"The heads of Wanyan Seli have been displayed in Jingdong prefectures, and Jizhou has been definitively recovered, proving the reliability and remarkable achievements of this battle's news. I, your subject, first congratulate Your Majesty and offer my felicitations!"

At the wooden-shed meeting of the Privy Council held that evening, unexpectedly, the first to step forward was none other than Grand Councilor Wang Boyan. "If not for Your Majesty's decision that day in Yingshang to establish a foothold in the Huai River region, and your unwavering stance against the opposition to defend Shouzhou, as well as your widespread edicts at Mount Bagong, elucidating the great cause of resisting the Jin and calling upon the people of the realm to fight from their lands, how could we have achieved such a great victory?"

"Indeed!"

Royal Guard Commander Wang Yuan also followed closely, emerging from beside the brazier. "As the saying goes, 'Planning strategies within a tent, winning battles thousands of miles away...' Commander Han annihilated the enemy at Juejian Island, Commander Wang routed the enemy at Xiashi Valley, Grand Commandant Zhang preemptively bombarded Wuzhu of Jin, and now this great victory at Liangshan Marsh, all thanks to Your Majesty's proper planning and divine military strategy. Moreover, Your Majesty personally oversaw and commanded the destruction of Wuzhu of Jin's pontoon bridge on the Huai River. Throughout history, few have used military force in such a manner, save for Emperor Taizong of Tang and Emperor Taizu of our dynasty! Your Majesty, there is hope for the resurgence of the Great Song!"

Sitting on a broken chair before the royal tent, Zhao Jiu was slightly taken aback. The hint of jealousy he had felt earlier was dispelled by these two rounds of flattery... Of course, setting aside the universally pleasing flattery, and without even needing Scholar Lin's overthinking, Zhao Jiu knew what these two were up to.

Over time, the Zhao Emperor had gained some in-depth understanding of the civil and military officials who consistently followed him in this temporary imperial court. For example, individuals like Wang Boyan and Wang Yuan, often labeled as the surrender faction, appeasement faction, or Yangzhou faction, actually consisted of only a small core group who were genuinely committed to those positions. Most others were simply riding the wave, adept at discerning the Emperor's intentions.

The previous Emperor, Zhao Gou, was single-mindedly focused on fleeing south, fearing resistance. To stay in line with the core leadership, these individuals naturally transformed into appeasement advocates, Yangzhou supporters, and even proponents of surrender. But the current Emperor, Zhao Jiu, had resolutely remained in the Huai River region, making his determination to resist abundantly clear. These individuals would naturally seize the opportunity to shift their stance.

In fact, Zhao Jiu had only recently learned that Wang Boyan's son had been captured by the Jin in Hebei, and the Jin had even used this to try and coerce him. He had, to some extent, once stood firm.

However, returning to the present, the actions of the disgraced Wang Boyan and Wang Yuan naturally drew the disdain of the temporary court's officials.

Yet Wang and Wang had divided their tasks appropriately. Wang Boyan, as the second-in-command of the temporary court, holding the position of Grand Councilor of the Western Secretariat, was perfectly justified in initiating a military discussion. Moreover, his words still maintained a degree of the dignity of a Grand Councilor, leaving all the excessive flattery to Wang Yuan.

As for Wang Yuan, well, he was a military man. Could being good at flattery really be considered a crime?

Thus, everyone could only watch with detached interest, seeing these two seize the initiative!

"Let's put those aside for now," Zhao Jiu instinctively became wary of his strange mindset and immediately followed up with a question. "The Western Secretariat and the Royal Guard are fulfilling their duties appropriately. Do you have any plans for handling this battle and the subsequent arrangements?"

"Your Majesty, this matter falls within our responsibilities, and we dare not be negligent," Wang Boyan replied, clearly prepared. "First, the war remains tense, so we should first discuss the immediate post-battle arrangements..."

"What arrangements?"

"With their retreat cut off, Wuzhu of Jin will inevitably retreat north, but given the strength of his forces, we must be careful to defend along the way... I believe that Grand Commandant Yang should lead all the officers, soldiers, and militias of Jingdong Road to properly coordinate their deployments, while Zhang Jun and Han Shizhong should lead troops to follow behind. Only after he has crossed Mount Tai can we say that this battle is truly over."

"Well said."

Zhao Jiu nodded repeatedly, forced to acknowledge Wang Boyan's prudence.

"Thank you for your praise, Your Majesty," Wang Boyan replied, unusually pleased, before continuing. "I also have plans for the arrangements and rewards after the withdrawal of troops."

"Speak."

"Looking at this battle as a whole, the north and south are actually one entity. Among them, Yang Weizhong, Han Shizhong, and Zhang Jun have made extraordinary contributions. Therefore, Han Shizhong should also be reinstated as Commissioner of Military Affairs, allowing him to rebuild his command..." Here, Wang Boyan paused slightly before speaking solemnly. "In times of national crisis, why not temporarily appoint military men as Pacification Commissioners? Let Zhang Jun be stationed in Huai West, Han Shizhong in Huai East, and Yang Weizhong as the Prefect of Nanjing (Shangqiu). At that time, Your Majesty will be at ease in Shouzhou, gathering Liu Zhengyan, Ding Jin, Xin Daozong, Xin Xingzong, Wang De, Fu Qing, Zhang Jing, Qiao Zhongfu, Huyan Tong and other generals before you, using the wealth and resources of Huainan and the Southeast as your solid foundation, directly controlling the Two Huai regions, remotely controlling Tokyo and Nanjing. In this way, we can naturally control the overall situation, and the resurgence is within sight!"

As soon as these words were spoken, the thatched hut immediately erupted in an uproar.

Of course, there would be an uproar!

Amidst the chaos, Scholar Lin, standing under the wooden shed, repeatedly sighed inwardly.

This Imperial Academician understood clearly that Wang Boyan's words today were clearly a long-planned strategy, opportunistically launched on the heels of the great victory at Liangshan Marsh and the successful cannonade at Xiacai.

In these few words, the Grand Councilor Wang revealed more than one earth-shattering plan:

First, military men would formally assume the position of commander... In truth, this was the inevitable trend. Even during the Jingkang Era, there were plans to establish independent military regions in Hebei, let alone now? And the Emperor had actually shown similar inclinations before.

As for stationing Han Shizhong in Huai East and Zhang Jun in Huai West, these were arrangements that had been effectively made even before this battle, so they were not particularly shocking.

However, the fact that these words were spoken publicly for the first time, and by the Grand Councilor himself, was still somewhat unsettling.

Second, Wang Boyan killed many birds with one stone, taking the opportunity, as Grand Councilor of the Western Secretariat, to openly court all the military officials. How would Censor-in-Chief Zhang Jun, who had guaranteed Han Shizhong's position, and Prefect Zhao Ding of Shouzhou, who was practically inseparable from Zhang Jun in Xiacai, feel about this?

Third, this fellow actually wanted Yang Weizhong to be the Prefect of Nanjing, rather than the Pacification Commissioner. Even though Yang Weizhong had outstanding qualifications and made extraordinary contributions this time, it was still truly shocking.

Finally, and most shocking to many, was that Wang Boyan seemed to have a subtle intention of keeping the Emperor in Shouzhou for the long term!

Not Yangzhou, not Nanyang, but Shouzhou itself!

This suggestion seemed absurd at first glance, but upon closer examination, it had many merits. Even Scholar Lin, who had been the Prefect of Shouzhou and whose family had extensive influence in Huainan, was tempted by it!

There was a stir among the wooden sheds in front of the royal tent. Zhao Jiu also pondered for a long time, but slowly shook his head: "This matter is of great importance. Why not discuss it after the battle? Grand Councilor Wang's previous words were all appropriate. For now, let's only talk about the post-battle rewards for the great victory at Liangshan Marsh... Is it feasible to make Yang Weizhong, Military Commissioner of the Jianwu Army, the Prefect of Nanjing?"

"I believe it is feasible," Royal Guard Commander Wang Yuan immediately responded. "Grand Commandant Yang was truly the commander of this battle, and he has outstanding qualifications, excellent talent, and is loyal and reliable. Only the position of General Commander of the Northern Route is now a mere title since Hebei has effectively fallen... Why not make him the Prefect of Nanjing?"

Zhao Jiu sighed. Even putting aside the serious topic of staying in Shouzhou, he could sense a hint of political maneuvering from the urgency of Wang and Wang. He had to start thinking about everything before him from the perspective of a political animal.

Truthfully, this was the helplessness of an Emperor. He could not abandon the bureaucratic apparatus to focus solely on a war... Even though he had tried his best to maintain a not-too-dominant temporary central government, the bureaucratic apparatus remained like a shadow, and as the situation slightly improved, it became increasingly large and pervasive.

Yet, rationally speaking, he could not effectively resist the Jin without them.

Thinking of this, Zhao Jiu could not help but feel jealous of Yue Fei. Ever since he received the military report in the evening, he had been daydreaming. If he were allowed to fight with a free hand, without any constraints, would he do better than Yue Fei?

Of course not!

Zhao Jiu had not lost his mind. He knew very well that he could do something small for himself, for the nation, and for the people in this era, essentially by relying on the position of Emperor that he held, by occupying Zhao Gou's body. The Emperor's identity was his greatest cheat! Without these bureaucratic groups supporting him, without this identity connecting Zhang Jun, Han Shizhong, Wang De, and Yang Yizhong, how could he have achieved even this small success on the banks of the Huai River?

But, having said that, rational understanding was rational understanding. This did not prevent Zhao Jiu from feeling jealous on an emotional level. This mentality came very suddenly. If Yue Fei had not suddenly appeared in his vision like an awl in a sack, Zhao Jiu himself might not have noticed... But it had appeared, and as an engineering student with no major issues with his values, Zhao Jiu naturally could not help but be vigilant and introspective.

Why did he feel jealous of Yue Fei?

After much thought, Zhao Jiu could only conclude that he had experienced the confrontation at Shouzhou and the Zhang Yongzhen incident, and had finally broken through the barrier with this era, developing a certain sense of belonging. With a sense of belonging, plus a little human selfishness, he naturally wanted to complete the salvation of the entire era himself, to seize certain honors... This did not seem to be an immoral idea, but the emergence of a jealous mentality was clearly due to his being too young!

It seemed that he had not yet tasted enough of the era's harshness!