Brother Song Taizu

Chapter 273 Zhao Guangyi’s Thoughts

Luoyang City.

When receiving the news of the Khitan invasion, the court was also greatly shocked. Zhao Guangmei himself did not expect that the Liao Kingdom would be so crazy.

At this time, it was obvious that Xue Juzheng could no longer hold back, so Zhao Kuangyin and Zhao Guangmei naturally took the train from Kaifeng to Luoyang overnight to re-enter the palace to preside over government affairs.

Gao Huaide, Zhao Guanglan, and Xiao Chuo have all arrived uninvited.

Xiao Chuo first glanced at Zhao Guangmei, then knelt down to Zhao Kuangyin and said: "Brother, you know us. My father and the two kings have agreed to Guangmei's proposal. The sixteen states of Yanyun will be peacefully recovered, and even the entire Liao Dynasty." The capital will be peacefully reunified with our Song Dynasty. If something like this happens at this critical juncture, there must be some villain trying to drive a wedge between Song and Liao. You must not fall into the trap!"

Even Gao Huaide said: "Emperor Liao is obviously crazy. He did this just to sabotage the peace talks between Song and Liao and destroy the peaceful reunification. Brother, if we can avoid fighting this war, we'd better not fight it as much as possible. Peaceful reunification is far better than retrieval by force." .”

Gao Huaide and Zhao Guanglan have always been the Song envoys sent by the Song Dynasty Commercial Bank to the Sixteenth Prefecture of Yanyun. Their status is similar to that of Xiao Chuo in Kaifeng. Of course, most of his own interests in the trading company are with the Liao Commercial Bank of the Sixteenth Prefecture of Yanyun. He is bound to do fur, horse, fascia and other business.

Therefore, he may be the person in the entire Song Dynasty who least wants to fight this war except Zhao Guangmei.

"Of course I know that this kid Yelvxian did it deliberately. However, the final outcome of this matter still depends on the consequences and the critical decision-making of the two border commanders. You are not ignorant of military affairs. At this time, if the front line has already fought It's getting up, how can we stop just by saying we can stop? If these incoming Khitan cavalry cause a big disaster and make the people of the Song Dynasty lose their lives... Hey~, no matter what, we have to give some explanation to the people."

To put it bluntly, it still depends on whether the evil done by those Khitans is serious or not.

If the crime was not serious and only a few thousand people died, then there is nothing wrong with turning a blind eye and continuing to promote the reconciliation and peaceful reunification of Song and Liao. Afterwards, Yelvxian and several major figures were treated as politicians. If the criminal is caught and killed, it will be regarded as revenge for these dead compatriots.

But if it was a disaster, tens of thousands, or even 10,000+ people died, or it could be like the Yelu Abaoji that killed 50 million people.

Then the old and new grudges must be settled together.

They, the old Zhao family, have put so much effort into reform just to stop being dictators. They cannot ignore public opinion and go their own way and forgive the Khitan people for the majority of compatriots.

If the Song Dynasty is willing to fight now, it will really be able to plow the courtyard and sweep the holes after entering the grassland.

Zhao Guangmei also said: "The most important problem now is that the court does not know the specific situation and cannot make decisions. This matter is of great importance. Even the two old commanders Guo Jin and Li Hanchao may not be able to make the decision and cannot control this matter well." Medium size. After all, we, the Song Dynasty, can't be beaten and still fight back, right? There is no such reason. Big brother, we must send an important minister and a person of sufficient weight to the front line to handle the overall situation with full authority."

"You want to go?"

"I'm afraid there is no more suitable candidate besides me."

But Zhao Guangyi took the initiative and said: "Eldest brother, third brother, why don't I go?"

"You go?"

Zhao Guangyi said: "I have done everything I want to do. Xue Juzheng, an official, can't be an official for a few more years. In fact, I originally planned to invite myself to expand the territory and go to Guangzhou. I am in the middle of the court. It’s impossible for Xue Juzheng to really be a good official, and to be honest, it’s really not interesting.”

"It goes without saying, eldest brother. The third brother established a trading company after leaving the imperial court. Even Zhao'er is doing a great job now, which is a great achievement in opening up the territory. I am the only one who has been working in the imperial court, but I lack experience. "

"Originally I planned to resign from my official position and go to Guangzhou to develop. There, we can expand our territory on land until it borders Zhao'er, completely connect land transportation, and we can also build shipyards and a navy. In time, we will definitely become our pioneer in the Song Dynasty. It is just right. I'm going to do some work, and if there is a shortage of people in the court in a few years, I will come back to serve as an official, and I will be more confident."

Zhao Kuangyin and Zhao Guangmei were surprised when they heard this, but after thinking about it carefully, it seemed to be really reasonable, and even the second brother's idea was actually very smart.

It's quite meaningless for him to be the prime minister now. After all, he could have been the emperor long ago if he wanted to, and Xue Juzheng can't control him. The things he wanted to fight for in the past seemed to have no meaning now.

Of course it's not that he doesn't want to be the emperor, it's just that Zhao Da and Zhao San are here, and he knows very well that he doesn't have enough prestige, and he will be very aggrieved when he becomes the emperor. Instead, he will be restricted by the boss and the third brother. So it's better to be inappropriate.

Therefore, he continued to act as his disciple, but he was able to use this power to begin to restrict the imperial power and launch a series of reforms.

It was precisely because he was in the court that Zhao Da and Zhao San were so confident that they showed little concern about Luoyang's affairs. On the contrary, it greatly increased his power as prime minister.

If he is not the emperor, his power will be greater than if he were the emperor.

In fact, if Zhao Guangmei did not interfere and allowed him to develop like this, the Song Dynasty would probably become a country with a cabinet responsibility system and a prime minister ruling the country.

Zhao Guangmei also kept looking like that.

However, as Xue Juzheng has made it more and more clear that he has no interest in the throne, he will take the initiative to leave class after completing agricultural production. The most important thing is that the political reform has been basically completed, and various restrictions on monarchy have been put on the right track. , if the power of the prime ministers of the Menxia Province were combined, even without him, they would actually be greater than the emperor. At this time, it would indeed be a little embarrassing for him to be the minister of Zhongshu.

And it is clear that he, the prime minister, is the one who really controls the power of the country, but in fact his prestige is not high, let alone compared with the boss and the third, even compared with Zhao Dezhao, the explosive maniac with a slightly abnormal brain, it seems that now They're all a little short of each other.

Everyone thought that Zhao Laoer was above average, but... he was just above average.

The only ordinary person among the men in the Zhao family.

This is what people in the market say.

In terms of prestige, that's all. In other words, all his prestige actually comes from his surname Zhao.

Of course, Zhao Guangyi was a little unwilling. He recognized that he was not as capable as his eldest brother and third brother. Especially the third brother could indeed be classified as a saint, but his eldest nephew... obviously had a problem in his head. , he can’t even compare?

Of course, more importantly, Zhao Guangyi can now see that the trading houses are the real foundation of the Song Dynasty. To put it bluntly, the court is becoming more and more like a puppet of the trading houses.

He is also a shareholder of the trading company.

As a result, now he has thrown away the rights and interests of the trading company for the sake of his position in the court. Looking at it now, it seems like he has lost the watermelon and picked up the sesame seeds.Now the trading house has gradually been divided into two and a half factions, the mainland faction led by Zhao Guangmei and the sea power faction led by Zhao Kuangyin. The two have essentially joined forces to carve up the Forbidden Army. The other half of the two and a half is naturally Zhao Dezhao's Southwest. colonial project.

Zhao Guangyi was keenly aware that the southeast corner could definitely make a difference. The reason why Zhenhai Jiedu had not expanded for so many years was not because the Song Dynasty had no strength, but because Pan Mei had no courage.

After all, he is a minister. How could he be like Zhao Dezhao, who is like a king in the southwest? Loans, all resources in the entire southwest region and even the Guanzhong region can be mobilized as he wants.

In fact, Pan Mei was working as a governor outside alone, and there were no strong enemies around here. Let alone taking the initiative to attack and expand territory, he wished he could be castrated.

But the area in the southeast is really good. Coastal trade can be developed to the east. After connecting with Zhao Dezhao to the west, the entire Southeast Asia and South Asia will naturally become a whole, with water and land conveniences, both internal and external convenience, and even completely It can be the third force in the business that is independent of Zhao Da and Zhao San.

How many times had he thought about this matter in his mind!
However, Zhao Guangyi has never been able to make up his mind and still has psychological concerns.

Zhao Dezhao can do well in the southwest. To put it bluntly, he took over the Song Army that conquered Shu and received Wang Quanbin's inheritance. The configuration given to him was luxurious. Even Cui Yanjin, who was known as the most powerful force in the Forbidden Army, was sent to him. Shang Xin Zhongfu, and those Shatuo regiments that were actually warlords.

With this configuration, Zhao Dezhao can of course play whatever he wants and make waves as he wants. These people, plus the businessmen who originally bid to go to Dali, form the core foundation of his King Lu Party.

The eldest brother is really kind to his biological son.

Although Zhao Guangyi has been the prime minister for so many years, if he really wants to go out and do something, he really doesn't have the conditions that Zhao Dezhao has.

He really has no prestige in the army, and naturally he doesn't have any team.

What Zhao Da and Zhao San are doing now is actually robbing the Imperial Army. He also wants to go up and rob them together. Isn't that nonsense? Who is willing to go to the southeastern land with him to overcome thorns and thorns?
He couldn't just count on Pan Mei, that was Zhao San's person.

As a result, the Liao Kingdom suddenly provoked him, and he immediately saw an opportunity.

The Song Liaohe incident was caused by the third child. It would have been difficult for him to have a hand in it. After Xiao Chuo married Zhao Guangmei, the Law Department would definitely listen to Zhao Guangmei's words. To be honest, it was possible to kill Zhao Guangmei in one go. To push the power and prestige of Lao San up an order of magnitude, and to peacefully unify a country as big as the Liao Kingdom, is indeed a feat that has never been done before.

But now that there is a war, it is different. To put it bluntly, Zhao Guangyi has taken a liking to the border guards under Guo Jin and Li Hanchao.

Although these two men don't have many soldiers, they represent the generals of the Hedong faction and the Hebei faction respectively, and they are the successors of Li Jun and Fu Yanqing. These two old men are still alive in the trading firm.

Fu Yanqing's Tianxiong Army and Li Jun's Zhaoyi Army were once the two most elite troops in the world. They were only recruited, not disbanded.

If this thing is done well, if he can get the support of the generals in Hebei and Hedong, and also get the support of Fu Yanqing and Li Jun among the shareholders, then he can go to the southeast to expand territory and break away from the competition between Zhao Da and Zhao San. Isn't it just a matter of biting off a piece of meat that belongs to you?
After he has achieved merit, prestige, a team, and an army, if he changes his mind and wants to be emperor again, then his role as emperor will naturally be completely different from what he is doing now.

In the eyes of others, what they saw in this Khitan invasion was the destruction of life, but in Zhao Guangyi's eyes, they saw opportunities.

"Third brother, let me go. The marriage between you and your sister-in-law is a bigger matter than the Khitan attack. Besides, this matter will definitely affect the defection of the Shulu Department. I will go first. If the matter has to be done, It needs to be more intense so that you can smooth things over behind me. If you don't go, you'll just leave room."

"Brother, there is absolutely no one more suitable than me among the civil and military officials of the entire dynasty."

"Hmm~"

Zhao Kuangyin nodded when he heard this.

Zhao Guangyi said there was really nothing wrong with this matter.

"What do you think, third brother?"

"Second Brother is indeed right, but Second Brother, the soldiers on the front line and the imperial court may not have the same thoughts. If the Khitan people commit too many crimes, there is no guarantee that some people will not be blinded by hatred, leading to impulsiveness from above, or some people may not want to For peaceful reunification, we still want to fight and make meritorious deeds. After all, in this matter, there are some differences between the interests of the court and the interests of the military, especially those of the border troops. If you go, you must take over the two military commanders. The military power also suppresses the restlessness in the army, but when it comes to national sentiments, dignity, etc., you must not be timid, and you must have the attitude you should have. The sense of proportion in this... is indeed difficult to control. "

"Don't worry, third brother, I understand. To put it bluntly, I still want to do this business, but I can't let them ask for a high price."

"Your metaphor is not bad."

Just like that, Zhao Kuangyin and Zhao Guangmei nodded. The matter was settled directly. Zhao Guangyi took three thousand knights as guards and went straight to the front line. He stopped at Daming Mansion first and waited. After further information was passed on, he would consider other things, and Gao Huaide was asked to be his deputy.

This is also the strange thing about the Song Dynasty court. Zhao Kuangyin and Zhao Guangmei obviously don't care about anything on weekdays, but as long as the three of them discuss something, the Zhongshu Province and the Menxia Province are just decorations. Zhao Guangyi's appointment this time, No matter whether it was the Privy Council's decree, the subordinates' approval, the Ministry of War documents, or even the transfer of personnel, there was nothing at all, let alone such things as military symbols.

But the soldiers were transferred away by him, and even until Zhao Guangyi left the city, most of the court officials didn't know about it.

It can only be said that the Song Dynasty was still in a special situation at this time.

And so, after waiting anxiously for two days, news of success suddenly came from the direction of Guanzhong. It was said that Tian Qinzuo had made a clever plan, which did not even use the imperial army, but directly sent all the [-] troops sent by the Liao Army to Guanzhong. What a trap.

Zhao Kuangyin and Zhao Guangmei couldn't help but pat their thighs and cheer.

"This Xiaotian actually has this ability. I really didn't notice it when he was serving me before."

"Brother, this great achievement deserves a heavy reward."

"This is natural. In this way, the most troublesome Western Front was put down by such a small Western Factory spy. The only remaining one is the Northern Front. With the ability of the second son, only this It’s much easier with just one line.”

"Um,"

(End of this chapter)