Chapter 1590: Envoys from the South, Strike Mongke First

"Welcome the prince back to the capital, and wish the prince good health!"

When Su Mingzhe saw Xiao Longnu coming to greet him, he waved his hand and signaled everyone to excuse themselves, then stepped forward with surprise and said:

"Long Er, why did you leave the palace too?"

Although Su Mingzhe was very happy when he saw Xiaolongnu coming to greet him, he knew even more clearly that it was definitely not Xiaolongnu's own will to go out of the city to greet him.

The facts were just as Su Mingzhe expected.

Given Xiaolongnu's personality, she originally didn't want to perform these rituals.

However, after being persuaded by Wanyan Ping and the remnants of the Jin Dynasty, Xiaolongnu finally reluctantly led everyone out of the city ten miles to meet the man.

Thinking of the advice of Wanyan Ping and others, Xiaolongnu patiently chatted with Su Mingzhe about family matters, then waved for her son Su Hui to come over.

Su Hui is only a few months older than the little emperor Zhao Chun, but he is an eyebrow taller than Zhao Chun.

Su Mingzhe didn't want to be intimate with Xiaolongnu in public, so he picked up his son and kissed him again and again, and finally took Xiaolongnu and his son to his own carriage.

As for the other concubines, they went to pay their respects to the two Empress Dowagers.

The young emperor worshipped Su Mingzhe as his "father-in-law". As Su Mingzhe's principal wife, Xiao Longnu was already on par with the two Empress Dowagers and did not need to perform any grand ceremony.

But now, Su Mingzhe directly dragged Xiaolongnu onto his own carriage and didn't even let her go to receive the gift of meeting.

No matter whether they were the civil and military officials from Dadu or the imperial officials from Lin'an, they all remained silent, buried their heads in their crotches, pretending they saw nothing.

As for Xie Daoqing, when he saw a group of concubines coming to pay their respects to him and not seeing the stunningly beautiful face of Xiaolongnu, he was surprised at first, then he cursed Su Mingzhe in his heart, and finally forced a smile on his face, indicating that they could set off and move on.

in this world.

Except for some conspirators, most people are still wary of imperial power.

But Xiaolongnu is not among them.

Looking at the little dragon girl sitting beside him with a calm expression, Su Mingzhe held her little hand tightly.

Not sure if it was an illusion, but Su Mingzhe discovered that Xiaolongnu, whose skin used to be cold, had a little hot hands today.

……

With Su Mingzhe's return, the southern expedition was announced.

Emergency mobilization began in areas outside the Great Wall, Shandong, Hebei, and the Central Plains.

After destroying Kublai Khan's army last year, in order to be able to coordinate planning, Su Mingzhe divided the territory under his command into five major war zones, namely: Northeast, Hebei, Central Plains, Shandong, and Jiangnan.

In the northeast region, there are 200,000 troops, controlling the Jurchen, Khitan and other tribal peoples who have not yet been fully naturalized.

In the Hebei region, there are 300,000 troops. In addition to the 50,000 troops guarding Dadu, the other 250,000 are mainly used to defend Jinzhong and the grassland.

In the Central Plains region, there are 200,000 troops, mainly guarding Jingxiang and Guanzhong.

In the Shandong region, there are 300,000 troops, who were originally intended to guard against the small imperial court in Lin'an, but now they are beginning to defend against the false emperor Zhao Guiqian.

The millions of troops are both farmers and soldiers.

In spare time, they farm the land and do not have to pay taxes; in wartime, they serve as soldiers and the government provides them with food, wages and supplies.

The last Jiangnan district has the smallest number of troops, even only one, namely the Beggar Gang, which is currently controlled by Lu Youjiao.

Now, Su Mingzhe has mobilized 500,000 troops from various war zones, cooperating with civilian laborers to transport food and wages. It is said that there are millions of troops, and they are preparing to march south.

The troops had not yet assembled, but the pseudo-emperor Zhao Guiqian had already begun to panic.

Although Zhao Guiqian had just defeated the Lin'an court and morale was high, Su Mingzhe was not bad either.

Last year, when the Tartar army of 500,000 marched south, Su Mingzhe almost defeated the enemy with only minor injuries. Zhao Guiqian knew that he was inferior to Su Mingzhe. Upon hearing the news that Su Mingzhe was going to march south, he quickly summoned his ministers to discuss countermeasures.

When Prime Minister Yang Gu heard that Su Mingzhe was going to lead his troops south, he immediately expressed his opinion:

"Your Majesty, I think that the people in Jiangnan are now unstable, so we should resist the enemy in the north of Jiangnan..."

When the former emperor Zhao Yun was still in power, Yang Gu had been opposing Su Mingzhe and Shi Songzhi.

Zhao Guiqian understood that if Su Mingzhe went south, the first person he would not let go would be Yang Gu, so when he heard Yang Gu's proposal, he nodded in agreement with satisfaction.

Seeing that the emperor and the prime minister had the same opinion, the ministers immediately seconded the motion.

After more than a month of unrest, we came from the small place of Nanchang to the prosperous metropolis of Lin'an. We haven't enjoyed a few days of good life yet, but don't we have to keep the enemy out?

"I do not agree with the Prime Minister's proposal!"

Wang Ye was originally the Jiangxi Transport Commissioner when Zhao Guiqian proclaimed himself emperor. Because he supported Zhao Guiqian, he served as the Minister of Rites and the Jiangdong Pacifier in the Nanchang court. Seeing that everyone agreed with Yang Gu's words, he frowned:
"Your Majesty, the King of Lu is powerful, and we are weak. How easy is it to say 'keep the enemy out'?"

Yang Gu was not angry when he saw that Wang Ye disagreed with his opinion.

This is because he knew that Wang Ye had always been like this, honest, incorruptible and upright.

Since Wang Ye raised objections, Yang Gu knew that this old scholar must have a better plan:
"Then according to Master Wang, how should we defend ourselves?"

"Prime Minister, Wang Ye doesn't have any brilliant ideas!"

Wang Ye did not respond to Yang Gu's friendly look, but said straightforwardly:
"Your Majesty, the Prime Minister has just said that the people in Jiangnan are unstable. If the Prince of Lu goes south and sends people to collude with the Jiangnan nobles, we will be in danger! In my opinion, we can make two preparations. The first step is to withdraw the troops back to Nanchang, and then send troops to block the Prince of Lu's army layer by layer, so that the Prince of Lu will retreat; the second step is to send people to the north to persuade the Prince of Lu to ascend the throne and become emperor. As long as the Prince of Lu is treasonous, he will have no reason to go south to attack us..."

"Mr. Wang is truly a wise and mature man who is planning for the country!"

After listening to Wang Ye's method, Zhao Guiqian was very excited for a moment.

During this month, the 500,000-strong army has thrown Jiangnan into chaos. Zhao Guiqian has lived here for more than a month, but he feels that he is not as free and happy as he was in his own Nanchang Palace.

Wang Ye's proposal to return to Nanchang at this time touched his heart.

As the prime minister, Yang Gu felt a little jealous when he saw that his suggestions were not as good as Wang Ye's.

Just as everyone was confirming to move the capital back to Nanchang, Yang Gu suddenly had an idea:
"Your Majesty, I have one more thing to add. Now that King Lu is powerful, we should form an alliance to counter him—"

……

"How did the Tartar get in touch with Zhao Guiqian?"

Su Mingzhe is mobilizing his troops and preparing to march south.

As a result, Zhao Guiqian first sent people north to persuade him to ascend the throne and become emperor. He also stated that if the King of Lu ascended the throne and became emperor, he would be willing to be humble and pay tribute every year.

Afterwards, Lu Youjiao sent someone to deliver news that Zhao Guiqian and Mengge had contacted each other and were preparing to fight against him together.

“What a bunch of troublesome guys!”

Su Mingzhe was so worried that he could only send someone to summon important officials to his study to discuss how to deal with the situation.

After the young emperor and the two empress dowagers arrived in Dadu, Su Mingzhe, who originally occupied the old Jin Palace, moved out of the palace with his family.

Now everyone can only come to Su Mingzhe's study to discuss matters.

Not long after.

More than a dozen important officials arrived and were about to discuss the matter after hearing the news.

Liu Bingzhong took the lead in proposing:

"Your Highness, Zhao Guiqian is just a guard dog, while Mengge is a wild wolf. If we attack Mengge, Zhao Guiqian will never dare to go north. On the contrary, if we attack Zhao Guiqian in the south, Mengge will definitely go south. Therefore, I suggest that we attack Mengge first!"