Simulates history, but Chongzhen is the Divine Emperor at the beginning

Chapter 307 War or Peace?
In the 223rd year of the Shaoxing era, the Grand Tutor's office officially replaced the "Bojilie Assembly" and became the de facto holder of military and political power in the Jin Dynasty!

That year, the Grand Tutor ordered all armies to be deployed throughout the country to suppress the rebellions of the old nobility and to oversee the redistribution of land. As a result, the old nobility suffered devastating blows in economic, political, and military aspects. Consequently, the accumulated problems of the Jin Dynasty were completely eliminated, and the world thereafter was like a blank sheet of paper, ready for you to paint your own picture...

The following year, the Grand Tutor encouraged agriculture, promoting new farming techniques and improved varieties while reducing the tax burden on farmers. This enabled many displaced people to return to their homes and restore agricultural production, which had been damaged by war and corrupt governance.

That year, taking advantage of trade with the Southern Song Dynasty, the Grand Tutor purchased a large quantity of surplus production tools from the Southern Song to aid in the recovery of the Jin Dynasty's economy and people's livelihoods...

The following year, the Central Plains enjoyed a bountiful harvest, and the people all praised the Grand Tutor's benevolence!

Meanwhile, taking advantage of the huge economic surplus brought about by the bumper harvest, you began to build water conservancy projects...

That year, you carried out a major overhaul of the Yellow River, which curbed the river's ferocity since the Northern Song Dynasty's "three shifts in its course," a river that had plagued the people on both banks. Although it was not enough to cure the root cause, it greatly calmed this mother river that frequently lashed out at the people of the Central Plains...

After repairing the Yellow River, you then built canals and reservoirs in various places to further promote agricultural production...

The following year, you vigorously promoted the textile and salt industries. While encouraging cotton planting and textile production, you also organized people to produce salt in the Bohai Sea, thus initially establishing two reliable economic industries!

[By relying on these two economic industries with huge demand, you have greatly expanded the government's tax revenue, which in turn has further reduced taxes on agriculture, leading to a further improvement in the lives of the people...]

Several more years passed, and the economy, people's livelihood, and political development of the Central Plains gradually reached or even surpassed the peak of the Jin Dynasty!

At this point, you have essentially established a feudal dynasty that can barely be considered "well-governed"...

[It was precisely because of the social and material foundations laid by feudal rule that you, feeling the time was ripe, finally began your industrial development!]

In the 230th year of Shaoxing's reign, the Grand Tutor ordered the large-scale development of coal mining in Hedong and other areas. This was intended to both solve the employment problem for the surplus agricultural population and provide energy for the upcoming steel smelting industry!

[So, as the coal mining industry in Hedong flourished, you seized the opportunity to open several iron mines, and then taught the workers advanced smelting technology, thereby greatly improving the efficiency of steel production!]

As the saying goes, steel is the foundation of all industry. Now that the steel industry is booming, it's time to expand into other industries...

In the 232nd year of Shaoxing, thanks to ample tax revenue and the initial production of the coal and steel industries, you continued to develop other industries: construction, roads, vehicles and ships, agricultural implements... and so on!

The prosperity of these industries not only solved the employment problem for the surplus population, but also injected strong vitality into the development of the people's livelihood economy. Moreover, due to your careful management, the transformation of these industries did not ultimately lead to disorderly and unchecked growth; everything was under your control.

In short, although industrialization is not a simple matter that can be achieved overnight, the Jin Kingdom is still thriving and gradually transforming from a purely agricultural country into a semi-industrial country...

This "semi-industrialization" brought not only increasingly prosperous economic conditions and people's livelihoods, but also significant military advancements!

In just over a decade, the Jin soldiers' weapons were upgraded from inconsistent iron weapons to standardized steel weapons: steel swords, steel spears, steel arrows, steel armor... wherever steel could be used, it was replaced with steel!

In addition to these traditional cold weapons, the Jin army also equipped itself with a large number of firearms such as artillery, greatly strengthening its military capabilities. In the war against the Mongols, the Jin army's advantage grew increasingly greater...

Finally, feeling the time was ripe, you decided to resolve the Mongolian issue once and for all!

In the 236th year of the Shaoxing era, the Grand Tutor mobilized 200,000 elite troops to attack the Mongols. The army marched from the Yanshan Great Wall to strike at the Mongol princes in the east!

The following year, the Jin army defeated the allied forces of the Mongol princes in eastern Mongolia and seized the Hetao region.

The following year, the Jin army marched westward from the Hetao region, directly attacking the former Western Xia territory of the Hexi Corridor!

That year, the Grand Tutor personally led an expedition against the Mongol Khanate, emulating Emperor Wu of Han's decisive battle in the northern deserts, directly confronting the Mongol Khan's main army?

That year, the Jin army unleashed a barrage of artillery fire, routing the Mongol army. The Mongol Khan fled alone to the Chagatai Khanate...

To be honest, the Mongols were more troublesome than the Xiongnu and their predecessors. After all, when the Xiongnu Chanyu was defeated in a direct confrontation, he could only flee to the northern deserts, while the Mongol Great Khan could still retreat to the Chagatai Khanate after his defeat...

[And you don't have a good solution to this either, because the Jin Dynasty isn't a truly industrialized nation yet. Driving the Khan westward with artillery is already their limit; going any further would be very risky.] [Furthermore, without a railway system, you're unlikely to have real control over such a large territory; taking too much land would only backfire…]

What? The Embroidered Uniform Guard?

[This cannot be done lightly. After all, it's still normal for you to use the Jin army to defeat the Mongols, but if you use the Embroidered Uniform Guard, a superhuman force with its own unique powers, to launch an expedition against the Chagatai Khanate, that would be a completely different story!]

[Once this news reaches foreign countries, it will very likely reach the ears of the Southern Song Dynasty. At that time, the Southern Song, which you have finally managed to appease, will probably readjust its strategic plan against the Jin Dynasty...]

So, knowing when to stop, you chose to withdraw your troops. Even so, you expanded the Jin Kingdom's territory to a level that surpassed even your ancestors'!

From the former Jurchen lands in the east to the Hexi Corridor in the west, the grasslands are now at peace, and there is no royal court in the northern deserts!

The only remaining border threat is the Southern Song Dynasty, which is now confined to the south of the Yangtze River...

Theoretically speaking, having occupied such a vast territory, you would surely be arrogant and thus abandon your previous humiliating policy of surrender, taking a hard line against the Southern Song Dynasty!

[But in reality, you became increasingly wary of the Southern Song Dynasty, adopting an extremely humble attitude towards them, continuing to pay tribute, using their reign title, and constantly referring to them as "your humble servant...", like a dutiful son and grandson raised by Zhao Gou on a long-distance livestock-raising program...]

This unusual situation, of course, has its reasons.

The reason the Jin Dynasty was able to rival the Southern Song Dynasty in the past was because of the Jin Emperor, a powerful and unpredictable ruler from the Wanyan family. Although each Jin emperor could only hold out for a short three years, during those three years, the Jin emperor would always grant "power" to important ministers such as Wuzhu!

[Because of the "authority" that allowed Song forces to control the minds of the Jin people, even Yue Fei was unable to defeat the main Jin army. Therefore, the Song army's northern expedition posed no real threat to the Jin state.]

[But things are different now. Ever since you defeated the Jin Emperor's confident personal expedition, although you successfully seized power and gained supreme military and political authority in the Jin Kingdom, this has also made the Jin Emperor hate you to the core!]

[When you're sane, you hate; when you're insane, you continue to hate. And in that case, you'll never be able to gain authority from Him...]

[The Embroidered Uniform Guard is no match for the illusionary Zhao Gou, whose skills are unparalleled, and you also lack the protection of the Jin Emperor's authority... This means you are constantly under the strategic threat of the Southern Song Dynasty!]

Given this passive situation, you should already be grateful that Zhao Gou didn't launch a northern expedition; how could you possibly dare to be tough on the Song Dynasty?

[Instead of breaking ties with the powerful Southern Song Dynasty, you might as well continue this state of surrender... In this way, you can ensure the people of the Central Plains live in peace and prosperity, and Zhao Gou can also gain a great deal of lustful power; everyone will have a bright future!]

As for the division between North and South...

Perhaps the division of the Jin and Song dynasties along the Yangtze River, with each ruling as a separate Northern and Southern dynasty, wouldn't have been a bad outcome?

You're talking to yourself like this, as if trying to comfort yourself and accept reality, but... you can't seem to find peace.

【The Nine Provinces have always been united, how can we allow the false dynasty to divide them?】

The seven warring states were unified under the Qin Dynasty; the Chu-Han Contention culminated in the Han Dynasty; the Three Kingdoms were unified under the Western Jin Dynasty; the Northern and Southern Dynasties merged under the Sui and Tang Dynasties… All these historical events demonstrate that the general trend of this land has always been towards unification. Therefore, the division between North and South is not a good outcome in the overall interest!

[Now, the Jin and Song dynasties have been divided for over two hundred years, which is truly going against the tide of history. Do you intend not only to fail to set history back on track, but also to perpetuate this state of division?]

Thus, a difficult choice is now before you...

"War or peace?"

……

(End of this chapter)