Volume 4 Chapter 78 The Overall Situation
Of course, Lü Benzhong knew exactly what Ren Baozhong meant. Wasn't it just to give the emperor a concubine? He thought about it for a long time, and the more he thought about it, the more he felt that it was really possible.
There are three reasons:
First, the emperor did have relatively few concubines. Many people in many places had advised him to take a concubine, from Nanyang to Bianliang, without stopping. It was only after two imperial concubines came to power that the situation became relatively quiet for a while.
And now, first the two imperial concubines are pregnant at the same time, and then the emperor has left the capital. I'm afraid he hasn't had sex with a woman for more than a year... It's not like he was chased around by the Jurchens back then, so he might be a bit too restrained.
The emperor himself should be able to accept an imperial concubine at this time.
Second, as Ren Baozhong hinted, this matter is beneficial to the public.
Although the emperor was intending to integrate the Han and Tibetan people last night and to assimilate the Dangxiang people into Han Chinese, this is a long-term goal after all and will take several generations. In comparison, if the emperor could marry a Dangxiang imperial concubine, it would at least ensure that the people of the Dangxiang tribes would feel a little more at ease.
The third and most important point is.
Although both imperial concubines had children, marrying the Tangut imperial concubine removed the biggest obstacle, but even so, not everyone can afford such a high-return and high-risk thing... To put it bluntly, you have to be shameless enough and have a stable bottom.
And he, Lu Benzhong, is such a person.
Even though he was just a secretary of the Secretariat, he had enough political capital to handle this matter. In other words, there were only a few people in the world who could handle such matters, but he, Lu Haowen's eldest son, was undoubtedly one of them.
Especially now, there are only a few people around the emperor, which makes it convenient for him to take action.
Of course, after thinking for a long time, Lu Benzhong knew clearly that Emperor Zhao was not an easy person to deal with. Just as the emperor said last night, the situation gradually improved, and Emperor Zhao's temper also gradually increased... He, Lu Benzhong, had the capital to take the initiative to talk about this matter, but it was impossible for him to send someone directly to the emperor's bed and make the rice into a cooked meal.
It’s not that I can’t, but that I don’t dare.
"You mean that you want me to take a concubine from the Dangxiang tribe?" In the afternoon, amid the chirping of cicadas, Zhao Jiu, who was playing chess under a tree in casual clothes to escape the heat, did not react at all when he heard this. He was neither angry nor happy, and he did not even raise his head.
Lü Ben was worried, but when the matter came to an end, he dared not hesitate any longer, and immediately took up the jade tablet and said solemnly: "I think if this is done, it will make the Tanguts feel a little more at ease, which is good for both the public and private."
Zhao Jiu nodded, still calm: "There is some truth in that."
Lu Benzhong was overjoyed.
But soon, Emperor Zhao said again: "But there are so many reasonable things in the world... Why should we do everything?"
"Please give your instructions, Your Majesty." Lu Benzhong stood up solemnly.
"What can I tell you?" Zhao Jiu finally raised his head and glanced at the other person, not caring at all. "Everything has its pros and cons, and it also depends on the timing and the situation... playing chess."
Lu Benzhong sat down quickly and made a move instinctively.
Zhao Jiu also continued to lower his head amid the cicadas' chirping. "It's not impossible to take a Tangut concubine, but not everything is good. For example, if Li Qianshun has a daughter, or if we choose a woman from the close Weiming tribe, it would be suitable in terms of status, but are you afraid that she will hate me so much that she will assassinate me at night? And if Li Qianshun has no daughter, and we choose a child from another tribe, which family should we choose? Renduo or Wang? Hengshan or Xingling? Are you afraid that this family will use their power to cause trouble in these two places again and cause trouble again?"
Lu Benzhong seemed to be thinking about something, and he began to feel somewhat suspicious.
"Secondly, I have been patient for a year, and I have been in the military camp for the past six months, without even a eunuch, so that the soldiers can return to their hearts. Seeing that the overall situation is about to be resolved, can't I endure it for a month or two?" Zhao Jiu continued to talk while playing chess. "Besides, you must also have some overall perspective... You know, I can't fight a war, but it is impossible for me to end the war and divide the situation without me. Now that the war in Western Xia is about to end, the next thing is how to force the Jurchens to retreat and subdue the Khitans. Instead, I have to deal with it personally. If you don't come earlier or later, I will not have the time to come now."
Lu Benzhong quickly nodded his head and agreed, but he also quickly added a piece based on his chess instinct.
Zhao Jiu frowned slightly and continued with emotion: "And what you said about the Dangxiang imperial concubine being able to calm people's hearts is actually just a saying. How can a woman who is used as a tribute have such an effect? If you want to calm people's hearts, you might as well focus on the current situation. If you can find a way to cover all the Dangxiang people's residences and prevent them from contacting the Jurchens, and then control Yelu Dashi, so that the Khitans dare not easily involve the Dangxiang people, this place will be truly stable... Don't you think so? Therefore, in my opinion, let's wait until the northwest matter is resolved. If the overall situation can be arranged properly by then, there is no need to care about the Dangxiang people. If things fail and the situation is worrying, it won't hurt to take one in later."
Zhao Guanjia kept talking, and it took a lot of effort for him to place a heavy piece on the chessboard. On the other side, Lu Benzhong nodded quickly, but he was already panicking, and he instinctively moved another piece.
Zhao Jiu frowned even more, and raised his head to look at the sky again. He saw that although the shadows of the trees had moved slightly, the sunlight was no longer dazzling... It was clearly midsummer, but it felt like spring. He felt unhappy, so he lowered his head again and continued playing chess.
On the other hand, Lü Benzhong was denied this matter by the emperor in person, and he felt that he had taken things for granted before; he was also scolded for not knowing the overall situation, which made him even more panicked; combined with his miscalculation of Ren Baozhong yesterday, he was deceived by Ren Baozhong today, and he was afraid that he had been spied on by this extremely shrewd emperor, and his future would become increasingly bleak... Therefore, he became depressed, and played chess absent-mindedly, relying only on his years of experience to make his moves casually.
However, Lu Benzhong made trouble again.
You have to know that he usually needs a lot of effort to be on par with Emperor Zhao, but today, relying on his experience and instinct, he made moves quickly, which instantly put Emperor Zhao in a difficult position on the chessboard... In fact, after the first few moves, the Emperor was already exhausted, and after a few more moves after the end of the conversation, the Emperor was at a dead end on the chessboard.
Fortunately, a gust of wind suddenly came, and the depressing atmosphere suddenly became comfortable. Then, seeing that rain clouds seemed to be rolling in from the west, Emperor Zhao finally found an excuse and stood up hastily. He probably said that it was raining and he should put away the clothes or something, so he overturned the chessboard, hurriedly put away the chess pieces, and prepared to go back to sit in the main hall of the temple.
It was not until this time that Lu Benzhong came to his senses.
Before the two men entered the Buddhist temple, they were bored on a rainy day, so they set up the chessboard in front of the Buddha again and started the game again. This time, Lu Benzhong used all his skills to his full potential, and served Emperor Zhao to a certain extent.
And when the chess game reached the middle stage, black and white were fighting for a small space in the Buddhist hall, while outside the temple, there was a storm in the vast sky, which gave the feeling of being in a small world. In the end, Emperor Zhao's mood gradually improved.
But for some reason, after the game was over, the sky became darker as the rain fell. After lighting the lights and playing again in the middle of the game, Lu Benzhong noticed that Emperor Zhao was a little absent-minded - no matter how hard he tried to serve him, he couldn't get him up.
This was the difficulty of being a companion to the emperor. Although he had suffered many setbacks, he had no choice but to follow the emperor's ridiculous move. Mr. Xiao Donglai could only bite the bullet and ask, "Is the emperor worried about the war in Xinlingzhou?"
"Even though there are tens of thousands of desperate people, once the tree falls, the monkeys scatter. Even if there are a few backbones, they can't hold up the overall situation... What are you worried about?" Emperor Zhao shook his head. "Li Qianshun shouldn't have run a trap."
"Then your Majesty is worried that the two commanders Zhai and Dong may not have enough troops in the east, so that they may be ambushed by Wanyan Huonu?"
"Huo Nu is capable of doing such a thing." Zhao Jiu sneered. "Whether this person really has a deep father-son relationship or is pretending to have such a deep father-son relationship and is in a difficult position, it is possible for him to do such a thing... But he is alone and cannot do anything. Now our army is surrounding and blocking Yan'an. If he wants to mobilize troops, he must get the troops in Suide to assist him. And the coincidence is that Wuzhu sent Salihe to be the backup of Huo Nu, so he is not a concern."
Lu Benzhong was slightly stunned.
Zhao Jiu explained a little when he saw the situation: "Salihe is a man with no ability. Wu Jie beat him to tears in Fangzhou that day. He was nicknamed the Crying Young Master. He definitely didn't have the courage to provoke a fight with Han Shizhong and Wu Lin when the Zhe family had taken the initiative to go south and the Tangut soldiers at the eastern end of Hengshan had surrendered to us. Another reason is that he was raised under Aguda's command. He was in the Western Army and Wanyan Bendu was in the Eastern Army. They were both specially arranged by Aguda's direct lineage. Now, of course, he is also a trusted confidant of the three Wushu brothers. He dare not disobey Wushu's military orders. The last one is that before the three Wushu brothers seized power, that is, when Nianhan was in power, he once split the Western Army with Huo Nu... With this previous record, we still have to be a little bit taboo."
"If that's the case, there's no need to worry about the east." Lu Benzhong nodded repeatedly.
"In fact, this is probably Wushu's original intention. Wushu just doesn't want Huo Nu to fight with us." Zhao Jiu continued to stare at the chessboard and smiled.
"It was the result of the battle at Yaoshan that caused the situation to reverse overnight. Wushu has been afraid of the emperor and the imperial army ever since." Lü Benzhong twirled his beard and thought for a moment, then quickly flattered again. "That battle, the more I look back, the more I feel it was a battle against the will of heaven. No matter how you think about it, it is so important. Otherwise, why would Wanyan Wushu ask for peace, abandon the land, and avoid fighting to this extent?"
"No." Zhao Jiu shook his head repeatedly, and finally became serious. "The battle of Yaoshan can be exaggerated, and it is indeed the reason why Wushu avoided the battle this time, but at most it stopped the momentum of the Jin army and made them dare not attack on this side of the river, but it cannot be said that Wushu is afraid of us from now on... In my opinion, it is precisely because Wushu knows it very well, and I and the ministers also know it very well, that we know that the main force of the Jin army is still stronger than that of the Song Dynasty, so after taking power, he first negotiated peace, second abandoned the land, and third avoided the battle."
Lu Benzhong was completely confused.
"Because only when we have superior military strength and still have strength, can we negotiate peace, give up territory, and avoid war to seek stability, and if we really march into Hebei and win another battle, the military strength of both sides will reverse, and he Wanyan Wushu might be three times tougher than Nianhan." Zhao Jiu did not keep him in suspense. "After all, things like bowing down are only effective when the strong side does it. Once the weak side bows down, it will only be in vain and show weakness, and will destroy itself... Li Qianshun should not have sent an envoy to ask for peace with me, and I am really surprised, why did the court agree to the peace request when the Western Xia was exhausted in the past?"
Lu Benzhong was slightly stunned, thinking for a long time, and spent a lot of time on the chessboard. After carefully placing the pieces, he asked seriously: "If so, may I ask the emperor, now that the situation in the east and west is stable, what exactly are you concerned about?"
"I care about three things." Zhao Jiu sneered. "The first is that although the situation is stable, I don't know when it will be resolved."
Lu Benzhong let out an "oh" and instantly came to his senses.
"Secondly, northern Shaanxi, Hengshan, and Xingling suffered from war. One side was inhabited by Han people, needless to say, but the other two places were mostly inhabited by Dangxiang people... How should we appease them? Although I said that we should treat them equally, if I give them the same post-war tax reduction treatment as Xingling, Hengshan, and Yan'an, it will inevitably arouse resentment from the people of Guanxi, saying that I actually appeased the Dangxiang people the same as them." Emperor Zhao continued to sigh.
Lü Benzhong also sighed: "Either the Dangxiang people can make contributions, or they will have to suffer a little loss this time... Is there absolute fairness in the world?"
"That's right." Zhao Jiu still sighed. "It's just like I warned Han Shizhong in this battle, and specifically forbade him to get involved in the battle of the Western Army... I knew he felt wronged that day, but I didn't dare to let him go. Otherwise, with his temper and decades of public and private grievances with the Western Xia, I'm afraid he would really massacre the city as soon as he arrived in Xingling and entered Hengshan, which would provoke unwarranted resistance. In comparison, Yue Fei is needless to say, Wu Jie is also cautious, and even Qu Duan, although he did many things wrong, was still proper in terms of military discipline."
Lu Benzhong was slightly stunned. He really didn't think about it that way. He just thought that the government just .
Zhao Jiu did not discuss the matter in depth. After mentioning it casually, he shook his head and smiled again: "There is one more thing. I heard Ren Baozhong talk about the geography of Western Xia this morning. When I summarized the intelligence, I found something particularly strange... According to what Ren Baozhong said, as long as I lock the Keyi Gate at the northernmost end of the Xingling Plain, Yelu Dashi will not be able to pass through Xingling. Even if Dashi passed through Xingling this time, he turned to the Helan Mountains from the Great Valley in the north of Tanliang City and passed through the Keyi Gate, the northern gate of Xingling. Since Hexi and Houtao cannot be connected from behind the Helan Mountains, why did he rush to the north of Houtao regardless of everything after knowing that Xingling was taken by the Song Dynasty? You must know that after he traveled west to the Western Regions and established a foundation, he gradually abandoned even the Khatun City. This time, he promised to Huerzahusi of the Kerait tribe in order to take Houtao... There must be a story behind this."
Lu Benzhong knew that this was the time for him, as the head of the eunuchs accompanying the emperor, to show his abilities, but he thought about it over and over again and still couldn't figure it out. Instead, when he heard Emperor Zhao telling the story, it seemed that he already had a guess in his mind.
"Actually, there is one more thing." Seeing that he was about to lose again, Zhao Jiu simply threw the chess piece in his hand, looked at the rain outside the door and said solemnly. "If Yelu Dashi and Wanyan Wushu fought against each other, one side had an obvious advantage, and the other side could not hold on... What should I do? Should I sit back and watch one of them succeed?"
Lu Benzhong's face remained unchanged, but his mind was already in a mess. It was obvious that he didn't know how to respond to the official's advice.
It should be understood that Lü Benzhong was implicated by the Yuanyou Party from the very beginning and was unable to take up an official position. When he was young, he boasted that he was a talented person but not appreciated, so he was a wanderer all day long. But now, a ready-made opportunity is in front of him, or to put it simply, Emperor Zhao gave him the opportunity for Lü Haowen's sake, but in the end, he found that he was completely useless in the important matters that the king really needed to be solved.
This is the most depressing thing.
In this way, let's not talk about how anxious Lü Benzhong was, and how helpless Ren Baozhong was when he learned about the situation that night. It's just that late at night, when the summer rain stopped a little, Wu Jie suddenly sent an urgent army to Youzhou to inform the government of the results of the battle in Lingzhou. And the next day, Zhai Cong in the west also sent an envoy to report, clearly informing the government that Huo Nu tried to attack Hengshan and take Youzhou directly the day before, but was blocked by Dong Xian, and in uncertain language, informed the government that Huo Nu might choose to withdraw directly to Suide Army after the surprise attack failed.
Emperor Zhao hesitated again and again about this, and finally issued an official decree after thinking for half a day, appointing Hu Yin as the commander of the people, Han Shizhong as the commander of the army, and Yang Yi Zhong as the military supervisor. They were to lead the troops around Yan'an and the newly surrendered Dangxiang tribe in the east of Hengshan, and were to decide on the progress of the advance on the eastern front, including the defense of Tongzhou in the south.
Then, the emperor started his fifth move since entering Guanxi, bringing with him the two armies of Jie Yuan and Yue Chao, the imperial guards led by Liu Yan, a very small number of eunuchs such as Lu Ren, and Zheng Zhichang, an international friend who dared not not go and indeed did not want to leave, plus two or three thousand Dangxiang people who were temporarily summoned, making up a total of 10,000 troops, and headed for Xingling.
On the fifth day of the fifth month, the Dragon Boat Festival, Emperor Zhao passed through the old Great Wall in the north of Yanzhou, and went along the northern end of the Hanhai to Lingzhou, where he gathered 30,000 Han and non-Han troops, mainly from the imperial camp rear troops led by Wu Jie, Guo Hao, and Yang Zheng.
On the sixth day of May, Emperor Zhao crossed the Yellow River while ordering everyone to gather directly at Xingqing Prefecture without having to respond to him. At this time, with Zhao Jiu crossing the river, Yue Fei, Qu Duan, Wang De, Wu Jie and their generals, including the front army, rear army, cavalry, and central army, had gathered on the Yinchuan Plain. If the newly surrendered Western Xia troops were included, Emperor Zhao now had nearly 100,000 troops around him.
On the eighth day of the fifth month, Zhao Jiu entered Xingqing Prefecture. He had no time to commend Yue Fei, Qu Duan, and Wang De for their achievements in breaking through the Helan Mountain Pass, nor did he have time to accept the white ox banner or the black ox banner. Instead, he first asked about the reserves in the Xixia grain city. After learning that there were still more than 200,000 hu of grain and 800,000 bundles of fodder, he was overjoyed. He first sent Yue Chao's troops to guard Xingqing Prefecture, and then sent Zhai Cong's troops to guard Lingzhou, to assist Hu Hongxiu in commanding Xingling. Then, he officially issued an order to appoint Yue Fei as the commander-in-chief of the three armies, command the remaining generals, and temporarily recruit more than 10,000 auxiliary soldiers, resulting in a total of 100,000 soldiers... Among them, of course, more than 50,000 imperial camp soldiers were used as soldiers, and the newly surrendered Xixia soldiers, except for those who had made contributions and had promised, were all changed to follow the army to transport grain, transport supplies, and other logistics... auxiliary soldiers!
Then the entire army headed north and gathered at Tanliang City.
Before the march, Emperor Zhao did not forget to issue an additional decree, requiring the army to follow the road and not trample on the green seedlings in the north.
The imperial carriage also set off again with the army.
On May 14, the emperor drove with the army to Tanliang City. After personally checking the grain and fodder in the city, Emperor Zhao directly issued another decree, asking Yue Fei's troops, who had followed Yelu Dashi's troops and controlled the Keyi Gate, to open the gate. Then, with Hu Hongxiu, the temporary governor of Ningxia Road, as logistical assistance, the entire army went out of the pass and headed north.
At this point, everyone had no doubts, as they knew that the emperor was going to lead these 100,000 people across the big ravine, through the Keyi Gate, and go back... In fact, there were people who advised against it, starting from Xingqing Prefecture, but Emperor Zhao was so stubborn and powerful that no one dared to oppose him.
On May 18, the vanguard of the army reached Shunhua Ferry, and news from the front became extremely dense... It is said that Yelu Dashi and Wanyan Wushu were both caught off guard, and the two sides suddenly met in Houtao, a good place where the wind blew and the grass was low and cattle and sheep could be seen. In addition, there was a life-and-death hatred between them, and there was no way to hide and they were unwilling to hide anymore. They each occupied a castle and used field cavalry combat as their main method of fighting. They had been fighting for more than half a month.
The latest result is that the Jurchens were too good at fighting the Khitans, and Yelu Dashi gradually lost his strength. Of course, it was more likely due to a lack of food... The reason why Zhao Jiu moved so quickly was because as soon as he crossed the Yellow River, Yue Fei and Hu Hongxiu sent Yelu Dashi a document asking for food... In short, whether it was due to insufficient combat power or lack of food, Dashi finally had to retreat to the Houtao fortress Wulahai City, controlling the Yinshan Pass and the Yellow River to avoid the Jurchens' edge.
However, the two were not idle during this period. Dashi and Wuzhu were almost like rivals, and each used a strategy to sow discord... Dashi tried to win over Yu Du's old subordinates, who were shocked by his military strength, that is, the Wanhu of Yelu Mawu, while Wuzhu was also communicating with the two major Mongolian tribes, the Kerait and the Qiyan, who came to help in the war. He promised the Qiyan tribe's Kublai Khan to be the king of Mongolia, and gave gifts to the Kerait tribe. At the same time, he did not forget to ask the small Mongolian tribes in the rear that surrendered to the Great Jin to come to his aid.
It was very lively for a while.
Of course, the facts have proved that most things in this world are decided by fists. Yelu Dashi is at a disadvantage, Yelu Mawu is completely unmoved, and Huerzahusi, the leader of the Kereyid tribe, one of the two major Mongolian tribes, is obviously shaken and indecisive.
Although this expedition caused many people to be puzzled, and some even advised Emperor Zhao to be too ambitious and waste the Xixia national reserves in Tanliangcheng, after hearing the news, Zhao Jiu was convinced that he did not let the worst situation happen.
On May 20, the Song army crossed the fork of the Yellow River in Houtao. At this time, Zhao Jiucai and Yelu Dashi delivered a letter, which was written by Lu Benzhong. In the tone of Yue Fei, he was extremely arrogant and claimed that he was ordered to lead an army of 100,000 to help. He asked Yelu Dashi to open the city and let the royal army in.
In addition to sending the letter, the Song army ignored the news that Li Qianshun might have abandoned his retreat after the battle and fled into the desert area on the south side of the Yellow River. They just continued to flow downstream along the Yellow River, using the outer line of the Yellow River waterway as the logistics line, advancing both by land and water, and heading straight for the Wulahai City where Yelu Dashi was located.
It was only when they got here that Emperor Zhao realized that the Yellow River actually forked and merged in Houtao, which was literally a river loop. Moreover, the northern line of the fork, which passed through the foot of Yinshan Mountain and was close to Wulahai City, had a much wider flow.
I can only say that it does save trouble from a logistical point of view.
