Even though Wang Anshi is close to his seventies, he is still in high spirits and has the energy of a young man.
After receiving the official order and returning to the cabinet, he took on board all the ideas proposed by Zhao Xi.
Such vicious thoughts should not be in the mind of a wise and mighty king... shouldn't ministers be like this?
Wang Anshi has long been familiar with taking the blame for officials.
However, the cabinet members only lamented the perfection of strategies and did not connect these with quality at all... They all came from the martial arts school, were influenced by official pragmatism, and pursued results.
As long as the interests of the country and the DPRK can be maximized, who cares about the minutiae?
As a result, a rather strange situation occurred on the border between the Song Dynasty and the Northern Liao Dynasty.
Two to three hundred thousand Northern Liao cavalry were stationed south of Xijin Prefecture, and they were constantly dispatching troops to clear out the remnants of the rebels throughout Nanjing Road. However, the main force of the rebels guarded the isolated city of Yongqing.
Fifty miles south of Yongqing, there is the Song Dynasty's frontier army, which is only a team of less than 50,000 people. With a continuous line of chariots and orderly footwork and cavalry, it seems to be the most powerful among the three forces.
The Northern Liao Dynasty has been fighting a civil war for more than a year. It is impossible to say that they are not exhausted after chasing the rebels to this point. And Yelu Yixin's team is even more like a lost dog, and they are in panic all day long. In fact, his people are indeed
The bereaved dog.
As for the Song Dynasty team, looking at the enviable Yan Yun, they suppressed the idea of going north under the forced order of the imperial court. Naturally, the will to fight was the strongest among the three parties.
Ever since Yelu Yixin fled from Yongqing City, or in other words, Yelu Yixin was defeated and approached the Song camp, the Northern Liao pursuers ceased fighting. This was unbelievable in the early years, but at this time, it feels quite normal.
It's very simple. It's not that the Northern Liao court didn't want to annihilate the rebels, but that the rebels were too close to the Song Dynasty's border troops and they were worried that the war would affect the Song Dynasty and cause a war between the two countries... The Northern Liao Dynasty didn't want to do it now.
Fight against the Song Dynasty.
The reason why the Song Dynasty sent troops to the border was very good. Not to mention that some time ago there were raiders entering the country to harass, but the civil war in the Northern Liao Dynasty had moved the battlefield to the border, and the Song Dynasty also had enough reasons to send troops.
Therefore, the Northern Liao court chose mediation first.
"Entry from Baigouhe, Wuqing, Guiyi and Rongcheng, and then go north to form an encirclement and suppression campaign against Yelu Yixin's rebels to avoid war and harm our Song Dynasty? Northern Liao really dares to think!"
When the Song Dynasty court plotted against Northern Liao, why did Northern Liao not plot against Song Dynasty?
For example, in this first negotiation contact... Bei Liao first expressed understanding of the Song Dynasty and Chen Bing's border, and deeply regretted that the civil war in Bei Liao led to the unrest on the Song border.
Nowadays, the rebels are at the end of their rope. In order to prevent the rebels and the civil strife in Liao from continuing to cause harm to the Song State, Bei Liao decided to borrow a road from the Song State and then surrounded Yongqing City, thus annihilating the rebels in one fell swoop and returning peace to the Song-Liao border.
.
"His request made me feel less guilty."
When Wang Anshi saw such a request, he really felt that he was a bit hypocritical. How could there be affection between two countries, or two hostile countries? It just depends on the needs.
"Who gave Beiliao the courage to think like this?"
The cabinet is a little angry. To be honest, the development of the country to their current cabinet has undergone earth-shaking changes. Even with Bei Liao, they can already talk to each other on an equal footing. They even need to look down on Bei Liao before they feel it is appropriate.
Unexpectedly, at this time, Beiliao is still so rampant.
"It's no wonder that after sending troops for the second time but returning without success, the Northern Liao court probably thought that I, the Song Dynasty, was afraid that the Liao disease had penetrated deep into my bones!"
What Su Che said may be possible. The second dispatch of troops did not have major combat contact between the two sides, it was just a parade. The withdrawal of troops by the state and the dynasty without fighting probably made Bei Liao think... The Song Dynasty also
But that's it.
After all, in the original Battle of Hedong, Bei Liao still relied on their Xijing Road combat power. The elites of Shangjing Road, Northwest Recruitment Division, Zhongjing Road, and Nanjing Road did not participate in the war at all.
"So, Bei Liao thinks that the Song Dynasty should get nothing from this matter, and should also provide them with the convenience of encircling and suppressing the rebels?"
"It seems that Beiliao really means this."
"I understand Chen Bing, and I deeply regret the losses caused... quite a good wording."
"It's not unreasonable for Bei Liao to reach this day. Their court is a little too arrogant."
"This is not surprising. Think about the civil strife in the Northern Liao Dynasty. Yelu Yixin rebelled, the imperial court sent troops to the north, and the four Jurchen tribes took the opportunity to cause chaos. Even the Mongolian Plateau and those in Suzhou, such as Xi, Shiwei and other old and young people, revolted together.
, were eventually put down by the Northern Liao court."
"Such a big battle and a big scene can be settled so easily. The arrogance of the Northern Liao court is also based on it."
The mood of the cabinet was only temporary, and no one really took Beiliao's rudeness seriously.
When the difference in strength is not big, such an approach is an insult. When the difference in strength has reached an incomparable point, such an approach will be regarded as the behavior of a clown for the stronger party.
Beiliao is now so arrogant that after the cabinet calmed down, it felt a little speechless... Beiliao simply did not understand the current situation.
What's more, Guochao already has a backup plan. Rather than Guochao getting involved, the cabinet prefers to be a bystander and watch the civil strife in Northern Liao...
"How is Yelu Yixin doing here?"
Wang Anshi stopped the cabinet's nonsense. Under such circumstances, it is better to be serious.
"Since the negotiations with the Northern Liao court have not yet been finalized, they have not yet entered into the main topic. However, they have already provided three or five days of food and grass through merchant channels."
Zhang Dun is in charge of Yelu Yixin, and he recommended himself to take the lead, with Lu Huiqing assisting. Zhang Dun is tough, and Lu Huiqing is full of tricks, so the two of them should be foolproof in doing this.
Wang Anshi was thinking about whether he needed to inform the officials about the next step... After thinking about it, he looked at the prince's expression of having nothing to do with him...
Forget it, since the government has authorized the cabinet to make decisions and the general direction has been clear, the cabinet will not be unable to do even this well.
"Let's make the court's request to the envoys of Bei Liao. If Bei Liao can do this, and the state demands the return of the remaining twelve states of Yanyun, it seems a bit tit-for-tat."
"In addition, on Yelu Yixin's side, Zihou and Jifu, look at the timing. When should you throw the bottom line and what strategy should you use? You two can discuss it."
"Now it seems that it is impossible for the Northern Liao court to meet the court's expectations. Therefore, Yelu Yixin must do everything possible."
From the current point of view, there is no room for relaxation between the Northern Liao court and Yelu Yixin. In other words, the court's plan should have a high chance of success.