When the war clouds in the Hehuang region were making up, in the far northeast, in the capital of the Liao State, the center of power in the world today, Yelu Hongji had officially ascended the throne.

At this time, envoys from various countries gathered to congratulate, including Sima Guang, the secretary of the Ministry of Rites of the Song Dynasty, who also came with Zhao Zhen's handwritten congratulatory message.

The Shangshu of the Western Xia Rite Department ate more than himself, and came on behalf of Emperor Li Liangzuo.

Although the sinicization of the Liao State was very serious during this period, it was related to the tradition of the Liao royal family, and it did not receive visitors to the imperial city of Shangjing. and chose to raise the tent in the leather room of the grassland outside the city.

At that time, the scene of clouds moving in all directions, the armies from all sides and tribes continued to gather in the big tent of the leather room, and launched a grand military parade with the scale of a million male divisions, which was the tradition of the Liao State.

Riding the best famous horse, looking down on the scene of all countries coming to the dynasty and all nations coming to congratulate on the hills, watching millions of male soldiers running and shouting on the grassland, the Liao Emperor Yelu Hongji, who was only in his twenties, was very comfortable, this is what he has always wanted, this is the pinnacle of life, the supreme right.

The grand parade lasted until dusk, and the ostensibly amiable guests gathered in the big tent for dinner.

Then, in order, the envoys presented congratulatory gifts in turn and delivered congratulatory messages to Yelu Hongji.

After going through the slow and long process, Sima Guang first cut to the chase and said: "Your Majesty the Liao Emperor, I have something to discuss. ”

After the others translated, Liao Emperor Yelu Hongji said: "The allies are here to speak." ”

Sima Guang said: "Can the Liao State intervene and let the Western Xia stop the bloody operations in the Hehuang region?" Now that this war is getting bigger and bigger, it is gradually getting out of control, and my country has heard that in addition to a large number of soldiers killed and wounded, countless civilians have suffered blood, tears, humiliations, and displacement. The abundant grain and forage in the Hehuang area should have been a blessing to the people's livelihood in the world, but excessive deforestation caused a lot of grain in the Hehuang area to be burned and rotted in the ground. It is all because of the bloody robbery policy of Western Xia, which is not beneficial to the name of His Majesty the Liao Emperor's benevolence and love for farmers. ”

Sima Guang is still somewhat level, and some things are said in Yelu Hongji's heart. During this period, Yelu Hongji first ascended the throne, was ambitious, focused on the opinions of some Han officials, and paid more attention to agricultural production.

However, in view of the fact that the Western Xia had received the tacit approval of the Liao State before sending troops. There is no way to do this, although Yelu Hongji is more righteous, and because of Xiao Yanshan, he also temporarily holds a pro-Song mentality, and he has a good relationship with Wang Yan.

But the key thing is that Xixia is not a fuel-efficient lamp, and he has quite a lot of connections in Shangjing, so he saw the opportunity to maneuver, and achieved the current result.

These moths have to be prosecuted to the Song National Day.

At that time, the war in the Song and Xia was tense, and the two right-hand men of Emperor Xingzong of the Liao State: Xiao Hui and Yelu Chongyuan. They tried their best to promote an alliance with the Western Xia, and took the opportunity to send troops to the border of the Song State for blackmail, wanting to cooperate with Li Yuanhao's strategy of attacking the Song Dynasty.

In other words, Xiao Hui and Yelu Chongyuan were opposed to the pro-Xia faction with Yelu Hongji, and they wanted to stab Song Guo in the back at that time.

However, Xiao Xiaomu, the prime minister of Liao, who was the privy envoy of Beifu at the time, strongly opposed the pro-Xia. Xiao Xiaomu is Xiao Yanshan's uncle, the person who supports Yelu Hongji. Xiao Xiaomu's reason is also very simple: the Song people have no combat power and will not threaten the Liao State, but although the Western Xia is not large, it is a wolf, and it must be guarded at all times.

So in such a situation, the domestic politics of the Liao State began to tear apart, and in the tug-of-war between the two factions, the Liao army that Chen soldiers were on the border during the critical period of the Song-Xia War did not get the order to fight the Song State or not?

Even if it was not fought in the end, it really formed a posture of blackmail by force, and at that time, some people proposed to let the Song State cede more than a dozen counties in the border area in exchange for the Liao State "not to sprinkle salt on the wounds of the Song State at a critical time".

And the person who resolved this situation was the famous Wang Gongchen, who is now the third envoy.

Wang Gongchen has a problem, but he really has merit and hard work for the Great Song Dynasty. This is the reason why he has a lot of problems, and Zhao Zhen still keeps him in office. In Zhao Zhen's eyes, not having clean hands and feet is not much of a fault. On the contrary, almost every one of those Qing officials who had no problems with themselves gave Zhao Zhen a headache, and everyone dared to fight against Zhao Zhen.

This is the "art of the emperor" discussed by Sun Fu.

Speaking of the situation at that time, Wang Gongchen took advantage of the contradiction between Xiao Xiaomu, the prime minister of Liao, and Yelu Chongyuan, the anti-Song faction, to carry out a diplomatic tug-of-war that lasted for half a year, and finally persuaded Liao to withdraw his troops, and theoretically did not cede the country, but only gave Liao hundreds of thousands of taels of silver protection money.

Although he did not really sign the letter of state to cede the "more than a dozen counties", Xiao Xiaomu Xiangye also asked Wang Gongchen to promise: Liao can not want those lands, but Song must also withdraw those lands and become a buffer zone between the two countries.

Wang Gongchen agreed to Xiao Xiao and Mu Xiangye. Zhao Zhen and Wang Gongchen plan to put aside the dispute and leave it to those who have the ability to solve this problem in the future. At that time, Fu Bi generally and in principle supported Wang Gongchen's negotiation result.

However, some people believe that Wang Gongchen has "lost power and humiliated the country", and there is a fart deal with Xiao Xiaomu, the privy envoy of the northern government of Liao. The holder of this opinion is the famous Han Qi, which is the fundamental reason why Han Qi did not recognize Wang Gongchen's diplomatic achievements, and he still sent violent peasants to the border to farm after the limelight passed.

Yes, part of the fields that Han Brain sent the farmers to plant were the buffer zone that the Song people evacuated after Wang Gongchen and Xiao Xiaomu made a deal. Han's brain shell was so stubborn, it scared Zhao Zhen so much that he couldn't sleep all night, but he was really embarrassed to scold Han Qi.

So at that time, what was the result of the transaction between Wang Gongchen Xiangye and Xiao Xiaomu Xiangye?

caused the strong and iron-blooded Western Xia Li Yuanhao to be furious, and Lao Li accused the Liao State of "treachery": Damn, you said that you would carve up the Song State together, and you old Wang Balamb collected hundreds of thousands of silver from other people, and a little bit of small profit, so you retracted the army?

In view of Li Yuanhao's improper attitude, Xiao Xiaomu Xiangye didn't like Li Yuanhao's wording quite a bit, and immediately became angry: Nima, a second-rate bandit, also dares to question the foreign policy of my father's country? Dare to casually comment on the political and diplomatic achievements of my privy envoy of the Great Liaobei Mansion?

So Lao Xiao decisively went to Emperor Liao to slander, and Emperor Xingzong was furious and threatened to teach Li Yuanhao to be a man!

The result, of course, was that Daddy's country sent troops to Western Xia and officially went to war.

Under Xiao Xiaomu's greasy policy, he forcibly sent two pro-Xia factions, Xiao Hui and Yelu Chongyuan, to the front line. There is no record in history, but Xiao Xiaomu, the politician's urine, the purpose should be to send Xiao Hui and Yelu Chongyuan's descendants to be consumed, and by the way, Li Yuanhao is brave and good at fighting, if they are defeated by Li Yuanhao, it is the opportunity to deny Xiao Hui and Yelu Chongyuan politically.

This is also a part of the transaction between King Gongchen of the Song Dynasty and Xiao Xiaomu of the Liao Kingdom.

It is foreseeable that if Xiao Xiaomu continues to govern and politically restrain Xiao Hui and Yelu Chongyuan's expeditionary force, then it will be difficult for them to win and they will eventually become victims of political struggle.

It's a pity that God is not beautiful, Xiao Xiaomu Xiangye died of illness at this critical period.

The person who succeeded him as the privy envoy of the Northern Province was Yelu Hongji. Yelu Hongji is not a pure politician, he is a person with revenge and ambition, and he can't tolerate things that hold him back, so Xiao Xiaomu's policy was naturally gradually curtailed.

In this case, Wang Gongchen in this period was not very useful, so Wang Gongchen also retreated to the second line and entered the Zhang Fangping period.

What I didn't expect was that Xiao Hui and Yelu Chongyuan were not waste materials, they had losses in the early stage but they were not serious, but they became more and more brave in the future, and even hit Xingqing Mansion, the capital of Western Xia, in one fell swoop.

Wuqiang Heiyun hurriedly sent someone into Beijing to find his father to admit his mistake and negotiate peace. The person who carried this heavy responsibility into Beijing was the famous man who was beaten by Wang Yan with a flintlock pistol.

Take advantage of the ambiguous situation within the Liao State to let Prime Minister Yelu Hongji facilitate an armistice, the reason is: If the Western Xia is really destroyed by Yelu Chongyuan, and the world's military achievements and prestige bring the elite of the heroes back, your Yelu Hongji's inheritance will be suspended.

Hit it off.

Yelu Hongji facilitated the withdrawal of the army, and returned most of the occupied land to the Western Xia, and they also fought hard to deny Yelu Chongyuan. In the end, Yelu Chongyuan, who almost wiped out the Western Xia, could only return to Shangjing with the remnants of the army.

This is the good relationship between eating more and Yelu Hongji. After that, many things were tied up with mutual interests, so that after the death of the Liao Emperor, he was temporarily in a hegemonic vacuum, and Yelu Hongji acquiesced to the policy of sending troops to Tibet in the Western Xia in order to get the support of Duo Ji and the Western Xia, and even secretly gave assistance.

But seeing that the Western Xia people were too fierce and occupied the magical flintlock spear, Huangzhou soon fell, which also surprised Xiao Yanshan and Yelu Hongji, anyway, although Yelu Hongji acquiesced to the Western Xia expedition, but the Western Xia were wolves, no one wanted to see them bigger, no one wanted them to be too smooth.

It's a pity that Yelu Hongji's righteous personality, coupled with the fact that the throne is still unstable, is embarrassed to intervene. Later, the ghost sent the gods, and the Song State, which had always been cowardly, suddenly became bloody, and even when the domestic floods were urgent, which was the most unfavorable for fighting, he still invested in the volunteer army into the Hehuang area.

This situation makes Xiao Yanshan wake up with a smile in her dreams, it is best that the two countries of Song and Xia can't hold each other, and if they fight it for five or eight years, then it will be the most beneficial to Liao. Because whether it is the Great Song Dynasty or the Western Xia, either side is too strong, which is not conducive to the expansion of the hegemony of the Liao State.

So this is the origin of this situation, and in order to let the Song and Xia sides in Hehuang tug at the loss, and not out of control, Yelu Hongji warned the Western Xia before: unless the Song State declares war, it is not allowed to attack the Song State border to cause a full-scale war.

Today's Song State is different from the past, coupled with the warning of the Liao State, how dare Western Xia attack the Song Kingdom? At that time, if one was careless, he was ambushed on all sides, not only to fight with Tubo and Song, but also to send troops in case of another offense by his father's country, which would be the end of the country.

Therefore, the Empress Dowager and the Empress Dowager are also suppressing the internal emotions of the Western Xia, strictly prohibiting any provocation against the Song State, unless the Song Volunteer Army is truly defeated, the Hehuang region is completely taken, and the Western Xia gains strength expansion and greater strategic depth, otherwise the Liao State and the Song State must not be provoked.

So at this time, Sima Guang spoke coldly, so in the noisy leather room tent, the place where the world's powerful people took root and concentrated, the atmosphere instantly froze, and they all looked at Sima Guang with strange expressions.

Sima Guang is a good man and doesn't want war. But he is a scholar, he didn't even straighten out the grievances and hatreds of the parties before the earliest, and he didn't even know about Wang Gongchen, Xiao Xiaomu, Yelu Chongyuan, eating more himself, and the Empress Dowager and other parties intertwined and fart transactions. However, at the moment of the Liao Emperor's enthronement and the hegemonic military parade, in front of the Western Xia, he mentioned "the inhumane behavior of the Western Xia in destroying agriculture in the Hehuang area".

"The world is the world of the people of the world, people take food as the sky, I heard that His Majesty the Liao Emperor is benevolent and righteous, and attaches great importance to agriculture and Buddha, why don't you respond to the request of our country?" Sima Guang asked again in a crepe manner.

Yelu Hongji really attaches importance to agriculture and believes in Buddhism, and he is really a bit righteous, and he has some good fate with Wang Yan. And now the Hehuang area is commanded by Wang Yan, so he was embarrassed to respond, but looked at Sima Guang with a dark face, meaning don't say it.

I didn't want to speak, and I didn't want this person who opposed Wang Yan to lose face too much, but I had no choice but to say: "The Song envoy is arrogant, who gave you the courage to let you make a big show at the military parade ceremony of His Majesty the respected Liao Emperor?" ”

"In extraordinary times, on the basis of facts, Western Xia has caused excessive bloodshed so far, and it is impossible to see where the blessings and interests of the world lie." Sima Guangdao.

He turned around and hugged his fists and said: "Your Majesty Emperor Liao, as early as the death of Emperor Xingzong of the Great Liao Kingdom, the situation in the world changed suddenly, and Tubo took advantage of the current situation to harass me on the border first, making my Western Xia miserable. Therefore, Xixia responded this time and asked for an explanation, not to occupy and kill. The situation on the battlefield was difficult to control, and the current situation was caused by the strong resistance of the Western Xia army. This stems from Tubo's refusal to admit mistakes and from the Song Kingdom's ill-intentioned intentions. ”

"Is there such a thing?"

"Did you Song State have ill intentions and instigate Tubo to snatch and harass the Western Xia border?"

"It must be yes, the Song people have always been like this, insidious and cunning."

"This war was caused by the Song people and the Tibetans, and the blood flow and losses should be counted on the head of the Song State."

Khan, suddenly like a forum scolding the street, in an instant, Sima Guang was besieged by the envoys of various countries and tribes.

Sima Guang tried to quote scriptures and words to fight Confucianism, but unfortunately these people were not Confucians, they were basically warlike barbarians, and most of them did not even understand Chinese. chattered crookedly, and made the atmosphere of the dinner party noisy.

"Enough! Stop it! ”

Yelu Hongji raised his hand, and his voice slowly fell.

After all, the Song State is an ally, and it is too deeply tied to the Liao State in agriculture and commerce, and Yelu Hongji, who is ambitious and wants to develop, really wants to give the Song State some face, so he said: "This is the military parade ceremony of my Great Liao State, don't talk about other things, you all stop." ”

The lady-like envoy of Goryeo stood up and said, "The barbarian of the Song State does not understand etiquette and is out of place, so I suggest that His Majesty the respected Liao State drive him out of the banquet." ”

The chief of the enemy martyr department laughed and said, "Look at it, they can also be called barbarians?" ”

Yelu Hongji couldn't help frowning, squinting his eyes at the enemy martyrs, and those enemy martyrs barbarians stopped in embarrassment.

But Sima Guang had a great temper, got up and shook his sleeves and said: "The Tao is not the same, Sima Guang is unwell and can't drink, so he will retire." He took the initiative to take a few of the attachés of the Song Guoli Department and left.

"Incorrigible."

"I can't help myself...... I don't know how to lift. “

"Forget it, let him go."

"It turns out that this is how the Song people were diplomatic?"

"Yes, this time Song Guo is afraid that he will become the biggest loser."

"Sit back and watch the show, see how they end up in the Hehuang area? In vain, he tried to confront the policies of the Great Liao State and launch a specific military conflict with the Western Xia in the face of the dire situation in his own country, the food crisis, and the strong anti-war sentiment. Let's see, let's see what he looks like in Song Kingdom in three years! ”

There are no surprises, in fact, the famous Liao State Leather Room Banquet is basically a gathering of a group of uneducated mocking faces. This is Sima Guang's diplomacy.

Lao Sima has always opposed the policy of the Volunteer Army, and is even more opposed to continuing to fight in the season of internal and external troubles, food shortages, and the death of famous generals.

After Sima Guang left, Yelu Hongji didn't like this place a little, frowning slightly, but he could only continue......