The Song Dynasty was the king for thirteen years before he knew that he was Tianlong.

Chapter 248 The Political Alliance (Seeking Monthly Tickets)

Zhao Ti took the letter, opened it, and read that it was written by Yelü Duanqing, the commander of the Southwest Route of the Liao Kingdom.

The Zhaotaosi was a department of the Liao Dynasty responsible for managing military affairs in the border regions. It was used to deter foreign powers, guard against foreign enemies, maintain security and stability, and also oversee local politics and economics.

This institution was similar to the Pacification Commissioner's Office of the Song Dynasty, but the territory under the jurisdiction of the Liao Dynasty's Pacification Commissioner's Office was much larger than that of the Song Dynasty's Pacification Commissioner's Office.

The Liao Dynasty had only three Pacification Commissions: the Southwest Pacification Commission, the Northwest Pacification Commission, and the Western Pacification Commission.

The Southwest Route Pacification Office and the Xijing Road overlapped in some areas, and under its jurisdiction were the Tiande Army of Fengzhou, the Kaiyuan Army of Yunneizhou, the Zhenxi Army of Ningbianzhou, the Wuxing Army of Dongshengzhou, and the Heqing Army of Jinsuzhou.

Because the two regions overlapped and their political and economic ties were intertwined, the Southwest Route Pacification Commissioner's Office and the Western Capital Circuit Garrison Commander's Office had always been at odds.

The Liao Dynasty's Xijing Circuit Garrison Commander and Datong Prefecture Governor was the highest-ranking official in Xijing Circuit, responsible for managing the military and political affairs of Xijing Circuit. Under the Garrison Commander were also institutions such as the Xijing Military and Cavalry Deployment Commander and the Southwest Pacification Commander.

This has led to a situation in many places where two different orders exist, with people vying for power and changing policies frequently, causing hardship for the people on the border.

Zhao Ti recognized Yelü Duanqing, the Pacification Commissioner of the Southwest Route. Yelü Duanqing was also present when Zhao Ti went on an autumn hunt with Yelü Hongji, the Liao Dynasty's royal family member. He was a nephew of Emperor Shouchang, Yelü Hongji.

Zhao Ti didn't know much about this man, only that he had hunted a lot of prey during the autumn hunt, was skilled in archery and horsemanship, and had shared a cup of wine with him by the campfire.

This person did not participate in the Wenhua Hall Poetry Gathering and was sent out on official business. Last year, Yelü Hongji appointed him as the Commander-in-Chief of the Southwest Route.

Zhao Ti glanced at the contents of the letter and couldn't help but smile slightly. This Yelü Duanqing really knew how to seize opportunities. When Zhao Xu was around, he remained silent, only deploying his troops in a standoff. But as soon as he found out that Zhao Xu had left, he immediately sent a threatening letter, actually demanding the land of the Heishan Weifu Military Command.

The letter was extremely arrogant and domineering. It didn't care whether the Song Dynasty listened or not. The words were extremely arrogant and domineering, as if the writer was talking to himself. In short, he just asked for things without asking, as if the Song Dynasty would definitely give them to him.

After Zhao Ti finished reading the letter, he passed it on to everyone. After all the generals had read it, Liu Zhongwu said, "Your Majesty, I think this man may be ill."

Zhong Shizhong said, "This is the first time I've ever seen such an arrogant person."

Gao Yongsui said, "I have never heard of such a general in Liao. He is probably an unknown person who boasts and shows off. He is not worth fearing."

Zhao Ti smiled and said, "I have met this person once, and he doesn't seem to be like that."

Upon hearing this, the generals hurriedly inquired, and Zhao Ti recounted his mission to the Liao Kingdom that day. Zhang Jie asked, "Does Your Majesty mean that this person did this on purpose?"

Zhao Ti nodded: "When I was in Liao, I saw that this man was skilled in martial arts but not arrogant. I did not expect him to be so cunning. He deliberately spoke arrogantly while His Majesty was away, provoking and intimidating us and sowing discord among our troops."

Zhang Jie said, "Your Majesty is wise. If this person is as Your Majesty describes, then he is indeed both brave and resourceful."

Zhao Ti said, "He doesn't know I'm coming. I'll write him a letter and see what he says."

Having said that, he ordered someone to lay out paper and grind ink, dipped the brush in the wolf-hair brush, and wrote half a page in a flash. Then he sent someone to deliver it across the Mi'e River.

He then began to inquire about the situation in the army. At this time, the Heishan Weifu Army Command still had 200,000 troops. Although there had been some losses during the previous attack here and Zhao Xu had taken some away, some troops had been replenished from other places, just to guard against the Liao Kingdom.

However, there were not as many generals as before. After all, many border pacification commissioners had come with the expedition to the west. Now that the Western Xia had been destroyed, some of the commanders went back to defend the borders. Moreover, the military headquarters in various parts of the Western Xia also needed people to be stationed there.

At this point, apart from a few important military commanders, most of the remaining generals were young officers, sons of the three major military families, as well as Liu Zhongwu, Liu Fa, and others.

Without stopping, he went out to patrol various places, looked around the city, and then went outside the city, walked along the Yellow River, and then went to the place where the large camp was lined up in the distance and confronted the Liao soldiers. He did not return until evening.

Zhao Ti stayed at the original military commander's residence, with only Wei Hanchen, Zhou Tong, Wang Chengzong, and Zhu Chuyi by his side. The rest of the people stayed in Xingzhou.

After all, although the Western Xia had been destroyed, things were not entirely secure in various places, especially in Xingzhou City, where, despite military control, incidents still occurred from time to time.

No matter how corrupt a dynasty is, after its final collapse, embers will always remain, flickering in the shadows, intending to rise again.

When a dynasty falls, if it hasn't deteriorated to a certain extent, the resistance might be more intense, involving assassinations and raids.

When a dynasty falls and becomes utterly corrupt, it is often due to infiltration, with methods such as using women as bait, employing civil administration and education to subtly and gradually corrupt the atmosphere of the new dynasty.

The Western Xia was the first type. Although it was not exactly peaceful at that time, it was not yet on the verge of collapse, so Xingzhou City was still quite chaotic.

However, the problem of the Liao Kingdom in the north must be solved first, so Zhao Ti had no choice but to head north first, leaving more people in Xingzhou to protect the safety of the people from the royal palace he brought with him.

After returning to the military headquarters, they had a simple meal and rested. The next day, they held meetings as usual and reviewed the political and military reports sent from various places.

As the Pacification and Control Commissioner of the Northwest Circuits and the Commander-in-Chief of the Northwest Military Regions, he is responsible for handling various military and political affairs during this wartime period. In particular, he also holds the position of Grand Protector of Longyou. Zhao Xu's imperial edict also stipulates that he should supervise everything and act expediently, which means that he is in charge of everything.

In this way, even matters concerning Yumen Pass, Xihai, and even the westernmost part of Longyou, Champa, and the border areas with the Uyghurs, Karakhanids, and Tubo, would be reported over.

Daily reports arrived like snowflakes. When Zhao Xu was in power, it was manageable, as he had many civil and military officials with him to handle these matters.

But after he left, all the officials except for some who were appointed to various places in Western Xia returned to Tokyo with him. When Zhao Ti arrived, he had no one to rely on and no team to handle these affairs.

He sat behind his desk, looking at the mountain of reports piled up in front of him, and felt somewhat speechless. But no matter how many there were, he still had to read them; otherwise, they would only pile up more and more.

The generals standing by dared not speak. Although some of them were civil officials, serving as governors of a prefecture or county, almost all of them were originally military officers. They became civil officials so that they could command troops independently and advance further. Their subordinates would handle the affairs of the prefecture and county, and they would make decisions on important matters.

Looking at the hundreds of reports, each of them felt a headache coming on, fearing that Zhao Ti would call them to deal with them together. The reports covered a wide range of topics, including military, education, agriculture, and commerce, and they felt panicked just looking at them.

Zhao Ti raised his eyes, glanced at everyone, sighed softly, picked up a pen and gestured to Zhou Tong beside him. Zhou Tong immediately picked up a book, opened it, and placed it in front of him.

Zhao Ti glanced at it briefly, then wrote his reply and pushed it aside. Zhou Tong then handed him a second copy.

He worked almost without thinking, at an extremely fast pace, reviewing and annotating each book in a short time, and had already completed dozens of books.

The generals at the front were dumbfounded. How could it be so fast? Did they write it without even thinking? Or was it just something they wrote randomly?

The officials in charge of their prefecture are familiar with the approval process and always have to consider things carefully. When it comes to important and difficult matters, they may not be able to give a result until the next day. They can't just write it down in one stroke as if they haven't thought about it at all.

Zhao Ti ignored them, repeating the process of approving the reports like a puppet. The content and questions on these reports were far too simple for him. With his experience, insight, and years of accumulated knowledge—his photographic memory, his extensive reading, and his profound understanding of history and current affairs—he handled them with ease.

He sighed not because the replies were difficult to respond to, but because there were just too many. If there were this many every day, it would be a real nuisance.

At this moment, the only sounds in the courtroom were the scribbling of pens and the pushing and shoving of memorials. After a long while, about a third of the memorials had been removed.

Zhao Ti tossed his pen aside, leaned back in his chair, and thought to himself that this was not a solution. However, with the military situation still unsettled, there was no way to gather and investigate those Western Xia officials who had surrendered. If he didn't finish integrating the affairs of those surrendered officials, promote some, and give others important positions, he would have nothing else to do if he had to handle it all himself.

He looked at the generals, who were all shocked. They stared at the memorial on the table, then at Zhao Ti, unable to believe that he had accomplished so much.

Zhao Ti said, "I wrote a bit slowly, and it's hard to know if there are any mistakes. Please take a look, especially the generals. If there are any errors, please point them out so I can correct them. At this time, affairs in various places are sensitive and complicated, and it's not good to make mistakes."

Upon hearing this, all the generals' faces twitched. You call this slow? Even memorizing wouldn't be this fast!
The generals exchanged bewildered glances. If Zhao Ti hadn't claimed to be writing slowly, they wouldn't have bothered reading it. Although they were curious, they felt it was somewhat disrespectful. But the fact that he was writing so quickly, yet calling it slow, left them all puzzled. If this was slow, how fast could it be? What on earth had he written that he could produce so effortlessly?
Zhang Jie hesitated for a moment, then stepped forward: "Your Majesty, I shall take a look. It would be good to learn from Your Majesty. Dealing with official business on Huanqing Road is a real headache for me."

Zhao Ti smiled and said, "Come and take a look, everyone."

With Zhang Jie leading the way, other military commanders and generals also came over and carefully flipped through the completed reports and replies.

They were all taken aback when they saw the report. Not only was it well-organized and logically sound, but the answers to some questions were also perfect. They might not have been able to come up with such a solution even if they thought about it all night.

Zhang Jie's fingers trembled as he flipped through the pages repeatedly; almost every single one was like this, without exception.

In particular, there wasn't a single scratch or correction on it, and the handwriting was extremely beautiful, showing the style of a master calligrapher. And this was just a casual scribbling; one can only imagine how elegant and graceful it would be if Zhao Ti had written a piece of calligraphy seriously.

"This, this..." Zhang Jie was shocked and looked at the others. They all had the same expression, staring at Zhao Ti with wide eyes and at a loss for words.

This is truly astonishing. How much talent and decisiveness, how keen military and political judgment, must one possess to write such a reply so quickly? And how excellent must one's calligraphy skills be to complete the writing so swiftly yet with such elegance?
Zhao Ti asked, "Gentlemen... what do you think of my calligraphy?"

"Huh?" The generals were taken aback, not expecting the other party to ask about words.

"Never mind, never mind..." Zhao Ti shook his head: "My handwriting was never very good to begin with, and now that I've finished it in a hurry, it's even worse. I won't make things difficult for you all."

Upon hearing this, the generals' expressions changed, and they couldn't help but feel resentful, thinking to themselves, "If your writing is unbearable, then what we've written must all be dog scratch and chicken pecks."
“I am ashamed to admit that I am not worthy of your courtesy name, Your Majesty,” Zhang Jie said. “You are being far too modest.”

"Your Majesty is far too modest," the generals said in unison.

Zhao Ti shook his head: "You all flatter me too much. Point out any errors or omissions in the replies so that we can make corrections and send them over as soon as possible to avoid delaying things."

“There are mistakes and omissions…” Zhang Jie stroked his beard and glanced at the generals.

The generals couldn't help but grin. There was nothing wrong with it; it was better than the replies they could come up with in a day and a night. In some cases, they might not have been able to come up with a solution even after a month of thinking.

"Do you gentlemen not wish to share my burdens?" Zhao Ti frowned, his expression slightly displeased.

"This... the king's reply is flawless and exemplary." Zhang Jie said with lowered eyebrows, inwardly sighing that he had not expected this man to be so talented, truly a rare talent in the world.

"Your Majesty is without fault, and we officials have no way to point it out." All the generals shared the same expression as Zhang Jie, their hearts filled with shock.

Zhao Ti looked at everyone: "Is that really so? I have never liked reading in my life, I only like to practice martial arts. All the teachers in the palace know this. You gentlemen... are you flattering me?"

The generals' lips twitched. They thought to themselves, "Your Highness, you are so capable even though you are uneducated, while we who are educated cannot do it. Does that mean all our education has been for nothing?"

"Your Majesty is too modest. We are not flattering you, but Your Majesty handled the situation so well that we are ashamed of our own incompetence," the generals hurriedly replied.

Zhao Ti thought for a few moments and said, "Since that's the case, then I will continue writing. Are there really no mistakes or omissions...?"

He shook his head slightly and continued to approve the papers. By noon, he had completed half of them, leaving everyone watching in a daze, barely daring to breathe.

By the afternoon, just as the license plate application process began and all the reports and approvals were completed, Zhao Ti threw down his purple bamboo pen, thinking to himself that this was simply inhuman work; if things continued like this, how could things possibly get any better?

He stood up and stretched to his feet amidst the stunned silence of the crowd. Just as he was about to speak, the commander of the vanguard outside the city came in and reported, "Your Majesty, the Liao Kingdom has sent a reply."

Zhao Ti stroked his chin and said, "I don't want to see any more words, just read it directly."

The military commander, not knowing why he said this, and seeing everyone's awkward and frightened expressions, dared not say anything more. He hurriedly opened the letter and began to read it.

After reading it in a short while, the hall fell silent.

After a long pause, Zhao Ti coughed lightly and said, "This Yelü Duanqing knows that I composed poetry in Shangjing, which was a great success. His literary talent is unmatched by anyone in the entire city. When it comes to poetry, no one in the Liao court can match him..."

Zhang Jie glanced at him and said softly, "Your Majesty, but the reason he asked to meet you at the front lines this time was to go hunting together..."

"The hunting..." Zhao Ti took a breath, a thoughtful look on his face: "When I went to Shangjing to hunt with Yelü Hongji in the autumn, I didn't catch a single rabbit. Now Yelü Duanqing actually wants to invite me to hunt..."

Upon hearing this, the generals frowned. Since Yelü Duanqing had been in Yelü Hongji's autumn hunt party, he clearly remembered this incident and was now about to demonstrate his martial prowess.

Zhao Ti sighed: "I didn't expect Yelü Duanqing to be such a thoughtful person, remembering this matter. Now that he knows I am stationed at the Black Mountain Military Command, he wants to show off his skills and try to undermine my military prestige."

Zhang Jie said, "Your Majesty's prediction is correct; it must be just as it appears. Thinking about it this way, Yelü Duanqing is indeed cunning. He deliberately sent a letter earlier, spouting wild words to disrupt our army's morale. Now he's using old matters to set things up. He is truly a treacherous person."

Zhao Ti thought for a moment: "Actually, I didn't come away empty-handed. I found a large eagle in the mountains deep in the grasslands and brought it with me on this westward journey. It's in Xingzhou City right now."

Zhang Jie whispered, "Your Majesty, those found on the spot are not reliable..."

Zhao Ti said "Oh," and then said, "It's hard to say. Yelü Duanqing knew that I hadn't gotten anything at the time, yet he still invited me to go hunting. What do you all think, should I go or not?"

Upon hearing this, the generals all showed expressions of difficulty. This was a blatant and open scheme by the other side. At this moment, they had not yet engaged in armed conflict with the Liao Kingdom, but were merely facing off on the battlefield. If they dared not even compare themselves to hunting, it would truly be a loss of prestige.

Seeing that everyone was silent, Zhao Ti shook his head and said, "We can't let the enemy's morale be boosted and our own military prestige be damaged. Let's go see him tomorrow."

(End of this chapter)