The Song Dynasty has been deliberate for 16 years, only to know that it is the Water Margin

Chapter 579: Newsletter, plan for trouble

The most important thing is the one-year spring benefits.

In Xingzhou, early spring begins, everything is green, and the scene is full of life.

When Zhao Tong returned with his troops, his desk was full of military reports.

It's not urgent, otherwise it would be chased to the northwest and delivered to him.

However, they were all important matters, which made Zhao Tong frown.

The earliest news report came from the Liao spy. Tong Guan borrowed troops from the Jurchens, who took action and defeated Yanjing in one fell swoop.

In the end, they still took the path of borrowing power, and after going around in a big circle, they still failed to conquer Yanjing by relying on their own skills.

Logically speaking, the Western Army has this strength at the moment. Why it was not captured, apart from Tong Guan's unfavorable command, is the Western Army's own internal problem.

Tong Guan knows soldiers and is good at fighting, but he has a shortcoming. His strengths are in attacking and annihilating encounters in mountains and plains, large-scale melees, and legion pulls. However, he is not good at sieges, especially strong city passes. A lot.

Although the Jurchens also searched the city of Yanjing, they only took the money from the mansions of officials and large households, and did not go to the private markets, and they did not plunder the population. Although the Song Dynasty spent money to hire troops to show weakness to the other side, this level Although the losses were huge and they showed incompetence and cowardice, who had not conquered the city for so long? They were barely bearable.

The next letter and report came from Tokyo. Zhao Tong left more people in Tokyo. If he encountered something that was critical, he would report it immediately. There was no need to wait for the emperor's list to be posted in various prefectures to find out.

In order to promote his own family, Emperor Zhenzong also pretended to be "auspicious" and "heavenly book" and other tricks. But in terms of real qualifications, Emperor Zhenzong was really not qualified. Not to mention that the Song Dynasty was not a unified dynasty, even if it was considered, but his own No matter what achievements he made, they were simply not enough to go to Zen.

Therefore, the Song Dynasty did not pay that much. It did not exchange for the Jurchens' annual coins originally given to Liao, which was not clearly agreed in the Maritime Alliance, nor did it pay a temporary increase in the price of 200,000 shi of grain. It only paid one-time gold. The country's 500,000 taels of silver are enough to settle the matter, so the two sides owe nothing to each other.

But this is not the case now. There can be many reasons for the failure to defeat Yanjing. It does not necessarily mean that the Song army is weak. It is not easy for the Jurchens to make any assertions. At most, they are confused and guessed, but there is no firm conclusion.

In the extra time, Zhao Tong accumulated wealth by conquering Wang Qing and begging for Fang La, and also arranged the front lines in Longyou and Fujian, so as to achieve his great success. Today, he has occupied Xihe and destroyed Xixia.

In addition, according to the number of annual coins previously given to the Liao Kingdom, a small amount must be exchanged for the Jurchens every year. The price is not huge.

This is not only to highlight his own martial arts skills, but also to cover up the farce of Emperor Zhenzong's enshrinement. After all, judging from today's superficial achievements, he far surpasses Emperor Zhenzong in all aspects, which just happened to bring about the farce of Emperor Zhenzong. The bad effects that come are diluted and dissipated, so that they will not be criticized by future generations.

At present, it is not so unbearable. There are not two embarrassing defeats. It is just that Yanjing has been unable to attack for a long time, so it pays the Jurchens to attack the city, and it does not cost as much money as normal development.

In addition, when the Jin soldiers retreated, they wiped out all the property in Yanjing City, and even robbed many craftsmen, women, etc., and the Song Dynasty ended up with only an empty city. Although Yanjing was captured, in addition to all kinds of huge losses that are difficult to estimate, There are virtually no harvest subsidies of any kind.

Four years after Emperor Zhenzong was led by Kou Zhun to conquer the Liao Dynasty, for some reason he suddenly had a whim and wanted to go to Mount Tai to become a Buddhist monk.

However, this does not mean that Zhao Tong didn't have any effect when he took on the white dragon fish and crossed the sea to the north to assassinate Wanyan Aguda.

In normal historical development, Yanjing and the other six states were redeemed with 300,000 bolts of silk, 200,000 taels of silver, and Yanjing's tax payment of one million guan. Moreover, during the transaction, Jin Bing asked for money again. 200,000 shi of grain were obtained.

However, these are not actually the most important. The most important thing is that killing Wanyan Aguda delayed the signing of the Maritime Alliance and bought time for Zhao Tong himself.

In normal development, not to mention Yanjing, even the other fifteen states were not taken down at all, only a few states were taken over, and then they suffered two consecutive battles with the defeat of Baigou and the defeat of Yanjing, which resulted in the loss of troops and generals.

This is because the Jurchens have figured out the inside story of the Song Dynasty, so they dare to take and plunder so unscrupulously.

There are many factions within the Western Army, and the generals and generals are at odds with each other, fighting for power and holding each other back. This also makes it difficult for everyone to unite as one and work together to capture Yanjing City in the shortest possible time.

The assassination of Wanyan Aguda bought the Song Dynasty nearly two more years. Although Yanjing was finally attacked with the help of Jurchen power, it was not as ugly as the normal historical development.

Emperor Daojun announced the two major events in the world, namely the destruction of Xixia and the recovery of Yanyun, which were regarded as the two greatest achievements of the world. The edict did not say that he directly surpassed Emperor Taizu, but there was clearly some meaning in the lines that was not to mention too much, and the words were to be compared with the three. On the twenty-eighth day of the lunar month, Mount Tai was held to offer sacrifices to the heavens and enshrine the gods, which vindicated the practice of enshrining Mount Tai in the Song Dynasty.

This also allowed the Jurchens to see clearly the details of the Song Army, and then the Song Army asked for help. The lion opened his mouth and offered a sky-high price. He also secretly made nonsense to his own team, saying that even if the captured Yanjing was given to the Song Dynasty, once You can get it back anytime you want it.

The first five emperors who were granted Zen status are Qin Shihuang Ying Zheng, Han Wu Emperor Liu Che, Han Guangwu Emperor Liu Xiu, Tang Gaozong Li Zhi, and Tang Xuanzong Li Longji. If you compare their civil and military skills casually, they can make Emperor Zhenzong disappear. , but Emperor Zhenzong did not listen to the advice and went his own way. As a result, the Taishan Conferment of Zen this time became a complete joke and farce.

As for the normal historical development, from then on, emperors of all dynasties did not seek to grant Zen status. They all believed that Emperor Zhenzong had lowered the standard for Zen status, and did not want to be ranked with him as they considered it embarrassing.

But the emperors of all dynasties were from other dynasties, excluding the Song Dynasty. The emperors of the Song Dynasty still wanted to find some way to erase this joke-like incident, and did not want it to affect the reputation of their ancestors and the prestige of the Song Dynasty.

However, the emperors after the Song Dynasty had even less achievements. In many places, they were not as good as the Zhenzong. Not to mention the benevolence of Renzong and the wisdom of Shenzong. If you want to worship heaven and enshrine Zen, it is not enough to be kind and wise. It requires martial arts. Wenzong and martial arts are lacking. Not only that, martial arts is even more important. Aren’t the Qin Emperor, Han Dynasty, Wu Tang Sect, martial arts stronger than martial arts?

Emperor Zhenzong at least went on a personal expedition, how could subsequent emperors have such experience? Even if they go to war with Xixia, it won't be too cheap.

There is even a need to unify the dynasty. Without unification, how can we talk about worshiping heaven?

Emperor Daojun wanted to offer sacrifices to heaven and enshrine Zen, but whether he was qualified enough or not is not a question for the time being. However, if the fall of Xixia is attributed to him, and the Jurchens who spent money to attack Yanjing were concealed, and Longyou Kaibian was included, So opening up new territories, destroying enemy countries, and regaining old territories are all unparalleled achievements. And this is almost equivalent to replenishing the Jin Ou. Originally, the country and the Jin Ou were not complete, but now it is gradually getting closer. Not to mention the great unification, it is much stronger than when the country was founded.

Moreover, in this dynasty, Emperor Daojun reformed the imperial examinations, established schools, built medical clinics, opened Anji Square, and built nursing homes. Not only was it unprecedented, but it had never been so complete in this dynasty.

If Emperor Daojun upholds these civil and military achievements and worships heaven and enshrines Zen, then in any case he will not be criticized like Emperor Zhenzong, nor will he be regarded as a joke or farce, because there are real things, even if Even if he is still not qualified, at most future generations will say that he is arrogant rather than embarrassing.

This not only demonstrates the achievements of his reign, but also makes the jokes of Emperor Zhenzong disappear. If implemented, it will be a strategy that kills two birds with one stone.

But the problem is that Xixia was not destroyed by him. The city of Yanjing was bought back with money. Although the original intention of those public hospitals, nursing homes, etc. was good, the silver coins approved by the court were deducted from the accounts from the Ministry of Accounts. The people below were exploited layer by layer, and in the end they were used in the hands of the common people.

It would be fine if we continue to cover it up, but if one day in the future foreign enemies invade and weapons are everywhere, these things may be exposed to the world, and by then I am afraid that my reputation will not be as good as that of Emperor Zhenzong.

After Zhao Tong finished thinking, he put down the secret report and continued to look, and then saw King Tong Guanfeng again.

Emperor Daojun respected the wishes of the previous emperors of several dynasties, and the one who restored Youyan was the king. After Tong Guan's class teacher returned to the court, he gave the credit to Tong Guan and named him the Prince of Guangyang. Tong Guan resigned from the Privy Council. position, return to his hometown after becoming an official.

He was originally from Kaifeng, but his ancestral home was in Taiyuan Prefecture on Hedong Road, so he requested an order to go to his ancestral home for retirement. The Emperor Daojun approved the order and rewarded him with many belongings, so he set off soon.

Later, Cai You was promoted to take charge of the Xifu, and succeeded Tong Guan as the Privy Councilor.

There were also some changes in the court, most of which were rewards. Even Zhao Tong was nominally rewarded with a lot of gold, silver and jewels. He said that he had contributed to the destruction of Xixia and rewarded the commander and the three armies. But it was all in vain. How could he send more than half of the money? .

Zhao Tong touched his chin when he saw this, thinking that this cheap old man really dared to talk to others. He actually preached and rewarded him with one hundred thousand silver, five thousand gold, and various treasures, but in fact he didn't have a single copper.

He shook his head and continued reading until he saw the last letter and couldn't help but narrow his eyes.

This last secret report also came from Tokyo and was reported by Huang Wenbing who was in the Privy Council.

A few years ago, Zhao Tong called Huang Wenbing to Gyeonggi and entered the Privy Council through Tong Guan's arrangement. Now he has taken the position of Deputy Privy Councilor and has access to many important court affairs and confidential information.

Huang Wenbing's secret letter was transferred out through Zhu Xiaoyi's Dirty Clothes Gang, arrived at Luo Jinshui of Green Willow Villa, and then quickly and quietly sent to Xingzhou.

The letter stated that the Jurchen envoy came to Tokyo to meet the Daojun Emperor in the Daqing Hall. The Jurchen envoy presented Wanyan Wu's begging for relatives' letter and questioned the Song Dynasty court about two matters.

One is that the Song Dynasty court violated the agreement signed by the Maritime Alliance at that time and accepted the surrender of several Liao troops during the war, including Guo Yaoshi's resentful army, and asked the Song Dynasty court to explain why it did not keep its promise. , breach of covenant.

After the Jin army broke through Yanjing City, they entered the city search and searched the mansion where Xiao Qian, Yelu Dashi and others lived. In Yelu Dashi's study, they found a wooden box hanging on a beam. Inside are the letters between Zhao Tan and him, including the content of discussing the assassination of Emperor Taizu Wanyan Aguda of the Jin Dynasty. More than one letter mentioned this matter, saying that the evidence is conclusive. The assassin who assassinated Taizu that year was Zhao Tan! Ask the Song Dynasty court to hand over Zhao Yu to the Jin Kingdom for punishment, and ask the Song Dynasty court to give an explanation on this matter!

Zhao Tong took a deep breath when he saw this and sighed: "Brother Zhongde, if you didn't tell me about this that day, it would have been even more brilliant. You couldn't help my provoking methods and said everything to me before you died. , then I know now, but it’s not shocking enough.”

He continued to look down. It turned out that Emperor Daojun was not stupid. This first one was the conclusive evidence. After all, Guo Yaoshi and other lowered generals were now serving as officials in the Song Dynasty, so they could not deny it. But the second letter matter , it seems that there are all the evidences, but in fact, there is no corroborating evidence.

Yelu Dashi fled Yanjing and disappeared without a trace. Who can ensure whether those letters are forgeries? Was Yelu Dashi deliberately framed? I want to kill Zhuge poison and kill Sima with one move!

Even if Emperor Daojun was already almost certain that Nizi had done this, he still couldn't admit it!

So for the first thing, I pretended to be careless and closed my eyes, and for the second thing, I simply refused to admit it.

But the envoy from the Kingdom of Jin came on orders and was not willing to give up. If this was the case, he would ask the King of Qin, Zhao Tuo, to confront him and identify the handwriting. Once he saw the authenticity, he might go to Yanjing and call Wanyan Xiyin and others in person in front of the formation. Identify the human form.

Emperor Daojun couldn't even agree. In fact, he couldn't summon Zhao Tao at all. This evil obstacle had already turned away. How could he still listen to his words? He just ignored the words and said nothing.

In fact, Zhao Tong understood at a glance what Daojun and Emperor were thinking. He had to rely on his ability to do this. Otherwise, no matter whether he missed the relationship between father and son or not, once he took action, the Jin Kingdom would not be willing to give up as long as he killed someone, and he would definitely be angry. The imperial court of the Song Dynasty might make some unreasonable demands, and might even launch a large-scale military campaign to invade the border under the pretext of avenging Wanyan Aguda. That would be very bad.

Finally, when the envoy from the Kingdom of Jin saw that Emperor Daojun was acting rogue, he threatened that there was no explanation for the two things. In this case, he would go back and report to the Emperor of Jin. If there is no explanation, if anything happens in the future, don't blame Da Jin for being ruthless, only blame the Song Dynasty. Unjust, and then left Tokyo.

Zhao Tong thought for a moment after reading the letter. As long as he did not come forward, it would be difficult to prove the death of Wanyan Aguda. At least in the short term, the Jin Kingdom would not be able to make a final judgment. Unless they wanted to start a war, they could directly use it as an excuse. .

But the team of generals who were the first to accept the surrender of the Liao Kingdom could not be justified. After all, the covenant of the Maritime Alliance was written clearly and clearly, and they could not surrender. I was afraid that the Jin Kingdom would take action because of this, and sending an envoy here was actually a kind of test.

However, this should not be an immediate matter. There will definitely be a few more roundabouts in the middle before the final decision can be made. Only by fighting or talking can the results be seen, so it can be easier for now.

In the next three days, the Qin Palace was decorated with lanterns and decorations, and Zhao Tong and Yuan Jing got married. After all, Yuan Jing's belly was getting bigger day by day, so he had to have a status. Yuan Jing had no resistance to this, so they got married according to Han rites.

Seven days later, Zhao Tong ordered 30,000 troops and took five generals: Lu Da, Wu Song, Yang Zhi, Qin Ming, and Hu Yanzhuo, as well as two more, Yuan Ying and Zhou Dou Yuan. Du Bo was left to take charge of Xingqing Mansion and report to Xingqing Mansion. Return to Xiningzhou in the south.

(End of this chapter)