I am Emperor Shizu of Song

Chapter 176 Nanping Jiaoli, Beibu Liaoxia

As someone who traveled from the modern era, Zhao Zicheng was well aware that the southern expeditions to Dali and Jiaozhi would require long-term medical and health preparations.

Otherwise, the tragedy of Zhu Di's southern expedition to Vietnam in history would have come true for him sooner rather than later. Tropical diseases are no joke; in ancient times, it was common for a large proportion of the armies from the Central Plains to die from diseases when they were stationed in the tropics for a long time.

If you don't have a cure-all, at least you should have essential oils like peppermint oil or medicated oil.

If we could sail to the Americas and obtain quinine to cure malaria, that would be like adding wings to a tiger.

Even if we can't solve the quinine problem, we must try our best to thoroughly study the principles of vector-borne infectious diseases, improve the theoretical level of all military medical officers, and do a solid job in mosquito prevention.

Fortunately, Zhao Zicheng was able to rest and recuperate for several years before launching his southern expedition, giving him time to prepare.

By the fifth year of the Jianyan era, Zhao Zicheng was thirty-one years old, and his eldest son, Zhao Bocong, was nine years old. He also had five sons and nine daughters, making his harem and children very full.

The reverence and worship that the entire court held for the emperor had reached an unprecedented level.

This emperor not only rebuilt China, but also completely destroyed the Jin dynasty within five years. His martial arts skills surpassed those of the legendary Fenglangjuxu. In the battle to recapture Yanjing, he even personally killed Wanyan Zongbi and led a large army to charge and completely annihilate the Jin people.

Such prestige is unparalleled among emperors throughout history.

In terms of domestic affairs, Zhao Zicheng was basically unhindered; whatever he said went.

He announced a three-year period of rest for the people and a three-year tax exemption for Hebei, Shanxi, and Liaodong. No one dared to say anything, and the local people sang praises to him, revering the emperor as a god.

With the Liao and Jin dynasties gone from the north, the Song Dynasty not only no longer needed to pay tribute, but also faced much less pressure on its borders. The money needed to maintain the army and prepare for war was greatly reduced, and the court's annual fiscal expenditure was once again reduced by a large margin. Therefore, as long as it could recuperate for a while, it could quickly accumulate a huge amount of wealth.

As for the "annual gifts" from the Western Xia, Zhao Zicheng had already unilaterally announced their complete cessation back in the first year of the Jianyan era, and even told the Western Xia people that if they were not convinced, they could try it themselves.

The Western Xia dared not utter a single objection, not even a fart, for fear of being targeted by the invincible Song emperor. Even when the Song reduced the standing garrison of the Western Xia army, the Western Xia dared not make any rash moves, fearing that the Song emperor was using this as an excuse to destroy them.

After saving a large sum of money, Zhao Zicheng devoted himself to developing public health and maritime industries during the three years of recuperation.

He oversaw the establishment of at least one official hospital in each prefecture and county, and appointed medical officials there. Those in charge of public health could also obtain government positions and be included in the "civil service team."

At the same time, research on infectious disease prevention and control has been strengthened, efforts have been made to address epidemics in various regions, promptly report and communicate information, and help control the spread of epidemics across counties and states.

The establishment of these official hospitals not only cultivated a large number of high-quality talents and improved the level of local folk medical care, but also focused on the research of tropical plague and infectious diseases, laying a solid foundation for future southern expeditions.

These government hospitals, located in various places, would also promote basic hygiene knowledge, so that illiterate people would at least know that flies, mosquitoes, cockroaches, and rats could spread plagues. They would also teach people how to effectively kill pests, and even spread knowledge about killing locusts.

These practical life skills are more valuable to the common people than the Four Books and Five Classics. They can help them in their daily lives and reduce the losses suffered by the court due to the plague.

After Zhao Zicheng introduced the new policies, the number of plague cases reported by the Song Dynasty within three years could not be said to have disappeared, but a later statistical analysis showed that it was at least half less than before the new policies were introduced.

These are things that all the people under heaven have witnessed and personally experienced, so they are naturally moved to tears by the emperor's wise actions and deeply grateful for his boundless grace.

Zhao Zicheng's preparations for the southern expedition were clearly more than just this one.

He always believed in doing both things well, so during those three years, he also encouraged further research into building ocean-going vessels to prepare for geographical discoveries and the search for species.

Because of the vigorous development of maritime trade and the pilot conversion of some canal transport to sea, and the use of seagoing vessels to transport grain for the army during the Northern Expedition, the Song Dynasty's maritime vessels were already quite advanced.

Previously, these ships were virtually invincible in the waters of East Asia, with excellent seaworthiness. Later, they were moved to trade with the Arabs, deliberately bypassed India, and sailed to the Arabian Peninsula without any problems.

Merchants from India and the Arabian Peninsula were astonished to see Han Chinese seagoing fleets actively doing business with them. The Arabs, in particular, lamented that they would no longer be able to earn such huge price differences, as the Han Chinese merchants already knew the original prices of various spices, spices, and gems in Arabia and India.

Even if imports are still expensive in the future, they certainly won't be as expensive as they are now.

During their trade trips to Arabia and India, Song Dynasty maritime merchants also learned from and addressed some shortcomings in the performance of their ships and their ability to utilize wind power.

The Song Dynasty shipyard relied on practical experience, combining theory with practice, and making progress through refinement. With the personal guidance of His Majesty the Emperor, even if they didn't build top-tier ship types like clipper ships, it wasn't a big problem to build a large, three-deck galleon ship with a relatively flat deck that could be smoothly tested.

Of course, the galleons built by the Song Dynasty could not possibly be exactly the same as the later Spanish galleons in history, but in any case, they were more seaworthy and less armed.

With this new ship, Zhao Zicheng encouraged the navy to go out on a large scale to make geographical discoveries and search for new species.

At the same time, he was more scientific and cautious than other ancient people. He was also afraid that discovering new species would lead to species invasion or bring new infectious diseases. Therefore, he requested that a large island be found in the waters near the Song Dynasty, so that any new species found could be cultivated, reproduced, and observed on the island first, serving as a species testing ground.

Any species with particularly strong invasiveness are not allowed to be brought back to the Song Dynasty mainland. Only those species that have been screened and verified as beneficial may be brought back.

In addition, he demanded that all soldiers who went to sea to find new lands must be of good character and be tested for infectious diseases upon their return. If they brought with them foreign plagues, they must be quarantined and not allowed to return directly to China.

Finally, to encourage everyone, Zhao Zicheng also rewarded those who made geographical discoveries handsomely, with rewards decreasing by one rank compared to those who expanded territory by force, and those who did well might even be ennobled as marquises or dukes.

These incentives and the emperor's trust finally sparked a wave of geographical discoveries among the Song Dynasty's maritime merchants and naval officers and soldiers.

However, within three or four years, cold-resistant rice from Hokkaido was first introduced and then promoted for cultivation in the Liaohe Plain and Songnen Plain in Northeast China.

Not only did the Han people have to grow rice, but the Xi and Bohai peoples of Heilongjiang were also gradually transformed into agricultural peoples. They went from fishing and hunting in the Changbai Mountains and Heilongjiang River to cultivating land and gradually assimilated into the people of the Song Dynasty.

Subsequently, camphor trees from Ryukyu and eucalyptus trees from Australia were also brought over, and various essential oils, medicated oils, and insect repellents and mosquito repellents were produced.

At this point, with the people having had enough time to rest and recuperate, the imperial treasury was extremely full of money and grain. After three to five years of reproduction, the pressure of Sichuan's large population and limited land had once again reached a critical point.

So Zhao Zicheng waved his hand and announced that the southern expedition would officially begin in the winter of the eighth year of Jianyan.

The soldiers used were mainly recruited from the western mountainous areas of Shu. Some local counties in Huguang with large populations and limited land, where the conflict between people and land was more acute, could also be selected. The poor people in these places cared more about the distribution of land and were easily attracted by the benefits.

With the support of the imperial court, these Sichuan troops, though lacking combat experience, were well-trained, equipped with suitable equipment, and provided with targeted logistical support.

The army marched south, crossed the Dadu River and the Jinsha River, and soon reached the land of the Dali Kingdom.

The nearly sixty-year-old ruler of Dali, Duan Heyu, still tried to elicit sympathy, claiming he was a distant cousin of the mother of the Song Dynasty's Empress. He even said that Emperor Taizu of Song had once wielded a jade axe to divide the river, declaring Dali an unconquerable kingdom.

However, Zhao Zicheng would never care about such petty and despicable matters. The more Duan Heyu acted this way, the less Zhao Zicheng could tolerate him.

Zhao Zicheng formally announced an official ideology of the Song Dynasty: previous emperors of the Song Dynasty misinterpreted the sages and dared not assert legitimacy because of their lack of martial virtue.

After Zhao Zicheng became emperor, his minimum standard for legitimacy was to at least restore the former territory of the Tang Dynasty!
There has never been a "Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms" period! The so-called Ten Kingdoms simply refers to the fact that Emperor Taizu of Tang only destroyed and reclaimed the ten kingdoms that had sprung up after the fall of the Tang Dynasty!
In reality, there were at least fourteen kingdoms! The Western Xia was a warlord that gradually became semi-independent during the Five Dynasties period and eventually became officially independent!

Goryeo and Jiaozhi were also independent kingdoms established after the fall of the Tang Dynasty!
Although Dali had Nanzhao during the Tang Dynasty, the fact that the Tang Dynasty could tolerate it does not mean that I can tolerate it too!

Therefore, at least fourteen kingdoms must be destroyed before the Tang Dynasty's territory can be considered restored! As for Tibet and the Western Liao, we'll have to wait and see if they have made any claims of annihilation.

But in any case, the two southern countries can't escape this time either.

Ultimately, Emperor Duan Heyu of Dali eliminated Duan Heyu because he was mute, and because Zhao Zicheng was wary of him surviving and plotting assassination.

Two hundred thousand Song soldiers, taking advantage of the cool winter weather, stormed Dali and Kunming with overwhelming force, killing the Duan and Gao families who resisted, and completely annihilating the Dali leadership.

Subsequently, they forcefully promoted immigration and land reclamation, directly converting some Sichuan army auxiliary soldiers into local landlords, much like the "reform of native chieftains and replacement of officials" policy implemented in the Ming and Qing dynasties. The local Dali people originally thought that as long as they endured for half a year, the northern army would be unable to withstand the heat.

Little did they know that the soldiers from Sichuan and western Hunan were already relatively heat-resistant, and now they had advanced medical technology for the prevention and treatment of infectious diseases, as well as effective drugs to block various tropical diseases and plagues, mosquito coils to repel mosquitoes and insects.

Therefore, the Dali natives' plan completely failed; hoping to kill off a large number of Han people in the summer was simply impossible.

Although some still died from acclimatization problems, at least most of them survived. Within a few years, the main cities of Dali were controlled by Han Chinese immigrants.

Zhao Zicheng then followed the same method, using native Guangxi people and Sichuanese immigrants who had adapted to the Dali environment to conquer Jiaozhi in the south.

Jiaozhi had hoped to hold off the Northern Dynasties by relying on the miasma. However, the Song Dynasty specifically chose to attack in winter. After conquering and looting in the first year, they withdrew before summer arrived.

The Kingdom of Jiaozhi thought it could launch a counterattack and recover its lost territory, but the Song army came again in winter.

After three to five years, the population of Jiaozhi, a region that refused to submit to Han rule, was finally wiped out. Those who refused to submit and assimilate were slaughtered.

During this time, Zhao Zicheng was also busy in other areas.

Previously, he occupied Ezo Island in Japan in order to cultivate cold-resistant rice in Hokkaido.

During the years when they were fighting in Jiaozhi, they could only mobilize their troops in winter, while the navy was idle in the summer. In addition, Goryeo had long been destroyed, so Zhao Zicheng took the opportunity to gradually nibble away at many territories of Fusang.

Japan is quite difficult to assimilate, and it can't be rushed. Their history of independent rule predates that of Goryeo and Jiaozhi by a considerable margin. Goryeo and Jiaozhi are only about two hundred years old, while Japan has never been ruled by a foreign power. Zhao Zicheng estimates that assimilation might not be possible in one or two generations, but the outcome is not a concern.

After completely subduing Jiaozhi, Zhao Zicheng finally turned his attention to the north.

In the ninth year of the Jianyan era, the Dali Kingdom was destroyed; in the thirteenth year of the Jianyan era, the Jiaozhi Kingdom was destroyed.

After two years of rest and recuperation, in the sixteenth year of the Jianyan era, Zhao Zicheng once again ordered Yue Fei to lead a western expedition, with the goal of eliminating the Western Xia and Western Liao.

The Western Xia royal family had no remaining members; they were all killed by Yue Fei.

In the eighteenth year of the Jianyan era, the Western Xia dynasty was completely destroyed.

In the twentieth year of the Jianyan era, the Western Liao dynasty was destroyed.

In the twenty-fourth year of the Jianyan era, the Tubo Kingdom was destroyed, and Yue Fei fought his way up to the snowy plateau, drinking water at the source of the Yangtze and Yellow Rivers.

That year, Zhao Zicheng was already a fifty-year-old man. Yue Fei was also fifty years old.

Zhao Zicheng's eldest son, Zhao Bocong, is already twenty-seven years old.

As for Zhao Zicheng's distant cousin Zhao Huan, who abdicated to become the master of Taiyi Palace, he died of old age and illness last year at the age of fifty-three.

His parents-in-law had also died of old age, and the male line of the Murong family was effectively extinct. However, his father-in-law was still quite happy on his deathbed, feeling that his ambitions had been fulfilled. He had no idea that his grandson was not actually his daughter's biological child. Zhao Zicheng was too lazy to expose him, so he just let him die in a good mood.

Zhao Zicheng had spent half his life on the battlefield and finally completed the unification of China. He also wanted to travel around, so he joked with Yue Fei and other young ministers that he was considering passing the throne to the crown prince and becoming a retired emperor who could enjoy peace and tranquility.

All the ministers kowtowed and said, "Your Majesty is in the prime of your life, and your divine martial prowess is unparalleled throughout history. How can you be considered old at the age of fifty?"

Finally, Zhao Zicheng thought for a moment and said, "Then let the Crown Prince serve as regent for the time being to familiarize himself with government affairs, but he shall not be involved in military affairs. When I am not in the capital, the Crown Prince shall be in charge of all domestic affairs, and the Three Departments and Six Ministries shall report to the Crown Prince."

The political landscape has drastically changed. There is no longer the threat of barbarian invaders in the north, and the Yellow River has changed its course. The advantages and disadvantages of the Grand Canal have changed significantly. Our Great Song Dynasty is now at the height of its maritime power; relying on the Grand Canal for transporting supplies would be a waste of manpower. Bianjing (Kaifeng) is too inland, and with hundreds of thousands of troops stationed there, relying on the Grand Canal to transport military provisions is not a wise policy. I intend to move the capital.”

The proposal to move the capital was met with considerable opposition, given that many people own real estate in Bianjing (Kaifeng), and its value has decreased since Bianjing ceased to be the capital.

But the emperor's words also made sense. Furthermore, Zhao Zicheng was a renowned military leader, a powerful emperor who had conquered the Song Dynasty piece by piece. With such prestige, who could rival him?
In the end, the courtiers could only urge the emperor to reconsider the option of relocating the capital.

Zhao Zicheng had already made up his mind.
First, he wouldn't simply copy historical answers and go to Yanjing—he was well aware that the geographical and maritime environments were completely different. Historically, the Jin dynasty began its expansion into Yanjing partly because the Jin and Yuan dynasties hadn't yet occupied the south and were limited to Yanjing.

On the other hand, in the first few years after the founding of the Jin Dynasty, the Yellow River changed its course and flowed into the Huai River and then into the sea, causing the Central Plains, Henan and northern Jiangsu to become flood-prone areas. The Central Plains could no longer remain, the canal transport was severely damaged, and the southern canal system also collapsed.

But now, Zhao Zicheng has reversed the course of the Yellow River, preventing it from flowing into the Huai River and then into the sea. Instead, it is flowing northward, which has drastically changed the canal transport system in Hebei. So why bother going to Yanjing?
Moreover, unlike in the Ming Dynasty, the Grand Canal could not be straightened out during the Song Dynasty. The canal was much more curved during the Song Dynasty. The canal had to go west around Bianjing (Kaifeng) instead of passing through Jinan as in later periods.

Since the Grand Canal has changed, going to Yanjing is absolutely impossible, as it doesn't conform to geography.

However, going to places like Suzhou and Nanjing is ultimately considered unlucky, as there have been too many short-lived dynasties in the Jiangnan region. Although geographically speaking, Suzhou is actually quite good, with its maritime transport conditions at the mouth of the Yangtze River and its unparalleled economic potential.

After careful consideration, Zhao Zicheng chose to establish his capital in Xuzhou, reasoning that it was not far from the former Yingtian Prefecture (Songzhou), separated only by Mount Mangdang. However, the original Yingtian Prefecture (Songzhou) was not on the Grand Canal system, making water transport of goods inconvenient.

Xuzhou is located east of Mangdang Mountain, and its surrounding terrain is somewhat rugged. It is situated on the banks of the Si River, which connects the Huai River and the Han Canal, and then through the Han Canal to the Yangtze River. Therefore, there is no need to worry about the "canal utilization" issue.

In the future, whether it's the Yangtze River and then the Hangou Canal or the Huai River directly, it will be able to connect to sea transport, making it very suitable for the maritime era.

Furthermore, since the Yellow River did not change its course or "divide its way into the Huai River and flow into the sea," the Huai River in this world did not lose its estuary, and there was no extensive silting up of mudflats in northern Jiangsu. Haizhou in this world is suitable for building deep-water ports, and it is directly connected to the mouth of the Huai River.

So, after weighing all the pros and cons, Zhao Zicheng made the bold decision to establish his capital in Xuzhou. This place was a strategic point between the north and south, not far from Jiangdong, where Zhao Zicheng originally rose to power, and the Shandong Peninsula, placing it perfectly in the middle.

Moreover, the Huai River also serves as a dividing line between North and South. Establishing the capital near the Huai River system would have prevented conflicts between the North and South and avoided any future accusations of favoritism. Historically, this approach was not feasible only because the Yellow River breached its banks and maritime transport had not yet developed.

The Yellow River hasn't breached its banks, and maritime transport is very developed, so this is just right.

As for the issue of the capital being too far to the east and whether it would be easy to control the western inland regions, Zhao Zicheng felt that this was not a problem.

In a world where firearms and cannons already exist, the Western Regions only need to focus on singing and dancing; they don't need to worry about the threat of force.

As early as the year the Song Dynasty finished conquering Dali and Jiaozhi in the south, it finally began mass production of flintlock muskets. The rapid conquest of Western Xia and Western Liao was partly due to the effectiveness of the flintlock musket troops.

The Western Regions and the Snowy Lands had long since fallen silent, so how could they possibly stir up any trouble?

Therefore, in the twenty-fourth year of Jianyan, when Zhao Zicheng was fifty years old, he officially announced that he would let the crown prince oversee the country and that he would go out to tour the world.

The court officials did not object. In the twenty-sixth year of the Jianyan era, he officially selected Xuzhou as the new capital. From then on, he primarily remained in Xuzhou, leaving the regent crown prince in Bianjing for a few years as a transitional period before gradually moving the court there, thus giving Xuzhou time to slowly develop.

In fact, Xuzhou has been a place where people have established their capitals since ancient times. Xiang Yu was here, in Pengcheng, but he ultimately failed to unify the country.

Zhao Zicheng was the second person after Xiang Yu to establish his capital here, but he was the first emperor.

With the current material resources and engineering capabilities of the Song Dynasty, coupled with Zhao Zicheng's focus on practicality rather than extravagance, the construction of the new capital was naturally rapid, and it could be fully put into use in just three years.

-

P.S.: If there's anything else in the plot that you'd like clarified, feel free to comment here, and I can give a brief summary.

If I can't think of anything for now, I'll mention it in a free side story after the book is finished.

Tomorrow I'll be launching my new book, "Starting from Crushing Dunkirk".

(End of this chapter)