The emperor of the Great Song Kingdom is surnamed Song, named Song Yuanting, who ascended the throne at the age of thirty-eight and has now reached the age of sixtieth. At this moment, he was sitting upright in the imperial hall of the Imperial Palace in Nakashu Castle in Kyoto, discussing state affairs with various ministers. Just last night, he received battle reports and official documents sent back by Gao Wanjun from the Yongzhou front one after another, as well as war reports and official documents sent by Gonggong Ji from Dingbian City. This morning, he received a letter from the emperor of the Great Xia Kingdom asking for peace from the envoy of the Great Xia Kingdom.

The envoy of the Great Xia Kingdom did not enter the Great Xia Kingdom from Luoshui Pass, but took the waterway, went down the Yellow River, and soon came to the capital Zhongzhou, so the battle report he sent back with Gao Wanjun and Ji Gonggong arrived at the time of arrival in front of the feet and behind the feet.

The content of the battle report and official document sent back by Gonggong Ji was exactly the same as that sent by Gao Wanjun, he actually forwarded the copy sent to him by Gao Wanjun to the emperor. The battle report tells in detail how the war happened, such as how to march and how to win. The official documents detailed the number of soldiers lost in the battle, the amount of food and salary consumed, and the merits and faults of each general.

The letter from the emperor of the Great Xia Kingdom was written more politely. First of all, he apologized for the invasion of Yongzhou, and then proposed that the Great Xia Kingdom was willing to take the initiative to sue for peace, and agreed to give 100,000 taels of silver and 50,000 pieces of leather as compensation. It is hoped that the two countries will stop their troops so as to prevent the lives of the people of the two countries from being destroyed.

Song Yuanting circulated the battle report and the letters of the Great Xia Kingdom to the ministers, and then asked: "The Great Xia Kingdom wants to make peace with us, what do you think?" ”

Before the words fell, a white-haired old general stood out in the queue of generals on the right side of the hall, and said loudly: "Chen Yue Qianhao thinks that he can't make peace!" Lao Chen felt that our army captured Luoshui Pass, and the morale was strong at the moment, so it was better to take this opportunity to move the army westward and directly take Xingqing City, the capital of the Great Xia Kingdom, and directly destroy the Great Xia Kingdom, so as to save them from coming to the border of our Great Song Kingdom every year to harass the people. That Xingqing City is only a few hundred miles away from Luoshui Border Pass, and it only takes three or five days for the army to travel quickly. ”

"The emperor must not!" As soon as Yue Qianhao's words fell, a white-bearded civil official strode out of the queue of civil officials on the left, who was none other than Zhao Shisun, the prime minister of the left class.

Zhao Shisun is now over seventy years old, but his body is still healthy, he is a veteran of the three dynasties, and even the emperor is very polite to him.

"Zhao Aiqing, why not?" Song Yuting bowed his head slightly and asked softly.

"Your Majesty, the old minister thinks that although our army has captured Luoshui Pass, the Great Xia Kingdom is still strong, and our army must not underestimate the enemy. Moreover, now that the two lines of soldiers and horses of the Great Hara Kingdom invading Youzhou of our Great Song Kingdom are still raging in the territory, our army still has to divide troops to resist the army of the Great Hara Kingdom, how can we go all out to attack the Great Xia Kingdom? Moreover, if our army marches westward again, it will be an intention to invade the Great Xia Kingdom, and my Great Song Kingdom is a country of benevolence and righteousness, how can we do unjust things that invade other countries? Zhao Shisun said impassionedly.

"Nonsense! Nonsense! Could it be that he invaded my Great Song Kingdom and was the army of justice? If you allow him to be unkind, will I not be unjust? Your Majesty, take this opportunity to destroy the Great Xia Kingdom in order to get rid of the troubles forever, and in the future, you don't have to worry about the collusion between the Great Hara Kingdom and the Great Xia Kingdom, and at the same time send troops to fight my Great Song Kingdom! The old general Yue Qianhao shouted loudly, his voice was loud and full of confidence.

"Your Majesty! Although the Great Xia Kingdom lost a total of more than 100,000 troops in this battle, as far as Lao Chen knew, the defenders of Xingqing City, as well as the defenders of other border defenses, together had at least more than 100,000 troops. Our army currently has less than 20,000 forbidden troops in Luoshuiguan, and about 30,000 box troops, how can we attack the Great Xia Kingdom? The old prime minister Zhao Shisun argued strongly.

"This ......" Emperor Song Yuanting looked at this, looked at that, and felt that the two of them were polite for a while, so he couldn't make up his mind, so he looked at the civil officer column, a civil official in his fifties, and asked him: "Taiwei Gao, what do you think?" ”

Taiwei Gao Geyu hurriedly stepped out of the ranks, bowed down and replied: "Weichen thinks that what Prime Minister Zhao Cheng said is very reasonable. This is indeed not the best time to send troops to the Great Xia Kingdom. In my opinion, since the Great Xia Kingdom has sued for peace and promised compensation, I think it is better for us to agree to their demands, and then transfer the troops of Yongzhou to Youzhou, so that they can attack the army of the Great Hara Kingdom to relieve the danger of Youzhou. ”

"Mmmm, Aiqing has a point!" Song Yuanting nodded to Captain Gao and acquiesced to his thoughts.

At this time, in the queue of civil officials on the left, another person stepped out of the queue, bowed down and said: "Your Majesty, Weichen thinks that if we agree to the request of the Great Xia Kingdom to seek peace, we can also attach some more conditions!" ”

Song Yuting looked at it and saw that the person who spoke was a young civil official in his thirties, who was Han Jun, the head of the household department. If Xiao Ding was here, he would definitely recognize that this person was the eldest brother of Han Lu'er who had a relationship with him in the back kitchen of Xiangmanlou.

"Hey, I don't know what conditions Han Shilang wants to attach?" Song asked Tingting.

"The army of the Great Xia Kingdom invaded the territory of Yongzhou in my country, burning, killing and looting, and the people were struggling to make a living. They only promised to compensate 100,000 taels of silver and 50,000 taels of leather, how could they offset the losses of the people of our Great Song Kingdom? I suggest that Your Majesty let them pay an additional compensation of 100,000 taels of silver, 50,000 taels of grain, and 10,000 horses. It is used to support our army to attack the army of the Great Hara Kingdom in Youzhou City. "Han Jun is in the household department and knows the suffering of the people, so he wants the emperor to increase his bargaining chips in order to get more benefits.

The emperor is not a fool, and of course he readily accepts this kind of suggestion that is beneficial to his own side and harmless. So he immediately ordered to go down and send Prime Minister Zhao Shisun to negotiate with the envoys of the Great Xia State and re-propose the conditions.

Then Song Yuting raised a second question in the court: "In the battle reports and official documents of Aiqing, Gonggong Ji and General Gao, a person named Tian Xiaoding was mentioned. How should I reward this man? ”

At this time, another old general next to Yue Qianhao in the queue of generals on the right stood up, he clenched his fists, and said: "The old minister Yang Hongtao thinks that a thousand troops are easy to get, and a general is hard to find, since this person named Tian Xiaoding has the talent of a general, it is better to make him a Pingxi general, and let him lead the Yongzhou Xiang Army and General Gao's forbidden army to Youzhou to attack the Dahara army." ”

"The emperor can't, although Tian Xiaoding has military exploits, he is too young, and he is from a civilian background, if he is promoted too quickly, I am worried that he will be proud, not enterprising, and mislead the country and the people. If he is to be given command of a heavy army, if he is disloyal, will it not be too late for the Holy Lord to regret it? "The person who spoke was Taiwei Gao Geyu.

At this time, the Tai Lieutenant was equivalent to the highest military commander in the country, and had direct jurisdiction over the Ministry of War, and had the power to administer military positions, appoint and dismiss. He is also the highest war commander in the country.

"Then how should Yi Gao Aiqing reward this Tian Xiaoding?" Emperor Song Yuting frowned and asked.

"According to what the minister sees, I think it is better to make him a partial general first, let him be General Gao's deputy, and assist General Gao to go to Youzhou to attack the army of Dahara. After waiting for the pacification of Youzhou, it is not too late to invite this Tian Xiaoding to Beijing to receive the reward. At that time, when the saint saw this Tian Xiaoding with his own eyes, he could know whether he was loyal or traitorous. Gao Ge said.

"It's okay, then let's do it according to what Captain Gao said." The Emperor finally made up his mind.

At this moment, suddenly a report came from outside the hall: "Your Majesty, there is a battle report from the front line in Youzhou!" ”