On the fifth day of May in the ninth year of Jingkang of the Great Song Dynasty, the Longjiang Water Gate area of Yingtian Prefecture in Nanjing was heavily guarded!
The Longjiang Water Gate is built at the mouth of the Qinhuai River. Said to be Shuimen, it is actually two forts looking across the Qinhuai River and a wooden bridge on the river. The two forts are connected together by a wooden bridge, which not only facilitates troop dispatch, but also better blocks the entrance to the Qinhuai River during war. It can be said to be impregnable.
However, the Longjiang Water Gate is not usually heavily guarded, because it is also the chokepoint of Jinling City's water trade. Merchant ships traveling from south to north must enter the Longjiang Gate if they want to enter the prosperous place of Jinling.
Therefore, in addition to the forts on both sides of Longjiang Water Gate, which is a military restricted area that prohibits people from leaving, the wooden bridge at Longjiang Water Gate, as well as both sides of the Qinhuai River south of the wooden bridge, are good places for people to come and go. Both sides of the Qinhuai River are also home to the very large Longjiang Tariff Card.
This place is extremely busy all year round, and the customs wharf is full of merchant ships waiting to pay taxes. Near the pier, there are restaurants and pubs lined up in rows, and each one is doing a prosperous business. As soon as meal time arrives, it will be filled with businessmen waiting to clear customs and officials from the Longjiang tax collector...
But today's situation is a bit special. On the wharves and wooden bridges where merchants usually gather, now every step of the way is filled with infantry of the New Army wearing iron armor. About half of the infantry carry divine arm bows on their backs, and the rest He is holding a spear. Whether they are warriors holding divine arm bows or spears, they all have short-handled hammers hanging on their waists, and there is a side card on their left arm - although the current Southern Song Dynasty armored soldiers are not "prepared for three battles" level, but it has still improved to the level of "being prepared for two battles"!
In other words, all armored infantry mastered two tactics at the same time. Either a spear and a shield hammer, or a divine arm bow and a shield hammer. The physical combat capability of this unit is much better than that of the Song army before the Xuanhe War. It is not even inferior to the hard-line Golden Thief Army and the Northern Song Dynasty soldiers!
In addition, "quick-fire" weapons such as bows have disappeared from the standard equipment of the Southern Song Dynasty infantry, and have all been replaced by expensive but powerful divine arm bows. Although the arrowhead firing rate of the New Army infantry after the change has been reduced, the actual firepower density is not much worse than that of the Old Song Army whose crossbowmen could reach up to 80% before the Xuanhe Disaster.
The reason is of course that the divine arm archers are stronger - they are all muscular men under the age of 35! And the training and organization are better - muscular men are not allowed to bring their families into the camp, so they can be in the camp at all times and do exercises three times a day. The training intensity is not comparable to that of the old imperial guards. And they won't just shoot a wave of arrows and then ask for money. They are all professional soldiers who receive high salaries and undergo strict management and training. Their quality is quite high.
Therefore, in harassing Goryeo, "helping" Ryukyu, guarding Champa, and fighting with Annan, Chenla, Cholu and other countries, the damage caused by the wooden feather arrows of the Southern Song Army greatly exceeded that of explosive pots and large tubes!
If this Army of the Southern Song Dynasty, which is now completely under the responsibility of "civilian officials", collectively traveled back to the time of the Xuanhe War, it would definitely be able to inflict heavy losses on the aggressive Wanyan Zongwang!
Of course, this powerful army is not without its shortcomings... they are too expensive!
If Zhao Kai hadn't set up a protective umbrella for the Southern Song Dynasty in the north and drove waves of northern industrialists and merchants to the south, Zhao Huan's Southern Song Dynasty would not have been able to support such an expensive army.
Even with the current financial resources of the Southern Song Dynasty, the total strength of their new land army could only be maintained at a mere 150,000 people... So they faced the Northern Song Dynasty, which had as many as 600,000 people, complete artillery, infantry and cavalry, and almost no shortcomings. Master Lu still has no chance of winning.
But it is by no means without the power to fight!
There are so many armored soldiers standing guard here at Longjiang Pass today just to let the Zhao Zhi delegation who came from afar and the businessmen from all over who gathered near Longjiang Pier to watch the excitement know that the Southern Song Dynasty not only had powerful water We have an army, a strong city, a developed economy, and a capable army army. So you Northern Song Dynasty people should not bully our Southern Song Dynasty...
"Look, King Jinling's young army is here!"
Someone in the crowd watching the excitement shouted, and then everyone turned to look at the intersection of Xihua Street leading to Jinling Imperial City.
Before anyone could see it, they heard the sound of gongs and the sound of horse hooves. As the shouts of "Quiet" sounded for the fourth time, King Jinling of the Southern Song Dynasty, Yin Zhaochen of Yingtian Prefecture and his 3,000 young soldiers appeared in people's sight in a mighty manner.
These 3,000 young soldiers are incredible. Zhao Huan personally selected them one by one from tens of thousands of candidates for "Northland Orphans"... A total of 6,000 people were selected. After several years of rigorous training and study, In the process, half of them were eliminated, and now only 3,000 people remain!
These 3,000 soldiers all made the military camp their home, with Zhao Huan as their father, Zhu Lian as their mother, and Zhao Chen as their brother. They are simply the Iron Guards of Zhao Huan and Zhao Chen and his son!
Zhao Chen, who is only 18 years old this year and is born with a handsome appearance, is now surrounded by a group of imperial uncles and ministers, leading his own soldiers to arrive at Longjiang Pass in a majestic manner to welcome his twelfth uncle Zhao Zhi who has come from afar.
And his task this time is not only to welcome his uncle Zhao Zhi, but also to negotiate with Zhao Zhi together with his mother Zhu Lian... Because his father Zhao Huan was too sad due to the death of his ninth uncle Zhao Gou, and I can't afford to be sick one at a time!
Well, this Southern Song Dynasty official's body is really a tenacious dregs. I don't know how many times he has been sick... but the illness comes and goes without death!
Not only was he immortal, but he also did not hinder his pursuit of a younger wife. Over the years, he had added more than twenty concubines one after another, and gave birth to twelve sons and fourteen daughters. His fertility was almost as high as that of Emperor Zhuangzong of Song Dynasty.
However, although Zhao Huan had many sons, Zhao Chen was the only legitimate son, and he was the eldest son, and he already had a son!
If it weren't for the third uncle in Beijing, Zhao Chen's status would be unshakable, and he could inherit the throne just by lying down.
But he just has such a third uncle...
What makes Zhao Chen even more annoyed is that his parents are still unable to be tough on this third uncle who "plots evil and arrogantly claims to be emperor".
As soon as his father heard that his third uncle's envoys were coming to negotiate about the unification of the world, his cowardice broke out.
And his mother was even more irritated. She actually thought that the third uncle was the orthodox one and that his father should give up the throne!
How can I let my father get out of the throne? If he is let out, what will he do in the future?
Just thinking about it makes me angry!
Angrily, Zhao Chen had arrived at the Longjiang Pass Pier, and there was cheering all around.
"Welcome to the King of Jinling..."
"The king is a thousand years old!"
"Greetings to your Majesty..."
"I would like to pay my respects to His Majesty the King!"
These are the spontaneous calls of merchants from all over the world gathered near the dock!
These merchants are very supportive of Zhao Huan and Zhao Chen! And not only them, but most of the gentry and common people in the Southern Song Dynasty supported Zhao Huan and Zhao Chen.
And Zhao Kai, the "tyrant" who expelled the barbarians and regained the lost territory, was not popular in the Southern Song Dynasty. Not only did he emphasize military force over literature, but he also seized people's land and killed scholar-bureaucrats. He was simply a rebellious tyrant. !
The cries of the people on the pier have reached the passenger boat on which the two brothers Zhao Zhi and Zhao Qi have just docked.
The two brothers have already changed into various robes - Zhao Zhi is wearing the official uniform of the Northern Song Dynasty, a neat purple long coat with narrow sleeves, a three-foot long sword hanging from his waist, and a simple black hat on his head. Zhao Qi put on the long civil official uniform of the Southern Song Dynasty, with wide sleeves and a long-winged official hat.
Hearing the shouts coming from outside the cabin, Zhao Qi smiled bitterly and said to Zhao Zhi: "Brother Twelve, do you hear that? This is the human heart!"
Zhao Zhi sneered and said: "Isn't the people of Kaifeng Mansion like this in the past? What's the use? Didn't it rely on the iron-blooded thunder of the third brother to regain the lost ground?"
Zhao Qi shook his head, not knowing what to say? He had no choice but to say to Zhao Zhi: "Brother Twelve, let's go out...The King of Jinling will be here soon."
Zhao Zhi, however, did not move at all and was still sitting on the chair.
Zhao Qi looked at him, and Zhao Zhi said: "Gu is the prince, and King Jinling is the king. Gu's father is the emperor, and King Jinling's father is the king. And Gu is also the uncle of King Jinling, an elder, and a member of the official family. Angel, King Jinling should get on the boat to say hello to Gu, and then Gu should disembark with him."
"This..." Zhao Qi frowned, "The King of Jinling is only a county king in name, but in fact he is..."
Zhao Zhi smiled: "Now is the time to establish rules... The Gu family will no longer coddle King Jinling! Otherwise, how can the next negotiation proceed?"
Zhao Kai didn't ask him to come to Nanjing to talk about the emperor's brother and uncle... because Zhao Kai didn't recognize Zhao Huan's throne at all!
Therefore, Zhao Zhi cannot regard Zhao Chen as the heir to the throne now.
Zhao Qi sighed and said: "Then you wait here...Brother, I will go and tell the King of Jinling. If it doesn't work, I will go into the palace and talk to my eldest brother and sister-in-law."
...
"What? Brother Twelve really said that?"
In the Wangjiang Pavilion in the Imperial City of Jinling, Zhao Huan, who was recovering from his illness, heard Zhao Qi talking about the "Etiquette Dispute" in a hurry. He immediately jumped up from his bed and roared: "Okay, He also came with Zhao Kai to bully me, my eldest brother, and I’m so sick, so he can’t tolerate me even once?”
Zhu Lian, who was sitting next to him, could only shake his head when he saw her husband's lively appearance, "The official family... This country belongs to the third brother. Let's just find the leader of the Jiangnan Kingdom. Why bother fighting for this?" Status? If we really want to fight, can we beat Third Brother?"
"What is the Lord of Jiangnan? What did you say?" Zhao Huan became even more angry when he heard this, "What will happen to Li Yu? And that little Queen Zhou..."
Zhu Lian's cheeks turned red at what he said, and he whispered: "Guanjia, what are you talking about? How could I be the Little Zhou Empress? And it's just a folk legend that Emperor Taizong forced the Little Zhou Empress..."
Zhao Qi on the side also helped to explain: "Sister-in-law is right, how could the third brother rape my sister-in-law? The third brother and my sister-in-law have known each other since they were children..."
