I traveled with them to the Northern Song Dynasty

Chapter 242 The Ambitious Tong Guan

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Zhao Yu had long known that Song Jiang had gone mad with bloodlust in the south, not even sparing officials.

In fact, this idea had already begun when Song Jiang was acting on behalf of Heaven in the north.

However, most of the officials in the north were good officials carefully selected by Zhao Yu to implement the two new policies, so there was no major problem. The key was that most of them were newly transferred there and had not caused much harm to the local area. Furthermore, they were not yet familiar with the local gentry, which gave Song Jiang no excuse to carry out a massacre.

Officials in the south, however, were different.

To prevent officials from building up power in local areas, the Song Dynasty implemented systems such as avoiding officials based on their place of origin. Officials typically did not serve in one place for long and were often transferred every few years. For example, the term of office for local officials such as prefects was generally around three years.

However, through the mediation of the southern gentry, local officials were either retained in their posts due to their "outstanding political achievements," or they formed close ties with the local gentry by marriage, forming cliques, or becoming teachers and students. In short, they colluded with the local gentry.

If they don't kill them, the problem really can't be solved completely.

Therefore, from the perspective of actual results, there was no problem with what Song Jiang did.

What were Zhao Yu's thoughts on this?
What could he possibly be thinking?
Anyone who accomplishes great things understands the principle of focusing on the big picture and letting go of the small details.

For Zhao Yu, all he cared about was whether the gentry and landlords in the south could be purged and whether the court could smoothly implement the two new policies in the south. As for how many people Song Jiang killed, or whether they were officials, frankly, Zhao Yu didn't care.

Just as Zhang Chun said, Zhao Yu also knew that history is written by the victors.

Moreover, from the moment he conceived the idea of ​​defeating the gentry group, Zhao Yu had already mentally prepared himself for the possibility that his appearance would be altered and he would end up with a crooked face.

As for how it will end?

That's not simple yet.

Let's let our abilities speak for themselves.

As long as Zhao Yu wins, he can protect whomever he wants, and who can stop him?
If Zhao Yu were to lose, even protecting himself would be a problem, and Song Jiang would be left as a pawn to be discarded.

In short, for Zhao Yu, all of these were minor matters. The real issue was whether he could play the grand game of Jiangnan well and not lose control, lest Fang La or Song Jiang truly seize control of Jiangnan, or even the entire south, creating a Northern and Southern Dynasties. Apart from that, everything else was insignificant.

……

At the end of October in the eighth year of the Hongwu reign.

Tong Guan, who was serving as the military commander in the Northwest, received an order from Zhao Yu. Zhao Yu ordered him and Liu Fa to lead the Western Army to Jiangnan to suppress the rebel armies of Song Jiang and Fang La.

Tong Guan was an extremely ambitious man. Although he was a eunuch, he was never willing to be confined to the small space of the palace. Instead, he longed to make a name for himself on the battlefield and leave a significant mark on history with his military achievements.

in history.

Tong Guan led his army to conquer Qinghai and recovered four prefectures with lightning speed. The territory he expanded was more than 3,000 li, and he recruited more than 2,700 generals and more than 700,000 households. The border of the Northern Song Dynasty extended westward to Qinghai and even to the border of the Kingdom of Kucha. He created a brilliant military achievement that was rare in the military history of the Zhao Song Dynasty and made his name resound in the northwest.

With such achievements and such prestige, Tong Guan could enjoy a life of honor and comfort in the imperial court.

But Tong Guan was not satisfied with this. He wanted to achieve even greater military exploits, such as recovering the Western Xia.

Therefore, Tong Guan has been working towards this goal.

Later, Tong Guan led the Song army to a major victory in the war against Western Xia. The Song army captured Yonghe Village and Geta City in succession, and seized Hengshan, an important horse-producing area and troop supply base for Western Xia. The elite field troops of Western Xia were almost wiped out, and its capital, Xingqing Prefecture, was directly exposed to the Song army's advance. The whole country of Western Xia was shocked, and Li Qianshun had no choice but to once again submit to the Northern Song Dynasty.

From a military perspective, the Song army held an absolute advantage at the time, and if the offensive continued, Western Xia would most likely perish. However, just as Tong Guan was preparing to recover Western Xia in one fell swoop, Yelü Yanxi dispatched Liao envoys with 100,000 cavalry to Hedong, ostensibly to mediate the conflict between Song and Western Xia, but in reality, he was using military force to coerce the Northern Song Dynasty into ceasing hostilities.

When the news reached the capital, the court was in an uproar. The pro-peace ministers of the Song Dynasty immediately submitted a joint memorial, urging Emperor Huizong to accept the Liao Dynasty's mediation on the grounds that "the army is exhausted and the people are suffering, and peace should be the priority."

Looking at the urgent reports from the border, Zhao Ji thought of the northern defense line that had not been opened for a century since the Treaty of Chanyuan, and finally wrote "Approved" in vermilion ink on the memorial.

On the day the imperial edict reached the army, Tong Guan stood on Hengshan Mountain, gazing at the city walls of Xingqing Prefecture, which were faintly visible a hundred miles away. Suddenly, he plunged his sword into the yellow earth. The flying pebbles cut the back of his hand, and drops of blood seeped into the sand, just like his shattered ambition.

Tong Guan knew that he could not recover Western Xia without destroying the Liao Dynasty.

Moreover, Emperor Shenzong of Song left a will stating, "Whoever recovers Yan and Yun will be king." This will acted like a magnet, attracting Tong Guan's restless heart, which yearned to make a name for himself.

So much so that even when Tong Guan was almost seventy years old, when he had the opportunity to recover the Sixteen Prefectures of Yan and Yun, he still resolutely gave up his comfortable life and chose to lead the Song army north to recover the Sixteen Prefectures of Yan and Yun. He suffered a crushing defeat and was eventually beheaded by Zhao Huan.

Looking at Tong Guan's life, it's hard to tell just how ambitious he really was.

Tong Guan's ambition has not changed despite the changes in history.

In this life, Tong Guan also possesses strong ambitions.

Moreover, because Zhao Yu gave the main credit for the recovery of Qinghai and Western Xia to Zhang Jie, Lü Huiqing, Wang Hou and others, Tong Guan did not have the opportunity to take charge on his own. This left Tong Guan with nowhere to put his ambitions, like a caged tiger roaring in his heart day and night.

Two years ago, Wang Hou, a general of the Zhao Song Dynasty, passed away. Zhao Yu, considering Tong Guan's loyalty to him, appointed Tong Guan as the supreme commander of the Western Army.

After Tong Guan took office, he and his partner Liu Fa worked diligently to train the Western Army, preparing to make a name for themselves through the Western Army.

Meanwhile, Tong Guan had been studying the possibility of recovering Tibet and the Western Regions.

In fact, Tong Guan wanted to recover the five prefectures of Yan and the three prefectures of Pingluanying, and become a king of a different surname.

Unfortunately, Zhao Yu and his ministers had their own plans to recover the five prefectures of Yan and the three prefectures of Pingluanying, and Tong Guan, who was far away in the northwest, could not get involved at all.

Having no other choice, Tong Guan could only set his sights on Tibet and the Western Regions, which were closer to him.

At present, Zhao Yu is focused on solving the internal problems of the Zhao Song Dynasty and has no intention of expanding the territory, which leaves Tong Guan with no choice but to endure.

In addition to this, Tong Guan had another problem. He had no military achievements to lead independently, and he didn't even have experience in commanding troops on his own.

If that were the case, and Zhao Yu were to one day agree to recover Tibet and the Western Regions, Tong Guan would most likely not be able to become the commander-in-chief due to insufficient prestige.

Therefore, Tong Guan desperately needed an opportunity to command an army on his own, and ideally, to lead his troops to a glorious victory.

To Tong Guan's great delight, just as he was dozing off, a godsend arrived. Zhao Yu had actually given them the task of quelling the rebellion in Jiangnan.

This was practically a tailor-made opportunity for Tong Guan to rack up military merits and prestige.

Upon receiving Zhao Yu's order, Tong Guan quickly summoned Liu Fa and instructed him to immediately organize the army while he returned to the capital to meet the emperor and gather provisions and supplies.

In just seven days, Tong Guan returned to Bianliang, the capital of the Song Dynasty, to receive instructions from Zhao Yu in person...

……

(End of this chapter)