Ouyang Shuo did not expect the Tubo Dynasty to be occupied by the Ashoka Dynasty.
Songzan Gampo resisted the Mongolian Empire in the north and defended the Great Xia Dynasty in the west. In the end, he still could not escape the fate of being devoured by the giant crocodile. It was truly regrettable.
Speaking of which, this was the first time a foreign force had intervened in the struggle for supremacy in Hua Xia. It made Ouyang Shuo feel embarrassed.
Even so, Ouyang Shuo had no choice but to be careful. A few days ago, Li Jing had already led the Flying Bear Army back to the border of Shu. The first expedition of the Great Xia Dynasty ended in failure.
Li Jing asked for forgiveness but was suppressed by Ouyang Shuo.
Given the treacherous situation of the Tubo battlefield, it was already a very impressive achievement for Li Jing to be able to lead the Flying Bear Army and retreat unscathed. How could Ouyang Shuo punish this general?
Before dealing with the Qin, Tang, and Song Kingdoms, Ouyang Shuo did not intend to start a war with Tubo.
As for the Ashoka Dynasty, they had to go through a process of digestion and absorption after annexing such a large territory. Furthermore, Shu was easy to defend and difficult to attack. As long as Ashoka was not too arrogant, he would not be greedy.
Putting Tubo aside for the time being, Ouyang Shuo focused his attention on the Qin, Tang, and Song Kingdoms.
As the deadline approached on the 3rd of July, Ouyang Shuo was prepared to sacrifice the Zhao family of the Great Song Dynasty. He did not expect a dramatic change in the Great Song Dynasty the night before.
Zhao Guangyi had saved the entire family.
However, the people of the future would probably regard Zhao Guangyi as a traitor and Zhao Kuangyin as the Saint of the generation.
Ouyang Shuo had no intention of investigating. He only knew that with the success of Zhao Guangyi's palace change, Jingchu Province had already become the possession of the Great Xia Dynasty.
The Great Xia Dynasty was a big step closer to destroying the three kingdoms.
…
On the 5th of July, Jiang Shang, the Chief Minister of the Great Xia Dynasty, led a team to Xiangyang City to accept Zhao Guangyi's surrender. Before that, the two armies had already stopped fighting.
The Great Song Imperial Army at the frontline surrendered and waited for the Privy Council to reorganize. After a rough calculation, there were still 380,000 Great Song Imperial Army waiting to be reorganized.
Jiang Shang also brought the imperial court's grace and title.
The edict conferred Zhao Guangyi the title of King Song and Zhao Kuangyin. This kind of grace was already considered the great grace of the emperor. Zhao Kuangyin, who was under house arrest, would be too insensible if he was dissatisfied.
Apart from the Zhao Royal Family, the old ministers of the Great Song also had their own appointments.
Zhao Pu was appointed as the Governor of Southern Sichuan, and the former Governor of Southern Sichuan, Fan Zhongyan, was transferred to the Governor of Jingchu.
In his early years, Zhao Pu was appointed by Liu Ci as a secretary, and later became Zhao Kuangyin's secretary. In the seventh year of Xiande, he and Zhao Kuangyin launched the Chenqiao Mutiny, overthrowing the Later Zhou and establishing the Song Dynasty.
In the second year of Qiande, he became the Prime Minister and assisted Zhao Kuangyin in seizing the military towns, removing the Imperial Guard Generals from military power, implementing the Garrison Law, reforming the official system, and formulating many important measures to defend the borders of Liaoning.
In the third year of Chunhua, Zhao Pu, who had paid his respects to the Prime Minister three times, died of illness at the age of seventy-one. He was conferred the title of Prince of Han and given the title of 'Zhongxian'. He was also given a banquet in the Taizu Temple and was one of the twenty-four heroes of the Zhao Xun Pavilion.
Although Zhao Pu did not read much, he liked to read the Analects of Confucius. His saying that "half of the Analects of Confucius governs the world" had a great impact on the later generations and became a famous saying of ruling the country with Confucianism.
With Zhao Pu's talent, it was naturally not a problem for him to be appointed as the governor of a province. However, it was still unexpected for him to be appointed as the governor of Southern Sichuan. Although the rumor that Southern Chuan Province was going to become Zhili Province was suppressed by Ouyang Shuo, there was no need to doubt the high status of Southern Chuan Province.
Ouyang Shuo's real purpose was to transfer Fan Zhongyan out of Southern Sichuan.
As Jingchu Province had the royal city of Xiangyang and was a large province in the central region, Fan Zhongyan would not be wronged. Ouyang Shuo hoped that through this adjustment, Fan Zhongyan would understand the hidden meaning of his warning.
Other than Zhao Pu, Murong Yanzhao, Gao Huaide, Wang Shenqi, Han Lingkun, Shi Shouxin, Zhang Lingduo, Zhang Guanghan, Zhao Yanwei, and the other old ministers of the Great Song were also arranged.
The Northern Song had no generals, and the Southern Song had no prime minister.
Among the old ministers, Zhao Pu was the only one who truly excelled in both literature and martial arts.
… …
With the surrender of the Great Song, the situation in the Huaxia Region had become clear. Now, it depended on the attitude of the Qin and Tang Kingdoms. Whether it was Emperor Qin or Emperor Taizong, they were not people who would easily admit defeat.
It was harder to make the two of them surrender than to kill them.
The capital, the imperial palace.
Zhang Liang, the Secretary of the Secretariat, was invited to the imperial study for a discussion.
"Dear subject, how do you think we should deal with the Qin and Tang Kingdoms?" If possible, Ouyang Shuo did not want to subdue the two countries through war under the overbearing situation of the Ashoka Dynasty.
But if they did not fight, the two countries would not surrender.
This had become a dead knot. That was why Ouyang Shuo asked Zhang Liang to think of a solution.
Zhang Liang replied, "Emperor Qin and Emperor Taizong are also heroes of their generation. They must be able to see the situation clearly and know that the situation cannot be reversed. What we need to do is to give them a way out. "
Ouyang Shuo nodded in agreement.
"Dear subject, how do you think we should give them a way out? Do you want us to talk to them personally? "
"That's not appropriate!" Zhang Liang shook his head. "Putting aside the fact that Your Majesty is the most respected person in the world, we cannot lower our status. If we break this rule, it will affect the arrogance of the Qin and Tang Kingdoms. It will be very disadvantageous to the governance of the Guanxi Province in the future. "
Zhang Liang's concern was not an alarmist.
Both the Qin and Tang Kingdoms had a group of famous civil and military officials. Moreover, the two countries had been in the Guanxi Province for a long time and had deep roots. If Great Xia gave the two countries too much face, it would easily give the civil and military officials and the people of the two countries the wrong impression that they were giving face to Great Xia by submitting to Great Xia. It would inevitably lead to arrogance.
This was what Ouyang Shuo did not want to see.
Zhang Liang said, "This humble subject thinks that we can start with the Ashoka Dynasty."
"What do you mean?"
Ouyang Shuo was a little surprised. He did not know how the two could be linked together.
"Whether it is Emperor Qin or Emperor Taizong, they are the emperors of China. Now that foreign enemies are knocking on China's door, if the Qin and Tang Kingdoms are still immersed in internal strife, wouldn't they be letting down the name of China? This humble subject suggests that we send a high-level envoy group again and use this as a breakthrough to convince the two emperors to retreat behind the scenes. "Zhang Liang said.
Ouyang Shuo frowned slightly. "Will this work?"
"If Your Majesty does not give up, this humble subject is willing to personally lead a team to one of the countries."
"Alright!"
Ouyang Shuo readily accepted the advice and decided to let Zhang Liang give it a try.
…
On the seventh day of the seventh month, Great Xia's Cabinet's Second Assistant Minister and Minister in Charge of Seals, Zhang Liang, led a team to the Tang Dynasty. At the same time, Honglu Temple's Minister, Zhang Yi, personally led a team to the Qin Dynasty.
In history, Zhang Yi was once the prime minister of the Qin Kingdom. This diplomatic mission to the Qin Kingdom could be considered as a 'glorious return'. Ouyang Shuo hoped that Qin Shihuang would consider this and agree to retire.
Ouyang Shuo could put the civil and military officials in important positions, but the emperors were the absolute forbidden zone. Ouyang Shuo was unwilling to touch them and would never have the intention to take them under his command.
Even Xiang Yu, the Overlord of Chu, was not willing to be in the hearts of the people, let alone emperors like Emperor Qin and Emperor Taizong.
If he really recruited these emperors, there would be endless troubles in the future.
Therefore, even if the Qin and Tang Kingdoms surrendered, Emperor Qin and Emperor Taizong could only retire and be idle kings in this game world. They would no longer interfere with the state affairs and could not even touch it.
As for whether there would be an opportunity in the future to instantiate these emperors on Planet Hope and expand the territory, that was another matter. After all, there were still too many variables on Planet Hope, and how could Ouyang Shuo know everything?
During the period when Zhang Liang and Zhang Yi were on the diplomatic mission, the Great Xia army did not move and quietly waited for the results of the negotiations between both parties. If the two countries were still unwilling to surrender, Ouyang Shuo could only resolve it through war in order to avoid any unforeseen circumstances.
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