Volume 1: Zhu Xian Town Crisis Chapter 8: First Encounter with Zhang Xian

  Yue Yun narrowed his eyes and took a look, only to see that the knight was about 28 or 29 years old, wearing a golden helmet on his head, dressed in a red armor with a shiny breastplate on his chest. He held a tiger-headed golden spear in his hand. He looked dignified, with a white face and short beard, a pair of bright phoenix eyes shining with spirit, and a sharp and capable expression between his eyebrows.

  Yue Lei saw this person and was shocked, immediately standing up from the stone and bowing his hands: "Zhang Xian big brother, you've also come?"

  Yue Yun was also slightly startled at this time, and he searched his mind for the situation he understood in his previous life. It seems that this is the second person in the Yue family army, Zhang Xian, the former military commander.

  Historically, Yue Yun joined the Yue Family Army at the age of 12 and was assigned to Zhang Xian's vanguard. Before being appointed as the commander of the Beiwei Army, Yue Yun was one of the ten commanders of the vanguard. The two had a good relationship.

  Zhang Xian was also the only one among Yue Fei's generals who, along with Yue Yun, was beheaded at Fengbo Pavilion (other Yue family army leaders were mostly demoted or exiled), and can be said to be Yue Yun's sworn brother.

  Yue Yun hastily stood up and paid his respects, but at this time Zhang Xian waved his hand repeatedly, laughing and scolding: "Ying Xiang, Fa Xiang (Yue Lei's courtesy name), you don't have to be so polite... we're all brothers in the same family, why bother with such formalities?"

  He paused for a moment and then continued: "Ying Xiang, the marshal has asked me to inform you to go to the commander's tent, saying there is an important matter to discuss..."

  As he spoke, a hint of respect appeared on his weathered face. "I heard from the Commander that you actually persuaded Cao Gonggong to agree to petition the imperial court to delay the withdrawal for another month under the pretext of escorting the civilians. It really made me sigh in admiration. The Commander also praised you greatly in front of me."

  "Alas, Brother Xunli (Zhang Xuan's courtesy name), what merit do I have? I merely saw the suffering of the common people and couldn't bear it for a moment, so I directly led several villagers to see Lord Cao and plead with him. I didn't expect that the tragic experience of the common people would shock him so much that he agreed to memorialize this matter. It really surprised me too." Yue Yun said with a smile.

  "Hmm, Ying Xiang, I feel that you're much smarter after this recovery compared to before. You used to be a complete fool! Hehe... Let's hurry up and set up camp, or else the General will get impatient!"

  Zhang Xian smiled slightly. He immediately called out to Yue Yun to get on horseback, and then the two of them rushed towards the central army commander's tent together...

  "Brother Lü Li, why did Father hurry us so much? What is it that he wants to discuss with us?" Yu Yun couldn't help but ask along the way.

  "It's said to be related to the withdrawal of the main army and food supply issues. In recent days, more and more civilians from nearby areas have come to Zhuxian Town, I suppose it's because news of our army's impending return south has spread. The people are worried that after we leave, they'll suffer again at the hands of the Jin army, so they want to follow us back south... Alas!" Zhang Xian couldn't help but sigh.

  Yue Yun was also speechless after hearing this. The two of them continued on their journey in silence, and before long they arrived at the central army commander's tent.

  As the two men entered the grand tent, they saw that inside the big tent had already been arranged more than twenty grey-painted military chairs. In front of each chair was a small table with a steaming bowl of covered tea on it, and on each chair sat one of the commanders of the Yue Family Army, about ten or so people having arrived.

  They sat in chairs, sipping covered bowl tea, and whispering to each other. When they saw Yue Yun and Zhang Xian come in, they all nodded and smiled at them.

  In front of the main tent, Yue Fei was sitting upright, with a military strategist who looked like a scholar standing beside him and discussing with him.

  Yue Yun carefully sized up Yue Fei at this time. Although he had also seen Yue Fei when receiving the twelve gold plaques, he was just crossing over then and his mind was muddled, so he didn't notice what this heroic figure in history looked like.

  The middle-aged man in front of him had a fair complexion, thick eyebrows and big eyes, a straight nose and a square mouth, with a national character face, and a few long mustaches. His appearance was quite majestic, and his black and white eyes were carefully looking at himself. He wore an iron helmet on his head, and a white iron chain armor on his body. In the middle of this chain armor, there was also a bright mirror. He sat calmly in a chair inside the big tent, but naturally had a dignified air that came from commanding a large army for many years.

  As he watched Yue Yun and Zhang Xuan come forward to pay their respects, Yue Fei finally revealed a faint smile. He kindly said to the two of them: "Yun'er, Xunli, please take a seat."

  A middle-aged scholar with a white complexion, wearing a crane cloak and a headscarf, with five long mustaches on his chin, said: "The commander called everyone here this time, also because of the situation. Recently, the people from Yingchang, Yan City, Zhengzhou, and Chenliu have sent people to our army, asking to return south with the army. In the past two days, many people have stayed in Zhuxiantown, intending to withdraw with the army at the end of the month. However, after the number of civilians following us increases, the preparation time for our army will also increase a lot, and the one-month withdrawal period is far from enough. Moreover, if the civilians follow our army south, the shortage of food and grass will also make it difficult for our army to cope. According to my estimation, the population of the above four places has reached more than 200,000, and it is still increasing recently. At present, it is not yet autumn harvest, and most of the people's stored grain has been looted by the Jin army. If the civilians follow our army to withdraw, the problem of food and grass cannot be avoided. How to deal with this matter, please discuss and consider together."

  Yue Yun looked at this clever face, like Zhuge Liang reborn, a middle-aged scholar. He knew that this was Yue Fei's military advisor, the protector of the rear camp and the participant in the council, Li Ruoxu. His younger brother was the official who had been killed by the Jurchen-led Jin dynasty for scolding their crown prince, Wanyan Zonghan, during the Jingkang Incident, the Minister of Personnel, Li Ruoshui.

  In history, he was the first advisor to Yue Fei, and made strategies for Yue Fei for many years. The logistics supply of the Yue Family Army, as well as many internal personnel transfers and operations, were his credit.

  Li Ruoxu said that the commanders of the Yue family army present had all heard about it. In recent days, after learning that the Yue family army would withdraw in a month and that the people of Zhuxiantown had decided to follow them back south, the people from nearby towns brought their elderly and children to the Yue family army's camp, asking to return together with the army to the Song Dynasty to avoid being bullied by the Jin army.

  Inside and outside of Zhu Xian Town, the number of people from various places has been increasing, with a total of tens of thousands of people. At this rate, it is possible that in a month's time, the number could exceed 200,000. This is indeed a very tricky situation.

  Everyone knows that taking so many civilians south will bring no small trouble to the Yue family army. If they encounter the Jin army taking advantage of the situation to attack, these unarmed civilians will become a huge burden and drag on the Yue family army. Once they panic and run away, they will scatter the formation of the Yue family army and affect the battle.

  Moreover, even if the Jin army did not come to attack, feeding and settling so many people would still be a huge problem. It can be said that relying solely on the Yue family's military strength is fundamentally unable to solve these problems.

  However, if we were to ignore this matter and retreat south immediately, it would go against the long-standing military principles of the Yue family.

  The purpose of the Yue family's northern expedition was to recover the Central Plains and rescue the Han people who were oppressed by the Jin people. Now that the northern expedition has failed, the Han people who have been bullied by the Jin people are asking to return south together with the army. How can we ignore these people who are determined to return to the Song Dynasty and only care about running away ourselves?

  At this time, the violent and fierce Niu Gao shouted: "General! In this situation, what are we withdrawing? The autumn harvest is coming soon. If we withdraw, it should be after the autumn harvest! This period of time is just right for the people to deal with the sale of their property. Otherwise, everyone will starve to death and how can they walk?"

  As soon as Niu Gao's words fell, Li Ruoxu shook his fan and said: "General Niu's words are wrong. Although food and grass are currently in short supply, it is not too difficult to transport food from the rear in time. The biggest problem now is that the withdrawal deadline is too tight, and some civilians need to pack up their belongings, notify their relatives and friends, and even move their graves or sell their houses. These miscellaneous things cannot be completed within a month. If our army exceeds the one-month deadline and has not yet withdrawn back to Ezhou, it will fall into the crime of disobeying orders, and it will give the treacherous officials in the court a handle. It also makes it difficult for the marshal to handle! In my humble opinion, it is better to withdraw first, as for the civilians' return to the south and resettlement, I am afraid that they can only be temporarily postponed."

  Li Ruoxu's words, except for Niu Gao and a few others who were hot-tempered and straightforward, most of the generals nodded in agreement. Although they too did not want to withdraw their troops, when faced with the possibility of being accused of "disobeying imperial orders" if they did not withdraw, they still chose to obey the imperial edict. Even though the local civilians were also pitied by them, it was not enough for them to take the risk of disobeying the imperial order.

  But everyone did not expect that at this time, Yue Fei said with a heavy face: "Recovering the Central Plains and rescuing the people is the wish of Yue's heart. Although the imperial court's order must be executed, how can Yue bear to see the people fall into the hands of the Jin people again because of our withdrawal? Our army will wait for the people to prepare before returning south!"

  All the generals were stunned at this time: disobeying the military order and imperial edict brought by the twelve golden plaques of the official family was a capital offense! Has the marshal gone mad?