I traveled with them to the Northern Song Dynasty

Chapter 350 Zhao Yu, the Invincible One

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To be honest, for a moment, Zhang Chun wavered, thinking that if Zhao Cheng could become the crown prince, she could become Zhao Yu's empress, and perhaps achieve her goal of surpassing Li Lin, Ye Shiyun, Ma Xiaojiao, and Yuan Qingcheng.

But Zhang Chun quickly realized that Zhao Shou did not seem like a crown prince who could be easily replaced. Zheng Xiansu was also a long-lived man, and Zheng Xiansu had other sons. More importantly, Zhao Yu had hundreds of sons, and among them there might be princes who were more outstanding than her sons.

Most importantly, Zhao Yu is in excellent health and can still enjoy the company of ten women a night without getting tired. He might live to be a hundred years old. Even if Zhao Cheng becomes the crown prince, he might not outlive Zhao Yu.

"Better to be a big fish in a small pond than a small fish in a big pond!"

Thinking of this, Zhang Chun bowed to Zhao Yu and said, "I beg Your Majesty to grant my request!"

The world is too big, so big that it is unrealistic for Zhao Yu to conquer the entire world on his own.

Didn't Temujin also create the Great Mongol Empire with the help of his sons and clansmen?
Therefore, Zhao Yu had no problem accepting Zhang Chun's idea of ​​sending her son to explore the land of the Princes. In fact, Zhao Yu hoped to have more sons like him, so they could conquer the world on their own and save him the trouble of settling them down.

Based on this idea, Zhao Yu readily agreed.

Seeing that Zhao Yu was still so obedient to her, Zhang Chun thought, 'Your Majesty, I'm not doing this to target you, nor will I harm you. This is only for my sake and your sons' sake. We can't put all our eggs in one basket, can we? It's right of you to enfeoff some of your sons. In the future, whether things rise in the east or fall in the west, or vice versa, you will be invincible…'

The Song Dynasty and the Prince Continent are too far apart. Even though the Song Dynasty has started the Industrial Revolution, it can only control the Prince Continent for a short time and cannot control it forever.

Just like the expansion trajectory of the Great Mongol Empire.

Starting from the grasslands, Genghis Khan expanded his power across Eurasia with his cavalry and the thousand-household system, but he never established a truly centralized system of government.

When his son Ögedei succeeded to the throne, although the various vassal states nominally submitted, they had in fact formed the rudiments of autonomy due to their great distance and ethnic differences.

The descendants of Jochi developed an independent military force on the Kipchak Steppe, the Chagatai clan controlled trade routes and taxes in Central Asia, and the Ilkhanate gradually became a unique political system due to its integration with Persian culture.

After Ögedei's death, the suzerainty briefly maintained by Güyük and Möngke was essentially based on the personal prestige and military deterrence of the successors to the Khanate. When Kublai Khan and Ariq Böke were vying for the Khanate, the four Khanates simply broke away on the grounds of "not recognizing the legal system of Han China." The nominal superpower system completely collapsed, and they eventually evolved into independent regimes, even going to war with each other over territorial disputes.

At the heart of this process lies the dilution of the cost of governance by distance and the inevitable strengthening of local power's control over resources.

Although the Great Mongol Empire's postal system could transmit government orders, it could not allow the Northern Khanate to intervene in the population management of the Golden Horde in real time, and it was even more difficult to transport all of the Persian taxes back to Karakorum.
Similarly, when Song Dynasty ships needed to travel for two months or even longer to reach the Prince's Continent, the seeds of Song Dynasty's control over the Prince's Continent had already been sown.

Of course, if the industrial revolution in the Song Dynasty had progressed quickly enough, this timeframe would have been extended.

But the final outcome will not change.

Looking out the window at the steamships coming and going on the Bian River, Zhang Chun clearly realized this logic.

The Song Dynasty was able to easily take over the Prince Continent and deal with it however it wanted because of the technological gap in the early stages of the Industrial Revolution—steel ships crushed the indigenous tribes, goods produced by textile machines and steam engines could be exchanged for local precious metals, and the agricultural tools and crop improvements brought by immigrants made the colony temporarily dependent on central supplies.

However, Zhang Chun, who was well aware of the evolution of history, knew very well that this dependence would reverse over time: once the descendants of immigrants adapted to the climate of the New World, learned to use local iron ore to imitate agricultural tools, and even after the industrial revolution began on the Prince's Continent, the demand for materials from the Song Dynasty would decrease sharply.

More importantly, it is the natural evolution of power.

Just as the rulers of the Chagatai Khanate transformed from "guardians" to "Khans," Zhao Yu's descendants and officials of the Prince Continent will gradually become localized. Their families will be rooted in the land of the Prince Continent, their children will intermarry with local immigrants, and their interests will be deeply intertwined with the development of the Prince Continent.

At that time, when the Song Dynasty demanded that all the gold and silver revenues of the Prince Continent be handed over, they would instinctively choose to retain them, just like the nobles of the four Khanates in history; when the court tried to transfer the troops stationed on the Prince Continent to suppress the rebellion in Europe, they would refuse on the grounds of "defending against the natives".

Several generations later, the people of the Prince Continent may still respect the emperor of the Great Song Dynasty as their monarch, but the actual power of governance has long since fallen into the hands of local powerful families, just as the Ilkhanate, although retaining the name "Mongol," has become a Persianized dynasty.

Of course, Zhang Chun would never allow such a thing to happen.

While Zhang Chunhui tries her best to help her son immigrate, she also wants her son to follow the path of Western colonizers to some extent. That is, by instigating conflicts between different Native American tribes, causing them to fight each other, and at the same time, using viruses to reduce the Native American population, so that Han Chinese will gradually become the majority of the population on the Prince's Continent.

On this basis, through measures such as changing clothing regulations, hair-keeping regulations, and Han-style regulations, the Prince Continent will be completely transformed into another Great Song Dynasty.

To put it bluntly, Zhang Chun's goal is that even if one day the Prince Continent is no longer under the control of the Song Dynasty, it must still be a Han Dynasty, not an Indian Dynasty.

At this stage, while Zhao Yu can still provide support, we should establish the foundation of our own empire in the region as soon as possible.

When the connection between the Great Song Dynasty and the Prince Continent becomes as loose as that between the northern deserts and Persia, her descendants will naturally take over the land they have already effectively controlled and become the true rulers of the Prince Continent.

This is not betrayal, but simply conforming to the inevitable pattern of division that occurs when all great empires reach their limits of expansion.

Zhang Chun looked at Zhao Yu and thought, "At least for the time we're alive, the Prince Continent will definitely belong to you. Even after you die, our descendants will surely honor you as their founding monarch. As for the Song Dynasty, well, that's another story..."

……

After obtaining Zhao Yu's consent, Zhang Chun immediately wrote to Zhao Tang and Zhao Kai at the front line, urging them to return quickly and prepare to head to the Prince Continent to seize territory.

Zhang Chun also instructed Zhao Cheng and Zhao Kai to bring back more talented people, especially the assistants she had prepared for the two brothers, such as Yue Fei, Chen Kangbo, and Zhang Xian, so that Yue Fei and the others could protect them as they fought for supremacy on the Prince's Continent.

Zhao Cheng and Zhao Kai knew that their mother, Zhang Chun, was no ordinary woman; she was very capable, and most importantly, she wouldn't harm them. Therefore, after receiving Zhang Chun's letter, Zhao Cheng and Zhao Kai quickly handed over the people and tasks they were responsible for to others.

At the same time, Zhao Tang and Zhao Kai told Yue Fei and the others that they were planning to go to the Prince Continent to explore the wilderness, and hoped that Yue Fei and the others could go with them.

To Zhao Cheng and Zhao Kai's surprise, Yue Fei and the others were unwilling to leave their homes and go to the Prince Continent, thousands of miles away, to fight a group of weak Native Americans. They preferred to stay in the Song Dynasty and help the court eliminate the Hu people who often came south to raid.

In other words, Yue Fei and others preferred to defend their country rather than become invaders.

This was a great disappointment to Zhao Tang and Zhao Kai, especially the former.

These two years of frontline experience made Zhao Cheng increasingly certain that Yue Fei had the makings of a great general.

Zhao Cheng finally understood the true value of his mother Zhang Chun's words to him: "Although this child has not yet shown his talent, his intelligence is like that of a young Qu Bing, and his wisdom and strategy are close to that of Li Jing in his prime. He will surely become a pillar of the state in the future."

It is said that when Zhao Cheng first met Yue Fei, he found him to be unremarkable in appearance, with one eye bigger than the other, and a year or two younger than him. It was hard to imagine that such a little kid would be such a powerful general as Huo Qubing and Li Jing.

To put it bluntly, if Zhang Chun hadn't been known for his ability to recognize talent and predict the future, Zhao Cheng might not have valued and given Yue Fei such important responsibilities. Later, Yue Fei followed Zhao Cheng to the battlefield.

At first, Zhao Cheng felt that Yue Fei was nothing special, just a bit brave and clever.

However, as he gained experience on the battlefield and participated in more battles, Yue Fei's performance in the army became increasingly different.

He could pinpoint the key points of offensive and defensive formations that ordinary generals would need to spend years figuring out after watching one or two drills.
Most people can only recite the ancient and profound principle of "mutual generation of surprise and conventional tactics" in military strategy, but he was able to turn theory into practical tactics in a battle to protect supplies. He used three hundred infantrymen to pretend to be the main force to hold back the enemy, while sending another hundred men to flank and burn their supplies.

Since he went on the expedition, Zhao Cheng has repeatedly made military achievements with his talent and battlefield intuition. He has always been proud of his military talent, but he was secretly amazed by Yue Fei's rapid progress.

In one ambush against a small group of Jin cavalry, Zhao Cheng's initial plan was to hold the position and wait for reinforcements. However, after surveying the terrain, Yue Fei bluntly stated, "Although the enemy is fierce and brave, they are deep in enemy territory. There is a shallow valley on the side of their camp where we can set up an ambush. If we use a small force to launch a feigned attack to lure the enemy, and then use the main force to cut off their retreat, we can annihilate them in one battle."

This plan ultimately yielded great success.

From observing the terrain to devising a plan, Yue Fei took less than half an hour.

Even Zhao Cheng himself believed that such keen insight into the battlefield situation and swift response to tactical adjustments required more time for deliberation and analysis.

At that time, Yue Fei was only a little over fifteen years old, but he had already demonstrated military skills that surpassed his peers in several battles, both large and small.

Today, Yue Fei is not only the bravest in the army, but also adept at assessing situations. His understanding and application of military strategy can no longer be summarized as "clever" or "heroic." He is clearly the prototype of a born general.

Zhao Cheng became increasingly convinced that his mother Zhang Chun's comment, "He will surely become a pillar of the nation in the future," was by no means an empty boast.

That is why Zhao Cheng wanted to take Yue Fei away.

Although Yue Fei was young, he was very opinionated. No matter what Zhao Cheng said, he refused Zhao Cheng's suggestion on the grounds that "while one's parents are alive, one should not travel far."

Zhao Cheng knew that "while parents are alive, one should not travel far" was just an excuse. In reality, it was because Yue Fei had studied a lot with him, which made Yue Fei somewhat develop in the direction of a scholar-general.

Confucianism emphasizes "loyalty to the emperor and love for the country" and "benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom and trustworthiness." Yue Fei was deeply influenced by this, and what he cared about most was the safety of the Song Dynasty and the well-being of millions of people.

Yue Fei knew that if he went with Zhao Cheng to the distant Prince Continent, although it would allow him to expand the territory of the Song Dynasty and make his own achievements, it would not be of direct benefit to the Song Dynasty in the face of the current threat from the Hu people.

Therefore, Yue Fei preferred to stay on this familiar land, using his wisdom and bravery to protect every inch of the Song Dynasty's territory and spare the people from the suffering of war.

Many people couldn't understand Yue Fei's choice. They couldn't understand why he wouldn't take the opportunity when the promising Fourteenth Prince wanted to mentor him; wasn't he just ruining his own future?
Many people also believe that Yue Fei will definitely fall into obscurity, be sidelined, or even become an ordinary military officer.

Of course, some princes knew how capable Yue Fei was, and since they did not follow their elder brothers, they extended olive branches to Yue Fei, hoping that he could assist them.

Before Yue Fei could reply to the princes, the appointment and dismissal of Yue Fei were announced.

No one expected that the Privy Council would allow Yue Fei to take over all the troops left behind by Zhao Cheng, and also transfer Zhang Xian, who had taken over all of Zhao Kai's troops, to Yue Fei's command.

Good news came from the delivery room: Yue Fei had been promoted.

Moreover, from this point on, Yue Fei had already become a young general capable of leading independently.

As for Zhao Cheng and Zhao Kai, they were very disappointed that they couldn't persuade Yue Fei, Chen Kangbo, and Zhang Xian to go with them.

However, this is just a regret.

Yue Fei and others were ungrateful, while others were ungrateful.

Zhao Cheng and Zhao Kai easily recruited three hundred outstanding veterans, and even officers, from the front lines, and brought them back to Bianliang, the capital of Tokyo.

After Zhao Tang and Zhao Kai returned, Zhang Chun learned that they had failed to bring Yue Fei and the others back, which made Zhang Chun very angry.

But at that moment, Zhang Chun couldn't care less about any of that.

Zhang Chun not only took out all her savings, but also borrowed a large amount of money from Li Lin, Ye Shiyun, Ma Xiaojiao, Yuan Qingcheng, and other concubines who were on good terms with her, and gave it all to Zhao Cheng and Zhao Kai, so that they could buy boats and recruit more soldiers and laborers.

As a result, Zhao Cheng and Zhao Kai each led more than 10,000 men, hundreds of craftsmen, and more than 30,000 laborers.

This is not the most critical.

Most importantly, Zhang Chun chose Florida as the landing site for Zhao Cheng and Zhao Kai. Florida has fertile land, a suitable climate, and potential for agricultural development. Zhao Kai chose California on the West Coast, even specifically San Francisco, a region rich in resources and suitable for development. If they could find that gold mine, their early development would far surpass that of others.

Of course, this is on the premise that Zhao Tang and Zhao Kai can find these two areas using the method Li Lin taught them.

In short, Zhang Chun spared no effort in preparing the best conditions she could provide for Zhao Cheng and Zhao Kai's sons.

However, Zhao Yu did not prepare additional resources for Zhao Tang and Zhao Kai. Instead, he treated them equally and provided them with the same start-up funds as Zhao Xiu, Zhao Da, and the other princes who went to the Prince Continent to explore the land.

Ok.

Zhao Xiu, Zhao Da, and the other princes who went to the Prince Continent to explore the land actually received a lot of additional support from their mothers' families and their supporters.

Looking at it this way, Zhang Chun didn't really break the rules; she was just more willing to gamble.

in short.

After thorough preparation, Zhao Tang and Zhao Kai went to the Prince Continent one after the other.

At the same time, more than a dozen princes also set off.

The Song Dynasty's conquest of the Prince Continent thus began...

……

(End of this chapter)