Kou Zhun looked at the sand table of the huge and detailed Youyun Sixteen Prefectures, and suddenly sighed in his heart, this Youyun Sixteen Prefectures is the heart pain of the emperors of the Great Song Dynasty, since it was invaded by the Great Liao, the Great Song Dynasty lost the barrier of the Great Wall, resulting in the opening of the northern portal, and the Liao army can lead troops south at any time, drink the Yellow River, and approach Tokyo.

As a result, the Great Song Dynasty had to Chen 200,000 soldiers along the Song-Liao border, and if the Liao army came to attack, it was necessary to increase a large number of troops, and during the battle of Lanzhou, the Song army on the border reached more than 400,000 people.

Now Li Deming of Western Xia wants to establish himself as the emperor and establish the country, so the Great Song Dynasty and Western Xia are constantly fighting on the northwest border, and the army of the Great Song Dynasty has reached nearly one million people, so the huge military expenditure has accounted for as much as half of the financial revenue of the Great Song Dynasty.

Kou Zhun pointed to the sand table and said to Zhao Zhen: "Official, I support the use of troops against Da Liao now, now is a heaven-given opportunity, and the opportunity must not be missed; The commander of the border army, Chong Shiheng, was planning at this time, and he would definitely be able to occupy the five states in front of the mountains of Daliao within a month, and occupy Pingzhou, Yingzhou and Shanhaiguan; I expected that at this time, the defense envoys had already sent troops and began to attack the five states in front of the mountains and Shanhaiguan, so let's wait and see. ”

Xue Kui also echoed: "I also support the use of troops against the Great Liao, but we must also guard against the collusion between the Great Liao and the Western Xia, and jointly use troops against our Great Song Dynasty, and also let the northwest commander Cao Wei be more vigilant and guard against the surprise attack of the Western Xia." ”

Liu E said: "To fight against the Great Liao, it is best to occupy the five states in front of the mountains and other places, but it is also necessary to fight quickly, if things are unexpected, you must not fall in love with the war, and withdraw as soon as possible." ”

Zhao Zhen then issued an order to let Chong Shiheng lead the army to capture the Nanjing Road of the Great Liao, occupy the fortresses of the Great Wall from Juyong Pass to Shanhaiguan as soon as possible, and completely block the southward road of the Great Liao.

At this time, the Liao Emperor Yelu Longxu couldn't afford to be sick, and he couldn't stand the bumpy journey anymore, so he had to stay in Dading Mansion in Tokyo, his state was very bad, I saw that his face was like gold paper, his breath was weak, most of the time he was in a coma, he woke up by chance, his consciousness was still not very clear, and more seriously, he began to have a high fever again.

Zhang Jian was worried when he saw the emperor's situation, and only felt that the emperor seemed to be sick, and the imperial doctor was helpless at this time, so he could only reduce the emperor's fever and cool down in advance, that is, use ice compresses, and then supplement them with medicine to drink.

At this time, the queen Xiao Bodhisattva was also accompanying her in the emperor's bedroom, and she saw her with a sad face, six gods and no owner, and a four or five-year-old boy beside her, who should be the prince Yelu Zongyuan; During this period, Liu Shenxing, the envoy of the Liaoxing Army, and Huang Pian, who stayed in Zhongjing, were also present.

At this time, Zhang Jian said: "Queen Mother, now that the emperor's illness has worsened, and the rebellious Xiao Yunjin has kidnapped the prince again, and there are still some rebel forces ready to move, the current situation is not good." I hope that Niangniang will issue an order to let Xiao Yuma (Xiao Shaoye, the queen's brother) lead an army to protect the safety of the emperor and the queen. ”

Brother Xiao Bodhisattva hurriedly responded: "The prime minister is very right, I will write a letter by hand, and let Xiao Kuima lead the troops here." ”

Liu Shenxing said: "I also sent someone to inform the Kuangyi Army to make the Zhongshan County Wang Chage, the Baoning Army to make the Changsha County King Xie Jianu, and the Guangde Army to make the Le'an County Wang Sui Ge and other royal families, so that they could lead the troops to Zhongjing to escort them. ”

At this time, Zhang Jian added: "I have written a text to crusade against Xiao Yunjin's rebellion, and the emperor has sealed it, and it has been passed to the king of the North and South Courts, Tongping Zhangshi, Governor of the Council, the Privy Council, the Six Ministries, the left and right Qianniuwei, and the kings of various tribes. ”

He said again: "Queen, now that the prince has been controlled by Xiao Yunjin, and has also given the opportunity to rebel, they will definitely come to King Qin under the banner of the prince; I hope that Niangniang can persuade the emperor to set up another prince, so as not to give rebellion a chance. ”

Brother Xiao Bodhisattva said worriedly: "The prince was also held hostage and a victim, do you have to depose the prince to reverse the situation?" Has it reached the point of no return? ”

Huang Pian, who stayed in Zhongjing, also advised: "The queen mother, when you are decisive, you should continue to suffer from the chaos; The rebellious Xiao Yunjin has been secretly cultivating power over the years, and his henchmen and cronies are all over the court, and he is already growing his wings; As soon as she raised her arms and shouted, her henchmen would obey Jingcong, and when she arrived in Xijing, it was the hidden dragon into the sea, and the general trend had become; There are nearly 100,000 soldiers and horses in Xijing, most of whom are controlled by her Shuping family, which is also her biggest reliance, plus the prince in hand, and also occupies the name of righteousness. ”

Although the crown prince Yelu Zongzhen was born to the good concubine Xiao Yunjin, the queen Xiao Bodhisattva adopted Yelu Zongzhen and raised him as his own son, so the relationship between the two is very deep, and the prince is also very close to her, looking like a mother and a son; So the queen couldn't make up her mind for a while.

At this time, Liu Shenxing said: "Zhang Xiang, at this time, our troops south of the Great Wall have been lost in the hands of the Great Song army, and what I am worried about is that the Song army will take advantage of the victory to pursue and occupy the five states in front of my mountain and the passes along the Great Wall such as Shanhaiguan, and then our Great Liao will lose the springboard of the Central Plains." ”

Zhang Jian also said with an ugly face at this time: "Envoy Liu Jiedu said very much, the Song army will definitely expand the results of the war, the Song Emperor is young and vigorous, he must want to make a difference, he will definitely expand his territory and seize the thirteen states of Youyun, the early capture of the five states in front of the mountain is only the first step, and if the conditions are ripe, he will definitely capture the nine states behind the mountain." ”

He sighed and said: "God bless Da Liao, the Great Song Dynasty now has a divine weapon in hand, and we are powerless to counter it; At present, Daliao is in chaos, and the outside must first be settled. ”

At this time, Emperor Liao woke up, he groaned, and said in a somewhat inarticulate voice: "Water... I want to drink water...".

When the accompanying people heard this, they were overjoyed and hurriedly looked forward;

At this time, I saw Queen Xiao Bodhisattva walking forward quickly, and I saw Emperor Liao wake up, but he was sweating profusely, panting, his eyes were blank, and his condition did not improve much.

Brother Xiao Bodhisattva hurriedly sent the imperial doctor to diagnose the emperor, and in the end, after the imperial doctor made a diagnosis, he was also overjoyed.

I heard him say: "Queen, great joy, judging from the emperor's pulse, the emperor is no longer in trouble, and the emperor's high fever has also subsided, so the emperor will be cured after a period of rest; The lower official just prescribes a few prescriptions to the emperor to recuperate. ”

Everyone breathed a long sigh of relief when they heard this, and their hearts also settled down, they thought that as long as the emperor got better, Xiao Yunjin and his ilk would definitely be captured and easily exterminated.

At this time, Xiao Yunjin has come to Xijing Datong Mansion, Xijing left behind Xiao Tu Gu Sa to greet him, Xiao Tu Gu Sa is Xiao Yun Jin's younger brother, and now he is also the envoy of the Changning Army, first leading the army of 50,000 Pi Room;

I saw him bow forward and said: "The younger brother welcomes the prince and the concubine Niangniang to Xijing, the prince is a thousand years old, and the mother is a thousand years old." ”

Seeing Xiao Yunjin step forward, he picked him up, and then said with a smile: "Little brother, you don't have to be polite, it's all a family." ”

She then summoned the prince and said, "Prince, don't go forward to see your uncle. ”

I saw the crown prince Yelu Zongzhen step forward and said: "Xiao Wang, please say hello to your uncle, and wish your uncle good health." ”

At this time, Xiao Pidi looked displeased, after all, the prince's status is noble, even if Xiao Liushou is the prince's uncle and a courtier, letting the prince salute him is an act of arrogance, and it will mess up the courtesy of the monarch and ministers.

Of course, at this time, Xiao Tugu Sa was also shocked, and hurriedly jumped to the side, and said straightly: "The prince can't, the subordinates dare not accept this big gift, no matter what, the subordinates can't exceed the courtesy." ”

At this time, Xiao Yunjin looked at Xiao Tugu Sa with satisfaction, in fact, she just wanted to test his younger brother, and she was also relieved at this time, after all, he was quite respectful to the prince and her.

Xiao Tugusa led everyone into the city, and then settled them, and he also arranged for the prince and concubine to go to the Xijing Imperial Palace.

The next day, Xiao Yunjin summoned Yang Youxuan, Xiao Pidi, Zheng Hongjie and Xiao Tugu to discuss the matter, Yang Youxuan said about the Great Song Dynasty's attack on the camp and the defeat of the Liao army, and then added fuel and vinegar to say how the emperor was sick and delirious, and then he was bewitched by Zhang Jian and his ilk, and wanted to depose the prince and the concubine;

Zhang Jian and others took advantage of the chaos to hunt down and kill the prince and Niangniang, so they had no choice but to rush to Xijing with the prince and Niangniang to avoid the disaster.

Xiao Tugu Sa was taken aback when he heard this, and he asked, "How is it possible that my 80,000 army was defeated by the Great Song Border Army?" Can the emperor be safe and sound now, Zhang Jian is a square person, why did he do such a rebellious thing? It doesn't make sense. ”

Yang Youxuan said: "Xiao stayed behind, now the Great Song Dynasty has a divine weapon, which is launched with lightning and thunder, the ground shakes and the mountains shake, and within five zhang of the place he goes, the people and horses are broken, and the bones are gone; It is also a weapon for siege, launched, the city gates are broken, unable to resist, and now Juyong Pass has been captured. ”

At this time, I heard a report from the scout: "Stay behind, my Daliao Bauhinia Pass has been broken by the Song army, and the defending general General Liu has been martyred." ”

When Xiao Tugu heard this, he hurriedly asked: "Really, Zijing Pass Mountain is high and dangerous, and there is a situation where a husband is a pass and ten thousand people are not open, how can it be easily broken?" You go into detail and don't leave anything wrong. ”

Seeing that the scout reported everything he had seen and heard to Xiao Tugusa, especially about the earth-shattering power of artillery, he was still a little frightened, his heart palpitated, and he looked terrified.

His words also applied to the authenticity of Yang Youxuan's description of the war, and Xiao Tugu Sa thought about it after hearing it, and pondered for a stick of incense all the time, which made him a little cold.

Yang Youxuan coughed at this time, which woke up Xiao Tugusa, he immediately knew that he had lost his temper, and then smiled apologetically at everyone.

Yang Youxuan said: "Now that the emperor has been bewitched, he will definitely depose the prince and Niangniang, and if he can't make it, he will declare Niangniang and I as rebellious, and we will raise troops to fight from time to time." I don't know what kind of advice Xiao has left behind? ”

Xiao Tugusa said: "If you want to add to the crime, I will not let the treacherous plan succeed, I can summon the generals of the lineage to discuss, let them Chen soldiers on the front line of the Great Wall, and strictly defend it; In addition, I revised a book to reprimand Zhang Jian and others; I should swear to protect the prince and his mother's thoughtfulness. ”

At this time, Xiao Pidi said: "Now the elite leather room army and the palace branch army of our Liao army have been annihilated by more than 60,000 people, and the Wuding army has been annihilated by more than 20,000 people, although my Great Liao leather room army has nearly 300,000 people, and only 100,000 people can be quickly mobilized; Therefore, it is impossible for Da Liao to launch a counteroffensive against the Great Song Dynasty within three months, and he is unable to conquer the prince and Niangniang. Therefore, within these three months, we must vigorously increase our troops and expand our armaments in order to have the ability to protect ourselves. ”

And the Great Song Dynasty court also began to prepare for the preparation of the front-line soldiers to reward the work, at this time there was a spy report, saying that there was a civil strife in the Liao court, due to the defeat of the Liao army, the Liao Emperor was seriously ill, the hearts of the people in the palace were floating, the good concubine Xiao Yunjin held the prince hostage with the intention of self-reliance, and the Liao Emperor's royalist army had a fierce battle, both sides were evenly matched, no one could help anyone, and finally the good concubine took the prince to Xijing to try to stand on his own.

At this time, the monarchs and ministers of the Great Song Dynasty have settled down, and now there is a civil strife in Daliao, and the rebellion will definitely be extinguished in advance, and there will be no intention to fight with the Great Song Dynasty in the near future, so the five states in front of the mountains will be restored and the Great Wall will be occupied.