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

Chapter 247 Good News Keeps Coming: Zhao He's Wedding!
On the other side, Pu Shougeng looked at the ships in the port of Quanzhou: it used to be a forest of masts, one after another, with thousands of ships of all sizes racing against each other. Now that the army has set off, where have all the merchant ships gone?

Then look at the army at the port: according to everyone's previous promises, there should be at least fifty or sixty thousand troops, right? In the end, there were only about two thousand scattered people. And those leading figures were mostly collateral relatives of various wealthy merchants, who were not usually given much attention.

What's going on?

After a long silence, Pu Kaizong's second son, Pu Shougeng, finally uttered a sentence: "So, in the entire Fujian region, our Pu family is the most loyal subject?"

"I'm afraid that's the case."

Pu Kaizong smiled bitterly and said, "The literati in Fujian don't own much land, and many of them are exiled. How loyal can they be to the Song Dynasty? As for these merchants, they are all hoping that King Zhao Shuo will take over the Song Dynasty, develop maritime trade, and make a fortune!"

His eldest son, Pu Shoucheng, nodded and said, "If I were a merchant from the Song Dynasty, I would probably think the same. Zhao Shuo's kingdom is more than ten thousand miles long, with many enclaves, all connected by the sea. The Song Dynasty treats these merchants as goose that lays the eggs, but Zhao Shuo would probably treat them as the blood in his veins. Who these merchants are loyal to, is that even a question?"

"The problem now is, what should we do? With such a small force, can we save the Song Dynasty? Aren't we just going to Lin'an to our deaths?" Pu Shougeng said anxiously.

Pu Kaizong shook his head slightly and said, "Fujian Circuit has barren land, and most of the powerful people are involved in maritime trade, so of course they are not of one mind with the Song Dynasty. However, in other prefectures of the Song Dynasty, those scholar-officials occupy vast tracts of land. Why would they give it away to Zhao Shuo for nothing?"

Pu Shoucheng agreed, saying, "Yes, there's a saying among the Han people: 'To seize someone's livelihood is like killing their parents.' They will definitely fight Zhao Shuo to the bitter end!"

"So, we still have to go and save Lin'an?"

"Go! Why aren't you going?"

Pu Shougeng said, "Zhao Shuo and our True God Sect have a deep-seated hatred for each other. How can we let him take over the Song Dynasty so easily?"

He paused, then lowered his voice and said, "Of course, we must also prepare for the worst. Keep a close watch on the ships and soldiers you have, and make sure our families in Quanzhou are ready too. If the Song Dynasty truly cannot be saved..."

"how?"

"We'll plunder Lin'an City thoroughly. If we get the chance, we'll head south to Quanzhou and loot that too. Then, we'll set sail for Japan, Southeast Asia, Europe, India, and even the Black Continent south of the Ayyubid Dynasty. Hmph, the world is so vast, I refuse to believe Zhao Shuo can take it all!"

Pu Shougeng, eyeing the immense wealth of Lin'an and Quanzhou, revealed a greedy glint in his eyes and said, "Good! There's a saying among the Han people: 'Fortune favors the bold.' Let's go to Lin'an! As long as we have soldiers and money, where can't we find a place to settle?"

Pu Shoucheng was also eager to try, saying, "If we have the chance to plunder Quanzhou, we'll kill all ten thousand members of the Song Dynasty's imperial family there! Doesn't Zhao Shuo claim to have the blood of Emperor Taizu of Song? He killed our fellow believers, so we'll slaughter his entire clan!"

"That's it!"

Although the father and his two sons had a vague feeling that their mission to save Lin'an might not be able to save the Song Dynasty, they were still prepared for the last time—to make a killing while the Song Dynasty was on its last legs!
"Let's weigh anchor!"

At the same time, Wu Yuan had no choice but to issue the order.

Or else?

The Song Dynasty is now on the verge of collapse, so where would he find the time to deal with those merchants? Besides, those merchants have only sent far fewer ships and men than expected, so there's no really legitimate reason to deal with them.

Needless to say, these maritime merchants are united, and Wu Yuan, with his strength, may not be able to do anything to them.

Thus, the Song Dynasty's Fujian Circuit dispatched 10,000 troops, departing from Citong Port, heading towards Lin'an.

……

……

Three days later, in Xiangyang City.

By now, Zhao Shuo had captured Xiangyang for over two months. However, Zhao Shuo himself remained in Xiangyang, and his army did not voluntarily leave the Jinghu region to attack the Song Dynasty.

While in Xiangyang, Zhao Shuo took the initiative to do two things.

First, he reorganized the Song Dynasty's Jinghu army. Meng Gong's regular Song army now numbered over 50,000 and possessed considerable fighting strength.

Even after eliminating the dross and retaining the essence, Zhao Shuo still reorganized three Eight Banners households.

Meng Gong and Gao Da each led a 10,000-household commander, while the other 10,000-household commander was promoted from a 1,000-household commander of the Han Chinese Eight Banners.

This man was named Liu Erzu. He was one of the three leaders of the Shandong Red Turban Army, along with Yang An'er and Li Quan.

Now, not to mention Yang An'er and Li Quan, even Liu Erzu's old subordinate Peng Yibin has been a commander of ten thousand in the Han army for almost ten years. This time, he was finally granted the title of commander of ten thousand in the southern expedition, and Liu Erzu was overjoyed.

In fact, Liu Erzu's talent was not bad, but it was only passable.

Zhao Shuo's true choice was Guo Zhongyuan, the "most renowned general since the southward migration" of the Jin Dynasty.

However, how long had Guo Zhongyuan followed Zhao Shuo? And how many merits had he made?

Liu Erzu was getting old and had already told Zhao Shuo that he wanted to retire after the destruction of the Song Dynasty.

Although he didn't make many contributions, his small achievements accumulated to a considerable extent.

Zhao Shuo's goal was to give Liu Erzu a consolation prize. After the fall of the Song Dynasty, Liu Erzu would retire, allowing Guo Zhongyuan to take his place.

Secondly, the regular troops under Meng Gong who were not selected, as well as his local militia, were converted into local soldiers on the spot.

Then, together with Zhao Shuo's army, they promoted the equal-field system and the military system in Jinghu, and carried out the exchange of Song Dynasty paper money.

Then, Zhao Shuo waited for the "Letter to the People and Soldiers of Jiangnan" to slowly ferment.

"His Majesty's 'Letter to the People and Soldiers of Jiangnan' is truly worth a million soldiers!"

Yang Weizhong had said this to Zhao Shuo once before, but today it was Xin You, the commander of the Black Ice Guard, who said it to Zhao Shuo.

He personally delivered several intelligence reports, saying, "Chaos! Utter chaos! As long as His Majesty captures Lin'an, the entire Song Dynasty will likely be pacified with a single proclamation!"

Zhao Shuo didn't look at the intelligence reports and asked directly, "What happened again? I sent Guo Zhongyuan to Pingjiang Prefecture. With his talent, taking control of those rebel armies shouldn't be a problem."

"Chen Wei of Jiangnan West Road (Jiangxi) was originally besieging Chen Sanqiang and Zhang Mowang's rebel army. After reading Your Majesty's 'Letter to the People and Soldiers of Jiangnan,' he believes that the fate of the Great Song Dynasty is sealed and has made peace with Chen Sanqiang and Zhang Mowang. Both sides have sent envoys to surrender to Your Majesty! As long as Your Majesty approves, they will immediately switch sides!"

"it is good!"

Zhao Shuo had initially thought that something had gone wrong in the Song state again. To his surprise and delight, Chen Wei was willing to surrender Jiangxi.

Chen Wei was a man of both literary and military talent, and one of the most outstanding talents of the Southern Song Dynasty.

He was not only a Jinshi (successful candidate in the highest imperial examination) in the first year of the Kaixi reign of Emperor Ningzong of Song, but also an expert in military affairs.

Historically, Chen Wei was invited to serve as a staff member for Jia She, the military commissioner of Huaidong, to resist the Jin army and to offer advice on dealing with the loyal and righteous military situation in Shandong. Afterwards, he became the Southern Song Dynasty's troubleshooter, being dispatched wherever there was a rebellion.

He fought across Fujian, Jiangxi, and Guangdong, suppressing countless rebellions and historically resisting Mongol invasions in the Jianghuai region. Furthermore, he was a financial whiz, truly a well-rounded individual.

Like Meng Gong, it is a great pity that such outstanding Chinese heroes died in the civil war.

His initiative in coming to serve as prime minister indicates that he is one of Zhao Shuo's future prime ministerial candidates.

Zhao Shuo asked, "Is there any other good news?"

"Furthermore, there is news from the Song court. Guangnan East Road (Guangdong) and Guangnan West Road (Guangxi) have refused to come to the aid of the emperor. Guangnan East Road believes that the troops here are weak and the journey is too far, so there is little point in going to the aid of the emperor. They request that the court move the capital to Guangzhou. If they really cannot defeat our army, they can set sail for the sea."

What is the reason for the establishment of Guangnan West Road?

"They said that Annam was restless and it was difficult for the court to even defend itself, let alone defend the emperor. They suggested that the court move the capital to Guangnan West Road, adopt a strategy of replenishing the south after losing the north, and attack Annam."

Zhao Shuo shook his head and said, "It's too late. Given the current situation, the Song emperor is still the supreme ruler of Song in Lin'an. If they dare to move the capital over such a long distance, the imperial guards will probably mutiny before they even reach Guangdong or Guangxi, or they will be intercepted by local forces. By the way, what's the situation in Jinghu South Circuit (Hunan)?"

"Jinghu South Circuit is preparing to defend the emperor, but a commander named Wang Wen took the opportunity to rebel. Although he did not succeed like Pingjiang Prefecture, it was not a complete failure either, as he led his remaining troops to escape. Now, Jinghu South Circuit is busy suppressing Wang Wen's rebellion and cannot spare any resources to defend the emperor."

After a pause, Xin You added, "Actually, with limited intelligence right now, even our Black Ice Guard doesn't know whether Jinghu South Road is genuinely short of manpower or just pretending. However, it's clear that Song can't count on reinforcements from Jinghu South Road."

Zhao Shuo stood up, looked at the map hanging on the wall, and calculated, "Hmm, Pingjiang Prefecture, Sichuan, Lianghuai, Guangdong, Guangxi, Hunan, Jiangxi... It seems that the fate of the Great Song Dynasty is sealed. It won't be long before it falls into my hands. Is there any other intelligence?"

"Uh……"

Xin You hesitated for a moment, then stammered, "There's one more thing, which even we at the Black Ice Guard don't know whether it counts as intelligence or not."

Zhao Shuo said, "Go ahead and tell me!"

"It's like this, Zhang Rou, the commander of ten thousand households, has been showing everyone a painting when he chats with them lately. It's a painting called 'Ink Bamboo,' painted by his daughter."

"and then?"

"The painting was quite good. Zhang Rou's daughter is only fourteen years old this year, and it is rare for her to have such talent. Therefore, he kept saying that his daughter has such literary talent at such a young age, and she will definitely become the most talented woman in the North in the future. No one could refuse him, so they agreed without hesitation."

Zhao Shuo asked, "What is Zhang Rou's daughter's name?"

"We at the Black Ice Bureau don't know the given name of Zhang Wanhu's daughter."

"So, what is your Black Ice Station's view on this matter?"

Xin You said, "I'm afraid Zhang Rou, the commander of ten thousand households, has his eye on the heir apparent. Whether this is good or bad depends on what His Majesty thinks."

"That's how it should be."

Zhao Shuo didn't find anything wrong with Zhang Rou's little scheme.

After all, Zhao He is already twenty-six years old. Although he is unlikely to lack women, he does need to marry a proper wife.

But who is good enough for Zhao He?

It seems that only women from the Golden Family are worthy of Zhao He's marriage. But since Zhao Shuo hasn't considered the Golden Family all these years, it means he doesn't intend for Zhao He to marry into the Golden Family.

So, besides the Golden Family, who else is there?

He was one of Zhao Shuo's top civil and military generals.

Those commanders of the Han Chinese Eight Banners were most concerned about this matter.

This is not only about their wealth and glory, but also about the fate of this unprecedentedly great empire!

It's a very simple principle: the bloodline of Emperor Taizu was already very diluted by the time it reached Zhao He. More accurately, the Han Chinese bloodline was already very diluted.

We can't just stand by and watch Zhao He marry a woman from another ethnic group as his legal wife, can we?
Therefore, which of the generals, whose daughters of marriageable age did not want to become the crown prince's wife?

Zhao Shuo estimated that Zhang Rou's daughter's claim of being "the most talented woman in the North" was probably not just because the generals were embarrassed, but also because they were deliberately trying to push things along.

Xin You may not have been entirely innocent, or completely uninvolved.

Zhao Shuo continued, "Actually, I'm also quite troubled about He'er's marriage. Xin You, according to the intelligence from your Black Ice Guard, besides Zhang Rou's daughter, are there any other suitable candidates? We don't need to limit ourselves to my generals. Everyone says that Jiangnan has many beauties, but are there any outstanding figures in Jiangnan these days?"

"A beauty from Jiangnan?"

Xin You thought for a moment and said, "Yes! It is said that she is Shi Songzhi's eldest daughter. She is beautiful and intelligent and quite famous in Bianliang. The emperor has tried to take her into the harem several times, but Shi Songzhi has refused. Now that Shi Songzhi is ill at home, it is even more impossible for her to marry the emperor."

"What's the woman's name?"

“Shi Rouqing. Shi Rouqing also has a younger sister named Shi Huiqing. The two sisters are only one year apart, and they are said to be very good.” Xin You introduced them carefully.

The Black Ice Guard certainly wouldn't dare to monitor the Eight Banners households too closely, and there was no reason for them to inquire about the names of the women in their households.

However, there were fewer such concerns regarding Shi Songzhi, the current prime minister of the Song Dynasty. The Black Ice Guard had already thoroughly investigated Shi Songzhi's family background.

"That's it..."

Although Shi Songzhi did not have a good reputation in the Song Dynasty, Zhao Shuo did not see it that way.

Weren't Meng Gong and Yu Jie promoted by Shi Songzhi? And wasn't most of the grain stored in Xiangyang accumulated by Shi Songzhi?

Apart from his lust for power, Shi Songzhi had no flaws and was considered a remarkable figure of his time.

If his daughter is indeed a good match, it might be worth considering.

Zhao Shuo thought about it carefully and said, "Let's prepare for Shi Songzhi's two daughters and Zhang Rou's daughter. As for He'er's marriage, half of it depends on my opinion, and the other half depends on his own thoughts. Didn't he just write a few days ago saying that the European countries sent him a few Western beauties? Anyway, he doesn't lack women, much less offspring."

Actually, what Zhao Shuo is most worried about now is not Zhao He's marriage, but Zhao He's progress in Egypt.

Egypt has many deserts, making warfare completely different from fighting on plains.

Could Zhao He succeed in conquering Egypt with only 35,000 troops?

After all, Zhao Shuo clearly remembered that in historical records, even a genius like Napoleon led an army of 35,000 to attack Egypt, but ultimately failed!

(End of this chapter)