Inside the palace hall of Bianliang, Zhao Kuangyin gave a bitter smile. Zhao Pu advised,
"Once Your Majesty finishes pacifying Northern Han…"
"I know," Zhao Kuangyin cut in, letting out a long breath. "It will be time to repair the river dikes and dredge the old canals."
Only after seeing Zhao Pu nod did he continue,
"I remember that during Shi Jingtang's time, the Yellow River broke at Suanzao. Less than two years later, it broke again at Huazhou and flooded Suanzao once more."
"Compared to the Former Tang, the Yellow River really has become more and more unstable."
With a light sigh, Zhao Kuangyin now truly felt a sense of urgency.
Previously, his snowy night discussions with Zhao Pu had only focused on conquering the realm. But now, with the future laid bare before him, the tangled issues of governance, the Yellow River, the examination system, and countless other matters all made it clear that ruling the world was far harder than taking it.
A new thought formed in his mind.
"I should issue an edict to urge Cao Bin."
He was already impatient to see Li Yu, so that he could free his hands and sharpen his blade against Northern Han.
Watching the cooperation between Yue Fei and Han Shizhong on the light screen, Zhao Kuangyin also thought of the Former Tang's military examination system. He considered how it should be revised so that talents like these could be discovered and promoted earlier.
Zhao Pu, on the other hand, focused his attention on the matter of "large ships."
Compared to differences in soldiers, naval power was undoubtedly where Song held a clear advantage over Jin.
Zhao Pu also vaguely recalled that before His Majesty summoned him to watch the light screen, there had been mention of the Battle of Baekgang from the Former Tang, praising the power of naval forces, along with some scattered remarks about maritime defense.
At the time, there had been no eunuchs recording it, and His Majesty's words had not been very clear. Coupled with the shock of first seeing the light screen, Zhao Pu had temporarily set it aside.
Now that he thought about it again, it might be worth asking Marquis Zhuge, or requesting a replay of earlier scenes.
Perhaps the navy truly held great potential.
On the light screen:
[Lightscreen]
[Yue Fei and Han Shizhong's joint effort to repel the Jin army was a narrow victory, but its significance was enormous.
In more formal terms, it shattered the myth that the Jin were invincible, and crushed Jin's plans to capture Zhao Gou alive.
Put more plainly, it meant that the generals could finally stand straight and no longer live like dogs.
The primary reason was that Zhao Gou's repeated attempts at seeking peace were met with cold rejection by Jin. During the search of mountains and seas, Jin's intent to capture Zhao Gou alive was extremely obvious. Zhao Gou himself was unwilling to go to the Five Nations City prisoner camp to accompany Huizong and Qinzong, so he had no choice but to resist capture by force.
The secondary reason was also created by Zhao Gou himself.
After the establishment of Southern Song, the very first thing Zhao Gou did was raise taxes in the name of resisting Jin. Even though the south was wealthy, it could not withstand this kind of squeezing. As a result, peasant uprisings broke out one after another in Fujian Circuit, Jiangxi Circuit, and Hubei Circuit.
With internal and external troubles pressing in, Zhao Gou reached a certain tacit understanding with the generals.
First, he granted the generals expanded authority to raise troops. The Yue Family Army and the Han Family Army gradually came into being.
Second, and most importantly, the generals gained the right to command troops in battle, without being constantly interfered with by civilian supervisors who did not understand warfare.
After the southward flight during the Jianyan era, prices skyrocketed and the people could barely survive. Zhao Gou abolished most rewards for civil officials, but uniquely ensured stable pay for military generals, and even occasionally provided subsidies. This was something almost unimaginable during Northern Song.
It was under these conditions that the crippled Southern Song finally burst forth with a remarkably bright afterglow.
Five years after the Battle of Huangtiandang, Han Shizhong sent peace envoys to deliver false intelligence to Jin, luring them into reckless advance. He then ambushed and killed a Jin commander of ten thousand households, winning the victory at Dayi Town.
Another general praised as one of the restorers, Zhang Jun, achieved a great victory at the Battle of Mingzhou, crippling four thousand Jin elite vanguards in a frontal clash. As for the later Huai West campaign, it was left unspoken. He initially fought well, but later acted foolishly in pursuit of merit, leading to the annihilation of sixty thousand Song troops and the loss of his command.
By comparison, Wu Jie, a steady and disciplined officer who had once witnessed the farce of attacking Liao to seize Yan alongside Yue Fei, proved even more reliable.
In the second year of Jianyan, he served as vanguard at Qingxi Ridge and inflicted a crushing defeat on Jin. He was later appointed as commander-in-chief, ordered to defend the western front, guarding Sichuan and Shaanxi. He fought Jin for four years, achieving victories at Heshang Plain, Raofeng Pass, and Immortal Pass, ultimately forcing Jin to abandon their plan to first seize the Sichuan-Shaanxi region.
Among all of them, the most outstanding was undoubtedly Yue Fei.
After recapturing Jiankang, Yue Fei used rewards and merit to gradually build up the Yue Family Army. Five years later, he finally launched his own northern expedition.
In the fourth year of Shaoxing, Yue Fei led his army out from Xiangyang and Hanyang to attack the Jin-backed puppet state of Qi. He first recovered Yingzhou, then defeated the enemy in open battle at Dengzhou, ultimately recovering six commanderies of Xiang-Han. At the same time, he vigorously restored production and revived the people's livelihoods. This was his first northern expedition.
In the sixth year of Shaoxing, when the overall commander Zhang Jun abandoned further advance, Yue Fei alone marched north, driving deep into the Yi and Luo regions. He repeatedly defeated puppet Qi, recovered Shangzhou and Guozhou. Other recovered areas had to be abandoned due to lack of support. This was his second northern expedition.
The following year, after Liu Guangshi, Zhang Jun, and Yang Yizhong failed in the Huai West campaign, Yue Fei mobilized elite troops to launch his third northern expedition. He defeated puppet Qi again when they attacked Xiang-Han and the Shang-Guo regions. This was the smallest in scale among Yue Fei's northern expeditions.
All three of Yue Fei's early northern expeditions targeted puppet Qi. Yet with consecutive victories, his army already showed the bearing of elite troops, and a true northern campaign against Jin could be expected.
At the same time, leadership within Jin changed, with the peace faction gaining the upper hand and initiating contact with Southern Song.
Southern Song's peace-minded civil officials actively maneuvered, seeking to revive the old glory of using civil authority to restrain the military. The weak-kneed had no hesitation in stepping forward.
Most fatal of all, after hearing that Jin intended to return Qinzong's son, Yue Fei rashly involved himself in the debate over the crown prince, greatly displeasing Zhao Gou. Modern scholars generally believe that this was where the conflict between Zhao Gou and Yue Fei truly deepened.
Between a cowardly ruler content with survival and a resolute general determined on northern recovery, the conflict was destined to be irreconcilable. This became one of the most heartbreaking tragedies of early Southern Song.]
Liu Bei immediately widened his eyes in confusion.
"How much tax has Song already collected? Do they truly intend to squeeze the bones and drain the marrow of the common people?"
He was not naïve. He did not believe that the founding of Southern Song would kindly abolish all previous harsh levies.
That meant the people of Southern Song endured two rounds of massive tax increases from reforms, plus additional war taxes for resisting Jin. Even without knowing the exact figures, it was certain they were heavy.
"It's a pity Yue Fei joined the army," Zhang Fei said quietly.
"If he had stayed farming, and then faced this new round of tax hikes, he might have raised the banner and shouted 'The blue heaven is dead, the yellow heaven shall rise' just for fun."
It sounded like a joke, but everyone present had either farmed themselves or understood the hardships of common life. For a moment, no one could truly laugh.
Jian Yong sighed.
"The Jin army gives people no way to live. These harsh taxes also give people no way to live. To the common people, how is Southern Song any different from Jin?"
Mi Zhu actually thought about it seriously before saying,
"Then perhaps Song's governance is even harsher. After all, Jin only demanded that Youzhou return to its former status before Song, and they took cities without bloodshed. That alone says a lot."
The hall grew even more silent.
Fa Zheng raised his head, stroked his short beard, and looked at the map on the light screen. He suddenly said,
"This pattern of Yue Fei's northern expeditions actually aligns quite well with Marquis Zhuge's Longzhong Strategy."
"No wonder he holds Chancellor Zhuge in such high regard."
Zhang Fei was never gentle with his words. He sneered.
"In my view, Yue Fei may not be admiring the strategist."
"More likely, he's admiring that the strategist had an A-Dou who could call him foster father."