Chapter 692

At the court meeting on the second day, the expressions of the ministers were a little heavy, even the expressions of the old party members who did not have a good relationship with Su Bachelor, Han Zhongyan and Wang Wushan were not much better.

After all, the Great Song Dynasty has won the battle with the Western Xia for many years, although the ministers and workers of the old party are uncomfortable with those guys' old achievements, but in the end they are quite proud, after all, the Great Song Dynasty has been pressed by the Northern Liao and Western Xia for so many years.

And now, the Western Xia has been cleaned up to the bones, the soldiers have been damaged, and the Great Song Dynasty has taken thousands of miles of fertile land, as well as the rich salt-producing Yanzhou, which has also fallen into the hands of the Great Song Dynasty, so that the illegal salt activities in the northwest border of the Great Song Dynasty will inevitably be hit hard, and the important thing is that those salt farms have become the Great Song Dynasty.

Even if the salt field can only be an official camp, the problem is that the salt merchants are not, and these dignitaries have already begun to act after receiving the Yanzhou for the Great Song Dynasty, and they have already begun to contact those merchants who are related to them, so that they can go to Yanzhou and strive to be able to drink the first soup.

But now, the Northern Liao and the Western Xia joined hands to appear after Bianliang in Tokyo, and the momentum was violent, and the important thing is that they also threw out the condition of exchanging the Western Xia soldiers and civilians for the Great Song Dynasty soldiers and civilians who had been captured in the past.

Even those old party bigwigs are very reluctant to let the Western Xia have a chance to prosper again, if the Western Xia exchanges back the more than 75,000 prisoners of war, wouldn't it be equivalent to tens of thousands of more experienced and experienced Western Xia elites.

And Yanzhou is likely to become the primary target of Western Xia's sharpening of the knife. If there is a war, what will be done in Yanzhou?

However, just before the ministers waited for His Majesty's arrival, when talking about the means of Northern Liao and Western Xia, the big guys were both annoyed and angry, but they were helpless, after all, the other party's hand could almost be regarded as a move to make the Great Song Dynasty avoid the inevitable conspiracy.

When the Son of Heaven appeared in the court, all the ministers stood in shifts, quietly raised their eyes and looked at the Son of Heaven sitting behind the imperial case, hmm...... The face of the Son of Heaven was very calm, and it could even be said that he was a little relaxed.

Relaxed? What the hell does this mean? Could it be that His Majesty already wants to give up the last dispute and agree to the terms of Northern Liao and Western Xia?

"Ladies and gentlemen, do you have a way to deal with the conditions proposed by the envoys of Northern Liao and Western Xia?" Zhao Xu's gaze calmly swept over the civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty, looking at their expressions full of doubts, Zhao Xu's heart was extraordinarily comfortable.

"Your Majesty, the minister really can't think of a way to solve the current predicament." Liu Zhi was the first to stand up and said in a deep voice.

"However, those lands taken by my Great Song Dynasty are all the old land of my Great Song Dynasty, and now they have returned to my Great Song Dynasty, of course, it is impossible to give up an inch of land to Western Xia."

Zhao Xu bowed slightly, fortunately, it seems that the old party is not all idealists like Sima Guang, thinking that as long as he is benevolent and righteous enough, then his benevolent heart will influence those villains and make them cry bitterly and repent.

He was still young, and when the imperial grandmother had just lowered the curtain to listen to the government, under the deception of Sima Guang, she finally took the initiative to return a lot of the territories recaptured in the past Great Song Dynasty campaign.

But as a result, instead of being grateful, Xixia thought that the Great Song Dynasty was weak and could be bullied, and they were pressing step by step, and they kept provoking. And the behavior of Western Xia also dealt a big blow to Sima Guang's confidence, which was originally very determined, and his prestige was also damaged.

In the end, Sima Guang himself understood that his own approach was simply a second-handed Mr. Dongguo. And the Great Song Dynasty did not dare to jump out and say that land could be exchanged for peace.

Therefore, Liu Zhi, the prime minister, although admits that he can't think of a good way to deal with it, but at the same time, he also does his duty, that is, the article proposed by Northern Liao and Western Xia, the Great Song Dynasty must not take half a step back.

"As for whether my Great Song Dynasty should make peace with the Western Xia, the minister thinks that the soldiers are also the major affairs of the country, and now, the Western Xia has been severely defeated by my Great Song Dynasty, and the strength has suffered heavy losses, and it has lost thousands of miles of land......"

Liu Zhi said that it means that there have been so many big battles, although the Great Song Dynasty has taken a lot of advantage. But the problem is that the financial and material resources spent on fighting the war are too amazing, and now the Northern Liao is frequently mobilized, and it seems that he wants to stand up for his younger brother Xixia.

Therefore, the Great Song Dynasty should indeed shake hands with the Western Xia first, in order to prevent the Northern Liao from rising the idea of southern invasion, continue to maintain stability and unity between each other, and sing the song of friendship together.

"Then according to Liu Qing's opinion, this year's gift still has to be given?" Zhao Xu's face did not change, and his tone was very indifferent.

"This is the rule set by Emperor Renzong, so in the opinion of the ministers, I, the Great Song Dynasty, why should I continue to stalemate with Western Xia for the sake of a mere gift." Liu Zhi was a little disapproving.

Zhao Xu's face couldn't help but have a strange smile. "I remember not long ago, all the ministers, including Liu Qing, thought that my Great Song Dynasty Ordnance Supervision cost a lot of money, and the gap would reach nearly 200,000 yuan, so the Crossbow Workshop Department and the Jiafang Department of the Ordnance Supervision should be allowed to reduce their output, but is there such a thing?"

Liu Zhi was slightly stunned, but quickly came back to his senses, nodded, and replied with a reasonable look. "Yes, now my Great Song Dynasty is overburdened, and now, the dispute with the Western Xia has been concluded, but the Ordnance Supervision Department is still spending a lot of national funds, so Erchen and others think that Your Majesty should first pay attention to the governance of the people's livelihood."

"Then dare to ask Liu Qing, do you know what the conditions I gave to Xixia Sui?"

Liu Zhi was a little stunned, but at this time, Zhu Guangting stood up very conspicuously. "Your Majesty, Emperor Renzong and the Western Xia agreed that our dynasty will give the Western Xia 150,000 horses of silk, 50,000 taels of silver, and 10,000 catties of tea every year, plus various festivals, a total of 200,000 horses of silk, 72,000 taels of silver, and 30,000 catties of tea."

"Very good, then I want to ask Zhu Qing, how much is a silk horse worth in my Great Song Dynasty now? How much is a pound of tea worth, and how much is a tael of silver worth? Zhao Xu smiled and continued to ask.

Zhu Guangting replied quite smugly. "Twenty wen a pound of tea, eight hundred wen a horse of silk, one or two folds of silver and three hundred wen."

"That means, what is the value of my Great Song year's gift to Western Xia?" Zhao Xu's tone sank suddenly. "I'll come to tell Liu Qing that the silk is 160,000 guan, the silver is 93,600 guan, and the 30,000 catties of tea are 600 guan, a total of 254,200 guan."

Liu Zhi's face had changed slightly, but he still argued strongly. "Your Majesty, the account can't be calculated like this, if it is not given, then Xixia will definitely commit crimes again and again, provoke border provocations, and fight together, I don't know how much more military spending will be spent."

"Today's Western Xia, do you still dare to be the enemy of my Great Song Dynasty?" Zhao Xu looked contemptuously at Liu Zhi, who was at the bottom of the stairs, and sneered.

"Or do you think that today's Western Xia has lost nearly 200,000 soldiers, lost thousands of miles, and lost too much land, and is in urgent need of my Great Song Dynasty to restore its strength?"