Usurpation of Mongolia: My father-in-law is Genghis Khan

Chapter 107 The Song Dynasty is standing up again!

The imperial palace in Lin'an, the capital of the Southern Song Dynasty.

In a secluded courtyard in the northwest corner of the imperial palace, there is a house with green tiles and white walls.

There was no gold or jade decoration in the house, only a few Taoist books such as "Baopuzi", "Yunji Qijian" and "Huangting Jing" were placed on the desks.

At this time, a middle-aged man in his fifties, with a thin body and gaunt features, wearing a plain Taoist robe and holding a whisk, was sitting upright on a cushion, with his eyes slightly closed, reciting the "Huangting Sutra" in a low voice.

If it weren't for the sparse beard on his chin, who would have thought that he was the only man in the palace, Emperor Zhao Kuo of the Song Dynasty, who would later be known as Emperor Ningzong of Song.

When the Jin Hailing King invaded the south, Song Xiaozong and the Jin people signed the Longxing Peace Agreement. From then on, the Song emperor called the Jin emperor "uncle".

The people of Southern Song Dynasty felt deeply ashamed of this.

When Zhao Kuo first ascended the throne, he was also indignant about this matter. He was full of confidence and wanted to work day and night to launch an expedition to the north to avenge the great humiliation of Jingkang and unify the country.

However, the ideal is full, and the reality is very skinny.

After several years of preparation, Zhao Kuokaixi launched a northern expedition and suffered a great defeat. Not only did he lose tens of thousands of Song Dynasty troops, he also had to pay three million taels of silver to the Jin people, and changed his address to the Jin emperor from uncle to uncle.

This time he was completely nailed to the pillar of shame.

Don't underestimate this title.

Emperor Jin is the uncle of Emperor Song, so shouldn't you, Zhao Kuo, be filial to him?
During festivals, do you, Zhao Kuo, want to give gifts to your uncle to show your filial piety?
Your uncle has his birthday every year. Do you want to congratulate him?
Every once in a while, the Ministry of Rites would question Zhao Kuo about these things and rub his face on the ground.

Every time Zhao Kuo endured it, the Jin emperor would reply to his post, praising Zhao Kuo for his filial piety.

It's so frustrating that it makes me want to vomit blood.

In addition, with the Northern Expedition hopeless, Zhao Kuo, who had been working hard to govern the country, became completely disheartened. Not only did he hand over all military and national affairs to Prime Minister Shi Miyuan, but he even stopped playing with women.

Since the signing of the Jiading Agreement, he has either been practicing in the alchemy room or standing on the observatory to look up at the sky, and seems to have lost interest in everything in the mortal world.

However, in the past year or more, whether it was stargazing or practicing Taoism, Zhao Kuo began to feel uneasy and found it difficult to immerse himself in it.

There was no way, the news from the north was too shocking.

The Mongols attacked the Jin Dynasty and, in the Battle of Yehuling, defeated a million Jin troops. Only the Prime Minister Du Jisizhong and the Vice Minister Wanyan Chengyu escaped with their lives. They then attacked the Ruihe Fort, annihilated 400,000 Jin troops, and nailed the Vice Minister Wanyan Chengyu to a wooden donkey.

Then, a part of the troops not only watched over the Zhongdu defenders, but also defeated the 200,000-strong army led by Wanyan Gang and nailed the left prime minister of the Jin Dynasty to a wooden donkey.

The majority of the troops were divided into four groups, attacking the Jin Empire's northeast, Shandong, Shanxi, and Hebei provinces, annihilating 800,000 enemies. The Jin Empire was completely destroyed in Dongjing and Shangjing, where all males were beheaded and the women taken as slaves.

Cool!
It’s so cool!

Destroying both Shangjing and Dongjing of the Jin Dynasty was even more impressive than "attacking Huanglong directly"!
These two cities were the "birthplaces" of the Jurchens. All the men were beheaded and the women were taken as slaves. You deserve it. This is the retribution you Jin people deserve!

All of this is what Zhao Kuo has dreamed of doing since he ascended the throne!

However, he could only dream. In reality, during the Kaixi Northern Expedition, he was severely beaten by the Jin people and could only call the Jin emperor "uncle".

However, for the Mongols, it became a reality.

How great it would be if I were the Mongolian emperor Genghis Khan!

Whenever Zhao Kuo put himself in the role of Genghis Khan, he could not sleep all night and trembled with excitement.

Of course, as the emperor of the Song Dynasty, Zhao Kuo had a basic understanding of military affairs.

These numbers are too exaggerated. After all the calculations, the Mongols destroyed more than two million troops of the Jin Dynasty.

How can this be?

If the Jin Dynasty really had an army of over two million, would Zhao Kuoneng only call the Jin Emperor "Uncle"? He would have directly knelt down and called him "Ancestor"!
Recently, I heard that the main force of the Mongolian army surrounded the capital city, and Zhao Kuo became even more worried.

Can the Mongols do it?

The Jurchen soldiers are not to be trifled with.

Could it be that the Jurchens were deliberately showing weakness to the Mongols, preparing for a great victory in Zhongdu?
Well, very likely.

When the Song Dynasty launched the Kaixi Northern Expedition, wasn't it that we were unstoppable at the beginning, but later we were taught a lesson by the Jurchen soldiers?

But then again, if the Mongols really captured Zhongdu, would that mean the Jin army was not that scary?

"In the end, were the Jurchen soldiers more powerful, or were the Mongol soldiers? Or was it that my Kaixi Northern Expedition had already depleted the Jin Empire's elite forces, allowing the Mongols to take advantage? If I hadn't killed Han Tuozhou and had persevered, could I have directly defeated the Jin Empire?"

Three possibilities kept lingering in Zhao Kuo's mind.

Especially the last possibility, which made Zhao Kuo feel so uncomfortable.

Deng Deng Deng~~
Just as Zhao Kuo was reciting the "Huangting Sutra" anxiously, he suddenly heard a burst of hurried footsteps.

The person who came was none other than Wang Li, the Grand Secretary of the Imperial Palace, the Supervisor of the Imperial City Department, the Chief of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and the Head of Chonghua and Cifu Palaces, the number one eunuch of the dynasty.

The reason why Wang Li was able to hold so many positions, even managing the Song Dynasty's secret agency, the Imperial City Bureau, was because he was too experienced.

When Song Gaozong Zhao Gou was still alive, Wang Li was already the Imperial Guard Doctor and the Commander of Baocheng Army.

"Your Majesty, great joy! Great joy! This is truly a great joy!"

Wang Li, who is eighty-seven years old this year and holds a high position of power, usually has to be supported by two young eunuchs even when he meets Zhao Kuo.

Today, this old eunuch with white hair and eyebrows came to Zhao Kuo's alchemy room trotting with a scroll of documents in his hand.

"Happy event? The country is in a difficult situation now, how can I have any happy event?" Zhao Kuo said lightly without even raising his eyelids.

However, his slightly trembling hands on the table revealed his nervousness and excitement.

"It is indeed a great joyous event, Your Majesty!"

As he spoke, Wang Li handed the document to Zhao Kuo and said, "The Mongols have already retreated to Zhongdu. They will announce the Da'an Agreement they reached with the Jin people to the world and post it along the way back.

Even some people in the Mongolian army took the initiative to reveal the details of the retreat.

Moreover, once the Mongols retreat, our Imperial City Bureau's spies in Zhongdu will be able to pass on the news.

After multiple verifications, I, this old servant, can guarantee with my own head that everything written on this document is true, not a single word is false."

"Ah? There's this matter!"

Zhao Kuo was delighted and took the document and looked at it carefully.

"Okay! It's really great!"

"Happy! Really happy!"

"Jurchens, you have come to this day! This is all retribution for your actions!"

"Hahahaha!"

……

Zhao Kuo kept exclaiming in admiration as he watched, and at the end, he burst out laughing.

Although the Mongols did not finally capture Zhongdu City, he was still happier than if they had.

The Jin Kingdom paid compensation of 3 million taels of gold and 30 million taels of silver. The shortfall was to be compensated by other property and women. Nearly 30,000 Jurchen women were sent to the Mongolian army camp!
It is said that 10,000 of them were to be given to the son-in-law Zhao Shuo, who then distributed them to the Han army, allowing the Han army to also have a taste of women!

Should!
You deserve it!

This is the retribution for the "Jing Kang Shame" you Jin people brought upon our Song Dynasty!

Didn’t you turn countless Han women into your slaves?

Now, it's your turn as Jurchen women to become slaves!

Moreover, there are a full ten thousand Jurchen female slaves for us Han people to enjoy!
Well, in reality, the Mongols and the Baru Battalion received about one-third of these 10,000 Jurchen slaves, while Zhao Shuo and the Eight Banners of the Han Army received two-thirds. However, Zhao Shuo also sold many of his own slaves, leaving the Han army with so many slaves that rumors spread that all 10,000 slaves were given to the Han army. Even the most powerful officials of the Imperial City Administration of the Great Song Dynasty would have difficulty unraveling these details.

Moreover, even if he figured out these details, it would not affect Zhao Kuo's excitement at the moment.

Zhao Kuo was even more excited to talk, saying to Wang Li, "It's similar! It's so similar! This 'Da'an Agreement', no matter how you look at it, looks like a replica of the 'Jingkang Agreement'. This time, we Song people have really let out a sigh of relief!"

Wang Lidao said, "The Mongols and the Jurchens have a deep blood feud. Their ancestor, Ambahai, was nailed to death on a wooden donkey by the Jurchens. Furthermore, when the Jurchens were in power, they would go to the grasslands every year to burn, kill, and plunder, calling it 'reducing the population.'"

It's not surprising that the Mongols, referring to the Jingkang Agreement, established the Da'an Agreement, severely humiliating the Jurchens. "No, I think you're a little wrong."

Zhao Kuo shook his head slightly and said, "Tell me, is this because of that Prince Consort Zhao Shuo? He, like me, wants to avenge the Jingkang humiliation of our Great Song Dynasty, which is why he influenced the Mongols and set such harsh peace terms?"

Wang Li nodded repeatedly and said, "It's very likely. Although the Mongols only asked for 3 million taels of gold and 30 million taels of silver. But how can Jin Zhongdu compare to the original Bianliang City of our Great Song Dynasty?
These three million taels of gold and thirty million taels of silver are more than enough to plunder all the children and treasures of Zhongdu. It is no exaggeration to say that this is a revenge for the Jingkang humiliation. However, I am incompetent and have not yet fully investigated the details. Your Majesty, please punish me."

Zhao Kuo waved his hand and said, "I just said it casually. Whether or not we can find out is irrelevant. By the way, how are you guys doing about Zhao Shuo's background? Is he a member of the royal family of the Great Song Dynasty?"

The Mongolian army had been attacking the Jin Dynasty for more than a year, so the Imperial City Administration of the Song Dynasty naturally worked very hard to collect intelligence on Mongolia.

As the most powerful general in Mongolia, Zhao Shuo naturally became the most important person after Temujin.

Zhao Shuo's Han ancestry, his ancestors having wandered the grasslands a hundred years ago, and his great achievements in Mongolia were no secret, and the Imperial City Bureau had naturally inquired about them long ago. Naturally, they suspected Zhao Shuo's royal family background.

Wang Li said: "This old servant is incompetent and still hasn't figured this out. But..."

"But what?"

"It is said that Zhao He, the son of Zhao Shuo and Temujin's eldest daughter Hua Zheng, wore a longevity lock around his neck. It was an heirloom. This lock may contain some clues to his identity. However, without the permission of His Majesty, the Imperial City Bureau dare not approach the family of the Mongolian nobleman. We still have no idea what this longevity lock is."

Zhao Kuo said, "The ban will continue to be enforced. If this angers the Mongols or Prince Consort Zhao Shuo, it will only lead to more harm than good."

"Then the identity of Prince Consort Zhao Shuo..."

"Just check it slowly, there's no rush."

There are millions of royal family members in the Song Dynasty. Zhao Kuo is not worried at all that Zhao Shuo could pose any threat to his throne. He is just very curious about Zhao Shuo.

Zhao Kuo thought to himself that Zhao Shuo's surname was Zhao, and he happened to be stranded on the grassland at such a coincidence. He also possessed peerless martial arts similar to his ancestor Zhao Kuangyin, who "conquered four hundred military states in the world and all of them were named Zhao". It was very likely that he was the descendant of his ancestor Zhao Kuangyin, his cousin.

how?

Can't Zhao Kuo do what our family can do?
Although Zhao Kuo read too much in his youth and did not practice martial arts, thus missing the opportunity to inherit his ancestor's invincible strength, he was still the emperor of the Song Dynasty!
Is it true that the achievements I can make in this life are not as good as those of Zhao Shuo, who started from scratch?

Immediately, Zhao Kuo issued an order to summon all the ministers to discuss the matter.

The left prime minister and privy councilor Qian Xiangzu, the right prime minister Shi Miyuan, the vice-chancellor Lou Ji, the vice-chancellor Zheng Zhaoxian, the director of the Privy Council and vice-chancellor Lei Xiaoyou, and the co-director of the Privy Council Lou Yao.

These six people are the current ruling ministers of the Song Dynasty.

Among them were loyal ministers who were devoted to the Song Dynasty, as well as fawning and flattering ministers; there were honest and modest gentlemen, as well as despicable villains who took bribes and embezzled money.

However, these six people had previously been completely consistent in their stance towards the Jin Dynasty: they feared the Jurchen army like a tiger and firmly opposed the Kaixi Northern Expedition.

Left Prime Minister Qian Xiangzu and Right Prime Minister Shi Miyuan were directly involved in the assassination of Han Tuozhou.

But then again, after reading the document sent by the Imperial City Bureau, their positions quickly diverged.

It's a simple truth. Shandong, Shanxi, Henan, and Northeast China were indeed swept away by the Mongol army! The reinforcements sent by Shaanxi to Zhongdu were also defeated by Genghis Khan! The Jin Dynasty heavily defended Zhongdu, but was forced to sign such a "humiliating" agreement. Doesn't this prove that the Jin Dynasty's heavy troops in Zhongdu were not very powerful?

If we don’t attack the Jin Kingdom now, when will we attack it?
They didn't dare to deal with the powerful Jin Kingdom, but they were still quite interested in bullying the weak Jin Kingdom.

"Your Majesty, I believe that the Jin Dynasty is now at its weakest since its founding. Our Song Dynasty should immediately launch a northern expedition to recover the Central Plains and avenge the shame of Jingkang!" Lou Yao, co-director of the Privy Council, spoke first.

He had just been appointed Co-Director of the Privy Council for less than a month, and it was the time when he wanted to make progress.

However, Lei Xiaoyou immediately objected, saying, "No! It is precisely because the Jin Kingdom is extremely weak right now that the Great Song cannot take advantage of its predicament. Lou Shumi, have you forgotten the painful lesson of the Great Song's alliance with the Jin to destroy the Liao Kingdom?"

Lou Yu retorted sharply, "If the Song Dynasty had not joined forces with the Jin Dynasty to destroy the Liao Dynasty, would the Liao Dynasty have been destroyed by the Jin Dynasty? After the Jin Dynasty destroyed the Liao Dynasty, would it not have attacked the Song Dynasty? In my opinion, it was not that the Song Dynasty should not have joined forces with the Jin Dynasty to destroy the Liao Dynasty, but that we lost our vigilance against the Jin Dynasty, which led to the Jingkang Incident.

This time, we just need to be more careful with Mongolia and strengthen our defenses, that's all."

Vice Minister Zheng Zhaoxian said, "That's not right. Even if we don't discuss whether the alliance with Jin was the right move to destroy Liao, the principle of 'lips and teeth' is always right, right? Jin was already on the brink of collapse. If we continue to attack Jin, wouldn't it be doomed to fall soon? Then, we'd have to face the Mongols, who are even more ferocious than the Jurchens."

Lou Ji, the Vice Minister of State Affairs, suddenly had an idea. He stood up, bowed slightly to Zhao Kuo, and said, "I believe that what the three Prime Ministers said makes sense. The Jin Kingdom has suffered such a great defeat. This is a golden opportunity for the Song Dynasty to avenge its previous humiliation. We must not miss it.

However, with the previous example of the alliance with Jin to destroy Liao as a precedent, our goal in attacking Jin this time cannot be to destroy it."

Zhao Kuo's mind moved, and he said, "Then what should our goal be?"

Lou Ji said, "First, we must recover some of our lost territory and people. Second, we must make the Jin Kingdom recognize that the Jiading Agreement is no longer appropriate. The annual tribute of 300,000 taels of silver and 300,000 pieces of silk to the Jin Kingdom will be completely waived. The Jin Kingdom and the Song Kingdom will no longer be uncle and nephew, but brothers. The Song Kingdom will be the elder brother, and the Jin Kingdom will be the younger brother."

"well said!"

Of course, Zhao Kuo also understood the principle of "the lips and teeth are cold when one is gone". Although he hated the Jin Dynasty very much, he did not want to destroy it rationally.

However, as Lou Ji said, if we don’t destroy the Jin Dynasty, we can at least weaken it, right?

He no longer called the Jin emperor uncle, but brother instead. Is this condition not excessive?

Maybe, because the Jin Dynasty was too weak, they changed their name to uncle! Think about it carefully, what would that feel like?
He looked at Shi Miyuan and Qian Xiangzu and said, "Left Prime Minister, Right Prime Minister, what do you think?"

Although Shi Miyuan was a notorious traitor in history, he was still a great hero of his time. He pondered and said, "Back then, when the Song Dynasty allied with the Jin Dynasty to destroy the Liao Dynasty, we also thought that the Liao Dynasty was doomed and wanted to take the opportunity to recover the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun.

As a result, we were still unable to defeat the remnants of the Liao army, which made the Jurchens look down on the Song Dynasty even more, leading to the Jingkang Incident.

Will we repeat the same mistakes when we attack the Jin Kingdom this time?"

Left Prime Minister Qian Xiangzu shook his head slightly and said, "No, Prime Minister Shi is overthinking it. It's true that the Song Dynasty was defeated in the Kaixi Northern Expedition. But how much of an advantage did the Jin army actually have? At best, it was only slightly stronger than the Song army."

Now, their main force must have been defeated by the Mongolian army.

Could it be that the Great Song Dynasty is still unable to deal with the remnants of the Jin Dynasty's defeated troops?"

"Yeah!"

Lou Yu immediately chimed in, "Mr. Shi, have you forgotten our archery contest with the Jin? The Jurchens have already degenerated. How could they possibly compare to the Liao army?"

What Lou Yao was talking about was actually the incident thirteen years ago when he was an envoy of the Song Dynasty on a diplomatic mission to the Kingdom of Jin and attended the "archery banquet" hosted by the emperor of the Jin Dynasty.

This kind of "archery banquet" is supposed to be just for entertainment, and only high-ranking officials are allowed to attend, not professional soldiers.

At the beginning of the Jin Dynasty, there were many brave generals in the court, and the envoys of the Song Dynasty were defeated every time.

However, gradually, the top leaders of the Jin Dynasty gradually became corrupt.

After thirty or forty years, the advantage gradually shifted to the envoys of the Song Dynasty, and the biggest prizes were always won by the envoys carefully selected by the Song Dynasty.

This time, the Jin Kingdom even cheated directly.

Lou Yao noticed at the time that the Jin noble, who was in charge of the closing ceremony, had a tattoo with fine blue characters on his hand, clearly a low-level professional soldier. The Jin people had lost face a few years ago, so this year they had specially selected a low-level professional soldier to impersonate the Jin noble to undermine the prestige of the Song envoy!
As a result, professional soldiers are no match for them either.

The Song Dynasty delegation led by Lou Yao still won a huge victory.

This shows that the Jin Dynasty had fallen into complete decline from top to bottom.

From then on, the Song State became increasingly contemptuous of the Jin State, which led to the "Kaixi Northern Expedition".

Ha!
Shi Miyuan was moved by what Qian Xiangzu and Lou Yu said.

The decline of the Jin Dynasty was an all-round decline from top to bottom. Can it be compared with the Liao army at that time?
As for the failure of the Kaixi Northern Expedition?
Isn't there also the factor of himself and others hindering us, as well as the factor of Wu Xi's rebellion in Sichuan?

The Jin Dynasty had been beaten half to death by the Mongols, so why not dare to attack the Jin Dynasty now? Isn't that too conservative? Besides, the Song Dynasty didn't want to go to war with the Jin Dynasty, but just wanted to teach it a small lesson and ask for the two countries to be on equal footing. Is that too much to ask?
Even the cunning Shi Miyuan nodded slightly and said, "That makes sense. However, since we're just trying to teach the Jin a lesson, where exactly should we attack them? Henan is absolutely not an option. The Jin army has never deployed a single soldier there."

"Qinzhou!"

Lou Yao blurted out, "Qinzhou is located in Shaanxi. The governor of Qinzhou, Shuhu Gaoqi, led 3,000 soldiers to rescue Zhongdu. After the Mongolian army retreats, they will surely be promoted and have no time to return. Let's get ready and take Qinzhou."

Qinzhou belonged to Gansu in later generations, but in the administrative divisions of this era, it belonged to Shaanxi.

This place is located at the intersection of Shaanxi, Gansu and Sichuan provinces, and controls the upper reaches of the Yellow River valley. It has been the gateway to Longyou and a strategic point since ancient times.

As long as the Song army broke through Qinzhou, the 800-li Qinchuan Plain would be at the Song army's disposal. This was the reason why the Jin Kingdom stationed the famous general Shuhu Gaoqi and his 3,000 elite troops here.

"So good."

Zhao Kuo said, "Convey my order, Sichuan Governor An Bing, to lead an army of 100,000 and capture Qinzhou for me. But after taking Qinzhou, there is no need to advance further. Lest we destroy the Jin Kingdom, that would be disastrous."

"Your Majesty, Holy Might!"

All the ministers paid homage together with great respect.

At this moment, both Zhao Kuo and the ministers of the Song Dynasty were worried about what would happen if the Jin Dynasty was destroyed if they fought too hard.
No one was worried about what would happen if Song lost the battle.

(End of this chapter)