Chapter 1563 Return to the city, reward, boss
"Brother Guo, a good teacher really produces good students!"

Seeing tens of thousands of Tartar captives being taken into the city wall, Xiangyang Pacifier Lu Wende suddenly smiled from ear to ear, and at the same time did not forget to praise Master Guo Jing and his disciples.

Before the war even began, the Tartars' 200,000-strong army preparing to march south had suffered more than 60,000 casualties.

Next, whether the two sides were at war or at peace, he gave an explanation to the court.

"Lord Lu, although the Tartars' vanguard and central army have suffered damage, there are still hundreds of thousands of troops in the rear, so we must be on guard!"

Guo Jing was a calm man. He knew that although the Tartars suffered heavy losses, all their people were soldiers and they would be able to make up for the lost troops quickly.

Therefore, now is not the time for Xiangyang City to be complacent.

Lu Wende didn't care about that. He only knew that with this great victory, he would definitely be promoted to a higher position, and maybe even become a duke:
"Brother Guo, I'll leave the city defense to you. Don't worry, I'll have soldiers and food!"

After confirming that the number of prisoners was not false, Lu Wende returned home excitedly and started writing a memorial.

Guo Jing, Huang Rong and others were left behind, shaking their heads and sighing.

Fortunately, we have won a great victory and the crisis in Xiangyang City has been largely resolved.

After Su Mingzhe, Yang Guo, Wu Dunru and Wu Xiuwen returned to the city, Huang Rong personally cooked and held a celebratory banquet for the four disciples.

At the celebration banquet, an eight-bag elder of the Beggar Gang was in high spirits and was about to toast Su Mingzhe.

The credit for this great victory naturally goes to Su Mingzhe.

Su Mingzhe was not only the planner of the sneak attack, he also personally led the attack, killing and capturing more than 30,000 enemy troops.

The second was Yang Guo, who ambushed, charged, and captured more than 10,000 enemy troops.

Next was Wu Dunru, who captured more than 8,000 enemy troops.

Wu Xiuwen made the least contribution, but he also captured more than 5,000 enemy soldiers.

When Su Mingzhe saw someone toasting him, he immediately smiled bitterly and stopped them:
"Elder Jian, I think we should toast the sacrificed soldiers with this first glass of wine!"

Of the two thousand people led by Su Mingzhe, only more than eight hundred returned this time.

Of Yang Guo's two thousand men, only more than seven hundred were left.

There are only a thousand people left in the Wu Dunru and Wu Xiuwen factions.

Eight thousand disciples left the city, and now only less than three thousand have returned.

To outsiders, the results were brilliant.

However, for Su Mingzhe, this loss was a bit too heavy.

After the banquet.

Su Mingzhe came to Lu's house alone.

Guo Jing had assisted Lu Wende several times before in resisting the southward advance of the Mongolian army, and had never asked for any reward from the court.

All those credits were taken away by Lu Wende for nothing.

But Su Mingzhe refused to suffer this loss.

A quarter of an hour later.

When Su Mingzhe left Lu's house.

Lu Wende had burned the original memorial he had written and wrote a new one requesting credit.

……

The total distance from Xiangyang to Lin'an is 3,100 miles.

According to regulations, military reports must be delivered within six days and two hours.

Lu Wende's petition for merit and the petition written by the military supervisor arrived in Lin'an City one after the other.

The current emperor of the Song Dynasty is Zhao Yun, the tenth-generation grandson of Zhao Kuangyin and the fifth emperor of the Southern Song Dynasty.

At the beginning of his reign, the court was controlled by the powerful official Shi Miyuan, and Zhao Yun could only indulge in sensual pleasures and bide his time.

Ten years after Zhao Yun ascended the throne, Shi Miyuan died of illness.

After Zhao Yun took power, he immediately allied with Mongolia to destroy the Jin Dynasty, while at the same time not forgetting to recover the old territory.

As a result, his dream was shattered by the Tatars.

Zhao Yun nowadays seems to be a bit decadent, but he still has the ambition to regain his former glory.

When Lü Wende and the military supervisor's memorials were delivered together, Zhao Yun was a little confused and quickly called his best friend:

"Chang Xi, look at these two memorials, are they real or fake?"

Chang Xi was a eunuch before Zhao Yun ascended the throne. After Zhao Yun ascended the throne, Chang Xi became the chief eunuch, in charge of the Imperial City Administration.

Chang Xi had already read the report on the memorial, and when he first saw it, he suspected it was fake.

After all, the Song Dynasty fought against the Khitan, Tangut, Jurchen, and Tatar for more than two hundred years. Although there were wins and losses, overall, the Song Dynasty lost more than it won.

And the so-called great victory meant killing hundreds of people.

Being able to kill thousands of people is worthy of the entire court boasting about it and opening temples to worship ancestors!
And this time, Lu Wende and the military supervisor actually said that they would kill or capture 60,000 people. Isn’t this a joke?
However, Chang Xi changed his mind and felt that this number was too "incongruous". If it was false, it was likely that Lu Wende had colluded with the military supervisor and it would be impossible to conceal it.

In the end, Chang Xi still congratulated Zhao Yun:

"Congratulations, Your Majesty! Congratulations, Your Majesty! Our great cavalry general has appeared!"

"Really?"

Zhao Yun was still skeptical. He was the nephew of the previous emperor, and he was able to succeed to the throne by defeating many competitors.

Later, under the control of Shi Miyuan, he was forced to keep a low profile.

The twists and turns in life made Zhao Yun suspicious.

"Your Majesty, this must be true!"

Chang Xi decided to endorse this great victory, but in order to prevent any accidents, he explained:

"Think about it, if it's fake, we just need to let Lu Wende escort the 30,000 prisoners back to Lin'an, and the lie will be exposed, right?"

"Well, what Otomo said makes sense!"

Zhao Yun was convinced by Chang Xi's words and was immediately shocked:
"Hearing what Otomo said, this Su Mingzhe is really my cavalry general! Then according to Otomo, what should I reward him with?"

"This one……"

Chang Xi was slightly stunned, and after thinking for a moment, he replied:

"Since ancient times, people have learned civil and martial arts and sold them to the emperor! If the emperor gives him a high position and generous salary, he will be grateful!"

Zhao Yun was not satisfied with Chang Xi's answer.

However, Zhao Yun also understood why Chang Xi said that.

As the saying goes, thunder, lightning, rain and dew are all grace from the emperor.

Chang Xi was just a eunuch. How could he dare to reward the heroes who saved the country on behalf of the emperor?

After understanding all this, Zhao Yun was no longer embarrassed, but instead summoned all the ministers in the court to discuss the matter.

……

half a month later.

Kublai Khan, the Tartar commander-in-chief of the southern expedition, once again recruited an army of 100,000. Together with the original 130,000 troops, a total of 230,000, claiming to be an army of 400,000, they approached the city of Xiangyang in a mighty force.

In Xiangyang City.

People are in panic, with mixed feelings.

Guo Mansion.

Su Mingzhe received the imperial edict and sent the eunuch away. He saw Guo Jing, Huang Rong and others looking at him in surprise. Helplessly, he also pretended to be surprised:
"Master, why did the old emperor confer upon me the title of General of the Cavalry and Marquis of Guanjun?"

Guo Jing couldn't guess it either, but Huang Rong said thoughtfully:

"Mingzhe, this shows that the government of Lin'an has high expectations of you!"

After research by many ministers in the Lin'an court, it was concluded that Su Mingzhe had made great contributions and it would be difficult to reward him without making him a duke.

Finally, at Zhao Yun's suggestion, the ministers decided on his title as First-Class Marquis and his military rank as General of the Cavalry.

Su Mingzhe's actual official position was the Jingnan Recruiting and Pacifying Envoy, and he was also in charge of five states, namely Xiang, Sui, Ying, Fang, and Jun, and at the same time he was in charge of the Guanghua Army.

Well, this position was originally going to be awarded to Lu Wende next year.

Now it belongs to Su Mingzhe.

Not long after.

When Lu Wende heard the news, he hurried to Guo's house and paid his respects to his new superior Su Mingzhe with a fawning look on his face.

Lu Wende's current official position is Xiangyang Pacifier.

Su Mingzhe now manages Jingnan and happens to be Lu Wende's immediate superior.

correct.

Lu Wende was also rewarded and was named "Marquis of Anfeng".

This is because the Lu family is from Huoqiu County, Anfeng!