After listening to Wang Wentong's words, Zhao Tai walked back and sat down.
When Zhao Tai thought about the situation Wang Wentong mentioned, he thought it was very possible.
The Song Dynasty had a tradition of emphasizing civility over military affairs. The gene of distrust of military commanders was planted at the beginning of the founding of the country, and it cannot be easily changed.
Since the end of the Tang Dynasty, vassal towns have been segregated, and the emperor's soldiers and horses were strong, and the Zhao and Song Dynasties themselves were military generals usurping power, which resulted in the overcorrection of the status of military generals.
This has its historical inertia and will not change easily.
Zheng Qingzhi is not Zhao Tai's pawn, on the contrary, he is Zhao Tai's backer in Lin'an.
From Zheng Qingzhi's perspective, he was the prime minister of the Song Dynasty and was loyal to the Song Dynasty. Naturally, he would not watch Zhao Tai become a warlord that the central government could not control.
Therefore, Zheng Qingzhi most likely used the news released by the Mongols to put pressure on Zhao Tai and make Zhao Tai accept the Song Dynasty's conditions for inclusion.
Zhao Tai naturally couldn't accept this. He was not willing to be like Song Jiang and leave the fate of himself and his subordinates to the crotchless Song Dynasty.
Zhao Tai patted his forehead and felt that the current situation was really difficult.
He originally thought that becoming a tyrant in Shandong and a prince would give him some enjoyment, but now it seems that the most dangerous period has not passed yet.
"There is such a possibility!" Zhao Tai pondered for a moment: "The Mongols were not able to plot against the Song Dynasty, but the Jin Kingdom was still there! Now that the Jin Kingdom is destroyed, how can Mongolia not invade Jiangnan! In today's critical situation, Lin'an should be at the mercy of Shandong and Henan. Set up a large vassal, and be given the power to control military affairs and do things expediently. In this way, the enemy can be defended in the north. If you do not delegate power, but instead take it back and send officials to restrict it, disaster is not far away! This matter must be reported to Prime Minister Zheng. We cannot fall into Mongolia’s plan to alienate us.”
Wang Wentong said worriedly: "I'm afraid Lin'an is self-righteous, despises Mongolia's strength, and thinks it can control the situation!"
If the Southern Song Dynasty thought they could control the situation and had to convince him to accept the conditions, it would be really difficult for Zhao Tai.
After all, if the Southern Song Dynasty is rejected, then Mongolia comes to attack. With the power of Shandong, how can it compete with the powerful Mongol Empire?
But if he accepts it, even if Zhao Tai is willing, Wuxian and Li Fen will not agree. The three towns in Shandong, which are not united enough to begin with, will definitely not be able to work together to fight against Mongolia.
When the Mongols defeat them, it will be easy to capture Bianjing, and the Southern Song Dynasty will also lose its barrier.
Zhao Tai pondered for a while and asked, "Does the military advisor have any countermeasures?"
After Wang Wentong received the news, he was thinking. He mused: "I think there are two possibilities now. First, Zheng Qingzhi did not have this intention, but it was the intention of some officials in Lin'an. In this way, we must try to persuade Zheng Qingzhi to withstand the pressure. , giving the king the power to control the civil and military affairs of Shandong, and allowing us to recommend officials at all levels in Shandong to recognize the established fact that we control Shandong. Secondly, if it is as worried as it is. Zheng Qingzhi wants to take the opportunity to help the Song Dynasty control Shandong and reach out to us We come to our territory, I think we will never agree! We must try to let the Southern Song Dynasty court know our role, and we cannot hand over administrative power."
Zhao Tai exhaled a thick breath, "Even if I am willing to hand over power, Wu Xian and Li Fen will not allow officials from the Southern Song Dynasty to take over the prefectures and counties they control."
Wang Wentong sighed, stood up and saluted: "Your Majesty, how about I go to Lin'an!"
Zhao Tai nodded slightly, "Now that the autumn is high in the north of the Great Wall, it is the time for the Mongols to use their troops. And who will be the first to attack the Mongols? It must be me! Whether the military advisor goes to Lin'an, he must convince Lin'an to decide his position in advance, and he cannot stand idly by! Otherwise! Shandong is over!"
Zhao Tai was aware that Mongolia would attack him.
The previous Mongolian attacks on gold were disrupted by Zhao Tai.
Therefore, Zhao Tai expected that Mongolia would definitely attack itself first before attacking Daliang this time to avoid making the same mistake again.
It is precisely because of this awareness that Zhao Tai has done two things recently. One is to marry Li Fen, and the other is to apply for a title from Lin'an, hoping to be recognized by the Southern Song Dynasty. However, neither of the two things went well. smoothly.
When Wang Wentong saw that Zhao Tai had agreed, he immediately saluted and said, "I have made arrangements and will go to Lin'an today."
~~~~~~
After Wang Wentong left Pizhou, he did not take the canal. Instead, he went to Haizhou and took a merchant ship to Lin'an by sea.
In Lin'an City, in the Political Hall, Zheng Qingzhi and Zhao Fan were also discussing the current situation.
In Lin'an City, news spread that Mongolia only attacked Zhao Tai and did not want to go to war with the Southern Song Dynasty. This made Zhao Tai nervous and made Zheng Qingzhi and others realize that Mongolia was going south again.
The last time Zheng Qingzhi led the Song army into Luo, he lost 30,000 elite troops, which made him very passive in the Lin'an court, and the peace faction in the court had the tendency to counterattack again.
Nowadays, Zheng Qingzhi's situation is not good. Since the founding of the Southern Song Dynasty, the war faction has been in power for a very short time, and the forces of peace between the government and the opposition are very powerful.
If Duanping successfully enters Luo, Zheng Qingzhi will gain enough prestige and have the opportunity to further clean up the main peace faction in the court. Unfortunately, the last time he entered Luo failed.
Now Zheng Qingzhi barely controls the Lin'an court, but the local leaders and forces are violating his orders, making it impossible for him to mobilize the entire Song Dynasty to regain the Central Plains, and it is difficult to achieve much.
At this time, in the political hall, Zhao Fan was quite indignant, "Last year, the imperial court made an expedition to the north to restore the Central Plains. My strategy is to mobilize the troops from the Huaihe River and Huaihe River to join the people in Shandong, capture Guide, Bianjing, and Luoyang, and recover the three capitals." The generals in Jinghu gathered all the troops from Chu, marched out of Xiangyang, settled in Nanyang, captured Wuguan in the west, joined the army of Bashu, and captured Xi'an and Tongguan! In this way, the world was shaken, the remaining people returned, Guanzhong and the Central Plains could be established! However, Jinghu , the people of Bashu hesitated and refused to advance, greatly losing the hope of the world, and the soldiers of the Huaihe River penetrated deep alone, and were defeated miserably in Luo! I am deeply ashamed of it!"
Zheng Qingzhi put down his tea cup and said, "Don't be upset, Wu Zhong! Shi Songzhi and Zhao Yanna went against the will, and the truth was unexpected. The current matter is to recover the Central Plains and establish extraordinary achievements. Only in this way can the truth gain the trust of the officials and depose them." Then send one or two key officials to take charge of Shu and Chu, so that the imperial orders can be carried out like an arm and a finger. By then, the rivers and mountains will be recovered and the old capital will be restored."
Zhao Fan heard this, but he was worried, "Ms. sir, our army holds Bianjing, but without the cooperation of the armies of Bashu and Jingzhou, we can only use the generals of the Huaihe River and Huaihe River to do nothing! The army currently stationed in the east of Henan cannot advance to Luoyang and recover At the Guanhe River in Jin, we cannot retreat to defend Bianjing and consolidate the results of last year's battle. If the Mongolian troops arrive, I'm afraid the situation will be worrying!"
The eastern Henan area recovered by the Song Army was difficult to defend.
Nowadays, a lot of manpower and material resources need to be invested, but they cannot make progress. For the Southern Song Dynasty, it can be said that it is useless.
Hearing this, Zheng Qingzhi put down the tea cup he had picked up. He could tell that Zhao Fan wanted to give up on Bianjing.
If we give up Bianjing, it will be equivalent to the complete failure of the proposal to enter Luo, and it will be equivalent to the failure of Zheng Qing, and the peace faction will inevitably impeach him.
Therefore, although he knew that Kaifeng was undefeated, politically speaking, Zheng Qingzhi absolutely could not accept the Song army abandoning Bianjing.
Zheng Qingzhi said unhappily: "Wu Zhong, don't let other people's ambitions destroy your own prestige! The truth will continue to send more troops to Bianjing. In addition, before Mongolia goes south, he will force Guorui to accept the court's recruitment, control Shandong, and threaten the north. Hebei and Mongolia also dare not move lightly!"
