Zhao Xin hurriedly returned to Yanhe Hall. The imperial meeting had been held for some time.
Seeing Zhao Xin come in, Zhao Zhen immediately waved: "Prince Tang, sit next to me..."
In the past few days, whenever a minister came to see him, Zhao Zhen would ask Zhao Xin to sit next to him.
The courtiers have long been accustomed to this and have even adapted to it.
When Zhao Xin walked to Zhao Zhen, the official picked up Zhao Xin and put him on his knees, and then said to the ministers: "Please continue to speak..."
"Your Majesty, the King of Tang..." Dexiang, who knew the rules of the Privy Council, bowed and said, "The general judge of Daming Mansion, Guo Ying, reported that after investigation, the soldiers and horses of the Liao Kingdom south of Waqiao Pass were left behind by the Liao Kingdom in Nanjing.
, there are about three thousand Gongfen cavalry led by the emperor’s younger brother Yelu Zongyuan..."
"To the east, there is the Hanxiang army of the Han Dynasty, commanded by Qi Wang Xiao Hui, the privy envoy of Liaonan Academy, the total number is about 20,000..."
"I think it is impossible for the Liao people to break through the natural barrier of Waqiao Pass if they only have this small number of soldiers and horses!"
In order to delay the Liao cavalry, the Song Dynasty drove straight in through the flat North China Plain and threatened Bianjing. However, the main borders of Song and Liao, especially Xiongzhou where Waqiao Pass was located, were managed like iron barrels.
Especially after the Chanyuan Alliance, in order to prevent the Liao cavalry from quickly going south again, He Chengju, the general of Waqiao Gate and the envoy of Liuzhai, came up with a plan to kill the whole family - he dug up nine roads including Xu, Bao, Sha and Tang.
River, taking advantage of the local topography and the natural direction of the river, artificially built a water Great Wall nearly 800 miles long and more than 60 miles wide in the Xiongzhou area.
Therefore, from then on, the Liao cavalry could no longer pass through this area quickly.
In terms of defense, the Song army will abolish the mobility, speed and suddenness of the Liao cavalry.
Of course, Zhao Zhen also understood this. He nodded and asked, "What do you mean by this soldier, is the Liao people trying to blackmail you?"
Zhang Dexiang nodded.
This is what the monarchs and ministers of the Liao Kingdom like to do the most.
Send some troops, make a gesture of wanting to go south, and force or coerce the Song Dynasty to make concessions in certain aspects.
What is more embarrassing is that the monarchs and ministers of the Song Dynasty were often successfully blackmailed by him.
After all, in the eyes of the wealthy monarchs and ministers of the Song Dynasty, if you can buy peace with money, then buy it!
Because once a war breaks out, even if it is just a small-scale friction on the border, the money spent may be ten times or a hundred times the cost of buying peace.
What's more important is that even if you win, the gains outweigh the losses.
Because the current Song Dynasty simply did not have the ability and confidence to carry out the Northern Expedition.
The Gaoliang River was defeated and Taizong's donkey cart drifted, but the confidence of the monarchs and ministers of the Song Dynasty was completely lost.
Since then, except for Zhao Zhen, who had the idea of the Northern Expedition when he was young, no one has dared to mention the Northern Expedition.
Patients with Liao phobia can be found both inside and outside the government.
Now, the only ones who dare to openly shout the slogan of the Northern Expedition are probably the imperial students in the Imperial College.
But they are just students and cannot affect anyone.
Zhao Zhen thought for a while and asked the officials: "In my opinion, what do the Liao people want to blackmail?"
If you just give me some money or open a few more markets.
Then Zhao Zhen thinks he can agree.
Because, in today's Song-Liao trade, the Song Dynasty is seriously ahead of the curve.
Various commodities and even works of art produced in the Song Dynasty were sold through border markets and sold well in the five capitals of the Liao Kingdom.
And the Liao people did not sell horses and cattle, two commodities that the Song Dynasty needed urgently and were willing to spend a lot of money to buy.
The remaining furs, fish and salt products did not have much market in the Song Dynasty.
As a result, the wealth of the Liao Kingdom was continuously earned by the Song Dynasty. On average, the Song Dynasty made a net profit of at least one million yuan from the Song-Liao trade every year.
This is still the result of the restrictions imposed by the Liao people.
It was precisely because of this that the Song Dynasty had the idea of buying back the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun with money from the Liao people.
"Your Majesty..." Lu Yijian sighed and said, "I think that the Liao people want to interfere in the war between our country and the Western bandits..."
"The Western thieves also surrendered to the Lord of Liao..."
"Therefore, in the first year of Baoyuan, after Yuan Hao rebelled, our court had to report and inform the Lord of Liao before mobilizing the army to attack the Western thieves..."
The current Liao Kingdom pays more attention to the tribute system and suzerain-vassal relations than the Song Dynasty.
I prefer to pay attention to what is right and what is said.
In the impression of ordinary people in the Song Dynasty, perhaps the Liao people were still the barbarians of Yi and Di who drank blood and refused to accept the king's rule a hundred years ago.
But the senior officials of the Song Dynasty knew that the people of the Liao people were actually very polite and liked to think of themselves as Chinese. They preferred to argue with the Song Dynasty about "who is the orthodox Chinese country" and "who can inherit the Tang Dynasty better."
Therefore, this forced the monarchs and ministers of the Song Dynasty to pay attention to these things.
After all, there is a Liao Kingdom in the north, which is competing with itself for Chinese orthodoxy.
For example, during the solar eclipse of the first lunar month last year, the two countries Song and Liao started a war called "Etiquette".
As a result, the Song Dynasty did not pay enough attention and made serious mistakes, while the Liao monarchs and ministers strictly followed etiquette requirements and traditions and won the war.
As a result, the Song Dynasty was disgraced and embarrassed.
The entire Liao Kingdom cheered and celebrated with their crowns.
But because of this, the changes and mentality of the Liao Kingdom could be grasped by the Song Dynasty monarchs and ministers.
"Yuan Hao has been double-dealing for a long time!" Zhao Zhen said: "If the Lord of Liao really uses this as an excuse to interfere in our court's suppression of rebellion, do you have any countermeasures?"
"Of course we have to argue with reason!" Lu Yijian raised his head and said, "We must not let the Liao people interfere with this without even a hint of truth and reason!"
"I think that your Majesty should take a pre-emptive strike and send his most capable ministers as envoys to the Liao Kingdom to question the Lord of Liao why he betrayed the alliance!"
This is to strike first and take the initiative to start a war between Song and Liao.
Zhao Zhen thought about it and felt that Lu Yijian was right, so he asked: "In the opinion of the Prime Minister, who should I send as an envoy?"
"The old minister thinks that Fu Bi, who knows the admonition Yuan Youzhengyan, is the best candidate!" Lu Yijian bowed his head and said: "Last year, Fu Bi went to the Liao Kingdom as an envoy and had already convinced all the ministers around the Lord of Liao!"
Zhao Zhen listened and nodded, Fu Bi was indeed a good choice.
"What about the deputy envoy?" Zhao Zhen asked.
"I think that Zhichunfang Zuoshi Lu Gongzhu is a good choice!" Yan Shu bowed respectfully.
Zhao Zhen listened, thought about it carefully, and felt that the combination of Fu Bi and Lu Gongzhu could convince the civil servants around the Liao Lord, so he nodded.
At this moment, he suddenly felt his beloved son, who was holding him, gently tugging on his sleeve.
Zhao Zhen then lowered his head and heard Aizi whisper: "Aye, what if the Liao people insist on interfering?"
Although his voice was not loud, it was heard clearly.
Therefore, everyone had to consider Zhao Xin's problem.
If the Liao Kingdom insisted on intervening in the war between Song and Xia, would the Song Dynasty have the ability to deal with the Liao people's interference? Is there any countermeasures?
