Northern Song Dynasty: Starting from the son of Song Renzong

Chapter 320 Two Battles
Spring, the 39th year of the Li Yuan Dynasty.

In the northern battlefield of Chola, the war is in full swing.

Zhao Xin, however, sat firmly in Thanjavur, defending against the army of the former Eastern Chalukya Dynasty that might arrive from the sea. At the same time, he looked at his two concubines and wondered whether he should have an heir.
This is just like appointing a crown prince.

Once you are appointed as the crown prince, the world will naturally be stable.

The ministers felt at ease.

Zhao Xin is not a local after all.

There was no way the locals would identify with him.

If a war were to break out in Thanjavur at this time, it is estimated that apart from forcing the men in the city to fight for Zhao Xin at gunpoint, these men would probably not be mobilized.

This makes his rule even more fragile.

of course!

Zhao Xin looked at the two of them and actually thought about that scene, and then...

Then there is no more.

Because I really can't do it.

After all, this Indian guy's appearance is really not that good.

Of course, there are other ways besides doing it yourself.

Anyway...

They are still young and may not even know how to give birth. When the time comes, Zhao Xin will have someone blindfold them and then have someone do it, just like Shiva gave his essence to the gods to save the world. Wouldn't that be the end of it?

This is definitely a brilliant idea!

If you want to declare in the future that Zhu Luo has been the Song Dynasty since ancient times, you have to do this.

But if you just want to treat this as a colony and a source of raw materials, then of course, there is no need to go through so much trouble.

Anyway...

As a colony, you can withdraw at any time.

Well... let's see how many people can come next year.

……

By the summer of that year.

The army sent by Zhao Xin, together with the local garrison, also repelled the attack of the Western Chalukya Dynasty.

Twenty thousand enemies were killed and even more were defeated. The elite troops of the Western Chalukya Dynasty were almost wiped out.

The king of the Western Chalukya dynasty, Vikramaditya VI, was actually a wise and powerful emperor.

He became emperor by usurping his brother's throne.

Such a person's ability is definitely beyond doubt.

But this time on the battlefield in the north, he suffered a tragic defeat.

In the end, he had to flee back in embarrassment.

If Zhao Xin had not shown much interest in the Western Chalukya Dynasty at the moment, it would have been a question whether the Western Chalukya Dynasty could be maintained after the other side's defeat.

In fact...

With the enemy's defeat, some chiefs of the Eastern Chalukya Dynasty began to waver.

This is not!

Soon, some of these chiefs who were close to Zhu Luo began to send people to secretly discuss the matter of surrender with Zhao Xin.

at the same time……

If Zhao Xin sent more people to attack the Western Chalukya Empire, even some chiefs within the Western Chalukya Empire might surrender decisively.

Considering that it will rain more frequently starting from May and June.

Zhao Xin also stopped the army from advancing deeper into the enemy territory.

Instead, negotiate with King Vihara VI first.

If the other party could return all the cities of the Eastern Chalukya Dynasty, pay for Zhao Xin's war expenses, surrender, and pay tribute on time every year, then Zhao Xin would no longer attack the other party.

When had King Vihara VI ever been humiliated like this, and yet people still wanted him to surrender to the other party?
but……

In this battle, the Western Chalukya Empire indeed suffered heavy losses.

Even dozens of elephants died.

Even though the death of only a few dozen elephants may not seem like a lot, in fact, that was only the loss at the first moment of the war. Afterwards, if the elephants had not run fast, it is estimated that all five or six hundred elephants would have died on the battlefield.

This war can only be said to be fought by human beings.

Even if Shiva were to descend to the world, it would be nothing more than this.

Men and horses were falling, elephants were running around, and soldiers in the army were covered in blood. This was the scene that King Vihara VI saw on the battlefield.

Even after running back to his capital, he still felt a lingering fear of that scene.

After King Chaori VI ran back to his capital, he said to his ministers, "Tell me! What should we do next?"

The ministers had never encountered such a situation before.

All he could say was: "The Emperor of the Song Dynasty is too powerful to be defeated."

King Vihara VI knew it well, and he was not a fool.

it's over...

King Chao Ri VI thought for a moment and decided that the only option now was to send an envoy to have a slow talk with the Emperor of Song.

I hope the other party doesn't really want to kill him.

soon……

The envoy of King Vikramaditya VI arrived.

It was indeed a bit difficult for such a large dynasty as the Western Chalukya to submit to the Song Dynasty.

After all, they are in central and southern India, so they still have some respect.

Unless Zhao Xin has already reached their capital, it is believed that it will be difficult for the other party to accept surrender at this stage.

Zhao Xin also asked the envoy to go back and tell their emperor, saying: "Go back and tell your emperor that the territory of the Song Dynasty is more than a hundred times larger than that of the Western Chalukya Dynasty, so his submission to the Song Dynasty is not something shameful. On the contrary, the other party should regard this as an honor."

The envoy also secretly spat and said, I don’t believe you at all.

It’s glorious!
But there is one thing to say...

The envoys also had doubts, that is, whether Zhao Xin was the emperor of the Song Dynasty.

Because you say that it is reasonable for the emperor of such a big country to go to such a remote place to fight a war?

And he led by example.

Anyway, the envoy felt that it was not very reasonable.

of course!

Didn’t the envoy say that this was absolutely impossible?

For example, in the northern part of India, some tribal leaders went to the northern part of India to conquer the local area and then established a country. In such a situation, it is indeed possible for the emperor to lead the army in person.

But the problem is...

He heard that the Song Dynasty was thousands of miles away.

Just taking the boat and drifting on the sea would take at least three months. If you take into account waiting for the monsoon and so on, it would probably take at least half a year or even a year to make a round trip.

Now that Zhao Xin has escaped, who will govern the country called the Song Dynasty after he leaves?

therefore……

The envoy seriously suspected that Zhao Xin's Emperor of Song might be an imposter.

of course!

No matter whether Zhao Xin is a fake or not.

Anyway...

Now they are getting beaten, it's true.

The envoy then hurried back and conveyed Zhao Xin's words to his emperor.

He said: "The Emperor of the Song Dynasty said that if you don't surrender, they will destroy our capital next year."

Of course, King Vikramaditya VI did not believe it.

After all, their capital is actually quite far away from the other party's sphere of influence.

It's at least a thousand miles away, and the road may not be easy to walk. But...

As the saying goes, you can hide for a while, but you can’t hide forever.

Once you have seen the opponent's world-destroying weapons, you will understand that when facing such an enemy, you have no chance of winning.

If he continues to resist at this moment, then he must have something wrong with his brain.

In fact...

King Vihara VI still had a clear mind.

As long as they think from the perspective of maintaining the rule of their own dynasty, and the fact that the other party's territory is more than a hundred times larger than theirs, then surrender, vassalage, and tribute do not seem to be unacceptable.

Just a thought...

If the people knew that they surrendered so 'easily', it would more or less cause their royal family to lose a lot of prestige among the people, right?
Do you want face or substance?
After a month or two of thinking and organizing a meeting of the chiefs.

King Vikramaditya VI finally chose to surrender.

Keeping the green hills, you don’t have to worry about having no firewood.

Just admit defeat now, and then continue fighting when his national strength recovers.

This winter.

The two sides also discussed the issue of vassalage.

For example, they would send their eldest son to Srivijaya to show their sincerity.

What else can these chiefs do?
All you can do is do it.

This also made King Vihara VI feel more stressed.

But he still secretly muttered in his heart that there is still a way!

Isn’t it just going to Srivijaya as a hostage?
In that place, you can just hijack a merchant ship and run back.

therefore……

The problem is actually not that big.

At last……

That’s it!
Anyway...

Even if the eldest son is unable to succeed to the throne, doesn’t there still exist the second son?

The most important thing now is to prevent the royal families of the Western Chalukya Dynasty from being dragged out and beheaded like the royal families of the Chola Dynasty.

then……

The two sides agreed that the other party would submit to Zhao Xin and pay Zhao Xin a certain amount of gold, horses, grain and cotton as tribute every year.

In addition, based on the principle of not letting others waste something, Zhao Xin also asked the other party to hand over 500 palace maids to him.

The other party did as he was told without hesitation.

After all, these 500 palace maids were not necessarily provided by the other party.

Maybe it was shared by his vassal states.

Anyway...

The Western Chalukya Dynasty did not feel any pain about this at all.

After receiving the animals, Zhao Xin first found a place to raise them. Then, she would wait for the southwest monsoon to blow next year and then transport them back to Srivijaya and find a place for them to reclaim wasteland and cultivate the land.

……

While Zhao Xin was at war with the Western Chalukya Dynasty, another dynasty to the west of Thanjavur also became restless that year.

Of course, rather than saying that the other party is a dynasty, it would be better to just say that he is a city lord.

The Hoysala people, there was a rebellion in the country this year, and the old chief seemed not to be very popular with the "people" after being the chief for two years.

Therefore, a new city lord and a new chief took advantage of the time when Zhao Xin was fighting with the Western Chalukya Dynasty to break out of the siege.

It was probably about usurping the throne or something, which is indeed not very glorious.

For this reason, the other side naturally declared war on foreign countries to divert domestic conflicts.

Now, some of his expansionist behaviors have obviously offended Zhao Xin's vassal states.

Now the vassal state comes to Zhao Xin for help.

Of course, Zhao Xin couldn't just stand by and watch him die.

The only thing we can do is to call back all the troops first, and then see what the Hoysala people are trying to do.

Sent an envoy to negotiate with the other party.

It was nothing more than some minor border conflicts and some ethnic conflicts hundreds of years ago, which turned into invasions of neighboring countries.

Considering that the other party not only refused to return the land they had invaded, but also did not respect him as the Emperor of the Song Dynasty, Zhao Xin had no choice but to send another army to attack the Hoysala people after his army returned.

Although the Hoysalas are numerous, they are basically unarmored units.

The most defensive thing you can do is just hold an extra shield in your hand.

nature……

Under Zhao Xin's musket attack, it took less than a month and a half.

The enemy was defeated by Zhao Xin and entered their capital.

At this time, Hosala had just started to develop and was not very strong yet, so he was easily defeated by Zhao Xin.

It has to be said that the Hoysala people still have the terrain advantage over them.

After all, the enemy can send troops to occupy the upper reaches of the river north of Thanjavur, and then go downstream and easily attack Thanjavur.

Zhao Xin's move can be regarded as slightly reducing the threat posed by the upper reaches of the river to the lower reaches.

And after this year, after fighting two major battles.

at last……

Not to mention the Western Chalukya Dynasty and the Hoysalas, there are also some chieftains of the Eastern Chalukya Dynasty, at least...

After witnessing Zhao Xin's military power, the chiefs who had long since surrendered to Zhao Xin, as well as those chiefs who were surrendered by Prince Pandiya in the south, now had to bow down to Zhao Xin.

When they were sitting together to discuss matters, Zhao Xin seemed to be able to feel that their expressions were much more submissive than before when they looked at him.

For the next period of time, Zhao Xin summoned them every day.

On the one hand, it also means that they are tied tightly to his warship.

on the other hand……

From their mouths, Zhao Xin could also learn a lot of things that he didn't know before.

For example...

Why are people in the south so dark?

Will the situation in the north be better?

and also……

What is the situation in the north now?
of course!

These people may not necessarily be clear about this, after all, to their north there is the Western Chalukya Dynasty and the Eastern Chalukya Dynasty.

but……

After all, he is a local, so he must know more than Zhao Xin.

Zhao Xin also often asked them for advice on how to govern the country.

only……

Do you think Zhao Xin really doesn’t know how to govern the country?
Of course not!
It’s just that Zhao Xin hopes that they can put forward their own opinions, and then integrate Zhao Xin’s ideas, and finally, work out a feasible method together.

For example, they all have military power, which is definitely not good for Zhao Xin.

But if Zhao Xin told them directly that all your military power would belong to me from now on.

If the other party accepts it passively, he or she might complain.

therefore……

You have to negotiate with them slowly, little by little, and then get them to take the bait.

At least……

At least there has to be a 'democratic' process.

Although this "democracy" ultimately depends on who has the bigger fist.

(End of this chapter)