By order of the Privy Council, Ma Huaide, a pacification envoy and Zhixiong Prefecture along the Hebei Road, went to Wen Khitan and asked him about the crime of crossing the border in the south. As a result, the Khitan responded strongly, saying that it was to inspect the two losing households under his rule, and asked why the Song Dynasty raided Yelu Fonu.

When the news reached the capital, the two envoys, Yelu Yixin and Yao Jingxing, spoke in unison, insisting that the army had not entered the Song realm, and that the Song Dynasty had no basis for attacking them, and demanded that the Song Dynasty hand over the murderer and compensate them.

In the Privy Council, Du Zhongxiao read the official document handed over by Guoxin, smiled and shook his head: "It's really not easy to make the Khitans soft. Now that 10,000 soldiers and horses have been completely annihilated, they still refuse to admit defeat. ”

Fu Bi said: "It has been nearly 200 years since the founding of the Khitan country, and it has always had the upper hand over the Central Plains, how can you be willing to be soft?" Even if the national strength is not strong now, it still thinks that its military strength is strong and not comparable to this dynasty. ”

Du Zhongxiao nodded and didn't say anything. I figured it out, in fact, the Khitan's approach is not strange. Thinking about the history of the previous life, the Qing Dynasty had always had a contemptuous attitude towards the Xiyi from Europe until the Opium War was completely defeated. It wasn't until he was completely defeated by the guns that he recognized the reality. The Khitan is the same, it has also been in the Central Plains, the warlords of the Central Plains have fought to recognize themselves as emperors, and their military strength has always been strong, how can they consider themselves invincible because of the rise of the Song Dynasty's military power in the past ten years? They are big countries, not small countries to compare.

Zhang Sheng said: "It seems that Yanyun can't be restored and the Khitan can be completely defeated, they will always be so tough." It's just that they are like this, and we can't help it. It's nothing more than a pen and ink lawsuit, and it can't raise troops. ”

Du Zhongxiao shook his head: "It's inconvenient for us to raise troops without authorization, but the Khitans may not be able to bear it." The Khitans thought that the two lost lands were theirs, so they broke off this section from then on. instructed Xiongzhou to completely cut off the two losses of the people under his rule, and from then on did not allow Khitan officials and troops to cross the border. ”

Fu Bi said: "How can the Khitan be willing? The northerners love silk silk, and the silk silk of the Khitan is mostly collected from the people of the sixteen states of Yanyun. A few years ago, Taiwei defeated the Khitan in Tanglong Town, and the year coin has been broken, and now the price of silk silk in the Khitan is several times that of this dynasty. The two losses of Xiongzhou are not a big deal in this dynasty, but it is not the case for the Khitan. ”

"What if you don't follow? Do you send troops to fight? "Du Zhongxiao didn't care." The capture of Yelu Funu this time has already shown that this dynasty is not afraid of the Khitan army. But in addition to raising troops, what means did the Khitan have? ”

Zhang Sheng and Fu Bi nodded, understanding what Du Zhongxiao meant. The Khitan were able to have the upper hand in the face of the Central Plains because they had the military strength to defeat the Central Plains. Once the military upper hand is lost, what else can make the Central Plains afraid?

Du Zhongxiao said: "For this dynasty, the danger of the Khitan lies only in its strong military strength. Once the military does not gain the upper hand, it is impossible to maintain the current state of affairs, not to mention the benefits of this dynasty. The people under the rule of this life will no longer lose both, let's see what the Khitan will do first. ”

Zhang Sheng said: "What can I do?" There seems to be no place to seek Khitan in this dynasty. ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "The only thing the Khitan can do is to concentrate troops in Youzhou and threaten to go south. ”

In the exchanges between the two countries, the Khitan did not do this once or twice, but as a habitual action. It wasn't until the Lanzhou Alliance that the Khitan understood that there was no benefit to the southward invasion, so they relented a little. However, when the Song Dynasty fought against the party, the Khitan once again threatened to increase the annual coin.

Now, Du Zhongxiao is not afraid of the Khitan doing this. The threat of war could not intimidate the Song Dynasty, and the Song Dynasty now even wanted to go to war with the Khitan.

Chongzheng Palace, Zhao Zhen convened the ministers of the two provinces and the imperial history Zhongcheng to discuss the battle of Xiongzhou.

After appreciating the tea soup, Zhao Zhen said: "This time, the Khitan 10,000 cavalry entered the country, and Zhang Qi got the military situation early, properly arranged, and annihilated all the Khitan soldiers and horses. Hebei Road has not had such a big victory for many years, which is very congratulatory. ”

Wen Yanbo said: "This big victory is a happy event. It's just that the Khitans have lost a lot of soldiers and horses, and they will not give up. Pacifying Ma Huaide along the border made him Wen Khitan and investigate his crime of sending troops across the border. However, the Khitan said that the people in that area were originally two losers, and they were also under the rule of the Khitan, and the army of Yelu Buddha was not considered to be crossing the border. The two Khitan envoys sent to the capital said the same and resolutely refused to admit their mistakes. ”

Tian said: "Yes, the Khitan refuses to admit his mistake, and this matter is difficult." ”

Zhao Zhen looked at everyone and said, "The Khitan refuses to admit his mistake, what should this dynasty do?" ”

According to the trajectory of history, when encountering this kind of thing, it is not inconceivable for the Song Dynasty to ask the generals who led the army in front of the Song Dynasty and ask the enemy for perfection. But now it is different, from Du Zhongxiao to Tanglong Town, the Song Dynasty has won consecutive battles. After the army has undergone retraining, it shows that its combat strength is strong. And now that there is enough money and food, and there are railways built to the border, there is no fear of war. If you give in to this kind of weakness, no one will sit and say it.

In the imperial history, Cheng Bao Zheng said: "The Khitan crossed the border first, and after being defeated, it is necessary to use strong words." If the imperial court admits this, why is it threatening? The minister thought that if the Khitans said so, there would be nothing to talk about. Escort Yelu Fonu and others who crossed the border back to the capital, and punish them in the Ming Dynasty. Ordered the vassals on the border with the Khitan to strictly guard the border. and then banned the Yongchang along the border, and first cut off contact with the Khitan. ”

Tian said: "Isn't this a war with the Khitan?" ”

Bao Zheng said: "After crossing the border, there are strong words, if you say war, the Khitans will start the war first." ”

Tian Guo shook his head: "No, it's too much for Meng Lang." Now the training of the forbidden army has not been completed halfway, and if the Khitan Xing army comes, Hebei Road will have a hard time coping. You can only deal with the Khitan and the snake first, and wait until the training of the forbidden army is completed, and then talk about the victory or defeat. ”

Speaking of the training of the forbidden army, the rest of the ministers did not dare to speak for a while. This is the most important thing in the Privy Council recently, and it is going well, and the other yamen dare not intervene. Even Zhao Zhen himself easily did not dare to speak.

Seeing Zhao Zhen and several ministers looking at him, Du Zhongxiao said: "The minister thinks that the major affairs of the country cannot be bound by the training of the forbidden army. Even if the forbidden army is not trained, and now that the party base has been destroyed and the Western Regions has been recovered, are you afraid that the Khitans will go underground? Now that more than 200,000 people have been trained, more than 100,000 people can be organized in the coming years. With this 400,000-strong army as the foundation, there is more than enough for the Khitan code, and the strategy is insufficient. If we step up our efforts and organize the remaining 400,000 forbidden troops, we can fight even if we are short for a while. At that time, while fighting and practicing, how bad could the effect be? ”

"Practicing while fighting?" Zhao Zhen couldn't help but groan. "Do you do that?"

Du Zhongxiao said: "Why not? It is nothing more than that there are fewer suitable people among the generals and officials in the army, and the middle and lower-level generals can select suitable talents from the military academies and lead the army with fake regents first. When he has military merits, he will be promoted again. When saving Tanglong Town back then, most of the Yingtianxiang Army were fake regents, and it was not a big victory. As long as the military academy is there, there are enough follow-up talents, and they are not afraid of war. ”

Zhao Zhen nodded, and after a little thought, he understood what Du Zhongxiao meant. The forbidden army has been reorganized and trained until now, and it is facing a difficult problem. There are enough low-level generals from the military academy, but the middle and high-level generals, because they are mainly the original generals of the forbidden army, the old people hold the positions. If there is no war, it will be difficult for the low-level generals who come out of the military academy to rise up and stand out from the old ones. If the old generals are not eliminated, it will be difficult for the forbidden army to be reborn.

In the final analysis, the Song Dynasty's forbidden army has been trained to the present, and a war is needed.