The war continues. Even though it has entered a stalemate of besieged cities, Nanyang, where the front-line commanders of both sides are concentrated, cannot remain quiet.

For example, Zhao Guan Jia (Emperor Zhao) quickly decided to appoint Du Chong as commander and Yue Fei as general, integrating the troops of the Tokyo Garrison Command to rescue Han Shizhong.

In fact, this matter was so important that Zhao Jiu felt relieved only after finding Du Chong's name on a memorial urging him to return to Tokyo a day later... From this, it is clear that this person is undoubtedly a pro-war advocate, and at least got along well with Zong Ze in Tokyo.

Indeed, Du Chong submitted a memorial as a member of the Tokyo Garrison Command, requesting Zhao Guan Jia to return to the old capital. This is clearly recorded in history.

However, at this point, Zhao Jiu could only take it as a self-deprecating joke, because the decision had been made, and it seemed that things could no longer be changed.

Moreover, Nanyang was destined not to be peaceful.

On the last day of the twelfth lunar month, when the situation in the Tokyo direction was unclear, Xu Jingheng, Wang Boyan, and Liu Ji of Xiangyang couldn't sit still. Having received no response from Nanyang for a long time, only hearing that 'Nanyang is still stable,' Xiangyang executed the pre-arranged plan. Zhang Jing, the Commander of the Imperial Guard, crossed the Han River and moved north along the frozen Bai River from the east bank, approaching Nanyang City.

Now, the situation became subtle again, because the Jin army did not attack, but instead watched as this force advanced along the Bai River to the opposite bank, a mere fifteen miles in a straight line from the southeast corner of Nanyang City.

The civil officials in Nanyang always experienced ups and downs with the situation, sometimes happy and sometimes worried:

At first, the Jin army gave up attacking the city. Although informed people made it clear that there must be a Jin army conspiracy behind this, such as the front-line situation being worrying, so the Jin army deliberately opened a passage to let Nanyang City know, in order to disrupt their formation, a 'strategy of attacking the heart,' this still couldn't suppress the relief and relaxation felt by most people, as if this battle had already been won.

Then, news came from the north that Guanxi had suffered a major defeat, Han Shizhong was in critical condition in the Five Rivers area, and Tokyo had done nothing, so the city was in chaos again. The Xiangyang faction seemed to be reviving, and most of the senior ministers agreed that Zhao Guan Jia should find an opportunity to leave.

Now, Zhang Jing has brought four or five thousand soldiers to set up camp on the east bank of the Bai River, and the Jin army has not attacked. Some people actually think that the Jin army has lost its courage and suggest that Zhao Guan Jia send Wang De and Fu Qing out of the city to raid the camp?!

Of course, there were still sensible people.

"This must be the Jin army deliberately relaxing, luring our army out of the city to meet them, in order to annihilate them under the city." Liu Ziyu spoke out. These days, even the civilians could relax for a couple of days because the war had slightly eased, and the soldiers could also take turns off the city walls, but he was busy with city defense in the early stage and helped plan other programs later. He seemed a little tired, but when he spoke at this time, he was still prompt.

"Can't we have a little bit of courage?" Hu Yin, the Imperial Censor, frowned slightly. He didn't just follow the wind, but had always felt that they should take the offensive, not the defensive. As early as in Nanjing, he believed that Zhao Guan Jia should personally lead the expedition and cross the river to the north, but when it came to military affairs, everyone, including Zhao Guan Jia, generally ignored him.

Therefore, Liu Ziyu was instinctively overwhelmed when he heard Hu Yin speak. He didn't know if it was because he was tired recently, or if he simply felt it was useless to talk to this person, so he didn't intend to argue with him in court for a while.

However, fortunately, he had been in the Privy Council for a long time and had some prestige and connections, so a subordinate immediately came forward to respond.

"Your Majesty, pardon my presumption." Hu Hongxiu, hearing such absurd words, and seeing that his patron, Military Counselor Liu, was silent, immediately stepped forward and spoke directly to Zhao Guan Jia, pretending not to have heard Hu Yin. "The Jin army may have an even bigger idea!"

"What do you mean?" Zhao Guan Jia, who had been daydreaming, came back to his senses and asked with a hint of curiosity.

"I think the Jin army saw that this force came from Xiangyang and guessed that Commander Zhang was here to meet Guan Jia. Therefore, they pretended to relax, waiting only for Guan Jia to leave the city, in order to achieve a permanent solution." Hu Hongxiu's words were shocking.

There was a momentary uproar in the hall, and Zhao Jiu was slightly stunned, then gave a rare grin, but did not respond.

"The situation is very good, why would Guan Jia leave Nanyang to go to Xiangyang?" Hu Yin continued to frown upon hearing this. "How could the Jin army be so confused?"

"Is the Jin army really confused?" Hu Hongxiu couldn't help but confront the Imperial Censor, whose political status was vastly different from his own. "Hu Xian Tai! The Jin army is not specifically targeting this. They are only relying on having cavalry and being invincible in field battles, so they let Commander Zhang come and go. Once they make up their minds, they can eat up these four or five thousand soldiers at any time. How can that be considered confused?"

"According to you, Commander Zhang's four or five thousand soldiers are already dead no matter what?" Hu Yin felt even more absurd. "When facing the Jin, we can only defend the city to the death and let them ravage us? In any case, is it wrong for Commander Zhang to come to defend the emperor at this time?"

"Commander Zhang's support this time is really inappropriate, and it is indeed like a sheep entering a tiger's mouth." Hu Hongxiu didn't notice the other party's emotions at all, but continued to speak on his own.

"Absurd!" Hu Yin was furious. "According to your words, should we not fight the Jin army? Should we just let the Jin people come and go as they please without doing anything? Do you know what it means to respect the emperor and resist the barbarians? The barbarians are only temporarily gaining power. As long as China can be united from top to bottom, dare to fight and be able to fight, what difficulty is there in restoring the world? Others may not be clear about this principle, but how can you, a military counselor from Taixue, not be clear?"

Hu Hongxiu was momentarily speechless... It wasn't that he had nothing to say, but he was frightened by Hu Yin.

"Hu Zhongcheng." Liu Ziyu, seeing his subordinate being suppressed, finally couldn't bear it and responded with gritted teeth. "Do you want to learn from Li Gongxiang?"

"What do you mean?" Hu Yin was suddenly stunned.

"First learn from Li Gongxiang in the Jingkang period, driving away Li Yanxian, Military Commissioner Li, and forcing Military Commissioner Li to change his name and flee, resisting the Jin as a criminal!" Liu Ziyu responded sternly. "Then learn from Li Gongxiang in the Jianyan period, driving away Yue Fei, Garrison Commander Yue, forcing the latter to join the army as a commoner on the banks of the Yellow River!"

Hu Yin's face turned red, but he was unable to respond for a while.

"Yue Fei's flight, how can it be counted on Li Gongxiang's head?" Li Guang, the Palace Attendant Censor, quickly stepped forward to explain, but then he stalled midway. "Yue Fei's flight was because Huang Qian was in power at that time, so he was removed without authorization..."

Being the Palace Attendant Censor, Li Guang initially intended to impeach Liu Ziyu immediately when he heard him say such harsh words, but doing so would obviously echo the scene of Li Gang being intolerant that day, so he quickly suppressed the thought as soon as he spoke. But even after avoiding this, he stalled halfway through his words, because he suddenly realized that his hasty response not only acknowledged that Li Yanxian's expulsion was the fault of his benefactor Li Gang, but also acknowledged that the impeachment of Yue Fei that day was correct.

But correct my ass?

Yue Fei impeached Li Gang that day, impeaching him for 'not resisting the Jin' and demanding that the imperial court cross the river and move north. How could that be correct? Just because Yue Fei won a battle later and is now being put to good use, does that mean everything this young man has done since he was a child is correct?

But in any case, as soon as Li Guang stalled, Liu Ziyu seized the opportunity to laugh coldly with his hands clasped:

"Gentlemen, righteousness is righteousness, and doing things is doing things. Under a great war, we must talk about doing things first, and then talk about righteousness... Moreover, how do you know that we don't understand righteousness? When Military Counselor Hu and I faced the Jin people with swords in the Jingkang period, where were you two talking about this righteousness? Why are you still talking about righteousness after two years?!"

Hu Yin was scolded and instinctively looked at Zhao Guan Jia. He now realized a problem... That is, this quarrel should not have happened in the first place, because Zhao Guan Jia and the two Prime Ministers Lü have at least the ability to control the situation, but the three of them have been silent, instead looking thoughtful.

"Alright." Zhao Jiu, feeling flustered by Hu Yin's gaze, finally stopped daydreaming and immediately spoke. "Let's stay in Nanyang for now... Send a small force across the river to meet Zhang Jing, as a test, and tell him to be careful."

Liu Ziyu, who had recently been appointed as the Senior Drafter of the Privy Council, did not dare to neglect and immediately responded.

But at this moment, another key member of the Privy Council, Wan Qixie, suddenly stepped forward with gritted teeth: "Guan Jia, I have something to say that I really can't bear. Please let me speak to Guan Jia in private..."

Zhao Jiu was slightly stunned, and everyone around him was also astonished.

However, with Zhao Jiu's beckoning, the crowd in the hall watched the rising star of the Privy Council quickly follow Guan Jia into the back hall.

"Speak!" Entering the open space behind the hall, Zhao Jiu stood on the snow-covered ground, inquiring with a solemn expression... He couldn't help but be a little wary when facing this person.

"I shouldn't have said this, but I have to say it." Wan Qixie bowed his hands with gritted teeth. "Guan Jia, does Guan Jia remember the matter of the Jin army gathering in large numbers before the summer turned to autumn, but being held back by the Righteous Army of Hebei?"

"Of course I remember." Zhao Jiu thought the other party was going to impeach someone, but he relaxed when he heard the other party talking about serious matters.

"At that time, the Privy Council and various departments in the Nanyang Central Authority did not anticipate this. I also thought that this matter should have been reported privately by General Manager Ma of Wuma Mountain without reporting it." Wan Qixie mustered his courage and said. "But a few days ago, when I was reviewing the past memorials of the Privy Council, I found that as early as midsummer of this year, General Manager Ma mentioned this matter in a memorial, saying that if the Jin army had any unusual movements in the autumn and winter, he would do his best to delay them..."

The more Zhao Jiu listened, the more confused he became... What was this supposed to mean?

Ren Ma Kuo was just saying a hypothesis and a possibility, and it was normal that the Privy Council and the Central Authority didn't expect it later.

"I thought it was the carelessness of the Privy Council, but I didn't expect this." Wan Qixie stole a glance at Zhao Guan Jia, and finally said the key point. "But a few days ago, Guan Jia said that he wanted to rescue Grand Commandant Han and asked about the available troops. I spoke to Military Counselor Liu and asked him if he could transfer the Righteous Army of Taihang Mountain across the river to help, but he scolded me severely... and greatly belittled the combat power of the Righteous Army of Hebei."

Zhao Jiu was slightly stunned and finally understood what was going on... He was just here to tattle.

"Just tell me what's going on!" Realizing this, Zhao Guan Jia was naturally a little bored.

"Guan Jia, I only found out yesterday that Military Counselor Liu has a private feud with General Manager Ma!" Wan Qixie stared at Zhao Jiu and said seriously. "That day, General Manager Ma was imprisoned in Zhending, slandered by Military Counselor Liu and his son... What Military Counselor Liu and his son did that day was exactly the same as what Li Gongxiang said about Li Anfu today! It was also because of this that I couldn't help but feel indignant and requested a private audience. But these don't count for anything, they are all old things, and I shouldn't mention them too much at this time of national crisis, so as not to be seen as a petty person! But the key is, I'm worried that Military Counselor Liu has been repeatedly neglecting the Righteous Army of Hebei when formulating strategies because of this relationship! Guan Jia, the Righteous Army of Hebei may be useful! Please keep this in mind!"

Zhao Jiu was stunned for a long time before nodding slightly: "I know, you can go back."