To be honest, Zhang Jun did not have any superb military talents, his commanding ability was average, and his relationship with his subordinates was not good.
As a scholar, his arrogance made him often do bad things to some military generals who had made great achievements in battle, which made his reputation among the generals not very good.
He led the army to fight against the Jin Army many times, but never really won a victory. The defeat in the Battle of Fuping was a stain on his life that could not be erased, ruining the elite of the Western Army and the land of Guanzhong.
So no matter what, he cannot be regarded as a famous minister who can turn the tide.
However, he took the lead in the battle and was the soul of the main war faction and even the Northern Expedition. He was defeated many times and fought again, and his spirit and will were extremely tenacious.
Although he was reprimanded many times and revolted several times, he still did not change his ambition. No matter where he went, he shouted for the Northern Expedition and fought. He was a man who never stopped fighting.
In the dark years when Qin Hui was all-powerful, Zhang Jun still insisted on the Northern Expedition and never wavered.
It is precisely because of his extremely strong political combat effectiveness that the courtiers of the Zhuhe faction all know that Zhang Jun's deterrence to them in the court is far greater than in the military. If they want to live a peaceful life, they must not let Zhang Jun return to the central government. , otherwise Zhang Jun will definitely torture them to death.
Once Zhang Jun returns to the center, he will be like a fly talking about the Northern Expedition in their ears every day, which can annoy them to death.
As a result, a fierce debate broke out between the war faction and the peace faction over whether Zhang Jun should return to the central government and take charge of the military again.
At the same time that the strategic decisive battle broke out between the Liberation Army and the Jin Army, the Southern Song Dynasty court was also engaged in a fierce war without gunpowder. There was not a day without debate in the entire court.
However, the debate in the court about Zhang Jun's return did not affect the previous decision.
The Privy Council passed orders and ordered the border armies to reorganize their armaments and conduct military exercises, in order to deter the Jin State and demonstrate the determination of the Song State to never accept Wan Yanliang's unreasonable orders.
In order to further investigate the military foundation of the Song Dynasty and prepare for emergencies, the Privy Council also plans to send people to the front lines to conduct inspections and get a feel for the military foundation of the Song Dynasty.
After receiving this order, the border armies finally put aside their previous extravagant state of eating, drinking and having fun, and were forced to pick up their weapons again and begin to reorganize their armaments and practice military formations.
The officers, who were not very good at handling military supplies before, hurriedly tried to find ways to fill in the gaps and prepare for the inspector's inspection.
And those officers who were too aggressive with military supplies and excessively paid their dues begged their grandfather and grandma to ask for help from all parties and do them a favor. As long as they managed to get through, they would be generously thanked.
Anyway, there are policies at the top and countermeasures at the bottom. The top is finally going to check, but the bottom can't just sit back and wait for death. They are all taking action.
Whether active or passive, the Song army on the border began to move.
It was completely different from when Zhao Kaishan attacked Kaifeng.
Of course, the news of the Song Army's comprehensive reorganization could not be concealed from the Jin Army's inspections. The border states of the Jin Army quickly received corresponding news and learned that the Song Army was preparing for large-scale combat.
Is this a Northern Expedition?
Kong Yanzhou was horrified. He asked the border troops to strictly guard the defense lines and not to slack off, and to expedite the investigation of the latest intelligence. At the same time, he sent someone to report the news to Wan Yanliang and asked Wan Yanliang to send reinforcements.
At that time, Wan Yanliang had not yet left for the expedition. He suddenly heard that the Song army was preparing for war at the border. He was furious. He threw several tea bowls and kicked over five servants before calming down.
After calming down, Wan Yanliang reluctantly recognized the facts. He asked Kong Yanzhou to focus on dealing with the Song army. The border states must be on guard and there must be no defense loopholes.
As for the original strategic goal of poking fun at the Restoration Army, Wan Yanliang gritted his teeth and decided to let Kong Yanzhou send some troops to relieve him of some pressure and make a show of it.
But no matter what, Nanjing Road, especially Kaifeng, cannot be let go.
Wan Yanliang still didn't believe that the Song army had the courage to make the Northern Expedition, so Kong Yanzhou could still free up his hands.
But soon, Kong Yanzhou got new information, which surprised Wan Yanliang.
The Song court in Lin'an was having a fierce debate on whether Zhang Jun should return to Lin'an to take charge of the military.
It is said that the debate was so fierce that there were even cases where officials fought outside the court after arguing in the court.
Those who supported Zhang Jun's return and those who did not support Zhang Jun's return were quarreling and fighting over this matter. Even Emperor Zhao Gou could not stop it and could only act anxiously.
Judging from the current situation, the demands of the main militant faction have gained the upper hand and have won the support of most people. Zhang Jun is about to return.
If this matter was decided by Zhao Gou alone from beginning to end, Wan Yanliang had full confidence that Zhao Gou would never pose any threat to him.
But if Zhang Jun comes back, the problem will be different.
Unlike other ministers who talk a lot but don't practice, Zhang Jun is not only a strong talker, but also very tough in his skills. He is a person who has fought against the top golden army many times.
The Jin generals who fought against Zhang Jun generally had a good opinion of Zhang Jun. Although he was defeated many times, the Jin army paid a high price for defeating him.
Some people even say that after Yue Fei's death, the only thing the officials of the Southern Song Dynasty had to worry about was Zhang Jun. Unless Zhang Jun died, the Southern Song Dynasty would never give up the Northern Expedition, and the threat to the Jin Kingdom would not disappear.
Zhang Jun was kicked out of the Center before and could not take power, which was a good thing for the Kingdom of Jin, but if Zhang Jun successfully returned to the Center...
That shows that the Southern Song Dynasty was really ready to use force.
With this view, Wan Yanliang reluctantly sent an order to Kong Yanzhou, asking him to focus mainly on the defense of the Southern Song Dynasty and not to send too many troops to Shandong, where the Liberation Army was located.
For Shandong, it is enough to make a gesture of harassment and let the Liberation Army know that Kong Yanzhou can send out troops to poke them in the butt. Don't actually start a fight.
If a fight really breaks out, once Zhang Jun returns to Lin'an to take control of the military, and seize this opportunity, Zhang Jun will definitely go north!
That would be dangerous in Kaifeng.
Once Kaifeng fell, the Jin Kingdom's rule in the area south of Yanyun basically came to an end.
This is not okay.
Kong Yanzhou breathed a sigh of relief for no reason after receiving the emperor's order.
This actually gave him an order not to fight against the Liberation Army. This was good. It was better than the situation where he would be attacked from two sides if Zhang Jun returned.
Zhao Kaishan failed to defeat him, and he also failed to defeat Zhao Kaishan. In addition, he lost more than 10,000 troops in a battle, which greatly reduced his mobile force. His strength has not been restored to this day. He must dispatch troops to advance into Shandong under the premise of tightly defending the border. , it’s really difficult.
Moreover, the Liberation Army is no longer what it used to be.
He had a 50-50 draw with Zhao Kaishan, then Zhao Kaishan offered sacrifices to heaven, and a few days later Zhao Xiang also offered sacrifices to heaven. Then he heard that the leader of the Liberation Army had become Zhao Zuoliang, and Zhao Zuoliang had a son-in-law. His name was Su Yonglin, and he was the one who killed Wanyan Alin.
Then the Liberation Army was reorganized and reorganized, reducing the number of more than 100,000 people to 50,000. They performed martial arts on the bank of the Yellow River every day, shouting loudly in the direction of Kaifeng on the west side of the Yellow River, not knowing what they were doing.
He sent people over to see the situation, but nothing could be seen, but he always felt that the morale of the Liberation Army after the adaptation was very high.
This made him feel a little nervous.
After the news came that Wan Yanliang was sending troops, he also ordered a group of soldiers and horses to follow him to send troops, just to show off.
This army was small in number, between five and six thousand men, and had no intention of actually fighting the Liberation Army. It just confronted the Liberation Army across the Yellow River on the banks of the Yellow River in Shanzhou, Caozhou, to show its presence.
After Su Yonglin received the news, combined with the intelligence sent by Su Changsheng, he immediately felt that the Liberation Army had an advantage in this round.
Entering the meeting hall, Su Yonglin asked Yelu Chenghui and Yelu Yuanyi to sit down and said with a smile: "Wan Yanliang is really our best friend. He will not give up until he makes enemies on all sides and forces the Khitans to rebel. Man, and forced the Southern Kingdom to confront him, shouldn't the next one go to the Xia Kingdom?"
Yelu Chenghui sighed, his face full of helplessness.
Yelu Yuanyi sneered.
"Nothing he does would make me feel strange. He has turned a good situation upside down. What else can I say?"
Yelu Chenghui didn't seem to want to discuss this part, so he took the initiative to change the topic and discussed the matter against Kong Yanzhou with Su Yonglin.
