Li Bao had been silent for many years, thinking that he would eventually spend his whole life doing nothing, but suddenly he was summoned by the Privy Council and learned a shocking news.
The Ming Dynasty was preparing to launch an attack on the Southern Song Dynasty and was going to use force!
This was earth-shattering news, and Li Bao was shocked.
"What's going on? Why is there a war? Why is there no news at all before?"
News spread slowly these days, and Li Bao was not an official in Lin'an, so he knew nothing about the matter. He hurried to the Privy Council to find out what the matter was, and he was shocked on the spot.
"The Ming Dynasty betrayed its trust and forcibly demanded the New Year coins from the Song Dynasty. If the coins were not obtained, it threatened to go to war. It was despicable and shameless. The Song Dynasty had no choice but to resist."
Wang Lun was talking nonsense, which made Li Baoyi filled with anger.
"What? Such a thing could happen? I thought that the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty expelled the Huru and restored the Central Plains. He was a first-rate hero. But now it seems that he is clearly a violent and greedy person! Privy Wang, please grant me a military position! I will definitely Fight to the death with the Ming army and defend our Song Dynasty!"
"Okay! With the general's words, I feel relieved."
Wang Lun nodded and decided on the spot to appoint Li Bao as the deputy commander-in-chief of the West Zhejiang Road Horse Infantry Army. He was mainly responsible for leading the navy and responsible for possible maritime wars.
Then, Wang Lun told Li Bao that the Ming Army had a navy, which they had used to defeat the Jin Navy. The Jin Navy had no choice but to bear the advantage of the Ming Navy.
Li Bao didn't care too much about this.
"The people of the Jin Kingdom don't know what a navy is at all. They think that as long as you can drive a boat on the water, you are a navy. There are many mysteries and skills in the navy, such as how to sail a boat, how to identify the course, and how to use the current and wind speed. , how to train sailors, how to use water warfare weapons, how to collide with enemy ships and sink enemy ships are all very important.
The Ming people only defeated the Jin people's navy. They don't know what a real navy is. I think that even if they have many ships and people, they still won't understand the secrets of water warfare. Privy King, don't worry, give me full authority. , within two months, I will definitely pull out a naval force that can fight. "
As a veteran with clear military exploits, Wang Lun was clearly happy, so he agreed to grant Li Bao full authority to handle naval matters, not allowing other departments to restrict him and allowing him to act with confidence.
Li Bao thanked Wang Lun for his trust.
After the formal appointment was issued, Li Bao set off quickly.
At the same time, Liu Qi and Wang Quan also sent a reply to Lin'an, saying that they already knew what the imperial court was worried about, and had also sent people north to Huainan to collect intelligence on the specific movements of the Ming army. Once there was any news, Lin'an will be notified immediately.
For a moment, Wang Lun felt that everything was ready, and the Song army seemed to be ready to fight the Ming army.
But soon, Liu Qi and Wang Quan sent [applications for special expenses to reward officers and soldiers before the battle].
This is not an incredible request. It is normal for the army to be the first to ask for a reward before going into battle. It is just because the amount of money they want is a bit large and cannot be given by the Privy Council. Wang Lun can only give this Report to Emperor Zhao Gou.
Zhao Gou was quite generous about this. Although he complained a little and felt that these officers had selfish motives, he still honestly asked the relevant departments to allocate funds to Jiankang and Zhenjiang Prefectures.
In addition, just in case, the Song court also sent a sum of money to the Chizhou Dutongsi and the navy, so that Li Xianzhong and Li Bao had money to deal with errands.
When this happened, Zhao Gou was not one who refused to throw away coins. He still scattered all the coins honestly so that the people below him could eat and drink enough so that they could use their strength to fight.
But then again, the army is easy to handle, but the court is not.
The news of the Ming army's large-scale operation could not be concealed at all, and soon spread in the court, causing a large number of courtiers to feel inexplicable panic about it.
Although many of them had strongly supported the court's justice in rejecting the Ming's unfair demands when Xin Qiji was here, they began to panic when the Ming army began to take action.
Regarding whether to really go to war with the Ming Dynasty, all civil and military officials in the dynasty were also panicked. They felt like ants on a hot pot and didn't know what to do.
As time went by, the topic began to further ferment. Just like when dealing with the Jin Kingdom, two voices of war and peace soon began to appear in the DPRK. There were fewer people supporting war and more people supporting peace.
Those who supported the fight were mostly young officials at the middle and lower levels. They expressed strong indignation and dissatisfaction with the Ming Dynasty's blatant humiliation of the Song Dynasty, and strongly demanded that the court and the Ming Dynasty fight to the death so that the Ming Dynasty could see clearly the bloody and unyielding nature of the Song Dynasty.
I have already bowed my knee to the Kingdom of Jin before, but now I cannot bow my knee to the Kingdom of Ming under any circumstances! Otherwise, what would be left of the Song Dynasty’s national character? !
These young officials of the main war faction were very angry, full of anger, and full of resentment towards the Ming Dynasty. If they had any disagreement, they would go to the battlefield with a three-foot sword to protect the dignity of the Song Dynasty.
However, more officials were still intimidated and realized the gap between the strong military power of the Ming Dynasty and the weak military power of the Song Dynasty. They believed that there was no need to fight this battle at all and they would definitely lose.
In the debate competition in the court, the two sides fought for each other, back and forth, using their lips and teeth as swords, and the court as a battlefield. The fight was very uncomfortable.
Zhao Gou, who was sitting on the throne, was almost desperate as he watched his courtiers come and go, fighting to the death for war and peace, but no one really thought about how to fight for him when the Ming army was pressing down on the situation. .
Zhao Gou first felt despair, then pain, then reflection, and finally determination. In the end, he calmly weighed the pros and cons.
War and peace, victory and defeat.
Taking a deep breath, Zhao Gou forced himself to calm down in the face of the chaos of the civil and military officials in the court, and then made a certain decision.
A decision related to the Southern Song Dynasty, to myself, and to the future.
This matter was so big that it could not be concealed. The entire Lin'an City and even the entire Southern Song Dynasty would know about it sooner or later.
The petty officials will know, the civilian elites will know, and even ordinary people will know.
So soon, the crown prince Zhao Yu also knew.
He knew that the Ming Dynasty was using force to threaten the Southern Song Dynasty to pay them Sui coins.
After knowing this, Zhao Kuangyin's blood flowing in Zhao Hao's body awakened, his blood boiled, and he became furious.
The Jin Kingdom bullied the Song Dynasty to the point where it was unreasonable, and put the dignity of the Song Dynasty under their feet. Not only did they trample on it, but they also ravaged it severely, making the Song Dynasty almost lose its national dignity, which made him feel like a knife was piercing his heart. , extremely painful.
When he was young, he didn't understand. As he grew older, he would feel extreme pain and suffering every time he paid the annual coins and every time the Jin Kingdom came.
Now that the Jin Kingdom is finally gone, the Song Dynasty has finally had a relaxing life, but in the end, your Ming Kingdom actually wants to take over the Jin Kingdom and continue to bully and ravage the Song Dynasty!
Is Da Song really that easy to bully?
Did the Song Dynasty have no national character and dignity at all?
Aren’t the men of Song Dynasty completely bloodless? !
What a hero our ancestor Zhao Kuangyin was when he founded the country. He swept across the world with a stick, ended the division of the Central Plains, eliminated countless separatist regimes, and founded the Song Dynasty.
Although the family and country were not reunified in the end, wasn't it the Song Dynasty that ended the era of extreme division and chaos in the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms?
Didn’t the Song Dynasty also have its glory days?
But now what is left for the Song Dynasty is only humiliation?
Zhao Xun couldn't bear it any longer. With his passionate blood, he turned his boiling blood into words, poured out all his emotions, and wrote a letter himself that made him burst into tears and get goosebumps all over his body. Invite for battle.
He decided to ask Zhao Gou for a battle, and decided to ask Zhao Gou to lead the army and supervise the division as the crown prince, and fight to the death with the Ming army. Regardless of winning or losing, he would not hesitate to die. He would rather die than let the Ming Dynasty see the man of the Song Dynasty. Bloody!
Yes, I would rather die than surrender, I would rather die than surrender, even if I die, I would rather not suffer humiliation!
As a descendant of Zhao Kuangyin, as a descendant of the heroic emperor who beat the world with a stick, he will never give in!
