In the Southern Song Dynasty, I competed with Mongolia for the world

Chapter 584 Is This Fair?

Changchun City was an important city in Liaodong that Zhao Yurui began to build in the eighth year of Baoqing (1232). The location chosen at that time was near Ning'an in later generations, close to Mudanjiang City, and built against Jingpo Lake.

It took eight years to complete the project.

Later, Changchun Army was established. Among the 6,000 people in Changchun Army, half were stationed in Changchun City, and the other 3,000 were stationed in nearby small cities, radiating the rule over an area of ​​thousands of miles.

After more than 30 years of development and immigration, Changchun City now has a population of over 500,000, making it the largest city in Liaodong, without a doubt.

The population of Shenzhou (Shenyang), which is closer to the Song Dynasty's Yanjing, is not as large as here.

Because after Zhao Xie became a fief, he devoted all his efforts to managing this place and attracted a large number of immigrants to come here.

Changchun is located on the main road of Liaodong, less than a thousand miles away from Shenzhou and less than five hundred miles away from Sanwei.

During the Song Dynasty of Zhao and Rui, Changchun City was located in the core area of ​​Liaodong.

The Ming Dynasty's Liaodong territory was only one-third of Zhao Yurui's Song Dynasty's Liaodong.

The size of the territory is different, so the core city is naturally different.

Changchun City is now the most populous city in Liaodong Province and the second most heavily armed city, second only to the provincial capital Shenzhou in importance.

Zhao Xie left five hundred people in the city, and Wang Anjie was quite conflicted about whether to report it to the Emperor.

The reason for the dilemma is that it is not good to report it, and it is not good not to report it.

To put it simply, Changchun City was originally one of Zhao Xie's territories. What's wrong with him leaving 500 people behind when he passed by here?
To put it in a broader sense, Changchun City belongs to the Song Dynasty, and your Prince Zhao Xie's palace is not here. What do you want to do by leaving 500 people here?
It's not good to report it, and it's not good not to report it. Wang Anjie and the other two seem to have aged a few years, and their hair has turned a lot whiter.

At this moment, he could understand what his father Wang Jian had said before he died: as a general, he should never get involved in the fight for the crown prince.

But if you are forced into a corner, you must be decisive and not be indecisive.

"Bang bang bang" Just then, there was a knock on the door outside.

"Come in." Wang Anjie put down his pen first and sighed secretly. He was so decisive on the battlefield, but he didn't expect that life outside the battlefield would be even more difficult than fighting.

"Father." The person who came in was his eldest son Wang Jian.

Wang Jian was only in his early twenties, handsome and heroic, and married the daughter of a general in the battalion. The general was also Wang Jian's subordinate, so they were considered to be close relatives.

"Have the Prince of Yan's men been arranged?" Wang Anjie asked in a deep voice.

"Everything has been arranged. It's in the camp east of the city."

"What are they doing here?" Wang Anjie said unhappily.

"Yan Wang's people said that a batch of important goods will be arriving from Mudanjiang soon, and they need to take delivery of them."

Sounds like a good reason.

Where does the north side of the Mudan River lead to? It leads to the Far Eastern Sakhalin City built by Zhao and Rui.

The Far East and Liaodong were both fiefs of the King of Yan, so it sounds even more reasonable.

But Wang Anjie knew that although the Far East was rich in resources, there was no need to leave 500 people here to receive the goods.

They are all furs and wild goods. Ten of them will be enough for transportation.

Wang Anjie thought for a moment and asked again, "Do they have weapons and armor?"

"That's not the case." Wang Jian was very surprised: "What is father worried about?"

"Your Majesty is touring the four seas, and I'm afraid all the princes will be eager to make a move."

"No way." Wang Jian looked incredulous. "I think your Majesty is very vigorous and energetic, not too old?"

Wang Anjie shook his head. It was not a question of age, but that the princes all wanted to perform well and strive for the position of crown prince.

But there were some things he couldn't tell his son.

Wang Anjie originally felt that Prince of Yan Zhao Xie had the ability to be the Emperor of Tang, and he had a better chance. However, this time Zhao Yurui did not go to the Far East, but went to Goryeo and Japan, and did not see his son either. This was very strange.

Perhaps in the eyes of the emperor, the two provinces of Goryeo and Dongying are more important than Liaodong and the Far East today.

"Then, father, which prince do you think has a chance to become the crown prince?"

"It's hard to say. As subjects of the emperor's family, it's best not to make irresponsible comments."

Wang Anjie struggled for a long time that day and couldn't make up his mind to send a telegram. As a result, he heard the news early the next morning that half of the more than 500 people left by Prince Yan were sent to Shenzhou.

Shenzhou is the capital of Liaodong Province, where the governor and the commander-in-chief are located.

In the past, there was a Governor's Office in Shenzhou, and Lu Wende served as the Governor.

After Lu Wende retired, Wang Shixian, the former commander of the Daxing Army, was appointed as the Governor-General of Liaodong, responsible for the affairs of both Daxing and Liaodong provinces.

Later, Wang Shixian died of illness, and Lu Wenhuan, the commander of the Northern Thai Army, was transferred to be the governor of Liaodong.

The Lu family has quite a lot of influence in Liaodong.

Lu Wende's son Lu Shikui and Zhao Xie are brothers-in-law, so it is normal to think about it this way.

"Halfway to Shenzhou?" After hearing the news, Wang Anjie finally decided not to report it.

It’s nothing that half of the five hundred people are missing, they just go on the trade route to do business.

I don’t know why, but Wang Anjie felt a little excited afterwards.

He was the son of Wang Jian. He came from a family of generals and was very lucky. His father Wang Jian was valued by the emperor at an early age.

Not long after, the emperor wanted to eliminate the hereditary nobility, but he gave the green light to his early confidants such as Wang Jian and Meng Gong.

Therefore, Wang Anjie joined the army since he was young and was appointed as a camp commander at an early age.

But most of the time, he followed his father to fight. The first time he could really take charge on his own was in the 13th year of Yuanzhen, when Wang Anjie, as the commander of the Southern Army and Meng Zhiying as the deputy commander, attacked Champa.

At that time, Champa was just a small country, and the Song army had elite soldiers and advanced weapons, so it was not difficult at all.

Later, Wang Anjie participated in the campaign against the Delhi Sultanate.

He participated in these two wars in his life. After the Delhi Sultanate was destroyed, the imperial court had no large-scale battles for more than ten to twenty years. Wang Anjie did not make any further progress after he was promoted to commander-in-chief.

As a soldier and general, of course you hope to fight a war, right?

His father, Wang Jian, was a governor and retired as a duke.

I won't become a governor, but at least I should be able to become a commander-in-chief.

Zhao Yurui certainly could not have imagined that because of his inspection tour throughout the world, countless Song Dynasty generals would have various thoughts, and many of their originally calm hearts became agitated.
-
In March, Zhao Yurui's ship arrived in Tainan.

Dayuan Province is now the fief of his fifth son Zhao Feng, the King of Zhou.

Zhao Feng and Zhao Yi have the same mother. Zhao Feng is much younger than Zhao Yi and is currently in her twenties.

Under the strict discipline of Zhao Yurui, Zhao Feng was considered moderate. Not as kind as Zhao Qi, but not as cruel as Zhao Yi.

Zhao Feng's fiefdom was the smallest among all the princes, but Dayuan started early and became the second overseas base of the Song Dynasty (the first was Jeju).

After Zhao Yurui arrived in Lin'an, Jeju basically stopped expanding and the first overseas base that he focused on was Dayuan.

After nearly forty or fifty years, after countless immigrations and developments, the local population of Dayuan has reached more than seven million, making it a large province.

The population composition of Dayuan is complex, with real Han people accounting for about one-tenth, and then there are a large number of Jurchens. After all, after the fall of the Jin Dynasty, most of the Jurchens were relocated to Dayuan.

Afterwards, Zhao and Rui relocated people from all over the place, including Persians, Delhi Sultans, Hanzhou natives, Koreans, Japanese, and everyone else.

Over the past few decades, the largest population group in Dayuan has been Han Chinese, followed by local indigenous people and then the Jurchens.

Of course, over the years, different ethnic groups have intermarried, and the early Jurchens and Mongols have almost become real Han people.

In mid-March, Zhao Yurui's steamship just arrived at the coast of Tainan and originally planned to dock, but Zhao Yurui called Quan Yong.

"Don't rush to land, just walk around the island." The last time Zhao Yurui came to Dayuan secretly was six years ago.

Quan Yong quickly ordered the steamboat to circle the island.

This journey took several days, leaving the people waiting for the emperor on the island confused.

But anyone with a keen eye should be able to guess what Zhao Yurui was looking at. Most likely, they were looking at the defense of Taiyuan Island.

Tainan is easy to defend but difficult to attack, and there are not many coasts that can accommodate large landing ships.

The Song Dynasty had been operating in Dayuan for forty or fifty years, and had built a large number of artillery batteries and set up countless obstacles along the coast where landing was possible.

Just as Zhao and Rui were circling around Dayuan, a telegram was sent from Dayuan to Daming City (formerly Bosdehelan).

Daming City is the capital of Daming Province, and Ming King Zhao Yi usually stays here.

But today, after receiving the telegram, the people in the telegraph room immediately forwarded it to Heping City in Dasong Bay (formerly the Persian Gulf).

It turned out that Zhao Yi was no longer in Daming City, but in Heping City in Dasong Bay.

Heping City was the first city built by the Song army when it established its foothold in Persia. It is currently the most prosperous city near Dasong Bay.

In the city of peace.

The middle-aged Zhao Yi sat quietly in the main seat, with several confidants around him, two of whom were actually Mongolians, namely Kublai Khan's sons Duoerji and Toghan.

Of course, apart from their appearance, everything about these two people's attire is undoubtedly that of the Song people.

The room was a little quiet, and everyone had strange looks on their faces, as if they were waiting for something.

"Thump, thump, thump." Suddenly, there were quick footsteps outside, and soon a military officer pushed open the door.

This military officer was none other than Song Xiande, the commander-in-chief of the Heping City Army.

When Chen Xiaodao left, he recommended Song Xiande to Zhao Yi.

At that time, Song Xiande was only the deputy general of the Qingzhou garrison in Persia.

In a blink of an eye, Song Xiande had become the military commander.

But Song Xiande is not young anymore, he looks to be close to sixty years old, and if nothing unexpected happens, he will have to retire in another year or two.

"Your Majesty, His Majesty has arrived in Tainan, and his steamship is circling Tainan." Song Xiande reported with a telegram.

"Ah" The people around were surprised, wondering why Zhao Yurui took a detour around Dayuan.

Zhao Yi frowned, pondered for a moment, and finally said slowly: "There are rumors outside that after the emperor's inspection, he will move to each vassal state."

"Father is obviously wondering, which son can go to Dayuan?"

The news that Zhao Yurui was preparing to move his fiefdom had spread everywhere, and all the princes and their confidants were shocked.

"Are you really going to move the fiefdom?" Song Xiande's face was full of fear.

He is not young anymore, and he has been working for Zhao Yi until now only because he is Zhao Yi's confidant. If the prince takes over, he will definitely retire next year.

"Not only will the fiefdom be moved, but I heard that it will be divided again." Qin Zhonghu said in a deep voice.

"What do you mean?" Everyone was shocked.

"For example, Hanzhou (Feilibin) and Dayuan were combined together, because the Zhou king's fiefdom was too small and Hanzhou was closer to him. If someone went to Dayuan, he might also get Hanzhou."

Simply put, because the fiefdoms, populations, and economic conditions of each son varied in size, Zhao and Rui might have wanted to be fair and redistribute the fiefdoms.

Judging from the current situation, Zhao Xie has the largest fiefdom.

Zhao Qi has the best financial situation.

The one with the most troops and horses was Zhao Yi.

There was no way. Zhao Yi's side faced Mongolia and Europe and was the front line of the Song Dynasty, where the largest number of troops were deployed.

There are no enemies in other places in the Song Dynasty.

Zhao Yi thought that his territory had the largest number of troops and horses, what if he was moved to a fiefdom?

"My king, if you really want to move the fiefdom, this is your last chance?" At this time, his subordinate Song Xiande suddenly knelt down, clasped his hands together and expressed his loyalty.

"Hiss" His words scared everyone present and made them gasp.

"Asshole." Zhao Yi was furious: "What do you want to say?"

Song Xiande also took care of it. He was already this old, and if he didn't fight for his son, he would never have another chance in the future.

"We have the most troops here. Once we move the town, the king will lose his greatest support and it will be difficult for him to turn the tables in the future."

"You're crazy." Zhao Yi's face flushed red as he cursed, "Your father is still alive, and you want to incite me to rebel?"

"If it fails, it's called rebellion. If it succeeds, it's called purging the emperor's court."

With a bang, the teacups in front of Zhao Yi fell down.

His face flushed as he stared at Song Xiande. After a moment, he said, "Someone, take this bastard away."

But no one came in from outside.

Everyone reacted almost at the same time: "Your Majesty, don't do it." They all pleaded for Song Xiande.

Except for Qin Zhonghu, almost all the civil and military officials at the scene knelt down.

"What do you want to do? Do you all want to rebel?" Zhao Yi was furious. He looked at everyone intently, seeing their different expressions.

Some people had stunned looks on their faces, and it was obvious that they had just knelt down with the crowd and had not expected this at all.

Some people looked excited, and seemed to have similar ideas to Song Xiande.

Some people looked confused and were obviously struggling.

He took in everyone's expressions, then looked at Qin Zhonghu calmly.

"Your Majesty, please calm down." Qin Zhonghu also knelt down quickly at this time: "Brothers, you are also thinking about your majesty and your family members."

"Forgive me for being so bold." Qin Zhonghu said loudly, "Since your majesty ascended the throne, your power has spread across the country and dominated the world. The Song Dynasty has expanded its territory by thousands of miles, swallowed up other countries, and established a great cause that will be remembered for thousands of years."

Everyone was also excited when they heard this. Some people thought of how powerful the emperor was, and their expressions immediately showed fear.

"Then, who conquered these territories?" Qin Zhonghu's voice became louder.

"This was won by the bloody battles of the brothers present here and their elders and ancestors."

"But after Your Majesty ascended the throne, you have been reducing power every year, abolishing hereditary succession, and arranging examinations at every turn. Please look at Song Tongzhi (Song Xiande)"

"In the second year of Baoqing, he joined the army, attacked Jinan, destroyed the Jin Kingdom, entered Goryeo, and aided Xixia. He served in the army for most of his life, shed his blood for the Song Dynasty, and made countless contributions."

"I have been in the army for decades, but I am still just a small commander."

"His third son was named Long. He took the imperial examination seven times but failed each time. He could not become an official or a general, so he could only spend his life in mediocrity in the court's enterprises."

"If the sons of the generals have ended up like this, what will happen to their grandchildren in the future?"

"We have conquered this land, so are we just going to watch others show off their might?"

"Isn't our bloody battles not as good as others studying for a few years and taking an exam?"

"Is this fair?"

"It's not fair." Almost everyone in the room was excited, and all the generals raised their arms and shouted.

Everyone's face was filled with anger and resentment.

(End of this chapter)