The Struggle of the Reborn Prince

In the blink of an eye, February of the 11th year of Xingguo, Bianjing had already entered spring. People in the city went out of the city to enjoy the spring and enjoy this wonderful time. However, Zhao Qiong, the king of a country, did not have this leisure. He issued an edict to order the whole country to do a good job in spring plowing.

The Ministry of Revenue sent personnel to Jingji Fourth Road, Yanjing, Xijing Two Road and other places to promote large-scale planting of corn, sweet potatoes and peanuts, and began to select land in the northwest to test seeds, accumulate experience, and cultivate good varieties.

At this time, Gao Chong reported that the Western Expedition Army had completed the training and asked for an order to go to the expedition. Speaking of which, Gao Chang was really accused of death. Not only did he not send New Year's envoys to Bianjing to pay tribute like in previous years, he also came through the area.

Caravans from various countries in the Song Dynasty collected heavy taxes and blocked the caravans from the Song Dynasty, saying that they had mastered the western route of the Song Dynasty and controlled the economic lifeline of the Song Dynasty. If they did not agree to their conditions, they would completely close the trade route.

Zhao Qi was very funny about Gaochang's crazy words. Now with the development of the Dasong sea route, merchant ships can already directly reach the Persian Gulf and open the "Maritime Silk Road". Compared with land routes, sea routes have the advantages of large transportation volume and small risks.

The land trade volume in the northwest has shrunk day by day, and Gao Chang actually wanted to threaten it with this, which is really a bit of a dream. And his refusal to pay tribute also means that they closed the last door to reconciliation with the Song Dynasty, allowing Zhao Qi to make the decision to destroy his country.

determination.

According to the plan, the Song army divided the troops to fight, but when discussing the borrowing route to Liangzhou with Xixia, the king of the country Li Qianshun said that Xixia was willing to undertake the attack mission on the South Road alone. Zhao Qi was very understanding after hearing this. Although the two countries are now relatives, they can count them.

Wan Dajun passed by his home. If he didn't have a good intention to attack Guo, wouldn't he have compensated his wife and his troops? In addition, Xixia sent troops several times to assist the Song Dynasty, and Zhao Qi did not treat them badly any time, so he gave them to him.

There are many benefits, so they are willing to send troops to help the battle.

After several messengers, the two countries agreed that Western Xia sent 20,000 troops to advance west from Liangzhou, and from Guazhou and Shazhou to attack Gaochang State and seize Yizhou. Then the two armies joined forces to attack Gaochang City and then went south to capture Yanqihe

The two places in Kucha were destroyed. After the Sihun River was destroyed, the area south of the Sihun River was assigned to Xixia. This place is vast, equivalent to half of the area of ​​Xixia, and the defense depth has been increased. Although it is mostly Gobi, countless are distributed along the river.

Oasis, available for planting and grazing. Xixia has been coveting this for a long time. The two countries have fought countless battles for this, but they have not been able to get it. Now they have easily succeeded, and Li Qianshun praised his son-in-law for being generous.

Since the southern route was settled by Xixia, the Song army sent troops all the way, saving a lot of trouble. The troops used decreased accordingly. The Expeditionary Force mainly consisted of three brigades of the Desert Army and was incorporated into the two dragon cavalry brigades of the Chang'an Fushishi.

The two infantry brigades of the Datong Fushi Department strengthened an artillery brigade and a hunting cavalry brigade, and dispatched nine brigades of the imperial guards. They recruited 30,000 archers from the prison tribes, including Mengwu, Wanggu, Khitan and Dangxiang, to cooperate in combat.

Because this expedition was far away from the local area, it had to travel thousands of miles of Gobi, and logistics supply was difficult. Therefore, two more baggage brigades were dispatched to Hedong, and the three thousand prefectures in Dading were organized into a support detachment to form a support detachment, which was specially responsible for collecting and transporting grain and grass.

baggage, without recruiting a civilian.

War is about burning money. In order to ensure the expedition, Zhao Zhen levyed 500,000 shi of grain from Datong Road, Hedong Road and Shaanxi Road 3rd Road, and 5 million kilowatts of salt tax collected by each salt pond in Yanzhou

They were all handed over to the Western Expedition Legion to supply military supplies, which was a great investment, and they were determined to clean up a chicken to subdue the heroes of the desert. In order to attract the northern part of the desert, they also used this to warn the forces in the Western Regions not to be enemies with the Song Dynasty.

Although the northwest of February is still ice and snow, with the arrival of the heating flow in April, there will be many strong winds, which will easily lead to sandstorms. This will be a disaster for those walking in the desert. Therefore, the Western Expedition Army must travel before the strong wind arrives.

In the desert, Zhao Qiong issued an order to appoint Gao Chong, the Imperial Guard Du Yuhou, as the marshal of the Western Expedition Army. Zhao Li, the Hedong Punishment envoy, was the military supervisor to conquer Gaochang. After receiving the order, the various departments of the Western Expedition Army that had been assembled in Datong Prefecture immediately embarked on the journey...

..............

After sending off the Western Expedition Army, Zhao Qiong, who had finished the spring plowing, had not yet been idle for two days. He suddenly received a report from Pingzhou Prefecture that the Jin Dynasty sent an envoy to ask for peace talks with the Song Dynasty, because the two countries are still in war.

Therefore, Pingzhou Prefecture did not dare to let him enter Beijing without authorization, so it could only leave him in Pingzhou and request the emperor to deal with it.

This sudden incident made Zhao Qi a little strange. Since the exchange of Wanyan Xiyin, the two countries have returned to hostile state because the Jin Dynasty was not trustworthy and did not send Zhao Huan as agreed. Although the war in Goryeo has been transferred to the ground,

During the small battle, but the war between the two sides did not stop, the Jin Kingdom demanded peace, which made people worry.

"Your Majesty, the Jurchens have no faith in their words. They have broken the contract many times, so they are expelled!" Left Prime Minister Xu Jingheng said that it was not counted as the Song and Jin peace talks before Jingkang, but they had already been discussed even after Xingguo New Year.

Three times, but the Jurchens said it again and again, and the peace talks ended with a sharp start and a slash.

"Xu Xiang's words are reasonable. Now that our army defeated the Jin army in Goryeo, the army is in full swing. The Jurchens wanted to play with the strategy of slowing down the army, but Your Majesty didn't need to pay attention!" Zhao Ren also agreed, just as Wu Shu expected that he didn't want to talk to them at all.

"I am a little puzzled. Wu Shu has always been eyeing our dynasty and insisting on using troops, but now he is asking for peace from us. Don't you find it strange?" Zhao Qi looked at the people in the hall and asked.

"Your Majesty, does the Jin Chief Wanyan Tan mean?" Chen Gongbo guessed.

"No, after Wanyan Xiyin's death, Wu Shu controlled the government and took over the power. If Wanyan Tan wanted to make peace, it should be Wu Shu's proposal!" Li Gang shook his head and said.

"Your Majesty, the Prince of Zhongshan is asking for a meeting!" Just as everyone was speculating about the intention of the Jin Dynasty's peace talks, Wang Fu entered the palace and reported.

"I am discussing the matter and summoning you later!" Zhao Qi frowned and said. After returning to China, his eldest nephew may have realized that his identity is special and has always been easy to understand. Except for the great court, he has never asked for a meeting.

I, the sudden request for a meeting today made him very surprised.

"Your Majesty, save my father..." Not long after Wangfu went out, Zhao Xie's crying came from outside the hall, which attracted everyone to look out of the hall.

"Your Majesty, the Prince of Zhongshan refused to leave, saying that if he didn't see him, he would kneel outside the hall and not get up." Wangfu hurried into the hall to report again.

"Come him in!" The prince's crying hall itself was a big deal, and the content of the crying was extremely sensitive. Zhao Qi sighed and said.

"Your Majesty, your father has been traveling north for more than ten years. I am thinking about returning home every day. Please give up your mercy and save your father. My father and son are willing to abandon their title and die in the countryside. You will never step into the capital in your lifetime!" As soon as Zhao Xie entered the hall, he knelt down and lie down.

He cried in the hall.

"Xie'er, why is this? Brother Wang suffered far away in the northeast, and I have never forgotten it!" Zhao Qi hurriedly asked the eunuch to help him up and said.

"Your Majesty, I received a letter from my father a few days ago. I thought of my wealthy clothes and food, but my father was hungry in that bitter and cold place and could not control himself. He entered the palace without authorization. He also asked Your Majesty to surrender his crime!" Zhao Xie wiped his tears with his sleeves.

, said sobly.

"Oh, have you received a letter from Brother Wang?! Can you let me see it?" Zhao Qi said in surprise. The capital was far away from Zhao Huan's imprisonment, but under the strict supervision of the Jin soldiers, you can send letters here.

The matter itself was too weird, and he had to check it out.

Not to mention, there is really, and Zhao Xie was carrying it on his body. He took out the letter from his sleeve and held it in his hands. Zhao Qi opened it and saw that the handwriting was indeed Zhao Huan's, and he also painted the imperial edict he used when he was the emperor.

The content is still clear. Zhao Qi was so happy. This was not the letter written by the elder brother to his son. It was clearly written by his mother to himself. The tone was extremely humble and respectful, and he told his feelings for the country. I hope the emperor can help him.

The brother brought him back from the Jin Kingdom.

"You all know, please read it!" Zhao Qiyu sighed and handed the letter from Zhao Huan to the priests in the hall. At this time, he had already guessed the whole story of Zhao Xie's letter from the palace.

Huan's letter was actually written under the instruction of the Jurchens.

Although Zhao Qi was unable to rescue Zhao Huan, he knew very well. After Wanyan Dan ascended the throne, he started a peace talks with Song in order to realize his ambitions. The senior officials of the Jin Dynasty had a clear attitude towards the former captured members of the Northern Song Dynasty royal family.

Zhao Huan was also named the Prince of Tianshui. His life and material treatment was greatly improved compared with before. Not only did he not have to farm himself, but he also had a monthly salary, except for the captured one who served him.

In addition to the subjects of the Song Dynasty, two servants were specially sent to serve. Although it was a thousand miles apart from being an emperor, it was a hundred times stronger when he first arrived in the Jin Dynasty, and he was never as sad as he believed.

Furthermore, the letter appeared too coincidental, but at the critical moment when the Jin Dynasty sent a peace envoy to seek peace, it was inevitable that the Jurchens had ulterior motives. Zhao Qi therefore concluded that Wu Shu had expected that the Song Dynasty would refuse peace talks, and even

His messenger was turned away and did not give him any chance. So he asked Zhao Huan to write a letter from his family and sent someone to Zhao Xie to secretly use his filial piety to stage today's "forced palace" drama.

Force yourself to submit. This trick can also be said to have hit the hearts of the monarchs and ministers of the Song Dynasty!

"Your Majesty, the King of Liao has been traveling north for more than ten years, but has not been able to welcome him back. This is the pain of my Song Dynasty!" As expected, the prime minister Li Gang of the first dynasty first started to attack, "Your Majesty, I think that since the Jin Kingdom has gone to

I am seeking peace in the Song Dynasty, why not take the opportunity to welcome the King of Liao!”

"I agree. Since the Jin State intends to seek peace, I think I can take the opportunity to give it a try!" Xu Jingheng also replied.

"Your Majesty, I will discuss it!" said the prime ministers in the hall.

"Authorize the report, and use the right prime minister Chen Gongbo as the peacekeeping envoy, and Zhang Su, the Minister of Rites, presided over the matter. Be sure to welcome the King of Liao to comfort my heart and to fulfill the wish of the people of the world!" Zhao Qi immediately issued an edict saying

If you are sincere, you will be loyal ministers and righteous men. If I don’t respond, wouldn’t it be a brand of benevolence and filial piety? Since this is the case, everyone should be good people together...