In the first year of Song Zhenzong Jingde, Empress Dowager Xiao and Liao Shengzong led a large army to the south. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info Song Zhenzong has just appointed Bi Shi'an and Kou Zhun as Tongping Zhangshi and used them as prime ministers.

Kou Zhun was the prime minister of the Song Zhenzong Dynasty, and because of his strategy, the Song Dynasty was able to conclude the Lanyuan Alliance with the Liao State, bringing peace between the two countries for more than 100 years.

When he was a child, he was a poor man and very naughty, only fond of hunting, not reading. Fortunately, his mother's teaching was very strict, and he was filial to his mother, so he was forced to the right path. When he became a big official, he lived a very luxurious life at first, and once he was holding a banquet, and the scene was very lively.

When he happened to see his nurse, she hid aside and wept, and he asked, "What is wrong with you? Or have you been wronged? Why are you crying so sadly?"

The nurse said with tears in her eyes: "I remember that when the old lady died, you wanted to buy a piece of cloth to make a shroud for the old lady, but you didn't have any money. Now that such a luxurious banquet scene, the old lady knows about it, how will she feel?"

When Kou Zhun heard this, he remembered that his mother worked hard and taught her son to become famous, but she never enjoyed the blessings of her son for a day. I couldn't help but feel sad and ashamed, so I stopped the feast for this. Since then, he has been still grand and luxurious at official banquets for the sake of etiquette, but his private life is as simple as possible to commemorate his mother.

The Song Dynasty and the Liao State often fought wars, and the Song Dynasty emphasized literature over military force, which was comparable to the fierceness of the nomads. In the first year of Song Zhenzong Jingde, the Khitan fought all the way to Shanzhou, deep into the Song Dynasty, the court was frightened, the minister Wang Qinruo advocated moving the capital to Nanjing, and other ministers advocated moving the capital to Sichuan. Only Kou Zhun strongly advocated that the emperor drive the expedition in person to show his determination to defend the country, and finally Song Zhenzong accepted his opinion and decided to drive the expedition in person.

Although he was in charge, the emperor had no confidence at all, and sent his cronies from time to time to spy on Kou Zhun's movements, and his cronies reported: "The minister is sleeping heavily." "The minister is singing a tune. "The minister is drinking. ”

In short, Kou Zhun seemed to be confident and not nervous at all, so the emperor's confidence was greatly increased, and the morale of the soldiers of the Song Dynasty was also greatly boosted. Therefore, the Khitan felt uncertain and agreed to peace talks, and the two countries were about to be brothers, and there would be no more wars.

Kou Zhun's personality is very upright, and he stammers flattery, flattery, and sycophancy to villains, and is very disgusted. Once, he ate at the same table with Ding Wei, the governor of the government at that time, because he had a long beard, and when he drank the soup, the soup got on his beard. When Ding Wei saw it, he immediately used the sleeves of his robe to wipe his beard for him.

Kou Zhun was very disgusted by this behavior, and turned his face blank: "As a ruling minister, how can you disregard your identity and dignity and do such a humble thing as wiping your beard for the chief?"

Ding Wei was very ashamed and resentful, and it happened that Wang Qinruo was jealous of Kou Zhun's great achievements, and slandered the emperor: "Kou Zhun advocates the imperial conquest, which is basically to use the emperor and the Great Song Dynasty as a gambling book, and he is desperate." ”

The emperor's ears were soft, and he actually listened to it, and demoted Kou Zhun to Shaanzhou to be a magistrate. Ding Wei fell into the well again, so that Kou Zhun degraded Daozhou Sima again, and degraded Leizhou Sihu, and the people of the world were aggrieved by Kou Zhun. After Ding Wei took over as prime minister, he was greedy and dictatorial and made a mess of the government.

The people were angry, and they sang a song: "If you want the time to be good, call Kou Lao, and if you want the world, you should go to Ding." ”

Later, Ding Wei did too many bad things, and was discovered by the imperial court, and he was also degraded. The people sang again: "If you see Kou Sihu in Leizhou, where will you not meet in life." ”

The evaluation of an official's quality and the common people is the fairest.

After Song Zhenzong succeeded to the throne, he always wanted to use Kou Zhun as the prime minister, but he was worried that his personality was upright and difficult to perform. Bi Shi'an, who was participating in political affairs at that time, heard that Song Zhenzong was going to promote himself to be the prime minister, so he recommended Kou Zhun to share this seal with him.

Song Zhenzong said: "I heard that Kou Zhun is such a strong temper. ”

Bi Shi'an was kind-hearted, and replied: "Kou Zhun forgot to be martyred, upright and jealous, so he is not loved by the vulgar, and now the border is restless, and Liao Kou is coming to invade, so it is appropriate to use Kou Zhun as the phase." ”

The Liao army attacked fiercely, and the vanguard generals Xiao Tzu Rin, the king of Lanling County, and Xiao Guanyinnu, the king of the six departments, led the army to attack the Weilu army and the Shun'an army, and after the setback, they attacked Beipingzhai and Baozhou. Not long after, Xiao Tzu Rin broke through the city and captured the Song general Wang Prophet. Then Xiao Tart-rin and the Empress Dowager Xiao, Liao Shengzong rendezvous, and attack Dingzhou, the Song army held the city, the Liao army saw that it could not conquer Dingzhou, so it was convenient for Yangchengdian to camp, known as 200,000 troops, waiting for the opportunity to act.

The Liao army went deeper, and the urgent letter arrived in one night, but Kou Zhun did not report it, and talked and laughed freely. The next day, Song Zhenzong was greatly surprised when he saw the urgent book, and hurriedly summoned Kou Zhun, who replied unhurriedly: "Your Majesty wants to solve this matter, but it only takes five days." So he took the opportunity to ask Song Zhenzong to take a personal expedition to Lanzhou, but Song Zhenzong hesitated for a long time and reluctantly agreed.

Kou Zhun was not afraid, but he frightened Wang Qinruo, the governor of the council, and Chen Yaosuo, the secretary of the Privy Council. Wang Qinruo was a native of Jiangnan, and he secretly asked the emperor to flee to Jinling, while Chen Yaosu, a native of Shu, advocated that Zhenzong go to Chengdu. Song Zhenzong was moved by the two of them, so he summoned Kou Zhun to the inner hall and asked himself where to go?

Seeing that Wang Qinruo and Chen Yaosuo were by Zhenzong's side, Kou Zhun had already understood eight or nine points in his heart, and asked sharply, "Who gave Your Majesty such an idea?"

Song Zhenzong was not good at betraying Wang Qinruo and Chen Yaosuo, so he said: "Aiqing, don't ask who it is, just say that it is feasible for me to go out to avoid the enemy?

Kou Zhun looked at Wang Qinruo and Chen Yaosuo fiercely and said: "Your Majesty should really cut down the person with such a bad idea, the emperor is a martial artist, and the generals are of the same heart, if you personally conquer, the enemy will definitely escape." Even if His Majesty does not personally recruit and orders our army to hold the city and fight against the enemy division with veterans, it will not reach the point where the emperor will escape from the other side in any case. ”

Song Zhenzong nodded again and again, and Song Zhenzong asked Kou Zhun who could send the general to guard the town, Kou Zhun knew that Wang Qinruo was an old slippery man who could speak well, and he was afraid that he would always run away by the emperor's side, so he took this opportunity to recommend him. Although he hated it so much, Wang Qinruo's official position was half a level, and he could only take orders and go out to fight.

He was in the Tianxiong Army's garrison, and he was helpless behind closed doors, so he could only practice fasting and chanting sutras. Thanks to the stubborn refusal of the Song generals of the Ansu Army and the Guangxin Army, the Liao Division besieged a hundred battles and could not capture it, holding on to the strategic position.

On the side of the Liao Dynasty, it was not easy for the army of about 200,000 people to garrison for a long time. Wang Jizhong, the observer envoy of Yunzhou in the Song Dynasty, who was previously captured by the Liao army in Dingzhou, did not observe the festival of death, and the Empress Dowager Xiao loved his talent and bravery, and gave him the post of household envoy, and gave him a beautiful woman as his wife. Wang Jizhong was naturally passionate and did his best for the Liao Dynasty.

Although Wang Jizhong's official position among the military generals is not high, he is Song Zhenzong's confidant when he was the prince, and he is naturally not better than ordinary military generals. At that time, when he heard the news of Wang Jizhong's death, he was shocked and mourned, and Song Zhenzong issued an edict posthumously presenting this martyr as the Datong Army Festival, and recorded his four sons as officials.

Wang Jizhong, who served in the army of the Liao Dynasty, saw that the Liao and Song countries were stalemate, so he took the opportunity to persuade the Empress Dowager Xiao to make peace with the Song Dynasty.

The Song Dynasty's monarchs and ministers discussed it, and Lü Duan and others thought that this letter was suspicious and a fraudulent letter; Bi Shi'an thought that the Khitan soldiers had no gains in sending troops, and it should be true that they should be able to make peace.

Song Zhenzong still has an opinion: "You only know one thing, you don't know the other, the Liao people invaded without success and asked for an alliance, and there must be further requirements after the alliance." I have been wronged to stabilize the people, and I can agree to exchange my property for reconciliation. But what I am worried about is that after the Liao people are reconciled, they will definitely use the land of Guannan as an excuse and ask for cession. If the Liao side wants to make such a request, I will definitely govern the army and swear to the army and personally levy the Liao army. ”

So Song Zhenzong personally wrote an edict to Wang Jizhong, saying that for the sake of the interests of the people on both sides, they could rest and discuss slowly, but rejected Wang Jizhong's request that the Song Dynasty immediately send official envoys. Although the Song and Liao countries began to contact and conduct peace talks, the armies of both sides have not been idle.

In November, the Liao army was defeated by the Song army at Shuozhou, and the Liao army, which had surrounded the Lan army, also withdrew in panic due to the lack of food and grass. In order to gain more initiative at the negotiation table, the main force of the Liao army concentrated under Yingcheng, attacking the city with all its might, day and night, taking turns to fight hand-to-hand to attack the city, and the Empress Dowager Xiao herself also personally beat the drum to supervise the battle, and the fierce battle did not capture the city for more than ten days.

The Song army guard is Ji Yanwu, the son of the general gate desperately defended the city, commanded properly, personally commanded around the city, regardless of the rain of arrows, sent guards to throw huge trees everywhere, Zhang crossbow poured oil, and the Liao soldiers rolled down from the city. In the end, the Liao army died 30,000 dead and 30,000 wounded, and the city of Yingzhou remained immovable, so the Liao army had no choice but to withdraw from the city.

Empress Dowager Xiao was very depressed, but there was also good news that Xiao Tzu Rin and Xiao Guanyinnu led an army to conquer Qizhou in the Song Dynasty and captured a large number of Song soldiers. Empress Dowager Xiao and others led the main force of the Liao army to join Xiao Tzu Rin and others, and jointly attacked Jizhou, Beizhou and the Tianxiong army of the Song Dynasty. The Song court also reacted immediately, urging the Zhulu soldiers and the Tianxiong army of the Lanzhou Commander to move the defense line to the south.

At that time, Song Zhenzong was stationed in Weicheng, and when he heard that the Liao army was advancing step by step, many ministers privately persuaded Song Zhenzong to go south to Jinling to avoid the army. As soon as his ears softened, Song Zhenzong summoned Kou Zhun to discuss: "How about my southern tour?"

Kou Zhun looked serious: "The ministers are cowardly and ignorant, they are really like old women in the countryside, and now the enemy army is approaching, and there are dangerous places everywhere. Your Majesty can advance one foot, but you must not retreat half an inch, the Hebei army day and night look forward to Your Majesty's dragon driving in person, and it will definitely be a hundred times more morale. If His Majesty takes a few steps back, the morale of the crowd will collapse, the Liao people will take the opportunity to attack, and Jinling will not be able to reach either. ”

Song Zhenzong bowed his head and said that he would have to think about it again. Kou Zhun walked out of the imperial tent and met Gao Qiong, the commander of the palace in front of him, and hurriedly stepped forward to take the other party's hand and asked, "General Gao has received the favor of the country, how can he serve the country?"

Gao Qiong replied: "I am a martial artist, and I am willing to die to serve the country." ”

So Kou Zhun pulled Gao Qiong back into the imperial tent again, and said to Song Zhenzong, who was still hesitant: "If Your Majesty doesn't believe what the minister said, you can ask Gao Qiong." ”

Gao Qiong immediately knelt down: "The parents and wives of the soldiers of the Praetorian Guard are all in Beijing, and they will definitely refuse to give up and go south to Jinling, and it is estimated that they will flee all along the way." May Your Majesty personally conquer Lanzhou, and the ministers will do their best to serve, and the Khitan army will not be difficult to break. ”

Song Zhenzong loved to play war games since he was a child, and when he grew up, he was actually a polite emperor, and it was really not easy to let him go to the battlefield. At this moment, he turned his head to look at his personal guard Wang Yingchang, Wang Yingchang's military general, brave and wise, and immediately replied: "Your Majesty will ask for the heavens, and everything you want will be overcome." If our army does not advance, I am afraid that the enemy's forces will become even more arrogant. ”

At this point, Song Zhenzong made up his mind to go to Shanzhou, and when the saber was tense, the envoys of Song and Liao had frequent contacts, but the military operations still did not stop for a moment.