Traveling through Tianlong: Starting from the Zhenlong chess game

Chapter 670: The Emperor's Uncle's Great Contribution Is Accepted by My Honor

Chapter 670: The Emperor's Uncle's Great Contribution Is Worshipped by Me

Zhao Mu took care of everything in Youzhou, and the troops received their due rewards.

Some people stayed in Youzhou and other places to garrison on the border to defend the land that was recovered by the Song Dynasty.

Some people followed Zhao Mu and others south, but on the way south, the generals from various routes also brought their troops back to their respective jurisdictions and returned to their respective units.

On the way south, the triumphant Song army had never been so glorious. "Welcoming the king's army with food and drink" was just an adjective in the past, but now it is a reality before our eyes.

Especially after entering the territory of the former Song Dynasty, the people of Song suddenly changed from border residents to people living in the heart of the Central Plains.

At least they no longer had to worry about the Liao invaders coming south at any time. Along the way, the army led by Zhao Mu received enough rewards and flowers. In this way, everyone returned to the territory of Bianjing.

As the news of Zhao Mu's return with the army spread, heroes and gentry from all over the country gathered around the city of Bianjing to celebrate Zhao Mu's unprecedented achievement.

On his way back to the city, Zhao Mu saw some familiar figures on both sides of the road, including his brother Qiao Feng and his wife, as well as the members of the Beggars' Sect.

However, they were not the only ones who came to the capital to celebrate Zhao Mu's success.

The fall of the Liao Kingdom shocked the world. The Song Dynasty has become the strongest and richest country in the world. Although it has not yet regained the glory of the Han and Tang Dynasties, it has at least reached a state where there are no powerful countries around.

Fuso, Goryeo, Dali, Gao's Tubo, and the surrounding barbarians all sent envoys to the capital to pay tribute and congratulate.

Today, the glory of the Song Dynasty has reached an unprecedented level.

The one who came from Dali was naturally Emperor Duan Yu. The one who came from Gao's Tubo was Gao Mei. The one who came from Goryeo was the crown prince. As for Fusang, Zhao Mu didn't recognize him.

But these envoys and nobles were all watching the ceremony on the city wall, and would not come down to greet Zhao Mu in person.

When they arrived at the city gate, it was still Emperor Zhezong and the Empress, who led the civil and military officials, as well as the concubines, to welcome the triumphant royal army at the city gate.

Zhao Mu personally drove Taizong's chariot, and the surrounding drums and music played the victory song that should have been played a hundred years ago.

Looking at the slowly approaching chariot, the emperor and his ministers of the Song Dynasty all shed tears. The small victory in the previous battle of Xiongzhou only boosted the people's hearts. But this time, the destruction of Liao completely reconnected the broken backbone of the Song Dynasty.

The humiliation suffered by the Central Plains dynasties since the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms was avenged in this parallel universe.

Originally, in the eyes of the ministers, Zhao Mu's recovery of the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun was a great achievement. And Zhezong had underestimated the strength of the Song Dynasty before.

After Zhao Mu conquered the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun, Zhezong had already thought about stopping the war. He planned to stop while he was ahead. However, two things changed Zhezong's mind.

One thing is that the Liao army was defeated too quickly, and it can be said that it was vulnerable. When Zhezong was still considering whether to stop the war, he received the news that the Western Capital had been captured, the Eastern Capital had been captured, the Central Capital had been captured, and Zhao Mu had taken Youzhou, completely opening the gate to the outside of the Great Wall.

Secondly, Wang Xian was too fast and surrounded the Liao capital at the fastest speed. The Liao envoys seeking peace could not leave the city because of the siege, so Zhezong did not receive the news of the Liao's request for peace.

In this way, with Zhezong and the civil and military officials of the court worried, the Song army spent several months and won the battle beautifully. Not only did they recover the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun, but they also recovered the Liaodong Peninsula that had been lost since the middle of the Tang Dynasty. Since then, the Han Chinese land has been unified again. Although there are still a few small countries in the bitter cold land outside the Great Wall, these countries no longer pose any threat to the Song Dynasty, at least for now.

Zhao Mu can now basically rest easy.

As for the Jin Kingdom, Zhao Mu still planned to wait for a while. The army of the Song Dynasty had just experienced a great war and could be said to be exhausted.

Zhao Mu planned to recuperate for a year or two, and then, when he had sufficient food and grass and a strong army, he would wipe out the last threat to the north, the "Jin Kingdom".

After clearing the obstacles on land, the next step is to conquer overseas. However, Zhao Mu still needs some time to compile the map. For now, he will return to Lingzhou to enjoy a year or two of peace and quiet.

After Zhao Mu completes compiling the world map, the Song Dynasty will be the first in the West to enter the Age of Discovery, and the uncultivated continent will also become an overseas territory of the Song Dynasty.

As for how things will develop in the future, it is not under Zhao Mu's control. At least he knows one thing, that is, each generation will do its own thing. His generation will completely eliminate the threat from the north, and how to behave in the future will depend on the ambition and wisdom of future generations.

When Zhao Mu's carriage arrived at the city gate, Zhezong came to greet him personally.

All the officials and concubines knelt down to welcome Zhao Mu.

Zhao Mu saw Zhezong coming. He also jumped off the chariot in a hurry, then bowed and said: "Your Majesty! I have lived up to your trust. I fought hard with other generals to recover all the sixteen states of Yanyun and the old land of Liaodong. All five capitals of Liao were conquered by our coalition forces. The weapons, silver, treasures, and prisoners captured by our Song Dynasty, as well as the rewards and punishments given to our Song Dynasty soldiers are all recorded here. Please read them, Your Majesty."

As he spoke, Zhao Mu took out a memorial that he had prepared long ago from his armor.

This memorial was written when he was in Youzhou. It included details of the battle, various materials seized, captured troops, and rewards and punishments, all of which were recorded one by one.

This was his last job. As long as he handed over this job, at least in the next two years, he could spend every day with women and experience all kinds of soft jade and warm fragrance. He finally didn't have to worry about these mundane things anymore. He was truly free and at ease.

Zhezong took the memorial handed over by Zhao Mu, but did not open it to read it. Instead, he handed it to the eunuch beside him.

Afterwards, Zhezong helped Zhao Mu up. At this time, he didn't know what to say. His gratitude to Zhao Mu was beyond words.

Zhao Mu's achievements today are not to mention the founding of the Song Dynasty. Even if we look back in time, the only people who can compare with Zhao Mu's achievements are Emperor Taizong of Tang who swept away the eighteen tribes of the grasslands during the heyday of the Tang Dynasty and Emperor Wu of Han who made the Xiongnu have no king's court in the south of the desert.

In the eyes of Zhao Mu, the achievements of Emperor Taizu of the Song Dynasty were not even worth mentioning.

Zhezong thought for a moment and said, "The triumphant return of the Imperial Uncle is the greatest event of our Great Song Dynasty. The Imperial Uncle's merits and virtues are the greatest since the founding of our Great Song Dynasty. Imperial Uncle, please accept the greetings of me and the Queen."

Zhao Mu heard this and said, "Your Majesty, this is impossible! Since ancient times, it has always been the subject who pays homage to the king! How can there be a king paying homage to the subject? Your Majesty, by doing this, isn't this putting me in a position of disloyalty and injustice?"

Zhezong shook his head and said, "Uncle, you are too kind. Uncle is the most meritorious minister of the Song Dynasty. I am not bowing to you as a minister, but I am expressing my gratitude to you on behalf of the Song Dynasty and the people who are no longer suffering. You are worthy of it. Besides, uncle always says that thunder, lightning, rain and dew are all grace from the emperor. Are you going to disobey your order?"

(End of this chapter)

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