Simulates history, but Chongzhen is the Divine Emperor at the beginning

Chapter 270 I can do anything!
In the 238th year of the Shaoxing reign, just as your reforms were flourishing, Emperor Zhao, who had always been protecting the Song Dynasty's territory, suddenly lost his divine power, allowing the Jin army to seize the opportunity to invade the south, nearly causing a catastrophe!

Fortunately, veteran generals like Yue Fei led their troops to repel the invading Jin army and rebuilt several northern border defense lines that you had laid off, thus averting the crisis...

Although the threat of the Jin army's southward advance has been averted, it has also exposed the current predicament of the Southern Song Dynasty: in terms of hard power, the Southern Song is indeed far inferior to the mutated Jin army. The reason it was able to confront the Jin Dynasty in the past was entirely due to the divine protection of "Divine Zhao Gou"... But now that "Divine Zhao Gou" has stated that his divine power is waning and he is no longer able to maintain the stalemate, it means that the Southern Song will fall into an extremely passive and weak position in the future!

[Even with Yue Fei and the other four generals of the Southern Song Dynasty stationed at the border, the current passive situation could not be changed... And once is never enough; since the Jin army successfully marched south once, they will inevitably march south two, three, or even countless times in the future...]

[If this continues, even if Yue Fei and Han Shizhong manage to repel the Jin army every time, the destruction and panic caused by the Jin army's southward advance will inevitably have a serious impact on the Song Dynasty's economy and people's livelihood!]

If that were to happen, your reforms would truly become a joke...

Therefore, you are extremely worried about this.

Amidst your worries, you inevitably begin to doubt Zhao Gou: is his claim of weakened divine power genuine or not?

[This isn't you being paranoid; it's just too coincidental: it didn't decline earlier or later, but precisely when your reforms were achieving initial success... It's hard not to suspect that Zhao Gou was putting on an act!]

[So you frowned and pondered: If Zhao Gou was really putting on an act, what was his purpose?]

The answer is obvious: to force you to launch a northern expedition!

[You've always known Zhao Gou's established strategy: due to the nature of his lustful nature, Zhao Gou needed to "rebel against his superiors" to become stronger. However, he himself held the highest position within the Southern Song Dynasty, so he couldn't become stronger through conventional means. Instead, he could only harbor suppressed "fantasies of invasion" towards the Jin Dynasty... Therefore, under normal circumstances, he couldn't abandon this only method to become stronger!]

You can't help but wonder: if Zhao Gou was indeed putting on an act, then his purpose was most likely this.

But even if He is really acting against you, what can you do? Are you going to expose His trick and embarrass Him? That's obviously not going to do.

Therefore, regardless of whether He is acting or not, you can only assume that His divine power has truly weakened... And based on this, even if you don't want to cause meaningless large-scale casualties, you can only do as He wishes and launch the Northern Expedition...

No! Perhaps you have another way!

[A thought suddenly struck you, and you remembered the second method Zhao Gou had mentioned... What exactly was this method that could bring Zhao Gou a great deal of divine power without initiating a northern expedition?]

[Having almost reached the brink of despair, you can't help but feel a strong curiosity about this unknown solution...]

【…】

Of course, curiosity is one thing, but since Zhao Gou is unwilling to voice it, you can only suppress it for now and continue your governance...

[In the 239th year of Shaoxing, due to the Jin army's southward invasion last year, the people's livelihood near the border suffered greatly. You had no choice but to order Yue Fei and others to rebuild the border towns, exempt the disaster-stricken areas from taxes and grain for three years, and provide certain subsidies to the victims.]

Thanks to your tireless efforts, the affected people have at least been able to rebuild their homes...

[Having suffered losses here, you naturally wanted to recoup them on the other side... So, while funding the reconstruction of Xiangyang and other places, you directly announced a 20% tax increase on the newly established textile industry in Jiangnan, drawing complaints from wealthy merchants!]

But you ignored all that and continued to implement reforms in Jiangnan after recovering your losses...

In the 240th year of Shaoxing, to increase employment opportunities for the unemployed, you specially funded the establishment of ironworks in multiple locations and upgraded the processes using advanced technology aided by your father, greatly increasing iron production and solving the employment problem for tens of thousands of displaced people!

With this move, the people who benefited from it began praising your good deeds once again...

But this good fortune didn't last long. Just as your ironworks was thriving, the wicked Jin army marched south again!

This time, tens of thousands of mutated Jin soldiers directly breached the newly rebuilt strategic town of Lianghuai, besieging the veteran general Han Shizhong on one side and advancing rapidly, their forces reaching the north bank of the Yangtze River!

Startled, you hastily declared martial law in the capital and personally led 100,000 imperial guards to meet the enemy!

The two sides faced off across the river for half a month before the Jin army was finally forced to retreat thanks to Yue Fei's swift rescue from Xiangyang.

[Post-war statistics revealed devastating losses in the Jianghuai region! Not only were houses and supplies destroyed, but nine out of ten homes were nearly empty...] [Enraged, you had no choice but to increase taxes again to provide relief to the people, and this resulted in the closure of many newly built ironworks in the south!]

[There was no other way, so you gritted your teeth and brought out the advanced textile technology provided by the Prime Minister's father in an attempt to boost the economy...]

[But the plot remains the same: just as your new industry is getting off the ground, those damned Jin soldiers are back again!]

This time, the Jin army broke through the Hanzhong defense line, besieging and attacking the two veteran generals Liu Guangshi and Zhang Jun while advancing thousands of miles south, their advance reaching the Land of Abundance...

This was like a nightmare, marking the complete shattering of the two-hundred-year-long peace and tranquility of the Southern Song Dynasty!

In the 241st year of Shaoxing's reign, you established the tea industry... That same year, the Jin army marched south!

[In the 242nd year of Shaoxing, you developed the ceramics industry... That year, the Jin army marched south!]

[In the 243rd year of Shaoxing, you tested the steam engine... That year, the Jin army marched south!]

【…】

Under the constant onslaught of large-scale Jin invasions to the south, even with all your efforts to boost the economy, the Song Dynasty inevitably slid into an abyss of poverty and weakness...

[You were already no match for the Jin Dynasty, and now you're being constantly bleed dry. This hellish situation is simply beyond your ability to resolve!]

As this oppressive situation grows ever more apparent, your spirit is tormented: the screams of border dwellers under the sword, the helplessness of the people in poverty, the empty treasury, the sinister smiles of the Jin army marching south, and the ever-growing curses against you from the populace…

You feel like you're going crazy!

In stark contrast to these troubles is the Emperor's unwavering trust and reliance on you: even when you are universally condemned by the people, the Emperor repeatedly issues edicts of self-reproach, taking the blame for the Jin army's southward advance upon himself!

[It could even be said that if the authorities hadn't repeatedly taken the blame for you, you would have been forced to resign long ago...]

[The government! They're all government officials!]

Thinking of the Emperor's boundless protection and kindness towards you, you, in your distress, almost regarded Him as your only savior!

After much deliberation, you finally gritted your teeth and went to the palace to request an audience with Emperor Zhao in person...

"Have you thought it through?"

[The Emperor Zhao looked at you helplessly: "If we don't restart the Northern Expedition, I will never have enough divine power to protect the Song Dynasty... And if I am powerless to protect the Song Dynasty, then the Song Dynasty will sooner or later fall apart amidst the Jin soldiers' sneers..."]

"Grand Tutor, you don't want the Song Dynasty to perish, do you?"

Faced with these sincere and heartfelt suggestions, you remained silent... After a long while, you finally spoke slowly, as if you had made up your mind.

"Your Majesty, the Northern Expedition is far too cruel... It will bring no benefit to the people of the Song Dynasty, nor will it benefit the people of the Central Plains. We must not undertake this campaign unless we are at our wits' end!"

Zhao Gou raised an eyebrow: "So you mean..."

You slowly knelt down, pleading with Zhao Gou in the most sincere voice.

"Your Majesty, please show me another way!"

"Anything I can do, I... I will do!"

……

(End of this chapter)