"It's a pity we couldn't keep the Yaoshi a little longer."
Li Shimin felt a trace of regret.
After Hou Junji's urgent memorial reached Chang'an, Li Jing could no longer sit still. For several days in a row he insisted that his health was perfectly fine, that the Southern Seas could not wait, that cement was a matter of national importance, that naval affairs would bring merit lasting for generations.
In the end, Li Shimin had no choice but to approve Li Jing's request. He watched the old general depart eastward along the river with lingering reluctance, intending first to go to Yizhou and then onward to Zhuyai.
Still, Li Jing was not wrong to be anxious.
The substance later generations would call cement had successfully been reproduced through Yan Liben's experiments and blending.
When used to ram walls or build roads, it cost less than blue bricks and only slightly more than packed earth. Yet the finished road feared neither heavy rain nor flood, and its durability far surpassed any ordinary tamped-earth road.
Whether Li Shimin, Li Jing, or Yan Liben himself, who had personally restored the formula, all believed this material had enormous value. It could strengthen cities against enemies or improve roads for the people.
Useful and inexpensive. Naturally, Li Shimin began to develop all sorts of ideas.
Under such circumstances, relying only on iron slag as a substitute for volcanic ash in cement production was clearly insufficient.
Later generations said that within the lands of China, only Zhuyai produced volcanic ash in abundance. Transporting it would certainly be troublesome, yet Li Jing insisted on going to see for himself. What if it worked?
Meanwhile, securing a naval base at Yizhou, stabilizing Zhuyai, and developing the Southern Sea were equally important.
The map displayed it plainly. The strait later known as Malacca was the gateway to China's eastern seas, just as Gaochang had once been the gateway to the Western Regions. Both were places that had to be taken.
Duke of Lu, Hou Junji, would replace Duke of Wei, Li Jing, in managing the Southern Seas.
Duke of Cao, Li Shiji, together with Liu Rengui, would manage the Eastern Sea.
General Su Dingfang and General Xue Rengui would manage Qinghai and Hexi.
Each time Li Shimin ran through this arrangement in his mind, he could not help but sigh inwardly.
Now it was only he who had become the idle one.
While the Emperor of Tang let his thoughts wander far away, Du Ruhui had already grasped part of the meaning behind the discussion.
"It seems the wording used by historians must be precise. Only then can later generations judge things clearly."
Fang Xuanling gave a bitter smile. After all, that infamous "magical table of contents of the Jin History" so often joked about by later generations had been compiled under his supervision. Accuracy had hardly been its strong point.
Compared with the filial sons, supernatural tales, and strange records included in the Jin History, the Southern Song historians' phrase "too many to count" actually sounded rather precise.
Seeing his old friend's expression, Du Ruhui instantly understood the source of his struggle. A new idea rose in his mind.
"If brother finds it troublesome, why not compile two versions of the Jin History?"
Fang Xuanling pondered and cast him a questioning glance.
Du Ruhui smiled with quiet confidence.
"Examine the evidence. Verify the sources. Compile a detailed and factual Jin History."
"As for the strange tales, supernatural stories, and rural anecdotes unfit for the official record, compile them separately. Submit them for His Majesty and the ministers to review. That could also become a book. We could call it…"
Fang Xuanling answered almost immediately.
"Let's call it The Magical Jin History."
As for why it should be called magical, that could be left for later generations to guess.
"This can lose too?"
Zhang Fei felt his teeth ache as he muttered,
"This Southern Song really disappoints me. Shouldn't have expected anything."
Liu Bei said nothing. He faintly remembered later descendants mentioning Wei Yan's death. They had also described Wei Yan and Yang Yi as one having no brains and the other permanently unhappy.
Now Wei Yan was commanding troops in Jingbei against Cao. As for Yang Yi, Liu Bei had made inquiries earlier. Yuanzhi had written that after the fall of Wan City, a man named Yang Yi had sought out Guan Yu on his own initiative.
He spoke convincingly about national policy and political gains and losses. Guan Yu therefore promoted him to Assistant Officer of Military Affairs, placing him in charge of weapons and administrative matters. He had shown considerable talent.
With the fighting in Jingbei so tense, Liu Bei himself was far away in Sizhou and could say little. He could only send word not to let this Yang Yi work together with Wei Yan.
He did not know whether this Yang Yi was the same one from history. But Liu Bei believed caution never hurt.
Lu Su sighed softly.
"Calling someone uncle and paying fifty thousand less in silk and silver. Was that a profitable deal?"
"How could it not be?" Zhang Fei immediately jumped in.
"I still remember that Zhao Gou didn't actually abdicate properly. This peace agreement might not even be his own decision."
"Besides, the Song emperor calls the Jin emperor uncle and calls Zhao Gou father."
"Wouldn't that make Zhao Gou the elder brother of the Jin emperor?"
"How is that not profitable?"
Lu Su felt his head spin slightly, but then he had to admit that Yide's logic actually made a certain twisted sense.
And thinking further, which was better? A Song state reduced to metal shackles under Jin, or a humbler Song that at least did not require Jin's formal investiture?
Lu Su realized he could not answer.
He only knew he did not want either option.
Zhang Fei's argument left even Liu Bei speechless. Kongming merely shook his head and sighed.
"At least in name they no longer call themselves subjects…"
But he did not wish to say more. Instead he added,
"This Lu You seems to be another man with a difficult fate."
"Difficult fate…" Liu Bei's eyes grew colder. "Among the people of Southern Song, anyone who truly worries about the country, how could they not have a difficult fate?"
[Lightscreen]
[After the Longxing peace agreement, the political structure of Southern Song became extremely distorted.
The biggest issue still revolved around legitimacy.
Although Emperor Xiaozong was a direct relative of Zhao Kuangyin, that bloodline was actually meaningless. Of the nine Northern Song emperors, aside from Zhao Da and Zhao Er, the remaining seven were all descendants of Zhao Er, including Zhao Gou himself.
Moreover, one hundred and eighty-six years had passed since Zhao Da died. The situation was essentially one of a man long gone and his tea long cold.
Thus, Emperor Xiaozong's legal authority actually derived entirely from his adoptive father Zhao Gou.
Because of this, even if Xiaozong wished to wage war, he could never fully break with the peace faction. After all, his adoptive father still sat above him.
After the failure of the Longxing Northern Expedition, Zhao Gou immediately prepared to run again.
He ordered five hundred hired laborers to stand beneath the palace halls, each receiving a thousand coins per day, all equipped with carrying poles and ropes.
By that time he was already the Retired Emperor. No one could control him.
When news arrived that Jin also wanted peace, Zhao Gou breathed a huge sigh of relief and urged Xiaozong to hurry and negotiate.
Once the talks were confirmed, Zhao Gou personally lectured his adopted son again and again. When you meet the Jin envoy, you must stand to receive the state letter. Do not forget the relationship established under the Shaoxing Treaty.
Because of this, Xiaozong had no choice but to admit in the edict of the Longxing agreement:
"I follow the will of the Retired Emperor and dare not disobey."
He was arguably one of the most humiliated emperors of both Song dynasties.
Zhao Gou's honorary status as a member of the Wanyan clan did not only restrain Xiaozong in diplomacy. In domestic policy he also adhered firmly to the principle of harming others to benefit himself.
Stories of corrupt officials weeping before Zhao Gou and forcing Xiaozong to reverse decisions need not be mentioned. Let us speak only of money.
The Song imperial house already ran a state alcohol monopoly for revenue. Zhao Gou, seeking profit, had palace attendants secretly brew wine within the palace and cooperate enthusiastically with Lin'an merchants.
Soon all the merchants of Lin'an discovered that Xiaozong was merely decoration. As long as a trading ship flew the banner of Zhao Gou's Deshou Palace, no one dared tax it. Imitation spread rapidly.
By the end of it, even the city's night-soil boats carried the Deshou Palace emblem to evade taxes, becoming the laughingstock of Lin'an.
Even a friend of Xin Qiji later recorded in his own collection:
Xin You'an once said that even manure boats flew the Deshou Palace flag. I did not believe it at first. Later, when I served in eastern Zhejiang, I saw it with my own eyes.]