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

Chapter 173 The Southern Song court was in an uproar, what to do?!

The current prime minister of the Song state is Shi Miyuan, who holds the official titles of Grand Tutor, Right Chancellor, and Privy Councilor, and is also granted the title of Duke of Wei.

In addition, there were four chief ministers.

Zheng Qingzhi served as Vice Chancellor and concurrently as Signatory of the Privy Council.

Qiao Xingjian served as Vice Chancellor and concurrently as Signatory of the Privy Council.

Xue Ji served as Vice Chancellor and concurrently as Signatory of the Privy Council.

Ge Hong, Vice Chancellor, Duke of Dongyang.

"Have you all read Zhao Shuo's 'Decree to Annihilate the Jin'? Now, Emperor Wanyan Shouxu of Jin has sent Wanyan Ahu as an envoy to our Great Song Dynasty to request assistance. Do you think our Great Song Dynasty should consider the principle of 'if the lips are gone, the teeth will be cold' and send troops to help the Jin Dynasty resist the Mongols, or should we sit idly by and let the Jin Dynasty and the Mongols fight each other?"

Zhao Yun slowly looked at the five prime ministers.

Born into humble circumstances, he was blessed with good fortune at the age of eighteen, and was placed on the throne by Shi Miyuan from an ordinary commoner. Now only twenty-one years old, he has little experience in governing the country, as Shi Miyuan has been in charge of state affairs since his ascension.

At this crucial moment that would determine the fate of the Song Dynasty, he was truly flustered. Although he tried his best to remain calm, his hands inside his sleeves were trembling slightly.

After all, he couldn't possibly be unaware of the precedent set by the Song-Jin maritime alliance that destroyed the Liao Dynasty.

But then again, even if the Song Dynasty helped the Jin Dynasty, could it really stop the Mongol army? If they angered the imperial son-in-law Zhao Shuo, the Song Dynasty would probably perish even faster.

The rumors about Zhao Shuo being a descendant of Emperor Taizu terrified him even more. Everyone was a descendant of Emperor Taizu, yet while Zhao Yun was still a commoner, Zhao Shuo was already the ruler of a nation! Who was more qualified to inherit the legacy left by Emperor Taizu was truly uncertain!
"Your Majesty! In my humble opinion, our Great Song should sit back and watch the tigers fight."

The speaker was Xue Ji, a confidant of Shi Miyuan and concurrently the Vice Chancellor and Signatory of the Privy Council. It was too undignified for the Prime Minister of the Great Song Dynasty to engage in public infighting with civil officials, so Xue Ji often acted as Shi Miyuan's mouthpiece.

Xue Jidao said, "Since the war between the Mongols and the Jin Dynasty began, the Jin Dynasty has not only failed to maintain good relations with our Great Song Dynasty, but has also implemented a strategy of 'compensating for losses in the north with gains in the south,' attacking our Great Song Dynasty multiple times. Now that they have been driven to the brink of despair by the Mongols, they suddenly remember the importance of maintaining good relations with our Song Dynasty. Where were they before?"

"Furthermore, the Jingkang Incident was such a blood feud that our Great Song Dynasty, from the emperor down to the soldiers and civilians, has never forgotten it for a single day. Now, if Your Majesty sends troops to help the Jin invaders, can you face the two emperors, Huizong and Qinzong, who died tragically in a foreign land? Can you face the ancestors of our Song Dynasty?"

"As for the principle of 'if the lips are gone, the teeth will be cold,' Your Majesty need not worry. As the saying goes, northerners are skilled with horses, and southerners are skilled with boats. Our Song Dynasty has the natural barriers of the Yangtze and Huai Rivers, and the Jiangnan region is covered with waterways. What do we have to fear from the Mongol cavalry?"

"In short, let the Mongols destroy the Jin Dynasty if they want to! What does the fall of the Jin Dynasty have to do with my Song Dynasty?"

Although Xue Ji rose to power by flattering Shi Miyuan, he was not without ability. Zhao Yun nodded repeatedly at these words.

"That's not true!"

Qiao Xingjian, who was also a Privy Councilor and a member of the Privy Council, immediately objected, saying, "What do you mean by saying that northerners are good at horses and southerners are good at boats? The Tang Dynasty swept across the world. Could Xiao Xian of the south have resisted it? Besides, Emperor Yang of Sui was a tyrannical and incompetent ruler. He was able to destroy the Southern Chen Dynasty when he was still a prince!"

"Although Your Majesty is not Emperor Chen Houzhu, Zhao Shuo is far more powerful than Emperor Yang of Sui. If Zhao Shuo destroys the Jin Dynasty and then marches south, how will our Song Dynasty resist him?"

Although Qiao Xingjian is over fifty years old this year, he is still a handsome old man. With neatly trimmed hair and beard, and a dashing appearance, he was the object of many ladies' affections in his youth. Now that he is older, the dignified and solemn temperament that has been honed by the years gives him an extraordinary and awe-inspiring presence.

At this moment, Qiao Xingjian spoke eloquently, and Zhao Yun also felt that his words made a lot of sense, nodding repeatedly.

Zhao Yun looked at another prime minister, Zheng Qingzhi, and said, "Minister Xue advocates sitting on the sidelines and watching the tigers fight, while Minister Qiao thinks we should ally with the Jin against the Mongols. I am also at a loss. Minister Zheng, what do you think?"

"I also believe that if Zhao Shuo destroys the Jin Kingdom and then sends troops south, our Great Song will find it very difficult to resist."

"Oh? So, Minister Zheng agrees with Minister Qiao's opinion?"

"No!" Zheng Qingzhi shook his head and said, "I believe that it is precisely because Zhao Shuo destroyed the Jin Dynasty that our Great Song Dynasty is unable to resist. Therefore, our Great Song Dynasty should not ally with the Jin Dynasty to resist the Mongols, but rather ally with the Mongols to destroy the Jin Dynasty!"

"Huh? Why?"

Zheng Qingzhi said confidently, "It's a very simple principle. After Zhao Shuo takes all the land and people of the Jin Kingdom, his strength will be even greater. How can our Great Song Dynasty resist him?"

"But if our Great Song allies with the Mongols to destroy the Jin, we can gain more territory and people. Correspondingly, Zhao Shuo will lose some territory and people. This trade-off is the capital that our Great Song can use to stand in front of Zhao Shuo."

"Furthermore, since our Great Song Dynasty has allied with the Mongols to destroy the Jin Dynasty, we are now a friendly nation to the Mongols, not an enemy. As long as our Great Song Dynasty behaves submissively, what reason does Zhao Shuo have to attack our Song Dynasty?"

Qiao Xingjian roared in anger, "The Mongol barbarians wage war for their children and wealth. Does Zhao Shuo need any other reason to attack our Great Song?"

Zheng Qingzhi, however, calmly replied, "As the saying goes, an army must have a legitimate reason for its war. If the reason is correct, then the words will be justified; if the reason is not correct, then the words will not be justified. It is much better for our Great Song Dynasty not to give Zhao Shuo a pretext than to give him a pretext, isn't it?"

"That's just sophistry! Have you forgotten the story of the maritime alliance between our Great Song Dynasty and the Jin invaders?"

"Of course we must learn from the lessons of the Maritime Alliance. But the lesson was not that our Great Song allied with the Jin to destroy the Liao, but that the army we sent was incompetent. Tong Guan led the army to a great defeat in the invasion of Liao, which allowed the Jin to see through the strengths and weaknesses of our Great Song, which is why they launched an attack on our Great Song."

After a pause, Zheng Qingzhi said confidently, "If this time, our Great Song Dynasty sends out a strong force to join forces with the Mongols to destroy the Jin Dynasty, and Zhao Shuo thinks that our hundreds of thousands of troops are all so elite, we might be able to maintain peace for several decades. After several decades, hmph, the Mongols will be corrupt and decadent, and might just become another Jin Dynasty."

"you you……"

Zheng Qingzhi came prepared and left Qiao Xingjian speechless.

He hurriedly kowtowed to Zhao Yun and said, "Although I cannot persuade Prime Minister Zheng, I know in my heart that allying with the Mongols to destroy the Jin is a dead end. Only by allying with the Jin to resist the Mongols can our Great Song have a glimmer of hope!"

"This……"

At this point, Zhao Yun was completely dumbfounded.

All three prime ministers have spoken. One advocates an alliance with the Mongols to destroy the Jin, another advocates an alliance with the Jin to resist the Mongols, and the third advocates sitting on the sidelines and watching the two fight. So, who should he listen to?
Zhao Yun had no choice but to ask Ge Hong, "Minister Ge, what do you think?"

"Your Majesty, I am old and senile, and truly do not know what to do. I beg Your Majesty to punish me!"

Ge Hong's original name was Ge Zhaiyuan. In his early years, he studied under Lü Zuqian, who changed his name to "Hong". Now he is over seventy years old and really doesn't want to get involved in this mess.

If the advice is correct, that's fine; but if the advice is wrong and leads to the downfall of the Song Dynasty, wouldn't that leave behind a lasting infamy?
Why bother with all this?

Since Ge Hong remained silent, Zhao Yun could only ask the only one who hadn't spoken, Prime Minister Shi Miyuan.
He both respected and feared Shi Miyuan. Without Shi Miyuan, he would still be an ordinary citizen of the Song Dynasty; how could he not be grateful? Without Shi Miyuan handling state affairs, could he have sat on the throne so securely? How could he not respect him?
What's frightening is that Shi Miyuan holds supreme military and political power in the country. He was able to put Zhao Yun on the throne back then, and he might just be able to depose Zhao Yun now. If he were to speak up, the matter would be settled, and Zhao Yun wouldn't dare to object.

Zhao Yun asked, "Duke of Wei, what do you think our Great Song should do now?" Shi Miyuan replied, "Actually, what Prime Minister Qiao and Prime Minister Zheng are arguing about is whether to ally with the Mongols to destroy the Jin, or ally with the Jin to resist the Mongols. In reality, it's about how much strength the Jin Dynasty still has, and how strong the Mongols really are."

"If even if our Great Song and the Jin Kingdom join forces, we are still no match for Zhao Shuo, then of course we should ally with the Mongols to destroy the Jin and give our Great Song more resources."

"If the Jin state can still be saved, we should prioritize national affairs and unite with the Jin to resist the Mongols."

"If the Jin Kingdom can still hold on without the support of our Great Song, then we should sit back and watch the tigers fight."

Zhao Yun's eyes lit up, and he asked, "Then what does the Duke of Wei think is the current strength of the Jin and Mongol states?"

"Such a matter of national importance cannot be decided based on my estimation. I believe that our Great Song should send a general with an elite force to the Jin Kingdom under the pretext of aiding the Jin Kingdom. They should not take the initiative to fight the Mongol army, but only assess the strength of the Mongol army and the Jin Kingdom for the court's decision. Of course, if the Mongol army insists on attacking our army, our army must also resolutely fight back and let the Mongol army know that our Great Song cannot be underestimated."

"Then, Duke of Wei, who do you think the court should send?"

Shi Miyuan said, "Let's send Meng Gong, the military commissioner of Jiangling, who is the son of Meng Zongzheng, a famous general of our Song Dynasty. Now that Meng Zongzheng has passed away, Meng Gong has taken over his 20,000 loyal troops. Your Majesty can order Meng Gong to lead 10,000 loyal troops to aid the Jin Dynasty and see how strong the Mongol and Jin armies really are."

Similar to the Jin Dynasty's "Loyal and Filial Army," the "Loyal and Obedient Army" was also a force united by hatred. However, the target of this force's hatred was not the Mongols, but the Jin people.

When Meng Zongzheng was alive, he recruited more than 20,000 brave men who fled from Tang, Deng and Cai prefectures in the Jin Kingdom to the Song Kingdom and organized them into the "Loyal and Obedient Army".

This team not only has a blood feud with the Jin Dynasty, but also, having been trained by renowned generals Meng Zongzheng and Meng Gong, is currently the strongest fighting force in the Song Dynasty.

Even if we were to actually clash with the Mongols, it would not diminish the prestige of the Song Dynasty.

Meng Gong is thirty-one years old this year. Although he has only been in charge of the Zhongshun Army for two years, he has been famous throughout the world for nearly ten years and can be considered one of the most famous generals in the Song Dynasty.

Nine years ago, Meng Gong believed that the Jin army would inevitably attack Fancheng, and suggested to his father, Meng Zongzheng, that they ambush them near Luojia Ferry. The Jin army did indeed arrive, and the Song army ambushed them while they were crossing the river, annihilating half of the Jin army.

Later, Meng Zongzheng and Meng Gong were ordered to relieve Zaoyang, but they were separated during the battle. Meng Gong saw his father wearing a white battle robe and riding a white horse in the enemy ranks and shouted, "That's my father!" He immediately led his cavalry into the enemy lines and rescued his father!
This one battle alone proves that Meng Gong was a promising general with both wisdom and courage.

Two years later, Meng Zongzheng ordered Meng Gong to launch a surprise attack on the Jin army. Meng Gong broke through eighteen strongholds, beheaded more than a thousand people, and seized a large amount of military equipment and supplies. It was a rare victory for the Song Dynasty against the Jin Dynasty, and Meng Gong's name resounded throughout the Song Dynasty from then on.

Currently, Meng Gong is the military commissioner of Jiangling, commanding 20,000 loyal and obedient soldiers. He is the most suitable candidate to lead the army to the Jin Kingdom to assess the strength of both countries.

"Very well, we'll do as the Duke of Wei says!"

Zhao Yun nodded slightly, and the matter was settled.

Half a month later, Meng Gong led 10,000 loyal soldiers into the territory of the Jin Dynasty.

At the same time, Zhao Shuo's troops were replenished and assembled, and they were ready to take action against the Jin state.

The first step is to select someone to guard the house.

Zhao Shuo ordered Duoerboduoheishen to lead a grassland commander of one thousand households, a Han army commander of ten thousand households under the Bordered Yellow Banner, and seventy thousand soldiers to guard Hebei.

He ordered Tamachi to lead a thousand-household unit from the grasslands, a ten-thousand-household unit from the Bordered Black Banner of the Han Army, the Plain Red Banner of the Navy, and sixty thousand soldiers to guard Shandong.

Duolibuhe led a thousand households of the grassland to guard the Hulunbuir Grassland.

These three grassland commanders were originally Zhao Shuo's subordinates, and had always fought alongside Zhao Shuo as his main force.

They are now Zhao Shuo's vassals, and this time they are left to guard the home.

The grassland commanders under Gerile, Altana, and Sufei had long been stationed in the rear, only moving about when attacking the Western Xia. They were inevitably plagued by corruption and decadence, and the soldiers, having reaped meager spoils, yearned for war. The attack on the Jin dynasty provided a good opportunity to put them to a tough fight.

Therefore, Zhao Shuo's total troop strength for this attack on Jin consisted of six Han Chinese Eight Banners of Ten Thousand Households: Plain Red, Plain Blue, Plain Yellow, Plain Black, Bordered Red, and Bordered Blue.

Zhao Shuo's main force consisted of eight thousand-household troops, totaling ten thousand men, and one Khitan thousand-household garrison, totaling one thousand men.

This Khitan commander was originally led by Shi Moming'an, but Shi Moming'an passed away three years ago. The current commander of this Khitan commander is Shi Moming'an's eldest son, Shi Moxiandebu.

In addition, Zhao Shuo was accompanied by 200,000 soldiers.

Of course, the main role of these 200,000 soldiers was not to fight on the battlefield, but to ensure logistics and to quickly stabilize the local area after Zhao Shuo's army conquered it.

There would not be a situation where the Mongols captured a city and left only a few people to guard it.

In summary, Zhao Shuo's army on this expedition numbered approximately 290,000.

Zhao Shuo chose Shaanxi as his main target.

It's a very simple principle: in the past ten years, the Jin Dynasty established the Tongguan defense line along the Yellow River.

The Yellow River, a natural barrier, separates the north and south, while Tongguan Pass and the surrounding mountains and valleys are heavily fortified with troops, making it a strategically advantageous location for both offense and defense.

Zhao Shuo's navy is still building ships. The Zheng Hongqi Navy, with a force of 5,000 men, has been established for less than a year and usually trains in fishing boats. It is definitely no match for the Jin navy.

Therefore, Zhao Shuo's main focus was on Shaanxi.

At present, only Yanzhou in Shaanxi is in Mongol hands. Qingyuan Road, west of Yanzhou, was briefly captured by Muqali. Muqali attacked Fengxiang of the Jin Dynasty via Qingyuan Road but failed and was shot by an arrow before retreating. Qingyuan Road was also recaptured by the Jin Dynasty.

Now, Zhao Shuo's main force is not attacking Qingyuan Road to the west of Yanzhou, but Jingzhao to the south of Yanzhou.

Jingzhao, which is the later Xi'an.

Once Jingzhao is captured, Tongguan, where the Jin army is stationed, will be isolated from other parts of Shaanxi, allowing for more flexible attacks.

Since Fengxiang Prefecture, which had previously caused Mu Huali's defeat, had no reinforcements outside, its destruction was inevitable!

(End of this chapter)