People in the Song Dynasty were lawless

Chapter 466: Sending troops to recapture the Western Regions

In May of the eleventh year of the Qingli period, King Aqifuluo of Gaochang ordered the imprisonment of the Song envoys.

The three envoys were Sun Youtong, a doctor from the Ministry of Rites, Li Tao, a doctor from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Liu Bingyan, a deputy director from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

When they learned about this, they showed great anger towards the rude Gaochang soldiers.

Even though they were tied up, they kept cursing, saying things like "the envoys of the Heavenly Kingdom should not be insulted" and "if you have the guts, just kill them" and so on.

Upon hearing that the Song envoys were stubborn and kept shouting and cursing in prison, Aqifuluo was also very surprised. At the instigation of Princess Jingyang, he wanted to kill them to vent his anger.

Fortunately, Gaochang ministers Huduoge, Turuhe, Sijie and others privately persuaded him hard and finally he gave up.

But what Aqifuluo didn't know was.

These three people were specially picked out by the Political System Council of the Song Dynasty as tough bones.

When the Constitutional Council issued the decree to send someone on a diplomatic mission, it had already made it clear.

It is said that the purpose of this mission to the Western Regions was to make the Western Regions Uighurs and the Black Khanate submit. Just like during the Han Dynasty, although there were thirty-six kingdoms, they all submitted to the Han Dynasty and were placed under the jurisdiction of the Western Regions Chief Secretary's Office.

This mission not only visited the Western Region Uighurs, but also the Kara Khanate. The Song Dynasty's goal was to make both countries submit and become its vassal states in the Western Regions.

Moreover, the diplomatic mission required them to be tough and to demonstrate the majesty of the Song Dynasty, and not to humiliate the national dignity of a great country.

But at the same time, the Council of Political Affairs also pointed out the danger, telling them that the Western Region Uighurs and the Kara Khanate might very likely not obey, and that the envoys might then be in a very dangerous situation.

It was originally thought that since the degree of danger had been indicated, only a few people from the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs would respond. However, after the news reached the two ministries, many applicants came to the two ministries and the thresholds of the two ministers were broken.

Not only middle and senior officials such as Langzhong and Yuanwailang signed up, but even the two ministers responded and asked to go to the Western Regions as envoys.

Zhao Jun was still very surprised when he learned about this. Are all the officials of the Song Dynasty so strong and upright?
Only afterwards did I realize what this incident meant.

Successfully completing the mission means that they have single-handedly made the two great powers in the Western Regions submit with just a few words and become vassal states of the Song Dynasty, and incorporated them into the Anxi Protectorate of the Song Dynasty, just like Ban Dingyuan, and their names will be recorded in history.

Even if the mission was not successfully completed, the Western Region Uighurs and the Kara Khanate refused, and even at the most dangerous moment, endangering their lives, it was also a contribution to the Song Dynasty.

They are not stupid, and naturally they all understand that they are a bait. Once the Western Region Uighurs and the Black Khanate use violence against them, it will give the Song Dynasty an excuse to send troops.

Even if he died in the Western Regions in the end, his name would still be recorded in history, and his merits would be enough to bring honor to his descendants.

This is definitely a good deal.

Therefore, the three of them were ready to die for their country.

Although this situation is the worst, since it is part of the plan, I can look at it in a positive light.

They wished that Aqifro would do so.

Soon, more than ten days later, the official document was delivered to Bianliang at an urgent rate of 800 miles, with the knights having to run 300 to 400 kilometers every day.

It was late May, the weather was hot some time ago, and it was the flood season of the Yellow River.

Heavy rains in the upper reaches and melting snow mountains caused the water volume of the Yellow River downstream to surge. This period of time created a trade vacuum on both sides of the Yellow River.

The Yellow River was flooded and the waves were rolling. Trade ships could not get through at all and could only temporarily stay in various canal ports to wait out the flood season.

For this reason, the Yellow River Bridge that had been planned had to be temporarily stopped. By the way, it was also possible to test whether the Yellow River bridge piers cast by the Ministry of Industry could withstand the baptism of the flood.

"Not bad, not bad. The bridge piers we built are intact under the flood. They stand tall in the river without any impact at all. Dean Zhi, take a look."

In the Constitutional Court, Jia Changchao, who was in charge of the construction affairs of the Ministry of Works, showed a look of delight after reading the official documents sent by the Ministry of Works this morning.

This Yellow River Bridge is actually the fifth reinforced concrete cross-river bridge in the Song Dynasty. It is also the third large cross-river bridge built using the caisson method. Construction began at the end of last year and the beginning of this year.

Before this, the biggest difficulty that the Song Dynasty’s craftsmen and designers from the Ministry of Works encountered when building the first railway in the Song Dynasty was how to get the railway to pass through the river.

As for those small and medium-sized rivers, dams can be built upstream to store water, artificially reducing the amount of water downstream. This will not only make it easier to build bridge piers, but also allow the gates to be opened to release water during the dry season, solving the water problem in the downstream rural areas.

But it is difficult to deal with medium and large rivers like Yingshui River and Rushui River. Even if a dam is built, the water flow is still high during the dry season and the water depth is often around ten feet, making it inconvenient to start construction.

To this end, many designers brainstormed and created the caisson method, which uses large boxes to sink to the bottom of the water, and then put steel bars and pour cement in the boxes to complete the construction of the bridge piers.

The most surprising thing is that this method was not found by Zhao Zhen in the novel, nor proposed by Zhao Jun.

Rather, it is the result of the designers' own thinking, and it is similar to the caisson method designed by the famous railway engineer Zhan Tianyou in the late Qing Dynasty.

It can be seen that the wisdom of the ancients must not be underestimated.

Hearing that the bridge piers designed for the Yellow River were safe and sound, Zhao Jun nodded with satisfaction and said, "Well, that's great. Large bridges like this are long-term projects, and many things must be prevented in advance. Various tests and measurements are indispensable. This time, there happened to be a flood, which is also a test for the Yellow River Bridge."

"Yes, if everything goes well, I believe it will be a valuable experience for us to build the Yangtze River Bridge in the future."

"Oh? Are you planning to build a Yangtze River Bridge so soon?"

"As the Institute often says, we need to take a long-term view. Although building a Yangtze River Bridge is certainly difficult at the moment, it will be an indispensable project in the future."

Everyone was talking at once.

Jia Changchao sighed, "What a pity! Our Ministry of Works has also sent people to the Yangtze River to measure it. At least with our current capabilities, I'm afraid it will be difficult to build on the Yangtze River."

"Yes, there is really no comparison between the Yellow River Bridge and the Yangtze River Bridge. Ours is built in a narrow place, and the total length is only about 300 zhang. But if it is the Yangtze River Bridge, I am afraid it will be at least 700 to 800 zhang."

Yan Shu took over the conversation and said, "The most important thing is that the big rivers have dry seasons. In winter and spring, when the water level is the lowest, you can even wade across, and it is not difficult to build bridge piers. But if it is the Yangtze River, even in the dry season throughout history, it is still..."

He said this while shaking his head.

Although the Yellow River is the mother river, its water flow is indeed far behind that of the Yangtze River.

The annual water flow is seventeen times that of the Yellow River. During the flood season, the gap can expand to more than thirty times. The Yangtze River is equivalent to seventeen Yellow Rivers.

This makes it not difficult to build a bridge across the Yellow River. Even in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, there are historical records that ancient people built bridges across the Yellow River. Later, during the Hongwu period of the Ming Dynasty, an iron chain bridge was also built.

However, there has never been any record of a true bridge being built on the Yangtze River. There are only records of floating bridges being built at the narrowestuary during seasons when the water flow is slow.

For example, Fan Ruoshui, a Song Dynasty man, participated in the design of the Caishiji Floating Bridge in the early Northern Song Dynasty, which became the first bridge across the Yangtze River in history.

However, a floating bridge is just a bridge connected by small boats. The mouth of Caishiji River is the lowest part of the Yangtze River, and it was only possible because of the gentle flow of water. It was far from solid, and was instantly washed away during the flood season a year later.

Therefore, compared with a real river-crossing bridge with piers, the floating bridge itself does not have much significance.

If we now want to abandon the floating bridge and build a long-lasting bridge, the Yangtze River will be a huge problem and the ultimate test for the entire Song Dynasty bridge project.

If building a bridge over the Yellow River is considered an elite monster, then the Yangtze River Bridge is the ultimate boss.

This will become a long-term research topic for the Constitutional Yuan in the future. "The Yangtze River Bridge can only be discussed later. For now, we should do a good job of the current situation. The Yellow River Bridge can be completed in a shorter time frame, even if it takes five or ten years."

Zhao Jun tapped the table lightly and said, "But the safety, quality and overall design of the bridge must be guaranteed. It must not collapse after it is built. In the future, for large-scale projects like this and projects related to people's livelihood, the person in charge of the project must be identified. Once there is a problem, everyone from the official in charge of the project to any irresponsible worker must be held accountable, even the prime minister."

His eyes turned to Jia Changchao.

Jia Changchao's heart trembled, and he nodded and said, "I will go to the bridge site in a few days to check the construction status, and I will convey the intention of the director to everyone in the engineering team."

"Well, that's fine. We can also observe whether the Yellow River has flooded during this year's flood season and see the results of our river repairs in previous years."

Zhao Jun said: "If there are any problems, we must find out and fill in the gaps."

"Please rest assured, Master."

Jia Changchao responded. He was the one who led the Yellow River project. After more than ten years of water conservancy construction, the three requirements originally proposed by Zhao Jun had basically been completed.

That is, projects such as diversion, dredging, and embankment repair have solved the siltation problem in the lower reaches of the Yellow River.

Although the water-flushing method cannot completely wash away the silt accumulated in the old course, and is currently only a temporary solution and not a fundamental solution, once the greening of the upper reaches is completed and the soil in the lower reaches is stabilized, I believe that in a few decades, the Yellow River will be completely calm.

Everyone was talking about the Yellow River issue. At this moment, an official came in with a document from the Imperial Court in his hand. He walked up to Zhao Jun and said, "Minister, urgent news from the northwest."

"Oh?"

Zhao Jun took the document and immediately scanned it.

Everyone looked at him and saw that his expression went from frowning at first to relaxing after a moment, but he couldn't be said to be very happy and still looked quite heavy.

"What's wrong, Hanlong?"

Yan Shu asked in surprise: "What happened in the northwest again?"

"Something happened to the messenger we sent out."

Zhao Jun said: "I actually thought that they would be in danger, but I think the probability is small, as long as the King of Gaochang is rational."

He shook his head and said, "Now it seems that this King of Gaochang is probably brainless, or like Qu Wentai, he was coerced by external forces and had to make such a decision."

"I heard that a few years ago, the Liao people married a girl from the royal family to Gaochang in order to win over the country and try to get Gaochang to join hands with Xixia to attack the Song Dynasty."

Fan Zhongyan thought for a moment and said, "Is there a way to do this?"

"You mean the Liao people are inciting?"

Cai Qi was surprised.

“I just think it’s a very strong possibility.”

"It's strange."

Song Shou wondered, "The Liao people should know the gap between Gaochang and our Song Dynasty, so why do they want to incite the Gaochang people to oppose us?"

“Not surprising.”

Zhao Jun smiled and said, "There are many ancient Chinese sayings, but we also have many new proverbs in our later generations. For example, there is a saying that goes, "It is better for me to die than for my friend to die."

"I would rather die than let my friend die?"

"Yes, the Liao Kingdom is now unable to take care of itself. We are peaceful and prosperous here, but they are eyeing us covetously. If they don't find a way to give us something to do and cause some trouble in the northwest, what if they suddenly send troops when they are suppressing an internal rebellion?"

"That's true."

Everyone thought about it and it did make sense.

The Liao Dynasty was internally unstable, and the ruling class was most worried about losing its regime.

The various ethnic tribes' rebellion against the Khitans was secondary.

The main contradiction is that there is a neighbor who is stronger than them and is eyeing them covetously, and may send troops to the north to invade the northern border at any time.

Perhaps the Liao Dynasty's upper echelons were no match for the Song Dynasty in terms of developing scientific governance.

But the basic strategic vision is definitely there.

Think so.

Zhao Kuangyin once said, how can I allow others to sleep soundly beside my bed?

The current situation is that the Song Dynasty not only slept next to the Liao Kingdom, but also beat the Liao Kingdom's son and robbed his wife. How can the people of Liao feel at ease?
Therefore, the Gaochang Kingdom's disturbance this time might be the Liao Kingdom's attempt to divert trouble to the east, hoping that the Song Dynasty would focus its attention on the Western Regions instead of staring at this shaky neighbor next door.

Thinking of this, Fan Zhongyan nodded and said, "That was probably the Liao people's instigation, but this can also be regarded as someone sending a pillow when you are sleepy. The Song Dynasty just lacks an excuse to attack the Western Regions, so this is it, isn't it?"

"As the saying goes, a war should have a legitimate cause. Gaochang is seeking its own destruction, so no one else can be blamed. Our Song Dynasty is upright, but it is bullied by a tiny country. This is intolerable."

Song Shou said: "This should be announced to the world, and then the army should be dispatched to destroy Gaochang. Announce to the world that this is the result of humiliating the Celestial Empire."

"Well, that's just what it should be."

"Give the order, Governor. By destroying Gaochang, we can recover most of the Western Regions."

“And by then we might even be able to shock the Black Khan and take back the entire Western Region.”

"The Western Regions, which have been away from the Central Plains for more than 300 years since the mid-Tang Dynasty, should also return to the embrace of the Han people."

Many prime ministers said this.

In the past, this group of people would definitely be conservative. Faced with the aggressive Liao people, not paying tribute would be considered good. At most, they would make a Treaty of Chanyuan and treat the Liao people as brothers.

But now that they have guns in their hands, they have become more confident and have immediately evolved from conservatives to radicals, as if they want to restore the glory of the Han and Tang dynasties.

This is the confidence that a strong country gives them.

Seeing what everyone said, Zhao Jun no longer hesitated and slammed the table and said, "Okay, let's do it this way. I will ask the government to issue an imperial edict later. I will write the order now and everyone will sign it together to destroy Gaochang and recover the Western Regions!"

Destroy Gaochang and recover the Western Regions!

In this way, the territory of the Song Dynasty would be increased by more than one million square kilometers, reaching the peak level of the Han Dynasty.

If the Liao Dynasty was destroyed again, Outer Mongolia, Greater Khingan Range, Sakhalin Island and other large territories would be recovered, and then Tibet would be conquered.

Then it will surpass the Tang Dynasty at its peak and have an area of ​​more than 1500 million square kilometers.

Chinese Autumn-Leaf Begonia means unification!
(End of this chapter)