Traveling through Tianlong: Starting from the Zhenlong chess game

Chapter 629: Prepare to avenge!
Seeing that Zhao Mu looked like he wanted to fight and kill them, Queen Wang and the other two did not dare to say a word along the way.

They were all frightened by Zhao Mu's current appearance.

Although they didn't spend a long time with Zhao Mu, Zhao Mu in the past was not a moody person except for being a little romantic and lustful.

Even when Zhao Ji was killed, Queen Wang had never seen Zhao Mu like this.

Queen Wang didn't know why Zhao Mu had such a strong hatred towards these Jurchens.

A few days later, Zhao Mu and the three returned to Kaifeng, the capital of Goryeo. The King of Goryeo wanted to let them stay for a while, but Zhao Mu declined.

After all, according to the time, the army of the Song Dynasty has begun to gather and mobilize. The army that came to Goryeo to borrow the passage is believed to have arrived in Dengzhou. The warships of the Song Dynasty's navy have also docked near Dengzhou, waiting for the soldiers to board the ship and then come to Goryeo.

This is also part of Zhao Mu's plan. Zhao Mu does not plan to return to Lingzhou this time.

He had already discussed the matter with Zhezong in the city of Bianjing.

After he left, Zhezong began to mobilize the army and sent General Yang to station on the eastern front.

If he could reach an agreement with the King of Goryeo, then General Yang would lead his army across the sea to Goryeo, and then advance from Goryeo.

But if he failed to reach an agreement with the King of Goryeo, he would remain on standby, and when the day came to pacify Liao, he would follow him, the Great Marshal of the Northern Expedition, to the north to retake the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun.

And Zhezong is now waiting for Zhao Mu's return in Bian Jing.

In addition to handling daily official duties, Cheoljong spent more time in the Prince's Eastern Palace admiring Taejong's armor.

Now Zhezong has had people repair the armor, but only the spot where Taizong was shot by an arrow during the expedition against Liao was left.

Although Zhao Mu had avenged this armor in the battle of Xiongzhou, this time Zhezong wanted Zhao Mu to continue wearing this armor to complete the unfinished work of Emperor Taizong.

Moreover, what Zhezong prepared for Zhao Mu was not just the set of armor.

There was also a chariot that had been covered in dust for many years in the inner court, as well as the imperial flag and canopy with several large holes shot by arrows.

This chariot, imperial flag, and canopy were naturally used by Emperor Taizong Zhao Guangyi during the Battle of Gaoliang River.

It was in this chariot that Emperor Taizong escaped from the pursuit of the Liao soldiers and returned in defeat.

The only difference from historical records is that when Zhao Guangyi escaped back then, the cart he was pulling was not the "donkey cart" that the Liao people had vilified and stigmatized, but three tall and strong horses that were fat and strong.

After all, if the Liao cavalry's warhorses could not even catch up with the speed of a donkey, it would be a bit of a disgrace to the warhorses. The only correct record of the Liao people about this incident was that when Taizong was escaping, he was shot in the thigh by Yelu Xiu'ge.

The chariot, the canopy, and the imperial flag were all old objects. Taizong kept them in the hope that he would lead the army in person one day to avenge his humiliation.

It’s a pity that Yongxi’s second failure in the Northern Expedition made him somewhat discouraged.

However, this time the Song Dynasty's undefeated god of war, Zhao Mu, led the army personally.

So Zhezong specially moved the carriage and everything from the treasury. He also ordered the skilled craftsmen from the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Works to repair and reinforce the carriage. He asked these craftsmen to guarantee with their own heads that there would be no problems.

Then he specially sought out three top-quality Dayuan horses from the Flying Dragon Envoy of the Imperial Stables.

Afterwards, the canopy and the imperial flag were re-decorated. Although Taizong did not ride the imperial chariot to avenge his humiliation, this time Zhezong planned to give this opportunity to Zhao Mu.

After a few days of sailing across the sea, Zhao Mu and his party returned to Dengzhou. After returning to Dengzhou, he did not delay and directly handed the Goryeo King's letter to General Yang who had been waiting there. Then he asked the Goryeo envoy who sent them back to go to Goryeo again with General Yang and others.

Before Zhao Mu left, he also agreed with the King of Goryeo that Goryeo would be responsible for the military supplies and fodder of the Song army during their stay in Goryeo. After the war, the Song would compensate Goryeo.

And before Zhao Mu parted with General Yang.

Zhao Mu also gave General Yang the following special instructions.

The first thing is to make him not act rashly. After all, he is a sharp knife that swerves from behind, so he should not expose himself too early.

The second is to strictly control the behavior of soldiers, not to disturb or harm the people of Goryeo. If a soldier commits an illegal act, no matter his rank or title, he will be beheaded in public.

The third is to be careful of the Jurchens who are fighting in conjunction with them. Although they are friendly forces, in a joint operation, they are guarding against friendly forces.

After Zhao Mu gave the instructions, he took Queen Wang and others back to Bian Jing as soon as possible.

After all, General Yang and others are already preparing to cross the sea, and I believe Bian Jing is already ready.

And now not only Bian Jing is ready, everyone is ready.

King Zhongxiao has led his troops to the vicinity of Yanmen Pass and stationed them in Dai County, Zhao Mu's former fief. Now the army of the Song Dynasty is ready to go, waiting for Zhao Mu to return to the capital and take charge of the situation.

After many days, Zhao Mu and his party finally returned to Bianjing City.

The journey made Queen Wang and the others very tired. After Zhao Mu got off the boat, he did not delay for a moment and arrived at Bianjing City at the fastest speed.

Zhao Mu could bear it, but the days of running around had exhausted Queen Wang and others.

After Zhao Mu returned to the palace, Queen Wang and others returned to the East Palace to rest, while Zhao Mu went directly to the Imperial Study to meet Zhezong.

Zhezong was handling government affairs when he saw Zhao Mu coming in. He quickly put down his imperial pen, stood up, and walked out of the dragon desk to greet him.

Zhezong asked happily, "Uncle! How was the trip?"

Zhao Mu bowed and said, "Your Majesty, I have fulfilled my mission and gained a lot from this trip. Not only have I negotiated with the Jurchen and Xianbei tribes about raising an army together, but I have also negotiated with the King of Goryeo about letting us pass through Goryeo. The King of Goryeo agreed to let us pass through Goryeo and is also willing to bear the cost of our food and fodder in Goryeo. But the condition is that after the matter is completed, we will pay for the food and fodder provided by Goryeo."

Afterwards, Zhao Mu also talked to Zhezong about allocating land to the King of Goryeo after the eastern expedition to Fuso was successful in the future.

Zhezong was not very interested in Zhao Mu's decision at the moment.

If Zhao Mu wanted to fight in the future, then he could do it. That would be many years later. After all, building warships and sailing to the sea is not a matter of a day or a night. Moreover, the map Zhao Mu presented to Zhezong showed that his overseas targets were not just Fuso.

Zhezong is now only concerned about the current situation, which is the Liao Kingdom in the north.

In this battle, Zhezong's inner expectations were not as high as Zhao Mu had described, that is, to destroy the five capitals of Liao, completely annihilate and split the Liao Kingdom.

The hope of Zhezong in this battle was to take back the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun that Shi Jingtang had ceded. As long as the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun were taken back, Zhezong would immediately prepare to go to Mount Tai to offer sacrifices to the gods. This would wipe out the bad reputation that Zhenzong had left on Mount Tai by the Treaty of Chanyuan.

(End of this chapter)