Xiao Derang, the Liao envoy, was still in the capital and stayed for a long time, but still could not get a reply from the Song Dynasty.
The officials were eager for Zhang Yue to come up with the final answer.
Present were Wang Gui, Zhang Yue, and Li Xian, the new imperial commander in charge of the military affairs.
Li Xian's rise in power made Wang Guizhang increasingly alert. This meant that the officials were once again using Li Xian to interfere in the military.
The official said to Wang Gui and Zhang Yue: "I plan to spend 3 million yuan in internal funds to rectify the military affairs in Hebei."
Zhang Yue and Wang Gui both called the officials to be wise.
The officials began to really pay attention to Hebei's military affairs. At this moment, the officials said to Lu Dian, who was writing notes on daily life at the side: "You have worked hard on writing. Let's go and have a rest while enjoying a bowl of tea and soup."
Lu Dian was stunned when he heard this.
Lu Dian was Wang Anshi's favorite disciple. At that time, he said, "It is better to study with Anshi for ten years than to study with Anshi for one day." However, after the implementation of the new law, he and Wang Anshi had differences of opinion. Wang Anshi believed that the other party was not on the side of the new party, so he had some objections.
Ignore.
Later, after Cai Bian took office as a daily assistant, he recommended Lu Dian, his fellow disciple, to Zhang Yue several times.
Zhang Yue felt that Lu Dian was a talented person, so he recommended him to serve as a storyteller for Chongzheng Hall, and now he is practicing annotation on daily life.
When Lu Dian heard that the officials wanted him to leave, he immediately said: "Your Majesty, this is against the rules!"
Li Xian said: "Your Majesty, if I give you the tea soup, you can eat it!"
"When the monarch and his ministers are playing duets, there must be a living official beside them. This is the ancestral rule." Lu Dian pushed back on the spot.
Li Xian was furious when he heard this. When he was in the northwest, he was a decisive and decisive leader of the army, but now Lu Dian didn't buy his fault at all.
Seeing this, Zhang Yue glanced at Lu Dian and signaled him to leave.
Lu Dian then bowed and left.
After a while, the official said to Zhang Yue: "There are no redundant people here. Today, please tell me. Once Song and Liao start a war, do you have any chance of winning?"
Zhang Yue looked at the officials and thought of the history of the Song and Liao parties in the Three Kingdoms.
Historically, the Xuanhe Northern Expedition was not a hasty move, but Song Huizong had already planned it.
If we carefully study a series of decisions made by Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty, we cannot say that they were completely unreasonable before the Xuanhe Northern Expedition. Even his own imperial governance was still acceptable.
During the Zhenghe reign of Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty, he decided to join forces with the Jin Dynasty for the Northern Expedition. In the seventh year of Zhenghe's reign, he planned to send troops. However, after Song Huizong listened to the information from the Liao officials, they replied that although the Liao Kingdom was severely beaten by the Jurchens at that time, the whole country still remained.
They are still united and the people's hearts are stable. If the Northern Expedition is carried out, I am afraid it will fail.
Although Song Huizong had been planning for many years, the campaign was still suspended.
From then on until the fourth year of Xuanhe, six or seven years had passed. At that time, the Liao Kingdom was on the verge of destruction. The five capitals had lost four capitals, and only one Nanjing was left.
Emperor Tianzuo sneaked to Xijing, and the Jurchens chased him to Xijing, so Emperor Tianzuo had to run away again. At that time, Yelu Chun was left in Nanjing and was forced to proclaim himself emperor with the support of local officials, which was the Northern Liao Dynasty.
Even under this situation, the Song Dynasty was still hesitant about the Northern Expedition.
There were also different opinions in the court. At that time, the Song Dynasty had three options: one was to unite with the Jin Dynasty to destroy the Liao Dynasty, one was to preserve the Liao Dynasty and the Jin Dynasty, and the other was to wait and see what happened?
Repeatedly indecisive.
According to Cun Liao Tujin's point of view, who is better to be a neighbor with a strong girl than a weak Khitan?
The envoys from the Liao Kingdom also warned the Song Dynasty that if a good neighbor is ignored by the court, he will regret it if he does not know how to be a bad neighbor.
Goryeo also warned the Song Dynasty not to attack the Liao Kingdom with the Jurchens, otherwise the consequences would be disastrous.
He believes that destroying the Khitan together with the Jurchens is to seek the skin of a tiger, and the Khitan should be united to fight against the Jurchens.
There is also a group of people who are waiting to see what happens.
But both options no longer work.
First of all, it is unrealistic to "just wait and see what happens". Such a big change happened in the Liao Kingdom. As a regional power, the Song Dynasty could not show no expression at all, or even take no intervention measures, and just sit back and watch the situation unfold and stay completely aloof.
Secondly, it is unrealistic to "preserve Liao's money". The Liao Dynasty always looked down on the Song Dynasty and believed that the country was governed by men of letters and the force was too weak.
Even when the five capitals of the Liao Kingdom were lost and four were lost, leaving only Nanjing, the country was still extremely arrogant towards the Song Dynasty. The preservation of Liao capital must have required the Liao Kingdom to bow to the Song Dynasty. The two sides clearly defined the divisions between sects and vassals. The Song Dynasty
Only then are they willing to send troops.
So in history, what was the true intention of Huizong of the Song Dynasty during the Xuanhe Northern Expedition?
Before the army went out for the expedition, Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty gave Tong Guan a brief introduction, which he called the "Three Strategies of Yubi".
The best policy is that if the Liao Kingdom is willing to surrender to the Song Dynasty, we can return the old state. This is the best outcome.
The middle strategy is to predict that if the Liao Kingdom is not willing, if Yelu Chun is willing to become a minister and pay money to become a vassal, it is okay.
The next best option is for the Liao Kingdom not to surrender, but to patrol the border with troops and return with the entire army.
Xuanhe's Northern Expedition is a threat of force, to take over the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun without any bloodshed. If it doesn't work, it's okay if the Liao Kingdom is willing to become a vassal, and we will protect your country. If it doesn't work, we won't attack the Liao Dynasty, and the 200,000 troops will go around and come back.
.
In other words, the best policy is to 'alliance with Jin to destroy Liao', the middle policy is to 'preserve Liao and protect gold', and the worst policy is to 'wait and see what happens'.
There is definitely something wrong with this decision, and it is also the result of the different opinions among the monarchs and ministers in the DPRK.
The final result was that the Song Dynasty mobilized the whole country and allowed Tong Guan, who had just spent three months to quell the Fangla Rebellion, to lead the most elite Western Army, that is, the elite Fanhan soldiers from the Sixth Route of Shaanxi Province as the main force in the Northern Expedition, and some Hebei soldiers.
The frontline leading general is Zhong Shidao, the first general of the Western Army.
At that time, Tong Guan and other Song generals generally believed that since the Liao Kingdom was like this, Wang's Northern Expedition must have been met by the local people eating pots of pulp.
As a result, the strategy of recruiting and surrendering did not go well, and all the envoys sent out at the beginning were killed by the Liao Kingdom.
After half of the negotiations, the Song Dynasty was defeated on the front line. The top officials of the Liao Kingdom originally considered whether to surrender. However, seeing that the Song army was so incompetent, they simply refused to surrender.
In the end, the Song Army's 200,000-strong army led by the elite divisions of the Western Army, Tong Guan and the famous general Zhong Shidao, were still defeated by the desperate Liao Kingdom. Even the Jurchens were dumbfounded by the Song Army's operation.
The reason for the failure of the Song Army was internal strife and disunity of opinions, with opinions swinging between recruiting and surrendering the Liao Army and annihilating the Liao Army. Tong Guan followed the instructions given by Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty and followed the best policy, but also ordered the army not to attack the Liao Army.
Going back to the question that the Emperor asked Zhang Yue, what is the comparison of military strength between Song and Liao?
Judging from the results of the Xuanhe Northern Expedition, the most elite Western Army of the Song Army and the desperate Liao Army were only tied at best. As for the soldiers and horses in Hebei, forget about it.
The famous Liao general Yelu Dashi, who defeated the Song army in the Xuanhe Northern Expedition, later founded the Western Liao in Central Asia with 20,000 remnants. The Western Liao defeated the flourishing Seljuq Empire in the Battle of Katwan, turning it from prosperity to decline.
.Xiliao is also famous in Europe and Asia.
And was the Western Army of the Song Dynasty weak?
They are not weak either. Although they were defeated by Dangxiang in the previous battle to unify Ancheng, the Song Dynasty had already completely suppressed Dangxiang at that time.
So it's not that Song and Liao were weak, but that the Jurchens were too strong.
East Asia and Northeast Asia are indeed known as the monster houses.
The Jurchen cavalry at that time was completely at the pinnacle of the cold weapon era.
Not only in the Song and Liao Dynasties, in the Battle of Yishui, 30,000 cavalry led by Dangxiang General Li Liangfu were defeated by more than 1,000 cavalry under the command of Jurchen Wanyan Loushi. The 30,000-strong army suffered more than 10,000 casualties.
Seeing this, Dangxiang immediately abandoned the alliance with the Liao Kingdom and surrendered to the Jurchens.
At that time, the Jurchen Cavalry was really the same for everyone. For example, when the national football team was beaten 5-0, everyone was very angry. Later, I heard that the opponent was Brazil, and everyone understood.
When officials asked Zhang Yue for details?
Wang Gui and Li Xian both looked at Zhang Yue, and Zhang Yue said: "Your Majesty, if the Liao army comes, the Western Army will be able to defeat it, but the Hebei Army will not be able to defeat it."
"There is no doubt that the most elite soldiers and horses in the world are here in the Western Army. The soldiers and horses are fought after all, and Shaanxi's military expenditure accounts for half of today's military expenditure. To be honest, the Hebei Army has been idle for a long time. Although I have organized military preparations before, the former
I also selected a general to guard it, and now my Majesty has allocated three million guan, but it is still not enough to control the Liao army."
The officials were a little dissatisfied when they heard this.
Wang Gui said: "Your Majesty, Hebei's armor protection method has been in effect for several years, and the people can use it. Besides, the people of Heshuo are inherently strong, and the people of Yan and Zhao are brave and good at fighting. As long as they are purified, they can face the enemy."
Li Xiandao: "But protecting the city may not be reliable, so how can we face the enemy?"
The official said: "Yes, I am afraid that I am sharpening my guns before the battle. Even if the soldiers and horses of the Liao Kingdom are not as good as those of Zhenzong, the soldiers and horses of Hebei are also worse than before. The party is not destroyed, and the Western Army cannot be mobilized to defend Hebei."
After a pause, the official said to Zhang Yue: "What's your plan? How to reply to the letter of credence from the Lord of Liao?"
Zhang Yue said: "Your Majesty, there is no need to worry about the reply. You can order an eloquent minister to accompany the Liao envoy to the Liao Kingdom to make a speech to the Lord of Liao in person, and by the way, to spy on the true and false situation of the Liao Kingdom."
Everyone knows that Zhang Yue uses the dragging technique.
It would take several months to go back and forth from Bianjing to Liao, so an immediate reply could be avoided.
When major powers compete, such petty tactics cannot have much effect on the final outcome.
Li Xian asked: "Your Majesty, I believe that Hebei's armaments should be reorganized, but Hebei's land is flat and there is no danger, so we have to use troops as a city."
"I think we can follow the example of the three auxiliaries of the Han Dynasty and build several auxiliary states in the important areas of the capital to protect them. Each auxiliary state can garrison tens of thousands of troops and lead them with close ministers!"
Wang Gui looked at Li Xian after hearing this. As a minister, Li Xian boldly made suggestions in front of the emperor. Needless to say, this was most likely the emperor's intention.
Li Xian did what he was ordered to do. The establishment of the Third Assistant was Zhang Dun's intention. If Zhang Yue knew that Zhang Dun had proposed this matter, he would definitely oppose it, so the officials used their own words to explain it.
After all, Li Xian had a friendship with Zhang Yue and had outstanding military exploits in the northwest. If an ordinary eunuch were to speak so bluntly, Wang Gui of Zhang Yue would be scolded to death.
This is a first-class interference with the prime minister's authority.
Wang Gui still didn't speak, and Zhang Yue was silent for a moment and then said: "Such a major matter needs to be discussed and decided by the two governments."
Seeing that Zhang Yue did not object immediately, the official nodded slowly.
…
Step out from the main hall.
A smile appeared on Zhang Yue's face unconsciously.
It was Zhang Yue's intention to establish a auxiliary state in Gyeonggi Province. He asked Zhang Yue and received clear support from him.
Then Zhang Kai really revealed it to Zhang Dun.
Why don't you say it yourself? Because if we establish an auxiliary state near the capital and station a heavy army, if we say it ourselves, we will easily be jealous of the emperor.
Major events such as the formation and training of new armies in the auxiliary states are all attempts to win over people's hearts. Setting up troops in an important place like Gyeonggi and having the prime minister personally intervene in the military power can easily be regarded by officials and the government as a sign of self-respect.
So I have to go in such a big circle.
As for Zhang Kai, he will definitely be rewarded in the future.
Thinking of this, Zhang Yue turned back to look at the Zizheng Hall in the cold wind, and said to himself: "I am the only one who can do things north and west, others can't do them."
