Zhao Tai's appeal and Li Zhixiao's memorial were rushed to Lin'an.
In the palace, Zhao Yun read the memorial and felt ashamed in his heart, but not much.
Reading Zhao Tai's message, Zhao Yun felt for a moment that he had gone too far and forced a loyal minister to die, but soon he became worried about another problem.
"My dear, the King of Linyi wants to go to the north. Doesn't this tear up the Duanping Peace Agreement? What if the Mongols mistakenly think that I have broken the treaty and the two countries restart the war?" Zhao Yun stood up in a panic and felt uneasy in the study. Pacing back and forth.
Shi Songzhi obviously had a countermeasure, "Your Majesty, there is no need to be anxious! I already have a countermeasure, which is to tell the world immediately that the King of Linyi did not obey the holy orders and tore up the peace agreement without authorization, which was a blatant rebellion against the imperial court. Your Majesty only needs to make peace with the King of Linyi as soon as possible." Clear the boundaries, and then send envoys to Mongolia to explain, and Mongolia will definitely not blame us!"
Zhao Yun was worried about Zhao Tai's actions and rekindled the Mongolian-Song war, and immediately agreed, "What the Qing family said is reasonable, so I will do as you say."
Shi Songzhi saluted, "I accept your order!"
At this time, Zhao Yun said again: "If Xiu Wen and the King of Linyi draw a clear line and call him a rebel against the imperial court, how will the matter in Shandong be handled?"
Since it is said that Zhao Tai resisted the imperial court, then as the imperial court, it would naturally have to deal with it. Otherwise, where would the authority of the central government lie?
Shi Songzhi smiled and said: "Your Majesty, since the King of Linyi wants to go to the Northern Expedition, let him go to fight the Mongols. I have mobilized hundreds of thousands of elite troops to station in Huainan. When they are both defeated, I will order the frontline soldiers to enter Shandong to quell the rebellion. By then, Your Majesty will use the Qi army to consume Mongolia and take back Shandong."
After deciding to seal up Zhao Tai's properties in the Southern Song Dynasty and ban trade with Shandong, Shi Songzhi had a way to deal with Zhao Tai.
He had been a local official, but the situation in Shandong was far worse than that in Jinghu. Without the income from sea trade, Zhao Tai could not survive for long.
He only needs to station troops in Huainan, wait for Zhao Tai's finances to collapse, and then take over Shandong.
Shi Songzhi originally thought that Zhao Tai would take the initiative to attack Huainan and force him to lift the blockade before collapse, but he did not expect that Zhao Tai would provoke Mongolia.
But this didn't matter to Shi Songzhi. His core strategy was to guard Huainan and wait for Zhao Tai to collapse.
During this period, no matter how Zhao Tai tossed him, he would remain firm.
After hearing Shi Songzhi's words, Zhao Yun gradually felt at ease, "My dear, I will leave the matter of Shandong to you."
"Your Majesty, don't worry. I will definitely handle this matter well and let your Majesty and the Song Dynasty enjoy peace forever!" Shi Songzhi saluted and assured.
After receiving Zhao Yun's authorization, the Lin'an court quickly issued a statement in response to Zhao Tai's "Northern Expedition Mingzhi Statement".
"Rebellious ministers and thieves stole Shandong, defied nature and violent things, and did not obey my orders!"
"I have been ordered by heaven to rule the world, spread benevolence, and always have plans for the happiness of the people."
"In the third year of Duanping, the Northern Army entered the country. I couldn't bear the loss of life and the suffering of the people. I must repair the Northern Dynasty and strive for a hundred years of peace for the people of the Yangtze and Huaihe Rivers."
"The Qi thieves pretended to fight against the Mongols and established themselves as a separatist state. I thought they had merit and did not raise any troops to fight against them. However, the Qi thieves did not want to be grateful. Instead, they insulted the court officials, sabotaged the peace talks, and caused the people in the north and south to suffer from war again. They deserve to be punished. .”
"How can I tolerate such a thief?"
"I will now depose the Qi thief Zhao Tai, who is the king of Linyi County, and inform the world with a proclamation."
"If the soldiers and civilians of Shandong hear my message, they should raise the flag of righteousness to purge the Qi thieves, eliminate the rebellion of the Qi thieves, and bring peace to the people in the north and south."
Shandong and Lin'an each issued slogans, competing for the high ground of public opinion.
The movements in the Southern Song Dynasty were naturally carefully monitored by Mongolia and reported to Mongolia.
Hebei, Zhending Prefecture.
When Mongolia destroyed the Jin Dynasty, they destroyed the central capital of Jin Dynasty. Subotai was ordered to guard the two rivers, so he stationed in Zhaozhou to monitor Zhao Tai.
In February, there was a conflict between Zhao Tai and Shi Songzhi. Subotai learned the news and quickly sent this information to the grassland.
Due to the failure of the southern expedition, the Mongolian army headquarters and the Han army in Hebei suffered heavy losses. Therefore, after the Wokuotai squadron returned to the grassland, the strength of the two rivers was relatively empty.
Although it was comfortable for Subutai to stay in Hebei for the past two years, the close proximity to Zhao Tai put great pressure on him.
Today, Mongolia only has 50,000 troops in Hebei, but Zhao Tai has 150,000 troops in Shandong.
Because of Zhao Tai's pressure, Subotai often suffered from insomnia at night for a long time.
This situation was relieved to some extent until the conflict broke out between Zhao Tai and Shi Zhaizhi in February.
The internal struggle in the Southern Song Dynasty made Subotai believe that Zhao Tai did not have the energy to threaten Hebei, so he sent people to continue to monitor Shandong and pay close attention to the conflicts between Zhao Tai and the Southern Song Dynasty. Comfortable.
】
After Subutai sent the news of the internal strife between Zhao Tai and the Southern Song Dynasty to Wokuotai, instructions were quickly sent from the grassland, asking the Hebei Mongolian army to retreat fifty miles and not to actively provoke the Qi army, in order not to put pressure on Zhao Tai and let Zhao Tai and the Southern Song Dynasty fought first.
Subotai carried out the order, and then stayed in Zhaozhou, watching Shandong from a distance, preparing to watch the internal fighting between Zhao Tai and the Southern Song Dynasty.
In recent months, the situation had been developing according to Subotai's expectations, until the "Northern Expedition Mingzhi Xi" was sent to him.
"Zhao Tai must be mentally ill!" Subotai felt bad after hearing Shi Tianze read the message.
Shi Tianze also frowned, looking as if he was eating shit, "Now the Southern Song Dynasty is pressing forward step by step, and it is obvious that they want to take action against Zhao Tai. Instead of attacking the Southern Song Dynasty, this guy came to provoke us Mongolia. He is not afraid that we will unite with the Southern Song Dynasty and destroy Did you kill him?"
Subotai was watching the show, but he didn't expect to see his head, "Damn it. The Great Khan asked us not to put pressure on Zhao Tai and let him fight with the Southern Song Dynasty. Now Zhao Tai doesn't fight the Southern Song Dynasty, but wants to fight us. ,what should we do?"
Shi Tianze couldn't see Zhao Tai's path clearly, so he could only say: "Marshal, we'd better send the news to the Khan as soon as possible!"
Subotai nodded solemnly. He picked up the memorandum and called a subordinate, "Send this memorandum to the Great Khan as soon as possible!"
"Yes!" The Mongolian household bowed and hurried out.
At this time, Baihu had just left when a Mongolian scout came in hurriedly, "Reporting to Marshal, the scout found tens of thousands of Qi troops at the border!"
Subotai was shocked and couldn't help but cursed: "Zhao Thief is really here to beat us."
Shi Tianze originally had a bit of luck in his heart, thinking that although Zhao Tai issued a message, he would not actually attack Mongolia.
He believed that Zhao Tai's move was just to portray himself as a loyal minister determined to restore the state through propaganda, thereby gaining sympathy from the people, and then using public opinion to force the Southern Song Dynasty to stop.
Now that he heard that the Qi army was gathering at the border, he couldn't help but look panicked.
Because the Mongolian troops in Hebei are definitely no match for Zhao Tai, "Marshal, we have to quickly mobilize our troops for defense!"
