In late February, as the Lou family entered Yanjing, it catalyzed the Triwizard Tournament that was about to determine the winner. In the end, Marshal Wanyan Nianhan, who was called the "State Prime Minister" by the Song people, relied on his power.

With his strong strength and political control, he successfully directed a drama of forcing a woman to be forced into the palace.

After this incident, Nianhan's authority grew stronger, and the prestige of Wu Qimai, the leader of the country, plummeted. At the same time, several Aguda parents and children who had always been unruly simply fell into the position of Nianhan's vassals... no matter it was

Whether it was Wu Qimai's family or the other nobles in Yanjing City, or the Western Route Army officers who belonged to Aguda's direct family, it was difficult to imagine that the "princes" who were led by Nianhan by the hand were Nianhan.

an equal ally rather than a vassal.

And when everyone thinks so, don’t you too?

In fact, the Wu Qimai disciples who reacted the next day had already clashed with their cousins ​​on multiple occasions, and Aguda's sons also resolutely fought back... Otherwise, do we need an explanation?

In contrast, other confidants of the king, such as Ta Lan, who were forcibly aroused by Yin Shuke at night, were forgiven by Wu Qimai and his son. Especially Ta Lan, who was the first person to take the initiative after the incident.

The minister who asked for forgiveness in the palace was said to have shaken hands with the old brothers Wu Qimai and cried... I don't know whether it is true or not.

All in all, this night was chaotic. Except for Nianhan who was considered the unmistakable winner, it was hard to say who the real loser was, especially since this was an interesting three-way ranking game.

Not to mention the chaos of the two days, at the end of February, Wanyanlou's chamber once again proposed a battle plan to Nianhan, who had fully grasped the political power of Yanjing.

However, things are not that simple.

The plan was proposed again, and both Nianhan and the leader Wu Qimai agreed in principle to Lou Shi's warning. However, when the matter entered into the specific military planning stage, Lou Shi encountered some unexpected but reasonable difficulties.

For example, as Lou Shi's military plan was put on the table, some people soon questioned, since the two routes were combined into one, why not cross the river from the Jingdong area under the cover of the Puppet Qi, and the army could penetrate the two Huaihe Rivers in one go?

Then turn around and raid the Central Plains?

Then some people questioned, there are so many ravines in Shaanxi, and the terrain is not suitable for cavalry field battles, why march from Shaanxi? Why can't we copy the Jingkang incident that day, find an opportunity to cross the river, directly sweep the Central Plains with cavalry, and encircle the points for reinforcements? After all, the Song Army and Navy

Although the victory was great, the number of them was not large and it was difficult to cover the entire section of the Yellow River.

Then someone else pointed out that it was already the end of February, and even if they mobilized quickly for combat, summer would soon enter. The Jurchen cavalry was not afraid of hard battles, but was afraid of the heat. Instead of having a decisive battle in summer, why wait a few more months and wait until after autumn?

Fight?

At first, Lou Shi patiently explained, talking about geography, geography, people's hearts, and military configuration. But as the reasons put forward by these people became more and more absurd, he gradually realized... It is possible to join forces, but things

Decades of estrangement between the two armies has actually formed, and it is simply impossible to expect everyone to ignore factional interests.

Talking about going to the Huaihe River, going to the plains, and waiting for the autumn are all nonsense. It's just that the East Route Army is unwilling to take chestnuts for the West Route Army.

Guanzhong is the real place of victory, don’t these people know? What the hell are Lianghuai? The water network of the Huaihe River is a cavalry Jedi, don’t you know?

As for the plain, the Central Plains Zhao and Song dynasties had 200,000 imperial troops on land and water, and the country's most powerful soldiers and horses were placed there. How could they go to such a plain? It seemed like the cavalry in the Kansai Highlands couldn't charge!

And he had already said it bluntly that he, Wanyan Lou, was about to die because he was afraid that he would not come here until the autumn. Don’t these people know? Why didn’t you say next year?

At this time, Nianhan didn't know whether it was because he had just "surrendered" the Aguda lineage politically, so he couldn't oppress too much the Eastern Route Army, which was the foundation of the Aguda lineage; or because he had just achieved such great political results and didn't want to do it again.

Carrying out a large-scale military gamble...but it was also ambiguous for a while.

But then again, how could Lou Shi give up?

His physical condition is here, this is his only chance... Now, he can leave his son with a lifetime of achievements, can give the Western Route Army a nearly perfect territory in Guanzhong, and can give the Jin Kingdom

If the fortune of the country rises by another three points... In terms of public and private matters, and given his own character, how could he give up?

So, in order not to waste time, after just thinking for a while, the Lou family formally proposed that the eldest prince Wanyan Yuben or the third prince Wanyan Yinliduo be the commander-in-chief. Even the specific troops and horses can be divided into east and west. As long as

Make sure to merge in time and let him take command during the final battle.

As soon as this proposal came out, the resistance was reduced by most, and Nianhan finally thought about it again and again, and decided to trust this general under his command who had never let him down. As long as Lou Shi won the battle on the front line, his status behind him would be

On the contrary, it is more stable.

In this way, once the negotiations were completed, the highest power center of the Jin Kingdom finally began to prepare to send troops forcibly according to Lou Shi's plan, and at the same time began to operate some messy things in response.

And without mentioning what those messy things are, I will just talk about one fact that has to be admitted, that is, although the internal political structure of the Jin Kingdom is so chaotic that they themselves can't stand it, even though their culture is backward to the point that only 20 years of senior leadership

A cultural generation gap has arisen, but the military system still maintains a very high efficiency, and their military technology is by no means inferior to any country in the world.

This is not sophistry, this is fact.

From the Turks to the Khitans, from the Khitans to the Jurchens, and then the Mongols, including the half-Turkic, half-Mongol Timur, etc., time and time again, they continue to demonstrate this undoubted fact.

.

This kind of geopolitical sledgehammer force is born like this. They are close to a powerful and prosperous civilization, but due to the need for survival, they have to focus on learning and improving their military level, so that they have to abandon the other branches. And once they obtain enough

After military technology has accumulated enough war potential, they will be like a sledgehammer from the wilderness to the civilized highlands! Then they can easily use the tenacity and cruelty that they are accustomed to living a hard life, plus this high level of

With its military strength, it can destroy the advanced civilization standing in front of it.

But without exception, in the process of destroying higher civilization, they will be corrupted and controlled by everything about higher civilization.

It may be a bit wrong to say corrosion, because there is only one way, just like water flowing to lower places. It is basically a regular thing, but this process is often more intense because it is accompanied by violent military conquests... many

Civilization can withstand poverty, hunger, and breathless military pressure, but it cannot sustain this kind of beauty and sophistication.

As a result, nine times out of ten, the body will explode and die.

The few who managed to get through it couldn't tell which family or surname they belonged to.

Of course, these are all things for later. Back to the front, just when the Jurchens finally made up their mind to launch a major invasion against Kansai despite all the disadvantages, Bianliang in the south was getting hotter and hotter day by day.

March in spring is of course getting hotter and hotter, but what is even hotter is the human heart.

It has been nearly a month since the Zhao Guan family's "triumph to Tokyo" again, and although this battle between Song and Jin is not as exciting as the last time, it is undoubtedly the best since Jingkang, because the Jin people are basically

No progress was made, and they were immediately pinched at Tongguan and gave up their intention to invade.

Everyone is talking, everyone is speculating. Gradually, more and more people agree with one theory, that is, thanks to that official who was "Chongerer in the world, Guangwu again", the Song Dynasty finally did not have to worry about it.

If you are frightened by the destruction of your country and your species, you can at least return to the front line of the Yellow River and chart it slowly and calmly.

In other words, the south of the Yellow River is safe, and the city of Tokyo is safe!

Because of this trend of thought, more and more wealthy families are returning from Yangzhou, Nanyang, and even Bashu, more and more merchants are gathering from the south, and more and more local officials are eager to show their presence in Tokyo through various means.

feel.

And the Zhao Guan family, who was praised by Hu Quan as "Earnest in this world, glorious in the next" according to the content of his persuasion when he ascended the throne, saw that after a month, there was no movement from the Jin people, and summer was approaching, they could not help but gradually feel comfortable.

Heart.

However, the interesting thing is that when the so-called peace of mind comes to Zhao Guan's family, it is manifested in the official starting to get more and more involved in daily government affairs... This is the natural trend and behavior of a young official in peacetime, so

, although the prime ministers felt that the officials were a little worried, they still tried their best to cooperate.

"Rebuilding the bridge on the Bianhe River... This is natural. Several floating bridges are placed there, which is neither convenient for road traffic nor water transportation. But can the bridge be built higher?" Wende Hall of the Tokyo Imperial Palace, an important minister in charge of the Prime Minister

After they had discussed some major matters, Zhao Jiu, who had specially brought several papers to discuss the matter, also picked up the top one and then looked at Chen Gui, one of the four prime ministers, seriously.

"I would venture to guess that the official intention is to build a few bridges on the Bian River that can pass ships to facilitate the passage of the navy in the future?" Chen Gui was not surprised at all.

"Not bad." Zhao Jiu nodded immediately.

"It can't be repaired." Chen Gui said frankly. "I don't know how long the bridge will be for such a high arch, and there are still four or five bridges... With all the manpower and material resources, it would be better to dig a new ditch in the north of the city specifically for military use to save trouble.

"

"...I understand." Zhao Jiu was embarrassed for a moment, and then returned to normal. "There is another thing. It is said that many people returned to Beijing and found that their mansions were destroyed and occupied... This matter has caused many people to

Come and tell me, I hope Kaifeng Mansion will handle it properly."

Chen Gui became more and more helpless: "Guan family, this matter cannot be settled... The Jingkang Incident, four consecutive years of war, and Tokyo gradually stabilized last year. It's okay to destroy the mansion. Anyway, there are a lot of empty mansions in Tokyo, so they can be divided appropriately.

Arrangement, but the case of the residence being occupied is difficult, because although it is true that the residence was occupied, most of the people who occupied the residence had the permission of the Tokyo Residence Department and later the imperial court, so how can it be done properly?"

As soon as these words came out, not to mention Zhao Jiu, even the other prime ministers and other important ministers standing in the palace were silent... After all, first of all, this matter has a legal dilemma, it is really a mess; secondly, in Tokyo in the past

There is a mansion, and now you have the energy to come here to ask for it. It is either a noble minister or a wealthy family, and you can find Zhao Guan's family to talk about it, so there is no need to explain.

"Chen Qing misunderstood." Zhao Jiu quickly responded sternly. "My proper meaning is to put public before private, public before small, poor before blessing... When it comes to city defense, military camps, government offices and other official occupations,

, you should focus on official matters first; when there is a dispute between a large number of people and a small number of people, focus on the accommodation of the large number of people first; if it is really difficult to decide, compare the rich and poor families, and focus on providing housing for the poor first...

This is not only my intention, but also the intention of the two noble concubines. You can make arrangements according to these rules. If anyone is still dissatisfied, let them beat the drum and come directly to me to discuss with the two noble concubines."

Chen Gui was relieved, and the other important ministers also looked at each other in disbelief and were speechless... because this plan was too much like the official style.

"There is one more thing." Zhao Jiu opened the third letter and continued. "Someone over there in Yangzhou has said that I will serve as the Queen Mother and the clan will return to Beijing... I think Tokyo is uneasy, so I can't do it for the time being... What do you think?"

Then Zhao Guan's family has said so, who can think anything else? Do you still think Tokyo is not lively enough these days? If the Queen Mother and the clan come back, where to place them, how to place them, what etiquette... it will all be a mess.

The reason why this matter was brought to the palace was simply because it concerned the Queen Mother and a process had to be followed.

"One last thing, Han Xiaozhou, who knows Jiangzhou, wrote a letter and said two things. You all should know it, right?" Zhao Jiu opened the last note and his tone softened slightly. "What do you think?"

The Wende Hall was in awe for a moment, because everyone knew that this was the meat of the show today.

It is said that the Song Dynasty shared the world with scholar-bureaucrats, and there is a saying that the imperial examination work was still very good, so it is not an idle thing for a child from a poor family to become a central and famous official. In addition, the chaos of the Ten Kingdoms in the late Tang Dynasty, the Five Dynasties, and the so-called Tian

The streets have trampled all the bones of the public ministers, and those famous families have long been dead. This means that the Song Dynasty did not systematically reproduce the phenomenon of high-ranking families.

But having said that, after all, after the founding of the People's Republic of China for more than a hundred years, although it has never formed a scale or a specific class, there are always a few special existences, which are vaguely similar to the ancient clans of the Later Han Dynasty and the famous families of the Sui and Tang Dynasties.

For example, the Lu family of Lu Haowen, the prime minister of the dynasty, was already the fifth generation of ministers and the fourth generation of prime ministers starting from Lu Mengzheng, the number one scholar.

However, the Lu family, who insisted on passing on knowledge and whose population was not too prosperous, seemed insignificant in front of other families.

Yes, this is the Han family in Xiangzhou, also known as the Meihua Han family... The Meihua Han family is not only a minister for generations, but also the largest landowner in Xiangzhou. Compared with competitors like the Lu family, this family is still
To be continued...