Chapter 206 Glimpse
Emperor Zhao certainly had public motives when he toured the Yellow River.
After all, the central government had already been sensitive to the current predicament... The Jin army was still in danger, and Henan Province had been under strict military control for several months, which led to an imbalance in the hearts of the people at all levels... Therefore, the plan for this tour had actually been placed on Emperor Zhao's desk as early as October.
But why at this time? Why did he go on tour immediately after the imperial concubine was appointed? Some reasons are difficult to conceal.
You must know that the co-existence of two imperial concubines was recognized by the prime minister, and it was also due to the misbehavior of the Zhao emperors, especially the frivolousness of a certain Emperor Taishang Daojun, so there was always a precedent. In particular, the serious arguments that Emperor Zhao used to persuade Lu Haowen and others also made some sense - he said that if the queen was established now, who would be the heir to the throne in the future, and what about the theory that the mother is honored by her son? It was possible that there would be problems.
But leaving aside future problems, the current problem is that, from Concubine Pan’s perspective, she suffered a great loss in this matter.
Because there were only two concubines in the palace, and compared to Concubine Pan who was only a hair's breadth away from the position of queen twice, Madam Wu, who came to power very late, had no status at all in front of Concubine Pan for a long time.
But life is such a fickle thing, and suddenly the other person becomes your equal.
May I ask how Concubine Pan could not be annoyed?
Emperor Zhao knew that others would be angry, but he escaped at the first opportunity... Inspecting the Yellow River defense line was a matter of both public and private interests.
In late November, Emperor Zhao left Bianliang and headed north, first to Yangwu (later Yuanyang), then to Suanzao, and later to Huazhou... Along the way, he randomly entered the forts and beacon towers, talked with the soldiers of the imperial camp face to face, and asked about their needs. The accompanying imperial camp commander Wang Yuan and deputy commander Qu Duan also formed a three-person working group with the palace attendant Wanqi Xie, and brought a group of low-level bureaucrats from the Privy Council and the provincial government to check military pay and supplies along the way.
I must add one more thing here. The corruption in the Song army is really ingrained in their bones, and things like drinking the blood of soldiers are inevitable. Emperor Zhao knows this very well, and he didn't expect to be able to avoid these things... But since he came out for an inspection and encountered it, he couldn't pretend not to know.
So, while just walking along the Yellow River front in Kaifeng Prefecture, Emperor Zhao beheaded seven or eight officers above the rank of captain along the way and dismissed thirteen or fourteen people.
At the end of November, when the imperial guards escorted Emperor Zhao into the territory of Huazhou, an officer defected in the front. A commander from Hebei stationed in Linghe Town was so frightened that he led several guards to seize a small boat and head north to surrender to the Jin people.
This incident shocked the central government ministers accompanying Emperor Zhao greatly. Many of them suggested on the spot that Emperor Zhao should return immediately, because in the territory of Huazhou ahead, the riverside defense zone of 20 to 30 miles between Baima, the capital of Huazhou, and Linghe Town was controlled by Li Qiong, the commander of the imperial camp, to which this commander belonged.
Li Qiong's troops were a rather special force in the imperial camp... they were all from Hebei.
Just because Li Qiongzhou was a student, had been stationed in Huazhou for a long time, and was indeed good at leading troops, when the imperial camp troops were divided at the beginning, he was specially assigned to the central army of the imperial camp, and was still stationed in Huazhou, and theoretically belonged to Wang De's command.
Of course, privately, Emperor Zhao often gave orders to the various troops in the imperial camp. With such a close distance, it is not unreasonable to say that they are directly under Emperor Zhao.
In other words, this is an independent force in the imperial camp.
At the same time, Huazhou was not far from Daming Prefecture and Puyang City in Hebei Province, and the other side of the river was the central point where the Jin army stationed its troops along the Yellow River.
Therefore, if Li Qiong also had ulterior motives and suddenly colluded with the Jin people and released the Jin troops in Daming Prefecture, wouldn’t that cause a huge incident?
The ministers' concerns were not without reason, but Emperor Zhao disagreed.
First, from a personal perspective, Zhao Jiu did not think that Li Qiong, who had served as his central army during the Battle of Yanling and who communicated with him on a daily basis, would rebel because of this kind of thing;
Secondly, Zhao Jiu thought that he had handled the corruption in the army fairly and fairly, and the accountability was only at the level of the commander. Li Qiong did not need to worry about the corruption in the army.
Third, from the perspective of the situation, the fact that this commander escaped with only his personal guards shows that his behavior of doing his best to support the troops for half a year has worked, and this man is simply unable to mobilize the grassroots troops.
In fact, it was quite the opposite. Emperor Zhao communicated frequently with these commander-level generals through the commander-in-chief's letter system, and he had a certain understanding of Li Qiong... This man had the arrogance of a scholar and a bit of the arrogance of a powerful person, which together resulted in an excessive amount of self-esteem.
If we turn back in a hurry at this time, it will irritate him instead.
But if he can show sincerity, his scholarly mentality will prompt him to submit.
"Li Qiong will not let me down." Emperor Zhao made up his mind in just a moment, and then said this in public. He still ordered the eastward march, and at the same time, Wang Yuan, Qu Duan, and Wanqi Xie continued to inspect along the way.
However, once they set off, Emperor Zhao himself and the imperial soldiers did not return to the fort to comfort the soldiers. Instead, they galloped along the river, abandoning their carriages and riding horses with the central officials, and headed for Tiantai Mountain near Baimajin in Huazhou.
That was the main camp where Li Qiong and his troops were stationed.
At the same time, Emperor Zhao sent a messenger to Mount Tiantai to inform Li Qiong of his itinerary in advance.
The reason is very simple... With two thousand imperial guards accompanying him and soldiers and horses everywhere in the imperial camp, the real theoretical danger is that Li Qiong mobilizes the entire army, connects with the Jin army, and lets the Jin army cross the river. Doing so requires time to connect with the upper and lower levels, so as long as Emperor Zhao goes quickly, the other side will never be able to go.
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