Emperor Zhao certainly had public motives when he toured the Yellow River.
After all, the central government had already been sensitive to the current predicament... The Jin army was still in danger, and Henan Province had been under strict military control for several months, which led to an imbalance in the hearts of the people at all levels... Therefore, the plan for this tour had actually been placed on Emperor Zhao's desk as early as October.
But why at this time? Why did he go on tour immediately after the imperial concubine was appointed? Some reasons are difficult to conceal.
You must know that the co-existence of two imperial concubines was recognized by the prime minister, and it was also due to the misbehavior of the Zhao emperors, especially the frivolousness of a certain Emperor Taishang Daojun, so there was always a precedent. In particular, the serious arguments that Emperor Zhao used to persuade Lu Haowen and others also made some sense - he said that if the queen was established now, who would be the heir to the throne in the future, and what about the theory that the mother is honored by her son? It was possible that there would be problems.
But leaving aside future problems, the current problem is that, from Concubine Pan’s perspective, she suffered a great loss in this matter.
Because there were only two concubines in the palace, and compared to Concubine Pan who was only a hair's breadth away from the position of queen twice, Madam Wu, who came to power very late, had no status at all in front of Concubine Pan for a long time.
But life is such a fickle thing, and suddenly the other person becomes your equal.
May I ask how Concubine Pan could not be annoyed?
Emperor Zhao knew that others would be angry, but he escaped at the first opportunity... Inspecting the Yellow River defense line was a matter of both public and private interests.
In late November, Emperor Zhao left Bianliang and headed north, first to Yangwu (later Yuanyang), then to Suanzao, and later to Huazhou... Along the way, he randomly entered the forts and beacon towers, talked with the soldiers of the imperial camp face to face, and asked about their needs. The accompanying imperial camp commander Wang Yuan and deputy commander Qu Duan also formed a three-person working group with the palace attendant Wanqi Xie, and brought a group of low-level bureaucrats from the Privy Council and the provincial government to inspect military pay and supplies along the way.
I must add one more thing here. The corruption in the Song army is really ingrained in their bones, and things like drinking the blood of soldiers are inevitable. Emperor Zhao knows this very well, and he didn't expect to be able to avoid these things... But since he came out for an inspection and encountered it, he couldn't pretend not to know.
So, while just walking along the Yellow River front in Kaifeng Prefecture, Emperor Zhao beheaded seven or eight officers above the rank of captain along the way and dismissed thirteen or fourteen people.
At the end of November, when the imperial guards escorted Emperor Zhao into the territory of Huazhou, an officer defected in the front. A commander from Hebei stationed in Linghe Town was so frightened that he led several guards to seize a small boat and head north to surrender to the Jin people.
This incident shocked the central government ministers accompanying Emperor Zhao greatly. Many of them suggested on the spot that Emperor Zhao should return immediately, because in the territory of Huazhou ahead, the riverside defense zone of 20 to 30 miles between Baima, the capital of Huazhou, and Linghe Town was controlled by Li Qiong, the commander of the imperial camp, to which this commander belonged.
Li Qiong's troops were a rather special force in the imperial camp... they were all from Hebei.
Just because Li Qiongzhou was a student, had been stationed in Huazhou for a long time, and was indeed good at leading troops, when the imperial camp troops were divided at the beginning, he was specially assigned to the central army of the imperial camp, and was still stationed in Huazhou, and theoretically belonged to Wang De's command.
Of course, privately, Emperor Zhao often gave orders to the various troops in the imperial camp. With such a close distance, it is not unreasonable to say that they are directly under Emperor Zhao.
In other words, this is an independent force in the imperial camp.
At the same time, Huazhou was not far from Daming Prefecture and Puyang City in Hebei Province, and the other side of the river was the central point where the Jin army stationed its troops along the Yellow River.
Therefore, if Li Qiong also had ulterior motives and suddenly colluded with the Jin people and released the Jin troops in Daming Prefecture, wouldn’t that cause a huge incident?
The ministers' concerns were not without reason, but Emperor Zhao disagreed.
First, from a personal perspective, Zhao Jiu did not think that Li Qiong, who had served as his central army during the Battle of Yanling and who communicated with him on a daily basis, would rebel because of this kind of thing;
Secondly, Zhao Jiu thought that he had handled the corruption in the army fairly and fairly, and the accountability was only at the level of the commander. Li Qiong did not need to worry about the corruption in the army.
Third, from the perspective of the situation, the fact that this commander escaped with only his personal guards shows that his behavior of doing his best to support the troops for half a year has worked, and this man is simply unable to mobilize the grassroots troops.
In fact, it was quite the opposite. Emperor Zhao communicated frequently with these commander-level generals through the commander-in-chief's letter system, and he had a certain understanding of Li Qiong... This man had the arrogance of a scholar and a bit of the arrogance of a powerful person, which together resulted in an excessive amount of self-esteem.
If you turn back in a hurry at this time, it will irritate him instead.
But if he can show sincerity, his scholarly mentality will prompt him to submit.
"Li Qiong will not let me down." Emperor Zhao made up his mind in just a moment, and then said this in public. He still ordered the eastward march, and at the same time, Wang Yuan, Qu Duan, and Wanqi Xie continued to inspect along the way.
However, once they set off, Emperor Zhao himself and the imperial soldiers did not return to the fort to comfort the soldiers. Instead, they galloped along the river, abandoning their carriages and riding horses with the central officials, and headed for Tiantai Mountain near Baimajin in Huazhou.
That was the main camp where Li Qiong and his troops were stationed.
At the same time, Emperor Zhao sent a messenger to Mount Tiantai to inform Li Qiong of his itinerary in advance.
The reason is very simple... With two thousand imperial guards accompanying him and soldiers and horses everywhere in the imperial camp, the real theoretical danger is that Li Qiong mobilizes the entire army, connects with the Jin army, and lets the Jin army cross the river. Doing so requires time to connect with the upper and lower levels, so as long as Emperor Zhao goes quickly, the other side will never be able to go.
This is called taking it in reverse.
Relatively speaking, sending out the messenger in advance is a display of trust when it has nothing to do with the overall situation... This is an open conspiracy.
Since the trip had been made, quite a few of the accompanying ministers were inevitably nervous, but the interesting thing was that some of them, like Emperor Zhao, did not take it seriously... Most of these people had been with the emperor for a long time since Huaishang and Nanyang. Like Emperor Zhao, they had witnessed many battles on the battlefield and were completely accustomed to this kind of thing, even familiar with it. Moreover, they also understood Emperor Zhao and knew that he liked to use tricks to find someone to take the blame for trivial matters, but was always responsible for military and national affairs. Some of them were young officials who had just been appointed this time, and they were eager to try, like a newborn calf who was not afraid of a tiger.
For example, Hu Quan, an editor of the Privy Council, volunteered to act as a messenger and go to Mount Tiantai first... Emperor Zhao was so surprised that he agreed and took the initiative to remind him not to speak arrogantly or cause trouble, and just tell him that he would be going there soon.
Of course, Hu Quan was just a small messenger who went to deliver the message according to the system, so he would not do anything to force the general to rebel. On November 28, Emperor Zhao came to Tiantai Mountain and went straight into Li Qiong's camp. Li Qiong, who had been notified in advance, really left the camp alone and went straight to the emperor.
The previous doubts and fears now turned into a puff of smoke and dissipated.
After all, Li Qiong, who was nominally Wang De's subordinate but actually directly under Emperor Zhao, had no reason to rebel under the current circumstances...and when Emperor Zhao entered the Tiantai Mountain camp, he did not deliberately avoid the topic. Instead, he reprimanded him, demoted him by one rank, fined him one month's salary, and immediately sent another envoy across the river to the other side to demand that the Jin army return the defected leader.
This time, it was the turn of another new Jinshi, Yu Yunwen, to volunteer.
Emperor Zhao naturally accepted the suggestion, but after the matter was settled, he ordered the eastern part of Huazhou (actually the Henan part of the former Kaide Prefecture, which was assigned to Huazhou after the Song and Jin dynasties confronted each other across the river) to be summoned by Li Bao, the commander of the front army of the imperial camp, Fu Xuan, the commander of the front army of the imperial camp, and Fu Qing, the commander of the central army of the imperial camp, to Mount Tiantai to discuss military affairs.
A whole day later, on the last day of November, Yu Yunwen unexpectedly had not returned yet. His life or death was unknown, but Emperor Zhao had no time to think too much. He just climbed Mount Tiantai with the three defenders who had arrived in a hurry and Li Qiong, looking at the north bank of the Yellow River, ready to listen to the military opinions of the frontline generals.
There are definitely dozens of Tiantai Mountains in China, and they are named because the tops of the mountains are mostly rocky and look like towers… In the future, the most famous one would naturally be the Tiantai Mountain in Zhejiang, but at this time, this Tiantai Mountain, which is only a few hundred meters high and may disappear in the future as the Yellow River changes its course, is the most famous Tiantai Mountain in the world.
Belongs to the king level in Tiantai Mountain.
There is no way. First, this mountain is very close to the capital of the Song Dynasty, Tokyo, and the surrounding economy is developed; second, this mountain is located on the side of Baimadu, the main passage from Daming Prefecture in Hebei to Tokyo and Nanjing in Henan, with a large number of people coming and going; third, the course of the Yellow River at that time was different from that of later generations, and the main road just passed by the side of this mountain. Climbing Mount Tiantai, you can see both sides of the Yellow River and the fertile land of Hebei in the Central Plains. The vast scenery can also be called a famous scenic spot.
Let’s stop talking and get back to the present.
On this day, the sky was clear, and there was even a slight southerly breeze, which made the weather a little warm. Emperor Zhao led his entourage and four Huazhou garrison commanders to climb the high rooftop. He felt that he could see very far, and the field of vision was wide and flat, so he was naturally in a good mood... But after he looked at the Yellow River and turned to the northeast, he remained silent for a long time.
The reason is very simple. Even a fool like Emperor Zhao, after climbing to a high place and looking far into the distance, could not help but think of a strange thing about the Yellow River... that is, there was something wrong with the Yellow River courses on their respective military maps. Although one could not see the situation dozens of miles downstream from Mount Tiantai, the military map he had just seen yesterday clearly marked three forked river courses before and after the important town of Puyang downstream.
"I remember that the map showed that the Yellow River split into three branches in the lower reaches... Why is it so?" Emperor Zhao looked at it for a long time, thought about it for a long time, and finally turned back to ask with confidence.
However, today it was not only the know-it-all Yang Yi who accompanied Zhao Jiu. Behind Zhao Jiu, in addition to the commander-in-chief of the Imperial Camp Wang Yuan, the deputy commander-in-chief Qu Duan, and the Palace Censor Wanqi Xie who was inspecting the forts in the rear, there were also countless accompanying civil and military officials, as well as the generals and officers of Huazhou... The only thing was that there were no prime ministers or generals accompanying him.
Therefore, when the question was raised, it was the Secretary of the Central Secretariat Fan Zongyin who took the lead and answered in a serious tone: "Good instructor, you know that the river below is not bifurcated, but the war has been dangerous since the Jingkang period, the Yellow River embankment has been in disrepair for a long time, and there has been a lot of rain this summer, so the river took the opportunity to flood into various old courses."
"I see..." Zhao Jiu still frowned, but he held his belt with one hand and pointed to the lower reaches of the Yellow River and continued to ask. "Why are there three old roads?"
Fan Zongyin was stunned and didn't say anything for a while.
Emperor Zhao knew that this matter must be known to everyone, but at this moment he was too lazy to cover up those things, so he asked directly: "Just explain the origin of these three forks!"
Fan Zongyin was alert, but he dared not say anything: "Your Majesty, this is due to the fact that I have returned to the river several times..."
"What do you mean by returning to the river?"
"The Yellow River floods and is repeatedly blocked and breached... In order to rectify the natural disasters of the Yellow River, many measures have been taken to change its course."
"If it's a change of course, why is it called 'returning to the river'?"
"Reporting to the emperor, the Yellow River has been flowing northward since this dynasty, and the several changes in its course are all efforts to move the river southward. From the perspective of Henan, where Kaifeng is located, it is a 'return'..."
"I see, but why must we move south?" Zhao Jiu was still confused. "The water flows down by itself. She is heading north, so we should just follow the flow of the water. Why must we move south?"
"Because they are worried that the Yellow River will continue to flow northwards and directly enter the Khitan territory." Li Qiong, who had been frowning for a long time, suddenly spoke out. "The court is afraid that the Khitan will directly cross the river in their territory, and then the cavalry will go south and use the Yellow River as a food route, go upstream and sweep across the Central Plains. Therefore, they are determined to return to the river in order not to lose the natural barrier of the Yellow River..."
Zhao Jiu came to his senses completely, but immediately burst out laughing... What he realized was that this was indeed the characteristic of the Song Dynasty. In order to seek psychological comfort, they did not hesitate to change the watercourse of the Yellow River against the will of heaven, and it seemed that they had changed it more than once. I don't know how much effort they had put into it. And the funny thing was that when the Jin army really went south, the natural barrier of the Yellow River was not of any use at all.
When he thought of this, Emperor Zhao laughed and shook his head: "The Yellow River's lower reaches are more than a thousand miles long. How much money and grain would it cost to return the river? With this amount of manpower and material resources, we can take back the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun... But with three rivers, we should have returned twice?"
"I don't know how many times..." Li Qiong thought for a moment, but shook his head again. "I only remember that there were four disasters during the reign of Emperor Shenzong, and one major disaster during the reign of Emperor Zhezong... I heard that General Yue's family suffered a disaster during that time and lost their property and land, so they became tenants of Meihua Han."
“…”
"To be honest, there seemed to be a few times during the reign of Emperor Renzong, but they were not big. If you add them together, there should be seven or eight times, right? Even if there were no floods during the reign of Emperor Renzong, there should be at least five or six." Fu Xuan, who had been silent, took the initiative to speak. "The main reason is that once the Yellow River overflows, the people in Hebei don't know whether it rained too much or the court changed the route again. To be honest, the three routes shown on the official map are still rough. In fact, there should be five routes downstream, and there are intersections... I have been there."
Zhao Jiu was stunned, and then he came to his senses again. He was afraid that these people from Hebei were resentful about this matter, otherwise they would not be rushing to talk about it.
So, after a long while, the official calmed down and asked, "So, the Yellow River flows back and forth in these five channels, and the Yellow River floods a lot, so wouldn't the land between the three channels become a flood zone?"
"Reporting to the emperor, if I were to say, the Yellow River often floods the area. Hebei is certainly affected, but Henan has also suffered from this disaster. Henan is also a flood area of ​​the Yellow River." Li Qiong and Fu Xuan were about to answer when another person bowed to them. It was Li Bao, a scoundrel from Jingdong Road. "I heard from the old people in the village that once when the court went back to the river, it was a mess, and the Yellow River rushed all the way to the Huai River... Jingdong and the six states on the Huai River were all flooded yellow, isn't it also a flood area of ​​the Yellow River?"
Zhao Jiu was completely speechless... Well, according to this statement, the Yellow River flooding area nowadays actually extends all the way from the Bohai Bay to the Huai River.
In fact, the official did not know that after he arrived, he was determined to fight against the Jin army and never went south to the Yangtze River. Otherwise, in another time and space, Du Chong would have used the traditional skills of the Song Dynasty in controlling the Yellow River in order to defend against the Jin cavalry and save the emperor of Yangzhou, and would have opened the southern mouth of the Yellow River again, and things would have been out of control from then on.
Of course, another man-made disaster problem is the same as the current one, that is, during the war, especially after the Yellow River became the front line of confrontation, no one had the mind or ability to repair the river, otherwise there would not be the current strange appearance of three waterways.
"Which is the main road now?" With this thought in mind, Emperor Zhao simply put aside all extra thoughts for the time being and just asked about the situation downstream according to his memory. "East Road or North Road?"
"It's the middle channel." Li Qiong pointed to the northeast. "The one that separates Damingfu and Puyang from Hebei... But it's meaningless, because as you can see on the official map, the water is flooded and no one is repairing it. The three downstream channels are all flowing with water, and they are all hanging rivers. It's just that the middle channel is deeper and wider, which is convenient for sailing... But the Jin people occupied the entire north of Dongliu, and controlled the southern bank of the downstream with the pseudo-Qi, so no matter how you look at it, Hebei is under the control of the Jin people."
"So if the Jin people really want to cross the river from the downstream, we can't stop them?" Zhao Jiu said.
"That's true, but the Jin people may not be willing to cross the river from there." Fu Xuan suddenly interrupted again. "Especially at this time."
"Why is that?"
"Good instructor, you know, I am from the Yongjing Army, I know the situation downstream..." Fu Xuan bowed slightly, and then continued. "The lower reaches of the Yellow River have been in disrepair for a long time. Although the river channel is out of control and the water is shallow, there is a lot of silt and sand in it, and there is a lack of good crossings. Therefore, if the Jin people cross the river here and there, it is not only deep or shallow, but sometimes the water is full of mud. Once the horses and men fall into it, it is a dead end... And in this situation, the Jin cavalry must cross three or four times before they can cross the river. How can it be as deep and level as the port here in Baima, where they can cross the river leisurely and comfortably? This is why the Jin people were determined to seize Daming Prefecture before, and repeatedly took boats to cross the river from the vicinity of Puyang."
Zhao Jiu nodded slightly, and then his heart was moved: "So, the Jin people have not yet moved south. It is also because of what you said in the letter. This winter is warm, although there are ice floes, but the Yellow River is vast and has never frozen?"
"I think that's exactly what happened." Li Qiong, who must be one of the 'several people', responded calmly. "The sky is showing that if the Jin army wants to cross the river, they must cross the river from here or upstream. However, the 200,000 soldiers of the imperial camp have already been closely lined up in this section of the Yellow River. How can they easily cross it?"
"In that case, doesn't it mean that God blesses the Song Dynasty this year?" Someone couldn't help but speak out with joy.
"You can say that." Li Qiong was slightly startled. Although she felt awkward, she still nodded.
However, Emperor Zhao, who continued to look back at the river, disagreed: "The dishes are ready, but the guests don't come. This may not be a good thing... If they don't come, we can't defeat them for the time being. After four or five years of fighting, I don't know when Hebei can be recovered."
Everyone around him was thinking about something, but Liu Ziyu finally couldn't bear it anymore and stepped forward to cup his hands: "Your Majesty, the restoration of Hebei is not a matter of a day or a night. We have to wait until the Song Dynasty has hundreds of thousands of elite soldiers who can cross the river and fight against hundreds of thousands of Jin people in the field. But there is no need to worry about the moment... In the long run, our army will surely win."
"I think so too." The new Privy Council editor Hu Quan couldn't help but speak out in support of his boss, or in other words, in support of "his own argument."
The rest of the civil and military officials, including several generals from Hebei, also nodded in agreement.
But Zhao Jiu still shook his head but said nothing.
All the civil and military officials did not know what he meant, so they did not say much.
In fact, Emperor Zhao was very confused at this time... because he always felt that after four or five years of war, the Jin people, who still maintained a considerable military advantage at this point, had no reason to give up this advantage.
Because that's not reasonable!
Zhao Jiu didn't believe that the decision-makers of the Jin people, who had only risen for more than 20 years, would be so corrupt that there were no heroes who could see the current situation thoroughly. He also didn't believe that the Jin people didn't know that the Song army would become stronger and stronger, and he didn't believe that the Jin people didn't realize that their army was becoming increasingly corrupt... In this case, if he were a member of the Jin people's decision-making group, he would not avoid war. Instead, he would definitely launch a large-scale invasion as much as possible while the military strength gap could be maintained, in order to establish a strategic advantage.
In other words, Emperor Zhao firmly believed that the Jin people would definitely come, and this time it would be an unprecedented war, a war that could not be avoided!
Therefore, even if there are many reasons, such as this year is a warm winter, the Yellow River is not frozen, and the Jin people are not sure to cross the river; the previous defeat in Yanling and the setback in Dongping, the Jin people and the pseudo-Qi have no intention of fighting; the defense line along the river is strong, the Jin people retreated in the face of difficulties; the Jin high-level officials are fighting for the throne, the struggle is fierce, and they have no time to look south...
Emperor Zhao knew very well that these reasons were all reasonable and that these things did exist. Even the fact that the Jin people had been silent was right in front of him, but he still could not accept it.
Because, putting aside these confusing details, from the perspective of the overall strategic situation between Song and Jin, and from the perspective of the two countries, it would be illogical for the Jin people not to come.
The times are calling for a war, an unprecedented war, a war that will determine whether the Song Dynasty can survive in the Yellow River Basin.
Zhao Jiu has always believed this.
In fact, Zhao Jiu came to the front line this time to avoid the trouble in the harem and to appease the anxious people, but didn't he also want to appease the most anxious heart...that is, his own heart?
This time he came to Tiantai Mountain to summon all the generals, largely because the official wanted these front-line generals to give him a definite answer... Will the Jin army come?
And it is obvious, there is no need to ask, these people came to a clear conclusion based on their own observations - they all felt that if the Yellow River had not frozen, the Jin people would not have come.
But it was obvious that Emperor Zhao was not appeased. Although he said nothing on the surface, he was forcibly suppressing his restlessness and anxiety in his heart.
But no matter what, although the mountain climbing that day seemed to be a success, it was actually fruitless for Emperor Zhao... Several local generals in Huazhou thought that the emperor's visit was just a routine summons and they were all speechless. However, close figures such as Xiaolin Xueshi and Yang Yizhong vaguely guessed what the emperor was thinking, but they didn't say much.
On the second day, which was the first day of the twelfth lunar month, as soon as it was light, the impatient Emperor Zhao got up early and went to the shooting range to shoot arrows... Archery was the only thing that could help him suppress his impatient mood, and after shooting a tube of arrows, the official had already made up his mind. After coming back to wipe his face after shooting, he would summon the four generals to have breakfast together, and then send them away and return to the palace... After all, his own judgment was his own, and as an official, he always had to remain calm on the surface.
After three arrows were shot from the second tube, Yang Yizhong came to report that Yu Yunwen had returned from the other side of the river.
The messenger had worked hard, so Zhao Jiu summoned him directly to the shooting range without hesitation.
"What did the Jin people say?" As the other party came up to him, Zhao Guanjia, who had just stopped exercising and was wiping his face with a hot towel, took the initiative to ask.
"The Jin people did not take it seriously and did not even let me enter Daming Prefecture. They sent me away directly in Puyang. I am ashamed and have failed my mission." Although he said he was ashamed, Yu Yunwen, who stood at the shooting range with his hands clasped, had a ruddy complexion and looked quite excited.
Of course, no one expected to bring the rebel generals here. The Jin people would only hand over the generals if they were crazy. They were just demonstrating. Therefore, Yu Yunwen, who "disgraced his mission", could not have really "disgraced his mission"... His return alive was a successful mission.
"As expected." Of course Emperor Zhao didn't care.
Just as Emperor Zhao put down the towel and prepared to continue to praise and encourage the other party, the newly-appointed Jinshi could not help but interrupt: "Your Majesty, the Jin people were careless, and I spied on the confidential military information!"
Zhao Jiu was stunned, and could not help but stand solemnly at the shooting range, holding the bow: "Tell me."
"When I was in Puyang, I did not see any Jin army ships. I was confused and worried, so when I returned, I used the excuse of seasickness to beg the Jin army Mouke who accompanied me to send me to try to let me cross the river from the upstream ferry... I followed him to Xiaowusha, the old intersection of the northern route of the Yellow River, 20 miles west of Puyang, and only boarded the ship. But after Xiaowusha, I saw countless inland ships!" Yu Yunwen was excited for a moment.
A shovel is something made of straw woven together with stones and wood, with long ropes on both sides. It is specially used for river control. As the name suggests, you can tell that this place is very suitable for the old entrance of the Yellow River.
The reason why ships can gather behind Xiaowusha is obviously because the Yellow River flooded and rushed into the old channel, forming a natural port at Xiaowusha with the old embankment as a shelter.
Of course, Emperor Zhao had a low level of education and didn't know what the word 'sao' meant, but this didn't stop him from guessing the other party's meaning from his words and knowing where the Jin army's large number of ships were.
"It is indeed confidential military information. Are you saying that the Jin army will eventually launch a large-scale attack southward this time?" After a moment of thought, Emperor Zhao continued to ask without changing his expression.
Yu Yunwen was startled for a moment, but he seemed a little confused, and shook his head repeatedly: "That's not what I meant... Your Majesty, before the Jin army controlled both sides of the Yellow River, all the Yellow River boats were taken by the Jin army, there should have been so many ferries."
"Then what do you mean?" Zhao Jiu was also confused when he heard this... He still couldn't let go of the issue of the Jin people attacking.
"Your Majesty, what I mean is... why not take the initiative and burn little Wu Sha?" Yu Yunwen came back to his senses and continued his eager look.
Emperor Zhao also came back to his senses after hearing these words, and his heart was pounding... He was right, instead of guessing whether the Jin people would come and when they would come, why not burn the enemy's ships first and take the initiative to seize control of the middle reaches of the Yellow River?
As the saying goes, if the enemy doesn’t come, I can go!
With this thought, Zhao Jiu suddenly turned around and looked at Yang Yizhong: "I remember that Li Bao was born as a hero on the Yellow River?"
"Exactly."
"Call him."
Yang Yizhong left without saying a word. Only half an hour later, he returned with a bewildered Li Bao. Emperor Zhao also asked Yu Yunwen to recount the incident.
"How?" Zhao Jiu looked expectant.
"I won't hide it from you, Your Majesty. I think this is extremely difficult!" Li Bao hesitated for a moment, but still bowed.
"Why?" Zhao Jiu was puzzled. "The Jin people are not good at naval warfare, and I have stored many gunpowder bags in Tokyo, and there is no shortage of igniters..."
Li Bao still shook his head: "Your Majesty... I have been to rivers and seas. If you ask me, a battle on water is certainly a test of men's swimming ability and experience, but in the final analysis, it is still a battle of ships. A big ship is better than a small ship, and more ships are better than fewer ships... Gunpowder packs are good things, but how can we attack Xiaowusha without ships? And I know that Xiaowusha is a place. According to my current thinking, if we want to attack it, we must have a big ship, because only a big ship can be equipped with the small trebuchet that your Majesty has prepared in Nanyang, and the gunpowder packs can be fired into the harbor across the dike. Small boats must also rush into the harbor to fight to the death to prevent the enemy ships from dispersing and evading."
Zhao Jiu calmed down for a moment... He just remembered that Yu Yunwen had just said that after Jing Kang and at the beginning of Jian Yan, the Jin people gradually took control of the Yellow River, and most of the Yellow River ferries were controlled by the Jin people.
Since the Jin people controlled most of the ferries, the Song army did not have many boats.
"Besides, having boats is not enough, we also need good sailors... According to what this tall scholar said, there are hundreds or thousands of ferries of all sizes in Xiaowusha, but I only have one or two thousand good sailors here. Without boats and people, what can I use to launch a surprise attack on Xiaowusha?"
Zhao Jiu became calmer.
Just when the official was about to give up, he suddenly caught a glimpse of the 'tall scholar' who seemed eager to try again.
"Do you want to talk?" Emperor Zhao's expression remained unchanged, but he felt a little bit expectant again.
"Your Majesty, I know where there are ships and sailors..." Yu Yunwen was impatient. "Your Majesty currently has 20,000 imperial navy troops, and there are countless ships available in Liangshan Lake!"
Zhao Jiu didn't show his disappointment on his face, but Li Bao just laughed.
"You are such an ignorant scholar." Li Bao sneered. "I am Li San from Puzhou. I know the strength of Liangshan Lake better than you do... But even if the heroes of Liangshan come here, they can only have sailors, but still no boats..."
"There are ships in Liangshanbo," Yu Yunwen interrupted earnestly. "We have both large and small ships. Chief Zhang told me that there are hundreds of them."
"I know, but we can't get across. We can't drag hundreds of boats across the Yellow River, right?" Li Bao became increasingly annoyed. "Do you want to dig a river several dozen miles long, connecting the Yellow River to the Jishui River, and then to Liangshan Lake? If you do that, I'm afraid you'll have to change the river route again."
"We don't need to dig dozens of miles, just two miles will connect Liangshan Lake to the Yellow River!" Yu Yunwen didn't know what the Yihe Channel was, but he obviously had his own ideas. "And if we really start digging, we won't be short of manpower, and the Jin people won't find out!"
Li Bao was still smiling, but he was too lazy to pay attention to this tall young scholar who was only good at talking.
But at the same time, Emperor Zhao was suddenly stunned, because he realized Yu Yunwen's meaning almost instantly - you know, part of the flower and stone gang came from Liangshan Lake! It went through the Guangji River! That is, the Wuzhang River!
The Bian River, which leads directly to the Yellow River, also passes through the city of Dongjing...
Isn’t the nearest place only two miles away?
When he thought of this, Emperor Zhao's expression remained unchanged, but his chest began to pound.
"You've just heard what Commander Li said. We need big ships for battle. Can the big ships at Liangshan Lake also pass through there?" Zhao Jiu asked carefully without changing his expression.
Li Bao and Yang Yi Zhong were both confused for a moment, but that did not prevent them from getting some understanding from what Emperor Zhao said, so when these words came out, Yang Yi Zhong, who had been expressionless all the time, was slightly moved, and Li Bao also became completely serious.
"The newly widened river channel is definitely sufficient, but the sluice gate needs to be removed." Under the encouraging gaze of Emperor Zhao, Yu Yunwen tried to speak again.
Yang Yizhong, who was familiar with the structure of Dongjing City, immediately verified his guess after hearing the word "water gate", but he became a little uneasy: "Sir, it is easy to dismantle the water gate, but it may not be easy to rebuild it... If it fails, the Jin people will cross the river instead, and I am afraid that the city defense will be left with defects."
"The sooner we dismantle it, the better." Zhao Jiu looked calm. "How can we waste bottles and jars in a war? But I still have a concern... If the Liangshanpo warships pass through Tokyo, I can just lock the water gates and hundreds of warships will no longer belong to Liangshanpo. How can I expect General Zhang to trust me with all the wealth I have accumulated over the years?"
At this time, Li Bao just came to his senses, but he rubbed his hands excitedly: "Sir, if the Liangshanpo army can really come to the Yellow River unexpectedly, this matter will be 80% successful! I am willing to be the vanguard for Chief Zhang!"
However, Yang Yizhong and Yu Yunwen wanted to speak.
"I know what you want to say, Commander Li, please calm down." Zhao Jiu raised his hand to stop the three people, then leaned forward with the bow and arrow at his waist and continued. "Even if General Zhang trusts me, Liangshanpo is not just General Zhang's family property. How can he make his subordinates trust the court? Send all the ships that rely on it to Dongjing City?"
"I am willing to go to Liangshanpo." Yang Yizhong bowed. "I have had some contact with Xiao En, the leader of Liangshanpo. He is a man of honor and can be used..."
Yu Yunwen's lips trembled, and he suddenly said in a stern voice: "For the sake of the country, I am willing to go on another diplomatic mission and accompany Commander Yang to Liangshanpo!"
"For the sake of the country." Zhao Jiu pulled out an arrow while speaking, then stared at Yu Yunwen, broke it on the spot, and threw the broken arrow on the ground. "No matter whether this can be accomplished or not, I will grant you the marriage and let you marry Zhang! You are not allowed to refuse!"
Yu Yunwen gritted his teeth and bowed, lowering his head to face the broken arrow, and then his blood almost boiled: "Your Majesty, please return to Tokyo to prepare. I will not refuse even if I die!"
Li Bao was puzzled for a moment: "Isn't the granted marriage a good thing? Why is the Jinshi like going to the execution ground?"
Yu Yunwen was embarrassed for a moment, and quickly bowed again: "I thank the emperor for his grace."