Chapter 17 Those who know how to write poetry are worse than those who know how to fight

Although Zhao Kuangyin changed the title of Li Yu to be the lord of Jiangnan, he did not change his determination to destroy the Southern Tang Dynasty. He just felt that the conquest by force would cost a lot of money, and he wanted to use a more cost-effective and labor-saving method to unify Jiangnan.After careful consideration, he finally came up with a strategy of "leading the king into the urn".So, he issued an imperial decree, and ordered Li Yu to enter Beijing.According to his plan, as long as Li Yu enters Beijing, he will not be able to leave Bianliang City. Li Yu is actually not stupid, knowing that this is a trap, how could he send meat to the chopping board?So, he wrote a memorial, evading Zhao Kuangyin's summons by tactfully saying that he was not in good health and should not travel far.

Unwilling to be reconciled, Zhao Kuangyin issued another imperial decree, saying that he sincerely invited the Lord of the South of the Yangtze River to come to the capital as a guest to discuss state affairs.Li Yu continued to play back on the grounds of poor health, and politely declined Zhao Kuangyin's kind invitation.A contest without gunpowder was launched between Zhao Kuangyin and Li Yu, forming an invincible and invincible situation.This deadlock was broken because of several incidents in succession in the imperial court. In July of the seventh year of Kaibao (974), the affairs of the court were completed, and the preparations for the expedition to the south of the Yangtze River were ready. What was lacking was an excuse to go to war.Zhao Kuangyin started to find fault.He first sent Zhizhi Li Mu to the south of the Yangtze River to invite Li Yu, saying that the imperial court had the ceremony of Chai Liao, and invited him to the capital to assist the sacrifice.Li Yu was afraid that he would not be able to come back after going, so he still reasoned that he was sick and could not travel far, so he did not accept the invitation.Seeing that the request did not solve the problem, Zhao Kuangyin sent the envoy Liang Jiong to the south of the Yangtze River. This time it was not an invitation, but an order, that is, Li Yu was ordered to come to the court.

Li Yu was forced into a hurry, and said in a crying voice, the widow has been serving the heaven respectfully and respectfully, just wanting to keep the ancestral priest, why should the superior be so hard?If you really want the widow to die, the widow will die in front of the superior.After all, he really wanted to hit the wall, but fortunately he was dissuaded by the officials. The paper was pierced, so Liang Jiong stopped beating around the bush, and said coldly to Li Yu, let him decide for himself whether to go to court or not. Shame on your face, don't regret it then. Li Yu is a complete nerd. He is extremely corrupt and stupid. With a knife on his neck, he still can't see the situation clearly, and he doesn't feel the danger. His tone remained unchanged.Liang Jiong knew that this person was not enlightened, so he returned disappointed and reported to Zhao Kuangyin the situation of his mission to the south of the Yangtze River.

After hearing Liang Jiong's report, Zhao Kuangyin said angrily that Jiangnan Lord had not been invited repeatedly, obviously disobeying my order, and I was famous for sending troops to conquer. If guests are not invited, even if they disobey orders, this can also be used as an excuse to send troops. Throughout the ages, Zhao Kuangyin is probably the first person. In September, Zhao Kuangyin ordered Cao Bin to be the marshal of the army, Pan Mei to be the capital supervisor, and Cao Han to be the vanguard, leading an army of 100,000 to march to the south of the Yangtze River. When Zhao Kuangyin saw the generals off, he solemnly told Cao Bin, saying that Wang Quanbin pacified Xishu, slaughtered and surrendered soldiers, and triggered the mutiny of the Sichuan army, which taught him a profound lesson.This time when we send troops to the south of the Yangtze River, we must remember that we must not plunder the living people. After the city is broken, we must do a good job of reassuring the people and not kill innocent people indiscriminately.Li Yu is a family, not to harm, but to leave a way for them to survive.Then, he took the sword from his waist and handed it to Cao Bin in public, and said sharply: "From the deputy general down, if anyone disobeys the military order, you are allowed to kill first and then play."

When Pan Mei and other generals heard this, they were frightened and turned pale. Zhao Kuangyin had just sent off the soldiers, and a person from Jiangnan came to present the map of the Yangtze River and the "Pingnan Strategy", and Zhao Kuangyin immediately summoned this person. This man's name is Fan Ruoshui, from Chizhou in the south of the Yangtze River, and he is a failed scholar.Due to repeated frustrations in the examination field, he lost confidence in the emperor in the south of the Yangtze River, that small court, and the imperial examination system of that court, and had the idea of ​​changing his family and defecting to the Song Dynasty.He saw that there must be a battle between the Song Dynasty and the Southern Tang Dynasty, and the Southern Tang Dynasty relied on the natural danger of the Yangtze River.Therefore, he pretended to be fishing in Caishiji, which is the most suitable place for crossing the river, and made a field survey. He drew a detailed topographic map of the Yangtze River, and used it as a stepping stone in exchange for wealth. , A plan to build floating bridges across the Yangtze River.

It was because of this floating bridge that the Southern Tang Dynasty was caught by surprise. It seems that small people can still affect history. After Zhao Kuangyin looked at the Yangtze River map, he was overjoyed and said: "When I got this detailed map of the Yangtze River, I seem to see the enemy prisoners standing in front of me." He immediately appointed Fan Ruoshui as the right counselor doctor, and rushed to Cao Bin's camp in Jiangling to participate in the war.Then send people to Jinghu Lake, according to Fan Ruoshui's design, rush to build thousands of yellow and black dragon boats, for the purpose of conquering the south.

In late October, the Song army marched eastward along the river, advancing by land and water.Cao Bin led the sailors, took thousands of large ships, yellow dragon boats, and black dragon boats, carrying a large number of bamboos and ropes, set off from Jiangling, and went down the north bank of the Yangtze River.Pan Mei led the army and walked along the river bank. The yellow dragon boat and the black dragon boat are built according to Fan Ruoshui's design, and the bamboo and rope are used to tie the pontoon bridge. When the Southern Tang garrison on the south bank of the Yangtze River saw the Song fleet, they thought it was a patrolling soldier on the river. They didn't care, let alone asked, and let it sail.Without encountering any resistance, the Song army went down the river, broke through Xiakou Village, and reached Chizhou.

Seeing that the situation was not good, the Chizhou defender abandoned the city and fled.Cao Bin successfully occupied Chizhou without a single soldier.After Cao Bin occupied Chizhou, he sent his victorious troops to Lianke Dangtu and Wuhu, and stationed troops in Caishiji.It was decided to build a pontoon bridge here to allow the land army to fight across the river. There is no precedent in Chinese history for erecting floating bridges on the vast Yangtze River.When the news reached Jinling, the monarchs and ministers of that small imperial court in the Southern Tang Dynasty thought it was whimsical and child's play, and they didn't take this matter to heart at all.

Fan Ruoshui led the soldiers to line up the pre-arranged yellow and black dragon boats on the river in turn, put on the tied bamboo rafts, and then tied them with ropes. In only three days, a floating bridge across the river was erected like a magic trick. up. Cao Bin ordered Pan Mei to lead the infantry across the river, and all the soldiers crossed the river on the pontoon bridge, just like walking on flat ground. The news that the Song army crossed the Yangtze River via the pontoon bridge reached Jinling. Li Yu felt that the problem was a bit serious, so he reluctantly ascended to the imperial court. He ordered Zhenhai Jiedu envoy and Tongping Zhangshi Zheng Yanhua to lead an army of ten thousand to meet the Song army by water. Duyu Hou Duzhen led the infantry Thousands of people met the Song army by land.After sending away the soldiers defending the enemy, he felt that everything was all right, so he handed over the affairs of the country to the ministers, and went back to the harem to sing the wind and sing the moon with Queen Zhou in peace.

Zheng Yanhua led the water army from Jinling and went up the river, intending to use a powerful battleship group to break through the pontoon bridge erected by the Song army on the river.Before the fleet reached Caishiji, they met the oncoming Song Army Navy, and a fierce battle broke out on the river. The Song army's navy went down with the wind and the water, while the Southern Tang navy went up against the wind and against the current. For the Southern Tang army, it was an encounter, but the Song army came prepared.The Song army had the upper hand in terms of momentum. After a scuffle, the Southern Tang army lost its position first, turned the bow of the ship and fled, and those who ran slowly became the prisoners of the Song army.

When the infantry led by Du Zhen arrived, the Southern Tang navy was defeated and fled, so they had to fight against the Song army alone.Pan Mei didn't wait for the enemy soldiers to line up, and led the Song army to rush there, and then killed Du Zhen's infantry to pieces, and retreated southward. When Li Yu learned that both the water and land armies were defeated, he ordered martial law across the board and recruited people to join the army to defend against the enemy. The people in the south of the Yangtze River are used to living a peaceful life. When they suddenly heard that the government wanted to recruit soldiers to fight, they were terrified. The spirit of defending the country. The Song army conquered Bailuzhou, entered the port of Xincun, and divided the army to attack Lishui.Cao Bin led his army to the Qinhuai River.The Qinhuai River is in the south of Jinling City, and it can reach the city directly from the waterway.The 100,000 Jiangnan navy guarded the Qinhuai River and lined up under the city of Jinling. Pan Mei led the army to the Qinhuai River. Because the ships were not ready, the troops were waiting for the ships to cross the river.Pan Mei said loudly: "I command tens of thousands of troops. From Bianliang to here, the battle must be won, and the attack must be conquered. The Qinhuai River in this area is covered with water. Can it hold back the footsteps of the army?" Jump into the water and swim across to the other side of the river. When all the soldiers saw that the Lord was about to cross the river, who would dare to stand still by the river?Those who rode horses jumped into the river one after another, and those who did not ride horses also jumped into the water and swam across the river.When the Jiangnan soldiers woke up and came to resist, the Song army had already crossed the river one after another.The Jiangnan soldiers were defeated by the vigorous Song soldiers. Li Hanqiong, Marquis of Yu, the capital of the Song Dynasty, drove hundreds of huge ships filled with reeds, dry firewood and other fire starters into the Qinhuai River, and ordered the soldiers to set fire to the wind. Some of the defenders were either burned alive or fell into the water and drowned. Those who survived abandoned their boats and went ashore and fled for their lives. At this time, the military and state affairs in the south of the Yangtze River were completely presided over by Chen Qiao, the deputy envoy of the Privy Council, Zhang Ji, the scholar of Qinghui Palace, and others. Li Yu summoned monks and Taoists to chant scriptures and mantras in the back garden all day long, praying for God's blessing, and never asked about the war outside, and he didn't know anything about what happened outside the palace.For Li Yu, the lord of Jiangnan seems to be a decoration. He can't make up his mind about anything. Now that he has handed over the military power, Huangfu Jixun doesn't bother to ask him for instructions. He sticks to the city according to the established battle plan and spends it with the Song army.Although the Song army was approaching the city, facing the strong city wall, there was nothing they could do for a while. One of the strangest incidents in the history of ancient Chinese warfare occurred: Jinling City was besieged for several months, and Li Yu, who was the empress of the Southern Tang Dynasty, didn't know anything about it.Until an accidental opportunity, Li Yu suddenly heard the sound of golden drums and cannons, and then went to the city to look around. He was surprised to see that there were only Song troops stationed outside the city, and asked the guarding soldiers strangely: "The Song army has attacked. When we got to the city, why didn’t anyone report to me?” A guard timidly replied that he was the commander-in-chief of Huangfu, and he was not allowed to report.It seems that Nantang's secrecy to the outside world is poor, but the secrecy inside is absolutely top-notch. After hearing this, Li Yu was furious, and immediately summoned Huangfu Jixun and asked him why he concealed the truth.Huangfu Jixun replied: "The Song army is coming in menacingly. It is too powerful and invincible. The minister is the general who entered the palace with information. It will only increase your majesty's panic. There is no way for your majesty to retreat from the enemy. In order not to let your majesty worry, so there is no Report to the palace." Li Yu thought this was a great insult to him. In a rage, he ordered Huangfu Jixun to be executed on the spot, and then flew to Zhu Lingyun, the capital of Yuhou, to support Jinling City with his navy. Zhu Lingyun was stationed at Hukou, with an army of 100,000, known as 150,000.After receiving Li Yu's edict, he led his army down the river and approached the Caishiji pontoon bridge of the Song army. When Cao Bin got the report from the spies, he immediately called for General Zuo Wangming, gave him a secret plan, and ordered him to rush to Caishiji to resist the reinforcements from the Southern Tang Dynasty. Zhu Lingyun led an army of 150,000 and thousands of warships down the river and headed straight for Jinling overnight.When the fleet was approaching Caishiji, they saw countless sail masts on the river from a distance, and couldn't help but feel suspicious. They immediately ordered the fleet to stop sailing and anchor at Wankou, and sent people to the front to inquire about the enemy's situation.In the middle of the night, I suddenly heard the thunder of war drums, echoed by land and water.There are countless Song soldiers on the shore, holding a Song general, and the character "Liu" is written on the handsome flag; many warships came in the river.Where the torch is brightly lit, on the commander-in-chief flag of the main ship of the Song Army, there is a big "king" character. The night was dark and the wind was high, and it was difficult to figure out the enemy's route. Zhu Lingyun did not dare to divide his troops to fight, so he had to order the soldiers to set fire and block the incoming boats on the waterway first.Unexpectedly, the north wind was blowing that night, and the battleship of the Southern Tang Army happened to be anchored in the south. The fire took advantage of the strong wind, not only did not burn the Song Army's ships, but burned their own ships.Zhu Lingyun was shocked, and quickly ordered to pull the anchor and set sail, and returned to the upstream by the same route. Due to the huge size of the ship, thousands of warships were all crowded together and could not move at all.While panicking, Song Jun's ship rushed over, and Song soldiers had jumped onto the big ship.Zhu Lingyun was so frightened that his soul flew out of the sky, and he was about to jump into the water to escape. One of the Song generals took a step forward, shouted, and overturned Zhu Lingyun on the board of the boat. Many Song soldiers came up and tied him tightly. Carrying a pig is like carrying it away. This water battle ended with the annihilation of the entire Jiangnan navy. After dawn, look at the countless sail masts of the Song army. It turns out that there are countless long logs erected above and below the pontoon bridge. Flags and lights are hung on the long logs.In addition, the infantry waved their flags and shouted on the shore, like thousands of troops.With such suspicious soldiers and unpredictable ghosts and gods, how could Zhu Lingyun not be caught?The real number of the Song army was 5,000 sailors and 5,000 infantry, a total of only 10,000 soldiers and horses. In Jinling City, Li Yu was still waiting anxiously for Zhu Lingyun's navy to come to save his life. He suddenly heard that the entire navy was wiped out and Zhu Lingyun was captured as a prisoner. When the soldiers were suspended, Xu Xuan, a scholar, was sent to Bianliang with his own handwriting begging for the master to beg Zhao Kuangyin, the emperor of Song Dynasty, to retreat. Xu Xuan, an envoy from the south of the Yangtze River, galloped to Bianliang on flying horses, had an audience with the Emperor Zhao and Song, and begged the State of Song to suspend its troops. Zhao Kuangyin asked: "I called Li Yu several times to come to court, why did he refuse to obey? Refuse to come to court?" Xu Xuan asked cautiously: "Since ancient times, the rulers of the way have launched crusades, and they have always been famous for their teachers. My lord in the south of the Yangtze River is innocent, but His Majesty has launched a crusade. I don't know why?" Xu Xuan is a debater in the south of the Yangtze River, his tongue is as sharp as an arrow, and his speech seems to be humble, but in fact it is full of gunpowder. Zhao Kuangyin looked at the scholar with great interest, without saying a word.Xu Xuan swallowed his saliva and continued: "My lord serves Your Majesty with humility and prudence, treating small matters with great care, just like a son honoring his father, and there is nothing wrong with it. Your Majesty did not come because of my lord's illness. The reason. Parents love their sons meticulously, without any complaints or regrets. Wouldn’t it be a crime if they don’t come to see you? Please be extra considerate, Your Majesty, and issue an order to stop the soldiers!” Zhao Kuangyin laughed loudly, and followed Xu Xuan's words: "Since your lord treats me like a father, and I treat him like a son, father and son should be a family, how can there be a confrontation between the north and the south? I have summoned me many times, but I refused to come. Isn't it against the norm?" Hearing what Zhao Kuangyin said, Xu Xuan couldn't answer for a while. After hesitating for a long time, he knelt down and begged: "Even if your majesty doesn't miss Li Yu, please take care of the countless lives in the south of the Yangtze River. If this battle continues, people will be devastated and the people will be homeless." Return. Your Majesty is a benevolent king, you absolutely don’t want to see such a thing happen?” Zhao Kuangyin said loudly: "I have ordered the commander-in-chief of the Song army not to kill one person indiscriminately. If Li Yu cherishes his people, why doesn't he surrender?" Xu Xuan also said: "Li Yu paid tribute every year, and he was not rude to Zhao Song. Please show mercy to the people in the south of the Yangtze River." Xu Xuan repeatedly defended the innocence of the Southern Tang Dynasty, and the fact that the master of the Great Song Dynasty was unknown. After hearing this, Zhao Kuangyin seemed to be at the end of his words. He suddenly pulled out the sword from his waist, put it on the imperial case with a snap, and shouted loudly: "Don't say more!" Although Zhao Kuangyin is very domineering, he explained a truth that has never changed through the ages. The strong are respected, and weak countries have no diplomacy. If they fall behind, they will be beaten. Xu Xuan was dumbfounded in fright, and he didn't dare to speak out anymore. He knew that the Jiangnan war could not be resolved by a few low-pitched begging forms.He had no choice but to return to Jiangnan in despair and return to Li Yu. Li Yu was even more panicked when he learned that Zhao Song refused to stop.Suddenly there was an urgent report from Changzhou that Qian Chu, king of Wuyue, was ordered by Emperor Zhao Song to lead his troops to attack Changzhou. Jinling has been surrounded by the Song army like an iron barrel. Li Yu couldn't send troops to support Changzhou at all, so he had to write a letter and send someone to Wuyue King Qian Chu. The meaning of the letter is: Zhao Song destroyed the Southern Tang Dynasty today. , Tomorrow it will be Wu Yue's turn, Jinling's today is Wu Yue's tomorrow. Qian Chu, king of Wuyue, did not reply, and led his troops to Jiangyin, Yixing, and Changzhou.There are very few states and counties in the south of the Yangtze River.Jinling has almost become an isolated city. Cao Bin sent someone into the city to tell Li Yu that Jinling was just an isolated city, and told him not to continue to resist, and gave him three days to open the city and surrender. Li Yu is still hesitant. Cao Bin decided to attack the city, but he was also worried that the city gate would catch fire on the day the city was broken, which would damage the fish in the pond and endanger the lives of the common people. This morning, Cao Bin's guards informed the generals that Marshal Cao was ill in bed and unable to act.When the generals heard that the coach was ill, they came in one after another to pay their respects.Ask Cao Bin what disease he has, and ask the doctor to see if he has seen it.Lying on the bed, Cao Bin said to the generals: "I have a heart disease. There is no medicine or stone to cure it. Only if everyone sincerely swears that when the city is broken, if no one is killed randomly, then my disease will be cured." After listening to Cao Bin's words, all the generals knew the good intentions of the commander, and they would burn incense and swear that when the city is broken, they must restrain their subordinates and not kill innocent people indiscriminately. On the second day, Cao Bin recovered slightly from his illness. On the third day, he commanded the Song army to advance by land and water, and attacked Jinling City in one fell swoop.As expected, the generals restrained their subordinates, except for the rebels who were shot and killed, they did not do anything to the common people.The people in the south of the Yangtze River called the Song army a teacher of benevolence and righteousness. On the day the city was broken, Jiangnan servant Chen Qiao returned home mournfully and hanged himself.Zhong Qian, a scholar of the Palace of Qinzheng, dressed in court clothes, gathered the whole family together in her main room, and collectively took poison to die. Zhang Ji and Chen Qiao were the main fighters from the beginning to the end. There was an agreement at the beginning that they would die together in Sheji. If Jinling was captured by the Song army, they would die for the country.After Jinling City was breached and Chen Qiao hanged himself, Zhang Ji did not die immediately. He wanted to accompany his master Li Yu to Bianliang to bear the responsibility for his master. After Jinling City was conquered by the Song army, the sound of artillery that used to attack the city suddenly stopped. There was no fierce street fighting in the city, and innocent people were not massacred. Everything seemed to be peaceful.What's even more strange is that Song Jun just surrounded Li Yu's palace and didn't come in, as if standing guard for Li Yu. Although Li Yu is stupid, he is not stupid. He can feel that Song Jun did not come in because he was giving him the last chance to surrender.If you don't seize this last chance, you will really die.In desperation, Li Yu had no choice but to lead Zhang Ji and other forty-five officials out of the palace, and went to the Song Army's military account to plead guilty.Cao Bin received him warmly, comforted him with kind words, and asked him to return to the palace to pack his luggage and go to Bianliang with the army. After Li Yu promised to go back to the palace, Cao Bin only led several horses to wait outside the palace gate.Left and right said to Cao Bin: "Is the commander-in-chief so relieved to let Li Yu go back to the palace? If he wants to die, what should he do?" Cao Bin said with a smile: "Li Yu is a person who is greedy for enjoyment and indecisive. Since he has already asked for surrender, how can he die? Don't worry too much." After a short time, Li Yu really changed into casual clothes, went out of the palace gate with Prime Minister Tang Yue and more than 40 people, followed Cao Bin's brigade, and went to Bianliang to surrender to Emperor Zhao Song. From the time Cao Bin dispatched his troops to his triumphant return, he established the discipline of the army, and no one dared to mess around. On the day the city was broken, the soldiers were bloodless. In November of the eighth year of Kaibao (975), the Southern Tang Dynasty officially subjugated the country, and Li Yu, the queen master of the Southern Tang Dynasty, became a subjugated slave. Two generations of father and son have run the hometown of Kyoto for decades, their hearts are turning like waves, and their eyes are warm.The king of a subjugated country, the talented man of the ages, stood on the bow of the boat, and casually recited a poem called "Crossing the Zhongjiang River, Looking at the Stone City and Weeping Down": The old hometown in Jiangnan and Jiangbei has been a dream for thirty years. The palace of Wuyuan is left in the cold, and the hall of Guangling Terrace is desolate. There are thousands of sorrows in the cloud cage, and thousands of tears on the boat when the rain hits the boat. There are four brothers and a family of three hundred. It is unbearable to sit idle and contemplate. Those who can write poems will become slaves to the country, and those who can fight will win the world.Those who can write poetry are not as good as those who can fight. In the first month of the ninth year of Kaibao (976), Zhao Kuangyin met Li Yu in the Mingde Hall. Li Yu led the old bureaucrats of the Southern Tang Dynasty and knelt at His Highness Mingde to wait for the edict. The Xuanzhi official read the edict, first reprimanded Li Yu, and then pardoned everyone, and granted Li Yu the title of Guanglu Doctor, the Prosecutor, the Right Qianniuwei General, and the title of Marquis of Disobedience. Feng Weiminghou is an insulting title, which vents Zhao Kuangyin's hatred and contempt for Li Yu. After Xiao Zhou, Li Yu's wife, was named Mrs. Zheng Guo. Li Yu took his family and lived in the house given to them, and began to live under the fence. Zhao Kuangyin arranged for Li Yu, and suddenly remembered two other people, Zhang Ji and Chen Qiao, the main combatants of the Southern Tang Dynasty. Hearing that Chen Qiao committed suicide by hanging himself on the day the city was broken, Zhang Ji followed Li Yu to Bianliang, and asked sharply, "Who is there?" Is it Zhang Ji? Stand up." Zhang Ji stood up from the surrender team and said, "The guilty minister Zhang Ji is here!" Zhao Kuangyin asked: "Because you tried your best to fight, Li Yu was humiliated today. What should you do?" Zhang Ji said neither humble nor overbearing: "As a minister, he eats the king's salary and is loyal to the king. To the lord of the south of the Yangtze River, this minister is loyal. If it wasn't for my lord's desire to surrender, I would accompany my master to Bianliang to accept the crime, and I wouldn't just let it go Stealing lives to this day. If you want to punish the crime of resisting the Song Dynasty, please punish the minister, it has nothing to do with my lord." "Do you know what crime this is?" Zhao Kuangyin asked back. "Capital crime!" Zhang Ji blurted out, "If Your Majesty grants the minister death for this reason, the minister is willing to die without any complaints." Zhao Kuangyin saw that Zhang Ji spoke righteously and was a loyal man, so he appreciated it, not only did not embarrass him anymore, but instead bestowed the crown prince with the post of Zhongyun. Zhang Ji didn't expect that not only was he not convicted, but he was also banned, so he hurriedly knelt down and kowtowed to thank him.Since then, he dedicated his sincere heart to the Song Dynasty, and became a famous minister for a generation from the official to the political affairs.This is something. Jiangnan usurped Wu from Li Sheng, claiming to be the descendant of Li Ke, the son of Emperor Taizong Li Shimin of Tang Dynasty. , went to the title of emperor, and claimed to be the lord of the country for four years; Li Yu succeeded to the throne, and it took fifteen years to dream of Jinling. After presenting the captives and leaving the court, Pan Mei and Cao Bin walked together.Seeing that there was no one around, Pan Mei complimented, "All the monarchs and ministers of the Southern Tang Dynasty have settled down, now it's time to congratulate the general!" "Why do I like it?" Cao Bin asked back. Pan Mei said: "When the army went south that day, the emperor himself promised that after you eliminated Li Yu and recovered the Southern Tang Dynasty, he would promote you to be the prime minister. Today Li Yu has become a prisoner, and the general has done the most to recover the Southern Tang Dynasty. You entered the Prime Minister's Political Affairs Hall, and from now on, you will be a general and a prime minister, isn't this to congratulate you?" Cao Bin smiled indifferently and said, "This time, the only way to triumph is to rely on the blessings of the heavens and the strength of all the soldiers. Although I am a commander, I was lucky enough to win, but I dare not take credit for it. I have never thought about the position of prime minister." .” Pan Mei said with a smile: "The Son of Heaven is no joke, since Jiangnan has been regained, it should mean what it says." Cao Bin smiled again and said, "Taiyuan hasn't been won yet!" "Taiyuan is Taiyuan, and Jiangnan is Jiangnan. How can these two things be connected?" Pan Mei said puzzled. Cao Bin smiled and did not explain too much. The two broke up and went home. The next day, Zhao Kuangyin had a banquet in the Mingde Hall, and when the wine was half drunk, Zhao Kuangyin said to Cao Bin: "I was going to promote you as prime minister, but Liu Jiyuan of the Northern Han Dynasty is still entrenched in Taiyuan, let's talk about it later! " You have no jokes, it means that the emperor is a golden man, and what he says must count.Zhao Kuangyin took back the words he had personally promised Cao Bin to be the prime minister. It seems that Jun Wu's joke is not the truth. Hearing that Zhao Kuangyin had withdrawn his promise, Cao Bin hurriedly left his seat and kowtowed to thank him. He kept saying that the subject has no talent or virtue, and is not worthy of being a prime minister. Your Majesty should keep this indicator! Pan Mei was secretly laughing, and Zhao Kuangyin just happened to see her and asked Pan Mei why she was laughing.Pan Mei didn't dare to hide anything, so she had to tell the whole story, and finally said: "I saw that General Cao knew things like a god, so I laughed. Please forgive me, Your Majesty!" After hearing this, Zhao Kuangyin laughed, but he still felt a little ashamed of Cao Bin, so he gave Cao Bin 200,000 yuan as a reward to Cao Bin. Cao Bin thanked him and retreated, laughing at himself: "Why do you need to be a prime minister in life? To be a good official is just to get more money." It seems that Cao Bin is a smart man. He knows that there are some things that cannot be won. , get a little benefit, and be content. In February, Zhao Kuangyin issued an edict, and Cao Bin was promoted to be a privy envoy; Pan Mei was promoted to be an envoy of the North Academy of Xuanhui. Zhao Kuangyin regained the Southern Tang Dynasty and basically unified the South. Only Wuyue, Quan and Zhang were left, and the strategy of unifying the South first and then the North was basically completed.The Song Dynasty gained strong manpower and material resources in the south, which strengthened its strength against the powerful enemy Khitan in the north. It was only a matter of time before the two powers collided, but it remains to be seen who will win the battle.