I traveled with them to the Northern Song Dynasty

Chapter 318 Good Son

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This crucial battle was won. Crucially, Zhao Yu annihilated at least half of the Jin army's elite forces in this battle, most of whom were Jurchens.

According to the "Compilation of Treaties between the Three Dynasties and the Northern Frontier", there were more than 100,000 households of Jurchen people born in the Liao Dynasty, and the number of households of Jurchen people who were educated in the Liao Dynasty increased to more than 10,000 households by the end of the Liao Dynasty. The total number of households was no more than 200,000.

If we calculate based on an average of three to five people per household, the number would be approximately six to seven hundred thousand.

In addition, the "Liao Jurchens," represented by the Jurchens from the former territory of the Balhae Kingdom, numbered over 100,000 households in the Balhae Kingdom alone.

Overall, the total number of Jurchens is estimated to be around 700,000 to 800,000.

In addition, some believe that the Jurchen people in the Heilongjiang region numbered around 800,000 to 900,000 during the late Liao and early Jin dynasties.

Regardless of the type, among these less than one million Jurchens, there were also the elderly, women, and children. The number of Jurchens who could actually serve as soldiers was probably only two or three hundred thousand.

In one battle, Zhao Yu wiped out nearly 100,000 Jurchen men.

For the Jin Dynasty, which had only recently been established, this was an unbearable blow, a devastating disaster that could cause the newly formed Jin Dynasty to teeter on the brink of collapse and shake its very foundations.

Moreover, the Jin Dynasty also had the remnants of the Liao Dynasty as an adversary, as well as challenges from numerous tribes on the grasslands.

To put it bluntly, even if the Song Dynasty stops attacking the Jin Dynasty, it will be very difficult for the Jin Dynasty to maintain its status as the hegemon of the grasslands.

The Kereit tribe, one of the most powerful tribes in northern Mongolia, was nomadic in the Orkhon and Tuul River basins. It consisted of multiple tribal alliances, had a wide sphere of influence, and possessed considerable military strength.

The Naiman tribe, which operated in the Altai Mountains, was a large and prosperous nation with a relatively developed economy and military. It maintained close ties with surrounding tribes and was one of the core powers of the western grasslands.

The Tatar tribe, a powerful alliance of multiple tribes that roamed the Hulunbuir grasslands and the Kerulen River basin, was one of the main forces in the eastern grasslands.

The Merkit tribe, distributed in the Orkhon and Selenge River basins, lived a nomadic life. The tribe was brave and skilled in battle and often clashed with neighboring tribes (such as the Kereit and Mongol tribes). It was a powerful tribe.

Located north of the Yin Mountains, the Ongud tribe, though smaller than the others, held a crucial geographical position, serving as an important link between the grasslands and the Central Plains. It guarded the border for the Liao Dynasty and held a special strategic status.

Furthermore, the Qiyan tribe, which was not yet unified at this time and comprised multiple branch tribes, was the predecessor of the Mongols.

These tribes each occupied different areas, and they fought and formed alliances with each other, together constituting the political landscape of the grasslands.

Will they allow the Jin Dynasty, which had been severely damaged by the Song Dynasty, to become the overlord of the grasslands?

Judging from the current situation, even if the Jin Dynasty does not suffer further annihilation of its forces, it will not be able to recover its national strength for at least twenty years.

In these twenty years, the industrial revolution of the Song Dynasty will be fully completed.

By then, or even before that time, the Song Dynasty could sweep across the grasslands and completely eliminate the threat posed by nomadic peoples to the Central Plains dynasties.

In fact, Zhao Yu could try to destroy the Jin Dynasty now, but due to the current inconvenient transportation, the cost of destroying the Jin Dynasty would definitely be very high, the benefits would be small, and the governance costs would be high.

But if we wait a few years until the trains and automobiles of the Song Dynasty are fully developed, all of these problems will no longer exist.

Therefore, with the war having progressed to this point, Zhao Yu could have stopped.

However, on the other hand, since the Song Dynasty had already won the battle, wouldn't Zhao Yu be losing out if he didn't reap some benefits?

This was not what Zhao Yu wanted, even though he didn't lack the money from the Jin Dynasty.

So, after allowing the Song army a day to rest, Zhao Yu appointed Liu Fa as Grand Marshal, Tong Guan as Supervisor, Song Jiang as Deputy Grand Marshal, and Zong Ze as Deputy Supervisor, leading the Northern Army, Tiger Army, Western Army, and Divine Machine Central Army on a northern expedition to pursue Tong Guan and his 50,000 light cavalry. The goal was to force the Jin Dynasty to sue for peace, pay war reparations, and make up for the losses of the Song Dynasty.

It is worth mentioning that after resting, the Liao army, led by Yelü Chun, also went to capture Liao Zhongjing.

After the Northern Expeditionary Song army left, the remaining Song troops continued to clean up the battlefield.

Meanwhile, Zhao Yu had already returned to Yanjing City under the protection of his personal guards, the Shenji Vanguard Army, the Shenji Left Army, and the Shenji Right Army.

Upon his triumphant return, Zhao Yu was warmly welcomed by the Liao people of Yan.

Since its rise to power, the Jurchens launched a series of wars of aggression, conquering cities and seizing territories, burning, killing, looting, and committing all sorts of atrocities. This caused the people of Liaodong to suffer greatly from the war, become displaced, and brought heavy disasters to the people of Liaodong.

Now that Zhao Yu has led his army to a great victory over the Jin army, he has brought long-awaited peace and hope to this land that has suffered so much. How could the people of Liaodong in Yan not be overjoyed and how could they not regard Zhao Yu as their savior?

Inside Yanjing city, colorful flags fluttered and drums resounded. The people spontaneously took to the streets to welcome Zhao Yu's return.

As Zhao Yu rode his tall horse, gazing at the enthusiastic people before him, his heart was filled with emotion. He knew that this victory was not merely a temporary military triumph, but a crucial step for the Song Dynasty to regain its prestige and win the hearts of the people.

At the same time, Zhao Yu also understood that the road ahead was still long. Although the Jin Kingdom had suffered heavy losses, it might not easily submit. There were also many tribes on the grasslands that needed to be dealt with. If the Song Dynasty wanted to truly gain a foothold on this land, there were still many challenges waiting for him.

Upon returning to the imperial city of Yanjing, Zhao Yu, without taking a break, immediately summoned his ministers and advisors to discuss the next steps in controlling the grasslands.

Nomadic peoples, like an untamed wild horse, have always been a major threat to the Central Plains dynasties.

I won't go into detail about the Song Dynasty.

The Jin dynasty destroyed the Northern Song dynasty; the Mongols destroyed the Southern Song dynasty. Both Song dynasties were destroyed by nomadic peoples from the north.

By the Ming Dynasty.

In the early Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang used swift and decisive measures to eliminate the remaining forces of the Northern Yuan, forcing Emperor Shun of Yuan to flee to the Mongolian Plateau. However, the Mongols did not disappear as a result, but instead split into the Tatars, Oirats, Uriyangkhai and other tribes. These tribes ruled independently and fought each other incessantly.

After Zhu Di came to power, he attempted to bring Mongolia under his complete control by personally leading five expeditions to the northern deserts.

Although these battles by the Ming army severely damaged the Mongol forces, they failed to eradicate the threat. The Mongol tribes were like weeds, impossible to extinguish even with fire, and would spring up again with the spring breeze.

The Ming Dynasty's governance of Mongolia was not limited to the military level.

The Ming Dynasty once attempted to cut off the Mongols' access to supplies such as grain and iron by closing the border horse markets, thus forcing them to submit. However, the economic blockade only spurred the Mongols' plundering activities.

Later, the Ming Dynasty attempted to divide the various Mongol tribes by "using barbarians to control barbarians," for example, by supporting the Oirat against the Tatars. However, this strategy was like drinking poison to quench thirst.

Under Esen's leadership, the Oirat Mongols rose rapidly, and the Tumu Crisis became a great humiliation for the Ming Dynasty. Emperor Yingzong of Ming, Zhu Qizhen, was captured, and Beijing was in imminent danger, exposing the limitations of this military strategy.

Even though the Ming Dynasty later opened up trade through the "Longqing Peace Treaty" in an attempt to alleviate the conflict through economic means, the Mongol tribes still did not truly submit, and border troubles continued to occur frequently.

In addition, the Ming Dynasty's border defense system also revealed serious problems. Border institutions such as the Nurgan Regional Military Commission and Hami Guard, which were established in the early Ming Dynasty, could not be maintained for long due to problems such as long distance and difficulty in supply.

In addition, the Ming Dynasty declined in national strength in the later period, and its finances began to be strained. Border soldiers often lacked pay, and their combat effectiveness was far inferior to before.

The Mongol leader Altan Khan even besieged Beijing at the end of the Ming Dynasty, forcing the Ming Dynasty to compromise.

This military passivity prevented the Ming Dynasty from completely resolving the Mongol problem. In contrast, the Qing Dynasty's later banner system and religious control were far more profound and enduring than the Ming Dynasty's garrison system. Coupled with intermarriage and the Eight Banners system, the Qing Dynasty thoroughly subjugated the Mongols, who submitted to the Qing and willingly integrated into its territory, remaining undisturbed for centuries.

More importantly, the Ming Dynasty lacked a deep understanding and effective utilization of Mongolian culture. While the Mongols practiced Tibetan Buddhism, the Ming Dynasty failed to effectively leverage this religious influence, relying instead solely on military and economic means. This one-dimensional approach to governance prevented the Ming from establishing a stable ruling order in Mongolia. In contrast, the Qing Dynasty vigorously supported the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism (Yellow Hat sect) in Mongolia, encouraging Mongol nobles to become lamas. Because lamas were forbidden from marrying, Mongolia's population and military strength gradually declined.

By the time of the Republic of China, the population of Mongolia had dropped to less than 500,000, while the number of monks and nuns was still as high as 12.8% of the total population.

This demonstrates how successful the Qing Dynasty's methods of governing the grasslands were.

These are all things that the Song Dynasty could learn from.

Here, Zhang Chun contributed a large number of feasible methods to Zhao Yu, and some of her "ideas" were so impressive that Cai Bian and others applauded them.

Zhao Yu also praised Zhang Chun generously, and even asked Zhang Chun what reward he wanted.
Unexpectedly, Zhang Chun said to Zhao Yu, "Your Majesty, I do not want any reward. I only wish that Your Majesty would praise my son Zhao Cheng. He has just survived a near-death experience..."

Speaking of this matter, Zhao Yu's feelings were actually quite complicated.

Zhao Cheng first caught Zhao Yu's attention when he, Zhao Shou, and Zhao Kai went to participate in the imperial examination and even passed with high honors.

At that time, Zhao Cheng even achieved the rank of Tan Hua in the imperial examination, which was even better than Zhao Ji's.

At that time, Zhao Yu truly remembered his son Zhao Cheng.

However, Zhao Yu was convinced that Zhang Chun had guessed the question correctly.

Looking back now, even if Zhang Chun guessed the question correctly, Zhao Tang, who was not yet thirteen years old at the time, had already done a pretty good job.

Later, Zhao Cheng even managed to become a student in the upper dormitory in just three years, proving that his success in becoming a third-place scholar was definitely not simply due to Zhang Chun's accurate prediction of the exam questions.

This time, Zhao Yu personally led the expedition. Zhao Cheng first went alone to persuade the Khitan tribes living in Gubeikou to hand over Gubeikou. In this battle, he chose to go to the most dangerous front line to fight desperately.

Zhao Tang's performance was already exceptionally outstanding.

It could even be said that if Zhao Shou were ever unable to fulfill his duty as crown prince or if something were to happen to him, Zhao Cheng might be the most suitable prince to succeed Zhao Shou as crown prince.

In other words, Zhang Chun achieved her goal; she raised an outstanding son and a very good candidate for the crown prince.

However, Zhao Cheng was too ambitious and too audacious. He was suited to expanding territory, not to being a ruler who defends a city.

Whether this is a good thing or a bad thing is hard to say. After all, it's best to have an emperor who defends the territory behind an emperor who expands the country, as that would likely be more beneficial to the dynasty.

Moreover, Zhao Cheng not only went to the front lines to fight himself, but he also brought Yue Fei, the future marshal of Zhao Yu, to the front lines to fight.

This method is good for training people, but it's too dangerous. You have to understand that the casualty rate of soldiers on the front lines is very high, especially against such a powerful and skilled army as the Jin army.

It is no exaggeration to say that Zhao Cheng and Yue Fei were quite lucky to survive this battle.

From an emperor's perspective, Zhao Yu hoped that Zhao Cheng and Yue Fei would undergo such training, because only by truly rising from the bottom would they be more capable of shouldering great responsibilities.

In other words, Zhang Chun's choice of route for Zhao Cheng was correct.

From a father's perspective, although Zhao Yu wanted his sons to be trained, he did not want them to actually take risks.

This is why Zhao Yu placed most of his sons who participated in this battle in the hollow formation.

In reality, Zhao Yu did not want to praise Zhao Cheng's behavior because he feared his other sons would follow suit. As the saying goes, "He who walks by the river will eventually get his shoes wet." If that day ever came, Zhao Yu would have to bury his son, and no matter how many sons he had, he didn't want to experience that.

On the other hand, even if they didn't die on the battlefield, Zhao Yu would lose three to five children every year, and sometimes even ten or eight children a year. If a few of them died on the battlefield, he would probably only be sad for a while, not heartbroken or devastated.

There was no way around it; Zhao Yu had far too many sons, and they would soon surpass Mulai Ismail. Perhaps the pain of losing a son was not as important as having some outstanding sons.

In short, Zhao Yu was very conflicted.

With such mixed feelings, Zhao Yu agreed to Zhang Chun's request and met with Zhao Cheng.

Without even looking closely, Zhao Yu could tell that Zhao Tang looked at least 70% like him.

This undoubtedly brought Zhao Yu and Zhao Cheng closer together.

However, because they were not familiar with each other, Zhao Yu didn't know how to express his fatherly love when he was alone with his son.

After a long while, Zhao Yu said, "Your mother has high expectations for you, so she is inevitably strict with you. Don't blame her."

Zhao Cheng replied respectfully, "Your subject is used to it and does not find it bitter. Moreover, your subject knows that my mother is strict in order to teach your subject to become a capable person and be able to shoulder great responsibilities. She has no other intentions."

Zhao Tang's maturity made Zhao Yu feel a little sorry for him. After all, he was not even sixteen years old yet, but he was already skilled in both literature and martial arts, reasonable and understanding, and possessed a maturity beyond his age. This showed that he had borne pressure and responsibility far beyond his peers since childhood.

Zhao Yu thought to himself, if such a child were born into an ordinary family, he might be able to grow up carefree and enjoy the joys of childhood, but as a prince, fate would surely push him onto a more magnificent and cruel stage.

Zhao Yu felt sorry for Zhao Tang for three seconds and said, "Good son."

Then, Zhao Yu changed his tone and said, "Your mother has already taught you a lot, enough for you to benefit for a lifetime. Today, I will teach you some life-saving skills. A tree that stands out in the forest will be felled by the wind; a mound that rises higher than the bank will be eroded by the current..."

What Zhao Yu taught Zhao Cheng was very simple; to sum it up in two words: keep a low profile.

Those who achieve great things not only need the courage to overcome obstacles, but also the wisdom to bide their time. In the vortex of the court and the imperial court, being too flamboyant will only invite unnecessary suspicion and disaster.

Zhao Yu looked at his son, who was still quite young but already showed a certain determination, and felt both gratified and expectant.

Zhao Cheng was indeed very perceptive and immediately stated that he would no longer be high-profile in the future.

After Zhao Cheng left, Zhao Yu summoned his sons, Zhao Jian and the others, who knew nothing but had recklessly gone to the dangerous front lines to fight.

Instead of rewarding his sons, Zhao Yu told them, "A wise man does not stand under a crumbling wall..."

After Zhao Yu finished scolding them, they left feeling wronged. They couldn't understand why, after trying so hard and even risking their lives to get their father's attention, their father not only didn't praise them but also criticized them.
Before long, they discovered that they had been quietly transferred to key departments for training and were developing much better than those princes who did not work hard, even though those princes' mothers came from prestigious families or were favored by Zhao Yu.

Later, after Zhao Yu returned to the palace, their mothers were frequently chosen by him, and some even became pregnant again as a result.

For example, Lady Zhou, who had not been favored by Zhao Yu for more than ten years.

Only then did they understand Zhao Yu's complex feelings: he wanted them to start from the bottom and get plenty of training, but he also didn't want them to go through danger, and he certainly didn't want his brothers to follow their example...

……

(End of this chapter)