After leaving the Duke of Chong's camp, Zhao Zisong took Zhao Shen back to his own military camp.
The Yue Kingdom had only been established for a little over two years, and its so-called army numbered only about 5,000, which was at most used to maintain domestic security.
In order to stabilize the southern continent, the imperial court stationed troops in the states of Yue and Wei, which was enough to deter these two vassal states.
This time, when the Wang army marched west to destroy Zhenla, the Yue and Wei kingdoms, as vassal states, dispatched troops out of respect for the emperor and support for the Song Dynasty.
Although they weren't able to help, they still expressed their loyalty.
Furthermore, both the King of Yue and the King of Wei came in person.
King Zhao Zisong of Yue's military camp was guarded by his own personal guards.
What excited Zhao Zisong was that the Duke of Chongguo had an extremely strong desire for power.
Furthermore, as Zhao Shen said, the Duke of Chongguo did not like the new policies from the bottom of his heart.
Are merchants driven by profit and devoid of morality?
Only a foolish young man like Zhao Chen would believe such nonsense.
For those in power, all their actions are driven by self-interest; this is all too clear.
So-called propriety and righteousness are nothing more than fig leaves used by those in power struggles to deceive those below them.
If the imperial court wants to wage war, where will the manpower and provisions come from if there is no money?
Relying on propriety and righteousness?
Since the royal family was exiled to the godforsaken South Continent, Zhao Zisong realized one thing: strength is everything.
If he were Zhao Huan, he would definitely push the current new policies to the end, and kill anyone who dares to obstruct them.
Zhao Chen, having grown up in the royal family and been pampered by everyone, was already within the protection circle of power and had no need to worry about anything.
Therefore, he failed to grasp the situation, could not deeply understand the law of the jungle, and could not truly empathize with his father's difficulties, naively believing that propriety and righteousness were the only orthodox principles.
Zhao Zisong thought to himself: Zhao Huan, you are truly unfortunate to have such a foolish son. However, he is my good fortune.
Zhao Zisong now has a more and more thorough understanding of the situation.
The dog emperor may seem to be encouraging the royal family to establish a state, but in reality, he is just squeezing the last bit of value out of the royal family.
Throughout history, the situation was naturally stable at the beginning of the enfeoffment system.
However, as time goes on, these vassal states often become too powerful to control.
The enfeoffment system of the Song Dynasty was no exception to this pattern.
However, in accordance with the emperor's new policies, the court laid highways throughout the country and even spared no expense in laying railways.
Once the new transportation system of the Great Song Dynasty is fully completed and extended to the vassal states, the time it takes for the imperial army to reach the vassal states will be reduced by more than half compared to now.
The emperor clearly intended to use transportation to tightly connect the entire Song Dynasty.
Once Zhao Huan completed the transportation system he envisioned, the court would no longer be able to stabilize the realm solely through prestige, but would truly control the entire realm with real power.
The emperor's censors and guards could travel freely and reach any place in the country much faster, quickly grasping the situation there.
By then, the vassal states would be of little use, and he dared not even imagine what would become of the royal family members.
Zhao Zisong was an ancient man; he only knew that if things went this way, he would definitely be out of the game.
If he were a person from the 21st century, he would understand this logic; behind it lies the logic of efficient information warfare.
That is, one side is in the primitive information flow stage, while the other side has reached the level of rapid information flow. The latter can change tactics at any time and control the whole situation.
Generally, victories by the few over the many, and by the weak over the strong, are all achieved through surprise.
However, the prerequisite for surprise is information blockage.
Clearly, the emperor's transportation system, by significantly reducing this information barrier, shattered the last hope of the weak.
Zhao Zisong couldn't have come up with this deeper logic.
This is what Zhao Shen told him.
Some people are mediocre, such as Zhao Chen.
Some people are ordinary people, such as Zhao Zisong.
But some people are geniuses.
Mediocre people are all mediocre, and ordinary people are all ordinary.
Geniuses come in many forms; for example, Yue Fei was a military genius, while the people at the Academy of Sciences were geniuses in the study of things.
For example, Zhao Shen was comparable to Sun Quan in terms of political maneuvering.
Sometimes, even Zhao Zisong himself is afraid.
He couldn't see what was going on in Zhao Shen's little head, or if he was also thinking about how to deal with him.
However, what is most advantageous for Zhao Zisong now is to make good use of Zhao Shen.
The practical way to protect oneself was to find ways to curb the new policies of the imperial court.
The most effective and direct way to curb the new policies is to help Zhao Chen ascend to the position of crown prince.
The most effective way to get Zhao Chen to the position of Crown Prince is to have him pretend to be a staunch supporter of the new policies, and to make everyone in the Southern Continent know that the Duke of Chong is working tirelessly for the new policies.
The Yue Kingdom inherited the territory of the former Champa. The largest and most valuable piece of land in Champa was Jiujiang Port, the naval port of the Song army in the southern continent.
"Duke Chongguo has rendered meritorious service in the military. If he were to apply for a transfer to the Jiujiang naval camp, it would be equivalent to having one foot in the territory of my Yue Kingdom. Some people in Jiujiang attempted to rebel against the Song Dynasty, but Duke Chongguo discovered this and stopped a riot in time."
Nine-year-old Zhao Shen spoke offhand, sounding quite mature for his age.
His thought process was very clear: within the controllable scope of the Yue state, he was to give Zhao Chen credit.
"As long as the Duke of Chongguo performs well, the Council of State Affairs can speak on his behalf in court."
"Suppressing the rebellion is only one aspect. The Emperor is also keen on transportation routes. If roads are built in Yue, it will also benefit Your Majesty. The people Your Majesty sent out have surveyed all the mountains and rivers of Yue and drawn up a road map of Yue, connecting it to Jiaozhou and opening up the road between them."
"His Majesty will be very pleased to see this, so this credit will go to the Duke of Chong."
Zhao Shen's method of boosting Zhao Chen's reputation was exactly what the ministers in the Council of State Affairs dreamed of.
There has been no longer any debate in the court about who should become the Crown Prince, and Grand Chancellor Xu has repeatedly expressed his opinion.
Unfortunately, the Duke of Chongguo had some unpleasantness with the emperor before.
However, it's not entirely beyond saving.
For example, by portraying the Duke of Chongguo as a perfect person, coupled with Xu Churen's strong support, the outcome of this power struggle was not much of a surprise.
Just like when Yang Guang seized the position of crown prince, before becoming emperor, Yang Guang was practically a perfect man. He painstakingly cultivated his public image and won the position of crown prince, eventually ascending to the throne.
Soon, Zhao Chen submitted an application to the Privy Council himself.
Because Zhao Chen held a very high rank, he could submit his application directly to Zhang Jun, and also had the authority to submit memorials directly to the Military Governor's Office and the Privy Council.
Zhao Chen's application could only be approved if Zhang Jun, Zhong Shidao, and Li Gang all agreed.
Zhao Chen's application to voluntarily transfer to the Jiujiang Navy was approved shortly after it was submitted.
For Zhao Chen, who had rendered meritorious service, this was not an excessive request.
Moreover, he was the emperor's own son.
After the Song Dynasty achieved a near-overwhelming victory in its war against Zhenla, Duke Chongguo Zhao Chen also set off south to report to the Jiujiang naval port.
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