Chapter 157: The General Dies After a Hundred Battles

You are courting death! Wanyan Zongwang was evidently enraged by Li Linbo's attitude. He drew his treasured sword from the nearby rack, pressed it against Li Linbo's neck, and said coldly, "Boy, do you believe I can kill you right now? The Song army certainly will not stand up for you for such a matter."

Hearing what Wanyan Zongwang said, Li Linbo smiled and replied, "I, Li Linbo, am just a man of humble life. Before coming here, I had already prepared myself to be killed. However, before setting off, I already spread the news throughout the city that we were going to return Wanyan Loushi's head. If you kill me now, the peace talks will be completely broken, and not a single person from our army will ever come to negotiate with you again. Let's see what you will use to return to Wanyan Loushi's family."

Li Linbo's words were simple, but they were the truth. He believed that Wanyan Zongwang would not truly kill him.

Ancient people placed great importance on being laid to rest in peace after death. Because Wanyan Loushi's corpse was missing its head, his burial had been repeatedly delayed. Now, hearing that the Song army could return the head, the members of Wanyan Loushi's family were extremely excited.

"You launched a sneak attack on our Shangjing this time, causing us such massive losses. Do you really think you can just walk away like this?" Wanyan Zongwang still felt resentful.

"We Han people have an old saying: The magistrates are allowed to burn down houses, while the common people are forbidden even to light lamps. General, you are truly overbearing. When your armies were standing right outside our Bianjing city walls, you certainly did not look at things this way. Now that the tables have simply turned, you find yourself unable to accept it." Li Linbo paused, then suddenly grinned broadly and said to Wanyan Zongwang, "However, I must still kindly remind the General that you had better get used to this situation, because this will be the norm from now on."

"Boy, provoking me will do you no good whatsoever!" Wanyan Zongwang said coldly.

"I am merely speaking the truth. Today's Great Song is no longer the old Great Song that could be bullied by anyone at will," Li Linbo said solemnly, a trace of pride evident in his words.

After a long period of negotiation with the Jin state, Li Linbo and the other side finally reached an agreement: the heads of Wanyan Loushi and Yang Zaixing would be exchanged on the banks of the Songhua River, one hundred miles away from Shangjing City.

The location was chosen by Han Shizhong. The Song army was a naval force that had traveled from afar; after exchanging the heads here, the Song army could sail straight through the Songhua River into the sea. The Jin army lacked a regular navy, making it utterly impossible for them to intercept the Song army again even if they wished to.

The next afternoon, the Song and Jin armies smoothly completed the exchange of the heads of Yang Zaixing and Wanyan Loushi.

Han Shizhong carefully placed Yang Zaixing's head back onto his body. It could be seen that Yang Zaixing had not worn an expression of pain before his death; on the contrary, his face bore the look of someone who had fought to his heart's content. Perhaps for Yang Zaixing, such an outcome was the true meaning of life.

The generals die in a hundred battles, their bodies wrapped in horse hides as they return home!

"Brother, we are going home!" Han Shizhong said to Yang Zaixing's remains.

This expeditionary army of the Song Dynasty, from its departure to its return, had lasted four months and finally set sail for home. Carrying the spoils of war captured from Shangjing City, they marched grandly toward the ocean.

Although the Song army had departed, tranquility had not returned to Shangjing City.

Wanyan Wuqimai was critically ill, and even the imperial physicians were helpless. It looked as though he did not have much time left.

This was precisely the time to choose the next emperor of the Jin state.

Wanyan Wuqimai was the younger brother of Emperor Taizu of Jin, Wanyan Aguda. His original intention was to pass the imperial throne to his own sons after his death, but this met with fierce opposition from Wanyan Zongwang, Wanyan Zongbi, and others. Both Wanyan Zongwang and Wanyan Zongbi were descendants of Wanyan Aguda's lineage, and naturally they did not wish for the throne to pass to Wanyan Wuqimai's lineage.

According to the rule of the Jin state that the throne should be passed to the eldest legitimate son, the rightful heir would have been Wanyan Zongjun, the eldest legitimate son of Wanyan Aguda. However, because Wanyan Zongjun died young from injuries sustained in battles against the Liao army, Wanyan Wuqimai had instead appointed Wanyan Aguda's legitimate grandson, Wanyan Dan, as the crown prince.

Logically speaking, with Wanyan Wuqimai gravely ill at this time, the throne should have been passed directly to Wanyan Dan, but a discordant voice arose within the imperial court.

Some people championed the Prince of Hailing, Wanyan Liang, to ascend the throne.

Of course, this was mainly because Wanyan Liang had shown exceptional bravery during the military campaign against the Song, even setting an ambush to eliminate the Song general Yang Zaixing. Currently, Wanyan Liang's status within the army was extremely lofty, causing quite a number of officers and soldiers to turn and support him.

An internal struggle for the succession began within the Jin state, which was one of the reasons why the Jin army offered no obstruction when the Song army retreated.

The internal strife within the Jin state provided the Song army with a brief respite, and the Song and Jin initiated a protracted round of peace talks.

Zhao Huan received the victory report sent by Han Shizhong and was overjoyed. Laughing heartily, he said to Li Gang nearby, "For a long time, the Jin army has besieged us. This time, we turned the tables on them with a stroke from the bottom of the kettle, letting them experience what it feels like to have their old nest uprooted."

Li Gang took the victory report from Han Shizhong, his spirits equally lifted, and said to Zhao Huan, "General Han's victory report is unquestionably wonderful news for our army. In this way, our backs will be much straighter during the peace negotiations."

Zhao Huan rubbed his chin and said to Li Gang, "Peace talks are merely a formality. Do you really think the Song and Jin states can truly live in peace with each other for long?"

Li Gang was startled for a moment and asked Zhao Huan, "Does Your Majesty intend to deploy troops against the Jin state once more?"

Zhao Huan nodded and said, "The Sixteen Prefectures of Youyun have always been a lingering illness in my heart. If they cannot be recovered, our dynasty will forever remain under the threat of nomadic peoples. Therefore, I must recover those Sixteen Prefectures of Youyun."

"Please think twice, Your Majesty. At present, the domestic realm is depleted and the people's hearts are unsettled; it is truly not the time to wage large-scale warfare. Instead, we should take advantage of the fact that our army has the upper hand against the Jin army to demand more concessions in the peace talks, and wait until we have had time to recuperate and build up our strength before making further plans," Li Gang advised Zhao Huan.

Zhao Huan knew that Li Gang's perspective was surely shared by many officials. Even Li Gang, who belonged to the hawkish faction, had chosen peace when the opportunity presented itself, let alone those officials who had favored appeasement from the very beginning.

"To demand more conditions—that is also fine!" Zhao Huan nodded. Instead of directly opposing the peace talks, he told Li Gang, "Since that is the case, let us make the return of the Sixteen Prefectures of Youyun a condition for peace with the Jin army. If they agree, we will hold peace talks; if they refuse, I will recover them by force."