Spoiler History: Starting from the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 760: Pirates Raid
Zhao Kuangyin's thoughts on Qian Chu were constantly changing.

Considering his position as the ruler of Zhao Song, he did not think Qian Chu would have any choice in the face of the Song Dynasty's southward offensive.

Even if they allied with the Tang Dynasty in Jiangnan, they still could not change the reality of being defeated by the Song Dynasty. In the end, not only would their country be destroyed, but they would also die.

Merchants pursue profits and joined forces with the Song Dynasty to destroy the Tang Dynasty. This is their nature.

As for businessmen, Zhao Kuangyin was not opposed to them but he also did not like them very much. Therefore, his earliest plan was to completely swallow up the Southern Tang and force Qian Chu to surrender land for survival, so that he could be a rich man and no longer interfere in the affairs of the Song Dynasty.

But as he learned about his family affairs and posthumous affairs after the light curtain appeared, Zhao Kuangyin's mentality gradually changed.

According to later historical records, he would die in October of the following year, exactly one year later.

Today, Imperial Medical Officer Liu Han uses the light curtain to seek advice from ancient sages and learn about the medical methods of later generations. His skills have improved a lot, and his diagnosis and treatment of his body have become more meticulous.

However, even though Liu Han repeatedly assured that Zhao Kuangyin was in good health and had no observable hidden illness, the thought of the word "sudden death" still made the Zhao Song ruler feel a dark cloud in his heart.

Under such circumstances, his treatment of his brother was somewhat unconcerned with leaving any message. He eliminated his followers quite cleanly, and he did not hesitate to issue orders to those who had contributed to the candlelight and axe sounds named by the light curtain.

The eunuch Wang Jie'en colluded with people outside the palace for evil intentions and was beheaded.

Cheng Dexuan, the former medical officer of the Prince of Jin's palace, committed treason and was beheaded.

Ma Shao, a former retainer of the Prince of Jin's palace, accused Chen Tianming of inciting the people's hearts and sentenced him to exile in Xichuan.

In addition to these things, with the help of the Zhao Song government and the tacit cooperation of all the officials in the Song court, Zhao Dezhao's position as the crown prince was quickly determined, and Zhao Kuangyin began to bring his son with him without hesitation, so that he could be involved in government affairs and be given instructions in person.

Of course, the plans for dealing with Qian Chu and Li Yu have also been changing.

The original plan was to put Li Yu under house arrest, and wait until Jiangnan was stabilized after ten or eight years, and then send his entire family to western Sichuan or Zhuozhou - if the Khitan had been driven out of Hebei by then.

However, as his life or death next year was uncertain, if he wanted to quickly pacify the south of the Yangtze River to prepare for any eventuality, he would need Li Yu's help.

What's more, as the light curtain was revealed step by step, Li Yu's literary talent that was able to leave its name in history books was enough for Zhao Kuangyin to look at him with high regard.

Forcing Qian Chu to surrender his land and surrender as soon as possible was also a plan to avoid future chaos.

Therefore, after careful consideration, Li Yu and Qian Chu were both invited into the Guangzheng Hall.

After all, if it comes to fate, even if ten people like Ma Shao, who was regarded as a "shaman" by later generations, were tied together and drooled, they would not be one-tenth as good as this light curtain.

But I didn't expect that this issue also praised Li Yu's literary reputation, talked about Qian Chu's family affairs, and talked about the regret that the Song Dynasty could not be unified and allowed Mongolia to dominate. With all these things combined, the final effect was surprisingly good.

Perhaps it was because Jinling City fell too quickly and Li Yu's family was well protected that the last emperor of Southern Tang quickly realized that he did not have the talent to be a leader of a country. He thus broke away from the hatred of the country's destruction and planned to focus his life on the art of writing, which he was good at.

Qian Chu was even more straightforward. He agreed to all of Zhao Kuangyin's requests without bargaining, and also took the initiative to express his willingness to contribute to the Song Dynasty's attacks on the Northern Han and Khitan.

This is also the reason why Qian Chu was able to attend the imperial consultation.

When Zhao Kuangyin heard Qian Chu talk about using sea transportation to govern Liaodong, he was not surprised at all. After all, this was what Qian Chu was best at.

Nodding, Zhao Kuangyin motioned Qian Chu to explain in detail. Cao Bin also looked up, intending to listen to Qian Chu's opinion with great interest.

Although it had not been finalized yet, the generals present and Zhao Kuangyin had reached a consensus that the troops should be divided into three routes.

Two of the routes were to destroy the Han Dynasty, one from Hedong and one from Shanxi, while the other one needed to go out of Hebei to contain the Khitan.

After all, the Khitan and Northern Han had a truly interdependent relationship, and during the attack a few years ago, it was the Khitan's frantic rescue that ultimately led to the failure of the Song Dynasty's war to destroy the Han.

The current tentative plan is that Cao Lin, who had just completed the mission of destroying the Tang Dynasty, would lead his troops out of Hebei to contain the Khitan.

In a sense, this was the second time Cao Bin and Qian Chu teamed up together.

However, Cao Bin knew that Qian Chu's Wuyue Kingdom had always been fond of trade and knowledgeable about maritime affairs, and had frequent exchanges with Liaodong.

But no one would have expected that Qian Chu knew so much about the Khitan.

From the distribution of the Khitan coastal tribes to the differences in strength among these tribes, he can talk about them with ease, and even mentions the internal conflicts of some large tribes.

And in addition to these intelligence hosts, there is even practical help.

"If the emperor does not abandon me, I can call upon the bandits of Goryeo to invade the border of Khitan to provide assistance."

Cao Bin found it a little funny when he saw the different expressions on the faces of the other generals. During these discussions in front of the emperor, the biggest impact on them was not the discussions themselves.

After all, everyone knew what the government was thinking about Northern Han, and at most they were just surprised that the strategy was formulated so quickly and so early.

The biggest shock was seeing Qian Chu, the King of Nanyue, still smiling as a subject, and even calling him "the official" more easily than they did.

This has somewhat shocked the generals in recent days.

However, when Cao Bin thought about the record named Cao Youwen that he got from the eunuch, he felt inexplicably relieved.

Even though I die, I have no regrets as I have not lost the prestige of a general!

The thought in his mind was immediately suppressed, and Cao Bin simply smiled and said:

"I never thought that Lord Qian could command the thieves from foreign countries."

Qian Chu shook his head:
"The ruler of Goryeo even dared to disobey the imperial order. How can I command the Goryeo bandits?"

"It's nothing more than confusing the public and tempting them with benefits. After all, these pirates on the sea are only after profits. They don't know that Song or Goryeo have rulers." "If you tempt them with benefits, they will go. If you tempt them with huge benefits, they will not fear life or death. If you tempt them with overwhelming benefits, even if they want to rebel and kill their ruler, they will still follow suit."

Cao Bin was silent and nodded slowly, but he didn't care much. To him, the pirates Qian Chu mentioned were more of an embellishment.

However, Zhao Kuangyin seemed to be thinking about something. After all, people in later generations had mentioned more than once that the Ming Dynasty was trapped by Japanese pirates.

A country that was able to sweep across the Mongols was also plagued by minor diseases. This shows the harm of sea pirates, which can never be compared with land pirates.

Therefore, Zhao Kuangyin suddenly had an idea and suggested:
"When Qian Qing tempted me with benefits, you might as well make it clear that those who have made contributions by killing the Khitan bandits and distinguished themselves through military force, I can compile a list of their names and submit it to the King of Goryeo to record their merits and commend them for their titles."

The others had different looks. Qian Chu pondered for a moment and was almost instantly overjoyed:
"This is a brilliant strategy!"

After this incident, the imperial meeting was temporarily adjourned. Now that there had been some progress, Qian Chu needed to go back and prepare.

After all, everyone present knew that the Song Dynasty did not have the ability to destroy the Khitan in one fell swoop, so it was difficult to issue a proclamation to the world.

Moreover, the King of Goryeo had previously refused many invitations from Zhao Kuangyin to send troops.

Such a situation is quite confusing, so Qian Chu's proposal to lure out the Goryeo pirates still requires some delicate operations in terms of how to spread the news and achieve what Qian Chu himself called "luring them with benefits."

However, after the meeting, Zhao Dezhao, who was walking in the Imperial Garden with his father, was still somewhat puzzled:

"Father's praise of the pirates may displease the King of Goryeo."

Zhao Kuangyin seemed much more nonchalant about his son's statement.

The last time the light curtain ended was in early July. Since then, I have been busy with the affairs of Lixian's house, busy with commending the generals and soldiers who defeated the Southern Song Dynasty, and starting to put the attack on Northern Han on the agenda. Time passed by so quickly.

Now that September was almost over, only a few withered flowers were left in the imperial garden. However, the osmanthus flowers were in full bloom in their prime. Zhao Kuangyin walked under the tree, took a deep breath, and shook his head:

"Then let him be unhappy."

Zhao Dezhao pondered for a moment after hearing this:
"If you want to attack Goryeo, I will fight!"

This made Zhao Kuangyin laugh:

"When did I say I would attack Goryeo?"

Zhao Dezhao looked around and saw that there was no one else here, and the eunuchs were following him from a distance, so the crown prince of the Song Dynasty put on a sly smile:
"After looking at the screen, I know that Daddy wants to manage maritime affairs now, and I haven't forgotten what you said about the window period."

"And if we manage the maritime affairs, there will be a war between Song, Goryeo and Japan."

Zhao Kuangyin's expression remained calm and he was about to sit on a stone bench passing by. Zhao Dezhao hurriedly stepped forward and brushed off the osmanthus flowers on the bench with his sleeve.

This made Emperor Zhao Song smile, and he shook his sleeves lightly and said:

"The ancient sages said, 'The purpose of etiquette is harmony, and the way of the ancient kings is beautiful, and it is the basis for everything, big or small."

Zhao Dezhao smiled and said:

"The ancient sages also said that there are things that cannot be done. If you know how to be harmonious and try to be harmonious, but do not follow the rules of propriety, it will not work either."

"Dad, have you ever heard of a vassal who disobeyed the orders of the lord?"

Zhao Kuangyin shook his head and said:
"The ruler of Goryeo has no choice but to disobey my order. After all, his country is adjacent to Khitan. If sending troops to help in the war angers Khitan, it is something the ruler of Goryeo does not want."

"You can care about this matter or not, it depends on my heart. Okay, tell me your true thoughts."

Zhao Dezhao did not hesitate and quickly let it go.
"Dad founded the Song Dynasty, and inherited the Tang Dynasty."

"However, the reason why Goryeo was able to submit to the Tang Dynasty was because of Su Dingfang, Liu Rengui, the power of Emperor Gaozong, and the victory over the enemy at the Battle of Baekgang."

"Although our Song dynasty inherited the Tang dynasty, these achievements are all the merits of the Tang dynasty, not the merits of our Song dynasty."

These remarks actually brought a smile to Zhao Kuangyin's face:

"But if I destroyed Northern Han and pacified Khitan, would this achievement not be enough to deter Goryeo?"

This immediately made the crown prince of the Song Dynasty disagree:
"Dad, you haven't accomplished this yet. Besides, how powerful was the Ming Dynasty in the future? Wasn't it still bullied by the Japanese pirates?"

"From this we can see that coastal defense is quite different from land defense."

This was not a very polite remark, but Zhao Dezhao saw a genuine smile on his father's face:
"You are indeed worthy of being my son!"

After praising him, Zhao Kuangyin shook off the osmanthus flowers on his body and patted his son on the shoulder:

"The Ministry of Works should not slack off in planning new seagoing vessels."

"Since the Ministry of Works is too small to simulate ocean waves, we can build another pool and recruit people to simulate ocean waves to test the new ship model."

Zhao Dezhao was immediately overjoyed: "This couldn't be better!"

Zhao Kuangyin smiled:
"Go back and prepare. Dad will be waiting in Guangzheng Palace in a few days to test what you know."

The crown prince of the Song Dynasty was truly delighted this time:

"I will definitely live up to your expectations!"

(End of this chapter)