Water Margin: The opening scene involves assassinating Emperor Huizong of Song and forcibly taking L

Zhao Shizun laughed and said, "Our Great Ming has dispatched more than 600,000 troops. What country in the world can stop us?"

Anwari was full of amazement.

Although the Seljuks claimed to be the hegemon of the West, they would only be able to deploy a maximum of 200,000 troops at a time when they also brought their vassal states into the war.

How can it be that hundreds of thousands of dollars are involved?

Anwari not only learned Chinese and Chinese characters, but also began reading Chinese history books last year.

He can ask any questions he doesn't understand at the Hanlin Academy.

As for Zhao Shizun, he was a member of the former Song imperial family.

When the Song Dynasty fell, Zhao Shizun stayed at home obediently.

He neither went south to join Emperor Huizong of Song, nor went north to join the puppet Song dynasty.

Moreover, he was quite proficient in literature and history, so Zhu Guoxiang put him in the Hanlin Academy as an official.

Anwari said, "I haven't seen any records of the Western Xia in Chinese history books. How did this country come about?"

Zhao Shizun briefly recounted: "The ancestors of the Western Xia emperors were originally barbarian tribes of the Tang Dynasty."

"Later, the Tang Dynasty granted them land and even appointed the chieftain of Western Xia as an official."

"After the Tang Dynasty was fragmented, the Tangut people of Western Xia took the opportunity to grow stronger and established their own kingdom and declared themselves emperors during the Song Dynasty."

Anwari roughly understood that the Tang Dynasty was similar to a complete version of the Seljuk people, while the Song Dynasty was the modern Seljuk people.

The Western Xia was a sultanate that emerged during the Seljuk split.

Therefore, the Ming Dynasty's campaign against the Western Xia was not considered an invasion or expansion, but merely the recovery of lost territory.

Anwari was unaware of the Seljuk defeat.

The prime minister Mulek, who had accompanied him on his mission to the Ming Dynasty, had already returned to report and participated in the Battle of Qatwan.

Moreover, Mullek was also the deputy commander of the Seljuk army, in charge of the troops that did not enter the valley at that time.

He personally led the charge to try to rescue Sanjar, but ultimately failed and fled on horseback, his whereabouts unknown.

"Mr. Zhao, is this character pronounced 'Di'?" Anwari stopped talking about Western Xia and instead asked, holding up the Zizhi Tongjian (Comprehensive Mirror for Aid in Government).

Apart from envoys from neighboring countries, other overseas envoys had little concept of the fall of Western Xia, simply thinking that the Ming Dynasty had destroyed another small neighboring country.

At this very moment, the Dali and Japanese envoys stationed in Luoyang were terrified inside the Sifangguan!

If this trend continues, will the Ming Dynasty attack them?

Chapter 3841 Escape

Zhao Shizun leaned over to take a look and said, "This character shouldn't be pronounced 'Di'; it should be pronounced 'Ti'."

"Zu Ti led a northern expedition. Zu Ti was a great hero of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, and there are several idioms related to him."

"Rising at the crowing of the rooster, striking the whip before I do, and rowing in the middle of the river—these all refer to Zu Ti."

Anwari then asked, "What does 'like a great river' mean?"

Zhao Shizun said, "They will never return."

He seemed to find explaining it too tiring, so he simply stated the main points of the article:

"Zu Ti was from Fanyang, and he had great ambitions from a young age... At that time, the Jin court led its officials south, but Zu Ti wanted to recover the Central Plains."

"He petitioned the emperor, who granted him an official position, but only provided him with provisions for a thousand men and three thousand bolts of cloth."

“Zu Ti led a hundred or so followers and crossed the river to launch a northern expedition.”

"When the boat reached the middle of the river, Zu Ti struck the oar and said: 'If I cannot sweep away the Central Plains and recover the lost territories, I will be like this great river, never to return.'"

"He forged weapons and armor in Huaiyin, recruited more than two thousand righteous soldiers, persuaded some warring forces in the Central Plains to surrender, and defeated Shi Hu's army of fifty thousand in one battle, truly recovering the Central Plains..."

"Unfortunately, just as Zu Ti was about to lead his army across the Yellow River, the Eastern Jin emperor sent a Grand Commander to seize Zu Ti's army and territory."

“Zu Ti died in grief and indignation, and the territory he had recovered was lost again.”

With a simplified map of the Ming Dynasty in hand, and under the guidance of Zhao Shizun, Anwari compared the place names of the time and figured out Zu Ti's northern expedition route.

After a long silence, Anwari sighed, "Zu Ti is indeed a great hero."

Zhao Shizun laughed and said, "Of course he is a great hero. Zu Ti is ranked first among the second batch of sages invited to the Temple of Martial Arts."

"His Majesty personally inscribed the following evaluation: 'Those who strike the oar midstream are the heroes of China, and a model for all ages.'"

"I heard that in the martial arts academy in Luoyang, military academy students must memorize Zu Ti's essay on the Northern Expedition."

Anwari read the article carefully and copied down several idioms. He was very happy that he had learned something new.

Zhao Shizun, however, went out for a stroll. He had already signed up to participate in the compilation of the "Book of Western Xia" and would also like to learn the Western Xia script.

Walking into the neighboring courtyard, I saw a group of people gathered around a stone table looking at something.

Suddenly, someone exclaimed, "Protector Yue is truly the champion of our time! I'm afraid he'll be granted the title of king at the upcoming ceremony of presenting captives!"

Another person said, "It's impossible for him to be made a king. Even a duke or a prefectural duke is unlikely. He'll probably only be a county duke."

The man nodded and said, "That's right. Protector Yue's seniority in the army is too low. At present, being granted the title of county duke is the limit."

Zhao Shizun walked over and asked, "What are you looking at?"

"The detailed battle reports sent by the Ministry of War were compiled and archived by the Hanlin Academy's Literature and History Bureau and stored in the library as historical materials."

"Protector Yue has performed a great service?"

"It was more than a great achievement. Last autumn, Protector Yue led 5,000 elite cavalry and recovered three cities in Hexi in just a few days."

"They then galloped north and, together with Protector-General Han, decisively defeated Richard's 100,000-strong army."

"This year, his southward route was blocked by Keyimen, so he took a detour through the desert and launched a surprise attack, with 6,000 elite cavalrymen heading straight for Xingqing Prefecture."

"Then they captured Huaizhou, which was heavily defended by 50,000 troops, and took more than 100,000 Western Xia soldiers and civilians prisoner, and seized countless livestock, warhorses and grain."

"It was precisely because Protector Yue had stirred up such chaos around Xingqing Prefecture that the commander of another Western Xia army was so frightened that he abandoned his troops and fled."

Chapter 3842 Conferring Titles

"Yes, if it weren't for Protector Yue, this battle probably wouldn't be over yet."

"That spy named Li Cunhui is also a general with great talent. This time he will at least be granted the title of viscount, and may even be granted the title of earl."

Zhao Shizun felt like he was listening to a legendary story, so he quickly leaned over to read the detailed military report.

The Northern Route Army Report was jointly written by Yue Fei and Han Shizhong, although it tried to highlight Han Shizhong's role.

However, Yue Fei's brilliance overshadowed Han Shizhong's.

Han Shizhong also made great contributions. When fighting against Richard's 100,000-strong army, Han Shizhong was the commander-in-chief of that Ming army.

Yue Fei's southward advance was only made possible by Han Shizhong's ability to hold back tens of thousands of enemy troops at Keyimen; otherwise, Yue Fei would have been trapped and beaten.

The Privy Council and the Ministry of War are studying how to reward the merits of the soldiers and officers, and then handing the matter over to the Ministry of Rites for discussion on the conferment of titles.

Ministry of War.

Zhang Guangdao had finished reading all the battle reports from the various armies. He rubbed his temples and said, "I really want to get more credit for my old subordinates, but Yue Fei will definitely be the one to deserve the greatest credit for destroying Xia this time."

"Han Shizhong can be considered second in merit, as they broke the backbone of Western Xia in last year's battle."

"This year, when all the armies went to war, the Western Xia seemed to have lost its soul, only knowing how to avoid battle, retreat, and clear the fields."

Li Bao was both amused and exasperated: "Apart from Yue Fei, Han Shizhong, and Wu Jie, none of the other forces fought any decent battles."

"Li Yanxian's side fared relatively well, at least they captured two cities through strong attacks, and Yao Pingzhong even forced Richard to flee and die."

"Deng Chun's army marched in an armed manner, and the enemy troops along the way all fled at the mere sight of him. Just when they were about to have a decisive battle in Lingzhou, the enemy commander abandoned his army and fled."

Yang Zhi said, "Deng Chun should also be credited. He is an elder of Daming Village and has many senior members under his command. Chen Ziyi should be promoted in rank this time."

Wang Yuan scratched his head: "Calculate the military merits and submit them to His Majesty for review. We cannot make decisions on such matters."

Shi Yuangong tapped the table, reminding everyone: "We should carefully calculate the merits of those spies in the Military Intelligence Bureau."

"Although I am no longer in charge of the Military Intelligence Bureau, I cannot let the spies suffer losses."

“Some spies have infiltrated Western Xia for seven or eight years, disregarding their wives, children and parents.”

"Even if they didn't help breach the city, their spreading of rumors within the city made the Western Xia army panic, at least making them surrender more readily."

Zhang Guangdao said with a smile, "I certainly won't forget the spies from the Military Intelligence Bureau."

Two more imperial guards returned to Luoyang from Western Xia.

Both land and water transport were carried out simultaneously, with boats and vehicles departing at the same time.

One force went to Yique Town, and the other to Yanxi Town, stationed around Luoyang to protect the capital.

Lu You and others arrived in the capital relatively early, but had not yet formally entered the Imperial Academy to study.

They gathered their friends and stood on the shore, watching the imperial guards approach from afar, occasionally letting out bursts of praise.

There's really nothing to see here; they weren't wearing armor during the march.

But these were the Imperial Guards after all, and the Ming Dynasty was willing to spend money on its soldiers; even ordinary soldiers in the Imperial Guards had regular uniforms.

They wore outer robes with curved collars inherited from the Tang Dynasty, but the sleeves were extremely narrow, and the cuffs had straps that could be tied up.

The hem of the outer garment was also shortened to thigh level, and cinched at the waist with a belt for a particularly neat look.

Chapter 3843 The Complete Martial Arts Manual

They only wore trousers on their lower body, and had to wear leggings when marching.

The shoes were standard slip-on boots, and he wore a foldable hat on his head.

Lu You clicked his tongue in admiration: "It's just a normal march, yet they manage to keep their steps in unison, even though they're moving so casually!"

Hong Mai laughed and said, "They're passing through the capital, so naturally they want to make a good impression."

“No,” Lu You said, pointing to the army ahead, “look, some of them are still laughing and joking, without any deliberate intent. It seems that they can be perfectly uniform even when they do whatever they want.”

Hong Mai didn't respond, too lazy to argue with Lu You. He was convinced that these imperial guards were just passing through Luoyang trying to make a name for themselves.

Countless people from both inside and outside the city happily ran to watch the spectacle, and even young women waved to the soldiers.

"What a fierce and powerful army!" Taira no Kiyomori exclaimed, watching from afar with his Japanese sword at his waist.

He has been studying in the Ming Dynasty for several years and will be returning to Japan this year.

He studied Confucian classics diligently, but his level was only so-so. If he were in a remote area of ​​the Ming Dynasty, Monkey King could barely pass the imperial examination and become a scholar.

Taira no Kiyomori's true focus was on military strategy. He went to great lengths to acquire a copy of "The Complete Guide to Military Strategy" and even spent a fortune to learn spearmanship from a retired cavalryman.

With these abilities, Taira no Kiyomori believed that once he returned, he would be invincible throughout Japan.

After both Imperial Guards had gone far away, Taira no Kiyomori went to stroll around the Shihōkan.

As soon as I entered the Sifang Pavilion, I found there was something interesting to see.

Envoys from Champa and Zhenla repeatedly threatened to kill each other.

Unable to mediate, the Ming officials, after consulting with their superiors, allowed the military attachés of the two countries' delegations to duel.

Life and death are determined by fate; no retaliation is permitted within the territory of the Ming Dynasty!

When Taira no Kiyomori ran to see what was happening, both sides were already injured and wounded.

Ultimately, the Zhenla military officer was more capable, managing to cut the Champa envoy's neck despite taking a blow himself.

Blood gushed out; he probably won't survive.

The Zhenla military officer brandished his sword and danced, enduring several wounds on his body, showing off his power in front of the Champa envoy.

"Why has it escalated to a life-or-death struggle?" Taira no Kiyomori asked.

Hanoi Gyeong Quoc said, "The Zhenla invaded Champa, and the two countries had just fought a battle. The Champa envoy came to Luoyang to complain."

"The Zhenla envoy also came to complain, saying that this military expedition was initiated by the border general of Champa who crossed the border to provoke them."

"The envoys from the two countries met at the Sifang Pavilion and argued every day. In the midst of the arguments, they even came to blows."

Taira no Kiyomori scoffed, "The Ming princes are already regents in Annam, yet they still have the leisure to fight each other. Sooner or later, they will be annexed by the Ming."