After learning about the grain and horse trade between the Southern Song Dynasty and Mongolia, Zhao Tai immediately left the garden and went to the meeting hall to summon his close ministers to discuss countermeasures.
At this time, before the minister arrived, Zhao Tai stood in front of the map with his hands folded, lost in thought.
To be honest, after hearing that the Southern Song Dynasty sent food to Mongolia, Zhao Tai was quite annoyed at first.
But when he thought about it, it was only Meng Ge who the Southern Song Dynasty colluded with, and Zhao Tai immediately felt relieved.
At this time, Zhao Tai was deep in thought. Wang Wentong, Wang Bin, Yuan Haowen, Zhang Rou and others entered the lobby one after another.
Everyone glanced at Zhao Tai's back, and after looking at each other, Wang Wentong led them to salute together, "Your Majesty!"
Zhao Tai turned around when he heard the sound, and when he saw everyone coming, he smiled and said, "Excuse me. I summoned all the ministers here because I got a piece of news."
Zhao Tai then told several people about Yang You's report, and when everyone heard that the Southern Song Dynasty was supporting Mongolia, their expressions immediately became exciting.
After hearing this, Zhang Rou's face was not surprised but happy, "Your Majesty, the person supported by the Southern Song Dynasty is Brother Meng, not Guyu, right?"
Zhao Tai nodded, "What do the Qing family think?"
Zhang Rou immediately said: "Your Majesty, the biggest threat to Da Qi in the current situation is still the Mongols in the north. Since the last meeting, the policy pursued by Da Qi is to provoke Mongolia and prevent the Mongolian tribes from returning to power. Become one!"
Nowadays, the world is divided into three parts, and Qi is sandwiched between Mongolia and Song Dynasty.
The Southern Song Dynasty was a regime that had no ambitions and only wanted separatism.
Such a regime pays more attention to defense and has less willingness to attack.
Therefore, although Qi State identified the Southern Song Dynasty as its main opponent, the Southern Song Dynasty actually posed little threat to Qi State.
Mongolia is different. Materials on the grasslands are scarce and the living conditions are very aggressive.
Throughout the ages, various tribes on the grasslands have either attacked each other to compete for survival resources, or they have joined forces to plunder the Central Plains.
Historically, none of the Huns, Turks, and Xianbei who unified the grasslands did not target the Central Plains dynasty.
This is not accidental, but inevitable due to economic reasons.
After reunification, the grassland tribes cannot attack each other and rob each other for resources, so they will inevitably choose to plunder the Central Plains.
Therefore, whenever the grassland tribes completed their unification, the Central Plains dynasty faced tremendous pressure.
Zhao Tai knew that Zhang Rou's thoughts might be consistent with his own, so he nodded and said, "Aiqing, keep talking!"
Zhang Judao: "Your Majesty! In the past two years, Daqi has blocked the border, strictly controlled the flow of materials into Mongolia, and sent agents into the grasslands to instigate internal fighting among the various Mongolian ministries. It can be said that we have made many efforts, but the effect has not been obvious. Now it seems, Although the relationship between various Mongolian ministries is tense, they are still not completely divided. I think that the Southern Song Dynasty's aid to Meng Ge is an opportunity. At present, the Mongolian Khan is Guiyou, and the Southern Song Dynasty supports Meng Ge. When Meng Ge becomes stronger, he will inevitably rebel and fight with Meng Ge. Guyu fights for power in Mongolia.”
After unifying the north, Zhao Tai formulated a strategy to block Mongolia and try to divide Mongolia.
Now the Southern Song Dynasty supports Meng Ge and makes Mongolia stronger, which may indeed lead to the split of Mongolia.
Zhao Tai nodded thoughtfully, "Aiqing is right."
After speaking, Zhao Tai looked at the others and asked, "Do you have any other opinions?"
At this time, Wang Bin smiled and said: "Your Majesty! The Southern Song Dynasty's aid to Brother Meng will not only cause Mongolia to split, but also give us an excuse to attack the Southern Song Dynasty!"
As soon as he said this, everyone present became excited.
Now Zhao Tai still holds the title of King of Qi in the Song Dynasty.
After Zhao Tai unified the north, many civil and military officials in Qi wrote letters suggesting that Zhao Tai abandon this title and ascend the throne and proclaim himself emperor.
In this way, Zhao Tai was starting from scratch, and he only needed an excuse to "unify the world" to destroy the Song Dynasty.
Zhao Tai did not accept the advice of his ministers and continued to hold the title of King of the Song Dynasty.
So if Zhao Tai wants to raise troops, he needs to find a justifiable excuse.
Now that the Southern Song Dynasty supports Mongolia to attack Qi, doesn't it have an excuse?
Wang Bin continued: "Your Majesty, if Meng Ge gets help from the Southern Song Dynasty, he rebels and competes with Guiyou for the Mongolian Khanship, causing Mongolia to fall into chaos. I think that we, Da Qi, can take advantage of Mongolia's lack of time to look south and destroy it in one fell swoop. Song!"
As soon as these words came out, everyone agreed, and the atmosphere instantly became heated.
Zhao Tai held the title of King of the Song Dynasty and had an excuse to raise troops. If he acted quickly, he could invade Lin'an.
Then officials and armies from various places in the Southern Song Dynasty could probably pass on the message and decide.
Because he, Zhao Tai, was the prince of the Song Dynasty, seizing Zhao Yun's throne was just an internal conflict within the Zhao family. Seeing that the emperor was gone, local officials had no choice but to accept the rule of the new emperor.
Many ministers were a little excited when they thought of this. However, after being happy for a while, they found that Zhao Tai's expression was solemn, and everyone gradually became quiet.
Zhao Tai did not proclaim himself emperor and continued to hold the title of King Qi of the Song Dynasty. In addition to confusing the Southern Song Dynasty and making the Southern Song Dynasty uncertain about the time when he would send troops, it was indeed to facilitate the acquisition of the territory of the Southern Song Dynasty.
Zhao Tai had actually thought of what Zhang Rou and Wang Bin said before they came.
Qi State can think of it, and the Southern Song Dynasty can also think of it.
There were so many risks, but the Southern Song Dynasty still did this, which shows that the Southern Song Dynasty was actually somewhat sure.
For the Southern Song Dynasty, Zhao Tai would definitely attack the Song Dynasty, so they would definitely support Mongolia and use Mongolia to contain Qi.
As for supporting Guyu or supporting Meng Ge, the result actually makes no difference.
The current situation in Mongolia is that Meng Ge will rebel against Guyu when he becomes stronger, and Guyu will definitely destroy Meng Ge when he becomes stronger.
The current assumption of Zhang Rou, Wang Bin and others is that the Southern Song Dynasty supported Meng Ge, but Meng Ge rebelled against Guyu, Mongolia fell into long-term chaos, and Qi took the opportunity to destroy the Song Dynasty.
So what were the plans of the Southern Song Dynasty?
Zhao Tai pondered for a while and then thought of another possibility, "What if Brother Meng quickly defeated Guyu and gained power in Mongolia after receiving the support of the Southern Song Dynasty?"
After everyone heard Zhao Tai's words, they were stunned for a moment. Wang Wentong frowned, "Then we will be in trouble!"
Zhao Tai said in a deep voice: "The rapid decline of Mongolia has a lot to do with the fact that after Ogedai's death, the Mongolian nobles elected the mediocre Guyuk as their great khan. If Meng Ge quickly defeated Guyu and unified Mongolia, then Meng Ge would With the ability, Mongolia will threaten Daqi again in a very short period of time. With the threat of Mongolia at that time, the army of the Solitary King will not dare to move lightly. As a result, time will drag on, and Mongolia and Song Dynasty will each get what they need through the horse grain trade. , Brother Meng can stabilize Mongolia, and the Southern Song Dynasty can improve its strength, which will be extremely detrimental to Da Qi!"
After hearing Zhao Tai's words, everyone fell into deep thought.
Wang Bin frowned and said, "What does the king mean?"
Zhao Tai said in a deep voice: "This time the Southern Song Dynasty supports Brother Meng, there is a risk for Daqi. Gu means to seize the opportunity and eliminate the crisis. And this crisis is that we must prevent Brother Meng from winning quickly. We must We want to plunge Mongolia into long-term disputes.”
