Giant Ship Across the Song Dynasty: My Supplies Come from My Motherland

Chapter 151 Guess what I brought?

Several river fish were laid out on the iron mesh over the charcoal fire. River fish in spring are never cheap, and these five fish cost Lin Zhou about three strings of cash, but the taste was indeed top-notch.

"What kind of fish is this? It looks so strange. But it's really delicious." Lin Zhou picked out the bones while eating the fish meat. "It's tender and sweet."

"Ha ha ha ha----"

Headmaster Chen took a sip of wine: "The shad from Jiangnan was originally a tribute item. Nowadays, the government is quite frugal, no longer requiring tribute fish, which is a far cry from the days when the wealthy and powerful lived up to their reputation."

"Oh—three years in one bite." Lin Zhou nodded: "I guess I've benefited from it too."

"Hahaha, yes, yes, back then it was indeed three years for one dose and two thousand li of exile."

"No wonder it's so expensive." Lin Zhou picked up the fish bones and slurped them clean.

At that moment, Zhao Ji next to him was using a knife to slice a live fish into thin slices, then dipped it in wasabi and soy sauce and ate it directly.

"Aren't you afraid of getting sick from eating like that?"

"What illness? I've always eaten like this." Zhao Ji looked bewildered. "It's a well-known dish, like Jiang Tuan. Su Shi also wrote about Wu's thinly sliced ​​fish, which is so delicate it seems to fly away, and its taste is the most delicious."

"I'll have some." Lin Zhou took a piece, but his face twitched because he had dipped too much wasabi in it.

"Use less—"

The three of them were enjoying their fish, just relaxing, when Lin Zhou suddenly said "Oh," as if he remembered something. He stood up and said, "Wait a minute."

After saying that, he went back to his room, took out a bamboo tube, unscrewed it, and poured out a scroll. Zhao Ji leaned over and asked, "What?"

"The land deed from Bianliang."

"What!"

Zhao Ji jumped three feet high, while Chen Shanzhang, who was too old to jump, also leaned over with a face full of curiosity.

At this moment, Lin Zhou unfolded the scroll. The contents were written in the official script of the Song and Jin dynasties, and below it was the Wolf Lord's golden seal, as well as an anti-counterfeiting seal.

Zhao Ji reached out and took it. After reading it, his hands were trembling. He then handed it to Headmaster Chen. The old man didn't dare to continue reading before he finished. He clutched his chest and gasped for breath.

"Is this... real or fake?"

"I don't know, I just brought the thing back. Whether it works or not, whether it's real or not, I—" Lin Zhou

He spread his hands: "I can't guarantee that. You politicians are shameless and ruthless. How would I know?"

That's absolutely true. The treaty they forced us to sign is like toilet paper; it can be torn up at will. His job was simply to hand it over and act as a bridge between us.

"You went to the Jin Kingdom?" Zhao Ji narrowed his eyes. "How did you get there?"

"Then don't worry about it." Lin Zhou simply raised his chin. "Is this deal suitable or not?"

Is it appropriate or not? He actually asked if it was appropriate or not? Is that something a human being should ask? The Yellow River as the boundary — that means that what the Song Dynasty couldn't accomplish in the previous decades, with hundreds of thousands of people and tens of millions of strings of cash, is about to be accomplished now. Returning the old capital to the Yellow River not only means taking back Bianjing, but also taking back almost the entire Central Plains, including Shandong.

"I've talked about this with my friend, and what he meant was that this thing is probably just to fool you. At most, they'll just return the Bianjing area to you, but they'll never give up Shandong. If they did, they wouldn't be able to govern it anymore. And if they really did give up the Yan-Yun region, that would be tantamount to acknowledging the legitimacy of the Song dynasty."

The friend Lin Zhou mentioned was just Director Zhao. He didn't discuss the historical context, but rather carefully analyzed the possibility of the Jin Dynasty doing this. Moreover, the fact that Prince Rui immediately ceded such a large amount of benefits indicates that things on their side were extremely urgent.

"What Pingzhi said is true. The Jin people are always two-faced, and their promises at the moment cannot be trusted."

Chen Shanzhang was a seasoned veteran, and as someone whose entire family had almost all perished when the Jin army marched south, his hatred for the Jin state was no less than that of Zhao Ji, who bore the burden of both national and personal vendettas.

"So this is a scam?"

"Not necessarily." Headmaster Chen squinted at the official letter: "Wanyan Zongbi is still alive, and the influence of his lineage remains. If Wanyan Heng can act decisively, it might really lead to a north-south confrontation between the Jin Dynasty."

Zhao Ji quickly pressed further, "This time, Qin Hui orchestrated the Jin state's sale of grain. Does that mean Qin Hui is supporting Wanyan Liang?"

"Of course," Lin Zhou said, sucking his fingers. "I reckon Qin Hui suddenly came looking for me to see if I was here. It must have been Wanyan Liang who tipped him off, telling him to investigate who I am. Qin Hui probably thought of me first when he saw the description. If I wasn't here, he would have to find a way to get rid of me."

"What did you do to Wanyan Liang?"

"I almost killed him twice." Lin Zhou raised his chin. "But this guy has divine protection, I'm not kidding. It was the first time I saw what divine protection really meant. I practically had my head on his head and hit him, but I just couldn't kill him."

Zhao Ji frowned deeply, his expression grave.

On the way back, Lin Zhou actually investigated Zhao Ji and Wanyan Liang carefully. Although he had investigated before, this was the first time he had investigated so seriously.

You wouldn't believe it until you look into it. Emperor Xiaozong of Song, Emperor Renzong of Xia, and Emperor Hailing, Wanyan Liang, these three can be considered the three great rulers of their time.

Zhao Ji was roughly equivalent to Liu Bei, Wanyan Liang was essentially Cao Cao, and Emperor Li Renxiao of Western Xia was comparable to Sun Quan. It must be said...

The China region has its own superior matchmaking system, and these three are truly evenly matched opponents.

Needless to say, Zhao Ji was hailed as the only true man in the Southern Song Dynasty, but Wanyan Liang was also a fierce warrior. He only did three things in his life: kill his relatives, take his stepmothers, and launch a southern campaign. At this time, the Mongol region was not weak. After all, even without Han Shizhong's help, Wanyan Zongbi could only hold out until this summer before he was too exhausted to fight anymore, and was beaten to a pulp by guerrilla warfare.

However, under Wanyan Liang's rule, Mongolia truly became a wronged little dog. In the ten years or so from his ascension to the throne to being killed by his own relatives, he launched a fierce attack on the south every day as soon as he opened his eyes, desperately trying to unify the country.

If the country had continued fighting like this, it would have collapsed long ago. However, he was able to lay the foundation for the Jin Dynasty's final glorious period, the "Great Ding Era," while fighting the war.

His misfortune was that he failed to conquer the Southern Song Dynasty, and Zhao Ji ascended the throne the year after his death.

As for Emperor Li Renxiao of Western Xia, his reign was the golden age of Western Xia, and also a period of stable development for the Jin and Southern Song dynasties. There were very few wars between the three kingdoms. The key point is that neither the Southern Song nor the Jin could do anything to Western Xia at this time.

With such an excellent matching mechanism, and given that they are of similar age, it is quite normal for them to be compared to each other. Naturally, Wanyan Liang's current movements are what Da Yaozi's younger brother is most concerned about.

"Why would Wanyan Liang do this so suddenly? This isn't like him." Zhao Ji frowned deeply. "He's a calm and calculating man, full of cunning schemes. He wouldn't act so rashly. If I were him, I would wait until Wuzhu is dead before making a move, no matter what."

"It should be the Mongols. Han Shizhong's campaign against the Mongols has drastically changed the situation. In the past, if Wanyan Zongbi and the Mongols had both been weakened, he would have had time. But now, it's clear that the Jin Dynasty is being overtaken by the Mongols on the grasslands." Chen Shanchang raised an eyebrow: "If Wanyan Zongbi is completely defeated and the Mongols retaliate, Wanyan Liang will probably have to launch a campaign. And the outcome of such a campaign is uncertain, and the timeframe is not short."

This decision gave Wanyan Zongbi a chance to breathe. The Wolf Lord, after all, still possessed some strength. Therefore, by using the Wolf Lord's serious injury to force a rebellion among the imperial relatives, Wanyan Zongbi gained an opportunity. With the court under his control, Wanyan Zongbi's army would be surrounded by the Mongols and Song forces, and further besieged by the Jin army itself. He would be in a position where he could attack or defend as needed.

Headmaster Chen's words sounded very credible, and Zhao Ji nodded hurriedly: "It seems that's indeed the case."

Now that they had finished their conversation, Zhao Ji nudged Lin Zhou with his elbow: "Brother Lin, what do you think we should do if we really take advantage of this opportunity to seize the Central Plains?"

"Then—" Lin Zhou scratched his chin, "Does that mean the Song Dynasty will directly clash with the Mongols?"

After listening, Zhao Ji slapped his thigh, his face suddenly realizing, "That's right! Prince Rui is quite cunning. He wants us to be locked in a stalemate with the Mongols on both sides of the Yellow River. After all, a large portion of the territory he ceded to us is in the hands of the Mongols. This is a tactic of using one tiger to devour another."

"Also, I heard from my father-in-law that the prince consort of the Jin dynasty is also planning a rebellion with Wanyan Liang." Lin Zhou took out a napkin and wiped his mouth. "Tangkuo Bian, I think."

"The Jin emperor can't really blame anyone else," Zhao Ji said, raising his hand. "He's certainly been acting perversely these past few years."

"My father-in-law asked me to give this to Han Shizhong, but I think it's better for you two to take a look first." Lin Zhou picked a fishbone out of his mouth to pick his teeth. "Is this for Han Shizhong to handle, or are you two handling it yourselves?"

Zhao Ji gripped the official document tightly in his hand, raised his eyes to look at Headmaster Chen: "Grand Tutor, you say—"

"The Emperor currently intends to make you the Crown Prince, meaning you will be the future Crown Prince." As a staunch royalist, Chen Shanzhang naturally had his own considerations: "Then it's best if you handle this matter. Whether to advance or retreat, whether to go forward or backward, you must be more suitable than Han Shizhong."

suitable."

Zhao Ji was very hesitant at this moment. He was only twenty years old by the traditional Chinese age reckoning, and he wasn't even called Zhao Ji yet, but Zhao Yuan. He couldn't even handle an egg that cost three strings of cash, and now they were directly handing over the core storyline of returning to the old capital to him.

"Brother," Lin Zhou patted his shoulder, suddenly acting as if he were invoking a deity, "Go for it! I'm giving you this chance, don't waste it. If my little brother can unify China, I'll be overjoyed. History should be this way, instinct should be this way!"

"What do you want? I'll figure out how to get it for you! Just do it! And when you do, send me two pretty girls."

"Brother—" Zhao Ji cried out, his tearful appearance making one's heart ache, but his next words broke everyone's defenses: "I don't have that ability—I'm just a prince kept in captivity."