I traveled with them to the Northern Song Dynasty

Chapter 160 Using the Assassination Attempt to Cause Trouble

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Before waging a war that would destroy a nation, what is the most important thing?
Preparing an army?

No. A million-strong army, without a guiding spirit, is nothing more than a rabble.

Preparing provisions and supplies?

No, not necessarily. Even mountains of gold and seas of silver, without strategic allocation, cannot sustain a protracted war.

Have you thoroughly investigated the enemy's intelligence?
Not yet. Even if the enemy's situation is clear, if people are not united, it will be difficult to turn strategy into victory.

The most important thing is to unify internal thinking. This is the foundation of a rock, which can support a towering building.

In the past, Duke Xiao of Qin, through the reforms of Shang Yang, unified the ideology of the Qin state, establishing a nation based on agriculture and warfare, ultimately subjugating the six other states. Similarly, Emperor Gaozu of Han, Liu Bang, established the Three Laws, allowing the people time to rest and recuperate, thus unifying thought and enabling him to defeat Xiang Yu and establish the Han Dynasty, which lasted for four hundred years. Unified thought is not merely about agreeing on words, but also about solidifying will. Soldiers must know why they fight, and the people must understand the meaning of victory. In this way, with everyone united in purpose, nothing can be defeated.

Now, the Zhao Song Dynasty is about to begin its campaign to reclaim Western Xia. Zhao Yu was worried about how to unify the people's thoughts, and Western Xia provided him with this perfect excuse.

What else is there to say?

Taking advantage of the opportunity presented by the assassination attempt by the Western Xia that resulted in the deaths and injuries of hundreds of people in Bianliang, Zhao Yu immediately took action against the ministers who resolutely opposed the war, especially those who advocated returning the land acquired through war in exchange for peace. The first to be targeted were the conservatives led by Sima Guang in history and the ministers who still supported their fallacies and heresies.

During this process, Cai Bian once again proposed to exhume Sima Guang, Lü Gongzhu, and others from their graves and whip their corpses.

This still received Zhang Dun's support.

It's understandable that Zhang Dun and Cai Bian hated Sima Guang, after all, Sima Guang had persecuted Zhang Dun and Wang Anshi in the same way.

Lu Gongzhu had always been a moderate figure who tried to reconcile the old and new parties, and he had also taken good care of Zhang Dun. Unexpectedly, Zhang Dun even planned to exhume and whip his corpse. Perhaps a more reasonable explanation is to connect it with Cai Bian and the group of cruel officials under his command who sought revenge against the Yuanfeng regime.

It is worth mentioning that there is a new theory among the old party that Zhang Dun originally had a good relationship with Wen Yanbo, Lü Dafang, and Su Shi, but he was forced to demote them because of Cai Bian's coercion. Even the false accusation against Gao Taotao and the removal of Meng Xiang were influenced by Cai Bian.

Chen Guan, a prominent figure in the old party, has now changed his tune, saying that although Zhang Dun had a bad temper, he was far less cunning and treacherous than Cai Bian, and that most of the political persecution incidents perpetrated by the new party were actually Cai Bian's schemes.

In fact, this was mainly because the members of the old party realized that Zhao Yu was determined to give Zhang Dun a high position. They could not defeat Zhang Dun, let alone bring him down, so they set their sights on Cai Bian, who was keen on purging the members of the old party.

But Cai Bian was not someone to be trifled with. Even if the old party didn't provoke him, he was still looking for an opportunity to deal with these old stubborn members of the old party. Moreover, since some members of the old party dared to provoke him, he naturally wanted to make things bigger.

Cai Bian's retaliation was to publicly denounce the corpses of Sima Guang, Lü Gongzhu, and other spiritual leaders of the old party.

Fortunately, the decision-making power was not in Cai Bian's hands, nor even in the hands of Zhang Dun, who supported Cai Bian, but in the hands of Zhao Yu, who had completely taken control of the Zhao Song Dynasty.

When the matter reached Zhao Yu, he immediately crossed out the names of innocent people like Lü Gongzhu, and also dismissed the matter of exhuming and whipping Sima Guang's corpse on the grounds that the "methods were too cruel." He only allowed Cai Bian to further settle scores with Sima Guang and his family, in order to show his dislike for Sima Guang.

At the same time, Zhao Yu posthumously honored ministers and generals who had made outstanding contributions to the expansion of the borders during the reigns of Emperor Shenzong, Emperor Xu, and himself, such as Wang Anshi, Wang Shao, Li Xian, Zhang Jie, Lü Huiqing, Wang Hou, and Zhe Keshi.

Against this backdrop of political upheaval, Fan Chunli, who neglected his duties as a palace guard in an attempt to save money, was dismissed from his post and barred from future employment.

Following this, Li Yan and Yang Jian were both demoted seven ranks and placed on probation. All those who had neglected their duties in the Imperial City Guard and the Eastern Depot were demoted, with the options depending on the circumstances: either make amends through meritorious service or be completely expelled from these two departments.

What made Li Yan and Yang Jian even more uneasy was that Zhao Yu did not allow them to investigate the matter themselves, but instead sent four ordinary people who had not yet entered the officialdom to investigate the Imperial City Guard and the Eastern Depot, dressed in brocade robes specially bestowed by Zhao Yu.

That's right.

These four ordinary people were Li Gang, Yuwen Huangzhong, Zhao Ding, and Li Guang, who had unexpectedly distinguished themselves in this matter.

Most importantly, Zhao Yu publicly stated that someone had betrayed the country and sought personal gain by colluding with the Western Xia to assassinate him and harm his people. He ordered the Imperial City Guard and the Eastern Depot to send spies to infiltrate the Western Xia while simultaneously investigating ministers and merchants of the Zhao Song Dynasty who were close to the Western Xia.

Eager to atone for their crimes, the Imperial City Guard and the Eastern Depot acted ruthlessly, dismantling more than a dozen merchant caravans smuggling various goods to Western Xia, as well as the forces behind them. A large number of people and even officials associated with them were exiled and their families were investigated. The men were exiled to Hainan Island or Shamen Island, and the women were forced into prostitution camps.

In addition, Zhao Yu adopted Zhang Chun's suggestion and, after discussing with Zhang Dun, Zeng Bu and others, decided to establish a propaganda department, which is currently headed by Cai Bian and led and supervised by Zhang Dun.

Originally, the official gazettes of the Zhao Song Dynasty were managed uniformly by the central government departments.

In the management process, the Secretariat was responsible for compiling and editing the official gazette. The Censors were responsible for reviewing and approving it, a crucial link in the editing and distribution process. The Imperial Secretariat was the agency specifically responsible for the distribution of the gazette, with its officials tasked with information gathering and transmission. Furthermore, the Privy Council was responsible for reviewing and approving the drafts, scrutinizing and controlling the content of the gazette, especially sensitive information such as reports on floods and droughts, military intelligence, court secrets, and unauthorized memorials.

In general, the official gazettes of the Zhao Song Dynasty had clearly defined departments and officials responsible for each stage, including collection, editing, organization, review, and distribution, forming a relatively complete management and operation mechanism.

Zhao Yu's decision to establish a separate propaganda department involved integrating officials related to the official gazette, strengthening its functions, and creating a department equivalent to the propaganda department of later times, specifically responsible for unifying thought.

Following Zhang Chun's advice, Zhao Yu also ordered the Propaganda Department to publish ten-day newspapers and hire a group of narrators to go to crowded places to publicize the court's policies, the progress of the war, and the deeds of heroes.

Following Zhang Chun's advice, Zhao Yu told Zhang Dun and Cai Bian that the ten-day report should not only record the victories on the battlefield, but also include the people's hardships, the court's concern, and a vision for a better future.

Zhao Yu then told Zhang Dun and Cai Bian that the content of the ten-day report should be rich and diverse, including praise for the heroic deeds of generals, praise for ordinary soldiers who were not afraid of difficulties and defended their country; it should also expose the cruelty and atrocities of the Western Xia barbarians, and convey the firm belief that the Song army's just war would surely be won.

The story of Sima Guang and others who advocated for the return of the land but failed to achieve peace is also extensively recounted. Those who were punished for colluding with the Western Xia were also publicly criticized and denounced, ensuring that they and their families would never be able to recover.

Zhao Yu also proposed that the messengers should wear uniform attire, carry ten-day reports, and travel through cities and villages, using simple and unadorned language to convey the imperial court's message to every corner, rather than simply reciting from a script. At the same time, he encouraged folk art creation, using poetry, opera, painting, and other forms to artistically depict the great significance of the war and the heroic deeds of the soldiers, and to widely disseminate them. Outstanding performances could even be presented to the army.

Finally, Zhao Yu ordered the establishment of "Shrines of Loyal Martyrs" in various places to commemorate the heroes who sacrificed their lives for the country in the war, as well as the martyrs who made outstanding contributions to national unification and the rejuvenation of the nation.

In short, on the eve of this war of national annihilation, Zhao Yu needed to unify internal thinking and inspire the patriotism of the people and the fighting will of the soldiers through a series of well-thought-out measures.

Not long ago, Feng Ji, a censor, suggested that Zhao Yu should be considerate of the people's hardships and allow them to recuperate for another year before recovering Western Xia.

Unexpectedly, when the court session ended, a large group of students and commoners rushed forward, accusing Feng Ji and listing his crimes. Some even shouted insults: "Feng Ji is a spy from Western Xia. How can he be an official of our Great Song Dynasty?"

Some people went straight up to Feng Ji, accusing him of neglecting to reclaim his ancestral lands and of being disloyal and unfilial. Some even picked up rubble and threw it at him. Seeing the situation was turning against him, Feng Ji turned and ran back to the palace, thus avoiding being beaten to death by the angry crowd.

The next day, feeling wronged, Feng Ji asked Zhao Yu for permission to retire and return to his hometown.

During his tenure as an official, Feng Ji held several important positions. He was known for his integrity, frugality, and incorruptibility. He opposed the arbitrary changes made by powerful officials and was also a learned scholar who annotated numerous classic texts. His memorials, such as "Memorial on Promoting Frugality and Loving the People" and "Memorial Exposing the Treacherous and Evil Conduct of Cai Jing and Cai Bian," were incisive criticisms of current affairs, righteous and forceful, and objectively speaking, quite insightful.

Moreover, Feng Ji was nearly seventy years old and a veteran of three reigns of the Zhao Song Dynasty. He had made great contributions and endured hardship. Zhao Yu could not allow him to leave officialdom in disgrace with the label of "traitor".

Therefore, Zhao Yu comforted Feng Ji and told him that recovering Western Xia would solve the biggest border problem of the Zhao Song Dynasty once and for all, and now it was time to act.

After this incident, how could the old party members not understand? If they oppose the war now, they could really be labeled as traitors, and their ancestors and descendants would suffer humiliation along with them.

What more needs to be said? Even Su Shi personally wrote a poem to praise the recovery of Western Xia:
I often think of the flames of war on the frontier, and the raging sands of the desert. In my dreams, I lead my troops on horseback, and outside the tent, I hear the bugle call, my spirits soaring, yet my heart aches for the fate of my nation.

I aspire to be like Ban Chao, who threw down his pen to serve, or like Qu Bing, who captured the king. I long for the emperor's command to strike directly at the enemy camp, reclaim our lost territories, and achieve glory that will grace history.

Seeing this, Zhao Yu put Su Shi and Cai Bian in charge of promoting this, so as to prevent Cai Bian, who was prone to extremes, from going to extremes.

In fact, the people of the Zhao Song Dynasty were already quite extreme.

According to current public opinion, especially after the incident of the Western Xia sending assassins to kill Zhao Yu, the people, especially the radicals among them, hope that the Zhao Song Dynasty will launch a war to recover the Western Xia now.

Even many radical ministers in the court repeatedly petitioned to launch a campaign against Western Xia.

It was because Zhao Yu kept these people and these matters under control, giving Zhang Jie enough time and support, that the Zhao Song Dynasty did not rashly start a war.

However, now that things have come to this point, it is clear to everyone that the war for the Song Dynasty to reclaim Western Xia is inevitable; the only question is when it will begin.

Not only the people of the Song Dynasty and the Western Xia Dynasty realized this, but even the people of the Liao Dynasty were aware that a war between the Song and Western Xia was about to break out.

In this regard, without mentioning that Western Xia had been seeking an alliance with Liao to resist the Song Dynasty, it is only said that the Liao ruler Yelü Yanxi had recently repeatedly sent envoys to the Song Dynasty, ostensibly to persuade them to make peace. In reality, he was threatening to send troops to force the Song Dynasty to return Western Xia's territory and not to allow the Song Dynasty to "invade" Western Xia. The implication was that if the Song Dynasty dared to take action, Liao would definitely join forces with Western Xia to attack the Song Dynasty.

The reply from Emperor Zhao Yu and his minister Zhang Dun to the Liao Dynasty can be summarized in one word: "Get out!!!"

The unyielding stance of Zhao Yu and his minister Zhang Dun greatly worried Han Zhongyan, Su Zhe, and others. They never expected that Zhao Yu, who had previously been so shrewd and diplomatic, would now display such a rigid and unyielding side.

Han Zhongyan and others hurriedly advised Zhao Yu that with war against Western Xia imminent, they should not antagonize the Liao Dynasty, lest the Song Dynasty be attacked from both sides.

However, Zhao Yuquan did not take Han Zhongyan and the others' words seriously.

Zhao Yu knew Yelü Yanxi's true nature all too well; he knew Yelü Yanxi was an incompetent ruler who was not worth fearing at all.

The key point is that Zhao Yu is very clear that if the Song Dynasty does not go to war with the Western Xia, it will be fine. Given Yelü Yanxi's incompetent character, he is unlikely to cause too much trouble. However, once the Song Dynasty goes to war with the Western Xia, the Liao Dynasty will inevitably send troops to fight against the Song Dynasty.

This is inevitable.

Moreover, the more the Zhao Song Dynasty showed weakness, the more the Liao Dynasty would press closer and closer.

In that case, Zhao Yu might as well do the opposite.

Therefore, when the Zhao Song Dynasty sent an envoy to reply to the Liao Dynasty, Zhao Yu, on the advice of Zhang Dun, chose Lin Shu, the most hardline pro-war minister, to go.

Before leaving, Cai Jing, who was always eager to stir up trouble, secretly approached Lin Shu and hinted that Lin Shu should try every means to provoke the Liao Kingdom, and that there was nothing to fear even if the two countries went to war.

After the Imperial City Guard learned of this and reported it to Zhao Yu, Zhao Yu summoned Zhang Dun to discuss it. He felt that although this move was risky, it might actually deter the Liao Kingdom.

Therefore, Zhao Yu and Zhang Dun tacitly approved Lin Shu's trip to Liao to cause trouble, while ordering the Imperial City Guard and the Eastern Depot to send people to keep a close eye on Liao's reaction.

With the support of Zhao Yu and his ministers, Lin Shu arrived in Liao and immediately launched into a tirade against Yelü Yanxi: "In the past, when the Xia people were disobedient, the Northern Dynasty often seized Tanglong Town. Are you going to return it now?"

Tanglong Town was originally under the jurisdiction of the Zhe family of Fuzhou. After the Chenqiao Mutiny, it followed the Zhe family and came under the rule of the Zhao Song Dynasty. However, Tanglong Town faced a difficult situation and attempted to maintain a balance between the Western Xia and Liao dynasties. Later, the leader of Tanglong Town, Lai Shoushun, rebelled on the western border, and Tanglong Town was annexed by the Western Xia. Subsequently, war broke out between the Liao and Western Xia. In the first year of the Huangyou reign of Emperor Renzong of Song, the Liao army took advantage of the devastation of Tanglong Town and the flight of its clansmen to occupy it. Afterwards, the Liao people took measures such as relocating Yan people and establishing autumn defense troops to garrison the area to restore and develop the economy. At the same time, they established a new prefecture, "Ningbian Prefecture," in Hedong, which was easier to defend, and renamed Tanglong Town as Tanglong Town. The Liao Dynasty still occupies Tanglong Town to this day.

Lin Shu used this method to tell Yelü Yanxi that it is not permissible for the Liao Dynasty to seize the territory of the Western Xia, but not for the Song Dynasty to seize the territory of the Western Xia.
Yelü Yanxi and his ministers did not expect that Lin Shu would not mention that Western Xia was originally part of the Zhao Song Dynasty and was still a vassal state of the Zhao Song Dynasty. He argued that the Zhao Song Dynasty had a reasonable basis for recovering Western Xia. Instead, Lin Shu directly used the robber logic believed by the Hu people to confront Yelü Yanxi head-on.

This directly caused Yelü Yanxi's blood pressure to spike.

When Lin Shu returned to the embassy, ​​Yelü Yanxi sent someone to deliver the letter of state, demanding that Lin Shu kneel down to receive it.

However, Lin Shu believed that this was against etiquette and was unwilling to comply.

The officials on both sides then got into a dispute, which escalated into a heated argument.

Enraged, Lin Shu pointed at the Liao envoy's nose and shouted, "Barbarian dog!!!"

At this point, Yelü Yanxi finally broke down, exclaiming, "The Great Liao is a brotherly state, and its subjects are my subjects. To insult those around me is the same as insulting me!"

After that, the Liao Kingdom placed Lin Shu and his companions under house arrest in the embassy and stopped providing them with food and water, hoping to starve them to death.

Fortunately, there were still ministers around Yelü Yanxi who had not lost their minds. They strongly dissuaded him from doing so, which made Yelü Yanxi give up the idea three days later.

Even so, Yelü Yanxi still imprisoned Lin Shu and the Zhao Song Dynasty's delegation.

After the news reached the Zhao Song Dynasty, Emperor Zhao Yu and his ministers immediately used this as a pretext to mobilize grain and supplies to Hebei in a large-scale and elaborate manner, making it clear that they were preparing to attack the Liao Dynasty...

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(End of this chapter)