Tang Dynasty Mingyue Song Dynasty Pass

Chapter 777: From South to North

Su Chen had political ambitions. He did not want to stay in a corner, because that would only lead to destruction. As a time traveler, he was familiar with the course of history and knew about Zhao Kuangyin's great talent and strategy. He had always wanted to eliminate the southern regime, unify the country, and establish a unified Song Dynasty.

In the past, Su Chen had no idea of ​​resisting the Song Dynasty, because he was the son of an imperial physician whose family had fallen on hard times, and his father was a criminal. He could hardly eat, and it was impossible for him to think that he could fight against Zhao Kuangyin, the genius of this era.

But people's ambitions and aspirations are cultivated little by little by the acquired environment. At this time, Su Chen already has the objective conditions to compete with the Northern Song Dynasty. He was also pushed to this position. Therefore, Su Chen did not want to give up his advantage as a time traveler and work for others in this era.

At the beginning, Zhao Kuangyin was just the son of a down-and-out general in the Northern Zhou Dynasty. He was promoted to the position of Palace Inspector based on his personal ability. However, the Northern Zhou Emperor Chai Rong died young, and the mother and daughter were weak and powerless. Zhao Kuangyin, who had military power, was supported by senior generals, and the Chenqiao Mutiny took place. He put on the yellow robe and became the emperor.

Perhaps before Chai Rong died suddenly of illness, Zhao Kuangyin had never thought that he would have the opportunity to become emperor.

Sometimes, opportunities come to those who are prepared, but ambitions and goals change all the time due to the environment!

Su Chen took a deep breath and strengthened his belief. Since he had become the sworn brother of Princess Yang Wu Ling'er, and helped her to successfully take revenge and restore the Kingdom of Wu, the territory had expanded, and the territories of Southern Tang and Qian Yue had been annexed, his strength had grown. He had also become a regent, possessed military power, and had the support of ministers such as Han Xizai, then he might have the capital to inherit the royal power and dominate the world.

How could Su Chen let go of this opportunity at this time? Even if he failed, at most he would die and live a glorious life. Anyway, this life was earned in vain, because he had already died in the future.

Shen Wei heard this and said, "Well said! A rope can saw through wood, and water can wear away stone. As long as we stick to our original intention and ambition and realize it step by step, we can first swallow Nanyue and unify the southern half of the country, and then we will have the capital to fight against the Song Dynasty!"

Han Xizai stroked his beard and smiled, "I am still strong even when I am old. I am still determined even when I am poor. I never thought that I could still serve my country and accomplish great things in my old age!"

Su Chen smiled and said, "Of course, this is just my humble opinion. Whether it can be successfully promoted and implemented depends on whether the time is right and how to use the troops!"

Xu Xuan said: "General Su has great ambitions, which we admire, but there is still a difficult problem that we need to discuss and encourage each other!"

"Oh, what problem?" Zhang Yi and others were puzzled.

Xu Xuan said, "Have you ever thought about this? Since ancient times, dynasties have always been unified from north to south. There has never been a precedent of establishing a unified dynasty from south to north. The Qin Dynasty destroyed the six kingdoms, the Han Dynasty conquered the world, the Jin Dynasty annexed the three kingdoms, the Sui Dynasty unified the country, and the Tang Dynasty established the country. This is the case. We are now facing the powerful enemy of the Northern Song Dynasty. We must not underestimate it, otherwise, it may be in vain!"

Su Chen nodded when he heard this. This was a good topic. In fact, not only the ancients, but even modern people who look at history and can evaluate it after the fact would also feel that there are some coincidences, like some historical laws.

Su Chen suggested: "What do you think are the reasons? Let's discuss them to avoid difficulties in the future that we cannot overcome!"

Han Xizai also frowned, thought for a moment, and said, "I have studied this question for many years, and I actually have some experience. I might as well share it today to stimulate discussion."

"Mr. Han, you are too polite." Everyone spoke up, expressing their respect for Han Xizai's modesty. Han Xizai looked deep and said, "In fact, throughout history, the dynasties that unified the world were mostly in the north, especially the northwest. Seizing the land of Qin and Jin, they had the geographical advantage of conquering the world."

Everyone nodded, including Su Chen. Looking at the history before the Song Dynasty, this was indeed the case.

Han Xizai continued, "There are many similarities here, including geographical advantages, national strength advantages, military advantages, and warhorse advantages. Let's talk about geographical advantages first. The north has fertile land, the Central Plains is flat and fertile, and there are mountains and passes. The south is hilly and high mountains. They are separated by dense mountains and rivers, and there are many streams. It is difficult to communicate quickly. The terrain is complex and it is not easy to gather a large army. The south of the Yangtze River has no natural barriers, so it is difficult to attack and defend to the north, and it is naturally at a disadvantage."

"Secondly, it is the national strength advantage! Currently, the population in the north is more dense, and there is more land for cultivation than in the south, so naturally more taxes are paid. The northern regime has strong manpower and military force, which far exceeds that of the south. During the Three Kingdoms period, even though Shu had outstanding people like Zhuge Liang and Wulong, it still could not resist Wei. This was because Shu was not as good as Wei in terms of financial resources, material resources, and human resources, which were the foundations of a country. Its population and financial resources were only a fraction of Wei's. With each passing year, the gap was widening. This doomed Zhuge Liang's six expeditions to Qishan to failure!"

"That makes sense!" Xu Xuan, Xu Kai, Gao Yuan and others nodded. They had all read history books and naturally knew about these attempts.

Han Xizai took a sip of tea from the cup and said, "Third, in terms of military strength, most of the northerners are of Hu physique, tall and strong, and generally a head taller than the local men in the south. They are strong and can shoot arrows far. In single combat, one person's bravery is comparable to two or three soldiers from the south, especially in land warfare and siege warfare, where they have an advantage. Most southern soldiers are good at water warfare and are good at swimming, but in order to unify the north, they must give up their strengths and use their weaknesses to fight against the strengths of the northerners. They will suffer a loss and it will be difficult to mobilize morale. If they cannot win after a few tough battles, then once morale collapses, they can only retreat."

"Fourth, there are many horse farms in the north, such as the Hexi Corridor, the grasslands outside the Great Wall, and the land of northern Shanxi, but there are very few horse farms in the south, and the climate is not suitable for the breeding of war horses. Their performance and horsepower are inferior to those of northern war horses. Northern regimes often establish cavalry, which has strong mobility and strong attack power. A cavalry team of 1,000 people can attack an infantry team of 5,000 people, which is an obvious advantage. This is also the difficulty that the Jiangnan army has to face when it goes north and faces the northern troops! When Sun Quan sent 100,000 troops to cross the river and enter Huainan, they were dispersed by Zhang Liao's 800 cavalry. Although it is a bit exaggerated, it also gives us a glimpse of the power of cavalry."

"In addition, most of the southern noble families and gentry are refugees from the north. They have complex forces and different interests. They are not enthusiastic about the Northern Expedition. They are even afraid of the northern regime in their bones. Psychologically and willfully, they dare not truly achieve equal status with their own noble families. They often feel inferior to others. They are better at internal fighting. This is also what I have personally experienced after coming to Jiangnan from the north for decades and being unknowingly involved in party disputes and internal frictions."

"Yes!"

"Mr. Han is absolutely right. These factors exist objectively and are crucial to the comparison between the northern and southern regimes. They cannot be ignored!"

"If we can't solve these problems, Wu's Northern Expedition will be difficult to achieve!"

Xu Kai, Gao Yue, Zhong Mo, Shen Wei and others all expressed their feelings and agreed with Han Xizai's analysis.

Su Chen frowned. He had read historical papers before, and later historians analyzed that these were roughly the reasons.

Of course, this cannot be blamed on the southern regime, because the culture and regime of the ancient Central Plains in the northern Jin, Yu and Qi areas were the first to develop, which can be traced back to the Shang Dynasty, while the Guanzhong and Qinchuan areas were the beginning of the Western Zhou Dynasty. It can be seen that the orthodox regime was established very early and was more authoritative and orthodox.

Later, with the change of dynasties, the northern dynasties were the successors and replacements. Whether in politics, economy, culture or other aspects, the South learned from the northern dynasties. Therefore, there was this objective gap and psychological disadvantage.

The only dynasty in history that successfully conquered the north from the south was the Ming Dynasty. Zhu Yuanzhang started his army in the south and finally defeated the Yuan Dynasty. However, it was not entirely composed of southern soldiers. Zhu Yuanzhang started his army in Haozhou (now Fengyang), and later used more soldiers from Jianghuai and Shandong. It was only in the south relative to the Yuan Dynasty, but he did not completely use the power of the south to march north, because in the eyes of people in the south of the Yangtze River, Huainan and Fengyang also belonged to the north.

Su Chen took a deep breath. If he wanted to join the Northern Expedition, he had to seize the land in the south and north of the Huai River as a springboard, gather the troops there, and use it as his base. Only then would there be hope!