Song Dynasty

Chapter 248 The Height of the Temple ([-])

Du Shu was curious: "May I ask what uncle Wang Daosi came up with in the letter?"

"Empress Meng." Du Chong said with a proud smile: "Wang Shen is thoughtful and safe, as expected of the word Shen in his name. He also estimated in the letter that if His Majesty returns the capital, not only the officials, but also the Even the ministers in the court will strongly oppose it. There is no way, people like to be comfortable, who is willing to come to Jiankang, the first line of defense in the river. If the Jurchens go south like last year, Jiankang must be the first choice of Jin people .”

"After all, Hangzhou is still a few days away from Dajiang. If Jiang's defense is lost, even if he wants to escape, there is still time."

Du Shu: "Yes, everyone has this heart, but this matter is difficult."

Du Chong: "Wang Shen said in the letter that as long as someone finds Queen Mother Meng, it will happen."

Du Shu: "How did it happen?"

Du Chong said: "After the Jin people retreated, the imperial court could finally take a breath. The officials and all the officials wanted to live a peaceful life for a few days, and they didn't want to fight anymore. But, unlike everyone else, the Empress Dowager Meng also wanted to recover Lost land. The old man visited her old man according to Wang Shenxin's intention, and said that Jiankang is the center of the southeast, the hub of river defense and water transportation. In the future, if the imperial court regains the lost land by the Northern Expedition and welcomes back the two saints, it should start from here. The imperial court can only sit in the town to build Kang, in order to gather troops, horses, money and food for the Northern Expedition as soon as possible, and go out to the Central Plains. If the capital of the country is still located in Lin'an, there will be a lot of inconvenience."

"Even if the imperial court is unable to go north to use troops to recuperate and maintain the southeast half of the country in a short period of time, Jiankang must be defended. If Jiankang is not preserved, the southeast will not survive. If the official family returns to Jiankang, the emperor guards the gate of the country, and he should guard the land for the people of the world. As an example of resisting the enemy, our south of the Yangtze River should be as strong as gold, and we are not afraid of the Jurchen coming again. Otherwise, if the Jurchen came again or went south in two ways like last year, I may not be able to defend Jinling."

Du Shu couldn't help but yelled: "What an emperor guards the gate of the country, as it should be."

Du Chong showed a smile on his face: "When the old man spoke to the Empress Dowager Meng and asked the officials to restore health, the Empress Dowager only said that she was just a woman who didn't understand the affairs of the court and could not interfere in the affairs of the court. But After listening to the old man's words, especially when he heard that if the imperial court stays in Hangzhou for a long time, Wen Tian and Wu play, everyone does not want to fight, and they don't want to go north to recover their homeland, they change their faces. They only say, "Born in sorrow, die in peace .'"

"It can be seen that the Empress Dowager Meng is tempted, as long as she has the mind to restore Du Jiankang, it will be easy." Du Chong continued: "After I came down, the old man also contacted several military and political officials who advocated the Northern Expedition, lobbying for this Although none of them made a statement, Han Liangchen and others have already been tempted, and even Fan Zongyin seems to acquiesce in this matter. Of course, relying on word of mouth alone is not enough, and there is no real benefit. Who is willing to throw it away for nothing? The farm house and family property bought there moved to Jiankang with the whole family. It seems that the old man still has to bleed, so he can only give them great benefits."

"Uncle is brilliant." Du Shu praised: "However, is it really useful for Empress Dowager Meng to speak before the official family? If the official family insists on not coming to Jinling, who can do it?"

"Don't worry about the appointment. If the Empress Dowager Meng is determined to return the capital to Jinling, it will definitely happen. Don't underestimate her prestige in the court, otherwise, when the Jurchen West Route Army went south last year, Wan Yan Why did Chang want to attack Jiangxi, and why did he want to capture the Queen Mother Meng and completely destroy our Great Song Dynasty?"

As he spoke, he explained in detail the role and prestige of Queen Mother Meng in today's court.

After saying this for a long time, Du Shu finally understood the joints.

Strictly speaking, half of today's Song Dynasty in the southeast was founded by this strange woman.

In the past, Queen Mother Meng was originally a queen.Later, because of the struggle in the palace, he was abolished and demoted to a commoner.

In the year of Jingkang, Jurchen captured Kaifeng, captured the two emperors, and counted the number of concubines according to the roster of the palace.

Before, Empress Dowager Meng had been deposed as a queen, not to mention that she was not on the roster, and she had not lived in the palace yet.Therefore, she was spared the fate of being captured in the North.

When Emperor Daojun was captured, he thought of Queen Mother Meng, and asked someone to secretly give her a finger note, which read "Zhao's Note Mencius will pay for each other." Jiang Shan pinned all his hopes on Queen Mother Meng.

This can be regarded as a power of attorney. With this edict in hand, the Empress Dowager Meng has the legal basis for establishing a new monarch.

After the Jin army retreated, Kaifeng City left a puppet government headed by Zhang Bangchang, who was registered by the Jin army.Zhang Bangchang is a civil servant with little appeal.So he sent someone to invite Queen Meng, hoping to increase the government's appeal through Queen Meng.

Zhang Bangchang is very timid. He promised to be the false emperor at the beginning, but he was forced by Jurchen.However, no matter what, traitors are always traitors.

He also knew that he could not sit securely in this position. He had no soldiers and food, and once the Jurchen withdrew, he could not sit securely in this position either.

So, the Queen Mother Meng was invited to come out to listen to the government behind the curtain, and all the crowns were removed, and the jade seal and the emperor's ceremonial guard were returned to the Queen Mother Meng.

The first thing the Empress Dowager Meng, who was listening to the government behind the curtain, had to do was to elect a prince from the Zhao family to ascend the throne as the emperor.At that time, Zhao Jiu was also considered a wise and powerful man. He had the courage and insight to defend the defense. He was able to draw a hard bow and gathered a large number of soldiers and horses.

So, she sent someone to pick up Zhao Gou, and issued an imperial edict to make Zhao Gou emperor.

In May of the second year of Jingkang, Zhao Gou ascended the throne in Yingtianfu, Nanjing.

On the day of his accession to the throne, the Empress Dowager Meng withdrew the curtain, abdicated the throne, and never interfered in the government.

It can be said that Zhao Gou is able to have today thanks to Queen Mother Meng.Just imagine, if the Empress Dowager Meng had appointed someone else as emperor at that time, no matter how capable Zhao Laojiu was and how popular he was now, he would be nothing more than a marshal leading troops at this moment.

Because of this, the queen mother has a high reputation in the ruling and opposition parties.

If she proposes to return to Jiankang, the officials will definitely consider it carefully, and this matter may not be impossible.

After listening to these words, Du Shu suddenly realized: "Uncle is really clever!"

Du Chong stroked his beard with a smile and said, "You don't need to put gold on this old man's face. This idea came from Wang Shen. According to this old man, he is six or seven percent sure." Yes, this kid is far away in Huangzhou, but yes The state affairs and the general situation of the world are clearly understood, this person's methods and abilities are really good, and the old man's subordinates can be regarded as a great talent.

After laughing, he said again: "If this matter is far away in Jinling, the court will be out of reach. We can only wait and see. This matter is over, and you will return to Jianghan tomorrow. No, no, go directly to Wang Shenzhong's army in Dingzhou Xingyuanfu, don't delay for a moment, go as fast as you can. If you still stop and go like when you came here, don't blame the old man for not thinking of blood and family."

Speaking of this, he was already stern.

Seeing his ferocity, Du Chong was terrified: "Yes, uncle, my nephew is going to prepare his luggage right now, and we will definitely kill the Mani monster."

"Who said you want to suppress the Mani monster?" Du Chong shouted: "Mani monster, scabies, as long as they don't hit me in Jinling, what does it have to do with Du. The former Jianghan Zhizhi Li Heng There is an official document saying that he has ordered Wang Shen to send troops to Hunan to conquer Prime Minister Zhong. The old man has given Wang Shen an order to lead an army to Dingzhou to exterminate Li Cheng."

Du Chong's face was full of hatred: "Li Cheng is a traitor, the blood and blood of the Du family who killed me is unshakable, today I will pay back a hundred times. Du Shu, I heard people say that Wang Shen and Li Cheng are old, I am afraid that he will go down." You can't do this. You are the judge of his Xingyuan now, go over now and supervise this matter."

"Ah!" Du Shu opened his mouth wide in surprise.He was wandering around Du Chong's left-behind department during this time, so he naturally knew that Wang Shen was going to lead troops to Hunan.

At that time, he didn't pay attention to it, thinking that Wang Shen's willingness to send troops was mainly based on two considerations: First, the Manichean demons were really annoying, and their combat effectiveness was not weak.If you let it go, it might be another Fang La.Once the momentum is strong, they will inevitably flee to Jianghan.Jianghan is the foundation of the Sizhou army, how can others be allowed to sleep soundly on the side of the couch, even if Prime Minister Zhong does not go to fight Jianghan, Wang Shen must send troops in order to protect his own base; Embarrassed, he took refuge in Li Heng again.In order to keep Li Cheng as a capable general, Li Heng would naturally order Wang Shen to send troops to help in the battle.Li Heng is now nominally the highest military and political officer in the Jingchu area. If he gives an order, Wang Shen has to obey it.

Unexpectedly, there is a link in this: it turned out that it was his uncle who asked Wang Daosi to send troops... The uncle wanted Wang Shenzheng to suppress Li Cheng for him, and avenge the Du family's extermination... However, this matter is not humane.

No wonder Wang Daosi sent troops so readily.

……

In fact, in this year, the state's government orders are not good, and it is common for officers and soldiers to attack each other and annex each other. The imperial court can't control it, and can only acquiesce or even admit it.If Wang Shen swallowed Li Cheng, there would be no troubles.

"Don't, no, what a worthless thing, are you afraid that Li Cheng won't dare to go to Dingzhou?"

Du Shu: "No, no, my nephew is willing to go."

Du Chong's face was better: "Yozhi, it's very important for you to go here, so be careful. In fact, you don't need to do anything. If Wang Daosi is willing to work hard, there are ways to get rid of that thief Li Cheng. The old man is just worried about the king's way. You have to supervise him. Tell Wang Shen that if you become Li Cheng, Dinglizhou and Chenzhou will be him, and a Jiedushi cannot escape. In the future, Xuanfu On the one hand, it is no problem to be a general for generations. When the world sees him, they have to call Wang Xianggong."

"Yes, uncle, my nephew will leave and go to Hunan early tomorrow morning."

Just as he was about to leave, Du Chong suddenly stopped him and asked, "About him, can Dao Si get married?"

Du Shu looked puzzled: "It's not yet, what's wrong?"

Du Chong: "After the imperial court rewarded him this time, he is also a member of the Jingfu side. According to the imperial court system, his family members should be sent to the capital. When you see him, urge him to get married as soon as possible. In addition, the old man has given him I found a place in Jiankang, and ordered someone to build a house for him, and it should be finished when Hunan is pacified."

After bidding farewell to Du Chong, Du Shu didn't dare to delay, and immediately went out of the mansion to find Wu Tuo and others, and ordered them to prepare their luggage.

Early in the morning of the second day, more than 100 sergeants took a fast boat and rushed westward.

(End of this chapter)