Chapter 58: Where to Go and Where to Follow?

  By April 19, the remaining four northern return armies of the Jin army's eastern route had all crossed the Yellow River from Huaizhou and headed north. They passed through Anlijun, Xiangzhou, Cizhou, and on the evening of the 19th, they entered Handan.

  Di Lie finally let out a long sigh of relief after learning this latest news, and the tense strings in his heart relaxed.

  From Handan to Wangyun Mountain, the journey exceeds 500 miles. Even if the Golden Army comes to its senses at this moment, it is impossible to turn back and look for trouble in their own home. In other words, the bandit's lair on Wangyun Mountain can be considered truly safe from this moment on.

  To be honest, Di Lie had repeatedly gone to pluck the whiskers of the Jin people's tiger, and even forcibly pried out a large piece of fat from the mouth of this "tiger", which was extremely risky. Because at that time, the bandit mountain stronghold was still within the range of the Jin army's northward march route, only twenty miles apart. If the Jin army commander became ruthless, scouts would be sent out in all directions, and their tracks would likely be exposed.

  Di Lie had no doubt that if the Jin army knew that this bird-free valley was hoarding such a huge amount of wealth they had lost, they would go crazy and pounce on it, leaving not even half a bit of residue from his achievements over this period of time.

  Fortunately, the commander-in-chief of the Jin army's eastern route was Zong Wang. This man had always been cautious in his military campaigns and battles. When Zong Wang heard the news that Emperor Huizong had abdicated to Emperor Qinzong during the Jin army's first southern expedition, he feared that the Song dynasty might have made some preparations and wanted to retreat. At this time, Guo Yao Shi, who had recently surrendered to the Jin, spoke up: "The Southern Dynasty may not necessarily be prepared. The wealth and prosperity of Bianjing, as well as the affairs within the palace, are not comparable to those of Yanshan. If the prince's army advances quickly, it can take advantage of this momentum to break through like a bamboo, and rush to the Yangtze River. The soldiers will surely win, and we may be able to return without fighting. If we hear that they have made preparations, we can display our military strength north of the river, gaze at the Southern Dynasty with a fierce expression, and demonstrate our national prestige. It's not too late to return."

  Jongwang followed the advice of Guo (Wanyan) Yaoshi and turned to a long drive. In the end, the army surrounded Bianjing, forcing Song to negotiate peace, and returned with full load.

  From this point on, it can be seen that Zongwang's use of troops is cautious. In the face of unclear enemy situations, he absolutely does not make rash moves. Especially at this time, the Eastern Route Army of the Jin army was divided into six parts, and they were carrying a large amount of baggage and prisoners, making the entire army cumbersome and no longer as sharp and agile as when they first marched south.

  The current Jin army's most important task is to safely transport the results of this annihilation of Song and the rich spoils of war back to the capital, everything else is secondary. As the commander-in-chief, Zong Wang could not be clearer about this point.

  Although the Jin army lost a large number of supplies and captives, the losses were still within a tolerable range. Moreover, the enemy's movements were mysterious and their methods were terrifying, even the great shaman changed color when speaking of them. As the commander-in-chief of the three armies, Zongwang would not abandon his main duties to launch a large army to find an elusive enemy like a shadow.

  Zongwang's "wisdom" allowed Di Lie to escape a devastating blow - this is just like the first time Zongwang invaded Song, if he had hesitated at that time, the Song Dynasty would have also avoided a great disaster. However, there was still a Guo (Wanyan) Yaoshi leading Zongwang's army, kicking open the door of the Great Song with one foot. But now, where can you find another Guo (Wanyan) Yaoshi? Even if you found him, would he listen to his words?

  Di Lie let out a sigh of relief, but Hou Fangjing was busy to the point of being out of breath.

  The massive amount of grain, fodder and other supplies that had been accumulated in front of and behind him, as well as gold, silver, jewels, nearly 10,000 people, and an equal number of cattle, sheep, and horses. The statistics and management of these human and material resources all weighed heavily on his thin shoulders. No choice, after all, he was the financial controller (appointed by Di Lie) and one of the oldest followers of Di Lie.

  Fortunately, along with the large amount of supplies that arrived, there were also many former Song officials and scholars, as well as thousands of imperial clan members. Any one of these people could surpass Hou Fangming in terms of knowledge by a wide margin. Using them to assist Hou Fangming in doing this kind of trivial accounting work was truly a waste of their talents.

  These former aristocrats didn't want to do such "dirty work" at first. However, after suffering hardships on the road, their arrogant attitude had long been worn away; secondly, those self-proclaimed noble Zhao Song clan members and some officials were previously given a warning by Di Lie, "no work, no food", and were starved for a whole day. As a result, on the way back to the village, they could only do the dirty and tiring work honestly, not even daring to fart once.

  With sufficient and effective manpower, plus several days of continuous work, Hou Fangjing finally got the final statistical result.

  "Eight hundred and sixty-two thousand two hundred and twelve piculs of rice, three hundred and eighty-four thousand five hundred piculs of bean grains, twenty thousand bolts of cloth. One hundred carts of various leather dyes, two hundred carts of fine iron and copper utensils, three thousand suits of iron armor, five thousand suits of leather armor, more than five thousand bows, crossbows, and shields; one million knives and guns. In addition, there were five hundred gold ingots, each weighing fifty taels, totaling twenty-five thousand taels; two thousand silver ingots, each weighing fifty taels, totaling one hundred thousand taels of silver; five million copper coins, countless pearls, jade, porcelain, and other precious stones... The rest included various miscellaneous items such as medicine, wine, dried meat, salt, tea, etc., totaling over two thousand carts..."

  Hou Fang glanced at Di Lie's face while sitting at the top of the conference hall, and as expected, his surprised and delighted expression was almost the same as when he had received the results an hour ago.

  "What about the people and livestock?" Di Lie asked anxiously.

  That also makes me gasp for breath! Hou Fangjing rolled his eyes and continued with force: "The population is 11,328 people, of which 3,422 are women, mostly from the palace... including the women brought back by the prince yesterday (the identity of the women, including Huanhuan, has not been made public yet); there are over 35,000 mules, horses, cattle and sheep, with 2,000 healthy war horses that are fully equipped and robust... All the above-mentioned personnel, materials, and livestock have already included those obtained from Bulu Village."

  Hou Fangjing could finally breathe a sigh of relief. In fact, these supplies, especially the grain, were not limited to this amount. It's just that there were too many people, and with over 10,000 mouths to feed, doing nothing but consuming, at least nearly 100 dan of rice would be consumed every day. If they continued to idle away their resources like this, it might be fine in the short term, but it wouldn't work out in the long run. Hou Fangjing thought it was necessary to remind Di Lie about this matter.

  "This is only one-seventh, one-seventh......" Di Lie muttered to himself, his facial expression unreadable as to whether he was relieved or regretful.

  The Jin army retreated north in seven routes, and he only took down one of them, but was already overflowing with wealth. It can be imagined that the combined wealth of the remaining six routes would be astonishing. Indeed, it is "the Song Dynasty falls, and the Jin country eats its fill", using the blood and flesh of one country to nourish another, making it difficult not to prosper.

  Di Lie let out a soft sigh, unfortunately his "Black Eat Black Operation" could only go this far. Everything can be done once or twice, but not three times. A sniper rifle and several explosive packs that were still somewhat effective weren't invincible after all. Previously, it was because they had caught the Jin army off guard, using various methods (such as stirring up internal conflict between the Jin and Qing armies), plus a bit of luck (the division of troops at Gongzheng, leaving the main camp empty), as well as the Jin army's fear of unknown weapons... that they were barely able to achieve their current results. This kind of battle example couldn't be replicated.

  At this time, Hou Fangjing also carefully brought up his own hidden worries.

  Di Liezhan nodded and said: "No wonder you're a merchant by birth, you thought of this so quickly. So what's your idea?"

  Here is the translation:

  "As for ideas, Hou Fangjing had already thought of them. As Di Lie's power grew like a snowball, Hou Fangjing, as an adventurer merchant, also began to stir in his heart. At this time, when he heard Di Lie ask, he immediately said eagerly: 'Actually, Your Highness also knows that this Fanren Mountain is only a temporary refuge. Once the Golden Army returns north, we can escape from here. At that time, with the vastness of the two rivers (Hebei East and West routes, known as "two rivers") and the emptiness of various states and prefectures, we just need to occupy several large cities. With the huge amount of supplies and tens of thousands of people we currently have, if we recruit soldiers and expand our forces, within three to five years, it is certain that..."

  "No way!"

  Hou Fangjing was speaking eloquently and at length, but Di Lie cut him off bluntly and flatly rejected him.

  Hou Fangjing's face was flushed with excitement as he spoke, but his words were abruptly cut off, almost choking him. He stuttered: "Your Highness... what... what does this mean?"

  Hou Fangjing's words actually make some sense. The place of Wangren Mountain is indeed not an ideal base. Not to mention its low altitude, small area, and limited strategic maneuverability, just its geographical location is already a headache. Wangren Mountain is only over a hundred miles away from the Yellow River and only three hundred miles away from Bianjing, with large and small cities scattered around, making it a place of frequent battles. It's okay to use it temporarily to avoid the wind, but staying there for a long time would be precarious.

  Di Lie smiled bitterly and shook his head. Hou Fangjing's idea of finding a new base was correct, but his direction was wrong.

  At this moment in the second month of the second year of Jingkang, no one but Di Lie knew what would happen in the future.

  Standing at this point in time, such development is indeed inevitable. If possible, Di Lie also wants to do so. However, he is very clear that the commotion he has stirred up recently, although not small, is still insufficient to stir up history. The Southern Song Dynasty established by that person named Zhao Gou, although currently without any signs, will eventually appear.

  Once the Southern Song Dynasty was established, its position in the Two Rivers would fall into an awkward situation. If it wanted to be independent, the Southern Song would not agree, and the Jin State would not agree either. Hmm, it seems that later there was also a pseudo-Qi State, which was built in Daming Prefecture, Hebei East Road, and it would not agree even more. The result of this is being surrounded by enemies on all sides, and it will be over sooner or later.

  If you can't make it on your own, then rely on a certain family?

  Jin Guo? That's an arch-nemesis who won't die easily!

  Southern Song? Forget it, think of Yue Fei...

  Traitor? I hate traitors the most, killing their own kind is even more ruthless than killing outsiders. Even if they defect to our side, they must be put through a trial by fire before we can talk about it, how could they possibly betray us again?

  What's most important is that in the future, the tug-of-war between Song and Jin would last for over a decade, and this area along the two rivers would be the rear base of the Jin army. The Jin army repeatedly attacked Song, just along this route. Think about it, when the great army went on an expedition, how could the Jin army tolerate the existence of such an opposing force in their own backyard? If Di Lie really defended a certain city, he would undoubtedly become the gatekeeper of the Southern Song Dynasty and the stumbling block for the Jin country's southern invasion.

  Di Lie's historical knowledge may not be too good, but he still understands a bit about the future trends of the Song and Jin dynasties. Combining this with the geographical features of the two rivers, what's there to not understand? Now, being greedy for territory may bring temporary benefits, but in the future it will lead to being attacked from both sides, like a mouse in a bellows, getting beaten on both ends!

  But it's not surprising for Hou Fangjing either. Di Lie understood the future development trend, but people at that time didn't understand it.

  Di Lie looked at the crude map of the Jin army's spoils again and again, and said decisively: "We can't enter the city, we can only enter the mountain!"

  At this time, a loud and rough voice suddenly came from outside the door: "If so, why not go to Taihang!"