Destroy Jin and conquer Song, and carry the Northern Expedition through to the end

Chapter 372 The Prince and the Emperor Fight

Yu Yunwen glared at Shi Jun again before slowly saying, "This is about a secret. The emperor seems to be planning to abdicate."

As Yu Yunwen told his story, Liu Huai also sorted out the current political context based on the historical knowledge of later generations.

In later generations, Emperor Xiaozong of Song, the current prince Zhao Shen (Note 1) was not exactly the crown prince, but a prince who was only one step away from being the crown prince.

If you look at Zhao Shen's life, he was indeed a poor child.

The reason Zhao Shen was adopted was because Zhao Gou could not give birth to a son, so he adopted one from the royal family as the crown prince.

However, after Zhao Shen was raised in the palace, Zhao Gou felt that he was capable enough and might even give birth to a child. In addition, Zhao Gou's biological mother, Empress Dowager Wei, had an ambiguous attitude towards him, and Concubine Pan also disliked him. Zhao Shen could not even become a prince, let alone be made a crown prince. He was only granted the title of a prince.

After Yue Fei's death, Song and Jin made peace, and Qin Hui gained immense power with the help of the Jin Dynasty. Then, Zhao Gou pushed the poor child Zhao Shen out to compete with Qin Hui.

Some people reported Qin Hui's illegal activities to Zhao Gou. When Qin Hui asked for the source of the information, Zhao Gou pushed the blame onto Zhao Shen.

Qin Hui also hated Zhao Shen because of this.

Of course, the history books say that Zhao Shen was fearless and passionate in the face of Qin Hui. But in fact, even Zhao Gou was afraid of Qin Hui, let alone Zhao Shen?

Under Qin Hui's suppression, Zhao Shen didn't even become a prince, let alone a crown prince.

However, as Zhao Shen left the palace and lived in the Prince's Mansion, many officials who were desperate because of Qin Hui's perverse actions and Zhao Gou's suffocating complacency secretly turned to him.

Of course, the vast majority of people are not loyal, at most they are just showing goodwill.

After all, as a shining star among the human crowd, it was not too difficult to surpass Zhao Gou. Therefore, a trend of thought gradually emerged in the court.

Zhao Gou is already hopeless. If he wants to do something serious, he has to wait until the crown prince ascends the throne.

Naturally, among those who defected to Zhao Shenzhong there were also political speculators.

For example, in the 24th year of Shaoxing, the Imperial College official Shi Hao secretly showed goodwill to Zhao Shen.

This guy is the important official of the Song Dynasty who once made the famous saying, "There are no heroes in the north. If there were, they would rise up and drive out the Jin people. Since the Jin people are here, there will be no heroes in the north."

Shi Hao was not only Zhao Gou's confidant, but also valued by Qin Hui, and he also defected to Zhao Shen. It can be said that he was a perfect match.

Of course, Shi Hao was not a man without ability. He had political vision. In the 25th year of Shaoxing, when Qin Hui was seriously ill and tried to let his adopted son Qin Hui inherit the position of prime minister, Shi Hao decisively defected after learning the news.

However, Shi Hao did not report it to Zhao Gou, but instead informed the news to Zhao Shen, who then reported it to Zhao Gou.

As a political veteran, Zhao Gou rushed to visit Qin Hui. After finding out the truth, he directly asked Qin Hui to retire and return home, completely ending the Qin family's official career.

After Qin Hui's death, Zhao Shen immediately gained great prestige in the court and the country.

Soon, Shi Hao's reward arrived. After Zhao Shen was named a prince, Shi Hao was appointed as a professor and lecturer in the Prince Jian's Palace, becoming Zhao Shen's teacher.

For Zhao Shen and Shi Hao, this was a win-win situation. It seemed that all they had to do next was wait for Zhao Gou to pass away.

However, when the war between Song and Jin broke out again, Zhao Gou was about to cause trouble again.

Zhao Gou did not expect that after twenty years of submission, the Jin Kingdom still did not want to let him go and mobilized all its national strength to march south.

This happened once and twice, not a third time. This is the third time that the Jin Kingdom broke the agreement and went south. Even if one is not sober-minded, one knows that the Song and Jin countries cannot reconcile.

However, as an emperor, Zhao Gou really could not escape.

Just as Chen Kangbo said, as long as the Song Dynasty is still there, as an emperor, you will naturally have a large army and powerful generals to protect you; if the Song Dynasty is gone, even if you flee to the ends of the earth, the Jin Dynasty can send a jailer with a rope to bring you back.

This is indeed a dead end.

But Zhao Gou was worthy of being the biological son of Song Huizong Zhao Ji, and he soon got inspiration from his father's deeds.

He could abdicate the throne to Zhao Shen and become the emperor emeritus.

At that time, Zhao Shen, as the emperor, only needed to devote all his energy and fight against the Jin Dynasty, but Zhao Gou, who was enjoying himself in the rear, had a lot of things to consider.

Wouldn't it be wonderful to just enjoy rights without fulfilling obligations?

Although Zhao Ji failed in this tactic, Zhao Gou was confident that he could use this trick well.

Now this news is only circulated in a small circle among the prime ministers and is just an idea.

But just an idea was enough to excite the pro-war factions such as Yu Yunwen.

Liu Huai knew history, so he wasn't too surprised, but he felt a little disdainful.

Now Zhao Gou is probably still planning to continue to hold power after abdication.

But the position of emperor itself is a huge political anchor. It doesn't mean that no one will be loyal to the emperor because of the pressure from the emperor. It would be a miracle if the two sides don't fight each other to the death politically at that time.

Zhao Gou's base consisted of the peace and surrender factions. The war faction had no chance of gaining prominence during Zhao Gou's reign, and the only political force Zhao Shen could win over was the war faction, so the two sides hit it off immediately.

Driven by Zhao Shen's desire to gain greater political power and the war factions' desire to realize their political ideals, a series of military actions began in the early years of Emperor Xiaozong's reign, culminating in the Longxing Northern Expedition.

In history, due to the failure of the Longxing Northern Expedition and Zhao Shen's weakness, the pro-war faction was defeated again in the political struggle, marked by the restoration of the pro-peace faction Tang Situi to the position of prime minister, and the Song and Jin dynasties negotiated peace again.

Afterwards, the State of Song once again gave up all the results of the Northern Expedition, including Haizhou.

It's important to emphasize that this wasn't just a struggle between the pro-war and pro-peace factions, but also a power struggle between Zhao Shen and Zhao Gou. It could even be said that Wei Sheng's death was the aftermath of this political struggle.

Of course, these are all things of the past. As for now, Liu Huai picked up the teacup and sneered in his heart.

With the Loyal Army and the Jingnan Army at our disposal, anyone who dares to talk about withdrawing will be killed!

Seeing that Liu Huai was not surprised to hear this earth-shattering news, but instead a hint of understanding appeared on his face, Yu Yunwen couldn't help but nod secretly.

Liu Dalang is indeed a leader of the younger generation. Not only is he strong in military strategy, he is also very knowledgeable in politics. He is indeed a strong ally of the war faction.

Yu Yunwen waited until the others had digested this information before continuing, "In my opinion, Chen Xianggong's move is to win over Liu Dalang for the Crown Prince."

Liu Huai shook his head: "Too hasty."

"It's indeed too hasty, which is why I'm a little angry." Yu Yunwen echoed: "We really should let everyone come to the front line to see what kind of situation we are facing. How can we be dragging our feet at this time?"

Although he said that, Yu Yunwen still looked at Liu Huai steadily, as if waiting for him to express his opinion.

Liu Huai turned the teacup and first glanced at the other four generals. Seeing that they all looked like old monks in meditation, he smiled and said, "I have no intention of getting involved in political disputes."

Yu Yunwen smiled: "Da Lang, since you have come to Jiangnan to fight, you are already trapped. There is no escape. Even if you want to hide, you will be found. I give you a chance today, but you may not have a choice tomorrow."

As the saying goes, where there are people, there are rivers and lakes. How can you retire from the underworld?

Liu Huai thought about it in his mind, then shook his head and said, "Yu Sheren, the order to send the Jingnan Army to Lin'an in the first place is ridiculous. You have to find a way to push it back."

Yu Yunwen smiled faintly: "Isn't this disobeying the emperor's order?"

Liu Huai was somewhat baffled. "Yu Sheren is just playing dumb. Can't you make the situation more serious? Just say the entire Jin navy has arrived, and Jin lord Wanyan Liang is leading the main force to cross the river. The army is fighting to the death at Dongcaishi. If we act rashly, the Jin army might attack Jiankang directly, and Lin'an might be surrounded by them."

After a pause, Liu Huai turned to look at the others: "Who here would submit a letter of denunciation alone? After the Jingnan Army leaves, they will have to face the Jin thieves alone. Isn't this courting death?"

Shi Jun shook his head repeatedly to show that he would never tell on anyone, while Li Dao simply sneered.

Yu Yunwen sighed: "Well, that's fine. But you haven't mentioned the Crown Prince yet."

Seeing Yu Yunwen pressing him, Liu Huai could only sigh and say, "A man's service is one of life and death. How can you be so loyal to someone you haven't even met?"

Although later generations lamented that Yue Fei sympathized with him as an unparalleled general and fought for his life to hand over to Emperor Xiaozong, Zhao Shen was too weak, which might be related to the environment he grew up in. He was too easily influenced and it was normal for him to change his orders every day. In the end, he was even forced to have a mental breakdown by his son and daughter-in-law. How could he be a wise leader?

Thinking of this, Liu Huai couldn't help but glance at Li Dao.

Zhao Shen's daughter-in-law was this guy's daughter Li Fengniang.

History is so inexplicable.

Seeing that Liu Huai still refused to give in, Yu Yunwen said decisively, "That's easy. After we win this battle, I will introduce you to the Crown Prince. Don't worry, we will definitely contact him secretly."

How can it be legitimate for the Crown Prince to contact foreign generals?
This time even Li Dao was a little surprised.

Unexpectedly, Yu Yunwen looks kind and like an honest elder, but when it comes to playing political tricks, he is very good at it.

Upon hearing this, Liu Huai stood up and shook his head: "Let's just fight through this battle first. Yu Sheren, although I'm young, I have years of experience in killing bandits. Now I have a word of advice."

"Liu Dalang, please speak."

"Once on the battlefield, it's best to consider yourself a pure soldier. Even if your identity and mine involve politics, hesitation is always a sign of defeat."

After saying that, Liu Huai stood up, bowed to Yu Yunwen, and left with Xin Qiji and He Boqiu.

Li Dao and Shi Jun continued to wait quietly in the tent, not daring to say a word except for exchanging glances.

Today there were imperial edicts and disobediences, emperors and ministers, and crown princes, as well as clear orders and perfunctory ones. It was really too chaotic, and it would take the two of them some time to digest it.

Yu Yunwen, on the other hand, remained seated in the main seat, maintaining a smiling expression as he pondered for a moment before muttering to himself, "Liu Dalang, Liu Feihu, once you've entered this vortex, how can you just leave it as you please?"

Li Dao and Shi Jun felt a little horrified.

Liu Huai, who had just walked out of the general's tent, seemed to have sensed something. He shuddered and said to He Boqiu, "Hold a general military meeting. All commanders should attend."

After saying that, Liu Huai looked at the river and felt inexplicably angry.

What the hell is this? The Jin army has already reached the gates, and the Song Dynasty is still in internal strife! Still in political struggle!

Are we worthy of the people who died in Lianghuai?
Are we worthy of the soldiers who are still fighting on the front lines?

Is it worthy of Wei Sheng who worked so hard in Shandong?

Thinking of this, Liu Huaifu forced himself to calm down, but he couldn't help but look at the palm of his hand.

There was a red mark there, but it was not a wound sustained in battle, but the color left when the red silk of the butterfly-like woman's skirt was pulled.

At this moment, an idea emerged uncontrollably from Liu Huai's mind: It really is me who has to take care of this world!

Liu Huai's face was as hard as iron. He took firm steps and strode towards the barracks of the Jingnan Army.

Note 1: Because Song Xiaozong Zhao Shen changed his name so many times, he had a total of four names. According to the time, he should have been called Zhao Wei at this time. In order to avoid reading confusion, the name Zhao Shen is generally used in this book.

(End of this chapter)