Chapter 1747: Emperor Yan's Southern Expedition and the Aristocratic Family's Attitude
Qingyin, who was sitting in the side room, soon became pregnant.

However, Xie Daoyuan and Qingyin had agreed that when her child was born, if it was a boy, he would be given to Xie Daoyuan to raise as Su Mingzhe's eldest son.

Qingyin naturally would not refuse this.

In the blink of an eye, winter goes and spring comes.

Spring of the third year of Shengping.

Murong Jun implemented the aggressive policy of "recruiting three out of five men", raised an army of one million and launched a southern expedition against the Eastern Jin Dynasty.

When officials in Qi, Lu, Central Plains and other places in the Eastern Jin Dynasty learned that millions of Yan people were heading south, they were all trembling with fear. They either fled at the first sign of trouble or prepared to surrender.

……

Langya State, Kaiyang County.

When Sima Pi learned that the Yan people were going to attack, he sent someone to find Su Mingzhe and said in a depressed look:
"Prime Minister, I am sorry for you. You should take your family and leave!"

In February of spring, Sima Pi reported to the court that the former prime minister was transferred to the south to serve as a prefect of a county. Su Mingzhe became the prime minister of Langya State, second only to the emperor.

Sima Pi originally thought that he and Su Mingzhe could create a myth of harmony between the ruler and his subject.

Who would have thought that the dream would be shattered so early.

Su Mingzhe had only been prime minister for more than a month when he had to face a million-strong Yan army. Not to mention Sima Pi had no confidence, the entire Eastern Jin Dynasty was prepared to lose territory and have northerners migrate south.

"Your Majesty, the ancients once said: 'Eating the salary of the king, being loyal to the king, what is there to fear!' I have been treated with great favor, and I will never run away!"

Su Mingzhe first expressed his attitude, and then he comforted Sima Pi in a soft voice:
"Your Majesty, there is no need to worry too much. Emperor Murong Jun of Yan is so arrogant that he has divided his troops into four groups and marched south. Although our Langya Kingdom cannot defeat a million Yan troops, we can still resist one of them!"

"Prime Minister, please stop comforting me. The Yan army of one million is at least 200,000 strong. We have only 30,000 soldiers in Langya, and only 6,000 elite soldiers. How can we compete with hundreds of thousands of Yan soldiers?"

Seeing that Sima Pi just shook his head in disbelief, Su Mingzhe simply stated that he would live and die with the Langya Kingdom, then took the military command and began to mobilize troops to prepare to resist the Yan people.

To him, the million-strong Yan army could be blown away tens of thousands miles with just a slap.

However, if he wants to use ordinary methods, he can only rely on clever tricks.

……

The Langya Kingdom only had nine counties, and with the slaves of the aristocratic families, the population was at most six or seven hundred thousand people.

In everyone's view, using these people to resist the million-strong Yan army was like throwing an egg against a rock.

However, after Su Mingzhe took charge of the military, he chose the tactic of clearing the countryside, transferred the people in the front to the rear, and then led 6,000 elite troops to fight a guerrilla war.

There are many hills in Langya State.

Su Mingzhe led 6,000 elite troops and continuously harassed the Yan army.

The Yan people could neither fight nor catch up, and were trapped for several months, losing tens of thousands of soldiers and horses.

It was now August.

Seeing that attacking Langya County would not be worth the cost, the Yan people had no choice but to turn westward and attack the heartland of the Central Plains.

The crisis in Langya State was resolved.

October.

Although the Yan people captured dozens of cities in the Central Plains, they did not seize enough spoils.

Emperor Murong Jun of Yan became so angry that he fell seriously ill and had no choice but to return to his hometown in Jizhou.

……

After this battle.

Su Mingzhe demonstrated outstanding military talent.

Sima Pi simply followed the example of his elder brother-in-law Wang Yun and became a hands-off boss, entrusting the entire Langya Kingdom to Su Mingzhe.

Having gained Sima Pi's trust, Su Mingzhe began to carry out drastic reforms in Langya State.

It’s the end of the year in a blink of an eye.

Su Mingzhe took a month's leave to return to his hometown to visit his relatives.

……

In fact, in May, Su Mingzhe had secretly returned to Jiangnan.

At that time, Su Mingzhe's cultivation level broke through to the Hunyuan Jinxian realm. He returned to Nishan Academy, cut off the red thread of love between Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai, and tied another red thread between himself and Zhu Yingtai. Without the emotional bond of Zhu Yingtai, Liang Shanbo was recommended by the Zhongzheng official to be the magistrate of Yan County, and he went to Yan County to take up the post in a very frank and unrestrained manner.

As for Zhu Yingtai.

She originally had Liang Shanbo in her heart, but after the red thread of love was cut, she felt empty all over. After completing her studies, she returned home to be a lady from a noble family.

Su Mingzhe insisted on writing a letter to Zhu Yingtai every month, never talking about love, but only about poetry and songs.

The relationship between the two became increasingly close.

……

The eighth day of the twelfth lunar month.

Su Mingzhe rushed to Nishan Academy and paid a visit to the principal and others.

The twelfth day of the twelfth lunar month.

Su Mingzhe rushed to the Zhu Mansion in Shangyu and handed in a visiting card, expressing his desire to visit his sworn brother Zhu Yingtai.

Many people in the Zhu family knew that their young lady had gone out to study disguised as a woman.

However, no one knows about Zhu Yingtai's sworn brotherhood with others.

……

"Miss, Master Su is here to visit you!"

When the maid Yinxin heard the news, she ran back to the backyard in a panic.

Zhu Yingtai, who was embroidering her wedding dress, heard this and her eyes became panicked:
"Brother is here so fast!"

……

Su Mingzhe wrote a letter to Zhu Yingtai in advance, saying that he would visit the Zhu family before the New Year.

Zhu Yingtai had no choice but to confess to her parents that she had sworn brotherhood with Su Mingzhe and Liang Shanbo.

Although the Zhu family looked down on Liang Shanbo, who came from a poor family, they had great respect for Su Mingzhe, who had already become famous.

……

Because of Su Mingzhe's fame and talent, and with the help of the Wang and Xie families, the Yuyao Su family has now regained the status of the former Wugong Su family.

In other words, the Yuyao Su family and the Shangyu Zhu family are now on par with each other in terms of family status and rank.

On the other hand, Su Mingzhe has been in officialdom for more than two years, and has made achievements whether he was an assistant official in Wuxing County or as prime minister in Langya State.

Especially this year, Su Mingzhe used 6,000 elite troops to resist the southward advance of 200,000 Yan troops and also wiped out more than 30,000 Yan troops.

When the news reached Jiangnan, the aristocratic families praised Su Mingzhe to the sky.

Nowadays, Su Mingzhe's reputation in the Jiangnan area is comparable to that of the Grand Commander Huan Wen.

……

"Uncle, I am ashamed. The Grand Commander has fought for decades and is very famous. I only resisted the Yan people from the south once. How can I be compared with him?"

When Su Mingzhe heard that Zhu's father actually praised him for his achievements at a young age and that he would definitely surpass the Grand Commander in the future, he immediately understood that it was not that the other party liked him, but that the aristocratic family represented by the other party was expressing their dissatisfaction with the Grand Commander Huan Wen.

As we all know, Huan Wen was the pillar of the Jin people.

Even Huan Wen himself thought so.

As a result, when the Yan people invaded the south, the court ordered Huan Wen to lead his troops north to resist the Yan people.

In order to control the aristocratic families and force the court to abdicate the throne to him, Huan Wen actually feigned illness and stayed at home.

If the Emperor of Yan had gone all the way south and reached the south of the Yangtze River, perhaps Huan Wen would have achieved his goal.

Fortunately, Emperor Murong Jun of Yan fell seriously ill and stopped the southern expedition, so the southern part of Jin State was preserved.

After the great enemy left, all the major aristocratic families began to hate the Grand Commander Huan Wen.

If we say that before this year, the major families had an ambiguous attitude towards whether or not to force the Jin Emperor to abdicate to Huan Wen.

Now, everyone has decided to raise a new god of war to fight against Huan Wen, the disobedient old man.

At this time, Su Mingzhe, who came from a Jiangnan family, suddenly appeared. With a weak force of 6,000, he resisted 200,000 Yan people and wiped out tens of thousands of enemy troops. For the aristocratic families, he was the best candidate for the 'new god of war'.

(End of this chapter)