Song Gexing

Chapter 161 Several Major Events
Wang Gongchen was taken aback, and immediately realized what he was doing. He cheered loudly and said, "Your Highness, this is a wonderful move! I am stupid and only look at the problem from the case itself, forgetting that this matter can lead people to be kind."

Starving to death is a small matter, but being unchaste is a big deal. The Song Dynasty has not yet advocated this, but at any time, Zhao Fang believed that chastity was worthy of praise.

Wang Gongchen obviously had the same idea as him, and immediately rushed back to the Judicial Court with the file, re-examined the verdict, and came to Zhao Fang again.

The two monarchs and ministers took the files and went directly to the emperor. After some advice, Zhao Zhen agreed to reward Zhang's chastity archway and announced the matter to the world.

Suddenly, Zhang became a celebrity in the Song Dynasty. The world praised her as an outstanding woman who moved the Song Dynasty, and she was recorded in history as a role model for future generations.

In September of the third year of Jiayou's reign, the days passed quickly. News from the Northwest Army arrived. Zhao Fang frowned and cursed the Liao Kingdom secretly.

It turns out that the leader of the Eastern Tibetan Alliance in the Tubo, Gansu and Qinghai regions, Xi Siluo, fought against Xixia this year and after a series of victories, the Liao Kingdom actually entered into a marriage alliance with him.

Xixia took a breath after Xixia stopped his conquest.

"This bastard, a woman told him to stop attacking, and she's not even his. This is insane!"

Zhao Fang cursed unhappily, cursing that he was old and fatuous, not at all wise as he was when he was young.

The power of Zusiluo lies in Qinghai and Gansu. He was the first Tibetan leader to choose to surrender to the Song Dynasty. Even if Li Yuanhao tried to coerce and induce him, he would not waver.

This is a Tubo leader with outstanding ability and longevity. He was born in the era of Song Taizong and died in the second year after Song Yingzong succeeded to the throne.

When he was young, he went through many hardships and dangers, even life and death. At the age of 12, he was kidnapped by the Qiang people to be a Zanpu because he was a descendant of Tubo Zanpu.

At a young age, he got rid of the powerful ministers, took control of the real military and political power, and made a wise decision to rely on the Song Dynasty to counter the party members.

Although Xixia had not yet been established at that time, the party members were already expanding their sphere of influence. They just did not dare to go to the border of the Song Dynasty, but expanded towards Gansu, Qinghai and the Western Regions.

In the first year of the Ming Dynasty, before Song Renzong came to power, Liu E issued a decree and conferred the title of General Ningyuan and the Training Envoy of the Aizhou Regiment.

In the first year of Baoyuan, Song Renzong was in charge of the government, and he was canonized as the Jiedu envoy of the Baoshun Army and concurrently as the Jiedu envoy of Hexi, and served as the official governor of Taozhou and Liangzhou.

In the confrontation with Xixia, he defeated Li Yuanhao many times. Some people advised him to proclaim himself king, but he refused. It can be said that he was a foreign leader who yearned for the Song Dynasty.

Of course, this era was considered a foreign nation, because Tubo was not a vassal state of the Tang Dynasty. When the Tang Dynasty fell, Tubo also perished, but it was not recognized as a vassal state of the Central Plains.

It wasn't until the rise of Zusiluo that Tubo was truly included in the original map of China. Of course, it was still in name only at this time, but at least it was no longer an independent country and could be regarded as a vassal state.

For the Song Dynasty, there were three greatest achievements of Gusiluo. One was to hold back Xixia and become a nuisance to Xixia.

The second is to protect the trade routes to the Western Regions for the Song Dynasty. He established the Western Regions trade transit center in Qingtang and sent troops to protect merchants going to the Song Dynasty.

This move provided the Song Dynasty with a steady stream of foreign goods and huge economic benefits.

The third is that he provided a large number of war horses for the Song Dynasty. Although the Song Dynasty could not have the same cavalry as the Han and Tang Dynasties, it was enough to equip tens of thousands of cavalry.

Historical records record that Xisiluo provided about 33 horses to the Song Dynasty every year. Although most of them were not war horses, the horses were also strategic resources.During his 100-year reign, he provided at least [-] million mules and horses to the Song Dynasty. Unfortunately, after his death, Tubo fell into chaos again.

His three sons were dissatisfied with each other and acted independently, which ruined Tubo's great opportunity and never recovered until the Mongols marched westward and invaded Qinghai-Tibet.

"Order Zhejizu, Zhonge and others to give up sending troops to Xixia and instead support the Uighurs from the Western Regions to attack Xixia!"

Zhao Fang understood that Xi Siluo was old and would lose his vigor after being intervened by the Liao Kingdom. Although he would not betray the Song Dynasty, he would no longer be able to cause harm to Xixia.

Therefore, it is very important to turn to the Western Region layout. He must find an opportunity to destroy Xixia within a few years, because there will be an excellent opportunity in five years.

The eighth year of Jiayou was the ninth year of Qingning, the reign of Emperor Daozong of the Liao Dynasty. A major incident occurred in the Liao Dynasty, where the clan rebelled and wanted to overthrow Yelu Hongji.

In this way, the Liao Kingdom would have no energy to look around other places, let alone focus on Xixia, and the Song Dynasty could take the opportunity to destroy Xixia.

But this battle must be fought with an overwhelming advantage. The thunderous blow made the Liao people unable to react, and by the time they realized it, Xixia would be destroyed.

At that time, even if the Liao Kingdom is heavily armed, the Song Dynasty will not be afraid at all. Instead, what we have to worry about is that the Liao Kingdom will be difficult to care about, and will be attacked by the Song Dynasty on both sides.

In order to achieve the effect of a thunderous strike, Xixia must continue to be weakened. After all, Xiazhou and Lingzhou have special geographical locations, and it will be very difficult for the Song army to fight.

A few days later, Guangnan West Road reported that the repair of Lingqu Canal and the training of Fan Army had been completed. After Zhao Fang was overjoyed with the approval, he proposed to the court to promote Li Shizhong as the transfer envoy of Guangnan West Road.

He also said: "My son suggested promoting Li Chengzhi, not only for this reward, but also to train him to take over as Wang Qing. After all, Wang Xianggong has been there for more than three years, and he should be considered for transfer back based on emotion and reason. Bianjing.”

The ministers, who were still somewhat reticent at first, had no choice but to agree after hearing this, although Li Shizhong's qualifications as a transfer envoy and even a slightly inferior envoy were not good enough.

But most people would not want to go to a place like Lingnan. This is not the future. Let alone no one in Guangxi, no one in Guangdong is willing to go.

Not to mention the more wild Jiaozhi, no matter how red-eyed people are, they would rather stay one or two levels lower in Bianjing City, because it is easier to serve as an official under the emperor.

Zhao Zhen thought about it too, praised Wang Su for his hard work for the country, and also appreciated Li Shizhong as a capable minister, so he decided to leapfrog and promote him as a transit envoy.

After Fan Zhongyan and Han Qi, Li Shizhong was another civil servant who was proficient in military affairs in the Song Dynasty. He was a native of Caoxian County, Shandong Province. He wrote letters to discuss politics at the age of 15 and became famous.

But after all, the qualifications were not enough. After passing the county magistrate, he was transferred to Guangxi to serve as a prison supervisor. Since the Guangxi transit envoy was often absent, he took charge of his duties and made outstanding contributions.

Guangxi originally had the Ling Canal built by Qin Shihuang, which connected the tributaries of the Yangtze River in the north, the Pearl River in the east, and the sea in the south. However, the Ling Canal built during the Qin Dynasty was too narrow and could not sail large ships at all. It could only carry small boats of about a hundred tons.

Moreover, there is a full 36-level drop, which is not only dangerous to navigate, but also often impossible to navigate during the dry season, which imposes great restrictions on waterway transportation.

Last year, Li Shizhong submitted a letter to widen the channel and reduce the drop, and received support from the court. Construction started in June this year and was completed in just three months. It must be said that he is indeed a capable minister.

And it does not cause dissatisfaction among the local people. You must know that Guangxi is a multi-ethnic community, many of which exist in the form of tribes. The most important thing is to do their work well.

(End of this chapter)