vrcanaries Chapter 317 Zhao Gou's Mission
Chapter 317 Zhao Gou's Mission
"Of course, this record isn't entirely reliable, since the quality of later compilations of the History of the Song Dynasty has always been controversial. Let's leave aside the question of whether this matter is true or false for now!"
"But Zhao Gou must have been traumatized in the Jin camp, perhaps witnessing the brutality of the Jin people, which is why he was terrified of them afterward!"
"Let's look back at the Song Dynasty. As mentioned earlier, the weakness of the Song Dynasty's rulers and ministers made the Jurchens realize that they could still get money even if they couldn't win, so they became even more unscrupulous!"
"The Jurchens outside the city were wandering around when they unexpectedly found a group of ancestral graves of the Zhao family and the tombs of other prominent clans. They exchanged glances and got to work, finding a lot of gold and silver treasures among them."
"If Zhao Kuangyin knew that it wasn't his lineage that did this, and that his grave was even dug up, he would probably be so angry that he'd drop the coffin lid!"
Emperor Zhao Kuangyin of the Song Dynasty: (?﹏?) …
"The emperors before them in the Northern Song Dynasty worked diligently, but these two, father and son, ruined their lives, and even in death they couldn't rest in peace!!"
Emperor Zhao Kuangyin of the Song Dynasty (furious): I'll f*** you... damn you, you bastard!? (Utterly vulgar...)
Zhu Bajie of the Ming Dynasty: How tragic! Whoever has this descendant is unlucky!
General Judy, the Northern Expeditionary Army: Wait... when our Great Ming Dynasty is gone, what will happen to our tombs?!?
Emperor Qianlong (of the Qing Dynasty): Don't worry! Everything's fine!
Emperor Shenzong of the Song Dynasty, Zhao Xu (?? ?): What kind of descendant did Zhao Ji (Emperor Huizong) have! He has truly disgraced his ancestors, the Zhao family!
Sima Guang of the Northern Song Dynasty: ...
Lin Ke's words caused an uproar in the Northern Song Dynasty, igniting the anger of powerful families and members of the imperial family!
These robbers! How dare they be so audacious!
Although they didn't have much hope for Emperor Qinzong, surely things couldn't be so bad that they couldn't even protect their Zhao family's ancestral graves?
Whose fault is it? Is it that this father and son are too cowardly and incompetent?
……
The Yongzheng period of the Qing Dynasty
At this moment, Yinzhen didn't care about the messy affairs of the Song Dynasty. He remembered that their Great Qing Dynasty had lost a lot of money and land!
So, as the last dynasty, was the Qing Dynasty also subject to grave robbing and other such things during times of chaos?!
Thinking of this, he could no longer remain calm. If Lin Ke hadn't continued talking, he really would have immediately asked them if the coffin lids of the Qing Dynasty were still intact!
……
On the other side, Lin Ke recalled that he had been very puzzled as to why Song Dynasty tombs were so rare, and perhaps this was the reason!
But it was because Emperors Huizong and Qinzong were so incompetent at the end of the Northern Song Dynasty that the Jurchens had an opportunity to take advantage of the situation!
Then she sighed, "No matter how weak the Song Dynasty's rulers and ministers were, they were united in their hatred of the Jin army in this respect."
"When the enemy was at the gates before, you knew how to back down. While the reinforcements came in, you were also sending gold and silver to the Jin camp. Why weren't you tough then!"
"I never imagined that the arrogance of the Jurchens was fostered by people like you!"
That group of people—the emperor and his ministers of the Northern Song Dynasty: (??∧??)…
Zhu Baba of the Ming Dynasty: This is indeed infuriating!
Liu Zhuzhu: No matter how bad it is, it can't compare to the descendants of the Song Dynasty who ruined their ancestors!
……
"When news of the Jurchens' actions reached Emperor Qinzong of Song and his other civil and military officials in the city, they were finally enraged by the Jurchens' brutality!"
"Sigh, it's outrageous. You weren't angry when the Jurchens were pressing in, and you weren't angry when they demanded to cede territory and pay money. You only thought of striking hard when the Jurchens were digging up your ancestral graves!"
Emperor Qinzong of Song, Zhao Huan: You can bully me! But you can't bully my ancestors!
Everyone in the Song Dynasty: These bastards are so filial!
"So Zhao Huan prepared to convene a meeting to discuss how to deal with the Jurchens. Now he was quite assertive, with troops and generals. He showed that he was no longer the cowardly Zhao Huan of the past!"
"So Li Bangyan, Li Gang, Zhong Shidao, Zhe Keqiu and other civil and military officials gathered together. At this time, a Song official returned from the Jin people and obtained information about the Jin people's internal situation from him."
"In reality, the number of Jurchen troops was less than that of the returning reinforcements, which gave Li Gang the confidence to fight."
Judy, the Great General Who Conquers the North: If handled well, this could be a golden opportunity!
A spoiled young man from the Tang Dynasty: But didn't the best ones in the Song Dynasty miss their chance?
The optimist Su Dongpo: ...
A Sui Dynasty official: Judging from the course of history, this operation was destined to fail!
……
"As for this battle plan, it was proposed by Li Gang. In his plan, some of the soldiers in the Jin army camp were Khitans and others who were not so loyal to the Jin people, so the Song Dynasty could use that against them."
Li Gang (?????): Listen to me! Sixty thousand versus two hundred thousand, the advantage is mine!
"At this point, we can completely avoid fighting. Like Zhou Yafu besieging the seven kingdoms, we can copy his strategy, occupy the Yellow River behind enemy lines, and rob their supply lines!"
"When the Jurchens are exhausted, force them to admit that the three towns still belong to the Song Dynasty. While they retreat, we will approach them again. When they are halfway across the Yellow River, we will strike them down in one fell swoop!"
"Let's set aside the practicality of this plan for now. At the time, the plan was approved by all the officials, including Zhong Shidao, who was skilled in warfare."
"But things that go smoothly usually turn out unexpectedly. As the saying goes, superstition is no good. When it came time to set the date for the expedition, Zhao Huan, for some reason, consulted a fortune teller!"
"Perhaps he wanted to express how much he valued this operation! In any case, in his calculations, he set a certain day in February as the auspicious day for this plan."
A spoiled young master from the Song Dynasty: This is hard to evaluate!
General Judy, the Northern Expeditionary General: I don't understand why people would think of winning a battle this way before it even starts!
A bystander from the Han Dynasty: Why do they have to make such a fuss?
An official from the Sui Dynasty: This reminds me of the Fourth Prince's practice of consulting horoscopes to choose a general before battle!
Emperor Yongzheng of the Qing Dynasty: ...
Emperor Zhao Zhen, the most benevolent ruler of all time: I really don't want to admit that this bastard is actually a descendant of the Zhao family!
……
Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty
Xuan Ye felt complicated again. He hadn't realized this kid was interested in fortune telling!
Why is it that as people get older, they not only have to calculate for civil and military officials, but also for soldiers?
He knew it! This kid was hopeless in martial arts! No, my prince needs to develop in all aspects, so I have to make arrangements for him soon!
The fourth brother, who inexplicably ended up with a training mission: (?_??)
……
Emperor Jing of Han Dynasty
Upon seeing these comments, Liu Qi was reminded of how Liu Che had been deceived in his pursuit of immortality!
He suddenly felt an itch in his hand!
At this moment, Liu Che, who knew nothing about the situation, came to pay his respects to Liu Qi, completely unaware that his father was thinking of giving him a "love massage"!
Liu Che, the Emperor's Beloved Pig: (' - ' * )?!
Liu Qi, the Great Chess Master of the Han Dynasty: (｀Δ′)!
……
Back to the live broadcast room.
"From the course of history, we know that although this plan was perfect, it still failed. However, the failure of this plan also led to the subsequent situation."
"And the key figure in this plan was Yao Pingzhong, the one who actually carried it out."
"Let's first talk about the impact of this plan's failure. Because of it, the Jurchens released Prince Kang (Zhao Gou) and Junior Chancellor Zhang Bangchang, indirectly allowing Prince Kang (Zhao Gou) to escape the Jingkang Incident."
"But this indirectly led to Prince Kang becoming a key figure in the beginning of the Southern Song Dynasty. One has to marvel at how magical fate can be sometimes!"
"However, Emperor Qinzong of Song had already started consulting auspicious days, so it's not unreasonable that he later resorted to shamanism. It's just like the saying goes, 'Heaven's sins may be forgiven, but self-inflicted sins are unforgivable.' He brought it all upon himself!"
"Let's talk about Yao Pingzhong. The Yao family is a prominent clan in Shaanxi. They have historically been generals on the frontier, responsible for defending against the Western Xia and Jin people in the north."
"As the saying goes, one should become famous as early as possible. So when Yao Pingzhong was eighteen, he had already made great achievements. It just so happened that it was during Tong Guan's campaign against the Western Xia."
“During the reign of Emperor Huizong of Song, when the odds of winning were extremely low, that victory was a great one, which is why Yao Pingzhong became famous at a young age.”
A Ming Dynasty official: Everything has a traceable path…
A spoiled young man from the Tang Dynasty: I always felt that the Song Dynasty had a lot of plans, but they just didn't seize them!
A Qing Dynasty official: Especially at this critical juncture, people still scheme and plot against each other!
A scholar-official from the Han Dynasty: After watching for so long, the more unexpected things happen, the more likely they are to occur!
……
"In the Song Dynasty, not only did civil officials compare and compete with each other, but even military generals did so. The Yao family had guarded the northwest for generations, and so did the Zhong family."
"Yao Pingzhong, confident in his merits, entered the capital with Zhong Shidao, but Emperor Qinzong and others valued General Zhong more, which displeased Yao Pingzhong. Was it because he was too old??"
"But we said that with a formidable enemy at hand, we shouldn't do these things, so Yao Pingzhong came up with a 'perfect' raid plan!"
Yao Pingzhong: Save King Kang! I'll get a great reward!
"But Yao Pingzhong told Emperor Qinzong about this plan to raid the camp, not wanting Zhong Shidao to know at all, so as to take credit for it!"
"But Emperor Qinzong of Song, that coward, is no longer afraid. He's gained momentum and isn't afraid of the Jurchens at all. You can't see any trace of the enthusiasm he had when he was plundering the people and giving them money!"
Zhao Huan: Back then, I wanted to call him Dad! Now I want to be his Dad!!!
"So when he heard Yao Pingzhong's memorial, he was both shocked and a little excited. He had heard of Yao Pingzhong before. When he was still the crown prince, he heard about Yao Pingzhong's heroic deeds, especially his great victory over the Western Xia!"
"Thus, Zhao Huan unilaterally agreed to this plan without any careful planning whatsoever. For example, he didn't even consider those unexpected events. These two were truly blinded by a false victory!"
All the emperors of the Northern Song Dynasty: We are convinced! We are truly convinced!
A minor official in the Qin Dynasty: This camp has to be raided!?
A bystander in the Ming Dynasty commented: If I'm not mistaken, something unexpected is about to happen!
Cheng Yaojin of the Tang Dynasty: Why does it feel like even when the Song Dynasty was on the verge of collapse, it was still divided into several factions?
……