Some time ago, when the logistics department reported a food shortage, Zhao Huan had already sensed that there was a major problem in the rear.
But at the crucial moment of the western expedition, he had no choice but to suppress the matter, otherwise the western expedition might have been in vain.
Zhao Huan paced back and forth in the palace for half a day, his mind still unsettled.
After a long while, gazing at the setting sun in the west, he sighed: "I hope Yue Fei can pacify the Western Regions."
He decided to return to the capital in triumph.
Internal strife is no small matter, especially since the Liaodong Iron Forest Army is involved this time. If we are not careful, it could very well lead to a situation similar to the An Lushan Rebellion of the Former Tang Dynasty.
Or perhaps the master in the imperial court has changed.
After all, there are many people who want to overturn some of the reform plans under the new policies.
The next day, Zhao Huan led 50,000 imperial guards and began to return eastward.
He did not announce the Liaodong rebellion, but instead returned to the capital under the pretext of a triumphant return.
Half a month later, the army arrived at Gaochang City.
Li Guang personally went out of the city to welcome the emperor.
The Gaochang city at this time was somewhat different from the one when Zhao Huan left.
At least there weren't as many people on the streets anymore, because food was scarce in Gaochang City. Li Guang strictly controlled the food supply, and many people stayed home to reduce consumption.
Li Guang recounted everything he knew to Zhao Huan.
A month and a half ago, the Hetao Road stopped supplying grain to Gaochang.
According to reports, the Northwest has entered a state of war, and Tang Ke has placed strict control over all grain supplies.
The Northwest Army had already marched south five days ago to protect the capital.
This is bad news. Because of its strategic location, the Northwest Army will not easily move south even if war breaks out in Liaodong.
The fact that they are now heading south indicates that the Liaodong rebels have already entered Juyong Pass.
Zhao Huan's heart tightened. This foreshadowed that the Hedong and Hebei regions, which had finally recovered over the years, were likely to bleed again under the iron heel of war.
After a brief stop in Gaochang, Zhao Huan marched eastward without stopping, and the entire army advanced rapidly, reaching Yumen Pass in just five days.
Having entered Yumen Pass, Zhao Huan felt somewhat at ease.
First, I went to Shazhou to inquire about some information.
The Central Plains War caused grain prices in the Hetao region to skyrocket.
Moreover, I heard that there was also a rebellion in Shaanxi to the south. Some wealthy merchants have been buying off and recruiting a number of private armed forces, and even a batch of firearms have been leaked.
The situation on Shaanxi Road has also become very tense.
When Zhao Huan entered Suzhou, there were almost no troops left to defend the city; all the troops that could be transferred from the entire northwest had been transferred away by Tang Ke.
It should be noted that Suzhou was once a major military stronghold in the Song Dynasty's Hetao region.
Zhao Huan then sent men north to the Northern Army to mobilize troops. A few days later, they returned with the news that the Northern Army troops had already been transferred away by Tang Ke.
Zhao Huan felt a surge of anger.
The price of grain in Suzhou City has risen to 5 strings of cash per shi (a unit of dry measure).
With a monthly salary of 2 guan for an ordinary worker in Suzhou City, one shi (a unit of dry measure) could feed a family for two months. The income was basically used to buy food, leaving almost no money left over.
The lives of ordinary people, which had just begun to improve, suddenly teetered on the brink of collapse.
Zhao Huan was heartbroken to see this.
After finally clearing the country, he planned to launch a top-level financial strategic expansion through war, but now it has to be postponed due to internal strife.
He merely gripped the hilt of the knife at his waist, his gaze calm, but his heart was in turmoil.
This time, no matter who it is, I will unleash a massacre!
Two days later, Zhao Huan traveled directly south from Suzhou City into Shaanxi Province.
At this time, Shaanxi Road was in complete chaos.
Take Qinzhou, where Zhao Huan was about to arrive, for example. The body of He Weidong, the prefect of Qinzhou, was hanging on the city wall of Qinzhou. It had already decomposed and no one came to claim it.
Zhao Huan led a few of his personal guards to scout ahead. When they passed Niujia Village outside Qinzhou, they saw some people in military uniforms conscripting men in the village.
The weather had turned cold by then, and some villagers at the village entrance didn't even have a thicker coat.
He remembered that when he left for the expedition, Shaanxi Road was not like this.
It seems that the major highways in the Northwest have been blocked by the rebels, and the business of cloth merchants has been cut off. Now, the basic livelihood industries are basically paralyzed.
Zhao Huan stopped his horse and asked a disabled middle-aged man in front of the village, "Old man, what are those people up ahead doing?"
The middle-aged man, dressed in thin clothes, sighed and said with heartache, "What a tragedy, he's going to be conscripted into the army."
"What kind of conscript are you? Are you going to quell a rebellion?"
"Sigh, it's just going to be a conscript for the rebels!"
Zhao Huan stopped frowning: "The emperor has only been on a western expedition for a few months, how has the Song Dynasty become like this!"
Upon hearing the mention of the emperor, the middle-aged man burst into tears: "If His Majesty were still alive, he would not be in such a state."
Zhao Huan asked in confusion, "What do you mean by that?"
"Sir, don't you know which unit you belong to? His Majesty has already passed away during the western expedition. The King of Liao has used this as a pretext to launch a war. Now the King of Liao and the current Crown Prince are two opposing forces and have already started fighting."
"Alas, if His Majesty were still alive, we would not be suffering so much. I heard that the western expedition was a great defeat, and my poor son also died on the way. Now I am all alone and miserable!"
At this point, the middle-aged man was already in tears.
"Thinking back to fourteen years ago, when the Jin invaders besieged the capital, we followed Lord Zhong from Luoyang to the capital to defend the emperor. Later, we followed the emperor's army on the northern expedition. How exhilarating it was! The Song Dynasty finally welcomed a wise and virtuous ruler. My leg was cut off by the Jin invaders during that northern expedition, but I think it was worth it! Even if I had lost my life there, it would have been worth it. In recent years, the villagers have had food to eat! But now, we can't even afford to eat!"
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