Although Li Du was a little offended, Huang Jian did not think it was wrong, and replied: "If the king acts according to the imperial court system, it is not one person who is evil, but the court who is evil, how can one person be guilty?" He looked at Li Du's unconvinced look, and said patiently, "Your ambition will definitely go through the state and county in the future, right?" Some of the people below bowed slightly, and some of their eyes showed excitement, Huang Jian smiled slightly, and said: "All the monarchs ask themselves, in the future, can they not wronged one person, and kill one person?" If these wronged and wrongfully killed people come to you to atone for their crimes, in this world, the state and county shepherds, I am afraid that all of them will have to pay for their lives, right? ”

Li Du couldn't answer for a while, Wang Lin nodded and said: "Mr.'s words are very true, as an official, the most important way to be loyal." ”

Huang Jian shook his head and said, "The way of loyalty is good." However, the state and county shepherds, every move involves the suffering of the people, indulging in evil is helping evil, the corpse is vegetarian, conniving at lawlessness, and the remnants of the people, fish and flesh of the people, the difference is just similar. ”

Wang Lin's face was ashamed, and he said in a low voice: "The student has been taught." ”

Li Du was still unconvinced, and whispered to his classmates on the left and right: "In the past, when I listened to the preaching and teaching, I thought that Mr. Zhoushan's words were insightful. Now it seems that Huang Zhoushan is just Ye Gong and a good dragon. When it came to killing the tyrant, he was so shocked that he almost changed his ways. He has always been wild, unscrupulous in words and deeds, but his classmates who are familiar with each other have no courage to reprimand Mr. Zhoushan, some of them are like earth, some are submissive, some pretend not to hear, and some are embarrassed even if they approve in their hearts.

At the head of Xiangyang City, the flags are dense, the generals are sanitation, Zhao Qi and Cao Di and Liu Yanqing are standing at the head of the city. Zhao Qi looked out of the city, and the Liao army in his field of vision was becoming scarce day by day, and Yelu Dashi seemed to have given up his ambition to quickly capture Xiangyang. To the south of the moat, the Song army camps of the Acropolis are one after another, and the military appearance is extremely magnificent.

"Cai Xianggong and Li Xianggong sent people to ask again, when will the army go south? The people of the southeast are looking forward to the king's long-term success. ”

Zhao Qi asked kindly, a trace of unknown complexity flashed in his eyes. Although he became this son of heaven, it was completely different from what he imagined before. Although Xiangyang has more than 100,000 elite soldiers, most of them are in the hands of Cao Di and Liu Yanqing. Cao Dinai is a national relative, and after escorting Zhao Qi to the south, he firmly occupied the head of the martial arts class. Although Liu Yanqing could not compete with Cao Di, he also firmly held the southeast camp. The current situation is like a sword holding upside down, and it is easy to hurt people's hands. Zhao Qi desperately hoped to meet with Cai Jing, Li Bangyan and other important ministers as soon as possible, and then use his strength to gradually recover the power of the court. Fortunately, Cao Di and Liu Yanqing did not object. On the surface, the Xiangyang court promised Ezhou that the two families would work together to resist Liao, but in fact, Cao Di was intensively planning to capture Ezhou and connect the southeastern half of the country.

"As long as we get the actual news of the Shuzhou War," Liu Yanqing said respectfully, "we can do it." He paused slightly, ignoring the somewhat disappointed look of the official family, and said to himself, "If the troops are sent too early, the front army of Shuzhou may collapse, and even if Ezhou is captured, it will immediately face the attack of the Liao army." It's better to wait and see the opportunity, and wait until the Ezhou rebel army and the Liao army are almost exhausted before starting. ”

As long as the timing is right, the Xiangyang army will go down the river and reach Ezhou in only a few days. In order to seize this opportunity, Zhao Qi and Cao Di did not hesitate to negotiate peace to stabilize the Liao army, and promised to cede all the territory of the Great Song Dynasty north of the Yellow River.

Zhao Qi instructed, "The two generals of Yue Han are not mediocre generals, if you can, allow them to surrender and continue to serve the imperial court." A look of disgust flashed in his eyes, "Only Chen Shaoyang and other rebel ministers who pretend to be righteous will be a disaster if they stay." As for Zhao Xingde? He hesitated for a moment and sighed, "Spare him his life first, and then I will think about it." ”

"Yes." Cao Di bowed and agreed. Cao Di scoffed at Chen Dong's "respecting heaven and not obeying orders" in Ezhou, who would have expected that they would become the climate. According to the original plan, there were hundreds of thousands of elite soldiers in Luoyang and Xiangyang, and there was no shortage of food and salary in the southeast, which was enough to deal with the Liao army. Ezhou and other prefectures and counties that can be bewitched by Chen Dong are stuck in the southeast like bone spurs, which makes people extremely uncomfortable. Therefore, as soon as the situation stabilized, Cao Di and Cai Jing thought about removing this thorn in their eyes.

Deng Su, the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, stood behind Zhao Qi. Each is his own master, and he should avoid suspicion, these reasons swept through his heart like fire, making Deng Su feel uncomfortable and guilty. But his lips moved, and he still didn't advise Zhao Qi in front of Cao Liu. Although Deng Su only accepted the official position of the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, he was a courtier who suffered with Zhao Qi. Zhao Qi is also close to Wenchen in his heart, not a military general like Cao Di and Liu Yanqing. And the official family was not at ease with Cai Jing, Li Bangyan and other old ministers of the former dynasty, and repeatedly hinted to Deng Su privately that if there was a future, the official family would rely on him to take charge of the political affairs hall.

"How long will we have to wait? How much longer? Zhao Qi looked into the distance and asked in a low voice, "Can Ezhou really go down with one drum?" ”

"I can't wait long." Cao Di pressed his hand on the hilt of his sword and patiently explained: "Those who remain in Ezhou now are just a rabble. The art of war says that those who are good at fighting are dangerous and short. The momentum is like an expanding crossbow, and the knots are like a start. The key is to seize the Shuzhou fighters and capture Ezhou in one fell swoop when it is most beneficial to us. ”

"It's dangerous, it's short." Zhao Qi muttered and repeated.

Under the city of Xiangyang, the Han River flows southward, and flags are everywhere. Zhao Qi's hand couldn't help but clench tightly, and his white fingers held the palm of his hand with purple and red marks. He seemed to see the scene of the army going downstream, the southeast prefecture and county looking to the wind, and Zhongxing in sight.

............

The Emperor of Liao's feet stepped on a huge rock on the top of Lumen Mountain, which was extremely narrow enough to accommodate only one person, and when viewed from below, this abrupt huge rock seemed to touch the ground only a little, and a gust of wind could blow the rock. Under the rocks, all the generals who looked up were terrified. However, it has a great view and a unique view. In order to confuse the monarchs and ministers of Xiangyang, Yelu Dashi enthusiastically invited the envoys of Xiangyang to visit the Lumen Academy together, and the two talked freely about the customs of the Southern Dynasty, and the emperor of the Liao State admired the envoys of the Southern Dynasty with his profound Sinology. Then the privy envoy of the northern court sent back the envoys of the southern court, and took the generals to the heights to look. From here, you can look at the continuous tents of the Liao army camp, Yelu Dashi has practiced arrows since he was a child, and his eyesight is extremely keen, and he can distinguish the flags of the cavalry entering and leaving.

"Those who are good at fighting are dangerous, and their knots are short." Yelu Dashi muttered to himself, and he looked at the infinite scenery with nostalgia, and his feet were so strong that he jumped off the rock as if he had dismounted. He raised the whip of his horse, summoned Yelu Baoyi to him, and asked, "Are the siege barrel guns, roads, and artillery forts ready?"

Yelu Baoyi said respectfully: "As long as Your Majesty waves the whip, it can be transported to Xiangyang City within three days." He hesitated for a moment, and then said, "Although the fort is built, in order to confuse the Southern Dynasty, the garrison is too scarce, and the general is a little worried?" ”

Yelu Dashi smiled: "Don't worry, even if you give Xiangyang ten more dares, they won't challenge us." He breathed a sigh of relief and said in a sarcastic tone, "Peace is precious." ”

From the Ezhou side, the Liao soldiers shrank because of the peace talks. In the eyes of the Liao army, this was to concentrate the scattered forces in preparation for the upcoming attack. The cavalry of the Liao army became more and more concentrated, and the thousand-man team and the 10,000-person team kept training. After several months of preparation, a large amount of grain was sent to the front line, and the Liao army almost no longer went out to hunt grass and grain, but relied on the magistrates of the Bianliang court to transport grain and grass for them. As long as Xiangyang and Ezhou began to exchange troops, the Liao imperial army would attack Xiangyang in the south with a thunderous force, this time, the Liao army carried 50,000 jin siege artillery that could fire nearly 2,000 catties of stone shells, and tens of thousands of Jurchen sailors restrained the sailors of the Southern Dynasty.

Under the surface of the Liao Song Dynasty peace, this is the calm of the stormy future, with the praying mantis catching cicadas and the yellow finch behind.

............

"General Yu, I didn't find the Liao Army's scouts."

Wu Jie nodded slightly, narrowed his eyes, and the chill in his eyes was even stronger.

Gao Zhen, the governor of Fangzhou, and Shi Chen and Yi, the governors of the Prime Minister's Mansion, stood at the head of Fangzhou City, and the two of them had complicated faces.

Looking down from the city, along both sides of the river, the highlands are densely covered with the leather tents of the Xia army, and the lower places are fenced, and groups of energetic war horses are playing leisurely. On a slightly flat terrain, officers shouted commands, and the artillery battalion and the musketeers lined up in a neat queue for drills. Fangzhou, a small place surrounded by mountains, is like a large military camp. If Zhao Xingde saw this scene, he would definitely be surprised.

Sending troops from Hanzhong, marching eastward along the Han River, garrisoning Fangzhou, and watching Xiangyang, this is a route that the General's Mansion has considered for a long time. Through this route to attack the Song Dynasty, you can avoid the Song Dynasty's heavily fortified areas, and once you gain a foothold, you can threaten the heart of the Song Dynasty such as Bianliang and Luoyang in the north, and you can collect the southeast half of the wall in the south. The only thing to worry about is that in addition to the Han River, the land route of this line is extremely rugged, which is not suitable for the passage of large armies, and the Han River ships are divided into going along the river and against the current, and it is easy to send troops downstream, but it is difficult to withdraw troops against the current. If the Song army counterattacked sharply, once the Xia army was defeated and could not retreat, it would be easy to be blocked in the Fangzhou area, resulting in heavy losses.

After analyzing the various information obtained by the Military Intelligence Division, the General's Office realized that there was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. In the current situation, the main force of the Ezhou army fought with the Liao army in Shuzhou, and the Xiangyang army was ready to take advantage of the weakness to attack Ezhou, while the Liao army was confusing Xiangyang with peace and preparing to take the opportunity to wipe out the two Song armies. If the Xia army leaves Fangzhou in the east and stabs the Liao army in the back after the Song-Liao War, I am afraid that he will be able to receive the greatest benefit at the lowest cost.

"Do you still need to inform General Zhao of the strategy of the Eastern Expedition?" Marching Commander Shi asked cautiously.