Zhao Tai punished the traitors and rewarded the soldiers, which greatly boosted the morale of the Qi army.
However, because of Shi Zhaizhi's provocation, the little tacit understanding between Zhao Tai and the Southern Song Dynasty was completely exhausted.
At present, Shandong has just been stable for more than a year, and Zhao Tai actually does not want to start a war, but the Southern Song Dynasty is pressing forward step by step, making the cloud of civil war hang over the Qi army again.
Although Zhao Tai captured tens of thousands of Song troops and incorporated them, further strengthening the strength of the Qi army, the intelligence passed back from the Southern Song Dynasty was not optimistic.
It stands to reason that Shi Zhaizhi should be punished for causing such a big thing and suffering a big loss. However, the actual situation was as Zhao Tai expected. Lin'an did not deal with Shi Zhaizhi. Instead, it sent Jiang Waterproof Division, as well as the Forbidden Army and The elite Chu army entered Huainan.
The elite Song army entered Huainan, which showed that the Southern Song Dynasty had not given up its intention to use force. Zhao Tai's plan to steadily develop Shandong may not be realized.
This is a very dangerous signal for Zhao Tai, and the civil and military forces must be summoned to discuss countermeasures.
At the end of May in the fourth year of Duanping, in Lianshui City, Linyi Wangxingyuan.
One month after the Song Army's provocation, major civil and military officials in Shandong gathered in Lianshui City to discuss countermeasures.
Inside the office, a meeting was being held. The pressure on Shandong from the south made everyone participating in the meeting feel depressed.
Wu Xian spoke: "Your Majesty, Lin'an has increased its troops in Huainan, and we will have a battle sooner or later. In accordance with my wishes, before Mongolia has recovered, I will support the king, directly attack Lin'an, and proclaim the king as the emperor. !”
These words made many military generals shine. Tang Liang, Chang Yu, Liu Dun, Li Chunzhu and other generals immediately agreed, and even Li Fen was ready to make a move.
If the brothers help the king to ascend the throne, then everyone will be a hero of Conglong, and maybe they can become a county king.
Zhao Tai waved his hand and looked at the civil servants, "What do you gentlemen think?"
Wang Wentong said: "I think the time is not yet ripe for Qing Jun to side with you!"
Wu Xiandao: "Now that Mongolia's vitality has not recovered, it is unable to attack the south. If we continue to delay, when Mongolia regains its strength, will we still have a chance to go south?"
Zhao Tai raised his hand and pressed it down, signaling Wu Xian not to get excited, and then said: "Let the gentlemen finish their words first."
Wang Wentong immediately said: "The troops and horses have not yet moved to provide food and fodder! The reason why I said that the time is not ripe now is because the vassal government currently does not have sufficient reserves of copper coins, grain, horse feed, weapons, and gunpowder! I thought that even if it was necessary, Even if we fight, we have to wait until the autumn harvest and until the feudal government reserves enough supplies."
Zhao Tai nodded slightly, looked at Wang Bin and said, "What do you think, sir?"
Wang Bin shook his fan and said calmly: "I don't agree with starting an army immediately!"
Seeing that the two great think tanks disagreed, Zhao Tai couldn't help asking: "Why?"
Wang Bin said: "The Southern Song Dynasty is big and Shandong is small. The advantage of the king in launching an army to attack the Song Dynasty is to fight quickly. If we cannot win quickly, the soldiers of the Southern Song Dynasty will continue to come from all directions, and our army will be in a hard fight. And as long as our army cannot win quickly, If we win, the Mongols will attack the king's back. If the king is unable to advance or retreat, there is no chance of victory."
Zhao Tai nodded thoughtfully, while Wang Bin shook his feather fan and continued: "This time, the king has recruited nearly ten thousand sailors, but compared with the Song army's sailors, there is still a long way to go. Now the king's navy does not have an advantage, so only the Huaihe River , the Yangtze River reaches the natural chasm, it will be able to delay our army's attack on Lin'an. In addition, the king also needs to consider the possibility of the officials fleeing Lin'an. If the officials leave Lin'an, then even if the king ignores the Mongols and attacks Shandong, he leads his army to cross the Yangtze River. , and it is difficult to control Jianghuai!"
The Qi army's combat power was stronger than the Song army, but the Song Dynasty had a vast territory and its national power was stronger than the Song army.
With Mongolia on his side, Zhao Tai could not let Mongolia take advantage, so he could only fight quickly.
So the problem now is that Zhao Tai is not sure that if he can penetrate the two defense lines of the Huaihe River and the Yangtze River in one go, he may very well end up in the same dilemma as Mustache in Eastern Europe.
Zhao Tai pondered for a while, couldn't help stroking his beard, and asked: "Then when do you gentlemen think the time is right?"
Wang Wentong said: "Now the vassal government still has a lot of calligraphy, paintings and jewelry. I think it is at least necessary to sell all these things and reserve enough money, food and supplies for a year's war."
Wang Bin said: "I would like to mention two points. If the king wants to win quickly, first of all, he must have the means to quickly break through the Huaihe River and the Yangtze River. Secondly, the people in the Jianghuai River must generally sympathize with the king and think that the king should raise troops. In this way, the king can enter After Lin'an, he quickly accepted power and gained recognition from the world."
After hearing what the two said, Zhao Tai already made a decision in his heart.
Soldiers and horses must go ahead with food and fodder before starting a war. Sufficient supplies must be stored before the war begins. We cannot imagine that the problem can be solved solely by relying on battlefield seizures.
As for crossing the Yangtze River and Huaihe River, a powerful naval force is needed. With traditional means, even if Zhao Tai is given ten years, the Qi Navy Navy may not be able to surpass the Song Dynasty Navy.
Zhao Yun would not give orders to the commander not to harm him, and Zhao Tai did not respond to his internal requests to cross the river.
Therefore, Zhao Tai must find another way, and Zhao Tai already has a way in his mind, which is to equip the warships with artillery.
At present, water battles are mainly about shooting each other with crossbows and ramming warships. If the Qi army can equip the artillery, it will be a dimensionality-reducing blow to the Song army's navy.
With the help of artillery by then, the Qi army should be able to attack Lin'an City with lightning speed without giving Mongolia a chance to react.
The last point is that to make the people of Jianghuai sympathize, we have to rely on Shi Zhai to press forward step by step.
Thinking of this, Zhao Tai glanced at everyone and said in a deep voice: "Now the Southern Song Dynasty is increasing its troops in Huainan, and soon they will cross the river to attack. What Mr. Deqing said just now makes sense. If you want to raise troops, you need to gain the sympathy of the people in Jianghuai, so it is best to As a last resort, he was forced to raise troops. Then it might be a good idea to let Shi Zhaizhi take the initiative to attack again. Now the ministries should step up their training, and the vassal government should do three things, store money, store grain, store gunpowder, and prepare for a war! "
After everyone heard the words, they immediately stood up and saluted, "I obey your orders!"
At this time, Zhao Hu hurried in and saluted: "Your Majesty, Lin'an has sent an envoy over!"
Zhao Tai narrowed his eyes, "Who is the envoy? Do you know the purpose of his visit?"
Zhao Hu said: "It's Jia Sidao again. It should be to ask for the warship and the Song army prisoners!"
Zhao Tai pondered for a while after hearing the words. After the peace talks between Mongolia and Song Dynasty, the plan formulated by the vassal government was mainly to restore Shandong and increase taxes.
Now that Shi Zhai is provoking, it will take some time for the vassal government to switch from resuming production to supporting the war.
Zhao Tai pondered for a moment and looked at Wang Wentong, "Sir, please meet with Jia Sidao and try to delay it for some time. In addition, any of our properties in the Southern Song Dynasty that can be discovered by the Southern Song Dynasty must be disposed of before the war begins to avoid being discovered by the Southern Song Dynasty. Seized in the Southern Song Dynasty."
Wang Wentong saluted and said, "I understand!"
Zhao Tai immediately stood up and said, "Nagu will leave Lianshui temporarily and go to Haizhou to inspect the Ordnance Bureau."
