Han Tong was given to death, a group of old ministers loyal to the Chai Zhou royal family were dismissed, demoted, and exiled, Wang Kunjun was crowned Wang Jia Jiuxi, and became the uncrowned son of heaven who had the power of the emperor although he did not have the name of the emperor, and the entire Later Zhou Dynasty was completely controlled by a series of officials of the Beiping Army. Such a complicated and heavy change caused a disturbance in the Later Zhou Dynasty and the public, with supporters, opponents, elated, shaken their heads and sighs, and noncommittal. After this complicated situation, the initiators of this incident -- Zhang Weixin, Xu Shao'an, Li Junwu, and others -- were watching from the sidelines and secretly speculating. They were not only observing the reactions and trends of those post-Zhou ministers who had not been purged, but also taking this opportunity to understand their brothers' views and attitudes towards the fifth brother (fifth brother) Wang Kunjun and the prime minister's government.

Maybe it was because of the decisive and neat actions of giving Han Tong to death before and quickly disposing of a group of old ministers loyal to the Chai Zhou royal family, or maybe the rest of the old ministers had seen the shape clearly and gave up those unrealistic ideas, so although there was still a little opposition or sighing among the people, there was no trace of dissatisfaction or grief and indignation in the Later Zhou court, which made Zhang Weixin and others very satisfied. What made them feel even more relieved and down-to-earth was that the brothers of the crossing team did not have any resistance or opposition to Wang Kunjun's title of king, Jia Jiuxi, and the prime minister's government - at least on the surface. Not only did the people who traveled through Kaifeng without exception praise and congratulations, but even those brothers who were officials outside also wrote congratulatory sheets or congratulatory letters one after another, supporting the committee's action and supporting the fifth brother (fifth brother) to be the uncrowned son of heaven. This situation made Zhang Weixin and others breathe a sigh of relief. Although the attitude of the brothers towards the fifth brother (fifth brother) to be crowned king does not fully represent the attitude towards his claim to be emperor, this is at least a good start, and on this basis, to lobby all parties to accept the fifth brother (fifth brother) as emperor will be much less difficult and save a lot of time. It is precisely with this kind of judgment and confidence that when the series of incidents caused by the "Han Tong scolding the palace" came to an end, Zhang Weixin, Xu Shao'an, Li Junwu and others began to take action, using the time and opportunities available to them to seek opinions from the brothers in various ways and methods, either explicitly or covertly, on the fifth brother (fifth brother) to become emperor and replace Zhou, and to lobby and persuade those brothers who were unclear or had opposing views. However, because this matter cannot be carried out on the surface, and there are many brothers in other cities, it is very inconvenient to communicate with them face-to-face, so Zhang Weixin and others can only carry out activities in a seamless manner, and the efficiency will naturally not be high, and if they want to achieve their goals, they need to wait patiently.

Wang Kunjun can wait for the emperor to be called the emperor and replace Zhou, but the matter of the Northern Expedition to the Khitan is already on the bow and cannot be missed. What's more, after a year of preparation, the Northern Expedition has "everything is ready, only the east wind is owed", and if it is not sent at this time, when will it be waited.

On the first day of the third month of the lunar calendar in the seventh year of Jianlong, the Later Zhou court issued an order to crusade against the Khitan, and the nearly 150,000 Northern Expeditionary Army, which had already been assembled, immediately moved when they heard the wind and quickly entered the starting position of the attack, preparing to march north, sweep away the foreign captives, and recover their homeland.

The Northern Expedition was divided into three routes: left, center, and right. Among them, the "Feilong Army" Fourth Composite Infantry Division, the First Independent Cavalry Regiment, the First Independent Artillery Regiment, the "Wolf Tooth Battalion", and the "Security Army" twelve regiments (including four cavalry regiments) are the left route army, led by Yang Xin (commander-in-chief of the left route army), deputy commander Wang Feng (deputy commander of the left route army), and Wu Peng (chief of staff of the left route army), starting from Daning Mansion, going down the Tuhe River (Laoha River), turning northwest through Yongzhou and crossing the upper reaches of the Huang River (Xilamulun River) to the north, and going straight to the Khitan Shangjing Linhuang Mansion; With the "Flying Dragon Army" First Synthetic Infantry Division, the Second Independent Cavalry Regiment, the "Ranger Battalion", and the "Security Army" twelve regiments (including four cavalry regiments) as the Middle Route Army, led by Zeng Zhilin (commander-in-chief of the Middle Route Army), Cheng Fei (deputy commander-in-chief of the Middle Route Army), and Duyu Hou Mutel (Chief of Staff of the Middle Route Army), also starting from Daning Mansion, going down along the Tuhe River (Laoha River), passing through Yongzhou into the main stream of the Huang River (Xiliao River) and then turning eastward, passing through Longhua Prefecture, Wuzhou, Taizhou, and Changchun Prefecture to the north. Kill the Khitan Emperor in the spring bowl station; With the Fifth Synthetic Infantry Division of the "Flying Dragon Army", the Third Independent Cavalry Regiment, the Second Independent Artillery Regiment, the First Regiment of the Marine Corps, and the eight regiments of the "Security Army" (including two cavalry regiments) as the East Route Army, led by the commander of the East Route Commander Huang Hai (commander-in-chief of the Right Route Army) and the deputy commander Zou Zhenyuan (deputy commander-in-chief of the Right Route Army), it set out from Shanhaiguan, crossed the sea to the north, landed in Liaodong Bay, traced the Liao River, and went straight to Liaoyang Mansion in Khitan Tokyo.

But just when the 150,000 troops of the Zhou army had already set off, the document for the conquest of the Khitan had been issued, the holy decree for sending troops had been promulgated, and the majestic Northern Expedition was about to start, someone came to "take advantage of the fire to rob".

On the third day of the third lunar month of the seventh year of Jianlong, the previous year had just pacified the twelve envoys, and the Ding Dynasty, a unified dynasty established in Jiaozhi, sent his son Ding Lian to Kaifeng with local native products and gold and silver goods, and paid tribute to the Later Zhou Emperor and asked for canonization.

Although after the unification of the Ding Commander, he had already established the country as Da Qu Yue, and was honored by his subordinates as the so-called "Emperor of the Great Shengming Dynasty". But first, being able to get the canonization of the Central Plains Dynasty is very beneficial to the Ding Commander, who has just pacified the division of the twenty envoys and needs to consolidate his position. Second, Ding Buling and his subordinate military generals also heard of the Zhou army's fierce offensive in the Southern Han Dynasty, and felt inexplicably uneasy in the face of the nearly 10,000 elite Zhou troops stationed outside Guangzhou, as well as the huge military port under construction. Therefore, although after the Zhou army conquered Guangzhou, the envoys who persuaded them to surrender stopped at the traditional border between the Southern Han Dynasty and Jiaozhi, but did not penetrate deep into the hinterland of Jiaozhi, and demanded that the secession regime in this land, which had belonged to the Central Plains Dynasty since the Qin and Han dynasties, surrender and submit to submission like other former Southern Han prefectures. However, out of fear of the strong strength of the Zhou army, and for the purpose of taking the opportunity to listen to the tone of the Later Zhou court and try to maintain his independence, Ding Buling still decided to send his son Ding Lian as an envoy to the Great Zhou to seek canonization, so that himself, the self-proclaimed king of Jiaozhi, could be justified. Moreover, I don't know whether it was intentional or unintentional, Ding Buling also grasped the timing of sending envoys to the court very well. He didn't send an envoy early, he didn't send an envoy late, and he chose only to start the expedition to the Khitan when the Zhou army had been assembled and was about to start conquering the Khitan, and his attention was all on the favorable node in the north, and he had no time to look south for a while, so that his son could enter Kaifeng City to pay tribute and ask for canonization.

For Ding Buling's bad behavior, which can be regarded as "robbing while the fire is hot", the brothers of the crossing team are very unhappy. In particular, when everyone learned from the relevant report sent by the Foreign Affairs Department of the Ministry of Intelligence, this Ding Lian came all the way north at a fast and slow speed, and before entering Henan Province, his daily journey had been maintained at 50 miles, but after entering Henan Province, it was immediately slowed down to 20 or 30 miles, and when he arrived in Chenzhou, he stopped moving on the grounds that he was ill, and he stayed for half a month. And when he learned that the imperial court issued a letter and ordered the Northern Expedition, the Ding ambassador, who had been sick the day before, immediately became refreshed and energetic, and immediately returned to the road, and repeatedly urged the officials of the Ministry of Rites who were in charge of leading the way to speed up, and the two-hundred-mile road only took less than two days to enter Kaifeng City, which was obviously pinching time and rushing to catch up with the node, and the people who had a very bad impression of it were even more disgusted and resentful.

However, hate is hate, the brothers of the crossing team, especially the members of the committee, are very sober-minded, and they will never be angry because of the strong national strength and military strength of the Hou Zhou Dynasty, and because of the rudeness of the Jiaozhi people, and they will act indiscriminately without considering the consequences. Although for the crossing team, the Northern Expedition to the Khitan and the sending of troops to the south at the same time did not have much difficulty in terms of troops. However, wars, especially large-scale wars such as the war of annihilation, not only require soldiers and generals, but also require the support of a large amount of grain, grass, baggage, weapons and ammunition, and civilian service. Although the current national strength in the coming Zhou can still support two wars, considering the needs of the country's overall strategy, it is not appropriate to excessively consume national, material, financial, and people's resources at this time. Second, fighting on two fronts is a taboo for soldiers in both ancient and modern times -- especially when the northern front is facing the Khitan, whose strength is still not to be underestimated, and the southern front is facing a complex terrain and dense jungle. Therefore, for Ding Lian and his entourage, the crossing team still instructed the Ministry of Rites and Honglu Temple to meet in accordance with etiquette, and agreed to the other party's request for canonization.

Of course, the addition of the official position of father and son of the Ding family does not mean that the Later Zhou Dynasty or the crossing team will suffer this dumb loss. Here Ding Lian happily returned to Jiaozhi with the rich gifts and canonization edicts from the Later Zhou court, and the crossing team had already kept in mind its shameless behavior of "taking advantage of the fire to rob", and greatly advanced the order of Jiaozhi in the future list, directly ranking in the top three. Therefore, at the same time as the Northern Expedition to the Khitan, the Crossing Team Committee asked the Intelligence Department to increase the investment in human, material, and financial resources in the direction of Jiaozhi, and to understand and infiltrate it in an all-round way. On the other hand, it ordered to speed up the construction of the Guangzhou shipbuilding base and naval base, set up an additional land training base, and send the main force of the Sixth Composite Infantry Division of the "Flying Dragon Army" and the 1st Marine Regiment to the land training base for adaptive training and preparation for future expeditions. In addition, in the name of the Later Zhou court, the crossing team also secretly issued secret instructions to all Later Zhou merchants who went south to do business in Jiaozhi, especially those affiliated with the "Datong Trading Company", asking them to record the local topography, customs and customs as much as possible in the process of traveling, and to report to a special contact point set up by the Ministry of Intelligence in Guangzhou in a timely manner for the use of the imperial court.

If the father and son of the Ding family, especially the Ding Buling, knew that it was precisely because of his own clever "robbery" that would bring such consequences, he was afraid of being killed, and he would not have sent his son to Kaifeng to pay tribute at this sensitive period. It's a pity that Ding Buling is not an immortal, so he can neither calculate such a result before the tribute request, nor can he get the news in time after the tribute request and make preparations in all aspects as soon as possible, so as to deal with the thunderous anger of the Later Zhou court and the crossing team. On the contrary, when his son returned, he was smug and self-absorbed with the paper canonization edict, but he did not know that he had pushed himself to the edge of the cliff.