People like Wanyan Qi have no way out.
His troops were few in number, and compared to the Song army, they were nothing but trash.
He knew that his only value was loyalty.
In fact, not everyone is qualified to be loyal.
Some people's loyalty is worthless because loyalty brings no value whatsoever.
But Wanyan Qi's loyalty was very valuable.
Because he was the grandson of Wanyan Aguda and the son of Prince Yan, Wanyan Zongwang, he held an extraordinary position within the Wanyan family.
His loyalty meant that the Wanyan clan had completely submitted to Zhao Huan.
Since that's the case, if the emperor orders him to go east, he would never dare to go west.
Moreover, the emperor's words just now clearly showed his bias towards him.
Thinking about this, Wanyan Qi felt that this loyalty was worthwhile.
He now hates the Shi and Han families to the core.
Watching Wanyan Qi's departing figure, Zhao Huan felt slightly relieved.
With people like Li Chongguang who viewed barbarians as beasts, and people like Wanyan Qi who hated the Shi and Han families, it would be difficult for Liaodong to develop a power in a short period of time.
This gave Zhao Huan plenty of time to argue his point.
In the past few days, the Shi and Han families have been sending the emperor women and treasures.
Life was getting a bit boring, and Zhao Huan began to miss life in the capital city of Kaifeng.
After all, compared to Tokyo, this place is too barren.
After some time, when the situation in the capital city had temporarily stabilized, Zhao Huan set off with his imperial guards and left the capital.
Yue Fei's Northwest Army also almost entirely withdrew to the Hetao region.
The army that truly remained was the Yan Yun Army, led by a group of young generals including Li Chongguang and Xie Qian. 200,000 troops were stationed in Liaodong, 150,000 in Shangjing Prefecture, and 50,000 in Shenzhou.
Goryeo to the east has completely submitted, and Wang Bing has stationed troops to guard the area. The sea area is also under the control of the Song army.
It is no longer possible to threaten Liaodong from the east.
The real potential enemy lies dormant on the vast grasslands to the west.
The grasslands had already been swept away by the Song army, and the Kereit, Qiyan, and Tatar tribes were almost wiped out.
But time is the best healer; people tend to forget the pain once the wound heals.
According to intelligence from the Imperial City Guard stationed in Beifu some time ago, the tribes of Woyilai, Taichiwu, Balulasi, and Merqi, who live in seclusion in the North Sea, have recently become somewhat restless.
There were also ideas of uniting against the Song Dynasty.
Some even thought that they should return to the Jin Dynasty and fight against the Song Dynasty together.
So they sent envoys to the Jin Kingdom.
Furthermore, they had even prepared a strategic plan: when the Jin state attacked the Song state's Juyong Pass and Hetao Road, directly threatening the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun and the Heishui City area, they would cut in from the west.
While these grassland tribes may not be good at governing, they are indeed skilled at fighting, perhaps due to the harsh environment of the grasslands.
They not only considered forming an alliance with the Jin Dynasty, but also sent people to the Gaochang Uyghurs in the northwest.
They thought that if the Gaochang Uyghurs could send troops to attack the Shazhou area, the Song army would surely be defeated.
However, when the envoy brought back news of the Jin Kingdom, the entire grassland tribe fell into a deathly silence.
It was as if even the eagles in the sky had strangely found a place to hide.
After that, the tribal leaders reached an unprecedented consensus on the matter of opposing the Song Dynasty: they would never mention it again.
The envoy sent to the Uyghurs in Gaochang returned and said that the King of Gaochang intended to join forces to send troops, but was killed on the spot.
What was the status of the Jin Dynasty in the hearts of these grassland tribes?
This story begins with the Liao Dynasty.
The territory of the Liao Dynasty bordered the sea to the east, and to the west it was adjacent to the Karakhanid Khanate west of the Gaochang Uyghur Kingdom. Geographically, it reached the Altai Mountains and Central Asia to the west.
When the Liao Dynasty was at its peak, the surrounding tribes and countries all regarded it as the Celestial Empire, the Divine Land, and a continuation of the Tang Dynasty.
But this vast and powerful country was destroyed by the Jurchens in less than ten years.
The Jin Dynasty of that time was like the rising sun in the eastern sky. After the cavalry and iron cavalry trampled the various tribes of the grasslands to pieces, the tribes of the grasslands submitted amidst groans and misery.
In their minds, the Jin Dynasty was even more powerful than the Liao Dynasty and was invincible.
But now, that invincible and powerful being has been completely wiped out.
The heads of countless famous generals were hung at the city gate of the capital, as were the heads of countless princes and nobles whom they had previously begged to see but could never do so.
The towering city walls of Shangjing were stained red with blood, which flowed down to form streams.
The iron cavalry that once ravaged the grasslands are now lying dead in the wilderness.
The once proud and indomitable spirit of the Jurchen tribes was also crushed by the emperor of the Central Plains. Everything seemed pale and fragile in front of the Han people.
Five hundred years have passed, and the barbarians who had been lying dormant in the North Sea have once again felt the power of the Han cavalry.
As a result, everything returned to peace, and the tribes stopped mentioning the matter of resisting the Song Dynasty.
Their silence doesn't mean Zhao Huan was unaware.
On the way back, Sima Junru had already prepared a thick stack of intelligence, which she presented to the emperor in a neat and orderly manner.
Zhao Huan then read through each letter in his carriage, word for word.
After reading it, Zhao Huan suddenly laughed.
Gaochang Kingdom!
Even if you don't come to me, I will still come to you.
Bilege, do you think the meat doesn't taste good anymore, or the women aren't pretty enough?
Why are you deliberately coming to provoke me?
Or was it Yelü Dashi who instigated you?
Gaochang had a honeymoon period with the Song Dynasty before, and in the early Song Dynasty, it often sent envoys to pay homage.
If we really want to attack Gaochang, we need to find a suitable reason.
But now it's different; they're actively courting death.
How could Zhao Huan refuse a head that was offered to him?
Now the Song Dynasty is considered wealthy and powerful. Zhao Huan has already planned to head west to save the foreign tribes living in dire straits and promote the civilization of the Celestial Empire.
The spread of civilization has always been bloody and inevitably accompanied by war.
The principle that a war must have a just cause is an age-old truth. Even if there is no just cause, one must be made up and instilled in the soldiers.
No need to make it up now.
Ten days later, Zhao Huan arrived in Youzhou, the northern capital.
In Youzhou, Zhao Huan met with Han Chenchen's father, Han Lixian.
A difference of just one word, and they were originally family, but now they are mortal enemies.
The branch of Han Lixian's lineage also originated from Han Derang. They separated midway through their lives and spent several decades developing their business in Youzhou.
Exactly ten years ago, she got involved with Zhao Huan, which can be described as a pheasant turning into a phoenix.
Zhao Huan received Han Lixian out of respect, and also because he wanted his father-in-law to extend his business sphere of influence northward as quickly as possible. In short, he wanted to dismantle Han Lixian's trading company first.
Zhao Huan didn't want to get too involved in such details.
On the third day of their stay in Youzhou, an urgent letter arrived from the south: a rebellion had broken out in Guangzhou.
PS: Volume 5, "The Heroic Spirit of the Song Dynasty," is finally finished.
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