In late February, as the Lou family entered Yanjing, it catalyzed the Triwizard Tournament that was about to determine the winner. In the end, Marshal Wanyan Nianhan, who was called the "State Prime Minister" by the Song people, relied on his power.
With his strong strength and political control, he successfully directed a drama of forcing a woman to be forced into the palace.
After this incident, Nianhan's authority grew stronger, and the prestige of Wu Qimai, the leader of the country, plummeted. At the same time, several Aguda parents and children who had always been unruly simply fell into the position of Nianhan's vassals... no matter it was
Whether it was Wu Qimai's family or the other nobles in Yanjing City, or the Western Route Army officers who belonged to Aguda's direct family, it was difficult to imagine that the "princes" who were led by Nianhan by the hand were Nianhan.
an equal ally rather than a vassal.
And when everyone thinks so, don’t you too?
In fact, the Wu Qimai disciples who reacted the next day had already clashed with their cousins on multiple occasions, and Aguda's sons also resolutely fought back... Otherwise, do we need an explanation?
In contrast, other confidants of the king, such as Ta Lan, who were forcibly aroused by Yin Shuke at night, were forgiven by Wu Qimai and his son. Especially Ta Lan, who was the first person to take the initiative after the incident.
The minister who asked for forgiveness in the palace was said to have shaken hands with the old brothers Wu Qimai and cried... I don't know whether it is true or not.
All in all, this night was chaotic. Except for Nianhan who was considered the unmistakable winner, it was hard to say who the real loser was, especially since this was an interesting three-way ranking game.
Not to mention the chaos of the two days, at the end of February, Wanyanlou's chamber once again proposed a battle plan to Nianhan, who had fully grasped the political power of Yanjing.
However, things are not that simple.
The plan was proposed again, and both Nianhan and the leader Wu Qimai agreed in principle to Lou Shi's warning. However, when the matter entered into the specific military planning stage, Lou Shi encountered some unexpected but reasonable difficulties.
For example, as Lou Shi's military plan was put on the table, some people soon questioned, since the two routes were combined into one, why not cross the river from the Jingdong area under the cover of the Puppet Qi, and the army could penetrate the two Huaihe Rivers in one go?
Then turn around and raid the Central Plains?
Then some people questioned, there are so many ravines in Shaanxi, and the terrain is not suitable for cavalry field battles, why march from Shaanxi? Why can't we copy the Jingkang incident that day, find an opportunity to cross the river, directly sweep the Central Plains with cavalry, and encircle the points for reinforcements? After all, the Song Army and Navy
Although the victory was great, the number of them was not large and it was difficult to cover the entire section of the Yellow River.
Then someone else pointed out that it was already the end of February, and even if they mobilized quickly for combat, summer would soon enter. The Jurchen cavalry was not afraid of hard battles, but was afraid of the heat. Instead of having a decisive battle in summer, why wait a few more months and wait until after autumn?
Fight?
At first, Lou Shi patiently explained, talking about geography, geography, people's hearts, and military configuration. But as the reasons put forward by these people became more and more absurd, he gradually realized... It is possible to join forces, but things
Decades of estrangement between the two armies has actually formed, and it is simply impossible to expect everyone to ignore factional interests.
Talking about going to the Huaihe River, going to the plains, and waiting for the autumn are all nonsense. It's just that the East Route Army is unwilling to take chestnuts for the West Route Army.
Guanzhong is the real place of victory, don’t these people know? What the hell are Lianghuai? The water network of the Huaihe River is a cavalry Jedi, don’t you know?
As for the plain, the Central Plains Zhao and Song dynasties had 200,000 imperial troops on land and water, and the country's most powerful soldiers and horses were placed there. How could they go to such a plain? It seemed like the cavalry in the Kansai Highlands couldn't charge!
And he had already said it bluntly that he, Wanyan Lou, was about to die because he was afraid that he would not come here until the autumn. Don’t these people know? Why didn’t you say next year?
At this time, Nianhan didn't know whether it was because he had just "surrendered" the Aguda lineage politically, so he couldn't oppress too much the Eastern Route Army, which was the foundation of the Aguda lineage; or because he had just achieved such great political results and didn't want to do it again.
Carrying out a large-scale military gamble...but it was also ambiguous for a while.
But then again, how could Lou Shi give up?
His physical condition is here, this is his only chance... Now, he can leave his son with a lifetime of achievements, can give the Western Route Army a nearly perfect territory in Guanzhong, and can give the Jin Kingdom
If the fortune of the country rises by another three points... In terms of public and private matters, and given his own character, how could he give up?
So, in order not to waste time, after just thinking for a while, the Lou family formally proposed that the eldest prince Wanyan Yuben or the third prince Wanyan Yinliduo be the commander-in-chief. Even the specific troops and horses can be divided into east and west. As long as
Make sure to merge in time and let him take command during the final battle.
As soon as this proposal came out, the resistance was reduced by most, and Nianhan finally thought about it again and again, and decided to trust this general under his command who had never let him down. As long as Lou Shi won the battle on the front line, his status behind him would be
On the contrary, it is more stable.
In this way, once the negotiations were completed, the highest power center of the Jin Kingdom finally began to prepare to send troops forcibly according to Lou Shi's plan, and at the same time began to operate some messy things in response.
And without mentioning what those messy things are, I will just talk about one fact that has to be admitted, that is, although the internal political structure of the Jin Kingdom is so chaotic that they themselves can't stand it, even though their culture is backward to the point that only 20 years of senior leadership
A cultural generation gap has arisen, but the military system still maintains a very high efficiency, and their military technology is by no means inferior to any country in the world.
This is not sophistry, this is fact.
From the Turks to the Khitans, from the Khitans to the Jurchens, and then the Mongols, including the half-Turkic, half-Mongol Timur, etc., time and time again, they continue to demonstrate this undoubted fact.
.
This kind of geopolitical sledgehammer force is born like this. They are close to a powerful and prosperous civilization, but due to the need for survival, they have to focus on learning and improving their military level, so that they have to abandon the other branches. And once they obtain enough
After military technology has accumulated enough war potential, they will be like a sledgehammer from the wilderness to the civilized highlands! Then they can easily use the tenacity and cruelty that they are accustomed to living a hard life, plus this high level of
With its military strength, it can destroy the advanced civilization standing in front of it.
But without exception, in the process of destroying higher civilization, they will be corrupted and controlled by everything about higher civilization.
It may be a bit wrong to say corrosion, because there is only one way, just like water flowing to lower places. It is basically a regular thing, but this process is often more intense because it is accompanied by violent military conquests... many
Civilization can withstand poverty, hunger, and breathless military pressure, but it cannot sustain this kind of beauty and sophistication.
As a result, nine times out of ten, the body will explode and die.
The few who managed to get through it couldn't tell which family or surname they belonged to.
Of course, these are all things for later. Back to the front, just when the Jurchens finally made up their mind to launch a major invasion against Kansai despite all the disadvantages, Bianliang in the south was getting hotter and hotter day by day.
March in spring is of course getting hotter and hotter, but what is even hotter is the human heart.
It has been nearly a month since the Zhao Guan family's "triumph to Tokyo" again, and although this battle between Song and Jin is not as exciting as the last time, it is undoubtedly the best since Jingkang, because the Jin people are basically
No progress was made, and they were immediately pinched at Tongguan and gave up their intention to invade.
Everyone is talking, everyone is speculating. Gradually, more and more people agree with one theory, that is, thanks to that official who was "Chongerer in the world, Guangwu again", the Song Dynasty finally did not have to worry about it.
If you are frightened by the destruction of your country and your species, you can at least return to the front line of the Yellow River and chart it slowly and calmly.
In other words, the south of the Yellow River is safe, and the city of Tokyo is safe!
Because of this trend of thought, more and more wealthy families are returning from Yangzhou, Nanyang, and even Bashu, more and more merchants are gathering from the south, and more and more local officials are eager to show their presence in Tokyo through various means.
feel.
And the Zhao Guan family, who was praised by Hu Quan as "Earnest in this world, glorious in the next" according to the content of his persuasion when he ascended the throne, saw that after a month, there was no movement from the Jin people, and summer was approaching, they could not help but gradually feel comfortable.
Heart.
However, the interesting thing is that when the so-called peace of mind comes to Zhao Guan's family, it is manifested in the official starting to get more and more involved in daily government affairs... This is the natural trend and behavior of a young official in peacetime, so
, although the prime ministers felt that the officials were a little worried, they still tried their best to cooperate.
"Rebuilding the bridge on the Bianhe River... This is natural. Several floating bridges are placed there, which is neither convenient for road traffic nor water transportation. But can the bridge be built higher?" Wende Hall of the Tokyo Imperial Palace, an important minister in charge of the Prime Minister
After they had discussed some major matters, Zhao Jiu, who had specially brought several papers to discuss the matter, also picked up the top one and then looked at Chen Gui, one of the four prime ministers, seriously.
"I would venture to guess that the official intention is to build a few bridges on the Bian River that can pass ships to facilitate the passage of the navy in the future?" Chen Gui was not surprised at all.
"Not bad." Zhao Jiu nodded immediately.
"It can't be repaired." Chen Gui said frankly. "I don't know how long the bridge will be for such a high arch, and there are still four or five bridges... With all the manpower and material resources, it would be better to dig a new ditch in the north of the city specifically for military use to save trouble.
"
"...I understand." Zhao Jiu was embarrassed for a moment, and then returned to normal. "There is another thing. It is said that many people returned to Beijing and found that their mansions were destroyed and occupied... This matter has caused many people to
Come and tell me, I hope Kaifeng Mansion will handle it properly."
Chen Gui became more and more helpless: "Guan family, this matter cannot be settled... The Jingkang Incident, four consecutive years of war, and Tokyo gradually stabilized last year. It's okay to destroy the mansion. Anyway, there are a lot of empty mansions in Tokyo, so they can be divided appropriately.
Arrangement, but the case of the residence being occupied is difficult, because although it is true that the residence was occupied, most of the people who occupied the residence had the permission of the Tokyo Residence Department and later the imperial court, so how can it be done properly?"
As soon as these words came out, not to mention Zhao Jiu, even the other prime ministers and other important ministers standing in the palace were silent... After all, first of all, this matter has a legal dilemma, it is really a mess; secondly, in Tokyo in the past
There is a mansion, and now you have the energy to come here to ask for it. It is either a noble minister or a wealthy family, and you can find Zhao Guan's family to talk about it, so there is no need to explain.
"Chen Qing misunderstood." Zhao Jiu quickly responded sternly. "My proper meaning is to put public before private, public before small, poor before blessing... When it comes to city defense, military camps, government offices and other official occupations,
, you should focus on official matters first; when there is a dispute between a large number of people and a small number of people, focus on the accommodation of the large number of people first; if it is really difficult to decide, compare the rich and poor families, and focus on providing housing for the poor first...
This is not only my intention, but also the intention of the two noble concubines. You can make arrangements according to these rules. If anyone is still dissatisfied, let them beat the drum and come directly to me to discuss with the two noble concubines."
Chen Gui was relieved, and the other important ministers also looked at each other in disbelief and were speechless... because this plan was too much like the official style.
"There is one more thing." Zhao Jiu opened the third letter and continued. "Someone over there in Yangzhou has said that I will serve as the Queen Mother and the clan will return to Beijing... I think Tokyo is uneasy, so I can't do it for the time being... What do you think?"
Then Zhao Guan's family has said so, who can think anything else? Do you still think Tokyo is not lively enough these days? If the Queen Mother and the clan come back, where to place them, how to place them, what etiquette... it will all be a mess.
The reason why this matter was brought to the palace was simply because it concerned the Queen Mother and a process had to be followed.
"One last thing, Han Xiaozhou, who knows Jiangzhou, wrote a letter and said two things. You all should know it, right?" Zhao Jiu opened the last note and his tone softened slightly. "What do you think?"
The Wende Hall was in awe for a moment, because everyone knew that this was the meat of the show today.
It is said that the Song Dynasty shared the world with scholar-bureaucrats, and there is a saying that the imperial examination work was still very good, so it is not an idle thing for a child from a poor family to become a central and famous official. In addition, the chaos of the Ten Kingdoms in the late Tang Dynasty, the Five Dynasties, and the so-called Tian
The streets have trampled all the bones of the public ministers, and those famous families have long been dead. This means that the Song Dynasty did not systematically reproduce the phenomenon of high-ranking families.
But having said that, after all, after the founding of the People's Republic of China for more than a hundred years, although it has never formed a scale or a specific class, there are always a few special existences, which are vaguely similar to the ancient clans of the Later Han Dynasty and the famous families of the Sui and Tang Dynasties.
For example, the Lu family of Lu Haowen, the prime minister of the dynasty, was already the fifth generation of ministers and the fourth generation of prime ministers starting from Lu Mengzheng, the number one scholar.
However, the Lu family, who insisted on passing on knowledge and whose population was not too prosperous, seemed insignificant in front of other families.
Yes, this is the Han family in Xiangzhou, also known as the Meihua Han family... The Meihua Han family is not only a minister for generations, but also the largest landowner in Xiangzhou. Compared with competitors like the Lu family, this family is still
He was particularly fertile, so his descendants were prosperous, he had many marriages, and it was easy to get married to the royal family. At the same time, he naturally became a local leader in Hebei.
If I have to give an inappropriate example, this family is vaguely part of the aristocracy of the former Han Dynasty, the duke family of the later Han Dynasty, the gentry of the two Jin Dynasties, and the famous families of the Sui and Tang Dynasties.
So according to the backward class struggle thinking in Zhao Jiu's mind, if a big landowner, big gentry and other conservative interests spokesperson in the Song Dynasty court must be used as a scarecrow, it must be just the Han family, and it cannot be
The second one.
But having said that, aren't the two rivers lost and Xiangzhou also fallen? At this time, it would be a shame to say that the Meihua Han family, which has lost more than half of its foundation, is a representative of a big landowner.
However, even so, Zhao Jiu did have an inexplicable wariness and dissatisfaction with the Han family.
There are specific reasons for this vigilance and dissatisfaction. It should be noted that as a relative of the emperor and the leader of the exiled scholars in Hebei, the Han family had been in Yangzhou before. Later, Zhao Jiu returned to the old capital. Because of his family status, the Han family
He had to turn back quickly and make a gesture, but he played a trick on the people of the world and his Zhao Guan family... The Han family had a lot of branches and leaves, but at that time, it only allowed the fifth family of the youngest lineage to be married to the royal family.
It was the cousins of the Zhao Guan family who returned to Beijing first.
As a lineage that was married to the royal family, this lineage actually lost its career advancement, so it has been like a housekeeper for a long time. Apart from managing money, settling down a home, and running a business, this lineage cannot make any decisions on its own.
This incident, combined with what happened to Yue Fei at that time, was the reason why Zhao Jiu was so angry at that cousin that day.
Back to the present, Han Xiaozhou, who submitted the letter today, although theoretically a generation younger than Zhao Jiu, is the direct grandson of the eldest son behind Han Qi... the kind that everyone in the world defaults to being the prime minister.
No wonder all the important ministers in the hall were in awe.
This grandson of the eldest brother of the Han family made a total of two suggestions this time:
First, the country had lost two rivers and could not recover quickly. The confrontation between the imperial court and the Jin people based on the Yellow River was probably going to last for a long time. However, the imperial camp would consume a lot of troops and horses, so he suggested ending the previous temporary resettlement measures. After encountering the
Henan, which suffered from several military disasters, established large-scale farming to support the imperial troops and horses.
Secondly, he, Han Xiaozhou, invited himself to go north as an envoy to the Kingdom of Jin, but he did not intend to negotiate a peace against the official will, but to take advantage of the great victory and sternly demand that the Jin people return the two saints and many captured nobles and important ministers.
Children.
How do you say these two items?
The first one is nonsense. It doesn't take Han Xiaozhou to explain it. The imperial court has already started to do it. It is more like a formality that follows the trend. The latter one is the key, but it makes Zhao Guan's family even more uncomfortable.
In fact, according to Zhao Jiu's past temper, after reading this letter, he would probably tear it up and start a fire... But now, he is a little hesitant, because Han Xiaozhou is the leader of the exiled scholars in Hebei, and he was also left in Hebei.
The leaders of the scholars who were forced to serve by the Jin people had to pay attention to their political influence at this time.
"The first is desirable, and the second..." After the palace was quiet for a while, Prime Minister Lu Haowen finally spoke. "Maybe?"
"The first one is advisable, but the second minister thinks it is too urgent and not advisable!" Just when Lu Xianggong had just finished expressing his opinions, without waiting for Zhao Guanjia to say anything, Wan Qixi, the imperial censor in the palace, suddenly came out and spoke righteously to the court.
The officials and the Prime Minister saluted in turn, and at the same time hurriedly spoke out, refuting Lu Haowen on the spot. "Although the Jin people were defeated this time, they did not suffer any major losses, so how could they take advantage of the opportunity? Moreover, the officials had vowed to restore the two rivers and would not fight with the Jin people."
People are negotiating for peace. If they go to ask for the two saints at this time, what if the Jin people take the opportunity to negotiate peace? At that time, the officials will be in a dilemma, confused between filial piety and justice. Therefore, I think it is absolutely forbidden to send an envoy to the north!
"
As soon as these words came out, several prime ministers and ministers obviously felt a little relieved, but several people took the opportunity to come out, many of them echoed the words, but some people also commented that as long as Han Xiaozhou could stabilize his position in advance, once the other party
It is not impossible to simply refuse to discuss unnecessary suggestions... However, this kind of suggestion is destined to be difficult to find, because with Han Xiaozhou's status, once the mission is successful, it will be either the Prime Minister or the Minister. Who would be happy?
Let him come to this palace?
Everyone worked hard to follow the official family from Huaishang to Nanyang, and from Nanyang to Tokyo, and finally settled down. Why did you, Han Xiaozhou, jump out at this time and have to catch up from behind with just a few tricks?
Because your surname is Han? Of course you can, but it is a pity that this official's natural attitude of resisting communication with the Jin envoys is here, and your surname is Han.
"What you said is absolutely correct. There is really no need to send an envoy."
And sure enough, after a while of discussion, Zhao Jiu perked up slightly. He took the opportunity to set the tone and directly raised what he really cared about. "However, Han Zhizhou's letter reminded me of another thing. Last year, I heard that
It is said that the Jin people held the imperial examination... and forced many scholars to take the examination at knifepoint, and then awarded them official positions. How do you think you should respond? As for the scholars in Hebei, we must have a proper tone."
By the way, what Zhao Jiu said is true. He really used a knife to force people to take the exam and then confer officials. However, it was not a nationwide imperial exam in the Jin Kingdom, but a sabotage done by Nianhan's Western Court.
The scope of the conferment was also on the territory of the West Route Army, and at a glance it was clear that it was Wanyan Xiyin's handiwork.
After the list of Jinshi in this subject was released, a few of the people on the list felt that their reputations had been insulted and were depressed all the time. Later, because the river was controlled by the Song army this year, and some of these people were officials in Linhe, they moved their families directly.
After absconding, the message was sent out.
"I think it is not appropriate to treat such people as enemies." Xu Jingheng, the deputy prime minister of the capital, stepped out from the crowd and got straight to the point. "Who can be homeless? The Jin people are holding swords against each other, and the Hebei scholars are like a stick in front of the battle... Such a situation
, in a duel on the battlefield, when swordsmen meet each other, naturally there is nothing to say, but to judge the crime based on this would be ridiculous."
Zhao Jiu nodded heavily. Since he did not allow Han Xiaozhou to go north, he was destined to give some obvious signals to the scholars in Hebei through other means. Moreover, Zhao Jiu felt that this matter should not be easily treated as a traitor.
, I just don’t know what legal principles to use to explain it.
"Guan Jia," at this moment, Wan Qixi, who had not retreated before, also took the opportunity to speak. "Guan Jia, this matter is not only excusable, but also has an explanation in the law, which is consistent with the official will.
There is no conflict... You must know that these people were ordinary people when Lianghe fell..."
"I understand." Zhao Jiu immediately realized. "When Lianghe fell, these people were not officials, but ordinary people. They had no responsibility at all... If there must be someone responsible, the imperial court should take responsibility for the people of Hebei first.
, and if there is any culpability in this matter, it all lies with the emperor and ministers of Jingkang, and has nothing to do with them. Therefore, this matter cannot be judged as an enemy traitor. Just think of it as if you were being held hostage according to what Xianggong Xu said! And those who surrendered
The scholars who come here should also be properly accommodated."
There is a proper explanation for this matter. Logically speaking, everyone should be excited, but for some reason, many people in the palace were a little embarrassed... Apparently they heard the words "Jingkang Junchen" and felt embarrassed for a moment.
How many of the people who can stand here are not the emperors and ministers of Jingkang?
And Zhao Jiu also woke up and secretly sighed that he was becoming more and more worried these days, but so what if his heart just couldn't calm down for some reasons? It was like this years ago, but now after coming back, because of another thing,
Even more so.
But no matter what, today's political affairs are settled, and Zhao Jiu is ready to return to the harem.
However, just when Zhao Jiu got up and left Wende Hall and turned to the side door, he saw Yang Yizhong kneeling on one knee behind the threshold of the side door, holding a copy of the letter.
This position is extremely strange... Logically speaking, those commander-in-chief Zhazi are generally not involved in military affairs. Serious military affairs are still in the Privy Council, so no matter how important Zhazi Yang Yizhong should be, he should not be presented on this occasion.
And if this letter was really extremely important and needed to be known to the Prime Minister and other important ministers, then why didn't he just go into the palace and hand it over? Instead, he stopped at the position where the courtiers couldn't see it?
With some weird thoughts, Zhao Jiu stepped forward to take it. He just took a look and shook it slightly. Then he dropped Yang Yizhong and returned directly to the palace. He called out to the ministers who were about to disperse.
them.
"Everyone's family." Zhao Jiu's face remained as usual, he held the letter and stood before his Majesty and said calmly. "The controller Li Qiong sent the letter, saying that a messenger from the Jin Dynasty suddenly arrived on the river, and there was another letter sandwiched in it.
, it was a private message brought to me by the envoy in the tone of Wushu, the fourth prince... It was said that he and I had fought against each other several times. Although we were enemy chiefs, they regarded me as a hero and a close friend. Therefore, he
Taking the initiative for the first time, I have convinced the Jurchen nobles to unconditionally return my biological mother, the Queen Mother Xuanhe, and several emperors and concubines to return home across the river as a sign of filial piety... So let me send people to pick her up... What do you think?"
The palace was silent for seven or eight breaths, and then Lu Haowen saluted calmly: "Guan family, this matter is a matter of filial piety and cannot be violated. I think it is okay to send Han Xiaozhou as an envoy... One to greet the Queen Mother, and the other to greet the Empress Dowager.
The people of Hebei show their determination not to abandon Hebei!"
Zhao Jiu nodded slowly, his expression unchanged at all... In the eyes of the ministers, it was as if he had returned to the way he looked a year ago.