's heart skipped a beat and he felt uneasy, then he heard Lu Huan Tuohua continue to speak: "After hearing this, the emperor just smiled and said, 'Anyone can do it, but Yan Ming (Dong Wen Bing's courtesy name) can't. Yan Ming's loyalty lies with me. Sixteen, it was already clear seven years ago that the Southern Dynasty had such a clumsy counterintuitive plan. Can't you all see it? Immediately, the emperor issued this imperial edict, named Dong Shuai, and gave him this two-bead tiger head gold medal. ,"
Dong Wenbing said excitedly: "Your Majesty, your sage,"
The sixteen or seven years that Kublai Khan mentioned refers to the autumn of 1253, when Dong Wenbing led forty-six of his men to Dali to follow Kublai Khan, who had not yet ascended the throne at that time.
"The Emperor is so wise and powerful as no one has ever seen before," Lu Huan smiled and joked, "Even the Mongolians like us are jealous of the Emperor's favor towards Dong Shuai. This two-bead gold medal is rare. few,"
Oru Equator: "General Lu Huan Tuohua, Dong Shuai has gone through a lot of hardships and made countless military exploits since he followed the emperor. He deserves this kind of favor,"
Lu Huan Tuohua praised: "Haha, that's right. Marshal Ou said it right. In fact, whether you are Mongolian or Han, as long as you have contributed to the country, the emperor will treat them equally."
Dong Wenbing believed that Kublai Khan did treat him well, and at the same time, it was also because he still had value. In the current Yuan Dynasty army, the number of Han troops had exceeded that of the Mongolian and Semu tribe soldiers. Since the death of General Zhang Rou, , Dong Wenbing is the first among the generals of the Han army, and he will naturally be reused by the court. However, while being reused, he will be more and more jealous. Dong Wenbing knows very well, even if Lu Huan takes off flowers and says No matter how nice it sounds, Han people and Mongolians can never be equated.
Should the Han people return to the Han dynasty?
At this time, the food and wine were served. Dong Wenbing personally filled the wine for everyone, raised his glasses and said: "General Lu Huan Tuohua, generals, please,"
"Dong Shuai, please,"
After three rounds of drinking, Lu Huan Tuohua gradually started talking more and more. Sometimes she talked about interesting things about her and Oruchi's youth, and sometimes she talked about affairs in the court. However, after all this talk, she still talked about the current war situation. .
"Having said that, the firearms of the Southern Dynasty are indeed powerful. Our Central Army lost several battles in a row. Marshal A Shu and Marshal Boyan were both famous generals in the world, but they were still defeated by the firearms of the Southern Dynasty. Fortunately, the emperor was wise and got help from the Supreme Lord. The first batch of firearms from our country was successfully released at the end of last month, with 500 firearms,”
When Oruch heard this, he laughed and said: "Then our army will not be at a disadvantage if we use muskets against muskets."
"Well, although the muskets have been built,,,,,,," At this point, Lu Huan Tuohua looked around and lowered her voice, "But the artillery has not made any progress, and our army still suffers a bit. "
"General Lu Huan Tuohua, if there is one, there are two. Now that the musket has been manufactured, the artillery must not be too far away, right?"
Lu Huan Tuohua shook her head and said: "Dong Shuai, it's hard to say. The main reason why the musket can be successfully manufactured is because General Shi obtained the actual musket from the Southern Dynasties. The artillery was huge and it was difficult to obtain a real object that could be used as a reference. ,"
Oru Equator: "That's true,"
Hahewu drank a glass of wine alone and said: "Generals, I have never seen firearms. Those firearms are really so powerful."
"Alas," Oruchi sighed, "General Hahewu, this is indeed true. Do you think that Dong Shuai, this commander, our tens of thousands of troops on the East Route, and Marshal Ashu and Boyan of the Central Route Army Are they all made of paper?"
Hahewu said: "The last general was once under General Ashu, so he naturally knows how powerful the commander is. He is invincible in every battle. He is the well-deserved God of War in our dynasty. I didn't expect that he is not even an enemy of firearms."
Oruchi frowned and said: "General Hahewu, let's put it this way, the power of firearms is so powerful that human power cannot resist it."
Hahewu looked a little panicked: "What should we do? Li Tingzhi of the Southern Dynasty will soon attack Jinan Prefecture,"
Dong Wenbing said: "I have been thinking about this problem these days. The only way is not to give firearms a chance. In other words, firearms are good for long-distance attacks. As long as our army is close to them, the power of firearms can be greatly reduced." , thus giving full play to the strengths of our army. There is a large flat land outside Jinan City called Nankeping. If our cavalry army besieges it from all directions, it will be very easy to break through the blockade of the Song Army's twenty artillery pieces, and other After all, the number of muskets and fire bombs is limited and cannot be compared with the Song Army's middle route army. Perhaps our army will pay a considerable price, but as long as we rush into the enemy's formation, our elite cavalry can win with one against ten. If we can Seize the opponent's artillery and present it to the emperor, then you can make it yourself just like the muskets."
Lu Huan Tuohua said: "Shuai Dong has a good opinion. When Marshal A Shu was in Nanyang, he was also preparing to adopt the same tactics. But for some reason, the Central Army of the Southern Dynasty suddenly changed their tactics and did not attack Nanyang."
Oruchi and Hahewu all replied: "Dong Shuai, this method is feasible."
Without losing a single soldier, Li Tingzhi led his troops to regain Yizhou and Teng County. Of course, Li Tingzhi, Xia Gui and others also understood that the Yuan army retreating north also suffered no casualties.
After two days of recuperation, the army continued to advance north. According to Li Tingzhi's unified deployment, the main force of the Eastern Route Northern Expedition marched directly to Jinan, while the two generals Wang Sheng and Zhu Huan each led a group of troops to attack the surrounding towns.
Let’s say that the main force of the Song Army, led by Li Tingzhi and Xia Gui, went all the way north. Although they encountered constant harassment and attacks by small groups of Yuan troops on the way, the Song Army’s superior strength still made it possible on May 15th. At noon, we successfully arrived at Tai'an Prefecture (today's Tai'an City), which is about 150 miles away from Jinan City.