The video takes us to ancient times; Li Er transforms into the Tongtian Emperor of Shu Han.

The most capable and most ardent advocate of war in the Song Dynasty died, along with Zhao Shen's ambition.

For him, the only reason to sit on this throne was to launch a northern expedition.

With Yu Yunwen dead and the Northern Expedition completely hopeless, he lost all faith in striving for a better future.

Since then, Zhao Shen has stopped talking about restoring the Central Plains and has no ambition whatsoever. His domestic policies have all focused on maintaining stability.

Although the Song Dynasty's economy and the lives of its people had become much more prosperous, his heart was stagnant.

If it weren't for the fact that Emperor Emeritus Zhao Gou was still alive, he would most likely have abdicated long ago.

After Zhao Gou died of illness, before the funeral was even over, Zhao Shen, impatient to abdicate in favor of the crown prince, used the excuse of observing mourning for Emperor Gaozong.

"...That's quite realistic. As soon as he saw that the Northern Expedition was hopeless, he turned around and wanted to abdicate and hand over the throne to a more capable person."

"But it's understandable. After all, for Emperor Xiaozong, his only purpose in ascending the throne was to launch a northern expedition, to recover the Central Plains, and to return to the old capital. With Yu Yunwen dead, this matter was hopeless in his eyes."

Although the final result was failure, Li Er had to admit that Zhao Shen was a capable and pure person.

From the moment he was chosen by Zhao Gou as his adopted son, his belief never wavered.

Even after the failure of the Longxing Northern Expedition, which dealt a heavy blow to the imperial power and the pro-war faction, he still did not give up.

"Unfortunately, it seems that destiny truly did not favor the Song Dynasty."

If Yu Yunwen had not died, and the Song Dynasty had fought another war, with both armies launching simultaneous offensives, the outcome would have been uncertain.

Unfortunately, those two words have been said so many times in the comments section on the screen.

In terms of ability alone, Zhao Shen was definitely a great ruler of his time.

Despite previous emperors' repeated defeats and submission to the Jurchens, he still dared to bypass the central government and issue a direct decree ordering frontline generals to launch an unannounced war.

Such courage and determination are unparalleled among all the emperors of the Song Dynasty!

After Zhao Shen abdicated, his life as the retired emperor was also miserable.

The succeeding emperor, Zhao Dun, was far from being filial; he couldn't even perform the daily court rites.

Even after Zhao Shen suggested that it was not advisable to establish a crown prince too early, the empress whispered in his ear, and Zhao Dun never visited him again.

It was precisely because of this problem that Zhao Shen fell ill with worry, eventually becoming terminally ill, and he never saw his son again.

"?"

"You are unworthy to be a son!"

Before the emperors could even voice their opinions, Wei Zheng, from the Zhenguan era, had already launched his attack.

"What? Do the censors of the Great Song Dynasty not have mouths or tongues?"

"How dare such an unfilial person sit in such a high position? Why not impeach him? What kind of officials are they if they dare not die?"

"It's just that I was born in the Song Dynasty at that time. Otherwise, even if I couldn't persuade that emperor, I would have found a way to die outside his palace and splatter his entire family with blood!"

Li Er: "..."

Seeing him spitting everywhere, he felt he didn't need to scold him anymore.

Wei Zheng was indeed infuriating when he criticized himself.

But in this situation, this thing is simply the best mouth double!

"Indeed, this emperor is so absurd that he is not even filial to his own father who abdicated in favor of him. How can he be expected to govern the country!"

"This Song Dynasty is not only militarily weak, but even its civil officials dare not risk their lives to remonstrate with the emperor. What use are civil officials if they dare not even risk their lives to persuade such an emperor?"

Di Renjie also didn't hesitate to criticize.

Regardless of his abilities, Zhao Dun's unfilial behavior alone has crossed the line.

"You should know that even Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty, who murdered his brother and imprisoned his father, never went this far. He showed the same respect as Emperor Gaozu and enjoyed all the pleasures that were due to him!"

Li Er: "?"

He was completely dumbfounded as he looked at the barrage of comments on the screen, which were posted by the Executive Vice Emperor of the Great Tang Dynasty.

Who is this guy?

What is a vice emperor?

This thing, can there be a second one?

Furthermore, although I do not care about mere infamy, as a subject of the Tang Dynasty, shouldn't you be a little more mindful of the heavens that have been visible for thousands of years?

Are you really not going to give Emperor Taizong even the slightest bit of face?

Fortunately, at that moment, the entire sky was filled with indignant cursing, and not many people noticed what was happening.

Clearly, the word "unfilial piety" is the heaviest crime in any era.

As the emperor, you are not even filial to your own father, and you are too lazy to even do a perfunctory job. How can anyone believe that you can govern this dynasty well?

"Throughout history, military officers have fought to the death, and civil officials have remonstrated to the death."

“Zhao Heizi, I can’t say whether you, a military general of the Song Dynasty, will fight to the death, but I can tell that this civil official is definitely spineless.”

"Can't you be a little more extreme in your approach?"

Advise?

What good is verbal advice in this situation?

The best course of action is to force him to abdicate!

"Ahem, in fact, Zhao Dun was indeed forced to abdicate in the end."

Old Zhu coughed and began to spoil the plot.

"His reign lasted only about five years. Emperor Xiaozong had just died when the court officials could no longer tolerate him. With the support of the Empress Dowager, they immediately enthroned Prince Jia, Zhao Kuo."

"He was unwilling to pay homage to Emperor Xiaozong, so the court officials, without informing him, directly forced him to abdicate."

Although Zhao Dun's fate was equally tragic in the end, it had nothing to do with Zhao Shen.

Throughout his life, in his youth, as a descendant of the founding emperor, he did not live a particularly difficult life, but he also did not wield much power.

After being adopted by Zhao Gou and placed in the palace, his life improved considerably, but it also allowed him to see the dark side of the court.

After he came to understand the situation, he took the initiative to get involved in the court struggle, pointing his finger directly at the surrender faction and the powerful minister Qin Hui.

At that time, he had not yet been made a prince and was weak in the court, but he was not afraid of Qin Hui at all.

After the struggle culminated in Qin Hui's death, Zhao Shen gained a profound understanding of the situation in the Song Dynasty.

It is unclear when it began, but he made the Northern Expedition his lifelong pursuit and devoted all his efforts to it!

After ascending the throne, he felt that the Song Dynasty was strong and powerful, and that after Yu Yunwen severely damaged the Jin army in the Battle of Caishi, the Song Dynasty was now capable of fighting!

Therefore, he made an extremely bold decision to bypass all the pro-peace factions and launch a war against the Jin Dynasty without declaring war.

However, he chose the wrong person. Compared to Yu Yunwen, Zhang Jun's abilities were much worse. Moreover, generals such as Shao Hongyuan were dragging the team down, which led to the defeat at Longxing.

After the peace treaty, he forced the Jurchens to change their terms of submission and tribute.

Although the amount of money sent out remained the same, at least the relationship between the Song Dynasty and the Jin Dynasty was no longer one of vassalage.

And he did not become discouraged because of this.

Faced with the various measures taken by the patron Wanyan Yong after he came to power, Zhao Shen was in no way inferior.

Whether it was domestic affairs, the economy, or the lives of ordinary people, everything improved dramatically under his leadership.

He proved his abilities to his officials, demonstrating that he was a great ruler!