Chapter 366: Indecision
Editor: Atlas Studios
As this was the first time Qi Xiuyuan had sent a pigeon to Qi Haoran, the latter was initially shocked and thought that something serious had happened. He hurriedly took out the note from the pigeon and read the first line. He couldn’t help but laugh out loud, affecting his wound.
Anxious to know the news from above, Fan Zijin and Mu Yangling were both staring at him.
After looking around, Qi Haoran pulled the two of them into the study. He handed the note to them and said in an excited yet soft voice, “The old Emperor of the Jin Kingdom is dead. The third and fourth princes of the Jin Kingdom have run back to snatch the throne from the seventh prince.” Qi Haoran’s eyes lit up. “If we speed up, we’ll definitely be able to defend the city we conquered. By the time the situation in the Jin Kingdom stabilizes, our troops would’ve recuperated.”
Fan Zijin’s eyes lit up. “If we continue to advance north while the Jin Kingdom is in chaos…”
“No.” Qi Haoran said in a deep voice, “It’s already difficult to fight in winter. Previously, we had no choice but to do so. If we continue to advance, the soldiers below will definitely be resistant. Moreover, we can’t force the Jin Kingdom too much. Previously, they slowly swallowed up our land like boiling frogs in warm water. Now, we’ll use the same method to slowly take it back. Otherwise, if we attack them too aggressively all of a sudden, they’ll turn around and bite us even if there’s internal strife. Perhaps we’ll even help them resolve the conflict in the Jin Kingdom.”
Mu Yangling looked at Qi Haoran in admiration. Previously, she only felt that it was inappropriate to continue heading north, but if she had to give an explanation, she could only say that it was her intuition.
This was because this opportunity was really rare. Qi Haoran’s grasp of the battle situation was indeed very accurate.
Fan Zijin was obviously convinced by Qi Haoran. Upon hearing this, he said, “Then write to Eldest Cousin.”
Qi Haoran chuckled softly and said, “Although we can’t advance north, we can take advantage of this chaos to do something. In the past few decades, the Han people under the Jin Kingdom’s rule have not been doing well. What do you think will happen if they rebel?”
Fan Zijin narrowed his eyes and smiled. He praised, “Good idea.”
“And those Han tycoons and squires, they should be willing to pay some military salaries and so on.” Qi Haoran was feeling very broke. These few days, Fan Zijin had been chasing him for money every day and even calculated the deficit caused by him paying the compensation and supplies in advance. This made Qi Haoran change his habit of being extravagant. At least now, he did not easily throw out a few taels of silver when he rewarded the servants. Instead, he chose to use words to motivate them.
This caused Fei Bai and the others’ additional income to plummet. He was afraid that if he provoked those people to revolt, they would ask him for supplies, so he could only target those squires.
However, Mu Yangling felt that this idea was extremely brilliant. “It’s very difficult to break in from the outside, but it’s much easier to break out from the inside.”
Smiling, Qi Haoran said, “If you think it’s feasible, I’ll write a letter to Big Brother and ask him to send a few people with sharp tongues to the north. Hmph, since thieves are rampant in the Jin Kingdom to begin with, those people might as well rob the Jin soldiers. When the time comes, we’ll give them some financial support from outside. This way, the Jin soldiers definitely won’t have the time to mess with us anymore.”
This was like opening the door to a new world. Mu Yangling immediately thought of the various television dramas she had watched in the past and immediately said, “We can also sow discord between the Jin Kingdom and West Xia and let them fight two rounds at the border from time to time. Mm, we can get those thieves—no, the Revolutionary Army—to pretend to be from West Xia and fight the Jin soldiers, or pretend to be Jin soldiers to fight West Xia. They can also sow discord between the tribes of the Jin Kingdom. However, this requires them to be proficient in the various languages of the Jin Kingdom. We can also send some strategists to the Third, Fourth, and Seventh Princes of the Jin Kingdom. If only they could keep fighting for the throne or rebel…” Mu Yangling sighed.
Qi Haoran and Fan Zijin widened their eyes and looked at her. Qi Haoran praised, “Ah Ling, you’re really good at thinking.”
Fan Zijin was speechless. “Haoran, are you really going to do as she says?”
“Why not?”
“Putting aside the fact that we don’t have the talent she mentioned, just how to send those people to the princes of the Jin Kingdom is a big problem.”
Qi Haoran said confidently, “There will always be a way when the time comes. Anyway, we have a direction now, right?”
After saying that, he insisted on writing a letter to Qi Xiuyuan despite Fan Zijin’s objections. He even perfected Mu Yangling’s suggestions.
Seeing that the two of them were excited, Fan Zijin did not stop them. Anyway, Eldest Cousin would make a judgment. If it was not feasible, he would naturally not adopt it.
When Qi Xiuyuan received Qi Haoran’s letter, he first laughed and shook his head. Just like Fan Zijin, he felt that his brother and Ah Ling were too mischievous. Then, when he saw the last sentence, “We have to try before we know if it’s feasible.” He fell silent and thought for a moment before calling Rong Xuan over to discuss it.
At this moment, having just received the news that the old Emperor of the Jin Kingdom had passed away, the thought that General Yuan had suppressed rose again. If he advanced north now, he might be able to take back more of his homeland.
Shen Mu strongly advised against it. Like Qi Haoran, he felt that the most important thing now was to guard the existing cities and not advance north.
However, General Yuan had been in the army for 26 years. All these years, all he wanted was to reclaim his homeland and expel the Tartars. How could Shen Mu dissuade him?
Shen Mu looked at his good friend, whose sideburns were slightly white, and knew that he was anxious. How many 20 years could a person have?
He was already over 40 years old and did not have much time left on the battlefield. Shen Mu could understand his eagerness, but he could not agree with his decision. Hence, after thinking for a long time, he wrote a letter to Qi Xiuyuan and asked him to dissuade General Yuan. Since General Yuan said that he was the junior he admired the most, he would let the junior he admired the most dissuade him.
However, at this moment, the Emperor also came to join in the fun. The Emperor, who was far away in Lin’an Prefecture, had learnt of the news of the death of the Jin Kingdom’s old Emperor before them. Despite the attempts of the Jin Kingdom to hide the news of their Emperor’s death, the spies of the Great Zhou Dynasty were not useless. The news of General Yuan and the others was second-hand, but his was first-hand.
Therefore, when he found out that his sworn enemy, who had been suppressing him for his entire life, was dead, Emperor Duanzong put his hands on his hips and laughed three times at the sky. Then, he summoned a few important ministers into the palace, planning to recover the lost land on a large scale. Not only would he ask General Yuan and General Qi to continue to advance north, but he also wanted to transfer the troops of Xingyuan Prefecture and Tongchuan Prefecture over.
This time, both the supporters and opposers were wary and uneasy. Minister Qin supported the Emperor’s idea, but Yan Chong jumped out to oppose it. Since General Yuan and Qi Xiuyuan had already stopped fighting, they should shrink the battle line and set up the defense.
This time, it was Minister Qin and the others’ turn to mock Yan Chong for being timid and afraid of trouble. However, Yan Chong analyzed the situation very reasonably with the Emperor. “Your Majesty, we can’t touch the Tongchuan Prefecture’s troops. The West Xia Kingdom has also been eyeing our Great Zhou covetously. If we transfer the Tongchuan Prefecture’s troops over and West Xia sends troops over, wouldn’t the northwest of Great Zhou be wide open to them?”
“General Yuan and General Qi’s troops are exhausted from the fighting. It’s the first month of the lunar year now, and the soldiers are homesick. I’m afraid they don’t have the motivation to fight. Moreover, spring plowing is coming soon. Your Majesty, we can’t have chaos during the spring plowing.”
The Emperor looked hesitant again.