Do you know: I am the crown prince

Chapter 494 The imperial commander’s personal expedition
"Your Majesty, do you mean to ask those officials' families to pay some money?"

Zhang Guifen hesitated and asked, "Isn't this a bit inappropriate?"

Zhao Xing had done this before. He erected two stone tablets at the gate of the palace and engraved the names of the officials and merchants who donated money on them.

Today, the two stone tablets are still standing at the palace gate.

The merchants not only had no complaints about this, but were very happy.

But it was different for officials. Zhao Xing's move was described by later generations as moral kidnapping.

The common people are isolated from information and have no idea which merchants are richer.

But in the eyes of the common people, the official rank and wealth are directly equivalent.

Zhao Xing secretly instructed some officials to donate money and have it engraved on a stone tablet, which was tantamount to setting an example for the officials.

In order to preserve their reputation, those officials had no choice but to make the donation.

Although he did not dare to blame Zhao Xing, nor did he dare to use public opinion to scold Zhao Xing, he still had complaints in his heart.

Zhang Guifen thought Zhao Xing wanted her to do the same.

Zhao Xing laughed and said, "What are you thinking? You just need to entertain those officials' families and then mention it. Which official doesn't love fame? They won't be reluctant to do such a kind thing."

The same trick only needs to be used once. It was not that those officials were unwilling to donate before, but Zhao Xing thought that their donations were too little.

This time, Zhao Xing did not intend to use moral blackmail. The people who could be invited to a banquet by Zhang Guifen were at least the wives of fifth-rank officials, and they would have to afford at least a few hundred taels of silver.

With so many officials in Bianliang, the money they collected was enough to support some orphans.

"Then I'll come back and try again." Zhang Guifen felt relieved after hearing that.

……

The next day, after Zhao Xing had breakfast and left, Zhang Guifen had someone break the golden fragrant jade into many small pieces.

Then someone sent it to the concubines in the harem, including Empress Dowager Cao and others.

The size of the items sent varies depending on the grade.

Zhao Xing did not have many concubines. Although many were selected in the previous beauty pageants, only a few of them were favored by Zhao Xing.

Since she had never been favored, she would naturally not be canonized. She would be just an ordinary beauty, not even a concubine.

Otherwise, even if the piece of golden jade is not small, it will not be enough to share.

When Zhao Xing heard the news, he shook his head, but Zhang Guifen's behavior could definitely be considered a virtuous queen.

…………

Xixia
Li Liangzuo was very surprised when he learned that the Song Dynasty had sent an envoy.

Judging from the time, the envoys from Western Xia should have arrived in Bian Jing only a few days ago. How come the envoys from the Song Dynasty had already arrived in Western Xia?

However, he quickly realized that the relationship between the Song Dynasty and the Liao Dynasty was now tense. Whether it was to win over the Western Xia as a helper or to worry that the Western Xia would take the opportunity to attack the Song Dynasty, it was normal to send envoys.

After meeting with the envoys from the Song Dynasty and learning that they were indeed here to discuss an alliance, Li Liangzuo, like Zhao Xing, used the excuse of needing to discuss matters and asked the envoys to wait for a while.

After entertaining the Song Dynasty envoys and after they left, Li Liangzuo summoned a group of important officials to discuss whether he could get more benefits from the Song Dynasty.

"Your Majesty, if Daxia had not sent envoys to Song Dynasty, we could do this. But now our Daxia envoys have arrived in Song Dynasty, and Song Dynasty also knows that Daxia intends to form an alliance. If we do this, it will only destroy the alliance, which will not be worth the loss." Liang Guangchuan said.

"Humph, I said at the beginning that there was no rush to send an envoy to the Song Dynasty. The relationship between the Song Dynasty and the Liao Kingdom deteriorated, and the Song Dynasty was in a hurry. But the prime minister insisted on sending an envoy, causing Daxia to lose the initiative."

A Tangut noble stepped out and sneered, then bowed to Li Liangzuo and said, "Your Majesty, now it is the Song Dynasty that needs a favor from the Xia Dynasty. I think it is okay to ask for a favor, and the Song Dynasty has no choice but to agree."

"What Envoy Li said is really ridiculous. At the beginning, I strongly advised against sending the envoys because I was worried that the Song Dynasty had no intention of going to war with the Liao Kingdom. Doing so would also give the Song Dynasty the courage to go to war with the Liao Kingdom. You did not refute it later, which means you agreed with my opinion. Isn't it ridiculous that you are bringing up this matter now?" Liang Guangchuan said sarcastically.

"What the Prime Minister said is the most ridiculous! The Privy Councilor did not refute it because he did not want to argue with the Prime Minister and cause discord in the court."

"That's right. Besides, the Privy Council is in charge of the military, and the Prime Minister is in charge of government. It's natural that the Privy Councilor can't say too much about this kind of thing."

Officials of the Dangxiang tribe came out one after another to refute Liang Guangchuan.

Even though Li Liangzuo promoted and employed many Han officials after he took power, the majority of the court officials were still from the Dangxiang ethnic group.

Although most of these officials were military generals, Western Xia did not value civil officials over military officials.

When these military generals spoke in the court, not only were their voices louder than those of the civil officials, but they were also much more confident.

"enough!"

Li Liangzuo shouted coldly: "I asked you to come here to discuss countermeasures, not to quarrel."

"I will admit my guilt!"

Everyone bowed and admitted their mistakes quickly.

Li Liangzuo snorted coldly, looked at an official and asked, "What do you think of this matter, Mr. Dong?"

Dong Wei stepped out and said, "Your Majesty, it is said that man proposes, God disposes. Everything is subject to change. The Prime Minister's previous plan was not wrong. The Song Dynasty built the Great Wall in the north, which cost a lot. If Daxia does not give the Song Dynasty some confidence, the Song Dynasty may not necessarily choose to go to war with the Liao Kingdom."

"Now that the Song Dynasty has sent an envoy, I think this is actually a good thing."

"Oh?"

Li Liangzuo was surprised and asked, "What's good about it?"

"From the time point of view, the Song Dynasty sent envoys to Daxia before Daxia sent envoys. This shows that the Song Dynasty and Liao Kingdom are determined to go to war. I heard that the Song Emperor is young and hot-tempered, and the Liao Kingdom is now seriously injured. It is normal for the Song Dynasty to do this."

"Even if we ask for benefits from the Song Dynasty now, the Song Dynasty can't give us much. It is still more important to take over Hehuang. As long as we take over Hehuang, Daxia will be able to attack or defend in the future!"

Dong Wei actually wanted to take the opportunity to step on Liang Guangchuan.

But he knew clearly that although Li Liangzuo valued him to check Liang Guangchuan, their existence was also to check those Dangxiang nobles.

He and Liang Guangchuan did not get along and fought with each other, which Li Liangzuo was happy to see.

But they could not join forces with the Tangut nobles to suppress the other side.

Even so, he was only speaking for Liang Guangchuan on the surface, but he was implicitly belittling Liang Guangchuan in his words.

"Minister Dong is right. Hehuang is the top priority. If the Song and Liao are at war and the Song Dynasty is badly hurt, once we take over Hehuang, we might be able to force the Song Dynasty to hand over some cities." Li Liangzuo said with a smile.

"Your Majesty, if you agree so easily, will the Song Dynasty suspect that there is something wrong?" Li Mingxiao said.

"If I ask for benefits from the Song Dynasty, will the Song Dynasty not be suspicious?"

Li Liangzuo glanced at Li Mingxiao calmly and said, "Uncle, you only need to prepare the army for war. When the time comes, I will lead the army in person!"

"Your Majesty, you can't do that. The Han Chinese have a good saying: a body of a thousand gold coins should not be left sitting in the hall. Your Majesty..."

"Okay, I have made up my mind!"

Li Mingxiao was Li Liangzuo's uncle. After Li Liangzuo got rid of his uncle who controlled the government, he appointed Li Mingxiao as the Privy Councilor and gave him control of the military power.

But after Li Mingxiao took control of the military power, he cultivated his own clique and won over military generals, which made him very wary.

After all, his uncle was of a different surname and had controlled the government for many years, but he had never done anything to the emperor.

But Li Mingxiao is different. He is a member of the royal family. Once his power is too great, he will be in danger.

There are a lot of troops to be mobilized this time, how could he let Li Mingxiao lead them?

But others are not qualified to lead so many troops.

Li Mingxiao was very unwilling, but he didn't dare to say much.

He could feel Li Liangzuo's suspicion of him. If he said more, he might attack him.

Liang Guangchuan frowned slightly. He originally thought that Li Mingxiao was the leader of the army. When the time came, Li Mingxiao would lead the army outside, while his generals in the army would stay in the capital. When Li Liangzuo "died", he could block the news, control the troops in the capital, and even trick Li Mingxiao back to the capital and put him under house arrest.

But if Li Liangzuo led the army in person and died in the army, the first person to know the news would be Li Mingxiao.

By then, it would be Li Mingxiao who would block the news.

If Li Mingxiao could take control of the 300,000 soldiers and lead them back to Beijing, who could resist him?

But the arrow has been shot and there is no turning back. Even if he asked Queen Liang to stop poisoning her now, Li Liangzuo would not live long.

"We can only find a way to get rid of Li Mingxiao when His Majesty passes away." Liang Guangchuan said to himself.

…………

Bianjing
Zhao Xing received a letter from the envoy sent to Western Xia, saying that Western Xia had agreed to the alliance and would send an army of 300,000 to attack Liao after the Song Dynasty sent troops.

The requirements put forward were the same as those in the letter brought by Liang Yimei.

When Zhao Xing received the letter, Li Liangzuo also received the letter sent back by Liang Yimei.

Without much hesitation, he replied directly that he agreed to the conditions of the Song Dynasty, but required that the Song Dynasty must send no less than 500,000 troops.

The two countries gathered 800,000 troops to jointly attack Liao, and whoever conquered the territory would own it.

Zhao Xing met Liang Yimai and learned the news from him. They immediately agreed to officially launch the attack in mid-June.

On the Song Dynasty side, after laying off the old and young in the army, Zhao Xing dealt with a group of generals who were still unwilling to give up and intended to draw empty salaries.

Then ten armies were disbanded and the troops were used to supplement those armies with vacancies.

Then all the garrison troops from more than a dozen states in the Central Plains, including their generals, were transferred to the imperial guards.

In this way, the number of imperial guards not only returned to the strength before the old and young were laid off, but it was also real and without any watering down.

Although this resulted in the loss of the garrison troops in more than a dozen states in the Central Plains, the roads in the Central Plains were smooth and not far from Bianliang, so no trouble would occur.

Zhao Xing mobilized 250,000 imperial guards and another 100,000 troops from the south of the Yangtze River to march north, a total of 350,000 troops, to the northern border.

There are more than 100,000 troops stationed on the northern border all year round. Together with the 100,000 troops led by the Duke of England before, when the army arrives, there will be 550,000 troops.

He announced to the outside world that he had 800,000 troops and was determined to completely recover the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun.

There was a lot of opposition in the court to Zhao Xing's mobilization of so many troops at once.

In war, the more soldiers and horses you have, the better. The more soldiers and horses you have, the greater the logistical pressure.

Just to transport the baggage and food, a large number of laborers need to be conscripted.

Some ministers even used the example of Emperor Yang of Sui's conquest of Goguryeo, which led to the country's destruction, to dissuade Zhao Xing.

When Emperor Yang of Sui conquered Goguryeo, he dispatched a large number of troops and even conscripted millions of civilians to ensure logistics.

A million laborers may not sound like a lot, but these laborers are all young and strong. Even if each family can provide two able-bodied men, that would be 500,000 families.

The lack of young and strong people will not only delay the following autumn harvest, but if the war cannot be ended quickly, it will even delay the spring plowing of the next year.

However, Zhao Xing forcefully refused on the grounds that the Liao Kingdom had taken the initiative to send troops.

That’s right, the Liao Kingdom sent troops.

The Song Dynasty and Western Xia had frequent exchanges and were constantly mobilizing troops, so it was natural that the Liao Kingdom could not have failed to notice.

Yelu Yixin successively sent 150,000 troops to the border, and even demanded that the Song Dynasty hand over Empress Dowager Xiao and others and pay 500,000 taels of silver as compensation before he would withdraw his troops.

The Liao Kingdom sent troops first, and Zhao Xing was very persistent, so the ministers could not stop him at all.

…………

Before troops move, food and supplies must go first. When the army mobilizes, food and supplies must naturally follow.

Zhao Xing also had to deal with opposition voices in the court, and was busy and exhausted every day.

"Your Majesty, Commander Gu Du has sent an urgent report."

A eunuch hurried in.

Sanshui stepped forward, took the urgent report and handed it to Zhao Xing.

Zhao Xing opened it, took out the letter and started reading.

"Humph!"

Zhao Xing sneered and said, "I knew Xixia had no good intentions."

Gu Tingye said in the letter that Western Xia had dispatched troops to the border with Liao, but the troops were stationed not far from Hehuang city.

Zhao Xing had previously sent someone to inform Dong Jian to send troops to cooperate with Western Xia in launching an attack on the Liao Kingdom.

Dong Zhan did not refuse and replied that he would do his best.

Regardless of whether it is true or not, it can at least tie down some of the Liao troops.

But now that Xixia had done this, Dong Zhan found an excuse and asked Gu Tingye to tell him that although Xixia seemed to be planning to deal with Liao, it might launch a sneak attack on Hehuang at any time.

In order to ensure the safety of Hehuang, Dong Jian could only dispatch a small number of troops.

As for Zhao Xing asking him to send the young emperor of Western Xia to the Song Dynasty, he did not even mention it.

In fact, Zhao Xing already knew what Dong Zhen was planning.

With the little emperor in his hands, he had a way out whether the Song Dynasty or the Western Xia wanted to deal with him.

Even though Dong Jian accepted Empress Dowager Xiao and others, Yelu Yixin hated him to the core.

But as long as he handed over the little emperor and led his troops to surrender, Yelu Yixin would definitely not refuse.

If the Song Dynasty and Western Xia did not deal with him, he would be happy to watch the show.

If the Song Dynasty and Western Xia lost, they would inevitably suffer heavy losses, and if the Liao Dynasty won, the situation would not be much better.

By then, the three kingdoms would not be a threat to him and he would have time to develop.

If the Liao Kingdom could not be stopped, he would also take a bite out of the Liao Kingdom. With the little emperor in his hands, it would be much easier to recruit the Liao Kingdom generals to surrender.

Perhaps from the very beginning, everyone guessed wrong. This was Dong Jian’s purpose in taking in Empress Dowager Xiao and others.

However, Zhao Xing did not care. Dong Zhen and the Liao Kingdom had their own plans against each other, and they could actually restrain each other.

He didn't think that the two would really try their best to attack the Liao Kingdom.

The Liao Kingdom obviously thought the same thing and only sent some troops to defend, while the main forces were transferred to the Song Dynasty.

But no matter what their calculations are, as long as the Song Dynasty can break through the Liao border defense line and invade the Liao, they will target the Liao.

Thinking of this, Zhao Xing made a decision.

After being hidden for so long, it’s time for gunpowder to appear in the world.

…………

"what?"

The emperor looked at Zhao Xing in shock and asked, "You want to lead the army in person?"

"That's right!"

Zhao Xing nodded and said, "Father, this time we are mobilizing nearly half of the Song Dynasty's troops, and they are all elite. We cannot afford to make any mistakes. Only if I lead the army in person can we boost morale."

(End of this chapter)