In the prison of the capital, the screams of the Crusaders when they were punished were quite terrible. The pain of the torture is also exhausting. However, the Great Khan had an order to find out what kind of bear-hearted leopard gall the Crucidian priests who dared to attack Hao Renwanhu had eaten.

After three or four days of torture, the Yuan army raided a Mongol house in the city overnight. However, the house was empty. After searching, some clues were found. So the officer in charge hurriedly presented the latest news to the Great Khan Kublai Khan.

In the first two days, the Great Khan Kublai Khan received news that the Crusader was a part-time smuggler who had made some money by importing many enamel crosses from the Great Song Dynasty. Even if this matter is illegal, the guy is afraid of the government, but it will not give him the courage to attack the ten thousand households of the Xiao'er family. The latest news made Emperor Kublai Khan understand the reason for that fight a little.

It turned out that the guy was from the Ögedai Khanate, and it seemed to have a lot to do with Haidu, the leader of the Ögedai Khanate. According to the intelligence, it is bold to speculate that this priest was a spy of the Ögedai Khanate in Dadu.

Kublai Khan was a wise man, and once he synthesized the information, he had his own judgment. In the letter, Hao Ren Wanhu accused the Crucidian priests of being so arrogant that they attacked Wanhu for fear of being exposed by the government for smuggling. The most likely possibility is that this Crusader went south of the Yellow River to contact the Song State. After returning to the north bank of the Yellow River, he was surrounded by officials and soldiers, and saw ten thousand households with only a pound, thinking that his mission had been exposed, so he took the risk to launch an attack.

If this judgment was correct, Kublai Khan felt that the matter was by no means simply over. Haidu, the leader of the Ögedai Khanate, was attacking the Mongol capital of Holin at this time, and if Kublai Khan led a large army north to attack, the Song might cross the Yellow River and launch an attack on the Great Yuan. The strategic situation of Dayuan may change dramatically in an instant.

Not knowing what was happening, Kublai Khan felt anger. Knowing what was happening, Kublai Khan was furious. When the internal enemy is connected with the external ghost, the life of the country is even more difficult. Thinking of this, Kublai Khan had an idea in his heart, and he asked Hao Jing and other Confucian ministers to come.

When the Confucian ministers arrived, the Great Khan did not tell about Haidu, and he asked: "I heard that the Han Dynasty sought peace with its relatives, but I don't know what my Great Yuan and the Song Kingdom can do." ”

"And pro?" Hao Jing, whose hair was already gray, repeated it, and he felt that he had misheard it. Kublai Khan's peace with Goryeo is understandable. After making peace with Goryeo, it was equivalent to getting an aid. But this trick is useless in the Song Kingdom. According to the Confucian concept, harmony is only an expression of friendship, and in the face of national interests, harmony has no binding force.

Yao Shu, whose hair was already completely white, said tremblingly, "Your Majesty, but I don't know which one Your Majesty wants to marry the princess to the Song Kingdom." ”

Kublai Khan said: "I heard that the small official family of the Song State was completely playing with Zhao Jiaren and making peace with him, so he had Dayuan as a strong reinforcement, and his mother should be happy to see it." ”

“…… The little emperor called Zhao Jiaren his ancestor. Yao Shu expressed his opinion very implicitly.

Zhao Jiaren's generation is the grandfather of the little emperor of the Song Dynasty, if Kublai Khan becomes the father-in-law of the little emperor, then the emperor of the Great Yuan is a generation shorter than the Great Song Dynasty. Kublai Khan is 25 years older than Zhao Jiaren, and according to this age, Kublai Khan should be a generation older than Zhao Jiaren.

"Your Majesty is worried that when you crusade against Haidu, the Song State will send troops behind it?" Hao Jing asked.

Being told this, Kublai Khan admitted the reality with some depression, "Hmm. That's true. ”

"Then you might as well propose to Your Majesty's granddaughter, after all, Your Majesty is the same generation as Song Lizong." Hao Jing said.

"No." Yao Shu dysentery opposed. He was a strategist and would not oppose the method of harmony, but he thought that the current harmony would only allow the Song State to see through the weakness of the Great Yuan.

After listening to Yao Shu's opinion, Kublai Khan was silent for a while, and he also had this concern. Hao Jing said: "It is precisely because the Song State knows that it is not good for Da Yuan to start a war with the Song State, so they will not doubt Da Yuan's sincerity. If Princess Dayuan becomes the empress of the Song Kingdom, only those who are unwilling to fight in the Song Kingdom will have a reason to oppose the war. Even if this matter is not successful, as long as we can publicize it widely, the Song State can also know that Da Yuan does not want to be an enemy of the Song State. ”

Kublai Khan felt that what Hao Jing said made sense, so he decided to settle down. Da Yuan immediately sent an envoy to Hangzhou to inform the Great Song of Emperor Dayuan's suggestion. And one step ahead, the priest of the Cross Sect also arrived in Hangzhou.

As Kublai Khan had predicted, the priest was indeed a spy sent by the Ögedai Khanate. Of course, the priest himself is a real priest, not a fake. That's why it can be recognized in the Metropolitan Cross Church. He had crossed the Yellow River before to Jinan, where he asked to see the prefect of Jinan Prefecture of the Great Song Dynasty. And the prefect of Jinan Prefecture has no way to judge whether what such a person who has never met is true or false. Furthermore, only the Han people remained in the places where the Song army went, and the prefect of Jinan had no experience in dealing with the Semu people. So they sent him away lukewarmly.

The priest returned to the north and leaked his identity by the river, and he had to return to Jinan again and give a comprehensive explanation of his identity. The prefect of Jinan Prefecture had heard the difference between Mongolia and Dayuan at the regular study meetings held by each official. I know that there is such a Ogedai Khanate. The teacher was sent to Lin'an and handed over to the Anti-Rape Committee for interrogation.

In terms of knowledge, the people in the Anti-Rape Committee are really 'study hard and make progress every day'. The interrogation determined that what the teacher said was reasonable, but there was no way to determine whether the priest's identity was true. The report was submitted to Zhao Jiaren, and Zhao Jiaren's secretary felt that he could show it to Zhao Taiwei. So Taiwei Zhao asked the Ministry of Rites to deal with the matter.

The whole department of ceremonies was stunned. They were indeed in charge of foreign affairs, but this diplomacy was too 'foreign' to find a safe route to the Ögedai Khanate on the map.

From a 21st-century perspective, the territory of the Ögedai Khanate included the vast lands of the former Mongol Naiban tribes and parts of the Western Liao State, namely the upper reaches of the Irtysh River and the area east of Lake Balkhash. Jiandu is also fascinated. In other words, in the western part of Xinjiang. It's a bitter cold area.

Unless the fleet of the Great Song Dynasty can enter the Arctic Ocean, which only Zhao Taiwei has talked about and has never reached, it can 'reach directly'. Otherwise, you will have to travel through the territory of the Great Yuan, or through the territory of the Tianzhu Ocean and the territory after landing in the Ilkhanate (Middle East and Persia).

After being questioned by the officials of the Ministry of Rites, they began to understand a little why Taiwei Zhao handed over this person to the Ministry of Rites to deal with. Although the so-called representative of the Ögedai Khanate said everything related to the war. Theoretically, the two countries could flank Dayuan. But this kind of thing only exists in theory, and there is no possibility of realization in reality. With Captain Zhao's enthusiasm for war, he will not let go of any war opportunity that is possible.

Without waiting for the Ministry of Rites to make a judgment, the envoy from Dayuan arrived in the Great Song Dynasty. Of course, the Ministry of Rites wanted to greet him, and the officials of the Ministry of Rites thought that Dayuan was coming for this guy, but they didn't expect that as soon as the two sides contacted, Dayuan's purpose was actually to make peace.

It must be said that this suggestion still made the officials of the Ministry of Rites who were born as jinshi feel a little shocked. has been pressed and beaten by the northern countries for hundreds of years, and the Zhao women have been taken away a lot by the northern countries. Now the north is showing goodwill in a friendly way, which makes the gang feel a sense of security.

Song Gongming, an official from a cadre background, said to those Jinshi officials who sighed for a long time: "Harmony began in the Western Han Dynasty, and it was the Central Plains Dynasty's means of seeking peace with barbarian countries with the threat of force. That's not just marrying a daughter, marrying a daughter also requires a large amount of dowry. This is used as a way to stabilize the greed of the monarch of the barbarian country, so that they do not have the intention of attacking the Central Plains Dynasty in the short term. ”

Xiong Shangshu nodded slightly when he heard this, but he was quite emotional in his heart. Zhao Taiwei's science education is to directly instill conclusions into students. For those who have to use their own knowledge to get the approval of the examiner, this kind of person has no talent at all.

But even so, the conclusion that Zhao Taiwei taught them was correct. The evaluation of the conclusions is also quite meritorious. The so-called famous teacher produces a high apprentice, even if the level of the apprentice may not be good, but the level of the teacher is very desirable. This correct comment is taken out, and Xiong Shangshu has no room for refutation.

So Xiong Shangshu asked, "Then what do you think Da Yuan is planning?" ”

Song Gongming replied decisively: "They want to hold us back, let us not start a war with them." even wants to divide my Da Song. ”

Xiong Shangshu was silent, because he didn't really want Song Gongming to continue. Recently, there have been more and more people in the court who oppose Zhao Taiwei. This is also a very easy thing to understand, Zhao Taiwei's power is so powerful that he can almost force the petty officials to give in, and no one wants to jump out to be a loyal minister in the current situation. More than 100,000 Mongolian troops have been defeated, and Zhao Taiwei wants to kill people, who can stop them.

What everyone is unhappy about now is that if Taiwei Zhao wants to be the emperor, he should buy everyone. But Taiwei Zhao doesn't seem to care at all now, and he doesn't want to give everyone any benefits and let everyone persuade him to enter the table. So many people, including Xiong Shang, are very dissatisfied.

Of course, there are also people who are dissatisfied early on. For example, Li Tingzhi, who is now the governor of Nanchang and the pacification envoy of Jiangnan West Road. Zhao Taiwei ordered Jiangnan Fourth Road to implement the policy of state-owned land, and Jiangnan West Road was among them. And Li Tingzhi is resolutely opposed, and he has the appearance of never compromising.

When Jia Rudao carried out the reform of public land, Li Tingzhi firmly supported it. Sing the praises of the reform of the public field. Normal Jinshi can understand that what Li Tingzhi wants to oppose is not the policy, but Zhao Taiwei.

So Xiong Sheng wants to wait and see how the situation develops, instead of tearing his face now. Therefore, the Ministry of Rites of the Great Song Dynasty said before his subordinates said the analysis that 'Da Yuan wants to divide the Great Song Dynasty': "Please discuss this matter with the Empress Dowager." ”