Zhao Kuangyin had never been known for giving his younger brother even half a pleasant expression.
So after choking him with a single sarcastic reply, the emperor simply turned his attention back to the drifting words on the light screen. As he watched them scatter across the air, he muttered almost absently,
"Too bad the Song emperor was no Han Wudi."
Yet the remark carried little melancholy for him. Instead, his eyes sharpened with the familiar confidence of a man who believed history had not yet finished giving him chances.
"I would send Guo Jin and Yang Ye to destroy Northern Han and earn their fame. I would march against the Khitan and win glory. I would restore the Sixteen Prefectures and end the divide between north and south. Then the world's roads and writing would once again be unified."
Beside him, Zhao Pu opened his mouth, hesitated, and then closed it again.
He very much wanted to point out that Yang Ye was, at present, still a general serving Northern Han. Perhaps His Majesty was planning a bit too far ahead.
Unfortunately, Zhao Kuangyin had already moved on, as though another thought had suddenly amused him.
He grabbed Zhao Pu by the sleeve and asked abruptly,
"Tell me, Zeping. If the present-day Marquis Wu were compared with Cao and Sun, how would he fare?"
To outsiders, the question sounded completely random.
To Zhao Pu, the meaning was obvious.
Zhuge Liang had left calligraphy dated to a later era. Paintings existed showing his campaigns reaching Chang'an. With the added advantage of that strange light screen's thousand years of military knowledge…
Frankly, even without analysis, the situation spoke for itself. Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei were still alive. Zhuge Liang was in his prime. If heaven itself was now handing them strategic manuals from the future, the revival of Han might not be difficult at all.
So Zhao Pu answered honestly.
"Even if Cao and Sun joined forces, they would still struggle to stop the Marquis Wu from restoring Han."
Zhao Kuangyin nodded, stroking his beard with interest.
"If that is so… once Cao and Sun learn how their stories end, what do you suppose they will feel?"
Zhao Pu thought silently:
If those two ever saw the future, they would probably be tied up while being forced to watch. What feelings could they even have?
Also, he had a growing suspicion that His Majesty was looking forward to seeing Cao Cao and Sun Quan embarrassed.
Zhao Kuangyin, however, did not bother analyzing his own motivations. Once an idea appeared, he simply acted on it. He stepped forward, stretched out a finger, and began writing across the stone table.
A line of glowing characters rose into the air.
[Zhao Kuangyin: Marquis Wu, on what day will you bind Sun and Cao?]
Inside a small courtyard residence in Luoyang, the atmosphere was unexpectedly relaxed.
They had laughed at each other plenty already. Still, that "Shinwan-Ge" of theirs had once possessed remarkable ambition and ability, and he had defeated Cao Cao at Red Cliffs. That earned at least a few sighs of reflection.
Zhang Fei was still fuming over the suffering of the northern populace.
Liu Bei was quietly thinking about how he himself would reconcile northern and southern interests if placed in such a position.
Lu Su sighed softly.
Zhuge Liang sat with his head lowered, writing steadily as he organized the fragments of history revealed by the screen.
Then all of them saw the Song emperor's question appear.
"This Song ruler… why is he more impatient than we are?" Zhang Fei scratched his chin, genuinely puzzled.
But a moment later he volunteered eagerly, grabbing paper and brush before turning to Liu Bei.
"Big brother, what should I write?"
Liu Bei looked up at the glowing text. He had already suspected that later emperors, like that Tang ruler before, were treating Zhuge Liang almost like a historical consultant.
He considered for a moment.
"Just write…"
The brush moved.
[Zhang Fei: Faster than you.]
Only three words.
Yet Zhao Kuangyin could practically feel the bluntness behind them.
Had he offended this General Zhang somehow? He searched his memory and found nothing.
After failing to solve the mystery, he could only assume that Zhang Fei's homeland in Zhuo Commandery had suffered heavily during the later northern disasters, and the general still held resentment toward dynasties that allowed northern lands to fall.
"If I pacify Northern Han and bring Zhuo under Song rule, perhaps General Zhang would soften toward me?"
He considered it seriously.
Naturally, no one present could answer that thought.
Back in the Kun-ning Palace of Yingtian Prefecture, Empress Ma watched the two drifting names, Zhao Kuangyin and Zhang Fei, slide across the screen.
Her brows tightened further.
Then new text emerged.
[Lightscreen]
[1162. Because of Wanyan Liang's defeat, debates over war grew intense.
At that time, Lu You, newly granted jinshi status and serving as a compiler in the Bureau of Military Affairs, was deeply worried. He submitted a memorial urging Emperor Xiaozong to first clean up official corruption, consolidate the Huai River defenses, and only then gradually plan for recovering the Central Plains.
At the time, the hawks demanded immediate northern expedition.
The doves wanted to restore the Shaoxing peace and resume tribute payments.The doves wanted to restore the Shaoxing peace and resume tribute payments.
Lu You's proposal was actually reasonable, but it satisfied neither side.Lu You's proposal was actually reasonable, but it satisfied neither side.
Which tells you something.
Like Li Bai, Lu You put all his talent points into literature.Like Li Bai, Lu You put all his talent points into literature.
The difference is that if Li Bai's political ability was zero, Lu You's might have been negative.
Emperor Xiaozong ignored the memorial at first. He had only just ascended the throne. Surely he deserved a little time to enjoy being emperor.
But Lu You was anxious. He asked the respected minister Zhang Tao to inquire about the emperor's opinion.But Lu You was anxious. He asked the respected minister Zhang Tao to inquire about the emperor's opinion.
Xiaozong's opinion was simple. He dismissed Lu You from office and sent him to Zhenjiang as assistant prefect so he could calm down.
Within a year, Song and Jin were at war. This became the failed Longxing Northern Expedition.
After Lu You's demotion, the hawks and doves of the Southern Song court finally settled their struggle.
With Xiaozong's backing, the hawks gained the upper hand. Zhang Jun became Commissioner of Military Affairs and took command of Jiang-Huai forces.
Both sides then sprinted toward war.Both sides then sprinted toward war.
The Jin demanded the Song continue paying under the Shaoxing Treaty.The Jin demanded the Song continue paying under the Shaoxing Treaty.
Xiaozong insisted on renegotiating borders as equals.
Jin applied pressure. Song chose to strike first.
The Longxing campaign began strongly. Song troops won several early victories and drove Jin forces back.
Then the Song army sabotaged itself.
The two commanders of the expedition were Li Xianzhong and Shao Hongyuan.
Li Xianzhong was stingy. After capturing Suzhou, he rewarded each soldier only three hundred coins.
Shao Hongyuan was jealous and thought himself a great general. Why should he, a mighty warrior, serve as deputy under that useless Li Xianzhong?
In short, one had no brains and the other was permanently unhappy.In short, one had no brains and the other was permanently unhappy.
Victory was not exactly likely.
When Jin reinforcements attacked Suzhou, Shao Hongyuan watched Li Xianzhong struggle without sending help.
Li was crushed, and the newly captured city was lost almost immediately.
Jin forces then pursued and defeated both armies at Fuli, wiping them out in one sweep.
Thus ended the Longxing Northern Expedition.
Afterward, Song and Jin made peace again.
Song ceded Tang, Deng, Hai, Si, Shang, and Qin Prefectures.
They also agreed to address each other as uncle and nephew states.
The only measurable gain was financial.The only measurable gain was financial.
The annual tribute from the Shaoxing Treaty was renamed "annual payment," and reduced slightly.
Silver and silk were each cut by fifty thousand.Silver and silk were each cut by fifty thousand.
A small discount for losing a war.
One interesting issue concerns casualties at the Battle of Fuli.
Jin records claim enormous victories, listing tens of thousands killed and vast equipment captured.
Southern Song sources are vague, saying only that deaths were beyond counting.
However, a surviving letter known as the "Report of Li Zizhi," preserved in Baozhen Studio's Calligraphy Records, claims losses were under twenty percent and horse losses not even half.
Since it was a direct reply to a superior's inquiry, it is probably the most reliable source.
As for why Southern Song scholars exaggerated defeat, the explanation is simple.
Either they did not understand warfare, like Li Jing once criticized historians for.
Or they wanted to weaken the pro-war faction and deliberately amplified the disaster.
In short, either stupidity or malice.]
The screen went still.
And the palace seemed colder than before.