The main source of troops under Li Yuanhao is Dangxiang people, but it does not mean that he will not accept other sources of troops. In fact, the northern grasslands have always regarded strength as the most respected, and various tribes have always played the scene of big fish eating small fish. As long as Li Yuanhao has money, food and weapons, he can annex other tribes on the grassland at any time to enhance his strength. The tribes on the grassland have long been accustomed to this rule, and they will quickly obey when conquered by the strong.

Now Li Yuanhao defeated the Liao army and seized a large number of materials and supplies, which greatly increased his reputation and strength. If Li Zhang was Li Yuanhao, he would definitely expand greatly next year. The Liao Kingdom's dominance over the grassland was actually very weak. All tribes of all sizes only nominally respect the Liao Kingdom as the sect leader, but in fact, the interests of the tribes are still the first.

"We have also thought of your concerns. If Li Yuanhao doesn't eliminate it, it will be difficult for the north to stabilize. Therefore, the war of attrition against Li Yuanhao next year will continue. And I am sure that after such a big loss, the Liao Kingdom will definitely not let Li Yuanhao go easily. It's just that the weather is cold now, and it is not convenient for Liao Kingdom to use troops. By next year, Liao Kingdom must have a big move!" At this time, Lu Yijian also spoke, and they also considered these things before Li Zhang came.

"Lu Xiang, do you think it is feasible if we do the trick of driving tigers and swallowing wolves?" Li Zhang suddenly suggested again at this time that the relationship between Li Yuanhao and the Liao Kingdom had completely broken down. The Song Dynasty could use this to let them kill each other and thus reap profits.

"Li Yuanhao is not a tiger, he is just a cruel and cunning hungry wolf. It's not easy to drive this hungry wolf. Do you have any good ideas?" Zhao Zhen also smiled calmly at this time. Since defeating Dangxiang, his prestige as an emperor has also increased greatly. The most important thing is to give him strong self-confidence and more convenient control of government affairs in daily life.

"There is one way, that is, to negotiate with Li Yuanhao!" Li Zhang said with a gleam in his eyes at this time.

When he heard Li Zhang's words, not only Zhao Zhen showed a surprised expression, but Lu Yijian and others next to him were also looking at him in shock, because they all knew that Li Zhang was the toughest person towards Dangxiang, and even everyone could see that Li Zhang would not be at ease if he did not destroy Dangxiang for a day, but now Li Zhang actually said the words of peace talks with Dangxiang, which made them unable to believe their ears.

After being surprised, Zhao Zhen stood up and walked to Li Zhang, then looked him up and down, and finally even wanted to reach out and pinch Li Zhang's face, which made Li Zhang hid and hurriedly avoid it and said, "What is Your Majesty doing?"

"I'm suspicious that cousin, you went to the hat demon to check the hat demon this time. You might have been possessed by the hat demon, otherwise how could you say such things?" Zhao Zhen said with wide eyes and half serious and half joking. With Li Zhang, who he knew, he shouldn't have said such words with Dang Xiang.

It is rare that Zhao Zhen took the initiative to joke after Empress Zhang passed away, and Li Zhang also laughed: "I did encounter some interesting things when I went to Luoyang this time. In addition, I also found a strange place. I will discuss it with Your Majesty in detail later. However, the purpose of the peace talks on Dangxiang is to free up Dangxiang and concentrate on dealing with the Liao Kingdom. After all, Dangxiang's strength is too weak compared to the Liao Kingdom."

"I understand. Li Duwei's move is a chess game. He discussed peace with Dangxiang and asked them to concentrate on dealing with the Liao Kingdom. But with Li Yuanhao's strength, no matter how hard he could do, he would probably not be a match for the Liao Kingdom in the end!" Wang Zeng suddenly nodded and praised.

Lu Yijian and others also understood what Li Zhang meant at this time, but Zhao Zhen still asked with some doubts: "But we almost wiped out Dangxiang, and even beat Li Yuanhao to flee north. It can be said that his current situation was caused by our hands. Will he really be willing to negotiate peace with us?"

"He will definitely agree. With his current situation, if he is attacked from both sides, he will probably not be able to hold on for a year, and there will be no place in the sky or the earth. But if he can negotiate peace with us, he can concentrate his troops against the Liao Kingdom. With my understanding of Li Yuanhao, in order to survive, he can put even aside even the great hatred!" Li Zhang said with great affirmation at this time.

When Zhao Zhen heard Li Zhang say this, he also felt that it made sense, and there was no need to spend any money on peace talks. He just sent someone to contact Li Yuanhao. If the other party was willing and was not willing, he would defeat the Liao Kingdom and attack the country and eliminate Li Yuanhao first.

Thinking of the above, Zhao Zhen immediately made a decision and issued an order to let Zhao Zhen and others in the northwest contact Li Yuanhao. Although it was called peace talks, Zhao Zhen did not make any concessions. Instead, he proposed to ask Li Yuanhao to hand over the Black Mountain Military Office and could only operate within the territory of the Liao Kingdom in the future. Of course, these conditions are not expected to be agreed, mainly as bargaining chips for bargaining with Li Yuanhao.

After discussing Li Yuanhao's matter, Zhao Zhen immediately asked Li Zhang about the case of the hat demon in Luoyang. Li Zhang also explained his experience in Luoyang in detail. Lu Yijian, Wang Zeng and others were mostly witnesses of the hat demon back then. At this time, he also listened to Li Zhang's story curiously. When they learned that someone was fake a hat demon, they all showed an annoyed look.

In fact, when the first time the hat demon was accused of the court, the court also captured a group of illegal people who used the name of the hat demon to make profits for themselves, including several famous monks and Taoists. However, no one could tell what was going on at that time. However, this time it was a complete human incident, especially the Manichaeism used the hat demon to harm human lives, which was simply bold.

However, Li Zhang deliberately concealed the strange cave. First, he couldn't explain it, second, there were too many people in the hall, so he could discuss it with Zhao Zhen in private later. Anyway, Zhao Zhen knew more and could understand himself better.

"It turns out that he is very bold. Fortunately, all the criminals have been arrested and must be severely punished!" Wang Zeng said irritated at this time. The one he hated most in his life was those who disregard human life, such as Liu Chengfeng and his son.

"The Manichaeism was banned at the time, but it was not lifted until the founding of the Song Dynasty. However, they did not want to be grateful, but they did this method to preach. I ask Your Majesty to issue an order to prohibit this mission!" Lu Yijian also stepped forward and bowed to Zhao Zhen.

Lu Yijian's ancestral home is Shandong, and was born in Shouzhou, Huainan Road, which is Fengtai, Anhui in later generations. In the eyes of later generations, he should belong to the northerners, but in the Song Dynasty, even Shangqiu belonged to the south, let alone Anhui. In fact, the entire Huainan was regarded as the south by the Song people.

After Manichaeism was banned, it changed its name to the Ming Cult very quickly in the south, and even formed extremely powerful forces in some places, and even the government did not dare to control it. These southerners, Lu Yijian, naturally knew that he happened to take this opportunity to ban the spread of Manichaeism. After all, if any religion is not controlled by the court, it will definitely cause chaos in the future.

Zhao Zhen was also angry at this time, and immediately agreed when he heard Lu Yijian's words. Lu Yijian also took the opportunity to mention that the Ming Cult and Manichaeism in the south were of the same lineage, so the Ming Cult was also banned from preaching. Li Zhang also felt aroused when he heard this. He wondered if the Ming Cult could prevent Fang La uprising in the future after the Ming Cult banned preaching?

However, Li Zhang soon realized that the reason why Fang La rebelled in history was that the court had too much oppressed the south, especially Song Huizong liked flowers, stones, and set up the "Suzhou and Hangzhou Yingfeng Bureau" in Jiangnan, and sent minions to plunder the folk flowers, stones, trees and rare treasures, which was the famous "Flowers, stones, and the people were unable to survive, which allowed Fang La to take this opportunity to revolt.

As the saying goes, officials force the people to rebel. If even the people's food and clothing cannot be guaranteed, then don't blame the people for rebelling. Therefore, as long as the court can ensure that the people are well-fed and well-dressed, it will be useless even if the Ming Cult encourages them. What he wants to do now is to let the Song Dynasty embark on a powerful path that does not rely on exploiting the people.

With the expression of Wang Zeng and Lu Yijian and others, the fate of Liu Chengfeng and other repetitive offenders involved in the case was also decided, and they would definitely not escape death in the end. In addition, those like Xuan Yue who also make profits for themselves by fake hat monsters also have the fate of exile in the end. This is the second only to the death penalty. I guess I will never return to the Central Plains in this life.

After discussing the case of the Hat Demon, Lu Yijian, Wang Zeng and others also said goodbye one after another, while Li Zhang stayed alone. Zhao Zhen knew that he must have something else to say, so after Lu Yijian and others left, he immediately asked Li Zhang curiously: "Cousin, have you encountered any fun things when you go to Luoyang?"

Li Zhang also laughed at the moment. He first talked about a few interesting stories from Luoyang, and finally talked about the strange stone cave on the Longmen side. As a result, Zhao Zhen also listened with relish, and finally asked curiously: "With your cousin, can't you see the origin of that stone cave?"

"The cave is empty, there is no clue at all, and it is not certain whether it is related to the Hat Demon. The only thing that can be confirmed is that the cave is definitely not formed naturally." Li Zhang also spread his hands at this time and said helplessly. He was inclined to speculate that the Hat Demon was an alien and built the cave, but unfortunately there was no evidence.

"I really want to go to Luoyang to see this stone cave in person!" Zhao Zhen suddenly showed an envious expression at this time, and then said with a little discouragement. He even had difficulty leaving the palace, let alone going to Luoyang.

"Your Majesty, don't be anxious, maybe there will be a chance in the future." Li Zhang could only comfort him at this time. It was not a trivial matter for the emperor to go on a tour, and it was even a waste of money. For example, Emperor Yang of Sui made a furious and resentful resentful persons during his southern tour, so the ministers were unwilling to let the emperor leave the palace.
Chapter completed!