I traveled with them to the Northern Song Dynasty

Chapter 145 The Nine Princes' Struggle for the Throne is About to Be Completed
...

Ye Shiyun's childbirth really made Zhao Yu nervous for a while.

Zhao Yu was genuinely worried that Ye Shiyun, who had even given her last words, might encounter some mishap.

If that's the case, then Zhao Yu's five beautiful women would only be four left.

For Zhao Yu, this was not just losing a part of his cheat ability, but also leaving a huge regret for his entire life.

Zhao Yu was starting to regret not telling Ye Shiyun that he was also a time traveler. He was afraid he wouldn't have enough time to tell the person who most needed to know this secret.

However, it turned out that Zhao Yu was overthinking things.

Although Ye Shiyun's childbirth wasn't as smooth as Ma Xiaojiao's or others', she didn't actually experience too much difficulty; it was within the normal range.

However, Zhao Yu was so concerned that he thought Ye Shiyun's childbirth was taking too long and almost sent someone to interfere, putting Ye Shiyun in danger.

Fortunately, just as Zhao Yu was about to make this wrong decision, Ye Shiyun gave birth. Immediately afterwards, a female official came to report: "Congratulations, Your Majesty! Congratulations, Your Majesty! Consort Ye and her child are safe and sound!!!"

Double happiness!

Crucially, Ye Shiyun, whom Zhao Yu valued most, also successfully passed through this perilous situation, which made Zhao Yu extremely happy!

Zhao Yu immediately issued an imperial edict: "With the birth of two sons, the nation is prosperous. I wish to share this joyous occasion with all my ministers. I hereby bestow silk upon all civil and military officials, according to their rank… I hereby grant a general amnesty, so that all under heaven may rejoice…"

Subsequently, Emperor Zhao Yu generously rewarded the midwives, royal physicians, attendants, and other relevant personnel involved in the delivery to acknowledge their contributions.

At the same time, Zhao Yu promoted Ye Shiyun's adoptive father and Li Kefei by three ranks each, making them wealthy and powerful because of their daughter.

Before long, someone brought Zhao Yu's two sons to him for him to see, and according to custom, Zhao Yu was to give them names.

Fearing that the two children, born only half an hour apart, might be confused, Zhao Yu's eighth son, who was born to Li Qingzhao, was specially wrapped in a red swaddle and watched over by Cuiyu; Zhao Yu's ninth son, who was born to Ye Shiyun, was specially wrapped in a yellow swaddle and watched over by Zhao Yuannu.

Zhao Yu held his eighth son for a while and immediately thought of the Eighth Prince, so he named him "Zhao Xian".

When it came to his ninth son, Zhao Yu thought of the thrilling experience he had just had. At that time, he only hoped that his wife and son could stay by his side and be safe and healthy, so he named him "Zhao Cun".

To be honest, Zhao Yu named his children rather casually.

It is important to know that when emperors named their princes, they paid attention to uniformity, such as using the same radical. For example, Zhao Yu and his generation all had the radical "亻".

When it came to naming his children, Zhao Yu seemed to have a premonition that he would have many offspring, and that trying to name them all the same might be a mistake that would make it harder for him to name them. So he simply stopped looking for patterns.

In the following period, Ma Xiaojiao gave birth to Zhao Yu's third daughter, Chao Min gave birth to Zhao Yu's fourth daughter, Han Yu gave birth to Zhao Yu's tenth son, Zhao Mai gave birth to Zhao Yu's fifth daughter, Cai Xuan gave birth to Zhao Yu's eleventh son, Wei Zhi gave birth to Zhao Yu's sixth daughter, Xu Qing gave birth to Zhao Yu's seventh daughter, Cao Shi gave birth to Zhao Yu's eighth daughter, Xu Shi gave birth to Zhao Yu's ninth daughter, and Zhou Shi gave birth to Zhao Yu's twelfth son.

Seeing this, and glancing at her own and Li Lin's already prominent bellies, Zhang Chun remarked, "You're thirteen, I'm fourteen. I have a feeling the struggle for the throne among the nine princes is about to begin?"

Li Lin glared at Zhang Chun, who was prone to talking nonsense, and said, "Not counting the children you and I have had, there are already twelve princes. They are all healthy. What kind of nine princes vying for the throne is this? If this mess really happens, not only will those women who lost their sons be furious and fight you to the death if they find out that you cursed them, but even if Zhao Yu finds out about this, he will not let you off the hook. The cold palace will probably be your final resting place."

Zhang Chun was so frightened that he quickly shut his mouth and never mentioned the Nine Princes' Succession Struggle again.

However, on the other hand, while Zhang Chun certainly wouldn't dare say anything more, she always had a feeling that Zhao Yu's sons would definitely cause trouble in the future...

……

Because the stubborn old forces of Qinghai-Tibet were completely eradicated by Zhao Yu and his ministers using thunderous and even ruthless methods, the Longyou Protectorate was left as a blank sheet of paper.

Taking advantage of this rare opportunity, Emperor Zhao Yu and his ministers sent a group of outstanding talents, the advanced farming techniques summarized by Yuan Qingcheng, and the advanced technology developed by Ma Xiaojiao to the Longyou Protectorate.

The one million Hebei refugees relocated by the Zhao Song Dynasty were hardworking and brave, and they loved the promising new life they had here. So they worked diligently and conscientiously on the land that the court had given them.

The barbarian people, commoners, and slaves who had endured years of turmoil cherished the land granted to them by the Song Dynasty and longed for a peaceful and stable life. Consequently, they actively cooperated with the people sent by the Song Dynasty to govern them in construction and planting.

Heaven is kind to people, and it has been very kind to the Longyou Protectorate, ensuring that the region has enjoyed favorable weather and abundant harvests this year.

This resulted in the abundant growth of crops such as highland barley, wheat, barley, and buckwheat throughout the Longyou Protectorate.

The older generation who live here all say they have never seen such a magnificent sight in their lives.

Lu Huiqing conservatively estimates that as long as the autumn harvest goes smoothly this year, the local people will have no problem having two or three years of good harvests.

On the other hand, after opening up the Silk Road, the Zhao Song Dynasty actively sent envoys to the thirty-six kingdoms of the Western Regions to establish contact with them, express their willingness to trade, and at the same time notify them that all trade routes to the Western Xia were closed and that if they wanted to trade with the Zhao Song Dynasty, they could only go through the Longyou Protectorate of the Zhao Song Dynasty.

It is worth mentioning that, in addition to traditional best-selling products such as silk, porcelain, and tea, the Zhao Song Dynasty also sent merchants to various countries in the Western Regions to sell luxury goods such as glass products and soaps.

In a short time, Xining City became highly prosperous.

The vigorous development of agriculture and commerce also enabled the Longyou Protectorate to truly integrate into the Zhao Song Dynasty.

Crucially, driven by the Longyou Protectorate and with the imperial court's series of tax reductions and vigorous development of Shaanxi's industry and agriculture, the economy of the six routes of Shaanxi was rapidly recovering. After learning of this, those who had fled Shaanxi began to return to Shaanxi one after another.

Seeing how useful the Longyou Protectorate was, and how quickly Shaanxi's economy and people's strength recovered, the old faction officials who had previously opposed Zhao Yu's conquest of Qinghai and Tibet, advised him to abandon the Longyou Protectorate, and considered his massacres in Qinghai uncivilized, all fell silent. They finally realized that Zhao Yu's choice was truly worthwhile. They also began to understand that expanding the borders might genuinely solve the problems facing the Song Dynasty.

Of course, nothing is perfect.

By completely incorporating Qinghai-Tibet into the Song Dynasty and turning it into the Longyou Protectorate, the Song Dynasty was able to continuously supply the Song army with supplies, relieving the Song army of logistical pressure. Furthermore, Emperor Zhao Yu and his ministers thoroughly eliminated the remaining Qinghai-Tibet forces within the Longyou Protectorate. With no worries about their rear, the pressure undoubtedly shifted to the Western Xia.

Li Qianshun and his ministers were well aware that if Western Xia did not break the Zhao Song Dynasty's plans, it would be gradually devoured by the Zhao Song Dynasty, or it would collapse from within, allowing the Zhao Song Dynasty to reap the benefits. In short, if they did not find a solution, Western Xia might be in danger.

Li Qianshun and his ministers first tried to win over the border officials and generals of the Zhao Song Dynasty, hoping to persuade them to surrender their cities and subdue the enemy without a fight.

But the Longyou Protectorate is developing too well now, Shaanxi has also recovered its vitality, and everyone can see the passivity of the Western Xia, so that very few people in 1949 have joined the National Army.

Of course, there are always fools like that.

Not long ago, under the influence of the Western Xia, a junior officer named Zhang Geng from Xihe Road plotted to lead his troops to defect to the Western Xia.

However, this matter was quickly reported by their own men. Hu Zonghui, the military commissioner of Xihe Road, immediately sent men to arrest Zhang Geng and execute him. All the soldiers who intended to defect with Zhang Geng were beheaded. At the same time, every single one of them had their homes confiscated. All the men in their families were exiled three thousand miles away, and all the women were sent to brothels. The news was spread throughout the army.

Li Qianshun certainly couldn't rely on such limited methods.

At the same time, Li Qianshun continued to send envoys to Yelü Yanxi to ask for a Liao princess to marry him as his empress. He also explained to Yelü Yanxi the vital relationship of mutual dependence and wanted to form a deep bond with the Liao Kingdom.

Crucially, Li Qianshun ordered his younger brother, Li Chage, to train troops extensively, preparing to seize the Hengshan region and capture the Longyou Protectorate.

Emperor Zhao Yu and his ministers knew very well that Western Xia was secretly preparing for war. Giving Western Xia too much peace would be detrimental to the border defense of the Song Dynasty, let alone the recovery of Western Xia. Only by taking advantage of the tense situation between the two countries and starting a war first could they defeat Western Xia as soon as possible and prevent trouble from happening in the first place.

Not long after, Zhang Dun sent a message to Wang Hou, asking him to find a way to persuade Renduo Baozhong, a veteran general of three dynasties in the Western Xia Kingdom and the commander of the Zhuoluo army, to surrender.

Renduo Baozhong had intended to surrender as early as when the Song army captured Tiandu Mountain.

However, Wang Hou believed that although Ren Duo Baozhong himself was willing to surrender, most of his subordinates were hostile to the Zhao Song Dynasty. It would be useless to persuade him, a commander without troops, to surrender. This move was not only too risky, but also a losing proposition.

Unexpectedly, Zhang Dun remained unmoved and instead reprimanded Wang Hou even more urgently, urging him to act.

Left with no other option, Wang Hou could only send envoys to Western Xia to persuade Renduo Baozhong.

As a result, the envoy was captured by the heavily guarded Xia army halfway through his journey.

The fact that the Zhao Song Dynasty had persuaded Ren Duo Baozhong to surrender to the Song Dynasty was naturally known to Li Qianshun and his ministers.

In this way, even if Renduo Baozhong is not killed by Li Qianshun, it will be difficult for him to be trusted by Li Qianshun again.

Unexpectedly, Zhang Dun still sent Wang Hou to persuade Ren Duobaozhong to surrender, and even ordered Wang Hou to spend more money to win him over.

The results are obvious.

Renduo Baozhong spent the entire time at home reflecting on his mistakes and ignoring state affairs. However, he was repeatedly and openly courted by the Zhao Song Dynasty, eventually becoming the biggest pro-Song figure in the Western Xia Kingdom.

Now it's clear to everyone that the Song Dynasty did this intentionally. Emperor Zhao Yu and his ministers never even considered persuading Indo Bochong to surrender; in fact, they didn't care whether Indo Bochong surrendered or not. They only wanted two things:
First, to provoke Li Qianshun and force the Western Xia to wage war against the Zhao Song Dynasty.
Secondly, regardless of whether we can persuade Renduo Baozhong to surrender, we should first eliminate one of the most capable and experienced generals in the Western Xia Kingdom.

This is a calculated scheme devised by Emperor Zhao Yu and his ministers. Please have Emperor Li Qianshun and his ministers review it.

It should be noted that this plan was not proposed by Zhang Dun or Zeng Bu, but by Cai Jing.

It must be said that Cai Jing had truly boundless energy. The economic reforms of the Zhao Song Dynasty were in full swing and progressing rapidly, yet even under such circumstances, Cai Jing still had the energy to focus on the war, and at the same time, he kept a close eye on Zhao Tingzhi's monetary reforms.

It's no exaggeration to say that whenever there's a problem, Cai Jing will be the first to criticize these people.

Upon seeing this, Zhao Yu truly didn't know how to describe Cai Jing.

To ensure that the Western Xia people would be truly enraged, Cai Jing offered Zhao Yu another unscrupulous plan—to have the Western Xia people, along with Li Qianshun, whose prestige was not yet high enough, wage war against the Zhao Song Dynasty.

At this time, the official in charge of Yan'an Prefecture was Tao Jiefu, a border official.

Tao Jiefu was a staff member under Zhang Jie. In his early years, when he was an official at the grassroots level in Guangdong, he won over the local bandit Yang Yuan with his personal charm, and Yang Yuan was willing to be executed after he walked into the trap.

Tao Jiefu later gained the favor of Zhang Jie, the then prefect of Guangzhou, because of his outstanding qualities in both literature and martial arts, and thus followed Zhang Jie to Shaanxi.

Now, the Song Dynasty wanted to provoke conflict between the Song and Western Xia, hoping to incite the Western Xia to wage war against the Song Dynasty with Li Qianshun, whose prestige was not yet high enough. Tao Jiefu naturally took on the role. As the military and political commander on the Song-Xia border, he not only refused to allow Western Xia people to come for friendly trade, but also arrested and killed some herdsmen near the border without any reason.

Such actions by the Zhao Song Dynasty naturally aroused resentment within the Western Xia Kingdom.

Li Qianshun first sent envoys to Bianliang City to negotiate.

However, Zhao Yu sent the hardline minister Lin Shu to negotiate.

At the negotiating table, Lin Shu pointed out that the Western Xia had repeatedly sent large armies to attack the Longyou Protectorate of the Zhao Song Dynasty, violating the peace treaty first, and then frequently sending spies to the Zhao Song Dynasty to gather intelligence. He argued that the Song Dynasty was killing the Western Xia spies, not the civilians.

The Western Xia did indeed do these things, and the Song Dynasty seized upon them to argue its case. What could the Western Xia envoys do?
In fact, it is clear to everyone that the conflict between Song and Xia is irreconcilable and can only be resolved by war.

Seeing this, Li Qianshun and his ministers finally lost their composure, and the Xia army began to harass the borders of the Zhao Song Dynasty again.

Xia Jun first appeared in the vicinity of Linzong Village near Huangzhou, but was soon defeated by Song general Ma Yongzong.

In the same month, the Xia army also invaded Fuyan Road and Jingyuan Road, burning down five fortresses and strongholds.

Following closely behind, Li Qianshun launched another large-scale invasion of Jingyuan Road, and at one point besieged Pingxia City and the fortresses around Meiyan Gorge. The remaining Xia army marched south along Hulu River, advancing all the way to Zhenrong Army and the vicinity of Weizhou, capturing tens of thousands of people.

Before leaving, Li Ganshun left a message for Zhao Yu: "Please rebuke Zhang Dun and Cai Jing for abusing their power and acting arbitrarily. Therefore, we have raised troops to punish them."

Li Qianshun originally intended to show off and then leave.

Unexpectedly, Zhang Jie, the commander-in-chief of the six routes in Shaanxi, deliberately allowed the Xia army to penetrate deep into the territory.

The Xia army thought they had won a great victory, but they were unexpectedly caught in a trap by the Song army.

Song general Liu Fa defeated the main force of the Xia army in one battle and pursued the Xia army for more than 30 li.

If Li Qianshun hadn't run fast, he would have been left behind in Shaanxi.

In this battle, not only were all the captured people rescued by the Song army, but the Song army also captured a large number of warhorses, cattle, sheep, tents and other items.

With this excellent pretext, Zhao Yu officially issued an edict: establishing the Pacification Commission, appointing Zhang Jie as the Pacification Commissioner of Shaanxi and Western Xia, and Lü Huiqing as the Military Commissioner of Shaanxi and Western Xia. Shaanxi was ordered to strengthen its military preparedness to resist the invasion of Western Xia, and at the same time, to seize the opportunity to recover Western Xia.

The war by which the Zhao Song Dynasty recovered the Western Xia Dynasty officially began...

……

(End of this chapter)