Five Dynasties River Mountains Fengyue

Chapter 256 The Crisis of Returning to Beijing

"It's cold, let me go in to get warm."

Shi Congyun said in a low voice.

He didn't lie, Daliang was indeed getting colder and colder. The family sent people to Taicang to collect firewood and charcoal these days. The officials in Taicang didn't dare to let them pick it up by themselves, but sent them to Shifu's house respectfully. Come.

Now as long as it is a slightly well-informed official, they all know who has the most power in the court.

"Are you trying to keep warm?" Zhao Shijian whispered in his arms, his pretty face blushing.

"Why not, I swear to God." Shi Congyun said trying to squeeze in.

Zhao Shijian blushed and rejected him, "There are still big things to do these days, you can't relax, you will not be able to get up again tomorrow."

Only then did Shi Congyun calm down a bit, and he made a strong promise: "When the matter is dealt with, I will definitely show you what it means to be a real man."

"Hum..." Zhao Shijian snorted softly, and did not refute him. There is a tacit understanding between the old couple.

Shi Congyun put his arms around her and leaned into his ear and asked, "How about I become the emperor?"

Zhao Shijian looked back at him suddenly, calmly, "Why are you telling me this?"

"Who else would I dare to tell other than you?" Shi Congyun hugged her a little more funnyly, Zhao Shijian didn't speak, as if he was thinking about the problem seriously, and after a while he whispered: "No, Li Chongjin, Zhang Yongde and Li Jixun are both leading troops outside."

Shi Congyun nodded, "I'm also worried about this, but the purpose is not like this."

Zhao Shijian was curious, "What's the purpose of that?"

"Hehe, would you believe me if I told you that I can dream about things that will happen thousands of years later?" Shi Congyun asked, Zhao Shijian looked at him for a while, then nodded, "I believe it."

"I've seen a lot of history and read a lot of books."

Zhao Shijian looked at him suspiciously.

"I watched it in a dream, can't it! Laugh if you want, don't hold back, you'll suffocate you little bitch" Shi Congyun became angry from embarrassment, and Zhao Shijian lay on her chest and giggled muffledly.

Shi Congyun didn't bother to argue with her: "Let me tell you that the ultimate answer to history is geography, and there is no answer to talk about people's hearts, nationalities, and morality alone.

The wars here are destined to be more frequent, cruel, tragic, and large-scale than anywhere else in the world, and if you don’t advance, you will retreat. There is no choice.

This is not the choice I was looking forward to, nor is it what ordinary people want, but it is decided by this land, there is no choice; I used to be straight from the boat to the bridge, because I have no power, no ability, and my butt can't be so high .

What I want most now is to integrate the power of the world, and there are many big things I can't wait to do. "

Zhao Shijian looked puzzled, Shi Congyun wrapped her in a quilt, hugged her happily to the desk, sat down and put her on his lap, the little lady was used to it, obediently rubbing ink for him, his heart There are many words, many things, but no one to tell.

Fu Liu is worried, she is from the Fu family; Zhou Xian is also worried, the Zhou family is a big family in the south of the Yangtze River; only the helpless Zhao Shijian is his most trusted.

"The best way is undoubtedly to be the emperor, but." He said and slowly wrote five names on the paper, Li Chongjin, Zhang Yongde, Li Jixun, Zhao Kuangyin, and Li Yun.

Zhao Shijian is so smart, he glanced at him: "Are they difficult to deal with?"

Shi Congyun slowly crossed Zhao Kuangyin away, "I will keep Zhao Kuangyin in Beidi, but arrange for his father to be an official in the court, and his younger brother will also stay, so that I can control him."

There are still some things he didn't say, because only he knows.

Zhao Kuangyin was a very affectionate person. Many historians pointed out that in his later years, Zhao Kuangyin found that his younger brother Zhao Guangyi was very powerful and had many party members. To move the capital, he wanted to move from Kaifeng to Luoyang, so that the party members his younger brother cultivated in Kaifeng would be useless, but Zhao Guangyi finally persuaded him.

Just a few months after he wanted to move the capital, Zhao Kuangyin died for no apparent reason in the night of the sound of the ax and the shadow of candles. His death became the biggest mystery of the Song Dynasty.

After all, Zhao Kuangyin cared too much about his family and his brothers, so he was not a very qualified emperor, and this was also his biggest weakness; if it were someone like Liu Bang or Li Shimin, Zhao Guangyi would have died eighteen times earlier.

And Shi Congyun also used this weakness. The Zhao family is a military group. Zhao Chao, Zhao Hongyin, and Zhao Kuangyin are all generals of the Forbidden Army. He deliberately asked the Privy Council to arrange Zhao Kuangyin to guard the border, and arranged for his elder Zhao Chao and his father Zhao Hongyin to stay in the capital. As a leisurely pensioner, Zhao Kuangyi (whose name has not been changed at this time, changing Zhao Guangyi is a taboo, and Zhao Kuangyin changed it for him after he ascended the throne) is going to be arranged to stay in the capital with an unimportant position.

In this way, Zhao Kuangyin can firmly control him while his family is in the capital and Zhao Kuangyin is away.

"Li Chongjin is more qualified to succeed than the officials, and the most important thing is that he has many military achievements, high prestige, and leads troops outside. This is what I am most worried about." Shi Congyun stared at Li Chongjin's name closely. The division of troop dispatchers and troop leaders has actually been like this for a long time in the Five Dynasties, and it was like this in the Great Zhou Dynasty.

The Privy Council has the right to mobilize troops but cannot lead them. Generals can lead troops but cannot mobilize troops. Only the emperor can both mobilize and lead troops.

Whether a general has great power or not depends on whether he leads troops outside, because in the imperial court he cannot mobilize troops, but once he leads troops outside, it will be completely different.

Zhao Kuangyin’s Mutiny at Chenqiao happened a year after Guo Rong’s death. The method was to lie about the military situation and ask the Privy Council to lower the order to transfer troops. After taking the army out of the city, they suddenly turned back and controlled the beam. If they did not lie about the military situation and let the Privy Council order, Zhao Kuangyin would not be able to transfer troops. .

In history, before the official’s death, he immediately tried to bring all the troops back to Kaifeng, and relieved the general’s military power, but this time, it may have been too smooth, and the official couldn’t bear to withdraw the army. As a result, most of the generals led troops when he was seriously ill. Outside, military power is still in the hands of various generals, which is very dangerous.

"Now I only hope that they can bring back the army. Once the military power is taken back, there is nothing to fear."

The reason why Zhao Shijian said that he is still busy is because of these things.

"I can't bring all the army back. I can't sleep well all day. Li Chongjin and Zhang Yongde are relatives of the emperor. Li Jixun and I have a feud, but they still have the army in their hands." Shi Congyun said.

"The rest are Jiedu envoys from all walks of life, people like Li Yun," Shi Congyun continued. People thought that Zhao Kuangyin and Chen Qiao's mutiny seemed very simple, but the mutiny was just the beginning. After the mutiny, there were about five or six Jiedu envoys. They are all ready to rebel.

But because Zhao Kuangyin responded effectively and killed decisively, there were only two Jiedushi in the end who rebelled.

This is also a hidden danger. Several Jiedu envoys have long been ignoring the central government because they have nothing to do to make trouble. As long as they are given a reason, such as Qingjun's side, punishing traitors, etc., they will immediately jump up.

"These are two kinds of people, I think they should be dealt with separately." Zhao Shijian said.

Shi Congyun put down his pen, put his hands under the blanket to warm up, "Tell me about it."

"Li Chongjin, Zhang Yongde, and Li Jixun are different from Li Yun and the others. They are the generals of the imperial court. They are powerful because they have military power in their hands. If you find a way to get them to surrender their military power, there is no threat.

You can use the power of the queen to let the queen come forward.

The queen is regent, the general should hand over the military power after returning to Beijing, and it is reasonable to hand it over to the queen when the officials are away. As long as they take it back and immediately arrange idle officials for them, nothing will happen. "

"What if they don't want to." Shi Congyun said with a sudden smile in the middle of his sentence: "I'm stupid, they have to enter the palace to fight the military talisman. I'm in charge of the defense of the imperial city. Now I'm afraid that something will happen on the road, or they will lead the troops outside. , I won’t come back directly.”

Zhao Shijian said: "It's also possible. If they feel the danger and dare not return to Beijing, they will not dare to force them if they write a letter requesting to lead a large army to guard the border."

Shi Congyun was helpless, "I can only resign myself to fate."

"Li Yun's Jiedu envoys are powerful in the local area, and it is impossible to cut their military power." Zhao Shijian continued.

"Then there must be a battle. First deal with Li Chongjin and those people, stabilize the Jiedu envoys, and wait until the entire imperial army is controlled before we can clean up those local Jiedus." Shi Congyun said with emotion.

"Well, I think it's safe to take it step by step. Don't force them to stand together."

"What you said makes sense. The officials were helpless at the beginning. When the Great Zhou was founded, there were many crises. In order to fight wars and deal with foreign enemies, they could only tolerate those domineering Jiedu envoys again and again. But in the future, this country will have a long-term future. In the future, these small imperial courts must be cleaned up." Shi Congyun laughed again as he spoke.

"But these are just difficulties at the moment. As long as we get over it, the future will be bright." He laughed proudly.

Zhao Shijian was puzzled: "There are so many worries and troubles, thanks to you laughing."

"I can't cry, why don't you let me laugh." Shi Congyun said proudly: "You are smart, you are smart, you are a little girl, you should look at things far away.

It is indeed difficult at the moment, but as long as I can stabilize the domestic situation, what will happen next?

The Western Shu and the Southern Han are vulnerable, and the Liao Kingdom is afraid of being attacked. They will definitely not dare to reach out for the Northern Han. Then I can easily push the line of defense to the north of Yanmen Pass. Wu Yue has always respected our dynasty, and the Southern Tang also It's hard to stand alone.

At that time, the world will be unified, and the Han and Tang Dynasties will be restored again, and I want to open up Hexi and take back the Western Regions, the Western Regions."

The little girl looked up at him, as if she saw something different in his eyes, she even lowered her head, "I was originally a little girl, you are a real man, right?"

Shi Congyun smirked, and hugged the little girl in his arms tightly again, feeling a lot of turmoil in his heart.

The Western Regions, which refers to Xinjiang and Central Asia in the later generations, were controlled by the Han Dynasty and lost at the end of the Tang Dynasty.

This loss is the vicissitudes of life, and the world is changing.

During the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, the Song, Yuan, and Ming failed to regain control of the Hexi Corridor and the Western Regions.

Unable to control the Western Regions, the road leading to Central Asia and the world was not in our hands. China was just a regional power until the Qing Dynasty finally took it back after nearly a thousand years. It took the meaning of "homeland and new return" and named it Xinjiang.

Returning to the homeland, these four words are extremely heavy.

The most important thing is that from a geographical point of view, China's agricultural and nomadic areas are very distinctive. The agricultural areas are located in the C-shaped encirclement and blockade of the three nomadic areas of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, the Western Regions, and the Mongolian Plateau.

The only way to break this blockade is to occupy the Hexi Corridor, control the Western Regions, and cut the blockade from the middle, which will weaken and divide the two major plates of the Mongolian Plateau and the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, and gradually control them.

This is what the Han Dynasty did, starting with the seizure of the Hexi Corridor by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty.

Conversely, if the blockade cannot be broken and surrounded by the three major nomadic areas, the farming area will be extremely passive strategically and will be beaten everywhere. In the long run, it will only be a matter of time before the nomads enter the Central Plains.

People often use the probability of victory in the Song Dynasty to explain that the Song army was actually capable of fighting, and that is true, but strategic mistakes and tactics cannot be made up for.

This is an important reason why Han and Tang were powerful, and this is something that Song, Ming and even Yuan failed to do.

Shi Congyun found that his ambition was getting bigger and bigger, he was thinking more and more things, and he was getting farther and farther away. He was no longer the little person who only wanted to protect his father and himself, and the boat would go straight to the bridge.

Five days later, news came from the north of the Yellow River that Guo Tingzhi had returned with an army and was crossing the river.

Shi Congyun heaved a sigh of relief when he heard the news, but it was not what he was most concerned about.

What he cares about is Li Chongjin's army.
At the end of September, Guo Tingzhi led the army to Kaifeng, and many people went to the outskirts of the city to watch the army's triumphant return. Shi Congyun took the queen and hundreds of officials to welcome the soldiers back.

The soldiers were dissatisfied that they didn't get the reward immediately. The tens of thousands of troops shouted in disorder. The scene scared the empress and several important officials to turn pale.

Fortunately, Shi Congyun took a car to inspect the three armies and assured the soldiers that the rewards would never be less, but the rear army hadn't come back yet, and when everyone came back, they would give rewards together to appease the army. The camp outside the city was stationed, temporarily waiting for the rear army.

Shi Congyun became even more worried. Li Chongjin's army was still south of Guo Tingzhi's army. Now that Guo Tingzhi's army had arrived in Daliang, there was no news of their troops going south. If Li Chongjin hadn't hesitated, he wouldn't have believed it!

They summoned their generals to talk for a long time, but there was nothing they could do. They didn't dare to urge Li Chong to enter, summoned Li Chong to enter the palace, and now there is no definite information on where the people are and where the army is.

Just when he was very worried, the officials at the post station in front reported that Li Chongjin's [-] troops had reached the north bank of the Yellow River, and the officials on the north bank were preparing a ferry to cross the river.

When they heard the news, Shi Congyun and his confidants and generals were relieved.

But what they didn't expect was that what they waited for the next day was not the news of Li Chongjin's army crossing the river, but a letter written by Li Chongjin to Shi Congyun.

The letter asked Shi Congyun to go to the Yellow River to talk, and then decide whether the army will cross the river or return to Daliang after the talk.

The atmosphere became tense in an instant, and Shi Congyun was caught in a dilemma.
Li Chongjin is not an ordinary person, he is old, he has made great achievements in the Southern and Northern Wars, he is also a relative of the emperor, he is more qualified to inherit the throne than the official family, and his prestige in the army is incomparable to no one except Shi Congyun.

In history, after Zhao Kuangyin usurped the throne, he was very lenient to the old ministers of the Later Zhou Dynasty. Only Li Chongjin tried every means to force him to rebel. Even Li Chongjin was not allowed to ask to go to Beijing to meet the emperor.

The reason for this is probably because Zhao Kuangyin was afraid that Li Chongjin's prestige in the army was equal to or higher than his.If it hadn't been for the later Zhou court to inexplicably get Li Chongjin to Huainan, far away from the central court, Zhao Kuangyin probably would not have dared to mutiny.

Li Chongjin has a high prestige in the army and has a large army in his hand. If he breaks with him, he will definitely have the ability to split the country.

At night, Shi Congyun repeatedly read the letters Li Chongjin sent to him, rubbed his temples, and fell into a dilemma. Li Chongjin refused to cross the river and asked to go to the Yellow River for talks. He undoubtedly knew that once he crossed the Yellow River, he would not be his opponent. There is no way out.

Whether to go or not is a difficult problem. He is afraid of danger. If it was half a year ago, he would not hesitate.

It's just that the place where the butt sits is different now, and the thinking is different
(End of this chapter)