In the second year of Xuanhe in the Northern Song Dynasty, Song Huizong formed a maritime alliance with the Jin Kingdom in order to fulfill the Song Dynasty's sad wish to occupy the sixteen states of Yanyun.
The two sides agreed that the Jin State would capture the Dading Prefecture in the central capital of the Liao Dynasty, and the Song Dynasty would seize the Jin Prefecture in Nanjing of the Liao Dynasty. Both sides would attack from the north and the south to destroy the Liao State together.
After the fall of the Liao Dynasty, the Song Dynasty transferred the old coins originally given to the Liao Dynasty to the Kingdom of Jin, and the Kingdom of Jin agreed to return the land of Yanyun Sixteen Prefectures to the Song Kingdom. The two sides were good neighbors and friendly, and shared the world.
However, at that time, the Jin Kingdom had already achieved absolute military superiority over the Liao Kingdom. The alliance with the Song Dynasty was mostly promoted by Wanyan Aguda, but the Jin Kingdom's ruling group was not very concerned about it.
Song Huizong underestimated the rising Jin Kingdom's desire for land and wealth, overestimated the Song army's combat effectiveness, and had unrealistic illusions about himself.
The Jin Kingdom then sent troops to launch a decisive attack on the Liao Kingdom, preparing to destroy the Liao Kingdom in one fell swoop. The Northern Song Dynasty also agreed to send troops north to Yanyun, trying to stage a robbery against the Liao Kingdom that was about to be destroyed, and also to complete the agreement of the Maritime Alliance.
But I didn't expect that the Song army was so depleted that it couldn't even defeat the Liao army, which was about to be destroyed. Instead, it was pushed down by a wave and the whole army collapsed.
The Liao army, which had been beaten down by the Jin, was still able to defeat the Song army who had no regard for it. Seeing that the Song army was so incompetent, the Jin people despised and helped them conquer Youzhou and other places with evil intentions.
Although they still handed over Youzhou to the Song Dynasty in accordance with the covenant, they moved all the population and property, and the Song Dynasty spent a large amount of military expenditures and only got an empty city.
Not only that, the Song State also had to pay the Jin State for the purchase of Youzhou and other places and the hard work of the Jin Army in defeating the Liao Army.
It's like the Northern Song Dynasty spent money twice and bought an empty city of little significance.
At that time, the whole country in the Song Dynasty was rejoicing, thinking that they had finally fulfilled their ancestors' tragic wish and returned to the land of Yanyun. Zhao Ji's own merits exceeded those of his ancestors, and he became a sage king for a time.
However, Wanyan Aguda, who advocated an alliance with the Northern Song Dynasty, had died of illness, and Wanyan Wu was begging to be promoted to the throne. The war faction within the Jin Kingdom had the absolute upper hand, and they despised the power of the Song Dynasty and coveted the wealth of the Song Dynasty.
Everyone knows what happened next.
This story taught all the people of the Song Dynasty a lesson - if you don't have enough military strength, you shouldn't rush to expand your territory, otherwise you will be beaten to dregs and will be shattered on the ground and you won't be able to pick it up.
Therefore, the monarchs and ministers of the Southern Song Dynasty who accepted this lesson have engraved this lesson in their bones since then. Any progress will be regarded as an extremely risky action. Unless there is a political strongman to force it to be done, they will definitely not make progress.
Being enterprising is tantamount to suicide and is meaningless. It is better to live your own life behind closed doors.
But it is not always possible to apply the current situation to that time.
The Liberation Army is not a Jin people, and there is no comparison between the two sides. Kaifeng is the old capital of the Song Dynasty, and Youzhou is a quite unfamiliar place to the Song Dynasty. Forcibly linking the two things to discuss them is a bit forced to worry about being persecuted. It is detrimental to the national character of a great country.
So Zaifu's team discussed for a long time and argued seven or eight times, but they could not come to a conclusion that could convince the other party.
Generally speaking, Tang Side and Shen Gai did not support the proposal of the Liberation Army. They felt that it was too dangerous. If the same mistakes were repeated, it would be a fatal mistake for the Song Dynasty.
Zhang Jun said that he could continue to have in-depth discussions with the Liberation Army on this issue. During the discussion, he could judge the true intentions of the Liberation Army and not give up the possibility of truly achieving the goal.
The trio of Privy Council members held a neutral attitude and believed that it was best to maintain the status quo. It would be best to reach a non-aggression agreement with the Liberation Army to buy the Song Dynasty time to reorganize its armaments.
Because the armaments of the Song Dynasty were really poor, many armies were not fully staffed, and it was very difficult to force them out.
Zhao Gou felt very helpless in the face of the split opinions of Zaifu's team. He actually did not want to negotiate with the Liberation Army on the Kaifeng issue.
Kaifeng is the old capital. For Zhao Gou, if he can return to his old capital, it will undoubtedly greatly strengthen the legitimacy of his rule. He should be very happy and vigorously promote this matter.
But this day came too late for him, and it was too unfortunate.
If Zhao Ji and Zhao Huan had died twenty years earlier, and this day had come twenty years ago, then he might not hesitate to promote this matter.
But recently, this situation has changed.
For one thing, he was already in the twilight years of his life, young, fashionable and unambitious, let alone now.
Secondly, he finally learned the news of Zhao Huan's death. Zhao Huan was dead and the crown prince had been established. There was no longer any force or individual that could threaten his throne internally, while externally, the Kingdom of Jin had been destroyed.
So he was completely safe, he went into a safe state and quickly built his comfort zone.
Zhao Gou, who had entered his comfort zone, no longer wanted to mess around.
The changes in the world situation directly affected Zhao Gou's personal situation, and his situation directly affected his psychological state.
Zhao Gou didn't want to bother anymore. Zhao wanted to have a peaceful life for a few days and wanted to return to the dreamlike life before the Jingkang Incident.
No pressure, no hassle, no risk, just a happy life.
Chen Kangbo previously thought that the demise of the Jin Kingdom would bring unknown risks to the Southern Song Dynasty, but he did not expect that the most unknown risks would come from his Majesty the Emperor.
At this moment, Zhao Gou, who had entered a safe and comfortable zone, already had the idea of "slacking politics".
After thinking about it, he felt that it no longer mattered whether the Liberation Army surrendered or not. As long as the Liberation Army did not go south to cause trouble in the Southern Song Dynasty, it didn't matter.
He thought that the Liberation Army was not a Jin people, but also a Han people, so they should be able to negotiate.
Therefore, instead of trying to get them to surrender and then having to consider serious political issues, it is better to simply coexist peacefully with the Liberation Army.
Whether he founded a country or proclaimed himself emperor, it didn't matter, as long as he was not hostile to the Song Dynasty, that was fine.
Everyone should stop thinking about returning to the Central Plains and just let him live out his life. As for what will happen in the future... As long as he dies, whatever happens to love will happen.
He just wants to live the rest of his life peacefully and comfortably, without anything happening or appearing, and continue to do so until he dies.
With such an assumption, Zhao Gou reacted very negatively to this matter. He was quite satisfied with the generally negative attitude held by Zaifu's team.
And Zhang Jun, the person who pushed hard to go north...
Zhao Gou began to regret calling him back.
If he hadn't come back, the current situation wouldn't be so embarrassing.
But the man has come back and has taken a high position as a political advisor. How can we drive him away without a suitable reason?
And the most important thing - whether the Liberation Army is an enemy or a friend has not yet been determined.
As long as this issue is confirmed, Zhang Jun will have no value in existence.
With inexplicable thoughts, Zhao Gou gave his own suggestions.
"Although Kaifeng is the old capital of the Song Dynasty, it has been dilapidated for a long time, and the situation in the Central Plains is uncertain. If you return rashly, you will not only have to pay a lot of money, but also seek governance. This is another huge expenditure of money. The gain outweighs the loss. In my opinion, it is still forget it."
At the Zaifu team meeting on August 13, Zhao Gou gave his final opinion that he had been thinking about for a long time.
"And as for the Liberation Army, I think that as long as we can make a peace treaty with them and not invade each other, nothing else matters. They are pacifying the Central Plains and are arrogant, not to mention whether they are willing to annex.
Even if you are willing, how to control this group of arrogant warriors is a problem, what kind of treatment should be given, where to relocate them, what to do if they have excessive demands, etc. These are all problems. Instead of worrying, it is better to simply Don't talk about these things. "
Zhao Gou not only decided not to open the seal, but also decided to give up negotiating with the Liberation Army about surrender, and instead sought the possibility of entering into a peace treaty with it.
The Song Dynasty did not need the surrender of the Liberation Army. It only needed the Liberation Army to sign a non-aggression agreement with them, and everything would be fine.
In the future, it doesn't matter whether they build a country or proclaim themselves emperor.
Anyway, Zhao Gou thinks so.
This idea surprised Tang Situi and Shen Gai, but made Zhang Jun surprised and quite dissatisfied.
Zhang Jun immediately expressed his opposition.
"Your Majesty! Kaifeng is the old capital of our dynasty and an important town in the Central Plains. Returning to Kaifeng means that our dynasty has returned to the Central Plains. For the people of the Central Plains, they are eagerly looking forward to the return of the Song Dynasty. If the Song Dynasty does not return, what will happen to them? How desperate?"
