I am Emperor Shizu of Song

Chapter 163 Assuming Regentship, Focusing on External Affairs

"Have you heard? Xiu Wang won big against Jing Gou on Jingdong Road and Hebei Road!"

"Wanyan Zongbi led an army of 50,000 to invade Xu and Chu, but was defeated three times in three battles by Yue Fei and other generals under the command of Prince Xiu!"
I heard that after Prince Xiu launched his counterattack in Hebei, Wanyan Zongbi led his remaining troops out of Suzhou, only managing to regain their footing after retreating all the way back to Songzhou!

News of the Song army's successive victories on both the southern and northern fronts swept across the Central Plains like a whirlwind in a very short time.

There was no other way; the Han people of the world had been oppressed by the barbarians for far too long.

Ever since Tong Guan's failed northern expedition against the Liao Dynasty, when he had to pay to redeem Yanjing (Beijing), the Han people of the world went from a state of carefree living and complete ignorance of war to a state of perilous warfare, which lasted for five or six years.

Everyone longs for the peaceful days of the past, but knows that they can never go back. They are tormented by the endless ravages of war, with no end in sight, and only death can bring them relief.

In the midst of this extreme suffering that lasted for five or six years, how could one not look forward to the sudden ray of sunlight breaking through the frozen night?
Even without the imperial court's urgent dispatch, and even relying solely on word-of-mouth among the people, the news still spread at a rate of several hundred li per day, at least two hundred li. Almost all Han Chinese in the land, upon hearing the news, spontaneously formed a relay race to spread it.

Moreover, the spread of the news became increasingly outrageous and exaggerated. Eventually, His Highness Prince Xiu was almost portrayed as a god-like or savior-like figure.

Especially the news of victory from Prince Xiu's side, which is always constantly being upgraded and iterated. At first, everyone heard that the great victory on the northern front was only the recapture of Cangzhou and Hejian prefectures, but soon new details were revealed, saying that Prince Xiu was doing it for the Northern Expedition to save the emperor.

Later, even though everyone knew the emperor hadn't been rescued, the entire probing offensive of the Northern Expedition to Yanjing was repeatedly embellished and amplified by various rumors circulating among the people, forming the most exaggerated and popular version.

In that battle, although a Jin escort Meng'an was indeed killed, it was impossible to determine exactly who killed him amidst the chaos of battle.

Or rather, the corpse of the Jin man Meng'an had at least seven or eight serious wounds, from knives, spears, and arrows, making it impossible to determine which blow was fatal. He might have been more likely to have died at Guan Sheng's hands.

But it didn't matter, because Zhao Zicheng also led the charge and fought bravely, and countless people witnessed his heroic figure. Including those court officials from Bianjing who resisted the enemy, such as He Li, Zhai Jin, and Li Ruoshui, who were rescued by Zhao Zicheng, they all saw Zhao Zicheng's heroic figure as he broke through the enemy lines.

Therefore, after the war, every civil official who was rescued racked their brains to compose at least one poem praising Zhao Zicheng's heroic act of saving the ministers as if he were a god descending to earth. The rescued ministers who were good at writing and in high spirits might compose three or five poems, in short, they would write as many flowery and exaggerated poems as possible.

The credit for the kill of the Jurchen Meng'an was attributed to Zhao Zicheng himself. As for the Jurchen Mouke who were killed, as long as there was no conclusive evidence and the credit was questionable, it was all attributed to Zhao Zicheng. "If there is doubt, the credit is given."

Zhao Zicheng's bravery, and the extent to which he was praised by scholars, was almost on par with Xiang Yu's. Throughout history, apart from Xiang Yu, no one dared to say that their bravery and heroic spirit could surpass Zhao Zicheng's.

The stories of Qin Shi Huang breaking through enemy lines and Emperor Taizu pacifying four hundred prefectures with a single dragon-shaped staff can only be relegated to the back of the table.

More and more people looked up at Zhao Zicheng with longing, as if they were waiting for rain after a long drought.

The people in the occupied territories, ravaged by the Jurchens, longed for food and drink and waited for the imperial army to come and rescue them.

……

Just eight days after the Cangzhou counterattack, in Luoyang, the western capital.

The small group of court officials who fled to the outskirts of Luoyang learned of the great victory in Jingdong and Hebei early that morning.

This group was led by Li Gang, a Grand Secretary of the Zizheng Hall, and included several key figures such as Sun Fu, the former Minister of War, and Xu Han, the Associate Privy Councilor. Most importantly, there was also the veteran general Zong Ze.

They couldn't be considered part of the imperial court in name, because the core members of the court had been captured by the Jurchens. Moreover, when Zhao Huan was in power, Li Gang's position in the court wasn't particularly high; the other high-ranking officials who surrendered were all of higher rank than those who resisted.

Many of the ministers captured by the Jurchens were either relatively die-hard or of no use to them; they had all been taken to Yanjing (modern-day Beijing) by the Jurchens along with Emperor Huizong and Emperor Huan. A small number of genuinely loyal Han traitors were left in Bianjing (modern-day Beijing) and other areas around Henan, essentially to help the Jurchens take over the territory.

Of the key officials who had served under Emperor Huan of Han, Bai Shizhong had already died of fear and anxiety during the Jingkang Incident and was thus removed from office. Li Bangyan, however, survived and willingly became a traitor. Zhang Bangchang, Qin Hui, and others also remained in Bianjing to help maintain order. Li Bangyan and Zhang Bangchang originally held significantly higher positions than Li Gang.

Regardless of their official ranks, Li Gang and his ilk still wielded considerable influence in the Heluo region due to their resolute resistance. Local officials and imperial guards in the Heluo area were able to unite around them and obey their orders to resist the Jin.

The Taiyuan Wangbing in the north, the remnants of the Western Army in the Guanzhong region in the west that were cut off from one side, and the Wu brothers who later shone brightly in the fight against the Jin dynasty all recognized the command of the Li Gang, Sun Fu, Xu Han and Zong Ze combination and were willing to temporarily follow their overall coordination.

Now that they heard that Zhao Zicheng had won a great victory, Li Gang and others held an emergency meeting and unanimously decided to write a letter to Zhao Zicheng, asking him to prioritize the well-being of the nation and, even if he could not immediately declare himself emperor, to at least first declare himself regent.

Furthermore, in order to organize the Han people across the land to resist the Tartars, he needed at least the title of Grand Marshal of the Armed Forces. This would ensure that Zhao Zicheng held both the title of Regent and the title of Marshal – this title wasn't arbitrary; historically, before Zhao Gou ascended the throne, his elder brother had also appointed him Grand Marshal of the Hebei Armed Forces. Later, after his brother was arrested, Zhao Gou was temporarily promoted to Grand Marshal of the Armed Forces before finally ascending the throne.

At the beginning of the Song Dynasty, the official title of Grand Marshal of the Armed Forces was also bestowed, so it has a historical basis—this was when Zhao Kuangyin founded the country in 960 AD, when the country had not yet been fully unified and the southern states were still in existence. In order to gain more recognition of the Song Dynasty as the legitimate dynasty, Zhao Kuangyin promoted Qian Chu, the King of Wuyue, to the position of Grand Marshal of the Armed Forces. Therefore, the Song Dynasty did indeed have an official seal for the Grand Marshal of the Armed Forces.

During the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, as long as the southern kingdoms did not declare themselves emperors and were willing to acknowledge the legitimacy of the Central Plains, the Central Plains dynasty would bestow an official title upon the southern kings who submitted to it each time it changed dynasties. When Yelü Deguang of the Khitan was first driven away, Liu Zhiyuan of the Later Han dynasty gave Qian Chu the title of "Marshal of the Armed Forces of the Realm." By the time of Chai Rong, it had to be promoted to "Grand Marshal of the Armed Forces of the Realm." By the time of Zhao Kuangyin, it had to be promoted to "Grand Marshal of the Armed Forces of the Realm." Each time the dynasty changed, a character had to be added or changed.

After discussing it to the same conclusion, Li Gang and others also sent an urgent message to Shanxi, Guanzhong and other places to seek the support of local powerful figures and military generals as quickly as possible. The final result was surprisingly unanimous.

Although communication with Shu was temporarily impossible due to the treacherous roads, that isolated region couldn't offer much help or hinder him in the short term. In short, within a month, Li Gang had secured support from Heluo, Shanxi, and Guanzhong. Subsequently, officials and military generals jointly submitted a memorial urging Prince Xiu to prioritize the well-being of the nation.

In his letter, Li Gang specifically emphasized that at this critical moment for the nation, righteous ministers from all over the country are scattered in different places. At this time, we must act expediently and not play the game of declining the throne three times. Moreover, Prince Xiu's position as regent and Grand Marshal of the army is supported by the people and is the will of the people. It is not due to the "abdication of the late emperor," so it must not be declined again.

Besides, it's only when one is an emperor that one has to decline three times, but when one is a regent, there are so many easy things to decline. The distance is thousands of miles, and going back and forth three times would be too much of a waste of time.

While Li Gang and others were signing the petition, Zhao Zicheng was also gaining more support from local officials and generals in other areas. Hu Zhiru and others, who had not previously expressed their opinions, also wrote to Zhao Zicheng, urging him to oversee the country, but the title of marshal they requested was slightly different from what Li Gang had advised.

Thus, by March of the second year of the Jingkang era, Zhao Zicheng had genuinely gained the support of the people of Heluo, Shanxi, Guanzhong, and Jiangxi. Furthermore, Li Gang earnestly guaranteed that he was already contacting the four routes of Sichuan and the Three Gorges to ensure they also recognized the temporary regency of Prince Xiu.

Only the occupied areas of Henan and Huguang remained undecided.

However, the situation in these places is indeed quite critical and delicate. Historically, in the same year as the Jingkang Incident, the uprising of Zhong Xiang and Yang Yao broke out in Hunan. However, at the beginning, their uprising was not directly under the banner of rebellion. Instead, they raised the banner of "serving the emperor and resisting the Jin," and even tried to get Zhao Gou of the original timeline to recognize them and let them take actual control of the two lakes.

They marched north from Hunan into Hubei with the intention of secretly seizing territory. However, after Zhao Gou consolidated his power and forbade them from further northward expansion and occupying more land in Hubei, Zhong Xiang openly rebelled. But their actions of expanding their power amidst the chaos had actually begun during the Jingkang era; they simply focused on acquiring territory for the first year or two without formally raising the banner of rebellion. Zhong Xiang and his followers were also Manichaeans, a fact strikingly similar to Fang La's. At this time, Zhong Xiang had already proclaimed himself "Great Sage" within Manichaeism, and the remaining Manichaeans in the south recognized his title, not unlike Fang La's self-proclaimed "Holy Duke."

Considering that Zhao Zicheng rose through the ranks and gained military power by fighting against the Manichaeans, and that he deserves much credit for the downfall of Fang La, the Manichaeans' armed forces would certainly be terrified and resistant to him. A peaceful resolution would be impossible; the only option would be to use drastic measures to eliminate the core members of the heretics.

Even if Zhao Zicheng wanted to recruit them, they wouldn't dare to believe it. Fang La's death was a cautionary tale, and they would definitely worry that one day Zhao Zicheng would settle accounts with them.

Further south in Guangdong and Guangxi, Cao Cheng also seized the opportunity of the chaos to raise an army. These people were simply rebelling, not even bothering to put on an act. However, the situation in Lingnan was somewhat different from the original historical period. This is because Cao Cheng and his men were essentially "desperate soldiers who had been scattered after a fierce battle with the Jin army in Shanxi and were now rebelling."

The collapse of the war situation in Shanxi in this lifetime was not as severe as in the same period of history, and Wang Bing was still alive. Therefore, the overall scale of the government troops who fled south to rebel after being defeated, and the ambitious individuals who continued to flee south after being convicted of fighting Zhong Xiang, was not as large as in the same period of history.

For example, Yang Zaixing, who should have followed Cao Cheng in history, did not follow Cao Cheng in this life due to unforeseen circumstances. The scale of the power that Cao Cheng had gathered was also at least several times smaller than that of the same period in history.

It is estimated that Cao Cheng wreaked havoc in the Wuling Mountains of northern Guangdong and the area extending westward into Guangxi in later generations.

As for the core prosperous areas of Guangdong and Guangxi, namely the area from Guangzhou to Chaoshan, the local people and officials did not feel any pressure, nor did they have any desire to oppose the rule of the Song Dynasty. They were all happy to support Zhao Zicheng and protect their hometown from being invaded by chaotic troops.

Anyway, these places are far from the emperor's reach. Even if they acknowledge Zhao Zicheng, Zhao Zicheng can't get them to provide food to support the Northern Expedition. At most, the locals can provide some soldiers and some valuables. No matter how you look at it, acknowledging Zhao Zicheng is more profitable.

Whether considering legitimacy or practical interests, they had no reason to join the bandits.

Therefore, in the present Song Dynasty, apart from the occupied areas of Henan and Hebei, including the Nanyang Basin and parts of Huaibei that had just been conquered by the Jin army,
In addition, this excludes the entire territory of Hubei and Hunan provinces, northern Guangdong and Guangxi provinces, and the vast central region.

In other Han Chinese territories, the general tendency was to recognize Zhao Zicheng.

Although Zhao Zicheng's territory was ugly, there was nothing he could do. His heart had been ripped out by the Jurchens, and his territory had been almost cut in two. The anti-Jin resources that Zhao Zicheng could actually directly mobilize were only in the eastern half.

As for the western half, in the foreseeable near future, Zhao Zicheng could only hope that the court officials in charge of the western capital, such as Li Gang, would manage the area well and prevent the Jurchens from expanding their gains.

As long as Li Gang and Zong Ze can hold their ground and prevent the Jin from gaining more, and ideally even weaken them further, that will be enough. The counterattack will still depend on Zhao Zicheng himself.

As for the "slightly interrupted" support for Zhao Zicheng in the southern part of Guangdong and Guangxi, it was better than nothing. Zhao Zicheng did not expect to rely on that line of land to connect with Li Gang in the west.

Once Zhao Zicheng has secured his position, he will definitely try to take back Huguang and restore the heartland that was cut off by the Jin forces. Ideally, he should also take back Xiangyang and Nanyang, which were directly occupied by the Jin army. Only in this way can he establish direct contact with Heluo and Guanzhong and fill in the hollowed-out parts of the central region.

As for heading further north out of the Tongbai Mountains and completely recovering the main plains of Henan surrounding Bianjing, that will have to wait until the next step.

……

As Zhao Zicheng's attempts to claim the titles of Regent and Grand Marshal of the Armed Forces became increasingly rapid, the Jin Dynasty was not entirely unaware of this.

The Jurchens also made several small moves in February and March of the second year of the Jingkang era.

After careful consideration, they decided to secretly release Prince Kang, Zhao Gou, who had been captured after the fall of Bianjing, to serve as a puppet. In this life, Zhao Gou was not legitimately sent on a mission or appointed as a marshal by his elder brother, so he was eventually captured as expected.

However, Zhao Gou was more reliable than his other brothers. He tried to break through and survive at the last moment, but failed. Compared to his brothers who were too lazy to even struggle and just waited to die, he was much better.

At the same time, because he was captured after attempting to break out of the city, rather than waiting to be captured in Bianjing, many of his subjects were initially unaware that Prince Kang had been arrested.

This gives the Jin people more room to maneuver using this piece.

After discovering that Zhao Zicheng's resistance was unyielding and was escalating, the Jin people devised a scheme to secretly allow Zhao Gou to "break out" on his own, while they then won over some of his followers.

They first detained Zhao Gou's only son and Consort Pan, who had borne him the son, and then had a doctor poison Zhao Gou so that he would lose his ability to have more children. In this way, Zhao Gou only had one son left who was still in the hands of the Jurchens.

Then the Jin people sent several carefully selected surrender-oriented ministers to serve as Zhao Gou as prime ministers, especially those who "had actually surrendered long ago, but pretended to have backbone on the surface," in order to deceive more people.

Finally, the Jurchens selected Qin Hui, who had a good reputation but had secretly pledged allegiance, to be the de facto ruler of Zhao Gou's new court.

He also left Li Bangyan and Zhang Bangchang to Zhao Gou.

At the end of March of the second year of the Jingkang era, while Zhao Zicheng was about to declare himself regent in Jingdong Road, Zhao Gou, who claimed to have escaped from the Jurchens, hastily proclaimed himself emperor in Bianjing after the Jurchens withdrew from the Nanyang Basin and Bianjing.

Because the Jurchens previously controlled Bianjing (Kaifeng), even though Empress Dowager Meng, the wife of Emperor Zhezong of Song, wasn't taken away by the Jurchens, she was still under Zhao Gou's control. The legitimacy brought by the Empress Dowager had to be temporarily absorbed by Zhao Gou.

The Jurchens even hypocritically signed a "ceasefire treaty" with Zhao Gou, claiming they had no intention of destroying the Song Dynasty and that their previous actions were merely to relieve the people's suffering and punish the guilty.

Now that a wise and virtuous king of the Song Dynasty who has not yet been captured is willing to sign a peace treaty with the Jin people, the Jin people are naturally willing to withdraw from Bianjing. Furthermore, the Jin people only recognize Zhao Gou as the emperor of the Song Dynasty and only negotiate with Zhao Gou.

As for Zhao Zicheng, the Jin court declared that it would regard him as a rebel force within the territory of the Song Dynasty and would never negotiate with him.

After Zhao Gou became emperor, Zhong Xiang, Cao Cheng, and others found someone to rely on. These people nominally recognized Zhao Gou's court and hoped that Zhao Gou would offer them official positions and titles, and acknowledge their actual interests in Huguang.

Forced by circumstances, Zhao Gou also recognized Zhong Xiang and Cao Cheng, bestowing upon them very generous official titles and ranks, and even granting them the title of Duke.

Thus, the land north of the Yellow River was formally ceded to the Jin Dynasty by Zhao Gou's puppet regime. As for the former Jin-controlled areas south of the Yellow River, including Nanyang and extending all the way to Huguang, these became nominal territory of Zhao Gou's court. However, in reality, Huguang was under the control of rebel warlords and not truly under his rule.

All other Han Chinese territories in the world chose to recognize Zhao Zicheng and let him oversee the country.

(End of this chapter)