Qian Song

Chapter 177 Zhao Ji: The Southern and Northern Dynasties Divide Courts to Resist Courtship? (Ask for a monthly pass!)

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During the recent period, many people also offered Zhao Ji strategies to deal with Li Thief's growing ambition.

However, these strategies are nothing more than giving the emperor concubine a marriage, giving new year coins, ceding Huainan and so on, none of them are reliable.

Li Thief is not a barbarian in the Northwest who has never seen money and women. Li Thief holds the richest and most densely populated Jiangnan Six Roads in the world today, and has just wiped out two countries. What kind of beauties are there, and how much money is there? ?
Yes.

Thief Li can use his daughter to humiliate Zhao Ji.

But no matter how good Zhao Ji's daughter is, can it be more valuable than all the land?

Li Thief is a hero, Zhao Ji thought with his heels, and he could think of it. If Li Thief put his daughter and all the territories there for Li Thief to choose, Li Thief would definitely choose all the territories without hesitation.

Taking a step back, if Thief Li really wanted Zhao Ji's daughter, he could bring up soldiers to "marry". On the day the soldiers approached the city, would Zhao Ji dare not give it to him?
As for cede land?

How much?
If you cut too much, the subjects will not do it.

If there is less cutting, the Li thief will not do it.

There are also some not loud voices asking Zhao Ji to abdicate and apologize.

What these people meant was that the matter up to this point was all caused by Zhao Ji's love for Hua Shigang. Perhaps if the emperor changed, Li Thief would not invade the north.

For these people, Zhao Ji was very angry.

Could it be that these people really couldn't see that it was no longer Hua Shigang's business, but Li Thief's ambition to expand his territory. Is this something that can be solved by changing the emperor?
Also, because of the matter of Hua Shigang, he, Zhao Ji, had already issued an edict of sin against himself, and these people are still holding on to this matter, and their hearts can be punished.

Taking a step back, even if Zhao Ji abdicates, he will have to wait until Li Thief has invaded the north. Now that Li Thief has not moved, this group of people can't wait to force Zhao Ji to abdicate. What are their intentions?

Zhao Ji is angry, and someone is more angry than Zhao Ji.

This person is Zhao Ji's prime minister, Wang Fu.

You know, once Zhao Ji is replaced by the emperor and the courtiers, can he, Wang Fu, be the prime minister again?
Therefore, these guys who want to make Zhao Ji abdicate and apologize are not trying to dethrone Wang Fu from his position as prime minister.

Needless to say, Wang Fu cleaned up all these guys with ulterior motives.

Not long after, Wu Min asked to see Zhao Ji, saying that he had something to play in person.

Zhao Ji knew that this was another one who came to offer advice to him.

Zhao Ji asked Liu Di, his servant, to pass the decree, and asked Wu Min to come to Yuhua Pavilion for an audience.

When Wu Min was young, he was talented and talented, and he wrote good articles.

Cai Jing thinks that Wu Min is a good person, so he wants to marry his daughter to Wu Min.

But Wu Min has a conservative personality, and he can't get used to Cai Jing, the leader of the reformist group, and he doesn't like Cai Jing's dominance of the government, so he declined the marriage.

But Cai Jing didn't hold Wu Min's grudge because of this, on the contrary, he tried his best to promote Wu Min in an exceptional way.

This incident made Wu Min famous and became a political star in the Song Dynasty. He was already a fourth-rank senior official in his thirties.

Yuhua Pavilion is behind Xuanhe Hall.

When Wu Min was brought to Yuhua Pavilion by Deng Wengao, the Zaizhi Wang Fu, Zheng Juzhong, Li Bangyan, the ruling Zhang Bangchang, Zhao Ye and others were all waiting to report to Zhao Ji.

All the butchers finished their reports and stood aside.

Zhang Bangchang, Zhao Ye and others in power stepped forward to play something, and after playing, they stepped back and stood aside.

Zhao Ji looked at the sky and felt that it was almost done, so he was about to get up and leave.

Seeing this, Wu Min knew that Zhao Ji must have forgotten him as a small person, so he hurriedly stepped forward to play: "My minister, Wu Min, would like to ask for a favor."

——Wu Min meant that he wanted to speak to Zhao Ji alone.

It was only then that Zhao Ji remembered that there was another Wu Min who wanted to advise him.

Seeing that Wang Fu and the others had been discussing for so many days, but failed to come up with a good solution, Zhao Ji thought that maybe a low-level official like Wu Min could have some good ideas, so he signaled Wu Min to follow.

Seeing this, Wu Min quickly followed.

After leaving Yuhua Pavilion, Zhao Ji asked casually: "Does Aiqing have a good plan to present Chen?"

Wu Min didn't answer but asked instead: "I have the courage to ask each other, Li Thief Yu League, how do the officials treat him?"

Seeing that Wu Min didn't answer the question, Zhao Ji couldn't help frowning: "What can I do?"

Seeing that Zhao Ji was a little impatient, Wu Min boldly said: "I have a strategy, which may solve my urgent need in the Song Dynasty, but this strategy will definitely attract criticism, and even make the minister burn himself, so I hope the official will answer the minister's three questions. In other words."

Zhao Ji's heart skipped a beat.

Today, the Great Song Dynasty is already in danger, and it must be difficult to save the Great Song Dynasty by ordinary strategies.

And looking at Wu Min's timid posture, maybe there is really a solution to the current predicament of the Song Dynasty.

So Zhao Ji replied positively: "There is no good strategy yet, Ai Qing asks two or three questions."

Wu Min bravely asked again: "With the current military strength of our Great Song Dynasty, if the Li thief crosses the river to the north, can the south of the Huaihe River be preserved?"

If Wu Min hadn't been vaccinated in advance, Zhao Ji would definitely not have answered this question directly, because it was a question that was not good and could not be answered.

——Answering that it can be preserved is pure self-deception; answering that it cannot be preserved proves that Zhao Ji, the emperor, does not trust his soldiers. This is why the Song Army is so embarrassing, and how can it still work for Zhao Ji?
But Zhao Ji had already agreed to Wu Min in advance.

Moreover, it was already a critical time, how could Zhao Ji care about those soldiers of the Song Army who were not good at fighting and had a glass heart?

Even, Zhao Ji couldn't help but think that if the army he spent a lot of money on was a little bit stronger, he wouldn't be forced to such a point by Thief Li.

So Zhao Ji shook his head unobtrusively.

Seeing Zhao Ji's positive answer, Wu Min couldn't help but relax a little.

Wu Min then asked the third question: "If the Li thieves go west, can the Jingxiang area be preserved?"

Zhao Ji was a little annoyed, thinking that Wu Min was asking questions knowingly.

But Wu Min said something first, and Zhao Ji agreed again, and he must not break his promise to his ministers.

So Zhao Ji shook his head again.

Wu Min could see that Zhao Ji's patience was about to be worn out by him, so he hurriedly returned to the main story: "The official family is based on the minister's calculation. Since the Li thief sent troops, the south of the Qinling-Huaihe River must be owned by the Li thief. Please cut it off. In exchange for Da Song's respite."

As soon as he heard that Wu Min had given him such a bad idea, and had been playing tricks on him for so long, Zhao Ji flicked his sleeves and was ready to leave.

The bad idea of ​​cutting land has been given to Zhao Ji long ago. The only difference is that Wu Min cut more land. What's so novel about it?
The key point is that without saying in advance whether Li thief can accept it, even Zhao Ji can't pass the test of his subjects.

Back then, Zhao Ji had already risked the world when he gave Li Thief the six roads in the south of the Yangtze River. If Li Thief hadn’t replaced a large group of Qiu Ba’s family members with Li Thief, he would have given Zhao Ji a reluctant The excuse that he could explain the past to his subjects, at that time, he, Zhao Ji, had already abdicated and apologized.

Now Zhao Ji has to cede Jing South Road, Jing North Road, Huainan West Road, Huainan East Road, and Jingxi South Road Fifth Road. Doesn't that mean that he, Zhao Ji, ceded half of their Great Song Dynasty to Li Thief?
You know, there were only 24 roads in the Song Dynasty, and if eleven roads were ceded to Li Thief, there were only thirteen roads left in the Song Dynasty.

And Li Thief added these five roads, plus Li Dynasty and Zhancheng, there are also thirteen roads-the monarchs and ministers of the Zhao and Song Dynasties did not know that Li Cunyou Liuqiu this road.

At that time, Zhao Ji and Li Thief owned more land on one side.

Li Thief can completely fight against him, Zhao Ji, and the opposition between the Northern and Southern Dynasties is established.

This makes Zhao Ji how can he be worthy of Zhao's ancestors?

What's more, if he really got to that point, how could Zhao Ji, the emperor, have the nerve to continue to be the emperor?

He, Zhao Ji, is not the shameless Yelu Yanxi.

To be honest, Zhao Ji didn't let Wu Min be kicked out of the palace, because Zhao Ji's temper was too good, and he wanted Zhao Ji to continue listening to Wu Min's stupid words?

Seeing that Zhao Ji was about to leave, Wu Min hurriedly stopped him: "Wait a minute, the officials, I haven't finished my plan yet."

"?"

Zhao Ji turned around slowly, and said with a sinking face, "Say it."

Wu Min knew that he couldn't hesitate anymore, otherwise he might be self-defeating, so he hurriedly picked the key point and said: "The minister's plan is to exchange the sixteen states of Yanyun and the five roads south of the Huaihe River with Li Thief. Luanying three states."

After Zhao Ji heard this, his eyes lit up, and he remained silent for a long time.

——Zhao Ji is weighing the gains and losses and feasibility of Wu Min's ingenious strategy.

If the sixteen prefectures of Yanyun and the three prefectures of Pingluanying are exchanged for the five roads south of Qinling-Huaihe River, will the Song Dynasty lose money?

This is really hard to say, because both parties have their own value, and there is really no way to put them together to measure.

But if you put the objective situation...

If the Great Song Dynasty could obtain the sixteen prefectures of Yanyun and the three prefectures of Pingluanying, then the north of the Great Song Dynasty would be able to sit back and relax.

And Xixia in the west has been beaten to death by the Song Dynasty.

In this way, after obtaining the sixteen prefectures of Yanyun and the three prefectures of Pingying and Yingying, the Song Dynasty could concentrate on destroying the Li thieves.

Worst of all, the Great Song Dynasty could rely on the Qinling-Huaihe natural barrier to block the Li thief in the south.

The point is, Qinling-Huaihe South Five Road, even if the Song Dynasty did not give it to Li Thief, Li Thief would definitely take it himself.

Under such circumstances, it is a wise strategy to exchange the Qinling-Huaihe south five roads for the sixteen prefectures of Yanyun and the three prefectures of Pingluanying to obtain absolute security in the north.

Moreover, in this case, he, Zhao Ji, can also explain to his subjects.

More importantly, the seven prefectures of Yandi are the last place for Khitan to settle down. No matter who tries to seize it, Beiliao will definitely fight to the death; and the nine prefectures of Yundi are now occupied by the Kingdom of Jin. If Thief Li wants to take it, It was no easy task; as for the three prefectures of Pingluanying, it was said that the local Hulu were savage and good at fighting, and they had defeated the Jurchens several times.

If their Great Song Dynasty facilitated this matter, wouldn't they be able to drive away wolves and chase tigers, sit on the mountain and watch tigers fight, and when they are in trouble, they can get the fisherman's profit if they are not sure?

The more he thought about it, the more Zhao Ji felt that Wu Min's strategy was brilliant.

It's just... Will Thief Li fall for this trick?

After weighing the pros and cons, Zhao Ji looked at Wu Min: "Bie Li is by no means easy to deal with, how could he easily fall into your trap?"

As soon as Wu Min heard it, he knew that Zhao Ji was moved by his words, and he immediately brought out the words he had prepared a long time ago: "I have nine lucks, and this plan may be facilitated."

Zhao Ji said: "I would like to hear the details."

Wu Min said: "Fortunately, Li Thief's success is too short, and his background is not enough, so it is difficult to swallow all the territory of our Song Dynasty."

After Zhao Ji thought about it for a while, he understood what Wu Min meant. It has been less than two years since Thief Li started the incident.

In the past two years, no matter how much thief Li can rob and kidnap, how many talents can he get to govern the country?

You know, there are [-] states and hundreds of counties in Jiangnan Liulu alone.

To govern so many places, at least one or two thousand literati are needed.

Yes.

Thief Li can conduct imperial examinations, appoint literati from aristocratic families in the territory, and recruit civil officials from the Song Dynasty, but this also takes time, doesn't it?
Moreover, not all literati are suitable to be officials and can be good officials.

This has to be trialled and cultivated slowly, in order to truly obtain a group of talents who can govern the country.

Do you know how many officials there were in the Song Dynasty?

forty thousand!

Moreover, this is just an official, not a petty official.

Even if the redundant staff is squeezed out, [-] officials and tens of thousands of small officials are needed to govern the complete Song Dynasty.

Based on this calculation, if Thief Li wanted to govern half of the territory of the Zhao and Song Dynasties, he would have to have four to five thousand capable officials, and counting the small officials, there would be no [-] to [-] literati with sufficient governance capabilities, so it was impossible to use.

Li thief's background is too shallow, and there must not be so many literati with sufficient governance capabilities now.

Therefore, in a short period of time, it is already very difficult for Li Thief to annex the five territories of the Great Song Dynasty like a snake swallowing an elephant. How could he annex the entire Great Song Dynasty in one go?
Wu Min went on to say: "Secondly, fortunately, the gentry in Song Dynasty respected the literati generously, and the literati of the gentry would not be willing to be used by the Li thief."

Wu Min's second luck touched Zhao Ji's mind again.

The Song Dynasty was the best and most respected dynasty for literati, not one of them.

Looking at Li Cun again, the scholars of the gentry were either robbed, killed, or coerced.

In this case, as long as Li Thief attacks Qinling-Huaihe South Five Routes, the gentry and literati in Qinling-Huaihe South Five Routes will definitely flee to the territory of the Song Dynasty, and will not take the initiative to help Li Thief manage Qinling-Huaihe South five way.

This will definitely make Li Thief, who is already lacking in talents, even more lacking in talents.

"Three fortunately, my Song Dynasty treated the rich gentry leniently. If Li thief came to fight, the rich gentry would fight against the bandit with scorched earth."

Thief Li's purpose for the powerful gentry is to rob women's family members, land, IOUs, food, livestock, and various strategic materials, and grab whatever they see.

The wealthy gentry must support the Song Dynasty in resisting the invasion of the Li thief, and the two sides are even endlessly opposing.

Under such circumstances, if the Song Dynasty sent troops to lead the gentry of the five routes south of the Qinling-Huaihe River to resist the invasion of the Li thief, it would definitely not be so easy for the Li thief to obtain the territory of the five routes.

Conversely, if the Great Song Dynasty left with the gentry of the five territories, Li Thief could easily obtain the five territories.

Therefore, it must be different for the Song Dynasty to give Li the territory of Qinling-Huaihe South Five Routes and Li Thief himself led his troops to seize the Qinling-Huaihe South Five Routes territory.

"Fortunately, Thief Li knows that if he insists on forcing, our Great Song Dynasty will definitely not take care of the Hulu in the north, and will retreat to the scorched earth in Guanzhong to stick to it. When this happens, the five random things that messed up our China will happen again. He, Thief Li, is a national sinner. .”

There is nothing to say about this.

Although Zhao Ji hates the impoverished Northwest region, if Li Thief insists on attacking the Song Dynasty, Zhao Ji can only lead the Song Dynasty to retreat to Guanzhong, and then fight Li Thief to the end by all means and desperately.

At that time, Zhao Ji will not be able to control whether it is the Khitan, the Jurchen, or the Tatars who are going south.

Five chaos in China, burning, killing and looting, mountains and rivers are broken, people's lives are devastated, and ten rooms are empty.

Thief Li absolutely has an inescapable responsibility.

In this way, the people in the Central Plains must hate Li Thief to death, and it will be even more difficult for Li Thief to take over the Central Plains in the future.

"Five Lucky Thief Li is not a reckless man, and he must know that haste makes waste."

Not to mention, now who can't see that Thief Li, who is about to annex nearly half of the territory of the Song Dynasty in less than two years, has far-reaching resourcefulness and is very good at choosing and choosing?

"Fortunately, I, Da Song, have one heart and one mind."

"Seven lucky officials are generous and wise."

"Eight lucky ancestors bless you."

"Fortunately, my Great Song Dynasty has not yet reached the time of subversion."

Zhao Ji listened to these four comforting words very comfortably, but he didn't take them too seriously.

After all, it is no longer possible to save the Song Dynasty by saying some self-deceiving words.

But the first five items really let Zhao Ji see the possibility of success of this strategy.

After Jiu Xing finished speaking, Wu Min bowed to the ground: "If the officials can make a plan, the Great Song Dynasty will surely be safe; if they can't make a plan, they may not be immune to overthrow. The safety of the Song Dynasty is determined by the officials today."

Zhao Ji was silent for a while, and asked, "Who is going to be the envoy?"

Wu Min knew that Zhao Ji had agreed to his plan, so he immediately said: "This plan is made by the minister, so I will go as the minister."

Zhao Ji knew that Wu Min's responsibility was good.

But the problem is that Wu Min's rank is too low, and he is not qualified to discuss such a big matter with Thief Li.

After discussing with Wang Fu and other ministers, Zhao Ji appointed Shangshu Zuo Cheng Li Bangyan as the envoy, and Wu Min as the deputy envoy. He went to meet and discuss with Li Thief. Lu and Li thief exchanged the sixteen prefectures of Yanyun and the three prefectures of Pingluanying...

……

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(End of this chapter)