The martial arts journey begins with The King's Ambition

Chapter 685 Ambush from all sides
Huang Shang was stunned and then said: "That's not what I meant. What I said was a marriage, not a marriage. I want to marry their princess."

Zhao Xu's expression softened after hearing this.

Huang Shang said: "I know that Xia has a princess who is in her prime. If your majesty marries her, it will strengthen the relationship between the two families. Maybe once this news comes out, Liao will not dare to move."

Zhao Xu was stunned, but he didn't expect that Huang Shang would target him.

However, Huang Shang thought of things too simply. He was the emperor. Let alone marrying a foreign woman, even marrying a native woman would not be that simple. There were too many constraints.

And if you want to marry, will they agree to marry you?
Zhao Xu pondered for a while and then expressed his concerns.

Huang Shang frowned after hearing this. He had already made up his mind for this reason. What else did he want?
Huang Shang is not afraid that Xia will not agree to marry the princess. Li Qiushui's granddaughter wants to marry Xiao Feng, but he cannot get through.

It is interesting enough to have a granddaughter marrying Xiao Feng, but it is impossible for Li Qiushui to take all the good things.

When Li Qiu Shui's idea came up, Huang Shang rejected it. He had never thought of asking Li Qiu Shui to marry his granddaughter to the Song Dynasty. It was just a coincidence that at this time, Huang Shang thought of Li Qiu Shui's granddaughter and he spoke. Qiu Shui would not refuse.

But he didn't expect that there would be a problem with the young emperor Zhao Xu. He was unwilling to marry the princess of Xia.

Huang Shang scratched his head a little. He couldn't force the emperor to marry this princess, but this was really a clever trick he thought of. It was a pity that he couldn't execute it. He couldn't help but said: "Let's propose marriage in the Song Dynasty, and Xia will not refuse. Your Majesty is not willing to marry her, sir. I don’t know if there is a prince of the right age. The only prince I know is the prince of Suining County, who I am currently teaching, but he is only in his early ten years and his age is not suitable. "

Zhao Xu asked curiously: "How can you be so sure that Xia will definitely agree to Song's marriage proposal?"

Huang Shang said: "I have dealt with them. The person in charge of Xia is a smart man and will not make wrong decisions."

Zhao Xu nodded and said: "I know that in the battle between Song and Xia ten years ago, it was Qing who was responsible for negotiating the peace. Xia won, but got nothing. It was Qing who saw through Xia's lies. Since you are sure that Xia will agree to Song's marriage proposal, I will go ahead and confer the title of Prince Duan to the Prince of Suining, grant him the title of Military Envoy of Pingjiang and Zhenjiang, and propose marriage in his name."

Huang Shang said in shock: "He is only ten years old."

Zhao Xu said without any doubt: "That's enough."

It's really hard for Huang Shang to argue. This is the royal family's own business. The emperor can do whatever he thinks is appropriate. He doesn't need to say anything.

Huang Shang no longer expressed any objection, and Zhao Xu asked again: "Is this going to be foolproof?"

Huang Shang said: "It's not enough."

Zhao Xu asked: "What else?"

Huang Shang said: "There is a small tribe in the eastern part of Liao called the Jurchen tribe. This nation is brave and good at fighting, but unfortunately its population is too small and has been oppressed by the Liao. Once the Liao army invades the border, we can encourage this small tribe to start a campaign behind the Liao." Something happened. How could Liao have the strength to invade south if the internal situation is unstable? "Zhao Xu said happily: "I don't know about this."

Huang Shang said: "Your Majesty, you don't know what's normal. This tribe is still very weak. This tribe is adjacent to Goryeo, and gold, silver, weapons, etc. can be transported to this tribe through Goryeo. Goryeo has resumed its tribute to our Song Dynasty, and the court asked him to cooperate. He won’t refuse.”

Zhao Xu thought more and asked: "Goryeo has resumed its tribute to the Song Dynasty, but it has been professing its vassalage to the Liao Dynasty. Can it agree to the Song Dynasty?"

Huang Shang thought for a while and said: "Your Majesty is worried about the inconvenience caused by the official situation, but it is easy to handle. Chen's family has always been engaged in maritime trade. The restoration of contact between Goryeo and the court this time is also through the connection between Chen's family and Goryeo's relatives, the Li family." My family still maintains contact with the Li family. I can use my family to smuggle personal connections and let Gao Li provide us with a channel."

Zhao Xu was a little unsure and asked: "Does he dare to participate in the war between Song and Liao?"

Huang Shang said: "Chen's third brother has always been responsible for the maritime trade of the Chen family. The Li family has always wanted Chen's third brother to have more trade with Goryeo. But Goryeo is a small country with few people and insufficient spending power, and his products are not very valuable. So Chen's third brother is not willing to go to Goryeo. He likes to go to places that are further away and have richer products. I can let the third brother go to Goryeo more so that we can make more money. Let him provide a passage, and he won't have to do anything else. We can even pay for the road. I think it shouldn't be difficult to do. "

Zhao Xu asked again: "Is there any more?"

Huang Shang said: "This is not enough? If it is not enough, then as I said before, you can pay the Xia and Jurchens and ask them to fight. You can also pay Goryeo and ask Goryeo to send troops directly. You can also pay Tibet in the southwest. Pay them to fight."

Paying people to fight wars really impressed the little emperor Zhao Xu. It sounded ridiculous, but it was feasible.

Zhao Xu smiled and asked: "If we can keep paying people to fight wars, can the Song Dynasty not use the army?"

Huang Shang shook his head and said: "How can that be done? If we don't have the ability to protect ourselves, they will turn around and rob us directly. What I said is just to buy time to strengthen ourselves, not a permanent strategy. Furthermore, there is something wrong The money can save us from dying, I think it’s worth it.”

Zhao Xu nodded in agreement.

Zhao Xu said: "It seems that if we activate all the things you said, it will be easy to destroy Liao."

Huang Shang didn't expect that in just a few words, the emperor, who was still worried at first, would talk about the destruction of Liao.

Huang Shang said: "It is impossible to destroy the Liao. What I said is just to cause trouble to the Liao, but it is incapable of destroying the Liao. Like the Jurchen tribe I mentioned, they themselves are divided into many tribes to fight each other. They can only give The Liao caused a little trouble, so that the Liao could not devote all its energy to the southern invasion, and it could not cause much damage to the Liao. Moreover, Tubo was so far away, and if he really wanted to fight against the Liao, his ability to contribute was very limited, and there was no way he could do it now. There is no need for it, it is just a path in Chen's imagination. Xia's army is not weak in combat, but its size is there, and it will always survive in the cracks of the big powers. It is difficult to become a decisive force. Goryeo, with all due respect, the armies of Goryeo and Song Dynasty are too weak in combat effectiveness. Such armies are not enough to threaten Liao."

Zhao Xu's face turned cold, and then darkened. This was a fact, and he himself knew it, so he rectified military affairs as soon as he took office. These changes will take time.

Huang Shang's outspokenness made Zhao Xu feel good about him. He felt that unlike other scribe groups, they were always hesitant and too narrow-minded.

(End of this chapter)