On the 26th of the lunar month, the news that the Northern Expeditionary Army had besieged the outer counties and towns of Bianjing to no avail was transmitted back to Lin'an City.

Chinese New Year's Eve was approaching, and the news of the inconsequence of the Northern Expedition did not cause much discussion among the ordinary people in Lin'an City, but there was a fierce debate in the court.

The Northern Expedition was fruitless for a long time, and the Lords and factions immediately found an excuse and immediately wrote a letter, proposing that they should accept it when they saw it, and that they should negotiate peace with the Jin State, and that it would be better to maintain the vested results, and if not, they could return the Heunginfu, Xuzhou, Jeju, and Guide to the Jin State, in exchange for peace between the two countries.

There are two bases for the main and faction, one is that although there is a rebellion within the Jin State, but it is a minor disease, and it will be pacified soon, once the Jin army is transferred back to the south and retaliates against the Great Song Dynasty, I am afraid that not only Suzhou and Bozhou will not be protected, I am afraid that it is impossible to continue to maintain the border between the two countries on the Huai River, and then the Jin army will drink the Yangtze River, and the Great Song Dynasty will be in danger!

Second, the people of the world do not have the intention of the Northern Expedition to the Central Plains, such a major event will consume countless military resources, manpower, and material resources, thinking that the Great Song Dynasty in order to recover the sixteen states of Yanyun, after a hundred years, can not succeed, now if there is no support of the people, only with the courtiers' momentary will, the hurried Northern Expedition, it is impossible to succeed!

Not only that, but the main war faction and the emperor also threatened that if the Northern Expedition was not stopped immediately, the national policy of light taxes and thin taxes was implemented, and agricultural production in Jianghuai was restored, it was even possible to push the Great Song Dynasty back into a state of no return!

But in the past two years, the main battle faction has mastered the right to speak in the court, and Emperor Zhao Yan wants to achieve great things as soon as possible, make meritorious deeds, and fight for fame, plus he was originally not dealing with the main and faction, at this time, the Northern Expeditionary Army is winning one after another, and the soldiers are pointing directly at Bianjing, where will the words of the main and faction be taken into account.

As far as Zhao Yan is concerned, what can make him listen to it at this time, except for what the courtiers of the main battle faction said, is the Emperor Zhao Gou.

But at this time, Zhao Gou saw that the situation of the Northern Expedition was good, and he didn't want to say much, after all, Zhao Yan, the emperor, was personally cultivated and selected by him, and the prestige he deserved had to be given to him, not to mention that he was still a filial son who was consistent on the outside, so Zhao Gou would not dismantle the stage and let the court retreat.

Zhao Yan did not listen to the opinions of the main peace faction at this time, but he could not help but listen to the opinions of the main battle faction, but the opinions of the main battle faction were not unanimous.

Half a year ago, as Yang Congyi suddenly marched into Xingren Mansion and changed the situation of the Northern Expedition, the radicals and conservatives in the main battle faction temporarily put aside the controversy and fully supported the Northern Expedition.

But after entering October, the Northern Expeditionary Army did not have any results, consumed countless grains and grass, and carried countless burdens, but suffered two defeats and lost nearly 40,000 soldiers.

At the end of September, Zhang Jun of Guide Prefecture had nearly 120,000 troops in his hands, and almost all the troops in the Jianghuai region were mobilized.

As a result, the radicals and conservatives in the DPRK and China quarreled again.

The conservatives advocated sticking to Heunginfu, Guide, Xuju, and Jeju, and after three or five years, they would completely recover these lands, cities, and people, stabilize the people's mind, restore production, and then concentrate their forces to recover Bianjing and Luoyang in one fell swoop, and even cross the Yellow River to recover more land in the north.

If the Jin country quells the civil strife and the Jin people mobilize a large army to go south, the Great Song Dynasty will miss this golden opportunity for the Northern Expedition, if they can't seize the opportunity to restore the Central Plains, they will be scolded for eternity!

On the contrary, if the Northern Expedition is successful, it will definitely be able to enter the annals of history again, spread through the ages, and be remembered forever by future generations!

Soon after Zhao Yan ascended the throne, he tried to innovate and needed the Northern Expedition to unite the hearts of his subjects.

Chen Kangbo and others advocated recovering the Central Plains in one fell swoop within a year or two, which was exactly what Zhao Yan wanted.

Therefore, when Zhang Jun's Northern Expedition was unfavorable, his troops were lost, and he was facing the impeachment of the main peace faction, Zhao Yan secretly still vigorously supported Zhang Jun and wanted to keep his position as the commander of the Northern Expedition, because looking at the entire Great Song Jianghuai region, he had the qualifications and ability to gather more than 100,000 troops, and the generals who commanded the Northern Expedition had no one else except Zhang Jun.

Although Wu Lan in the northwest was also a general at the same time as Yue Fei, Han Shizhong, and Zhang Jun, he was also old, and he had to resist the Western Xia and Jin people in the northwest Sichuan and Shaanxi regions, so it was impossible to transfer him to the Jianghuai region.

The only veteran general in the entire Great Song Dynasty is Zhang Jun, who can preside over the Northern Expedition in Jianghuai.

If he is not in the army, who can serve as the commander of the Northern Expedition for the remaining Li Xianzhong, Cheng Min, Wu Gong and others? Who will be subject to their dominion?

Wu Gong has been in Sichuan and Shaanxi in his early years, following his uncle Wu Lan to fight, although there are countless achievements, but he has not been transferred to Xiangyang for many years, he has no contact with the generals in the Jianghuai region, nor has he fought with the Jin people in the Jianghuai region, at present, he does not have the qualifications and ability to preside over and coordinate the Northern Expedition.

Cheng Min has been in command of the infantry military division, long time in Lin'an, although there are qualifications, but not close to the border, although in the last two years in Ezhou, Xinyang and other places with the Jin army fighting, but the results of the battle are mediocre, after all, the ability is limited, with him commanding the Northern Expedition army, not to mention others, Wu Gong, Li Xianzhong will not be convinced, it is inevitable to repeat the mistake of "the collapse of Rencheng".

Speaking of Li Xianzhong, although he made great achievements in the battle with the Jin people, had a reputation and qualifications in the army, and led the troops to fight bravely, he lacked the ability to coordinate the various armies, and had a discord with Shao Hongyuan, which led to the "collapse of Rencheng" in front, and the imperial court did not dare to entrust the Northern Expedition to his hands.

It is best to have a rookie in the army, Yang Congyi, who has led the soldiers to Xingren Mansion alone, and has made many meritorious contributions to the army, his achievements in leading the troops to fight are really dazzling, so he can be eye-catching, but his qualifications in the army are too shallow, although he is from martial arts, but before the Jin people invaded the south, he has been presiding over the ocean return, almost no experience in the army, even less experience in leading the troops to fight, and even before this, he has never fought with the Jin people. In the Northern Expeditionary Army, the seniority of any general in the army far exceeds that of Yang Congyi, even if you don't talk about seniority, just talking about the ability to lead troops, he is only commanding forty or fifty thousand people, and the command time is less than two years, who dares to hand over the heavy responsibility of the Northern Expedition to him?

In the land of Jianghuai, apart from the four of them, there is no one who is likely to take over Zhang Jun to command the Northern Expedition and preside over the overall situation of the Northern Expedition.

Therefore, no matter whether Zhang Jun has merits or not, his position in the Song Dynasty of Peking University can be replaced!

The Lord and the faction knew this, and in order to stop the Northern Expedition and regain the power they had held the court for nearly 20 years, they frantically impeached Zhang Jun in an attempt to pull him down from the position of commander of the Northern Expedition.

The radicals and conservatives in the main battle faction have the same position on the point of defending Zhang Jun, and they want to go on a northern expedition from the Jianghuai region, without Zhang Jun, it is basically impossible to succeed, he is the only banner in the Great Song Army that can still be erected, once he falls, the Northern Expedition army will definitely have no morale, and no one can clean up the remnants of the Northern Expedition, Yang Cunzhong can't, and Zhao Mi can't.

The successive impeachments of the main and faction were resisted by the courtiers of the main battle faction, and Zhao Yan did not need to end up in person, and he was entangled with the main and faction head-on.

Therefore, Zhang Jun, who had no results for a long time and even lost his troops, was not punished by the imperial court, and he didn't even have a word of accountability, but just asked about side affairs and asked when he would be able to recapture Bianjing.

In addition, batches of grain, grass and military materials were transported from the south of the Yangtze River to the north of the Yangtze River, and then a large number of people were requisitioned and transported to the Huai River, transported to Xuyi and Suzhou, and returned to Defu.

Zhao Yan and the imperial court almost did not hesitate to support Zhang Jun, of course, the Northern Expedition was all on him, what kind of pressure this was, Zhang Jun also knew it.

The previous defeat of the Northern Expedition from Xuzhou, Yang Congyi's army went north to Xingren Mansion and reversed the defeat, this merit in the eyes of the imperial court, there is Zhang Jun's share, whether he participated in the command or not, the Northern Expeditionary Army's military exploits are related to Zhang Jun, so he can quickly rush from Xuyi to Guide Mansion and continue to preside over the Northern Expedition, and the troops under his command are even better than before.

But Zhang Jun also knew that once the Northern Expedition completely failed, not only would he have to lose his reputation, but it would be impossible for him to stay in the Great Song Dynasty army, let alone return to the court, and the Great Song Dynasty and the opposition would not have a place for him.

Knowing that there might be such an outcome, Zhang Jun still had no intention of retreating, after all, he also knew that except for him, no one in the Great Song Dynasty could command hundreds of thousands of troops, and the Northern Expedition was carried out, whether it was out of selfishness or public intentions, since it was reactivated after being snubbed by the imperial court for 20 years, he had to realize his value and do what he wanted to do.

In Zhang Jun's view, instead of being obscure and dying in the countryside, it is better to have a vigorous one, the Northern Expedition was successful, and he was famous in history.

Because of this belief, when Zhang Jun heard that Cheng Min's troops were defeated and lost more than 30,000 soldiers, in the vast snow, he did not plan to leave Guide Mansion and return to Lin'an in the south to ask for guilt.

Zhang Jun has already made up his mind, no matter what the battle of the Northern Expedition looks like, as long as the imperial court does not order him to hand over the military power and leave Huaibei, he will definitely not take the initiative to resign, and vow to persist until the last moment, or the victory of the Northern Expedition.

With the wind and snow, it was no longer possible to organize an offensive years ago, coupled with the new defeat of the Cheng Min Department, the morale declined, and it was not safe to stay in Qixian County to confront the Jin army at close range.

Zhang Jun originally intended to transfer Cheng Min back to Sui County, or directly transfer him back to Defu to rest, and wait for the morale of the army to recover before carrying out the Northern Expedition.

However, because Cheng Min was pursued by the Jin army several times in a row when he led the army to retreat, and his troops were lost, after receiving Zhang Jun's order, he did not withdraw his troops back to Sui County, but sent a letter to Zhang Jun.

The letter said that the army had been newly defeated and its morale was low, and that once the army was withdrawn, the slightest carelessness would cause the soldiers to flee and fear, so it was better to continue to garrison the camp and wait for their morale to recover.

Zhang Jun was also afraid that the soldiers would flee and cause the Northern Expedition to fail, so he agreed to Cheng Min's invitation.

In this way, the people of Guide Province have suffered hardship, and in the cold wind and snow, they have to transport grain and grass to the army stationed on the front line.