Brother Song Taizu

Chapter 131 I am an easy person to talk to.
cross the river.

Looking at the historical dimension, these two words always have a somewhat romantic color. Zhao Guangmei already felt that she was full of emotions when she was on the boat.

Speaking of which, the history of China is always very interesting. From a military perspective, there is a saying that to defend the river, you must defend the Huaihe River. In other words, once the Huaihe River cannot be defended, the Yangtze River is actually of no use. It is too long, and you can cross the river anywhere. Can't hold on at all.

However, from the actual situation, almost since the beginning of history, if there is division, there will be the Southern Dynasty, and the Southern Dynasty will not be able to defend the Huaihe River. As a result, the Southern Dynasty can always rely on the Yangtze River to survive for several decades.

It's weird.

Thanks to Zhao Guangmei's series of confusing operations, the morale of the Tang armies along the Yangtze River collapsed and was extremely low. In just three days, they were defeated one by one.

First, Gao Huaide took the initiative to find the main force of the Tuzhou Forbidden Army and won a complete victory in the field battle, killing more than [-] enemies. Then, after a brief stalemate, Liu Guangyi even defeated the navy and defeated the Southern Tang Navy. They returned to their respective towns and crossed the river smoothly. A few days later, even Li Hanchao and Zhang Qiong arrived.

Because Zhao Guangmei's movements were so fast, it can be said that the battle started suddenly and ended even more suddenly. When the two of them were preparing to set off from Kaifeng, they didn't know that they were coming to fight, and they thought they were here to provide disaster relief. I thought that I would just take the troops for a walk to relax and stay with His Highness just to intimidate Xiaoxiao.

Therefore, when they set off, they actually didn't prepare any luggage. They even walked slowly and leisurely. They really thought they were going on a trip.

As a result, I didn't know until halfway through that there was a fight in Huainan, and His Highness the King of Qin was still involved in a bitter battle. The rebels in Huainan colluded with the gangsters in the Southern Tang Dynasty.

They were so frightened that they hurriedly marched to Huainan at a speed of four hundred miles a day. They rushed quickly and slowly. By the time they reached Huainan, all the soldiers in the army felt so tired that they were half dead.

After the results arrived, he told them that the war was over and the second phase was about to begin. His Highness had defeated Tuzhou. Hurry up and find a way to cross the river to join His Highness.

For a moment, all the soldiers in the Knight Cavalry Army and the Crane Controlling Army had the urge to throw something.

Is this really a war, or are you playing tricks on us?
In this way, less than half a month later, a full 1 Song troops had gathered in Tuzhou, and during this period, nearly [-] prisoners were sent to Jiangbei one after another.

But for such a long time, Southern Tang has never been able to organize a decent resistance movement. Li Yu only ordered the troops to assemble, but he didn't take advantage of this opportunity to attack him when his footing was not stable. .

Of course, this does not mean that Li Yu is really an idiot. In fact... the Southern Tang Dynasty has its own national conditions.

Generally speaking, the national power of the Southern Tang Dynasty was actually higher than that of the Northern Song Dynasty. The Central Plains area occupied by the Northern Song Dynasty had been beaten to death after more than 100 years of war. The emperors of all dynasties were so poor that they urinated blood. Whether it is the level of industrial development, agricultural development, iron output, population, or treasury surplus, these hard indicators are almost all worse than those of Southern Tang.

However, there are benefits to being poor, and there are also costs to being rich. Ever since Li Yu’s grandfather’s generation, they in the Southern Tang Dynasty have embarked on the evil path of advocating culture and restraining martial arts. The big and small soldiers in the army passed through his grandfather and his father. After continuous suppression, by the time Li Yu came into his hands, his influence was already very small. The entire Southern Tang Dynasty was basically suppressed by civilian officials.

All the civil servants in the dynasty disliked whoever led the troops. They always thought that this guy would rebel if he led the troops. Therefore, even if there was a war, it would be with various shackles on the neck, heavy constraints on the elbows, and crushing people to death. It was just like what happened later in history. The same as the Northern Song Dynasty.

In addition, the local policies of the Southern Tang Dynasty were also very problematic. To put it simply, the monarch's centralization of power was okay and suppressed the military men, but the centralization of power was really average, and local military power was concentrated in various towns. In his hand, it is somewhat similar to a small military governor, but also somewhat similar to the military system of the Sui and Tang Dynasties. In essence, it is more like a game and compromise between local tycoons and the imperial court.

In short, it is a weird thing. The Southern Tang Dynasty is full of various buffs. The entire court is bloated and incompetent, and the response is extremely slow, especially on military issues. If you want to fight a large-scale war, the efficiency of communication between up and down is just like... Just like...well, it's still the same as the Northern Song Dynasty in history.

No one can figure out who unified whom in history.

Of course, the attitude towards war was the same as that of the later Northern Song Dynasty, that is, if we could not fight, we would not fight.

Seeing that Zhao Guangmei occupied Tuzhou without moving, Li Yu and others did not dare to act rashly after gathering heavy troops. Then, the officials naturally came up with an idea: Is it possible to negotiate peace?
As soon as this idea came out, the court of the Southern Tang Dynasty naturally began to restrain the generals and soldiers in the imperial army more and more strictly. They must not do anything that would misunderstand the fathers of the Song Dynasty.

Isn't it just a yearly coin? At the worst, I can add more money.

Even if the Song Dynasty's appetite is bigger, the big deal is to increase taxes. After so many years of surrendering, everyone is used to it.

Therefore, the Southern Tang Dynasty sent Xu Xuan, the best debater in the Five Dynasties, as an envoy to ask to see Zhao Guangmei.

Zhao Guangmei was naturally very happy when she learned that Xu Xuan was here. In fact, he had never thought of directly destroying Nan Tang. That was impossible. He didn't have the strength.

To put it bluntly, this battle was fought too hastily. Southern Tang was not prepared. Could it be that they were prepared?I crossed the river in a daze, but in fact, even the serious navy of the Song Dynasty has not started training yet.

Not to mention, the troops, baggage, and various arrangements involved in fighting a war to destroy the country. How could the war be so hasty?Besides, they actually didn't have much left in their hands to build the miraculous power this time. Pan Mei's explosion wiped out all the production of the trading company in the past half year.

Otherwise, it takes a thousand days to make saltpeter, which is not enough for a general to make one shot.

In addition, Hou Shu, which has always been in need of beatings, has not been destroyed, and the Southern Han Dynasty, which has always been unruly, is still arrogant. Even the relationship between the Northern Song Dynasty and the Khitan in this time and space is much more tense than in history. At this time, they are fighting a national war with the Southern Tang Dynasty. , it’s really unwise.

Let's talk about it and get some money. If you can't become fat after eating one bite, why don't you just leave the bag?

But there is no way that he, a winner, can take the initiative to initiate negotiations, right?If the Southern Tang Dynasty does not send an envoy, he may really lead his army to the gate of Jinling City for a stroll.

Therefore, when he heard that Xu Xuan was coming, he almost jumped with excitement and quickly ordered someone to invite him into the guest room.

Anyway, he is the biggest in the army now, and his side is progressing too fast. When Zhao Kuangyin received the news, he was completely confused. Before he could give instructions, the situation on the front line had already changed, so that Zhao Kuangyin simply issued an order to Zhao Guangmei before the battle. He was promoted to deputy privy envoy and given full authority to handle matters himself. The entire country's troops were temporarily at his disposal.

In fact, after figuring out the cause and effect, Zhao Kuangyin was so happy that he couldn't sleep for half the night. It wasn't that the victory over the Yangtze River was amazing, but that Liu Guangyi gave him the scratched voting board as a gift. It was delivered, and almost immediately it relieved the biggest knot in his heart since he became emperor.

I ate two more bowls of rice.

As for how the war on the southern front was going, he really didn't care. He didn't even want to ask. Anyway, he had absolute trust in Zhao Guangmei. He was so far away and the kid had so many evil ideas, so he still asked. What to do?

Therefore, Zhao Guangmei had full power to make the decision. After meeting Xu Xuan, she was also extremely enthusiastic. She stepped forward to shake hands with him and said, "Did Xianggong Xu come to issue a letter of challenge? Okay, I will say that we two Countries are fighting back and forth, and the people are suffering so much. Instead of delaying the time, why not simply pick up the meaning of the Spring and Autumn Period, let's find a place to have a decisive battle, this is called long-term pain rather than short-term pain, you say it is No? Alas~, the people are suffering."

As he spoke, he patted Xu Xuan's thigh repeatedly.

"Your Highness, this...I...oh no, I, I'm not here to declare a challenge." "Then what are you here for."

"I am here...I am here...There is a misunderstanding here. I am here to clarify the misunderstanding. Our Lord has always been loyal to the Great Song Dynasty, and there is absolutely no disrespect at all."

"Oh~, we're here to discuss peace. I thought you guys, the Southern Tang Dynasty, were equal to us, the Song Dynasty, and we wanted to fight to decide the outcome. So what? As a clan, you are just going to sit here and talk to me like this. What?"

As he spoke, he waved and ordered the maid to come forward to make tea. He raised his legs, and then casually threw one of the two sets of white porcelain tea cups he brought to the ground and smashed it to pieces.

"You have no eyesight. Why would you use two sets of tea sets to drink tea alone? A slave is not like a slave. Didn't anyone teach you?"

Seeing this, Xu Xuan couldn't help but turned pale and said, "I heard that His Highness has always been courteous to virtuous corporals."

With a pop, Zhao Guangmei immediately burst into laughter.

"Who is it, me? Who did you listen to? Is your news so distorted?"

"........."

"It's okay, don't think too much about it. I still respect you very much. I really don't blame you. I'm an honest person and I never criticize others. Besides, I'm famous for my lack of rules. You Let's just say it's a courtesy. When you meet someone who has strict rules and regulations, in a particularly serious occasion, no matter what you want to say, the servant has to kneel down to speak. Even if there is a knife on the ground, those who should kneel down must do so. Well, of course, I'm different. The servants don't have any rules. I just ignore them at most and never take them seriously. Well, what did you want to say just now?"

After saying that, Zhao Guangmei stretched out her hand and started washing tea with the maid.

Even if Xu Xuan had a lot of truth, he pushed it back with this hand.

I have been debating all my life, but I have never seen such a shameless person!

But when you want to say something, he doesn't even look at you anymore. Although he is extremely sad and angry, he has no choice but to stand up, kneel heavily on the broken porcelain pieces on the ground, kowtow and say: "Your Highness Mingjian, this , is definitely not the original intention of the king.”

"Oh~"

Zhao Guangmei crossed her legs and leaned back on the chair. She looked at Xu Xuan condescendingly and said with a smile: "Lin Renzhao personally led his troops across the river and led nearly [-] soldiers to besiege me. He wanted to kill me. You said this... ...It has nothing to do with your king? Huh?”

Xu Xuan knew that he could not escape this, but he could only bite the bullet and said: "This is the result of Lin Renzhao's mutiny. Your Highness, please investigate clearly. The soldiers and horses he used are all bandits recruited from the people. He is here." It seems that Xing Ye acted without orders, and the Lord of my country was completely unaware from the beginning to the end. Our country is willing to pay an annual tribute of 300 million guan, or in other ways, to make amends to His Highness."

"Oh~, that is to say, Lin Renzhao was a mutiny and a rebellion, right?"

"Yes."

"Guess I believe it or not?"

When Xu Xuan heard this, he couldn't hold it back and rolled his eyes.

What else is there to argue about this kind of thing?Just say how much compensation you can pay to solve the problem and that's it. If you can accept it, we'll give you the money. If not, we'll continue to fight. Just put a fig leaf over it and let it go.

If you don't believe it or admit it, then our negotiation will not be valid in the right sense, and we won't be able to continue the conversation.

But Zhao Guangmei burst out laughing again: "Don't tell me, I really believe it. That's okay. So Lin Renzhao is a rebel, but this rebel... should be from the Yi tribe."

"what?"

"I said, if Lin Renzhao was a mutiny or a rebel, your Southern Tang law does not require the Yi tribe for the crime of treason? It does. Could it be that you are unwilling? Could it be that Lin Renzhao did not rebel?"

"Ah no, he, he, he...he is...rebellious."

"Yeah, but I don't think I've heard of you killing anyone. How about... we can talk about it after the killing is over?"

Xu Xuan was stunned when he heard this.

He didn't know what to say.

"It's okay. I'm telling the truth. If you want to attack now, you need some time to prepare. You also have time to consider whether Lin Renzhao is a rebel. You can decide my personality before I am ready. Oh, by the way, also There are Lin Renzhao's soldiers, they are the Forbidden Army, right? Are the family members of these soldiers held as hostages in Jiangning City? They are rebelling, and you don't want to kill them? Then what are you holding hostages for? Of course, if you If you are willing to give them to me, then our Song Dynasty will also be happy to accept them as slaves."

"It doesn't matter. I understand whether he is a rebel or not. But if he is not a rebel, then it is not Lin Renzhao who wants my life, but your Southern Tang who wants my life. Think about it clearly. I will give it to you." You... give me five days to think about it, okay?"

"Okay, that's it for today. Before this matter is finalized, it's meaningless for me to talk to you. Sun, let's see you off."

After that, Zhao Guangmei stood up and left without giving any face.

When Xu Xuan injured his knee and limped out of Tuzhou, the light and shadow of the setting sun shone on his face, but he suddenly felt a dark wind blowing into his internal organs, making him tremble uncontrollably. , then shivered and fell to the ground.

　As a digression, it seems that history has been trapped in a curse since the southern economy surpassed the northern economy in the middle and late Tang Dynasty.

　　The northerners were strong, so almost all the northerners ruled the south. Although the capitals of several dynasties were all in the north, it would not take long for the southerners to actually decide the country. Then the temperament of the country became more and more southern, and soon the country became more and more southern. It will become the same as the previous southern regime.

　　The Northern Song Dynasty destroyed the Southern Tang Dynasty, but it soon became the Southern Tang Dynasty. The Yuan Dynasty destroyed the Southern Song Dynasty, and it soon became the Southern Song Dynasty. The Manchu Qing Dynasty destroyed the Southern Ming Dynasty, and it soon became the Southern Ming Dynasty. Even the Ming Dynasty had Zhu Di Jingnan, Moving the capital was said to be for the emperor to guard the country, but in fact it was the Jiangnan faction of the entire dynasty.Modern, well, to be honest, the modern political system, political model and even military system are essentially very similar to the Song Dynasty. All aspects and even various problems are the same as the Song Dynasty.

　　Sometimes I really find it interesting, but also puzzling. Who conquered whom?

　　
　
(End of this chapter)