Regarding Chen Kangbo's request, Zhao Gou was worried and doubtful and could not make up his mind.
He was very worried that Wan Yanliang would go south to attack the Song Dynasty after clearing up the Liberation Army, completely destroying the peaceful life he cherished.
Naturally, this made many war officials dissatisfied.
So after this secret interview, the relevant contents of the credentials were quietly leaked outside the palace for unknown reasons.
As a result, this letter of credence caused a huge shock both inside and outside the Lin'an court.
Not to mention the staunch Northern Expeditionists and the conservative warring factions, even many courtiers who advocated the peace faction felt inexplicably indignant and felt that their dignity had been very clearly insulted.
In the past, the Jin Kingdom only expressed its disdain for the Southern Song Dynasty in secret, but had never threatened the Southern Song Dynasty so blatantly.
Although the Southern Song Dynasty had no dignity in the past, at least it still had face.
But this time, both dignity and face were gone.
Wan Yanliang was going too far.
Except for a few courtiers who remained silent, most of the courtiers expressed their anger and dissatisfaction and cursed the benefactor Wan Yanliang.
They strongly demanded that Zhao Gou refute this letter of credence and send it back intact to show the Song Dynasty's attitude towards the Jin Kingdom.
How dare you threaten the Song Dynasty when you can't protect yourself?
Do you really think that the 400,000 soldiers raised by the Song Dynasty were all for food?
There are Khitan rebels in the north and Han rebels in the south. Let’s see if you, Wan Yanliang, dare to push the Song Dynasty to the opposite side again!
At this great opportunity, the radical Northern Expedition forces took this opportunity to loudly demand that the imperial court send troops to the Northern Expedition, recapture Kaifeng, and return the old capital to give the Jin Kingdom some color.
Countless imperial students, general staff and low-level officials wrote to the court at this time, strongly advocating that the court take a tough stance against the Jin Kingdom.
Among them, Lu You, the official deletion in the edict, was the most radical.
He loudly shouted that it was extremely shameful for the Song Dynasty to profess tribulation to the Kingdom of Jin. Now that the Jin Dynasty was experiencing constant internal and external troubles, heroes from the Central Plains swarmed up to resist the Kingdom of Jin. It was the time for the Song Dynasty to conquer the Central Plains and regain the old capital and national dignity. If it’s not time for the Northern Expedition, when would it be better?
Lu You's literary talent was outstanding, and his articles were widely circulated among civilian scholars and low-level officials, and gained great influence.
Inspired by Lu You's article, a large group of literati attacked Jin Guoqun and launched a powerful public opinion offensive, suppressing the timid forces who wanted to obey Wan Yanliang and did not dare to raise their heads.
What is certain is that no matter how authoritarian a regime is, it will be affected by public opinion. Even if the influence is minimal, it is still there.
Normally, the monarchs and ministers of the Song Dynasty would discuss government affairs behind closed doors and not let outsiders know about it, but such major international disputes that could not be concealed could not be decided by the monarchs and ministers of the Song Dynasty alone.
Under great pressure from within the imperial court and from the people, Tang Situi and others dared not express their attitudes. Zhao Gou was wavering and didn't know what to do.
The Northern Expedition was definitely not possible. Zhao Gou immediately eliminated this option. He would be grateful if the Jin Kingdom did not come to attack him. How could he take the initiative to find trouble on his own?
But if he fails to make some reaction and conform to the tough trend inside and outside the government, he, the emperor, may become the target of public criticism.
Public anger is hard to offend.
Faced with public anger, Zhao Gou inevitably felt a little guilty.
So he once again summoned his ministers to make a final decision on the matter.
The difficulty of the problem is that not sending troops will give Wanyan Liang an excuse to invade the south. If the Liberation Army can withstand this wave of attacks, then the Southern Song Dynasty will of course be the safest, and it does not matter whether it sends troops or not.
But if the Liberation Army was just a puddle of mud and was pushed over by Wanyan Liang, then the Southern Song Dynasty would be very dangerous, because Wanyan Liang and his "millions of troops" could go south and threaten the Jianghuai defense line of the Southern Song Dynasty.
So the key to the problem is whether the Liberation Army is strong enough.
Originally, I heard that the Liberation Army had repeatedly defeated the Jin soldiers, and the bosses' evaluation of the Liberation Army was pretty good. However, after two consecutive civil strifes and two leaders changed, this evaluation suddenly took a turn for the worse.
The elites of the Southern Song Dynasty all believed that there was a big problem within the Liberation Army. They were afraid that they would not be able to withstand the attack of the Jin Kingdom at all, and would probably be taken away in a wave, and then Wanyan Liang drank from the Mahuai River...
But Chen Kangbo didn't care.
"Whether the Liberation Army is a mob or not, this credential is extremely rude! We, the Song Dynasty, have been vassal to the Jin Kingdom for more than ten years, which has damaged our national dignity. At this point, should we still be insulted and despised by the Jin Kingdom? If your Majesty is humiliated, please punish me with death!"
Chen Kangbo bowed deeply to Zhao Gou, expressing his attitude that he would rather bend than bend, and put further pressure on Zhao Gou.
Zhao Gou was very helpless, so he looked at Tang Sidei, hoping that Tang Sidei would say something.
But under the current situation, Tang Situi really didn't dare to say the usual remarks.
Normally that would be fine, but if you say that now, you are running into the gunpoint of the main militant faction and seeking death.
He was really afraid that after he got out of here, he would be tricked by Chen Kangbo and his reputation would be ruined. Then everyone outside could drown him with just a drop of spit.
He can't completely ignore the public evaluation, which still means something to him.
So Tang Situi thought about it again and again and finally made a statement.
"I think that what the gold master did is really too much. It insults the national character of the Song Dynasty and insults the majesty of His Majesty. If we really send troops to help in the war, I am afraid it will cause huge controversy. Therefore, I think that sending troops is absolutely not allowed. "
Even Tang Sihui objected, so Zhao Gou completely gave up on sending troops to help in exchange for a security guarantee.
But he still needs a sense of security, a strong sense of security, otherwise he will be very painful.
"If we don't send troops and the benefactors take advantage of it, and the Liberation Army collapses again, and the benefactors' millions of troops drink in the Huaihe River, wouldn't it be a danger of national subjugation for the Song Dynasty?"
Chen Kangbo immediately retorted.
"Even if the Central Plains were peaceful, he would not be able to gather millions of soldiers and horses, let alone the Khitan rebellion in Liaodong and the Han rebellion in Shandong and Hebei. The sponsor could not mobilize the entire country's troops, and 300,000 people were killed.
The attrition in the war, the division of troops to suppress bandits, pacification, restoration of order, etc., ultimately allowed him to invade the Song Dynasty with more than 100,000 troops. Even if it was his ability, he could only have 100,000 troops at most, or even less. And the Song Dynasty had 400,000 soldiers!
The court spent money to support the 400,000 soldiers. Why did the court spend money to raise soldiers? Isn't it just for this time? Now that the main force of the imperial army is still there, they are not afraid of the Northern Expedition, let alone defense? So, Your Majesty, what are you afraid of? "
Zhao Gouxin said that your back hurts when you stand and talk. It was me who was chased to the sea, not you. How could you understand my pain and psychological shadow?
So when faced with Chen Kangbo's radical remarks, Zhao Gou basically listened in one ear and out the other. He also asked other ministers, and finally everyone put together a compromise plan.
If you don’t agree, don’t refuse, don’t express your position, I’ll just drag you along.
But one thing is very clear, that is, we must not send troops to help the Jin army in the war. It will encounter violent backlash from the people and even lead to turmoil, and the gain will not be worth the loss.
However, once the Liberation Army is destroyed, the Southern Song Dynasty will face the threat of the Jin Kingdom. At that time, the Southern Song Dynasty will have to have a fighting force to protect itself.
So Zhao Gou had no choice but to order the Privy Council to start presiding over armament rectification, inspection, and preparation for war.
Officials and garrison troops in the Jianghuai area were ordered to be mentally prepared in case the Jin Kingdom went south.
Civilians guard the territory, and military generals fight. Once territory is lost, both civilian officials and military generals must be prepared to be held accountable.
After more than ten years of peace, the Southern Song Dynasty, with its lax military preparedness, finally once again paid attention to military issues.
At the same time, Zhao Gou asked the Privy Council to keep paying attention to the situation in the north, so as to accurately judge whether the Jin Kingdom could drink from the Huaihe River and whether it was necessary for the Southern Song Dynasty to engage in a long-lost battle.
But this is all superficial. According to Zhao Gou's original intention, it is for speculation.
The Southern Song Dynasty could not agree, refuse, or answer, drag the Jin Kingdom, and then wait and see the situation. If the Liberation Army saw that it was impossible, then send troops north to attack Shandong to seize the benefits, and conveniently block the Jin people's excuse to attack south.
If the Liberation Army actually performed a miracle and could drive away the Jin Kingdom, then the Southern Song Dynasty would be... absolutely safe?
Thinking of this, Zhao Gou suddenly realized that he had overlooked another possibility.
If, just if.
The Liberation Army really defeated the Jin Army, overthrew the Jin regime, and occupied the Central Plains, then...
How should the Southern Song Dynasty deal with itself?
