On the south bank of the Huaihe River, dense military tents stretched for more than seventy miles.
The elites of the Huai Army, the Forbidden Army, and the Chu Army were walking through the camp, looking extremely busy.
On the section of the canal leading to Chuzhou, Song army warships and ships transporting grain, grass and ordnance were connected end to end, and the end could not be seen at a glance.
In Chuzhou, the Yamen of Envoys was established.
Shi Zhaizhi led a group of officials and stood outside the Yamen. Not long after, he saw a group of officers and soldiers escorting a carriage over.
At this time, the carriage stopped, and Li Zhixiao, the minister of the Privy Council, signed a letter. When he came down from the top, Shi Zhaizhi hurriedly stepped forward and greeted him with a smile, "Prime Minister Li! I have been waiting for you for a long time in my humble position."
Li Zhixiao held Shi Zhaizhi's hand and said, "Zhizhi Envoy, go inside and talk!"
This time Shi Zhai failed to poach Zhao Tai. Instead, Zhao Tai captured tens of thousands of soldiers and hundreds of warships, which attracted Lin'an's great attention.
After the incident, Shi Zhaizhi immediately wrote a letter accusing Zhao Tai, but at the same time Zhao Tai also wrote a letter to Lin'an.
Because in this matter, it was Shi Zhaizhi who poached corners and carried out sneak attacks first, and Zhao Tai was nominally the king of the clan after all, so Shi Zhaizhi was not justified.
Zhao Tai had a hobby and liked to publish proclamations very much. When he wrote to Lin'an, he also complained to the world and complained tearfully that the treacherous officials wanted to harm him. This won a certain amount of sympathy from the people and made the Southern Song Dynasty politically passive.
After all, Zhao Tai had just sent troops to Huainan not long ago to help the people of Huainan drive away the Mongols.
The common people did not know that the imperial court had to restrict military generals and reduce the threat of feudal towns to the imperial court. They only knew that Zhao Tai was a hero against Mongolia.
Therefore, Shi Zhai's sneak attack was publicized by Zhao Taiyi, which made the Southern Song Dynasty court very passive.
The Southern Song Dynasty court had been afraid of Zhao Tai before, but now that Zhao Tai had obtained nearly ten thousand naval troops and hundreds of warships, Zhao Yun and Shi Songzhi were even more afraid of Zhao Tai.
However, due to popular public opinion, it was inconvenient for the Southern Song Dynasty court to take action directly.
Shi Zhaizhi's action failed, but instead strengthened Zhao Tai's strength, making Zhao Yun doubt his ability, so he sent Li Zhixiao to Chuzhou to deal with Zhao Tai together with Shi Zhaizhi.
At this time, Li Zhixiao, the general of Shizhai, welcomed him into the Yamen, and the two had a secret conversation in the public room.
Li Zhixiao said in a deep voice: "Brother Ziyi, not only did you fail to contain King Linyi in Huainan, but you were also deprived of hundreds of warships by King Linyi. You should know that the officials were very afraid of King Linyi. Previously, King Linyi was only powerful with his cavalry. , now that you have obtained the warship, the officials have trouble sleeping and eating. Now the officials are quite dissatisfied with your performance in Huainan, you must find a way to remedy it!"
Li Zhixiao was promoted by Shi Zhai's father, Shi Miyuan, and the relationship between the two was extraordinary.
Shi Zhaizhi said angrily: "Li Xiang, I was careless this time. I didn't expect King Linyi to be so cunning."
Li Zhixiao waved his hand, "You don't have to be angry. The official and the Prime Minister asked me to come here this time to help you deal with King Linyi."
Shi Zhaizhi hurriedly asked: "Prime Minister Li, what instructions do the officials and Prime Minister have?"
Li Zhixiao said: "At the moment, the officials still have concerns about how to deal with King Linyi. After all, King Linyi has made great achievements in resisting the Mongols, and the officials don't want to bear the infamy, so there are some things we need to do."
Shi Zhai nodded. This was just like Emperor Gaozong who wanted to use Qin Hui to kill Yue Fei. The officials wanted to get rid of Zhao Tai but did not want to suffer infamy and hoped to get a good reputation.
Li Zhixiao continued: "Last time you took the initiative and made the court quite passive. Now you have two things to do. The first is to ask for the soldiers and warships detained by the King of Linyi. The second is to find a way. Force the King of Linyi to rebel first. Only if he rebels first will the court have reason to suppress the rebellion."
Shi Zhaizhi is a smart man, "We ministers cannot let the official family be brought into disrepute, so we must let King Linyi die and let him be ruined!"
Li Zhixiao smiled and nodded: "We should learn from the lessons of Emperor Gaozong and Prime Minister Qin. They won peace for the Song Dynasty, but they were not understood by the world. We are all for the Song Dynasty and the official family, and we are truly loyal ministers. And Zhao Tai is a rebel. Prime Minister Shi has been deleting and revising the memorials about Zhao Tai in recent years. As long as we force Zhao Tai to rebel and then destroy him, we will have the right to decide how to define Zhao Tai later. "
Shi Zhaizhi couldn't help but sigh, "Xiang Shi and Prime Minister Li are still brilliant!"
~~~~~~~
Grassland, Mongolian Khan Court.
The last Mongolian southern expedition failed and their vitality was damaged. Wo Kuotai led his troops back to the grassland, and the Mongolian army rested and recuperated for more than a year.
During this period, Wokuotai seized the pastures and tribesmen belonging to Kublai Khan on the grounds that Kublai Khan had lost his army.
This greatly increased Ogedai's strength, and all Mongolian ministries followed his orders.
At this time, in the big tent of Wokuotai, Yang Weizhong smiled and reported: "Great Khan, as expected, as soon as our army retreated to the grassland, the Southern Song Dynasty couldn't wait to start internal strife."
Wokuotai sneered again and again, "If the southerners are like this, why worry that Mongolia cannot dominate the world."
Yang Weizhong said: "The southerners have always been like this. When there are external enemies, they may be able to reluctantly join forces to fight against them. Once the external threat is removed, they are happy to fight among themselves."
At this time, Yang Weizhong thought of Dong Zhuo's withdrawal into Guanzhong at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, and the Guandong princes soon fell into mutual attacks.
】
However, it seemed a bit impolite to compare Dong Zhuo to Wokuotai, so Yang Weizhong did not mention it.
Wokuotai said: "Now that the Southern Song Dynasty and Zhao Tai are fighting internally, should I send an army south to prepare to reap the benefits?"
Yang Weizhong said: "Great Khan, if we send troops from the grassland, we can reach Shandong in a month. There is no need to rush into the Central Plains. If we put our troops in the Central Plains, the Southern Song Dynasty and Zhao Tai will not be able to fight. I think it is better to send careful surveillance now. At the same time, the army is ready, and when they start fighting, we will suddenly move south."
Ogedei nodded, "Okay, then let Subotai and Tasi monitor the movements in the south, and report any situation to the Khan immediately!"
Yang Weizhong saluted, "Yes!"
Wokuotai said: "The last southern expedition failed, this time it must succeed. I will mobilize all the troops to wipe out Zhao Tai and the Southern Song Dynasty in one fell swoop. By the way, what is the situation over there in Goryeo? When will the troops be able to withdraw?"
Speaking of Goryeo, Yang Weizhong said solemnly: "Khan, the Goryeo people are quite stubborn. Not only did they not accept the conditions of the Great Khan, they also continued to attack the Mongolian warriors, causing a lot of casualties to the army stationed in Goryeo."
"What?" Wo Kuotai couldn't help being furious when he heard this, "A little Goryeo dares to resist this Khan!"
The Southern Song Dynasty was a big country and it was difficult for Mongolia to conquer it for a while. Wogotai could still find reasons to comfort himself.
Regardless of the level of Goryeo, Mongolia was not satisfied, so Ogootai was furious.
If Mongolia cannot even conquer Goryeo, it will undoubtedly affect morale and make the various ethnic groups under Mongolian rule despise Mongolia.
Yang Weizhong said: "Great Khan, Goryeo is just a small country and the country is barren. I think it is better to let the army withdraw first and concentrate on preparing for the southern expedition."
But Wokuotai shook his head, "The failure of the Southern Expedition has already damaged morale. If we withdraw from Goryeo again, then the countries controlled by Mongolia will doubt Mongolia's strength. Now Zhao Tai and the Southern Song Dynasty have not started fighting, so let the army continue to attack Goryeo must be forced to surrender within three months."
