Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

(Originally, there were several more chapters to be written about the strategy of conquering the Nanxiang Basin, but many readers became impatient and simply skipped it. Some people were unhappy if it was written in detail, and some people didn’t like it if it was written in detail. It’s hard to agree with everyone.)

In the five years of Xuanhe that had just passed, the Song Dynasty was in a state of turmoil.

The blame on the battlefield needs to be shouldered by the teacher, and the political responsibility needs to be shouldered by Wang Fu. Because Wang Fu is the prime minister, if he doesn't shoulder the responsibility, the emperor will issue an edict to punish him.

It is a foregone conclusion that Wang Fu will be dismissed as prime minister. The only thing that has not yet been determined is whether Cai Jing will be reinstated as prime minister or Cai You as prime minister.

Amid the drool from the ministers, Song Huizong finally stopped Hua Shi Gang.

However, Xicheng Station still exists, and a large number of landowners and farmers in Gyeonggi, Jingxi, and Jingdong continue to pay taxes repeatedly.

Using real estate as an analogy, Xicheng Institute's operation is to put your house in a state of uncertainty. As a homeowner, you have to pay property taxes to the local government; as a tenant, you have to pay rent to Xicheng.

In comparison, let’s not even talk about the situation in Sichuan. Let’s look at the barbaric Jin Kingdom.

Due to the decline in people's livelihood and the continuous uprisings, the Jin Kingdom announced at the end of the year that the interest on all private loans was invalid, so that farmers would not live in despair and work hard. At the same time, the areas south of Xianzhou (Kaiyuan) and areas north of Suzhou (Dalian Jinzhou) and Fuzhou (Wafangdian) are exempted from the military rations that should be paid to Nanjing (Liaoyang).

Jin Guo knows about tax cuts, and is more thorough than Zhu Guoxiang in reducing interest rates, forcibly exempting all original loan interest!

The Emperor of the Jin Kingdom also issued a decree that those who sold their sons and daughters among the people were allowed to work hard to redeem them, and the buyers were not allowed to refuse.

Several imperial edicts were promulgated in succession to improve people's livelihood because the Kingdom of Jin was about to burst.

Although they made a lot of money by plundering the Liao Kingdom and blackmailing the Song Kingdom, they could not benefit the people at the bottom. The original territory of the Liao Kingdom was in a mess. The rebellions one after another and the endless refugees gave the emperor of the Jin Kingdom a big headache. He had to manage the internal affairs as soon as possible to restore people's livelihood.

The Kingdom of Jin is not short of money, but it is seriously short of food!

If the situation is still the same after one or two years, then the only option is to send troops to attack the Song Dynasty and use war to transform internal conflicts.

After the beginning of spring, the Jin State sent envoys to Yanjing to ask for the 200,000 shi of grain promised by the Song State.

Eunuch Tan Zhen served as the envoy of Yanshan Prefecture and told the Jin envoy: "It's hard to get two hundred thousand shi of food. That's what Zhao Liangsi promised privately. You can get food if you want it, but you have to come up with it in black and white, otherwise there will be nothing." It’s hard to follow orders without any evidence.”

The Kingdom of Jin was furious, and this became an excuse for them to go south to attack Song Dynasty.

Xixia also surrendered to the Kingdom of Jin.

When spring came, Zhu Ming returned to Hanzhong with his soldiers.

When setting off, I also received a secret letter from Li Bangyan. This guy's biological father died and he had to go home to worry about it for a while. He was temporarily unable to participate in the court battles and could not do anything to help Ju Ming.

"Is this the authentic painting of "Along the River During Qingming Festival"?" Zhu Guoxiang's eyes lit up.

When the father and son met again, they did not discuss military and political matters, nor did they talk about the woman sent by Song Huizong. Instead, let the soldiers carry "Along the River During the Qingming Festival" and unfold it to appreciate it carefully.

There may be more precious works of art, but they only recognize "Along the River During the Qingming Festival" because it is famous enough and carries a special sentiment.

Ju Ming said: "It's no different from what I saw online."

Zhu Guoxiang didn't understand ancient paintings either, so he just said: "Most of the ones online are copies from the Ming and Qing Dynasties, and they are definitely not as good as the originals."

"Can you tell the difference?" Zhu Ming asked.

Zhu Guoxiang boasted: "I have learned bamboo painting from Er Niang (Wen Xiaomei), and I still have a certain appreciation for traditional Chinese painting. After I study for a few more years, I will definitely be a master of painting."

Ju Ming teased: "Would you like to learn the Slim Golden Body again?"

"go away!"

Zhu Guoxiang smiled and cursed and put away the scroll and asked everyone else to go out. Only the father and son were left in the room.

Zhu Guoxiang put away his smile and said: "I don't know how to be Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty, and I don't even want to be the emperor. It will be very tiring to govern Sichuan. You are happy fighting on the front line, and I am going crazy supplying food and grass in the back. In addition, there are Other government affairs, do you know how many hours I sleep a day?"

"Three hours?" Ju Ming guessed.

Zhu Guoxiang said: "It's not that short. I sleep less than five hours a day. I am so busy that I have no private time at all. I don't have any free time until winter, and I finally get enough sleep every day. I thought about it carefully. I will build a country and become emperor in the future. Let me enjoy being the emperor for a month. Then I will abdicate and become the supreme emperor. I can do whatever I want, and I will definitely be very free and happy."

Ju Ming said: "Have you ever thought about it, you have a team, and I also have a team. You want to abdicate, but your team may not be willing."

Zhu Guoxiang said: "So the scope of power and responsibilities must be strictly divided. I am determined not to touch the military, and you are determined not to touch the internal affairs. If there is overlapping power, those officials must be responsible for both of us at the same time. In this way, the emperor's position will be able to A smooth handover will not harm the interests of those who have contributed from Long. There will definitely be some minor confusion, but overall it is harmless."

"It's not that simple," Ju Ming shook his head. "Even the generals under my command have formed different factions in just one year."

Zhu Guoxiang said: "You just need to remember one thing, the two of us are our own people, and the rest are outsiders. If there is a problem, communicate in time and negotiate to resolve it before the conflict intensifies. If there are those who deliberately provoke conflicts between our father and son for personal gain, we We must work together to kill him!"

"Communicate in time," Zhu Ming agreed with these four words and said with a smile, "I have something to communicate with you now. Song Huizong sent five concubines here. Which one do you like to keep?"

Zhu Guoxiang said: "I don't want any of them."

"Really?" Zhu Ming asked.

Zhu Guoxiang said: "Don't look at the fact that I have one wife and two concubines now, they are all based on emotions. To put it more bluntly, if I want a woman, I won't find it myself, so I have to pick one sent by Song Huizong?"

Zhu Guoxiang didn't say a word. If it were Concubine Liu An, she could still consider it...

"Okay, I'll leave Master Li to listen to the music, and I'll keep Pei Yueli Chang'e to raise her, and the rest will be given in marriage to generals who have made meritorious services." Zhu Ming immediately revealed his true face. He fell in love with the most beautiful Pei Yueli Chang'e, but he couldn't bear to part with her. Send Master Li out.

It’s not that I like Master Li that much, it’s just that she’s famous and has a special sentimental bonus, so it’s just right to stay and become a singer. I will definitely not be able to be a concubine from now on, and I will at most be given a concubine position.

Zhu Guoxiang also thought about his cheap son: "Leave one for Bai Qi."

"What's going on over there at Bai Qi?" Zhu Ming asked.

Zhu Guoxiang said: "The Gao family in Dali came to fight the autumn wind. They wanted to take advantage but were unwilling to pay too much. The Gao family drove the barbarians to fight. They once reached the north of the Dadu River and plundered Hanyuan Town. But the tough battle was left to the barbarians. When we came to fight, Gao himself only took advantage of it, which caused the barbarians to become alienated. On our side, the Han barbarians worked together to defend their homeland and were willing to fight tooth and nail. Our army won a great victory and the enemy was defeated. But the losses were heavy. They are all barbarians, and Gao himself was not seriously injured."

He is also a disdainful person who only wants to eat meat and is unwilling to take the risk of being beaten!

In the history of Dali, Gao Liangcheng left an image of being open-minded and generous, and good at managing domestic affairs.

Be open-minded and generous because you cannot monopolize the political agenda. The internal strife within the Gao family is extremely serious. He is also the product of compromise recommended by the family at a meeting. He must carefully balance the various factions of the Gao family.

He was good at managing domestic affairs because he could not bully outsiders. Even when the thirty-seven tribes of barbarians rebelled, it took him a lot of effort to lead troops to suppress it. Taking advantage of the transition between the Southern and Northern Song Dynasties, the Gao family expanded and consolidated its power south of the Dadu River.

When it is difficult to reconcile internal and external conflicts, in a few years Gao Qiang will resign and live in seclusion, hiding behind the scenes as the sixth son as the "Taiwan Prime Minister".

Then, he deliberately condoned the internal fighting within the Gao family.

Various factions of the Gao family supported Duan Heyu's sons.

The Gao family and the Duan family were fighting each other. When these people were almost dead, Gao Liangcheng suddenly ended his seclusion and proclaimed Master Yideng and his father as emperor.

At this moment, Gao Liangcheng had received news of the imperial court's defeat and was sending envoys to Hanzhong. While accepting the canonization of Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty, he also wanted to make good friends with the Zhu family and his son. Anyway, he had to leave himself a way out.

Zhu Guoxiang's administrative office was the former Lizhou Road Transfer Office.

As for Ju Ming's Marshal's Mansion, it was the original Xingyuan Mansion Yamen.

After communicating with his father, Ju Ming did not go back to the back house immediately. Instead, he looked through various military reports compiled by the left-behind officials in the Generalissimo's Mansion.

Li Hanzhang really offered the entire Suizhou as a gift. He took the initiative to contact Zhang Guangdao's troops and only borrowed 500 troops to get it done.

First, five hundred rebel troops were sent to attack Zaoyang County. Li Hanzhang pretended to abandon the city and fled to Tangcheng with some trusted archers. When the five hundred rebels arrived in Tangcheng, Li Hanzhang suddenly hijacked the county magistrate and forced the Tangcheng magistrate to surrender.

Without stopping, he repeated his old tricks and captured Suizhou again.

Immediately afterwards, Li Hanzhang rode into the mountains alone and promised to surrender the Suizhou uprising army that had been entrenched for a long time.

He also reorganized the Suizhou rebel army, with five hundred rebels as the core, and captured Yingzhou, which was empty of troops. The decision was decided by directly sending a message to Jingmen next door.

Because Jingmen Zhijun was scared to death, fearing that Prime Minister Zhong would lead his troops to kill him.

The news that Zhong Xiang had proclaimed himself emperor had spread, and officials, scholars, monks, Taoists, and landlords were killed indiscriminately. A large number of wealthy people fled to the territory of the Jingmen Army and described Zhong Xiang as a man-eating demon king. The Jingmen Zhijun would rather surrender to the Zhu thief than to the cannibal Zhong thief.

The current situation is that the Zhu family and his son occupy Yiling (Yichang) and a large area of ​​territory on the north bank of the Yangtze River.

Zhong Xiang and his son occupied Yidu, Zhijiang, Jiangling, and a large area of ​​territory south of the Yangtze River.

The Jiangling here is not Jiangling County in later generations, but Jingzhou City!

Jiangling and Zhijiang are both on the north bank of the Yangtze River.

In other words, Prime Minister Zhong's capital of the Chu Kingdom was exposed under the nose of Ju Ming's territory.

This situation is very dangerous, and it is truly "the emperor guarding the country." But Prime Minister Zhong was reluctant to give up, because Jiangling was richer than Xiangyang, and was the richest city on Jingnan Road and Jinghu Road.

During the Northern Song Dynasty, the entire Sichuan tax revenue had to be transported to Jiangling first, and then transported north to Tokyo.

All goods in Sichuan are also shipped to Jiangling first!

Zhong Xiang and his son are currently considering moving the capital, and plan to forcibly move all Jiangling's population and property to Changsha for development.

In addition to the military situation in the Nanxiang Basin, the second is southern Sichuan.

The uncles and nephews of the Yang family in Bozhou were still fighting among themselves, and sent their respective envoys to Chengdu to request official canonization.

Having not experienced the wave of Han migration in the late Song Dynasty, the Yang family in Bozhou was temporarily weak and was still trying to survive in the cracks of the barbarians in southern Sichuan.

Gao Jingshan and Bai Qi jointly signed and wrote two letters at the same time. One letter was given to the Jinglue Mansion and the other to the Marshal's Mansion, requesting the canonization of Yang's uncles and nephews, ordering them to settle down in their respective roles, and giving them a certain amount of money and food to help them attack the barbarians.

The Jinglue Mansion has sent a reply from Zhu Guoxiang: "Yes."

Now we are waiting for Ju Ming's signature and seal. This kind of matter involving both military and political matters requires the consent of both father and son.

Zhu Ming also wrote the word "can" and sent the official document back to the Jinglue Mansion, and the canonization matter was handled by Zhu Guoxiang.

The Yang family of Bozhou was very happy in the Ming Dynasty, and now they still have to rely on them to open up the situation in southern Sichuan. Because Ju Ming's next energy will be focused on capturing Jiangling, and even the Dali Kingdom will have to stay behind.