I traveled with them to the Northern Song Dynasty

...

Although the marshals and commanders of the three armies appointed by Zhao Yu were all "outsiders," and many "outsider" Song generals participated in this western expedition of the Song Dynasty, Zhao Yu had already made arrangements in advance to have his sons act as the main force. If they encountered areas that they could not conquer, then the elite troops of the Song Dynasty would be sent in.

In reality, Zhao Yu had already distributed hundreds of thousands of foreign soldiers and miscellaneous troops among his sons, who were to support them themselves. Zhao Yu only kept 300,000 elite expeditionary troops for his own use.

In other words, from this moment on, Zhao Yu's sons who wanted to become feudal lords had to bear the consequences themselves.

Therefore, Zhao Yu made an agreement with his sons who aspired to be feudal lords: wherever they conquered, the spoils they seized would be split 50/50 with him, and the taxes from the territories they governed would also be split 50/50 with him.

If any of Zhao Yu's sons were unwilling to divide the spoils in this way, Zhao Yu would let them have their way, but he would not lend them troops, nor would he provide them with provisions, supplies, military support, or protection.

Frankly speaking, even if you take all of these into account, Zhao Yu would only earn 20% at most. The remaining 30% would have to be transported back to the Song Dynasty to exchange for everything needed at the front lines.

The benefits are obvious.

First, doing so would allow Zhao Yu's sons, who aspired to be feudal lords, to personally lead armies in campaigns and manage their own food and other affairs. Through battlefield battles, they would learn the difficulties of military affairs, and through governing their territories and collecting taxes, they would understand the fundamentals of governance. This would hone their abilities, allow them to accumulate military merits and build public support, and lay a solid foundation for their future pacification of their fiefdoms.

Secondly, in this way, the Song Dynasty completely bid farewell to the long-standing problems of excessive troops and the instability of foreign troops.

These hundreds of thousands of foreign soldiers and miscellaneous troops were originally a burden on the Song Dynasty's food and supplies. Now, they are all under the command of these princes, Zhao Yu, who aspire to be princes, and are self-sufficient. The court is relieved of the burden of supporting the army, and the problem of excessive troops within the country is eliminated. The treasury saves huge sums of money, and the people also benefit from lighter taxes. This solves the long-standing military and political problems in the court in one fell swoop.

Furthermore, many people opposed Zhao Yu's decision to continue waging wars abroad. They believed that Zhao Yu's actions would not benefit the Song Dynasty at all, but were merely a means to secure fiefdoms for his sons. They argued that if Zhao Yu were allowed to act recklessly, the Song Dynasty would be dragged down by these unnecessary wars.

Now that Zhao Yu has implemented this policy, the Song Dynasty can gain 30% of the benefits from foreign wars and 30% from subsequent governance with almost no effort.

Crucially, the Song Dynasty's workshops, iron smelting, weapon manufacturing, production of light and heavy industrial goods, shipbuilding, and grain transport would all become an ever-turning behemoth because of this western expedition.

After two or three decades of rapid development, the massive production capacity generated by the industrial revolution in the Song Dynasty is already showing signs of congestion.

Now, because of this Great Song Dynasty's westward expedition, the massive production capacity generated by the Great Song Dynasty's industrial revolution has been transformed into armor, weapons, provisions, vehicles, and ships needed on the front lines, becoming the reliance of the princes for territorial expansion and a strong boost to the Great Song Dynasty's local economy.

This inevitably led to deeper iron ore mining and more intense blast furnace smelting in the Song Dynasty. Guns and cannons from the blast furnace and gunpowder workshops, armor and weapons from the armory, and ships from the canal transport office were all continuously transported to the westward expedition route according to the needs of the front lines.

As a result, all industries upstream and downstream will surely flourish. Iron mining will require strong men, steel smelting will need craftsmen, firearms manufacturing will recruit skilled craftsmen, grain transport will hire porters, shipbuilding will gather boatmen, and even minor details such as clothing sewing and machinery repair will attract countless refugees and idlers.

People who might have caused trouble in the past due to poverty can now find a way to make a living in the industrial chain, which not only solves their personal food and clothing problems, but also eliminates the hidden dangers of social unrest.

The Song Dynasty did not need to invest additional funds in food and supplies for relief. It achieved "using war to support the people and using production to secure the country" solely through the economic cycle derived from war. This allowed the benefits of the Industrial Revolution to reach the grassroots level, creating a triple win of "fighting on the front lines, making money in the rear, and providing employment for the people."

At that time, millions, or even tens of millions, of people will be freed from hunger and cold, and will be able to make a living through industry. The number of refugees in the Song Dynasty will gradually decrease, and the city will become more prosperous.

These millions of jobs are the cornerstone of a stable nation.

This structure, which integrates military and industrial sectors and combines industry and trade, is somewhat similar to the military-industrial complex of the United States in later generations.

War is no longer simply a drain on national strength; instead, it has become an engine driving the economy.

From the perspective of the Song Dynasty, it did not need to bear the costs of conquest or waste the grain reserves. Based solely on its mature domestic industrial system, it transformed the needs of conquest at the front lines into opportunities for the development of all industries in the country.

Since the princes had to support themselves, they had no choice but to use the spoils of their conquests and the taxes from their territories to purchase all military and civilian supplies from the Song Dynasty.

The profits, split 50/50, ultimately flowed back to the Song Dynasty, becoming capital for industrial production. This formed a closed loop of "materials needed for frontline campaigns - materials produced by various industries in the Song Dynasty - profits from foreign countries exchanged for materials," with each link interconnected and perpetually generating new resources.

It was precisely because they later understood this sure-fire way of making money that the voices against the war in the court gradually subsided due to the tangible improvements in people's livelihoods and the replenishment of the national treasury. Everyone in the court and the country realized that Zhao Yu's western expedition, which was for the sake of his sons who wanted to become princes, was actually a major national event for expanding the territory of the Song Dynasty, benefiting all industries, and finding a way for the people.

More importantly, this system can deeply bind the industrial strength of the Song Dynasty with its military needs. The stronger the industry, the more reliable the front-line conquests will be; the more the front-line expands, the more market the industrial production will have. The two complement each other, allowing the national strength of the Song Dynasty to continue to rise in this cycle.

Ultimately, this will make the Song Dynasty the biggest winner behind this western expedition without anyone noticing.

Returning to the point, since Zhao Yu had already decided to make his sons, who all aspired to be feudal lords, the time was now for them to volunteer and build their own empires.

Zhao Yu's sons, who all aspired to become feudal lords, were also eager to make a name for themselves, learning from their fathers and brothers, and winning their own glory, territory, rewards, and future on the battlefield.

Unexpectedly, at the last moment, a Cheng Yaojin appeared out of nowhere, and their imperial uncle Zhao Ji actually wanted to seize their vanguard position.

Seeing this, Zhao Yu's group, who wanted to be the sons of the feudal lords, couldn't help but hesitate!

Firstly, Zhao Ji was Zhao Yu's elder brother and their uncle. From the perspective of respecting elders, they should not compete with Zhao Ji for the vanguard position.

Secondly, although Zhao Ji did not receive much financial support from Zhao Yu, Zhao Ji's strength was still greater than that of Zhao Yu's sons who all aspired to become feudal lords.

There was no way around it; Zhao Yu was rich, had soldiers, and had weapons, and no one could compare to him. But the problem was that Zhao Yu had many sons, and also many daughters. As a father, he couldn't be too biased; he had to treat them all equally. The key was that Zhao Yu also had to take care of the vast Song Dynasty and his own absolute stability, so naturally, he didn't have as many resources to allocate to his sons.

Zhao Ji, on the other hand, had been a prince for over forty years and was exceptionally talented. Making money would certainly be effortless for him.

Crucially, Zhao Ji's network of connections was far superior to that of Zhao Yu's sons, who all aspired to become feudal lords.

Yes.

Many of Zhao Yu's sons came from prominent maternal families who could provide them with some support.

However, on the other hand, many of Zhao Yu's sons who wanted to become princes came from families that had already fallen into decline or simply from small families, so the support they could provide was very limited.

Even if some of Zhao Yu's sons who aspired to become feudal lords came from prominent families, those families would not have poured all their resources into a single grandson.

But Zhao Ji was different.

In order to become a feudal lord, he almost sold his royal palace and borrowed a large sum of money from relatives and friends. Zhao Ji used all of this money to arm his own private army.

As a result, Zhao Ji recruited tens of thousands of "elite soldiers".

That wasn't all. Zhao Ji shamelessly begged Zhao Yu for a thousand Li Lin guns (old-fashioned matchlock guns), two thousand Shenbi bows, ten Li Lin cannons (also old-fashioned), fifty tiger crouching cannons, and thirty thousand thunderbolts.

In addition, Zhao Ji acquired three thousand warhorses and tens of thousands of soldiers and armor through various means.

With this kind of strength, they could wipe out a small country.

Most importantly, Zhao Ji also poached many fierce generals from the Song army with high salaries. He even recruited two less successful junior officers from the Shenji Army.

Most of the princes who aspired to become feudal lords and accompanied Zhao Yu on his western expedition did not possess the same strength as Zhao Ji.

In addition, Zhao Ji started by saying something like "fighting tigers is like brothers."

Zhao Yu's group of sons who wanted to become feudal lords naturally couldn't compete with Zhao Ji for the vanguard position.

Therefore, Zhao Yu readily agreed to let Zhao Ji serve as the vanguard.

Emperor Huizong was overjoyed and immediately led his private army by train to the front lines.

The train carrying Zhao Ji's Song army left Yumen Pass, traversed the Western Regions, crossed the Pamir Mountains and deserts, and made a long march of about 900 li before arriving at the Talas River and encountering the army of the Western Karakhanid Khanate.

This battlefield was specifically chosen by the Western Karakhanid Khanate.

Over the past year, the Song Dynasty has been continuously increasing its troops along the border between the two countries.

More importantly, the Western Karakhanid Khanate, and indeed the whole of Central Asia, was wary of the Song Dynasty's westward expedition. Therefore, they sent a large number of spies disguised as merchants to the Song Dynasty to investigate its strengths and weaknesses.

After extensive investigation, the Western Karakhanid Khanate and the entire Central Asia behind it guessed that the Song Dynasty was about to attack them.

Therefore, the Western Karakhanid Khanate deliberately deployed 100,000 troops in Talas, intending to use this battlefield to tell the Song Dynasty that more than two hundred years ago, the Tang Dynasty was defeated here by the Abbasid Caliphate (Black-Clad Caliphate) during its most prosperous period. Since then, the Tang Dynasty has declined from its peak and lost its military capability to expand into Central Asia in a short period of time. Gao Xianzhi was also dismissed from his post as the military governor of the Four Garrisons of Anxi due to the defeat.

It must be said that the Western Karakhanid Khanate had a clever plan, wanting to subdue the Song Dynasty's army without a fight.

But Zhao Yu and his men came here to expand their territory, so how could they be scared back by the tricks of the Western Karakhanid Khanate?

In short, shortly after Zhao Ji arrived in Talas, disregarding the fact that the Song army had gone on a long and arduous campaign, he launched a campaign against the Karluk tribe on the grounds that "the Karluk tribe had defected during the Battle of Talas, causing the Chinese army to be defeated."

The Khan of the Karluk tribe was forced to surrender, but Zhao Ji, in order to have an excuse to continue sending troops, broke his promise and killed all the men of the Karluk tribe, confiscated all the wealth of the Karluk nobles, and abducted the royal daughter of the Karluk tribe, which aroused dissatisfaction in the Western Karakhanid Khanate and even the states of Central Asia.

It must be said that although Zhao Ji's response was simple and crude, the effect was immediate.

Realizing that the Western Karakhanid Khanate was definitely up to no good this time, the Song army was quickly attacked.

Although the Song army was on a long and arduous expedition, it was well-equipped and had mature tactics. In the initial stage of the battle, it suppressed the army of the Western Karakhanid Khanate with the help of Li Lin cannons, Li Lin guns, and Shenbi crossbows. The two sides fought fiercely for several days, with each side winning and losing.

But the result was one to ten.

In other words, for every one casualty on the Song army's side, roughly ten casualties would be on the Western Karakhanid side.

This victory greatly excited Emperor Huizong.

With the advice and strategies of his advisors, Zhao Ji not only selected elite soldiers from the surrendered troops to replenish the troops who had died in battle, but also used the wealth he plundered from the Karluk tribe to nearly double the size of his own forces, making him stronger with each battle.

Zhao Ji even arrogantly refused rotations and reinforcements, and kept demanding food, supplies and weapons from Zhao Yu in the rear, especially firearms.

Emperor Huizong even said that if given a hundred Li Lin cannons, ten thousand Li Lin guns, and ample provisions and supplies, he could sweep through the Western Karakhanid Khanate for Zhao Yu.

Zhao Ji's arrogant remarks, made in a fit of rage by victory, were quickly transmitted back to Chang'an by telegram and reached Zhao Yu's ears.

Upon seeing this, Zhao Yu asked his ministers, "What reward should Prince Duan give for his great victory over the Western Karakhanid Khanate?"

Upon hearing this, Wang Fu immediately stepped forward and said, "The reason why Prince Duan was able to win this battle is all due to the bravery and skill of our Song soldiers and the unparalleled firearms of our Song Dynasty. If any of the princes had been in his place, they could have won as well. This is not due to Prince Duan's merit. I humbly hope that Your Majesty will make a wise judgment."

Compared to Wang Fu, who had never been on the battlefield, Tong Guan, who had been through many battles, had more authority to speak. He then stepped forward and said, "I have read the whole story of this battle. Prince Duan's victory was due to the power of his cannons and the effectiveness of his firearms, not to his ability to fight well."

Cai You added insult to injury, saying in order to distance himself from Zhao Ji: "Prince Duan refuses to rotate troops and does not want to increase the number of soldiers. He is already showing signs of being greedy for merit and reckless. In my opinion, Prince Duan is not far from disaster. It is advisable to issue an edict to punish him slightly as a warning to prevent him from ruining the affairs of our Great Song Dynasty."

With Wang Fu, Tong Guan, and Cai You leading the way, others began to speak up to belittle Zhao Ji's achievements.

Upon reading this, Zhao Yu thought to himself, 'These treacherous officials really know how to read my mind!'

Zhao Yu, however, said unhappily, "Absurd! Merit is merit, how dare you nitpick like this?"

Then, Zhao Yu directly set the tone: "Prince Duan has won the first battle, which has boosted our national prestige. How can we not reward him? Issue my decree to first reward Prince Duan with a county, record it, and settle the accounts with him after the battle."

"Your Majesty, we obey!" the Hanlin Academician, Hanlin Academician Chengzhi, and other officials replied in unison.

At this moment, Zhao Yu asked again, "Prince Duan wants one hundred cannons and ten thousand muskets from Li Lin. What do you all think, my dear ministers?"

When Zhao Yu inquired about Zhao Ji's desire for more weapons, the officials present were on tenterhooks, each thinking, 'Here it comes! This is the crucial issue…'

...(End of this chapter)