After crying goodbye to his wife and children, Zhao Huan, who did not know whether he was an official of the Song Dynasty or the king of Wu, strode out of Yuejiang Gate under the protection of a group of important civil servants such as Geng Nanzhong, Li Gang, He Su, and Wu Min.
What greeted him outside Yuejiang Gate was the sound of mountains shouting for long live.
Outside Yuejiangmen is Yuejiangmen Pier, which is a military and royal pier. It is not small in scale, but it is deserted all year round. But today, the wharf is full of vehicles and boats of all sizes. On the river near the wharf, there are also three to four hundred war boats and civilian ships moored end to end. Further on the river, there were twenty or thirty turtle-shell gunboats driven by long oars, forming three columns and cruising back and forth.
Those who cheered were the soldiers of the New Army of the Navy and Army who had boarded the ship. There were as many as 50,000 soldiers of the New Army and Army Division who set off with Zhao Huan!
This war between the North and the South did not happen suddenly without warning, but a war between brothers that had been brewing for a long time.
Zhao Kai thinks that he has a strong military, so he mainly makes political preparations...seven parts political and three parts military!
On Zhao Huan's side, he has been making military preparations!
The military preparations of the Southern Song Dynasty (Wu State) were divided into two parts at the same time. One part was escape... The monarchs and ministers of the Southern Song Dynasty who had experienced the difficult experience of Xuanhe were quite experienced in running away. of.
Therefore, various preparations for running away have been carried out step by step since last year. Although the excuse of "crusade against Vietnam" was used, anyone with a discerning eye knew that Zhao Huan, the "running king", was preparing to run away again.
However, unlike the last time when Kaifeng Mansion was in trouble, people were in panic. The mood of the people in Jinling was very stable. No one was crying and shouting to prevent Zhao Huan from running away... Most of the people in Jinling now came from Kaifeng. Those who fled from Yingtianfu and Yingtianfu still supported the Zhao and Song dynasties. But Zhao Huan’s surname is Zhao, and Zhao Kai’s surname is also Zhao!
Moreover, many of the kings living in Jinling, including many of Zhao Huan's sons, are in stable mood and have no intention of running away... According to reliable information, even the pregnant Queen is preparing to stay in Jinling, so what's next? What else are ordinary people afraid of?
Because the people were indifferent to the incident of Zhao Huan's escape, and even liked it a little bit... It was not because of the schadenfreude, but because of the huge demand brought about by Zhao Huan's escape, the people of Jinling who were engaged in industry and commerce made a lot of money. One stroke.
Still need to run away?
of course!
Zhao Huan was planning to run away to the barbaric and dysentery land in the south this time. It was useless to take all the copper coins in the sealing pile warehouse there. Gotta bring the goods!
So starting almost a year ago, Zhao Kai's court began to sweep goods all over the southeast.
Silk, tea, porcelain, ironware, salt, livestock, leather, various medicinal materials, various spices, various daily necessities, and even pens, inks, paper, inkstones, books, etc....everything you can think of is murder and arson. , essential items for colonization, are all available for purchase!
If you don’t spend all the money in the sealing warehouse, will it still be left to Zhao Kai?
In addition, Zhao Huan's court also spent a lot of money to "buy people"!
The so-called "buying people" does not mean buying cheap slaves, that is, the kind of slaves that can be sold, transferred, and pledged as private property, but "contracted slaves." Since the founding of the Song Dynasty, low-tongue slaves have been gradually disappearing. In the southeastern areas of the Southern Song Dynasty, where the economy was developed and the level of civilization was relatively high, they were no longer available.
However, the demise of slavery did not happen in one step. While the low-class slaves were disappearing, there were more and more good-mouth slaves... The so-called good-mouth slaves were actually between slaves and hired workers. The existence of slaves can also be called hired slaves. Servants are free workers and can quit at any time.
Slaves are not free workers. They sign a "slave contract" with their employer for up to ten years, which is equivalent to packaging and selling their ten years to the employer. Employers could transfer and pledge their "slavery period", but slaves could not resign before the expiration of the period.
In addition, the concubines of wealthy people in the Song Dynasty could also be obtained through this method of "hiring slaves."
And Zhao Huan's Southern Song Dynasty court has become a big employer in the "slave market" since last year...it has successively spent tens of millions of dollars and hired nearly 100,000 male and female slaves!
And these male and female slaves will be sent to Lingnan in batches... Only God knows whether they can come back in the future.
At the same time, the prisoners detained in various jails in the Southern Song Dynasty were all sentenced to exile in Lingnan regardless of their crimes... and Zhao Huan also offered resettlement allowances to the exiled prisoners for the first time!
If you commit serious crimes...for example, if you commit murder, set fire, or become a robber, then give them more. In the colony, these villains can be put to great use, so you need to bribe them.
For minor crimes, such as thieves, give less - colonists generally don't steal, they just rob!
In addition, all new officers and soldiers also received an additional settlement allowance.
Now the officers and soldiers boarding the warships and civilian ships outside Nanjing's Yuejiang Gate have all received their money and settled down at home. They can happily follow Zhao Huan and run away. That's why they are so happy. Long live Shanhu. .
However, these new officers and soldiers who shouted long live did not expect that their official Zhao Huan has not given up his efforts...
...
Zhao Huan, who had just boarded a large river and sea vehicle, no longer felt as sad as when he said goodbye to his wife and children. Instead, he looked very energetic. Listening to the cheers, he smiled and said to Li Gang beside him: "Very good, morale." Be high and ready for a fight!"
Li Gang also smiled and said: "General Tiance must have thought that the officials were going to run away, and I never thought that you would have the courage to fight!"
Zhao Huan frowned a little after hearing this and thought to himself: What do you mean by not expecting me to be brave enough to fight?
Am I that weak?
Li Gang did not realize that he had said the wrong thing, but continued to talk about the decisive battle plan that he had planned.
"General Tiance thinks that since our elite troops are concentrated in Jiangdu, he will definitely have the idea of taking Jinling directly and decide the overall situation in one battle... This is our chance to defeat him!
Moreover, I observed that General Tiance used his troops and always underestimated the enemy by advancing aggressively. This time the opponent is your Majesty again...so he will definitely underestimate the enemy even more. "
What's the meaning? Zhao Huan felt even more uncomfortable after hearing this... But he also thought: Zhao Kai, that rebellious minister and traitor, will probably not take me seriously as Li Gang said!
Li Gang continued: "So I imagine that if we deliberately open a channel from the Huaihe River to the bank of the Yangtze River and leave some ships, General Tiance will most likely cross the river rashly... But he got by The Yangtze River cannot enter Jinling, because we have already ambushed 50,000 troops on Zhongshan Mountain!
At that time, we will fight back from Jiangdu, block the river with warships, and then fight against the city with 50,000 elite armored soldiers. Maybe we can capture General Tiance in one battle! "
Not to mention, Li Gang really formulated a decisive battle plan this time that looked pretty good - he divided the main force of the 100,000 New Army Army Division into two corps, one corps ambushed in the Zhongshan Camp; the other corps He went out with Zhao Huan in a grand manner. When the news reached Zhao Kai, Zhao Kai would definitely think that Jinling City's defenses were empty and could be captured in a single battle.
At the same time, the Southern Song Dynasty army deliberately let go of Haozhou, Chuzhou, Zhenzhou, and Hezhou and loosened their defenses, allowing Zhao Kai's army to march straight in... and also deliberately left some ships on the bank of the Yangtze River.
In this way, Zhao Kai, who was eager to take over Jinling, would most likely cross the Yangtze River rashly.
Once Zhao Kai crosses the river, the 50,000 Southern Song troops lurking in Zhongshan will immediately enter the city. As soon as they enter the city, Zhao Kai will be blocked by the fortified city.
And the amphibious and land forces that Zhao Huan brought to Jiangdu can take the opportunity to fight back... By then Zhao Kaijin will not be able to enter Jinling, nor can he retreat across the Yangtze River, and there will be only a dead end!
Zhao Huan burst out laughing: "If we get General Tiance, we can probably spread the word in the north, right? After all, I am the orthodox place of the Song Dynasty!"
"What the officials said is absolutely true!" Li Gang said with a smile, "If we can win the battle of Jinling, the officials will definitely be able to conquer the Central Plains in the north and usher in the prosperous age of the Song Dynasty!"
Geng Nanzhong said with a smile: "Don't worry, officials, we are very confident in this battle... With General Tiance's character, there is a high probability that he will fall into the trap!"
He Su said: "As long as General Tiance falls into the trap, I will personally lead the army back to Jinling Mansion and swear to capture and kill this thief for the government!"
Zhao Huan smiled and nodded, and said to He Su: "He Qing is really my ally. I will be waiting for your success in Jiangdu City when the time comes!"
As he spoke, Zhao Huan waved his hand, "Let's go to Jiangdu!"
...
It is the first day of July in the ninth year of Hongwu in the Song Dynasty.
Huaihe River.
The rain was pouring down in torrents.
Two pontoon bridges have been erected on the Huaihe River near Xihaoshui. The cavalry, wearing raincoats and bamboo hats, patrolled and warned amid the heavy rain. The sudden heavy rain was so violent that it almost formed a rain curtain.
However, such heavy rain did not stop the Northern Song army from moving south. Under the rain curtain, two teams whose heads and tails could not be seen were quickly passing through the two newly built pontoon bridges. Each soldier had a rolled-up armor backpack, wore a raincoat, and carried a spear on his shoulder. The tips of the spears were wrapped in oilcloth, showing great care for them. The morale of these soldiers was very high, and they were marching at a very fast pace, looking like they wished they could spread their wings and fly to the south of the Yangtze River. Moreover, they marched while singing the military song "Man Jiang Hong".
Zhao Kai was also riding on the horse, surrounded by the staff of the camp and army department, as well as the men and women Ban Zhi led by Guo Tiannu. Everyone was wearing raincoats and bamboo hats, and they were riding in the rain. Standing on the north bank of the Huaihe River, looking at the rich and vast land of Huainan, I felt thoughtful.
The people following him heard the Song Dynasty official murmuring to himself: "Ten years... I have been here for ten years, and I have fought every year, but I have never really enjoyed it. The return is finally done...Jinling City, sister-in-law...just wait, I'm coming!"
vertex
