Deciding to embark on a military expedition was not the same as actually embarking on it, just as deciding to embark on a military expedition did not guarantee a high chance of success, or that the decision-makers truly believed victory was assured.

At least from Zhao Jiu's perspective, choosing to take the initiative was largely because the situation had already been set in motion, so he simply hardened his heart. Before and after this, the other high-ranking officials either agreed or disagreed as they saw fit… for example, Zhang Jun consistently advocated for an expedition, while Liu Ziyu opposed it from beginning to end.

However, since the Emperor had decided to embark on an expedition, Liu Ziyu had no choice but to remain silent, because at this time, at the very least, the officers, soldiers, and common people had to believe that the expedition was sure to be victorious. Liu Ziyu had to pretend to be convinced, even if he didn't feel that way.

But as it was said before, embarking on an expedition was not something that could be done immediately.

How were the 100,000 troops to be assembled? Who would go first, and who would follow? Which routes would each take? If the troops were like this, how should the logistics be coordinated? With so many generals, who would listen to whom if they clashed?

All of these things had to be arranged and resolved one by one. Fortunately, the Privy Council had contingency plans in place.

And on this day, as Zhang Jun submitted another memorial requesting an expedition and 'persuading' Zhao, the Emperor, things began to become complex and cumbersome.

From a high-level planning perspective, the first issue that arose was who would remain to guard Chang'an.

To this, Zhao Jiu had made arrangements early on. He first raised a brand new Jinwu standard in Chang'an city and officially moved into the Chang'an palace… Although there had been speculation within and outside Chang'an, the news of the Emperor's relocation to Guanzhong still shook the entire Jingzhao.

However, Zhao Jiu quickly pulled Yuwen Xuzhong into the old Chang'an palace and bestowed the Jinwu standard upon him.

Obviously, with Luoyang about to be exposed, he still wanted to play psychological warfare with Lou Shi and his men, by having Yuwen Xuzhong stay behind in Chang'an in his name.

As for the vital pass of the Wei Bridge, it was handed over to Liu Ziyu, Zhang Jun still took overall responsibility for logistics… while he himself planned to go to the front-line camp under the guise of Yuwen Xuzhong to personally command the expedition.

Anyway, it was all deception, hoping to create a little confusion.

In fact, this arrangement was somewhat within the expectations of the high-ranking civil and military officials. The Emperor’s willingness to go all out had been evident for quite some time. From the day he entrusted the empire, everyone had basically anticipated this.

However, after this high-level planning was quickly decided, a surprising event occurred for Zhao, the Emperor, when it came to the execution phase of the expedition – the troops from the three routes of Guanxi, who had been hiding behind Jingzhao, had originally prepared to go to the front line, but after hearing that the Emperor had come to Chang'an, incited by someone, they actually demanded a departure reward from the city.

How to put it?

Surprised, Zhao Jiu was not angry. He even felt that this was unexpected but within reason.

This 'within reason' was not to say that this matter should be so, but that Zhao Jiu almost immediately realized that this army was at this level… This was the original Western Army, with some combat effectiveness and perhaps even more combat experience, but in essence, it was still an old army with 'Song Dynasty characteristics', the same army that had abandoned combat on the battlefield because the silver bowls for rewards were insufficient, and the same army that would occasionally kill civilians to claim credit and sit idly by as allied forces were destroyed.

Moreover, this army had experienced several major defeats, and it had only been receiving military pay for half a year. After seeing the equipment and treatment of the Imperial Guard troops, and hearing that the Song Emperor had arrived here, it seemed understandable that they would ask for an additional reward to seek psychological balance.

However, compared to Zhao Jiu's calmness, Zhang Jun and Yang Yizhong clearly felt ashamed and indignant about this matter. The former, as the actual commander of these troops, felt embarrassed in the face of the Imperial Guard's decisive actions and Wu Jie's achievements in northern Shaanxi; while the latter was clearly ashamed because he had previously made a 'protect the country' speech to Zhao, the Emperor, and had guaranteed the combat effectiveness of these Western armies.

Of course, in any case, Zhao Jiu was quite familiar with this kind of situation.

Zhao, the Emperor, unhesitatingly instructed Zhang Jun to distribute the rewards, or rather, the departure fees… Otherwise, what was the point of increasing taxes in the southeast, increasing levies in Jingxiang, and even pre-paying two years of taxes in Sichuan, regardless of the future consequences? Was it not to avoid being constrained by money and grain in the present?

Besides, the Western Army was indeed a bit poor.

At the same time, Zhao Jiu also had Yang Yizhong select thirty officers below the commander level, all of whom were the most vocal in demanding the departure fees, and then gave the list to Liu Xi, Liu Qi, and Zhao Zhe, instructing them to immediately execute them as a warning.

It should be said that Yang Yizhong was able to do this not because his Imperial Guards were so effective in Guanxi, but because his grandfather, Yang Zongmin, had been the general in charge of defending Chang'an and the entire Guanzhong during the Jingkang Incident. He later died in Chang'an when it was captured by Lou Shi. He had local connections and prestige, which allowed him to act conveniently.

After the executions, Zhao Jiu, in his capacity as Emperor, formally issued a proclamation, stating that because the Jin army had devastated Guanzhong, leaving many ownerless lands, he would grant land based on military merit to the local soldiers, with ten acres of land awarded for each Jin soldier's head. The Imperial Guard troops also had a similar arrangement, promising to take out the previous Henan military settlements, converting public land to private, as rewards.

As for the Imperial Guard troops who were from Guanxi and wanted to settle in Guanxi, they were also allowed to participate in the Guanxi military merit land grant.

Frankly speaking, Zhao Jiu was issuing a typical empty promise, because the Imperial Guard troops were fine, as they had the Henan military settlements as a base, but in Guanzhong, he had only been here for a few days. How could he know how much vacant land was left after the Jin army swept through Guanzhong? And how could he know if these vacant lands had been seized by these military leaders, officials, and landlords?

But there was no choice. At this time, he had to do it!

For the upper-level military leaders, he was bestowing official positions and making promises, which he had done as soon as he arrived. There were already five or six Regional Commissioners, five or six Military Commanders, one Commander, and one Commanding Officer directly appointed. For the middle and lower-level officers, he was rewarding them with wealth, which he had just spent. For the lower-level soldiers, he was promising them land… Since ancient times, what other means could be used to motivate an army? Appeal to their sense of righteousness? He had done that too!

Besides, if this battle was won, even if the land in Guanzhong had been seized, he could make those people spit it out. And if the battle was lost, Guanzhong would be gone. What would be the point?

In short, with the Zhao Song Emperor gritting his teeth and going all out while sitting in Chang'an, the massive war machine was launched in a hurry, no matter what… And while these messy matters were being dealt with in a hurry, the other major armies in Guanxi had already begun to act according to the various instructions issued by Chang'an city.

Qu Duan, Wu Lin, and Li Yongqi were ordered to move south at top speed.

The Imperial Guard's Central Army, under the command of Wang De and Wang Yan, advanced together from the left and right, dividing their forces to advance rapidly towards the four cities of Pucheng, Meiyuan, Xiagui, and Fuping… These were the border locations of Huazhou and Yaozhou, and also the opposite area of the junction between the Weibei Plain, where Wanyan Loushi was currently located, and the northern hills and plateaus.

And on the tenth day of the fifth month, after receiving money and silk rewards, and being promised land for military merit, and of course, having some heads chopped off as a demonstration, the various troops from Xihe Road, Lizhou Road, and Qinfeng Road finally set off, under the leadership of their respective generals, crossed the Wei River, and marched towards the main force of Lou Shi's army in the northeast direction.

At this point, the Song-Jin war suddenly entered a new stage.

Of course, if the Junior Scholar Lin's estimate of Yue Fei's side was correct, what truly brought the war into a new stage was Yue Pengju's Imperial Guard's Vanguard crossing the Yellow River north on the Dragon Boat Festival.

But Zhao Jiu could not worry about Yue Fei's success or failure, or even the gains and losses in Luoyang. He clearly wrote a private letter-style edict to Li Yanxian, intercepting all military information from Guandong and ensuring that the Jin army in Luoyang could not harass Guanxi. If he could achieve this, he would be the top meritorious official in this battle.

Li Yanxian certainly knew the stakes and was trustworthy.

In fact, Zhao Jiu's only military response to Luoyang was to send Zhai Jin's eldest son, Zhai Cong, and his two hundred elite soldiers back to Luoyang via a small path south of Luoshui.

That was all.

On the twelfth day of the fifth month, in the hot summer season, Zhao Jiu also left Chang'an. On the fourteenth day, he arrived at Suyi Town behind Fuping and Xiagui, which was the Weibei logistics base预定的 by the Privy Council's Office of Personnel, and was guarded by Zhang Jun. Zhao Jiu did not stop there. He simply left the three or four thousand soldiers, who were gathered in the same way and had the same status as Zhai Cong, whom everyone had always regarded as his 'trump card', here, and continued to advance to the northeast.

On the fifteenth day of the fifth month, in the morning, after a summer rainstorm that arrived suddenly last night but also quickly passed, Zhao Jiu personally led the Imperial Guards and the two divisions of Beiwei troops to a location between the four cities of Pucheng, Fuping, Meiyuan, and Xiagui, about ten miles northwest of Jingyao Town.

This was the front-line camp set up by the 30,000 troops of the Western Three Roads Army, presided over by Liu Xi, the Regional Commissioner of Xihe Road, who had the highest official rank, the oldest qualifications, and the strongest combat power among the Western Three Roads Army… This place was only seventy or eighty miles away from Lou Shi's camp on the south bank of the Baishui River.

"Your Majesty, please take a look."

After the rain, the sun was shining, and the weather was rarely refreshing. Commander Liu Xi invited Zhao, the Emperor, who had just arrived, to climb onto a plateau next to the camp to get a high-level view. "This minister did not set up the camp in Jingyao Town, but behind this swamp ten miles away from Jingyao Town, partly to avoid the heat, and partly to delay the Jin army's cavalry with the swamp and mud…"

Zhao Jiu looked as directed and saw that the unique plateau terrain of the northwest had already appeared here… The so-called plateau was a flat tableland with steep sides. This was because of soil erosion, which caused ravines to cut through the plateau, like lines scribbled randomly on the earth, thus forming this kind of irregular chessboard-like terrain.

Similar to this were terms like 'Liang' and 'Mao'. 'Liang' referred to land with a mountain ridge in the middle, and 'Mao' referred to land with a small hill in the middle, which were variations of plateau terrain.

The camp that Liu Xi set up was next to a plateau with a small hill, which was a 'Mao'. It was right under Zhao Jiu's feet, but he did not occupy this high ground. Instead, he chose to set up camp in a lower position, because there was a large expanse of green swamp in front of that open space.

Loess, swamps, plateaus, and plains converged here, but the plains were not very flat, the ravines around the plateaus were not very steep, the swamps were not very deep, and the loess was not entirely without vegetation cover… According to the locals, this complex terrain would continue all the way to Baishui City in front, which was where Lou Shi was located.

In fact, according to intelligence, Lou Shi had also taken the initiative to cross the Baishui River and set up camp next to a swamp.

Back to the present, after Liu Xi talked for a long time until his mouth was dry, the Emperor finally opened his mouth: "You sent a message earlier saying that you wanted to set up camp here. Was it because you were attracted to this swamp?"

"Reporting to Your Majesty, that is indeed the case." Liu Xi quickly explained again. "Although high ground and plateau ravines all have their advantages, swamps are the most effective in delaying cavalry."

Zhao Jiu certainly did not understand these things, so he nodded and then asked again: "Won't the troops be spread out too far?"

"No, the four surrounding cities are not far apart, and the Jin army is eighty miles away from here. Once they move out, there will be enough time for the four cities to combine their forces…"

"What if they take the opportunity to occupy the cities?"

"That's exactly what we want them to do… Once they occupy the cities, they will lose the advantage of their cavalry and will find it difficult to escape, as if they have fallen into a trap."

Zhao Jiu frowned slightly: "Will the Jin army really act as we expect?"

"Of course not." Liu Xi immediately added. "Your Majesty, this is just the best course of action for our army at the moment, which is to set up a continuous camp here and integrate it with the four surrounding cities, creating the impression that we are blocking the Jin army from entering Weibei. If the Jin army has other responses, we will naturally take other measures…"

Zhao Jiu looked at the surrounding terrain again and nodded slightly… He roughly understood what Liu Xi meant. Saying that they were going to embark on an expedition north to meet Lou Shi was not the same as directly agreeing on a date and then drawing up formations to fight together. Instead, they had to seize advantageous terrain, deploy troops, and then, like playing chess, probe each other, maneuver each other, and force each other, and finally launch or induce the other side to launch a decisive battle based on the changes in the situation.

This was a continuous dynamic process.

And the current situation was just that the Song army, according to what they had thought, had made the first move. The Jin army's response, or lack of response, would change the situation… And this depended on what Lou Shi thought and did.

"When you arrived here the day before yesterday, did the Jin army send cavalry to harass your camp?" With this in mind, Zhao Jiu continued to ask.

"When the army set off the day before yesterday, there were naturally some Jin cavalry scouting beyond Pucheng in front, engaging in skirmishes with our army's outposts. Yesterday, there was a battle involving more than a hundred cavalry near Changle Town, where the Beiluoshui Bridge is located. However, because Grand Commandant Han sent troops from across the river to help, the battle did not last long, and they each withdrew. There have been no reports today, but there are no signs of alarm from Pucheng and Meiyuan in front." Liu Xi answered fluently. "Overall, the Jin army has not truly launched an attack."

At this point, Zhao Jiu was completely silent. To be honest, he was an amateur when it came to deploying troops, and listening to the reports was just to understand the situation better.

However, even though Zhao Jiu was silent, Liu Xi still had his own questions.

"Your Majesty," Liu Xi asked tentatively after hesitating for a moment, "I wonder where Your Majesty will be stationed?"

"I will be the commander in the name of Chancellor Yuwen, with the Imperial Guards and the two divisions of the Imperial Guard's Right Army Beiwei troops as the central army, and the Imperial Guard's Commander Wang Yuan as the director of affairs for the central army's camp. We will set up camp behind you." Zhao Jiu answered simply. "If you have any military intelligence, come directly to me."

Liu Xi was silent for a moment, but finally gritted his teeth and said, "Your Majesty, Your Majesty is the master of all the people, the Emperor of the Great Song Dynasty. Your identity is precious, and it would not be good to personally be involved in warfare… And now that Military Advisor Liu is not here, there are nearly 80,000 Imperial troops gathered within dozens of miles of this place, but there are Commander Wang and myself here, and Pucheng and Meiyuan each have a Deputy Commander Wang…"

"There is no need to say more. My mind is made up." Zhao Jiu interrupted the other party directly as if he did not understand what he meant. "I will live and die with all the armies. You don't have to persuade me."

Liu Xi was silent for a moment, but ultimately did not dare to say more. He had no choice but to nod reluctantly, and then followed Zhao, the Emperor, directly turned his horse around, left the plateau, and returned behind the swamp.

After the Emperor's camp was hastily established and the 'Yuwen' banner was hastily hung up, Liu Xi returned to his respective camps with Zhao Zhe and Liu Qi, but finally couldn't help but complain to his younger brother:

"There was a message when we set up camp the day before yesterday, saying that Qu Duan had entrusted the troops to Zhang Zhongfu's brothers and galloped south alone on an iron elephant. I knew it wasn't good. Who would have thought that after fighting for so many days, this commander's position would still be taken by this Qu the Great. It's clear that no matter how hard you work to guard the border, it's not as good as showing your face more in front of the Emperor, and it's even better than passing the Imperial Examination!"

Zhao Zhe pretended not to hear him. Upon hearing this, Liu Qi could only offer a few words of comfort, but did not say much.

It should be said that everyone knew that Zhao, the Emperor, could not personally lead the troops, and that the Emperor had always advocated that those who did not know the military should not be commanders. Therefore, no matter how many identities and flags the Emperor wore, there was always someone who would be the military commander of these hundred thousand troops!

And with the Imperial Guard's Central Army divided into two, and with Wang De and Wang Yan finding it difficult to command each other, it was likely that Liu Xi and Wang Yuan would compete for this commander's position. In fact, they had begun fighting openly and secretly in Chang'an before. When they embarked on this expedition, Liu Xi went first, and was ordered to act according to circumstances, and almost thought that he was going to obtain this commander's position.

Who would have thought that the Emperor's attitude was ambiguous, and that Qu Duan's rapid march south would completely dash Liu Xi's hopes.

After all, Qu Duan had been the number one general in Guanzhong and the actual military leader of the Northern Three Routes. In the Western Army, where seniority was valued, there was really nothing Liu Xi could do to compete for this commander's position.

In fact, even Liu Xi's complaint this time had a hint of resignation.

However, that very evening, when the sky was not yet dark, several riders galloped directly into the hastily established, newly-built Central Army camp from the north to meet the Emperor. As Commander, Liu Xi naturally had outposts that saw them, and then reported in a hurry. According to the outposts who saw the scene from afar, they could not clearly see their faces, nor did they see any banners, but everyone recognized the famous iron elephants of Guanxi. This meant that Qu the Great had truly returned.

At this point, Liu Xi completely gave up his last hope and simply waited for the Emperor to gather everyone the next day and publicly announce the commander's position.

"You are Wu Jinqing?"

Zhao Jiu stopped shooting arrows halfway, and after seeing a yellow-faced general enter the archery range behind the Central Army's tent under the guidance of Wang Yuan and Yang Yizhong, directly put away his arrows, and then turned around and smiled at him. "I asked Qu Duan to guard Fangzhou for you. Should that be okay?"

"This subject is terrified." Wu Jie, who had arrived after running for a whole day, was covered in sweat. Knowing that the young man in front of him, wearing cotton clothes that were more expensive than silk, was undoubtedly Zhao, the Song Emperor, he was truly a little terrified, but the military situation was urgent, so he hurriedly knelt down to salute while looking up and asking, "This subject's troops were originally part of Commander Qu's old troops, so it's naturally okay, but I don't know why Your Majesty summoned this subject here alone. What are Your Majesty's orders? Please make it clear, Your Majesty."

"It's like this." Perhaps because this place was next to a swamp, Zhao Jiu, who had not sweated much, simply threw down his bow and arrows, directly went forward to help the other party up, and smiled slowly. "Jinqing should know that the nation will have a major battle. As for Guanxi, I should have asked Han Liangchen to issue orders and take overall military command on my behalf, but although he is in Tongzhou, just across the Beiluoshui River, he has other important responsibilities, so I want to entrust the only hundred thousand troops in Guanzhong to you, and ask you to destroy Lou Shi for me… I don't know if Jinqing is willing?"

Wu Jie was stunned… It should be said that the first thing he thought of was not thanking the Emperor, but Qu the Great's reluctant face when he came to Fangzhou to borrow his iron elephants and ask him to come south to meet the Emperor.

It was as if he didn't owe him a horse, but owed Qu the Great a military commissioner in general.