Zhao Guan's words were correct. There was a delay in information transmission. By the time the military situation reached Nanyang, and when Wang De, with the main Jin army watching idly by, displayed his divine might and broke the auxiliary troops east of the city, the 20,000-strong Eight Character Army, led by Wang Yan, had already successfully crossed the river and arrived in Tokyo.

During this process, Wanyan Zonghan, undoubtedly the number one figure in the Jin army and least likely to be useless, reacted immediately. He dispatched a 5,000-strong force, granting its commander, Wanhu Gao Jingshan, full authority.

However, Gao Jingshan followed Wang Yan to the Yellow River, watched him cross, but never launched an attack. Instead, he directly turned back to Daming Prefecture.

The reason was simple: Gao Jingshan, a seasoned general of Goryeo origin, believed that his 5,000 troops could not defeat the enemy.

Since the Song Dynasty effectively abandoned the Two Rivers region, the Eight Character Army had been active in the Taihang Mountains for a year and a half, fighting almost daily. They might have been constantly defeated and constantly retreating, but they fought repeatedly, growing stronger day by day. This made them, without realizing it, the most experienced and least afraid of the Jin army.

Moreover, this force was different from the purely righteous army of Five Horses Mountain. They also possessed the unquestionable tradition and genes of the Song Dynasty. This year, they miraculously missed the Jin army's initial great sweep, spending the autumn almost as if they were recuperating, so they were well-trained and well-supplied. Now, gathered together, the 20,000-strong force marched south in good order. Gao Jingshan, despite holding 5,000 Jurchen cavalry freshly rotated from the Huazhou battlefield, actually lost the courage to engage them in a field battle!

Thus, without firing a single arrow, the two sides parted ways.

The Jin army returned to Daming Prefecture, but Wanyan Zonghan did not blame Gao Jingshan. On the contrary, having suffered at the hands of the righteous army before, he almost immediately accepted Gao Jingshan's judgment and, deep down, lost the desire to conquer Tokyo.

A ruined capital, drained of its gold, silver, artisans, and women, was now dry and hard. It was better to sit comfortably in Daming Prefecture and watch Wanyan Talhai, Wanyan Wushu, and Wanyan Loushi fend for themselves.

In fact, Wanyan Zonghan was now focusing more on Jinan Prefecture.

This was not because Liu Yu and his son of Jinan Prefecture were particularly good at flattery. In fact, Liu Yu's backer was Wanyan Talhai. The Jin high command had long had an established strategy of setting up a Han Chinese vassal state south of the Yellow River, which was itself promoted by the Wanyan Talhai faction of the emperor.

However, after this campaign, experiencing the great uprising of the Hebei righteous army and the difficult campaign in Henan, Wanyan Zonghan, as a top Jin politician, keenly realized that completely ruling all of China with Jurchens was a pipe dream. Emperor Wanyan Wugumai and Right Deputy Marshal Wanyan Talhai's 'vassal policy' might be more correct to some extent.

Therefore, this leader of one of the three major Jin factions, the supreme military commander, now not only had no intention of acting militarily, but also intended to settle the matter before Liu Yu's original backer, Wanyan Talhai, in order to claim this political achievement for himself!

According to his recent communications with the Shanxi direction, three Han Chinese vassal states should be established south of the Yellow River: the Qi state, led by Liu Yu in Shandong; the Qin state, led by Zhe Keqiu in Guanzhong; and then, after the Nanyang matter was settled, a similar Han Chinese hero would be found to create a Zheng or Chu state.

There was no need to keep the Zhao Song!

That's right… Liu Yu only bribed Wanyan Talhai, and after Wanyan Talhai traveled west to the west side of Tokyo, this number one Song traitor was once worried that he would be given a hard time. But he never expected that the real Jin bigwigs were already vying to make him a Han Chinese emperor!

This was simply destiny! More reliable than what slashing the white snake or foxes calling!

And much better than Zhao Song bullying orphans and widows!

Moreover, not to mention Wanyan Zonghan gradually losing his military intentions and being filled with political concerns, treating Gao Jingshan with the warmth of spring.

On the other side, Wang Yan led 20,000 troops into Tokyo, but it was not harmonious at all – the problem lay with Yue Fei, the current actual military commander in Tokyo.

As everyone knows, Yue Fei and Wang Yan had some grudges. Because of that old business, Yue Fei was almost persuaded by Wang Yan's subordinate staff officer Xiao Fan to be beheaded in Hebei, and was almost beheaded by the officials of the Tokyo Defender's Office in Tokyo… Of course, there were two sides to every story, and Wang Yan finally gave Yue Fei a written statement to smooth things over, so they were not mortal enemies.

And Yue Fei later rose rapidly under Zong Ze, and had a great victory at Liangshan Marsh, holding the official position of Pacification Commissioner. The situation was already different… This difference was two-fold. One was that his status was here, and he led troops independently, so there was no reason for conflict. The other was that Yue Pengju had gradually grown up. When he became a Pacification Commissioner and became a big shot himself, he felt a little embarrassed about his private departure from the team.

Therefore, as soon as Wang Yan crossed the river, following Du Chong's order, Wang Yan was asked to lead the Eight Character Army to camp in Qingcheng, south of Tokyo. Yue Fei, on the one hand, actively sent troops to meet them, and on the other hand, sent Fu Xuan as an envoy to meet Wang Yan, saying that he must take the route of Yuetai, west of Tokyo, as he wanted to meet in person and offer an apology.

Wang Yan not only hosted a good banquet for his old subordinate Fu Xuan, but also readily agreed to Yue Fei's invitation.

Then, on the eighteenth day of the twelfth month, Wang Yan indeed led the 20,000-strong Eight Character Army through Yuetai Town between Yuetai Town and Tokyo City, preparing to go to Qingcheng, south of Tokyo.

Yue Fei, who had specially rushed to Yuetai Town where Zhang Xian was stationed, also set up a banquet in the town with Fu Xuan early in the morning, and together changed into casual clothes, wrapped their heads in turbans, and presented a sincere posture as old subordinates. Braving the cold wind, together with Zhang Xian and others, they gathered a large group of people and stood by the roadside to wait.

However, Wang Yan, who had agreed so readily before, rode a tall horse, surrounded by countless soldiers of the Eight Character Army, and still led his close aides such as Xiao Fan, crossed Yuetai with an unchanged expression, heading towards Qingcheng, without even glancing at the roadside from beginning to end.

Immediately, tens of thousands of soldiers on both sides knew that Yue Pengju had come to apologize, but ended up humiliating himself.

"Brother!" Zhang Xian was dumbfounded, watching Wang Yan ride past with a blank stare. It took him a long time to wake up, but his face was flushed and he could no longer bear it. "This guy is humiliating you!"

"I know."

Yue Fei stood by the roadside with his hands folded, sighed, but only glanced at the continuous stream of Eight Character Army soldiers in front of him. These Eight Character Army soldiers also stared at the group of people by the roadside with strange expressions, seemingly aware of something.

"Then you can still endure it?" Zhang Xian was furious, and almost drew his sword if it weren't for strict military discipline.

In fact, Zhang Xian couldn't help but act like this. The Song army's style was like this. It was common for troops from different units to fight each other because of anger. It was common for a commander on one side to kill a garrison supervisor on the other side.

In another timeline, Wang De had been dissatisfied with Han Shizhong as his leader and directly killed the deputy general sent by Han Shizhong. Although he was once imprisoned for this, nothing happened in the end.

And the most crucial point was that at this moment, with Yue Fei openly inviting Wang Yan to drink and apologize, and then Wang Yan openly humiliating Yue Fei, if Yue Pengju did not retaliate, then probably everyone would speculate according to the military atmosphere of this era that the responsibility for that old case lay with Yue Fei.

Otherwise, why could you swallow this anger?!

"What if I can't endure it?" Yue Fei finally turned around and asked. "Cut him down? The war is about to begin, and we're going to have infighting first? And implicate Commander Fu?"

Fu Xuan was originally extremely embarrassed. Seeing Yue Fei like this, on the one hand, he was angry that Wang Yan had humiliated him along the way, but on the other hand, he was grateful to Yue Fei for saving face, so he kept cupping his hands.

Zhang Xian was speechless, but still couldn't get over it, and stamped his feet and said, "Brother, you are now a Pacification Commissioner, not a subordinate general under him in the past. How can you still endure him?"

Fu Xuan could only sigh when he heard this.

Yue Fei, however, did not get angry but laughed: "If I were still a subordinate general that day, do you believe that Grand Commandant Wang would personally dismount and comfort me? It is precisely because I have now become a Pacification Commissioner that he has gone to such great lengths to humiliate me! As for Commander Fu, he is just collateral damage."

Zhang Xian was momentarily at a loss, and Fu Xuan suddenly understood a little, and then shook his head repeatedly.

Yue Fei sighed faintly: "Grand Commandant Wang is a man of good background and high talent, as arrogant to his superiors as Guan Yu but kind to his subordinates… That is why I resisted him so much that day, but he gave me a way out. It is also why Commander Fu was sincerely entertained when he went to him earlier. But now that I have become a Pacification Commissioner, almost on an equal footing with him, it has aroused his arrogance, so there is today's incident."

Zhang Xian thought again and again, but was still angry: "Just let it go like this?"

"The war is imminent. If you argue any further, I will deal with you first!" Yue Fei suddenly changed his expression.

Zhang Xian was immediately helpless.

Although Yue Fei endured this humiliation in a self-deprecating manner, since such an incident had occurred, it was not good to continue staying by the roadside as an exhibition.

Zhang Xian naturally returned to Yuetai Town, eating and drinking angrily behind closed doors, while Yue Fei and Fu Xuan immediately mounted their horses and went to Tokyo City.

When the two had just entered the city in the afternoon, Commander Li Kui, who had been waiting here early, took the initiative to greet them and report: "Pacification Commissioner! I heard that Grand Commandant Ma's 'One Zhang Green' entered the city from the South Gate this morning, first went to visit Defender Zong, and will probably go to see Deputy Defender Du!"

Yue Fei was both happy and nervous. He immediately abandoned his original plan to visit Zong Ze, and directly spurred his horse on the empty and wide road in the city, leading Fu Xuan and Li Kui to the Kaifeng Prefecture Yamen where Du Chong lived.

As they approached the Prefecture Yamen, coincidentally, they ran into a middle-aged woman, about twenty-eight or nine years old, wearing an iron-clad waist guard, who was none other than the 'One Zhang Green' Madam Ma!

"Sister-in-law!"

Upon seeing her, Yue Fei immediately dismounted and cupped his hands, treating the woman with respect. Fu Xuan and Li Kui also dismounted and saluted.

In fact, if One Zhang Green's husband, Ma Gao, a senior commander of the Tokyo Defender's Office who was highly regarded by Zong Ze, were here, Yue Fei might not need to be so courteous, and even Fu Xuan might not need to salute. But Madam Ma herself was an exception.

This was because Madam Ma, although only a woman, was born with great strength. This can be seen from her nickname… One Zhang Green refers to a large python, which is quite powerful. During the reign of Emperor Huizong, there was a man named Zhang Heng among the thirty-six leaders of the Song Jiang bandits, whose nickname was also One Zhang Green… From this, it can be seen that Madam Ma's strength and Kung Fu were indeed remarkable.

In fact, Madam Ma herself often put on armor and wielded weapons, charging into battle alongside her husband, and was considered a brave general of the Tokyo Defender's Office.

However, although everyone knew that Madam Ma was the number two figure in Ma Gao's army, and in fact a general in the Tokyo Defender's Office, according to the rules of this era, it was impossible to include her in the official military roster, so Madam Ma had always been without rank or position, and could only rise and fall with her husband Ma Gao.

Therefore, no matter how high Yue Fei's official position was, as long as he had not broken away from his current status as a purely military man and become a minister, he could not take advantage of her upon seeing her, and could only follow the customs of the Jianghu, call her Sister-in-law, and treat her with respect.

And to be honest, One Zhang Green had indeed taken care of him in the past.

In fact, within the Tokyo Defender's Office, One Zhang Green, by virtue of her special status, could say what her husband could not say, go where her husband could not go, and do what her husband could not do. In addition, she was enthusiastic, and had a particularly good reputation among everyone.

The fact that Commander Ma Gao could be implicitly higher than other commanders in the Tokyo Defender's Office was three or four points due to this lady.

"Fifth Brother!" Madam Ma couldn't help but beam with joy when she saw Yue Fei, and also dismounted. "It's been a year since your sister-in-law last saw you, right?"

Yue Fei quickly cupped his hands again: "Sister-in-law, it hasn't been a year. I left after the Lantern Festival at the beginning of the year, and there's still a month left."

Madam Ma saw that he was still as honest as he used to be, and couldn't help but shake her head and laugh while holding the reins: "No matter what, it's good to be back! You're from Hebei, what are you doing mixing with that group of local people in Jingdong? Now that Commander Zong's health is failing, and Grand Administrator Du is about to take over, and you're a fellow villager of Grand Administrator Du, and a Pacification Commissioner… We're discussing in the south that you might become a Deputy Defender or Chief Commander this time!"

Yue Fei did not care about these things, but immediately became serious: "Sister-in-law, what are you thinking in the south? I heard that before the twelfth month, ten commanders in the south actually formed a brotherhood, do you have any plans? As an official army, you're learning from bandits to form a brotherhood. If this is reported to the Commander, the Grand Administrator, and the Nanyang court, what would they think? And this time Grand Administrator Du received an imperial decree to specifically summon the ten commanders, why are only you here?"

"Since we're all family, your sister-in-law won't hide anything from you." One Zhang Green was straightforward and came forward to say softly. "Before, the brotherhood was all Sang Zhong's idea. Our commander also felt it wasn't a good thing and originally didn't agree, but later, seeing that Commander Zong's health was failing to the point that he didn't have a single military order, and the Jin were fighting fiercely in Jingxi, he agreed. But in fact, it was just seeing that the situation was so bad and there was no one in charge, so everyone was afraid, so they made an oath. According to Sang Zhong's words, it was just to prevent someone from breaking the rules and causing infighting, so they were prepared in advance! However, the south is happy to hear that Grand Administrator Du is taking over, after all, Grand Administrator Du is from Hebei…"

Yue Fei listened while frowning, but in the current situation, he couldn't say much.

If it had been this time last year, Yue Pengju might have directly believed One Zhang Green's words… In fact, he still believed them now, because he knew that Ma Gao and most of the commanders of the Tokyo Defender's Office who participated in the brotherhood were more accustomed to the Jianghu. In the previous situation, they were probably trying to survive as a group, and there were no evil intentions.

Especially the One Zhang Green couple, the husband Ma Gao was older and had a very elder style, and One Zhang Green herself had no insight, just an enthusiastic woman with extraordinary martial arts.

These two could not have evil intentions.

So where was the problem?

Very simple, in the past year, Yue Fei was in Jizhou and had almost no leisure, practicing martial arts, reading books, training soldiers, and fighting battles. His knowledge was different from the past. He knew clearly that the history books recorded clearly that the Emperor Taizu of this dynasty was able to rise to power by relying on the help of his ten righteous brothers in the Yishe, so that he was finally robed in yellow.

At this time, these ten commanders, each with thousands of soldiers, came up with a brotherhood of ten in the midst of national chaos. What would the central government and Tokyo think?

Not only that, the one who stirred up the most trouble, Sang Zhong, was no ordinary person… Sang Zhong was a small officer under Zhong Shidao, and like Li Qiong, who stayed in Tokyo City, he was knowledgeable. He might not know this story, but if he knew it and still did this, what was he up to?

Here is a little more to say, Yue Fei's knowledge was different from the past. After being a Pacification Commissioner for more than half a year and experiencing so many things, when he looked at his former colleagues in the Tokyo Defender's Office, he could roughly guess who was capable, who was not, who could be used, and who needed to be guarded against.

For example, speaking only of ability, Li Qiong, Sang Zhong, Cao Cheng, Wang Shan, Zhang Yong, and the Ma Gao couple were the most capable in battle.

For example, speaking only of reliability, the Ma Gao couple, Zhang Yong, Liu Wenshun (Liu the Monk), Li Bao (Sick Guan Suo), and Li Qiong, who was implicitly at odds with Yue Fei, were more reliable.

There were also a few families who echoed others, such as Li Hong, Ma You, and Xu Yan.

In addition, Sang Zhong, Cao Cheng, Wang Shan, and Zhang Yu, who surrendered to the Jin, either had high ambitions, or were dissatisfied with the internal system of the Song Dynasty, and often had inappropriate words and deeds. However, Zong Ze had high skills, so it was just a little inappropriate. This time, Zong Ze fell ill, so he should be guarded against a little.

However, although this was the case, the Jin's southward advance stirred the water into a mess, and everyone had different situations and performances due to their circumstances and positions:

Zhang Yu, after seeing the main force of the Jin army, simply surrendered to the Jin.

Wang Shan, who usually said that 'the world is in chaos, and the rich and poor will be redefined,' had nothing more to say because he was stationed in the same city as Han Shizhong, and behaved more reliably than anyone else.

Li Qiong was from Xiangzhou and was born as a scholar, proficient in both civil and military affairs, and was kind to people. However, he came late and only served as a commander before. However, under the heavy pressure of the overall situation, he happened to stay in Tokyo City and met his fellow villager Du Qiong who was promoted, and he was immediately promoted to commander, taking charge of the remaining forces of the Tokyo Defender's Office in the city, becoming the second most important general in Tokyo City after Yue Fei… But for some reason, Li Qiong, who had always been kind to people, showed some resentment towards Yue Fei after becoming a commander.

As for Zhang Yong, he was originally reliable, but his station in Yanling was close to the front line. Faced with the repeated requests of Wang Sheng, a general under Han Shizhong, to attack and suicidally save Han Shizhong, he was quite dissatisfied and simply abandoned the city and retreated to Fugou behind him.

There were many defeated troops and generals like Zhang Yong around Fugou. The ten commanders who formed the brotherhood this time gathered there, including Ma Gao, Sang Zhong, Zhang Yong, Cao Cheng, Liu Wenshun, Li Hong, Ma You, Xu Yan, plus two new comers this year, Qi Fang and Liu Zhong, whom Yue Fei did not know. Exactly ten commanders, they chose to sit on the sidelines during the national crisis and became the ten brothers who formed the brotherhood!

Once the ten brothers formed a brotherhood, the remaining troops of the ten families gathered together, totaling about thirty to forty thousand, which was not easy to deal with.

Back to the present, One Zhang Green came as an envoy. Facing Yue Fei's questioning, she stated their meaning very bluntly:

First, they were willing to accept Du Chong, the magistrate of Kaifeng Prefecture who came from Hebei, as the new leader.

At the same time, because of their previous defeats and various actions, coupled with Zong Ze's illness, they were also a little panicked, fearing that they would be killed by Du Chong, who had a reputation for 'killing,' so the ten commanders did not dare to come to Tokyo in person, but expected Du Chong to lead troops there, so that they could atone for their sins.

One Zhang Green told these words to Yue Fei, wanting to ask Yue Fei, a fellow villager of Du Chong, to act as a middleman.

So what could Yue Fei do? He had endured Wang Yan's humiliation before, let alone this kind of thing?

Therefore, Yue Pengju took the initiative to meet Du Chong and relayed the arrival of Wang Yan and the meaning of the ten commanders south of the capital, but unexpectedly did not mention anything about the ten brothers forming a brotherhood.

"So, Wang Yan really led a solid 20,000 troops here?"

Du Chong was a Jinshi in the time of Emperor Zhezong and was sixty years old this year. Three sons and a son-in-law had already entered office, and he was considered a universally recognized senior minister here. In addition, his appearance was dignified and serious, which made him quite the style of a minister, but he was somewhat disappointed when he heard such good news in the back hall.

"Yes!" Yue Fei cupped his hands and responded seriously, attracting cold glances from Li Qiong, who was standing beside him.

"The ten commanders south of the city are also willing to listen to my dispatch, but are temporarily afraid, so they are willing to reorganize their troops and wait for me in the south?" Du Chong continued to ask while holding his hands behind his back.

"Correct."

"How many troops do they have? Tell the truth." Du Chong stroked his white beard and sighed.

"I asked Madam Ma, and there are really 36,000 to 37,000 troops." Yue Fei replied simply.

"There were originally 20,000 troops in the city, 10,000 garrison troops, 10,000 scattered troops around, and you brought 16,000 to 17,000, which adds up to 70,000. Plus Wang Yan's 20,000, then regardless of Han Shizhong, Li Yanxian, etc., we originally have 90,000 troops, and then we can immediately send out 80,000 troops?" Du Chong frowned even more.

"Correct."

"And they are all willing to listen to my command…" Du Chong shook his head repeatedly. "In this case, can we no longer delay, but have to send troops immediately?"

Yue Fei heard that something was wrong and instinctively asked, "Does Your Excellency not intend to send troops?"

Du Chong shook his head repeatedly, but did not speak this time.

ps: I'm so sleepy, it's been a long time since I fell asleep like this... Please forgive me for any typos, I can't even open my eyes.