Time soon entered the June season when the fire was flowing. Even with ice basins in Wenyuan Hall, it made people sweat profusely. However, the bosses in the small conference hall were very angry, and there were arguments from time to time. The little yellow gate who was waiting outside the door hid far away. Although they didn't know what the emperor summoned several bosses to discuss, there was still no result for three consecutive days. At this time, they also knew that it was a major event that concerns the country, and it was better to be far away at this time.

"Your Majesty, this Northern Expedition, I think it is not appropriate to cross Yanjing. I should stop in the recovery of Jingdong, Jingxi and Shaanxi. Do not advance northward to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past." After a lot of debate, Lu Xiufu still insisted on his opinion.

"I think what the Prime Minister said is that although the Mongol Yuan has declined, they have assembled tens of thousands of troops on both sides of the Yellow River, and tens of thousands of elite guards around the capital. If you cross Yanyun and enter the grassland, the enemy will gather all the troops to fight at any cost. The capital is high and deep, and there are heavy troops stationed, and it is also for its capital. Naturally, the enemy will not give up easily. Once it fails to attack for a long time, it will be very unfavorable to our generals." Wang Yinglin said.

"The King's intention is to still insist on regaining the old land of our dynasty, and wait until it is consolidated before making progress?" Zhao Bing nodded and asked.

"That is, our dynasty has lost the Central Plains for nearly two hundred years, and has been ruled by Khitan, Jurchen and Mongolia one after another. Things have changed, and the achievements of His Majesty in recovering the old land can be left in history and passed down to future generations!" Wang Yinglin said.

"Your Majesty, I understand your Majesty's ambition to recover Yan Yun and drive the Tartars away from the Great Wall, but this matter needs to be cautious. If it fails, it will be a great defeat for thousands of miles. You still need to be cautious!" Deng Guangjian also advised.

"I think it's just a matter of energy to recover the Central Plains and destroy the Mongol Yuan!" Han Zhen said.

"The Northern Expedition should be sooner rather than later. Once Tiemur stabilizes the situation, completes the Chineseization and strengthens national strength, he has missed a good opportunity at that time. Although there are difficulties in the current Northern Expedition, it has been a great change compared to when he was in Qiongzhou. Don't hesitate anymore!" Jiang Xu said.

"The Northern Expedition is related to the fate of the country. Everyone has their own advantages and regulations, but the overall situation should be the priority, rather than guarding half of the rivers and mountains, missing out on opportunities and leaving regrets for life!" Wen Tianxiang said.

"Yes, this matter is of great importance, and the concerns of all the people are not improper. However, the Northern Expedition has been decided, and plans must not be delayed immediately!" The senior officials have reached a consensus on the Northern Expedition. The differences lie in the range of the attack. There are still disputes several times. Seeing that it is impossible to make a decision today, Zhao Bing can only put it aside for the time being.

"I will obey the order!" The ministers stood up and saluted them all.

After the meeting, the ministers left, but Zhao Bing looked at the Yanyun area marked on the table with the icons on the table and frowned. What are the "Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun"? It roughly includes today's Beijing, Tianjin area, northern Hebei and most of the northern Shanxi areas, mainly referring to Youzhou, Tanzhou, Zhuozhou, Yunzhou, Ruzhou and other places. Among them, the north is Wuzhou, the west is Shuozhou, the south is Yingzhou, and the east is Jizhou.

During the reign of Emperor Suzong of Tang Dynasty, the names of the sixteen states were basically determined. However, there was no such thing as "Yanyun" at that time, and it was not until the Song Dynasty. From a geographical perspective, the Yanyun area revolved around Yanshan and Taihang Mountains. The terrain was dangerous, easy to defend and difficult to attack. It has always been a place that military strategists must fight for and has high strategic value. The Great Wall was built here during the Qin and Han Dynasties to resist northern ethnic minorities, and later generations also used this as an important line of defense against invasion from the north.

There is no need to say much about the origin of the Yanyun problem, as everyone knows that it was Shi Jingtang's fault. But it was wrong to lose the blame for the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun and let the Song Dynasty take charge. As early as the Later Tang Dynasty, Shi Jingtang ceded the Yanyun area to the Khitan for his own benefit, not because he lost the hands of the Song Dynasty.

The Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun were included in the Liao Kingdom. For the Central Plains dynasty, it was equivalent to losing a natural barrier to resist the southern invasion of the northern nomadic peoples. From Yanyun to the south, namely, Hebei and Henan, a plain, Khitan cavalry could travel freely. The subsequent Central Plains dynasty also saw this and began to strive to recapture the Yanyun area.

The first attempt to recover the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun was Chai Rong, the Emperor Shizong of Zhou. Chai Rong was young and promising. Under his rule, the strength of the Later Zhou Dynasty gradually became stronger. Taking advantage of the civil strife of the Khitans, Chai Rong personally led the army, and the land and sea troops advanced together, aiming directly at the Yanyun area. At first, the army was progressing smoothly, and the border guards of the Liao Kingdom almost surrendered. In just one month, the Later Zhou army recovered Yingzhou, Mozhou, Yizhou and other places, and the soldiers reached the city of Youzhou. The Liao Kingdom's reinforcements also arrived in the north of Yanshan. Just when the two sides were about to hold a strategic decisive battle, Chai Rong couldn't bear to take it anymore and eventually failed.

The second one was Zhao Kuangyin, the Taizu of Song Dynasty. When Chai Rong fought north, he was a capable general under his tent. After establishing the Song Dynasty, he never forgot to recover Yan Yun. The ministers once asked for the title of "Unification of Taiping". However, Zhao Kuangyin said: "Before Yan and Jin have not recovered, can it be said that Unification of Taiping? No." It can be seen that he also regards the recovery of Yan Yun as a matter of national destiny.

For this reason, Zhao Kuangyin made Wen and Wu prepared both ways: Wen's hand was to redeem money, and for this purpose, it set up a "pile sealing warehouse" in the inner treasury, which stipulated that all the money seized by the war and the operation of the state would be included in it. After saving five million yuan, use the money to negotiate with the Khitans and redeem the Yanyun area. If the Khitans disagreed, it would be used as military expenses to capture Yanyun. Unfortunately, he died too early and did not have time to implement his great cause of unification.

When Emperor Taizong of Song Dynasty, Zhao Guangyi, who succeeded to the throne, saw the accumulated gold and silk when he checked the warehouse, he couldn't help but sigh that the old emperor always said that he had no money to spend. However, he also wanted to solve Yan Yun, but he was more courageous than his brother, and he kept the money for himself, and the Yan Yun problem was solved by military. Later, Zhao Guangyi took advantage of the remaining power of pacifying the Northern Han Dynasty and planned to take advantage of the victory to take Youzhou.

However, most of the soldiers of the Song army fought outside for several months and wanted to go back to Kaifeng City to rest, so they were not very enthusiastic about attacking Youzhou. As a result, hundreds of thousands of people did not work and attacked Youzhou City for many days without any results, and their morale became lower and lower. Zhao Guangyi had to personally supervise the army to fight the Liao army on the banks of the Gaoliang River. As a result, the Song army was defeated. He fled in a donkey cart, and he stabilized after being supported by his subordinate Cui Han. This battle made his name of the god of chariots spread to his later generations.

Although he was defeated, Emperor Taizong of Song's fighting spirit of regaining Yan Yun did not weaken. After several years of failure, he received a secret report that the Liao Dynasty is now in power and the political situation is unstable, which is a good time to regain Yan Yun. Such information is obviously wrong. Under the rule of Empress Xiao, the Liao Kingdom not only did not weaken, but was stronger than before.

But Zhao Guangyi, who was determined to take revenge, was not willing to distinguish the authenticity of this information and sent troops to the north for the second time. Before setting off, he summoned the generals to hold a meeting and instructed them to "take action seriously and not be greedy for profit to win the enemy." As a result, the three armies of the east, middle and west, Cao Bin of the east route was greedy for merit and made a rash move, leaving the emperor's "take action seriously and resolute action" behind his head. He was intercepted by the Liao army at Qigou Pass, killing and injuring tens of thousands of people. Pan Mei of the west route rejected the correct suggestion of his subordinate Yang Ye, and fought against the Liao army head-on, and was also defeated.

The Liao Kingdom took the lead in the guest and took the initiative to invade the south, thereby completely striking the Song Dynasty's confidence in regaining the Yanyun area. The main forces of both sides launched a decisive battle near the Junzi Pavilion in Hebei. The Song army was wiped out and tens of thousands of dead. The Liao army took advantage of the victory to pursue and successively captured Xingzhou, Shenzhou, Dezhou, Wen'an and other places. By the first month of the following year, the troops were withdrawn and returned north. In the battle of Junzi Pavilion, the Song army's biological forces in Hebei were exhausted and the ability to recover Yanyun's land was lost.

After Zhao Kuangyi's death, Empress Dowager Xiao and Emperor Shengzong of Liao led a large army to invade Song. Although the Song Dynasty did not attack, its defense was still good. Under the insistence of his minister Kou Zhun, Emperor Zhenzong of Song personally led the army to march to Chanzhou and confronted the Liao army outside the city. The Liao army went south all the way and was blocked by the Song army layer by layer, and the battle was not smooth. Xiao Talin, the vanguard general in the army, was shot and killed by the Song army, and his morale was greatly affected. They sent people to write to Emperor Zhenzong of Song, expressing their willingness to rebuild the "old good" with the Song army.

This is the "Zhenyuan Alliance" in history. For more than a hundred years, there has been no large-scale war between the Liao and Song dynasties. The two sides reciprocate exchanges and exchange trade. When the Liao Kingdom famine occurred, the Song Dynasty sent people to provide relief. When Emperor Zhenzong of Song passed away, Emperor Shengzong of Liao also led his ministers and the harem to observe a collective silence in the north.

But the Song Dynasty did not give up on the idea of ​​attacking Yan Yun in the north, but was waiting for the opportunity. After the Chanyuan Alliance, the Liao Kingdom declined and the Later Jin rose. The Emperor of the Song Dynasty had no confidence in getting the Liao Kingdom, so he wanted to join forces with the Jin Dynasty to fight against Liao. As a result, the Song army was still vulnerable in front of the Liao army, and in the end, it was Wanyan Agu who destroyed the Liao Kingdom. The Song Dynasty only got a few empty cities.

However, a century of progress has resulted in repeated failures, and even the invasion of the wolf in the house and the country was destroyed. This also made the Song Dynasty court's regaining the Yanyun area a taboo topic, and it can also be said to have phobia. Therefore, when Zhao Bing proposed to recover the Yanyun area in one go and drive the Mongol Yuan out of the Central Plains, it is not surprising that the ministers asked him to be cautious. This is really too many lessons and the lessons are too profound!

However, Zhao Bing was unwilling to change his original intention. This was not only a matter of face, but also a matter of realism. As a person from later generations, he knew that if the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun were placed in China's feudal social history for more than two thousand years, he would find that its prominent position was actually closely related to the eastward movement of the political and economic centers of dynasties in history.

From the Han Dynasty to the Tang Dynasty, Xi'an has been the political and economic center of the country. At that time, the Yanyun region could not pose a substantial threat to the central government. This situation was eventually broken by the Anshi Rebellion. With the decline of the central power in the late Tang Dynasty, the situation of separatist vassal states was formed, and the northern nomadic peoples gradually grew and became an important force relied on in the war between the various vassal states for territory.

These nomadic peoples took a fancy to Youzhou's superior geographical location and settled here. After hundreds of years of operation in the Song, Liao, Jin and Yuan dynasties, the pattern of China's political center being in the north and the economic center being in the south was finally formed. In this sense, the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun are not only related to the north and south, but also to the destiny of the country - getting Yanyun, the world is determined...
Chapter completed!