Chapter 1 The Meeting at Daming Prefecture

In the twelfth lunar month, the main forces of the Song and Jin armies met at Daming Prefecture.

On the entire Daming Prefecture battlefield, the Song army's Hebei Front Army, Right Army, and Navy totaled just over 60,000 combat troops, with over 70,000 accompanying laborers. The Jin army, including five Wanhu (ten thousand households) from the Longde Prefecture Military Command, four Wanhu from the Hedong area providing support, and four Wanhu from the local Daming Prefecture Military Command, totaled thirteen Wanhu, with 130,000 combat troops and an estimated 200,000 to 300,000 laborers, known as Qianjun (requisitioned soldiers), responsible for logistics and transportation.

The disparity in strength between the two sides was obvious, even without emphasizing the Jin army's unprecedented 60,000 to 70,000 strong cavalry force.

Furthermore, the Jin army controlled the administrative power of almost all surrounding counties, ensuring external support and coordination. More importantly, Yuan City, the capital of Daming Prefecture, a vital hub in Hebei spanning forty *li* (Chinese mile) in circumference, remained under Jin control.

Given this situation, coupled with the presence of Shao He and Ali to the north, and Wang Bolong to the northeast, the Jin army initially presented a posture of subtle encirclement.

From the Jin army's perspective, the Song army was already beset by internal and external troubles, and it wasn't far from collapse.

Of course, considering the Song army's deployment, whether or not they were encircled was irrelevant. The Song army didn't seem to be planning to leave; they seemed prepared to withstand the internal and external pressures, perhaps even hoping to snatch a prize from the tiger's mouth and seize Yuan City right before their eyes.

Enough with the digressions. Let's return to the present. The Jin army had established continuous camps and fortresses, creating a vast spectacle, boasting of their ability to shake mountains and move seas. However, in reality, during the first few days of the twelfth lunar month, the battle situation unfolded in a way that surprised everyone... This wasn't to say that the fighting wasn't intense or the scale wasn't grand, but rather that only the Jin army was being unilaterally beaten.

Facing the immense Yuan City, the Song army divided its forces, setting up artillery positions on three land sides and deploying ships on the river, bombarding relentlessly. Simultaneously, the army was organized with precision, either digging tunnels, leveling the ground, or beginning to formally construct giant siege towers, or concentrating small, disassembled crossbow cannons and Eight Ox Crossbows to precisely eliminate the more threatening towers on Yuan City.

In comparison, the Jin army within Yuan City wasn't discouraged. After the arrival of almost limitless reinforcements, the morale of the defending troops within the entire city also surged. Some artillery pieces hastily assembled within the city also began to fire back over the walls.

Furthermore, after entering the twelfth lunar month, almost every night small-scale suicide squads were sent out of the city to disrupt the Song army.

However, compared to the outside, the city had limitations: the number and scale of artillery pieces were restricted, and their position flexibility was limited. Secondly, the Song army had a very obvious inner ring of fortifications. The raids often failed, so the Jin army consistently fell into a clear disadvantage.

As days passed, although Yuan City couldn't be described as being surrounded on all sides, it certainly suffered huge attrition and instability. A dozen of the seventy or eighty corner towers that posed the greatest threat were destroyed in a few days. Parts of the walls began to show cracks under the bombardment of artillery pieces, and casualties gradually became an undeniable problem within the city.

What those outside the city didn't know was that, in order to ensure the continued operation of the artillery and the supply of wood and construction materials for repairing the city defenses, Gao Jingshan took the lead and even demolished his own mansion, spending his days only at the Cuiyun Tower... Moreover, the reason why Cuiyun Tower was left standing was simply because it was the highest point in the inner part of the northern half of the city, making it convenient for observation and command.

During these days, the Jin army on the west side of the Yellow River, far from shaking mountains and moving seas, didn't even have a chance to launch a full-scale attack, because they immediately witnessed the power of the Song navy, as reminded by Wanhu Ali and Shao He.

Frankly speaking, the Jin army had anticipated and understood the Yellow River's ability to obstruct. In the previous battle on the Huai River, Han Shizhong's sea-going junks entering the Huai River made it impossible for the main Jin force to cross the river. Later, Zhang Rong led the Liangshan Marsh Navy into the Yellow River, controlling the Yellow River waterway, forming a strategic advantage, basically cutting off the Jin army's intention to move south on a large scale from the lower reaches. Even this time, the Jin army gathered with the intention of taking advantage of the Yellow River's freeze to sweep away Yue Fei's forces.

However, even so, they didn't have enough understanding of the navy's powerful control in this narrow terrain.

Of course, very quickly, they realized that the so-called armor, warhorses, and dense military formations were almost a joke in front of the moving Eight Ox Crossbows.

The Yellow River channel, several hundred paces wide, and the absolute deterrent distance of six or seven hundred paces on both sides of the Yellow River, instantly made the Jin army give up some unrealistic thoughts. It also made the Jin army's imposing momentum in vain, unable to stretch their hands and feet, and unable to support Yuan City. As a result, the city fell into a clear disadvantage due to the Song army's encirclement and obvious disparity in strength, but the Jin army on the periphery, which should have encircled the Song army in turn and also had a clear advantage in strength, was in an awkward situation where they couldn't organize an attack due to the presence of the Song navy.

Even, under the protection of the Song navy, the Song army's logistical supplies were still continuously being transported along the Yellow River.

Frankly speaking, this situation didn't exceed the expectations of the Jin army's high command, but it still had a strong impact on morale.

"Why not scatter the army, spread out two hundred *li*, and cross the river together? How many warships with Eight Ox Crossbows does Zhang Rong have? Can he really stop us?"

"What if we cross the river separately? Isn't General Ali and General Shao He on the other side of the river? After crossing the river, in such a narrow place, with Eight Ox Crossbows on both sides, can we deploy our forces to attack?"

"Hmph... forgive me for speaking frankly, Shao He and his subordinates are all Bohai people, that's why they can't conquer!"

"In this case, it's better to advise Commander Gao to surrender early and ask the Jurchen warriors to fight themselves."

"Even among the Jurchen, didn't General Ali fight? Can't his words be heard?"

"General Ali was brave in the past, but now he is old!"

"Therefore, only you, Jinpai Langjun (Golden Badge Knight), are useful in this Great Jin Kingdom? Opposite us, there are 60,000 Song armored Imperial Guards! If you are so powerful, why not take your Wanhu over there and try? We would be happy to cross the river to rest!"

In the Li Gu Town, which served as the core of the Jin army's main camp, in the courtyard of a large household with two flags standing, as Ali and Shao He once again crossed the river to pay respects, a military conference was held again at the Wanhu level. But soon, a dispute arose at the military conference, and the dispute quickly became heated, chaotic, and off-topic.

Faced with this situation, Wushu had long been impatient. At the same time, Marshal Bali Speed, who was sitting side by side with Wushu at the head of the table, had been expressionless and silent, which made the Prince of Wei somewhat cautious... He didn't want to overstep his authority, especially since this dispute was one thing on the surface, but was actually directly related to Bali Speed's authority.

However, hearing the argument becoming more and more detached from the war itself, the ruling king of Jin finally couldn't bear it any longer. After hesitating slightly, he finally turned around and signaled the Grand Tutor Nu to whisper in his ear:

"Tell the Marshal, please rest assured to deal with Wanyan Ben Du. No matter how he is dealt with, I will only agree and cooperate!"

Grand Tutor Nu understood and immediately took advantage of the chaos to go behind Wanyan Bali Speed and whispered in his ear again.

This was considered guessing the correct answer.

Across a table, having received a promise, Bali Speed immediately spoke loudly in the room: "Wanyan Ben Du!"

With a stern shout, the courtyard instantly fell silent.

But immediately, the Wanhu who had previously argued the most fiercely, and who was almost the youngest in the courtyard, just sneered, and then greeted him in an almost provocative tone: "What are the Marshal's orders? Could it be that after the Marshal took office, our Jurchens have changed their rules, and we are not allowed to speak in military conferences? When Emperor Taizu was alive, even the Moke (village leaders) present could directly criticize his mistakes!"

"In a military conference, not discussing military affairs, but instead groundlessly attacking colleagues, that is the act of destroying the tradition of military conferences, right?" Bali Speed, who was sitting there without moving at all, replied coldly, and then blurted out an order. "Wanyan Ben Du is too selfish and deliberately stirred up the military conference. He should be whipped twenty times. Does anyone object?"

As soon as the words fell, the whole courtyard was silent. Not to mention Wanyan Ben Du himself being stunned on the spot, even Wushu, who had just made a promise in private, was stunned for a moment.

It must be said that it was true that Wanyan Ben Du was making trouble and throwing a tantrum, and everyone knew the reason, that was, he was dissatisfied and unconvinced that Bali Speed was the Marshal.

Think about it, in terms of closeness, although Wanyan Ben Du was a distant branch, he had been raised in Aguda's tent since he was a child, and was considered Aguda's direct line. In terms of factions, he came from the Eastern Route Army, and this battle also had nine Wanhu from the Eastern Route Army, far more than the four Wanhu from the Western Route Army. Taking a step back, just saying that Wanyan Ben Du, as the commander of the Longde Prefecture Military Command, brought the five Wanhu under his command this time, which was also much stronger than Bali Speed's Taiyuan direct line.

Even before the twelfth lunar month, that is, before Wushu and Bali Speed worked hard to lead the Hedong troops to gather, this was originally the camp organized by Wanyan Ben Du. At that time, he didn't clamor that Ali was old, Shao He was a Bohai person, and we should cross the river in dozens of routes.

On the contrary, now, in front of Ali and Shao He, he said such things?

In a word, Xiang Zhuang performed the sword dance, his intention was aimed at Duke Pei. Even those who didn't know this Han Chinese allusion could understand what was going on.

It was precisely because of this that, in the embarrassing situation of being unable to do anything in the war, it was normal for Wanyan Ben Du to take the opportunity to make trouble, and it was also normal for Wanyan Bali Speed to take the opportunity to establish his authority. But the problem was that people just complained a few words, and if you want to establish your authority, you have to whip a commander, a standard number three figure in the army, twenty times, which seemed a bit beyond expectations.

This was no longer the era when Nianhan hit Wanyan Wuyimai twenty times!

This was one thing, that was another.

"I have the golden badge given by Emperor Taizu, who dares to whip me?!" After a moment of silence, Wanyan Ben Du came back to his senses and was furious on the spot. He directly pulled the golden badge from his waist, and then held the golden badge and roared at each other from left to right. "You marching Wanhu, look at your own golden badges, and then look at my golden badge, are they the same thing? My future was publicly promised when Emperor Taizu was alive! I want to see, who dares to whip me in this army?!"

In the end, this guy almost slammed the golden badge in his hand to Bali Speed's nose.

But it was this action and this sentence that finally aroused the thunderous anger of one person... In the blink of an eye, Bali Speed was still silent, but Wushu suddenly got up, and then picked up the horse whip on the table between himself and Bali Speed, and whipped it towards Wanyan Ben Du who was approaching.

It was a pity that Jinpai Langjun was still full of heroic spirit just now, thinking that he was invincible in the army. In the next moment, he saw that it was one of the only two ruling princes among Emperor Taizu's own sons, and possibly the real owner of the Eastern Route Army, personally coming to whip himself, but he didn't dare to resist at all. In a panic, this Jinpai Langjun, who was one generation higher in seniority than Wushu, the only thing he could do was to quickly put away the golden badge, hold it in his arms, to prevent the golden badge from being accidentally injured, and then just stood there with his head bowed, letting the other party whip him non-stop.

Of course, this kind of whipping couldn't cause any substantial damage through the armor and fur robes. It didn't matter if a few whips hit his face, but the deterrent and insult were extremely great - after twenty whips, Wanyan Wushu turned back to his seat and continued to pretend to be dumb without saying a word, and Wanyan Ben Du never dared to say another word, but stood quietly among the Wanhu below.

The rest of the Wanhu were even more speechless.

"Let me be frank!"

Seeing that the situation was stable, Bali Speed opened his mouth again as if nothing had happened. "If the Yellow River doesn't freeze, with the current situation, the waterway is locked by the Song navy, and it's impossible to force an attack from the north and south. Not to mention that the forces can't be deployed, the fortifications in the north and south are definitely not decorations... General Ali is old, but he is a veteran, and he is extremely strict in governing the army; although General Shao He's subordinates are mostly Bohai people, it is precisely because of this that they must want to rescue Commander Gao and are the most daring to fight... If they say it won't work, then it won't work!"

Hearing this, Wushu couldn't help but glanced at Ali, the veteran who used to be critical of him in the past. This time, he didn't say a word, and even when facing Wanyan Ben Du's 'accidental injury' and insult, he didn't have the slightest reaction, only letting Shao He come forward to argue with Wanyan Ben Du.

I don't know if he is really old.

"It's not okay, but we can't just wait for it to freeze," just after Bali Speed's slightly fair statement, in another slightly awkward silence, Wanyan Tu Hespeed took a step forward, dragging his legs slightly, which was also to smooth things over for his commander and marshal. "We have to do something, either to hinder the Song army from attacking the city, or to support the city. Anyway, we can't just wait! Otherwise, how would Commander Gao in the city see us? We can't explain it to the hundreds of thousands of troops."

"That's exactly what I mean." Bali Speed slowly nodded, looking around. "What ideas do you all have, please say them as much as possible!"

Everyone looked at each other, and finally looked more at Ali and Shao He.

In short, these two were fighting on their home turf, and now they were geographically limited, so they had to listen to their opinions.

But obviously, these two had been indirectly scolded by Wanyan Ben Du before, and at this time, they didn't know if they were sulking or what, they were still standing there and didn't bother to say much.

After waiting for a while, it was Elubu, who was quite familiar with Ali and was now a subordinate of Wanyan Ben Du, who gave a wry smile and said almost jokingly:

"Why not find a way to cut off the Yellow River?"

Everyone burst into laughter, and at this moment, Ali finally spoke calmly: "Feasible!"

The laughter in the courtyard stopped abruptly.

"Not joking?" Elubu asked again.

"Not joking." Ali said calmly to his old friend. "The current Yellow River in Hebei is not right... It's more like the Hebei water system using the Yellow River channel, or the Yellow River channel invading the Hebei water system. In this situation, the river in front of us has more Yellow River water during the high-water period, and more Hebei water during the dry season, and the water flow is slow and the water source is mixed. Plus, there are too many forks in the river, cutting off one fork won't cause chaos."

Everyone suddenly understood, and immediately cheered up.

But soon, Bali Speed realized something, and then asked seriously: "If it is according to General Ali's words, with 200,000 laborers here, how many days will it take?"

"If the Song army doesn't interfere, 30,000 to 50,000 laborers will be enough, more is useless... About twenty or thirty days." Ali was still calm. "And after cutting it off, we must prevent the silt from the bottom of the river from being difficult to walk on."

Everyone was silent, and Bali Speed also smiled awkwardly: "Twenty or thirty days, it's better to wait for it to freeze!"

"I was just making a decomposition of Elubu's words." Ali also laughed.

"The situation is difficult, please give me some pointers, old general." Wushu spoke again, but it was rare to get up and give Ali a salute, and then sat back.

Ali glanced at the other party, and finally stopped smiling: "If you want to support Yuan City now, it's not that there is no way, send small groups across the river from the south, and then find some small boats, and take the waterway to the port area in the southeast of Yuan City. In theory, it can still get in... The Song army can't really lock it on all sides... But it's just in theory, it's impossible for organized troops to get in."

Everyone nodded, and also became slightly serious - no matter what, at this time, as long as they can enter the city, even if it is a few people or dozens of people, it will be a great encouragement to the defenders in the city.

Even if the probability of success is not high, they should try it.

"The second one." Ali continued to say calmly. "Cutting off the Yellow River is of course a joke, but we can cut off the Yongji Canal to disturb the Song army..."

Wushu, Bali Speed and the others brightened up again, because the Yongji Canal was next to Li Gu Town, and it also crossed the Jin army's camp.

"What's the point of the Yongji Canal?" Bali Speed took the initiative to ask.

"The Yongji Canal is an artificial canal, drawing water from the Qi River and the Huan River into the river in front... Crossing the Yellow River, arriving under Yuan City, and then crossing the Song army's camp." Ali said calmly. "And because of the forced water diversion and artificial construction, the position where this river is drawn out of the Yellow River on the opposite bank is actually low, with a somewhat suspended river posture. If we cut it off from the downstream, it will definitely flood in the Song army's camp. At that time, depending on the situation, if we are lucky, we may be able to divide the Song army's camp into three parts. If we are unlucky, or if he responds properly, it will take him some effort."

Everyone finally cheered up, this was like a serious method.

Bali Speed also nodded non-stop.

Wushu even left his seat, stepped forward to take Ali's hand, and praised him repeatedly.

But Ali directly shook his head: "This is not my idea. Where do I, an old Jurchen, know anything about hydrology and geography? This is some of the things he said when I was with Commander Gao before. I remembered it today, and I thought it was feasible, so I just showed off temporarily... And we don't know how effective this kind of thing will be. We can only say that we are taking advantage of the fact that it hasn't frozen yet and we need something to deal with the morale of the army, so we will try it."

Everyone sighed even more.

In this way, today's military conference did not return empty-handed after all.

First of all, it must be to unify the thinking and strengthen the authority of the commander Bali Speed; secondly, the Jin army finally found an anti-enemy strategy that they could try and that seemed feasible.

Of course, everyone knew in their hearts that this was just a countermeasure to 'perfunctorily deal with the situation'. They still had to wait for the freezing before it was possible to really launch a vigorous battle to make a final decision.

There was no word that day. Everyone held a banquet to entertain and comfort Ali and Shao He. Even Wanyan Ben Du, who had lost face, didn't dare to disobey the Fourth Prince, so it was considered a reluctant and half-happy end.

Then, in the evening, Wushu personally went to the downstream river bank to send Ali and Shao He back to the camp to comfort them... The Song army's warships couldn't really be everywhere... There was always a chance to find an opportunity to communicate on the river.

And let's not mention how Ali and Shao He cut off the Yongji Canal after returning to the camp. Let's just say that on this night, the moon was waning and the stars were sparse. Wushu sent the two away, intending to return, but thinking of Ali's words about 'perfunctorily dealing with the situation', knowing that if he wanted to launch a real attack, he still had to wait for the Yellow River to freeze, he became a little anxious. He simply didn't rush back to the camp. Instead, he took advantage of the darkness and took the Grand Tutor Nu and other attendants to walk slowly along the Yellow River embankment, close to the water surface, and along the way, he asked the attendants to test the freezing situation at the edge, which was to observe the freezing situation.

After all, the current temperature situation was already very subtle.

For example, at the Yongji Canal, the Jin camp had ignored it, and a thick layer of ice had formed on it. Soldiers had to break open a palm-thick layer of ice to get water. The Yongji Canal section of the Song army should have been relying on fully smashing the ice to transport goods.

The Yellow River channel was also the same. Often from early morning to evening every day, Song army laborers were constantly smashing ice to delay it as much as possible.

In this case, if there were one or two more cooling periods and a snowstorm, it might really gradually freeze.

In this way, Wanyan Wushu went up the river under the cover of the night. Along the way, he could clearly feel that the ice layer on the river bank was getting wider and thicker as time went by. But when he reached the downstream area, facing the Song army's camp, there was only ice residue on the river bank... This was of course understandable, because Wushu saw with his own eyes that even in the middle of the night, there were still many Song army laborers holding torches and riding on small boats, smashing ice overnight. What especially surprised Wushu was that there was a lot of movement around the Song army's warships. Obviously, the ships were parked in the river, and just the first half of the night directly caused freezing, forcing the Song army to do so.

In this way, the Yellow River was destined to freeze after all. The Song army also knew this, and they were just doing their best to transport supplies and control the waterway.

It was the beginning of the twelfth lunar month, and it was more than halfway through the previous night. The northwest wind was obvious, and the moonlight and starlight above his head were not very bright. It was a typical cold winter night.

However, at this time, the camps on both sides were densely packed and large. The bonfires were connected for dozens of *li*. Wushu stood on the inner side of the river embankment, seeing the lights on both sides reflecting each other, and the faint light reflecting from the ice flowers and the color of the water in the dark night, he was slightly taken aback while observing a little of the situation.

The great river rises for thousands of miles, and when it reaches the downstream, it divides into two, and then divides into five. It seems vast and magnificent, but in fact, the amount of water inside is no longer as abundant as in the upstream, and even the water source inside has changed, making it difficult to find the root.

In fact, Wushu secretly thought that if it were not for this, this river might not freeze every year.

However, on second thought, the great river is still the great river. Although it is in the dry season, although it is only a fork, it is still so magnificent, and boats are still traveling across it, making hundreds of thousands of troops sigh at the river and unable to make any progress.

Compared with this weather and geography, what is mere human affairs? And with what kind of mind should we face the general trend?

Should he learn the words on the Zhao official's Dibao (imperial gazette) in the south and arouse the heart of 'man will conquer nature', or should he go with the flow and let it all go? Or should he do his best and listen to fate, and act according to his ability?

In a daze, the ruling prince of Jin was actually a little obsessed for a while.

However, just as the Fourth Prince was habitually sighing with emotion, suddenly, Grand Tutor Nu disregarded etiquette and directly pulled Wushu to go up the river embankment. Wushu came back to his senses and saw two boats in the river coming straight to the west bank, and the figures on the boats clearly had light and shadows flashing under the brilliance of the two banks, which were clearly elite Song troops in armor.

Perhaps they were elite Song troops from a small team who came to cross the river to scout. Although it didn't seem to be aimed at him, there shouldn't be much danger. But a gentleman doesn't stand under a dangerous wall, and there was no need... Wushu thought, while hurriedly climbing the river embankment with Grand Tutor Nu and other attendants, preparing to return.

But this action exposed their whereabouts instead, and the two boats turned directly towards them.

When Wushu came to the river bank, he also heard the sound of the boats colliding with the thin ice on the other side of the river bank, and he was about to turn over and get on his horse, but at this moment, the other side took the initiative to speak with a smile:

"I wonder which general of the Jin Kingdom is not sleeping at night, but is coming to the river to watch the scenery?"

Wushu heard that the other party's voice was loud and his words were calm. He knew that he had encountered a Song general, but his heart moved slightly. He got on his horse while signaling to Grand Tutor Nu and the others.

Grand Tutor Nu and other attendants quickly bent their bows and drew their arrows to prevent accidents. At the same time, they personally took down a large shield and turned over to ride on the horse to cover Wushu. Across a river bank and a soil slope, there were also constant sounds of bowstrings and armor on the opposite side, and they were also preparing.

When Grand Tutor Nu and others were ready, Wushu smiled on the horse and said, "The Privy Councilor and Prince of Wei of the Great Jin Kingdom, Wanyan Wushu, is here. I wonder which general of the Song Kingdom is in the same mood as me, watching the scenery by the river late at night?"

There was obvious commotion on the opposite side, but soon it immediately calmed down. Then the general continued to laugh easily and responded: "The Marshal of Hebei Road and the Commander of the Imperial Guard Front Army of the Great Song Dynasty, Yue Fei, is here! Fourth Prince, it's a rare encounter, why not come over to this side of the embankment for a chat?"

Wushu was also stunned for a while, and Grand Tutor Nu and others also exclaimed for a moment, but soon, Wushu smiled bitterly: "I have long heard people say that Marshal Yue is the best in Hebei in bows, horses, knives, and guns. Even in the army, he is only slightly suppressed by Prince Han because of his seniority... With your courage of ten thousand men, I'm afraid I will be pierced by an arrow if I go over at this time... If Marshal Yue is interested, why not come over here, I will definitely entertain you well."

The person on the opposite side, Yue Fei, smiled even more when he heard this: "Fourth Prince, don't fool me. Even if my martial arts are strong, at this distance, if I get hit by a Jurchen heavy arrow, I will be disabled if I don't die... Why bother looking for trouble?"

"That's right, that's right." Wushu nodded repeatedly, sighing, but he was also thoughtful. "If that's the case, let's not shake hands and make peace, let's chat across the embankment?"

"What to chat about?" In the dark night, Yue Fei pinched the hard bow behind him. For some reason, he became solemn. "Now that things have come to this, is Fourth Prince going to reason with me and talk about the situation?"

"Even if we are fighting each other, why can't we reason?" Wushu said disapprovingly. "Besides, tonight's meeting on the embankment is a rare opportunity, even though we can't meet face to face, and even if what we say is wrong or bad, we don't have to worry about losing morale or attracting impeachment."

"Fourth Prince has misunderstood." Yue Fei said with a sigh. "It's not that I think we can't talk here, but some words are really unnecessary to say... The Jurchens invaded China, killed my people, looted my property, destroyed my cities, and seized my territory... Is there any reason for this?"

"General, you are saying something muddled." Wushu sneered. "The two Hebei used to be the territory of the Song Kingdom, and now they are the territory of the Jin Kingdom. In the past, you called yourselves China, but after losing the two Hebei, what kind of China are you? You can only be considered half of China. On the contrary, the Great Jin Kingdom now occupies the two Hebei, establishes a system, opens imperial examinations, respects Confucius and values Confucianism. Isn't it also a Chinese state?"

"Can barbarians of the Di Yi, who are like monkeys wearing hats, also be called China?" Yue Fei looked disdainful.

"That's even more muddled." In the twilight, behind the shield, Wushu on the horse was still not angry. "The Khitans only occupied the land of Yanyun, and they could be called a great Chinese state and inherit the lineage of the Huaxia. Even you recognized it. Now that the Great Jin occupies the entire two Hebei, why can't it be called China? You must know that the source of legitimacy lies in rule, not in righteousness... During the Southern and Northern Dynasties, the Northern Wei occupied the Han land and became Sinicized, and it was the legitimate dynasty. The Sui and Tang dynasties inherited it and ruled the world. The Song, Qi, Liang, and Chen dynasties, on the other hand, were reduced to separatist and rebellious states. How similar is this to today? Even if we don't talk about these things, you say that we invaded from outside, but Emperor Taizu of your Great Song did a dirty thing and seized the foundation of the Chai family. Are you worthy to say that the Great Jin's acquisition of the country is not righteous?"

"What Fourth Prince said seems to make some sense." Unexpectedly, Yue Fei actually admitted it frankly. "But when it comes to this, Fei must also be clear with Fourth Prince... You say that the source of legitimacy lies in rule and not in righteousness, then may I ask, the Jurchens stole the two Hebei, regarded the people as slaves, and implemented harsh laws, so that the people did not hesitate to abandon their families and businesses, either crossing south to seek survival, or rebelling against the Taihang Mountains, is the number of them less than a million? Not to mention that you used to slaughter them here as a common occurrence, making the four fields reek of blood... Does this count as rule?"

"That was when we first came. When a country rises, things of swords and soldiers are inevitable. The Great Jin is also becoming better day by day." Wushu blurted out to quibble, but he regretted it as soon as he said it.

"So, Fourth Prince thinks that the slaughter by the Jin Kingdom is unavoidable, and the Great Song got the throne more than a hundred years ago and was not righteous?" Yue Fei sneered.

"My original intention was just that we are all the same, so don't say that one is better than the other." Wushu said with a dry smile.

"That's right." Yue Fei continued to sneer. "Fourth Prince thinks that the legitimacy of a country lies in rule and not in righteousness. As a result, the Great Song has ruled for more than a hundred years, with its culture and civilization flowing, and the country and its people have multiplied by hundreds of millions. It is going to be as laughable as the Jin Kingdom, which has ruled the two Hebei for ten years, slaughtered for three or five years, and been tyrannical for three or five years... I don't know who is the one who is laughing?!"

Wushu avoided speaking.

"Moreover," Yue Fei's voice became clearer. "Even if I admit today that the Great Song's acquisition of the throne was not righteous, so what? Does the Great Song's way of governing today still lie in the throne a hundred years ago? Isn't it our official who is leading hundreds of millions of people, driving out the Tartars, restoring China, and uniting the four seas? After Baima Shaoxing, our official has said clearly that the country has a new and old distinction. Compared with the previous Old Song, your so-called Jin Kingdom is laughable. Do you dare to compare it with today's New Song? Why don't you compare insects with bears and tigers and say that they are of the same kind?"

"Marshal Yue," Wushu finally said solemnly. "I thought you were a Marshal of a country and must have high opinions, but I didn't expect you to say such vulgar words?"

"It was Fourth Prince who wanted to talk to me!" Yue Fei said without any politeness across the river embankment. "Besides, if your Great Jin had any good points, why would you humiliate yourself?"

Wushu was speechless for a moment, and both sides fell silent for a moment across the river embankment.

After a moment, Wushu calmed down and changed his approach: "These fancy things are the words of scholars. We are all mixed up in the army and shouldn't learn from the Dibao. As for saying that the Great Jin Kingdom has any reliance, Marshal Yue, of course our Great Jin has something to rely on. Isn't the hundreds of thousands of elite Jin troops in front of you and behind me our reliance and foundation? The current situation is that the military strength of the two countries is actually equal, and confrontation across the river has become a fact, but we have repeatedly wanted to negotiate peace with you, but you have ignored us. Instead, you want to use the power of the whole country to cross the river to attack... I read your Dibao and know one thing, that is, for this battle, you have almost exhausted all means of exploitation, exhausting the people and wasting money, draining the pond to get the fish, and the Imperial Guard in the front and the scholar-officials in the rear are completely at odds, and the country is almost divided. Is this worth it? Even if you succeed in the future, how much effort will you have to spend to stabilize and unite the country?"

Speaking of this, Wushu paused for a moment. After not hearing a response for a long time, he paused slightly and continued to speak:

"Moreover, if you really cross the river to attack, can the Song army make our army collapse at the sight of you? Let's not talk about other places, just say you here. In the cold winter, both the army and the people should be settled in their homes, burning stoves to celebrate the New Year. As a result, you have pulled more than 100,000 soldiers and civilians to the wilderness and asked them to work hard all night to smash ice along the river against the wind... Moreover, smashing ice