As a time traveler, Zhao Bing knew that there might be many accidents in history. Without the interference of external factors, Sun Quan would have advanced westward according to the strategy designed by Zhou Yu, crossing Jing from Jiangdong, and fighting for the Central Plains more. However, Liu Cong's unexpected surrender and Cao Cao's rapid advance south to pursue Liu Bei disrupted the early strategy of Eastern Wu. Cao Cao's southern expedition sent Sun Quan this unstable factor, which also activated Lu Su's early strategic design, completely changing the strategic choices after Eastern Wu.

At the beginning of occupying the south of the Yangtze River, although Zhao Bing designed the Yangtze River defense line based on his own knowledge, without capturing Xiangfan, he used Ezhou and Jiankang as the two areas as the entire defense line as the support point, and arranged defenses along the river and voluntarily gave up Sichuan and Shu. He thought that with Ezhou, he could resist the enemy troops heading south from the Han River, and block the enemy troops advancing west from Sichuan and Shu. At the same time, he relied on the navy to implement mobile defense and block the enemy's attempt to cross the south.

But after a long talk with Jiang Jin that day and listening to his plan to pacify the West, Zhao Bing suddenly realized that the defense line he arranged was almost a copy of Sun Wu, but in terms of the situation, he was indeed more sinister than him. Not only did he lose the opportunity to fight the Central Plains, but he also faced threats from the upstream at all times. This could not help but trigger his reflection and reexamine his strategy.

Zhao Bing found that the mistake he made was accustomed to the confinement of the Three Kingdoms and was poisoned by Luo Guanzhong. "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" regards Shu Han as orthodox, which distorts the understanding of later generations. He would take it for granted that the alliance between Sun and Liu was a natural strategy to fight against Cao Cao. He thought that Jingzhou was an important upper-stream town. If the Eastern Wu lost it, it would be equivalent to losing the natural danger of the Yangtze River. However, Jingzhou was not very important in the early Eastern Wu founding strategy. In fact, the hidden dangers of the Eastern Wu national defense were hidden in the two areas of Jingzhou and Jianye, which became an unforgettable nightmare for the Eastern Wu.

But in fact, the monarchs and ministers of Eastern Wu did not think so at the beginning. Without the possibility of seizing Yizhou, Sun Quan concentrated his efforts to regain Jingzhou. Lu Meng lived up to his hopes and attacked Nanjun, allowing Jingzhou to return to the embrace of Eastern Wu. However, there was a big problem in Jingzhou at this time. The key was that Xiangfan had been controlled by Cao Wei and the northern part of Jingzhou was completely lost.

If there are only central and southern Jingzhou, if Yizhou to the west can be controlled, it will be no big problem. If Cao Wei goes south from Xiangfan and the troops stationed in Jiangling and Wuxia can jointly attack the Wei army, but now Yizhou is occupied by Shu Han, and the northern part of Jingzhou is in the hands of Cao Wei, the central part of Jingzhou may be attacked by two lines at any time.

For the Eastern Wu, losing the central part of Jingzhou is equivalent to sharing the natural danger of the Yangtze River with the enemy country. But if it is not lost, then defense is a big trouble. Sun Quan formulated a solution to take Ezhou as the capital, so that it can support Jingzhou in times of crisis, or deter Jingzhou garrison nearby. Ezhou's geographical location is very good for military defense. It happens to be between two water switches on the Yangtze River. At that time, the Sun and Liu coalition forces also sniped the Cao army nearby, but as the capital, it had an irreparable disadvantage, that is, the economic power of Wuchang and its surrounding areas was not enough to maintain the long-term existence of the capital.

Zhao Bing crossed the relevant historical records and knew that the most prosperous economy of Sun Wu was the Sanwu region, which occupied half of the total economic output of the Eastern Wu, and the other half was provided by the Jingzhou region. The current situation was similar. Since Jingzhou could not be the capital, there was only Jianye. Later, even Liu Bei advised Sun Quan to establish the capital of Jianye. However, the distance between Jianye and Jingzhou was so far away, and he would still go against the current. If Jingzhou was attacked, he would basically not expect any reinforcements.

With Jianye as the capital, Zhao Bing thought that this might be Sun Quan's helpless choice, but it was also a wrong choice. The reason is that Jianye's geographical location is too close to the Yangtze River, but in terms of Jian's geographical location, it is a bit like Beijing in the Ming Dynasty in the later Ming Dynasty, forming a situation of "the emperor guarding the country's gate". As long as the response speed to the enemy's actions is a little slow, the situation on the battlefield will be very passive. Look at Beijing in the Ming Dynasty. The Qing army ran around the capital for several times, and all the troops of kings were still on the way.

As a natural danger for Jianye, the Yangtze River is actually only separated by a river. As soon as the enemy breaks through, Jianye will immediately face an emergency situation where the troops are at the city. When Sun Ce wanted to capture Jiangdong, Liu Yao, as the governor of Yangzhou, was stationed in Qu'a. Sun Ce crossed the river and attacked him to Kuaiji. The Hou Jing rebellion in Nanliang also fully proves this. When Emperor Wu of Liang slowly asked the command system to issue orders at all levels, Hou Jing's alone had already taken the opportunity to cross the river. If he hoped that other areas of Dongwu could send reinforcements in time, it would be almost like a dream.

If we look at this point alone, Zhao Bing thought that Zhao Gou, who was good at escaping, knew better than Sun Quan that after occupying Jiangnan, he gave up the idea of ​​Jiankang, the ancient capital of the four dynasties, as the capital, and instead used Hangzhou, which was farther away from the Yangtze River, as the temporary capital. Although he had no danger to defend after losing the Yangtze River, he still had time to react and escape was enough. He often secretly thanked for his stinginess. After regaining Jiangnan, if Jiankang City had not been dilapidated and needed to spend a lot of money to rebuild, he might have regarded Jiankang as his temporary place.

Therefore, it is good to use Jianye as a base for the Northern Expedition to the Central Plains. Sun Quan's use of this as a capital was a failure. He could only always be alert to the situation in Jiangbei to prevent the danger of being suddenly destroyed. The Chen Houzhu of the Southern Dynasty had a leisurely problem. The Sui army general He Ruobi and Han Qinhu crossed the river, and the Chen Dynasty was destroyed.

As the situation of Jianye and Jingzhou was determined, the national defense risks of Eastern Wu were completely obvious. If the Wei army went south, neither side would expect to receive assistance from each other. They had the will but were not strong enough, so they could only defend their own defense zones. The Yangtze River defense line was fully unfolded from east to west, just like the Great Wall. It was said to be a natural danger, but in fact they were fighting each other. If either side of the east and west was broken through by the enemy, the remaining side would be in a situation of being attacked. Jin destroyed Wu and defeated Jingzhou first, and Sui destroyed Chen first, and Jianye first.

Just imagine, if Emperor Wen of Wei accepted Liu Ye's suggestion and advanced the time to send troops, Liu Bei attacked Yiling from Wuxia east, Cao Zhen went to Jiangling from Xiangfan south, Cao Ren went straight to Ruxukou from Hefei, and Jingzhou and Jianye were at the same time, Sun Quan would probably have to accept the fate of Chen Houzhu in advance. In this way, while the Eastern Wu gave up Zhou Yu's two-part plan, he also gave up the qualification to participate in the unification of the world...

"Boyan is a smart man. He will not give up such a good opportunity. Once this attack is crushed, he will definitely think of marching from Xichuan, so he must do it for the recapture of Chongqing!" After explaining the situation, Zhao Bing said in an unquestionable tone.

"Since that's the case, I have no objection!" Lu Xiufu looked at the little emperor and then at everyone, and he politely said.

Lu Xiufu also realized that his previous estimate of the situation was too optimistic. The Song Dynasty still had not escaped from the danger of embarking on the same mistakes. It can be said that the environment they faced was even more dangerous. At that time, the Eastern Wu still had Western Shu restrained Cao Wei in the north, and they were indeed attacked from three sides. Except for the front line of the Yangtze River, the threat from the Mongol Yuan to the flank was still there, but they had no foreign aid to restrain the enemy, and everything needed themselves.

"Okay, we need to prepare for the Western Expedition at the moment. Xichuan has been in war for decades, and people are poor in their livelihood, and the supply of food and grass will inevitably be insufficient. Therefore, we need to dispatch it from Ezhou and make arrangements early, but we also need to keep it confidential and do not need to be aware of it from the outside world!" Zhao Bing said.

"I understand, I don't know when Your Majesty will launch troops!" Jiang Xu replied.

"The current situation is still unclear, and we still need to act cautiously. It is not advisable to mobilize the army. After May, the river water will surge, the upstream flows rapidly, and it is difficult for ships to sail against the current, so it is not advisable to move troops. I plan to reduce precipitation in late September, but when the river water is abundant, I personally lead the army to conquer the west, recover Chongqing, and reconstruct the defense line. But we must start preparing and conduct reconnaissance on the upstream!" Zhao Bing said.

"Your Majesty, the son of a thousand gold medal cannot be placed in the hall. Do not fight in person at any time. If an unexpected accident occurs, it will cause chaos. It is better to choose a good general to conquer. Your Majesty just need to plan and strategize!" Lu Xiufu advised after hearing this.

"I heard that there are still soldiers of our army in Lingxiao City who are still defending the city. They have been persisting for more than 30 years. I wonder how brave they are. How could I hide in the deep palace because of my greed for life and fear of death!" Zhao Bing waved his hand and said.

"Lingxiao City is still in the hands of our army?! How is this possible!" Wen Tianxiang suddenly stood up after hearing this, but couldn't believe it. "I'm guarding the lonely city alone, with foreign aid cut off, and there is no news. There is a strong enemy around me. If they still exist, it's really a miracle!"

"This news has been a long time, but we have no way to verify it at the moment. My hope is true, and I also hope to see these soldiers with my own eyes and thank them!" Zhao Bing said.

"If Lingxiao City is here, our dynasty can regain the cities of Chongqing in the name of helping, and it will also boost the morale of the military and civilians and strengthen the confidence of victory!" Ying Jieyan also said with great emotion.

"The Western Expedition is not only to recapture Chongqing and reconstruct the defense line, but also to make our soldiers and civilians of the Song Dynasty understand that even if they are deeply trapped in a siege, as long as you still have a breath, we will not give up our people and abandon the loyal and brave soldiers!" Zhao Bing said with a long breath, and this matter was solved.

Seeing that lunch time was coming, Zhao Bing announced that the court would be temporarily dispersed, rest for a while, and then discuss it in the afternoon. However, when it comes to meals, everyone advised the young emperor again. They were very dissatisfied with the young emperor's keen on leading troops to fight in person. The traditional Central Plains emperors were very different. Because of the safety of the dynasty, the emperor generally could not venture to the front line of the battlefield. If an accident occurred, the whole country would be in chaos.

When I was in Qiongzhou, the young emperor would lead the army to face the enemy, and he would stand alone. If the situation at that time, the forced method of the dynasty was short of soldiers and the number of generals was forced to go to the court. But now there are thousands of powerful generals in the Song Dynasty and 500,000 soldiers, so he didn't need to fight in person, but the young emperor remained unchanged and still led troops to take risks. What he did was not to think of the Central Plains emperors of all dynasties, just like Emperor Guangwu of Han and Emperor Taizong of Tang. After they became emperors, they ordered generals to conquer. There were very few cases of going on the battle in person, but they looked very much like the Xiongnu Khan or the Mongol Khan.

Everyone has advised him many times, severely criticizing the extremely irresponsible behavior of the young emperor, which was still the same afterwards and led the regaining of Jiangnan. You should know that Your Majesty had just married and had no children yet, and the other brothers were either dead or dead. If there were three or two shorts, there was no substitute. In addition, everyone knows that although the young emperor had such and such a problem, it did not conform to their image as a benevolent monarch in their minds. But everyone knows that the young emperor is still a rare wise ruler, and the savior of the Song Dynasty, only he can accomplish the great cause of rejuvenation, and no one can replace him.

Zhao Bing was very calm in his advice to everyone. He had already had another understanding of war. In the past, it was to save his life and then to protect his foothold. Now it was a stage to show his abilities. Now that he has embarked on the road to becoming a king, why not leave a brilliant page in history books? And he also liked the kind of brotherly love and friendship on the battlefield, the satisfaction and excitement brought by victory. As for these people's persuasion, they can be regarded as their care for themselves, which means that they have been recognized in their minds.

The afternoon meeting continued, and several priests reported on their respective matters. Zhao Bing inquired in detail about the preparations for the imperial examination, the placement of candidates, the number of applicants applied for each subject, and the selected examiners. Then he asked about spring plowing and sowing, and the repair and clearance of water conservancy facilities such as irrigation canals and other water conservancy facilities using winter leisure. Then, Zhao Bing assigned work to the two new officials. Jiang Zhu led the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Personnel to complete the formulation of the relevant military merit system and the system of official positions left after the military reform in Qiongzhou; Wang Yinglin was in charge of the Imperial Bureau, and worked with the Ministry of Rites, the Ministry of Justice and Dali Temple to complete the preliminary preparations for the Imperial Bureau as soon as possible.

Next, Zhao Bing mentioned that it was a matter of discussing the country and set the long-term and short-term development goals of the Song Dynasty. The main ones are: expelling the Tartars and restoring the Central Plains, which are still the main tasks at present; secondly, determining the national political system and government structure through imperial edicts, and revising the "District of the Song Dynasty"; then improving the current land system, tax system and military service system; in addition, encouraging the development of industry and commerce, vigorously developing overseas trade, so as to diversify tax sources, thereby reducing dependence on agriculture and improving people's livelihood.

In terms of military affairs, Zhao Bing suggested further improving the military system and accelerating the construction of an armed system with the imperial guards as the main body, the state army as the auxiliary, and the township soldiers as the supplement; accelerate the construction of military industry and increase the development of new weapons to meet the needs of war and combat readiness and training; in addition, the training of the army should be carried out constantly and master new weapons and new tactics as soon as possible. At the same time, military discipline should be strengthened to build a benevolent and righteous army that is invincible and loyal to the emperor and the people.

After Zhao Bing finished his speech, he ordered the two governments to work with officials from various departments to discuss as soon as possible, make suggestions, and formulate corresponding plans. At the same time, he required that the war was coming, and all departments should do their best to serve this. If someone slacked off, he would be severely punished...
Chapter completed!