Yanzhou pacified the Yamen, Li Zhang rushed here all the way, and after entering the city, he didn't even go to the post house, but came directly to the Yamen, and then asked people to inform Liu Ping in the Yamen to take the order, and Li Zhang also went to the lobby to wait, and after a while, he saw a gray-haired veteran walking out quickly.

Li Zhang hadn't seen Liu Ping, but in his mind, even if Liu Ping, who was born in a family of military generals, was a civil and military all-rounder, and even was admitted to the Jinshi, he should be a burly and strong man, otherwise it would be impossible to kill five thieves in a row in the year of the weak crown.

But when he saw Liu Ping, Li Zhang was surprised to find that the other party was neither tall nor strong, but an elegant old man of medium stature, and he was wearing civilian clothes at this time, looking more like an ordinary teacher than a general commanding thousands of troops.

Liu Ping also didn't know Li Zhang, and just now Li Zhang asked Liu Ping to inform him that he didn't report his name, so Liu Ping was also looking at Li Zhang at this time, probably because he didn't expect the minister who passed the decree to be so young.

Li Zhang didn't introduce himself, but cleared his throat before saying, "General Liu, this official came to deliver the decree at the behest of His Majesty this time, and I ask you to let the left and right step down!" ”

Hearing Li Zhang's request to let the people around him retreat, Liu Ping was also stunned, because there is no such rule for receiving orders, but instead asking the people around them to kneel down and accept the order, unless the content of the holy decree is inconvenient to leak, which also made Liu Ping immediately wave back left and right, and then knelt down and saluted: "Minister Liu Ping takes the order!" ”

"I am in charge of Haotian's orders, and in accordance with the will of Taizu and Taizong, I am determined to send troops to recover the land of Yanyun......" Li Zhang also read out the holy decree at the moment.

In later TV dramas, "Fengtian carries the emperor's edict" at every turn, but this holy decree switch actually started with Zhu Yuanzhang in the Ming Dynasty, and the holy decree switch of the Song Dynasty generally starts with "I Shaoying's life" or "I Yinghaotian's life", which is recorded in the "Song Dynasty Imperial Decree Collection".

Although Zhao Zhen's holy decree is written stinky and long, the meaning in it is actually very simple, that is, to tell Liu Ping that he wants to send troops to recapture the sixteen states of Yanyun occupied by the Liao State, so he decided to appoint Liu Ping as the governor of Hebei Road, the governor of Hejian and Zhending, and also transferred 50,000 troops from the northwest to Hebei to recover Yanyun with Liu Ping.

Liu Ping didn't receive any news before, in fact, the reason why Li Zhang asked the others to retreat was to keep it secret, and this attack on the Liao State was also unexpected, so only a few people in the center knew about it in advance.

So when Liu Ping heard that Zhao Zhen decided to attack the Liao State and appointed himself as the main general of this expedition, he immediately showed an excited look, after all, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, but then he felt a heavy pressure, after all, although the opportunity is good, but it must be seized, if he is unfavorable, then he is the sinner of the Great Song Dynasty.

By the time Li Zhang finally finished reading out the holy decree, Liu Ping was still kneeling on the ground in a daze, at this time he had calmed down, and all he was thinking about was how to use troops to seize this opportunity and solve the threat of the north for the Great Song Dynasty, as for his personal honor and disgrace, he couldn't take care of it, after all, this time the task was too heavy, and he was even a little worried about whether he could bear it?

"General Liu, if you have any questions, you can ask me!" Li Zhang saw Liu Ping kneeling there without moving, and immediately reminded him.

Li Zhang's words also made Liu Ping wake up, and he immediately stood up and took the holy decree, and then asked Li Zhang: "I don't know what the angel is called?" ”

Angels do not refer to the kind of creatures with wings that are not divided into men and women in later generations, in fact, in ancient times, angels refer to the messengers of the Son of Heaven, and I don't know how to translate them in later generations, so the meaning of angels has completely changed.

"Li Zhang, the Marquis of the Lower North, once served under General Cao." Li Zhang did not hide his identity at this time, and said with a smile at the moment, he came to the northwest this time to do it secretly, so he didn't let people report his identity before, but there was no need to hide it from Liu Ping.

"Li Zhang!" Liu Ping also showed a shocked expression when he heard Li Zhang's name, and then saluted with a solemn expression, "It turns out that the angel is Li Duwei who developed muskets and artillery, no, it should be Dingbei Hou, Liu Mou was really rude just now!" ”

Li Zhang is famous in the army, especially muskets and artillery, as well as the invention of new gunpowder, coupled with the excellent performance of the musket army on the battlefield, Li Zhang occupies a very important position in the army, so Liu Ping was also very surprised when he learned that the person in front of him was Li Zhang.

"General Liu doesn't have to be polite, does General Liu have anything else to ask about this attack on Liao?" Li Zhang asked again at this time, and at the same time, he also wanted to take this opportunity to listen to Liu Ping's opinion.

I saw Liu Ping muttering for a moment at this time, and then he raised his head and said: "Your Majesty's decision to recover Yanyun must be related to the civil strife in Liao this time, but although we know that there is a civil strife in Liao, we don't know the details, Dingbei Hou, you are from the capital, you must have more detailed information, right?" ”

"Yes, Liao Emperor Yelu Zongzhen failed to launch a coup d'état......"

Li Zhang saw that Liu Ping was not in a hurry to express his opinion, but first asked for the intelligence of the Liao State, which made him think a little higher about Liu Ping, and immediately explained the civil strife situation on the Liao side in detail, after all, these are very important for Liu Ping to attack the Liao State in the future, and may even affect the direction of the war.

"According to the latest news, the current situation in Liao is still in a stalemate, Yelu Zongzhen's mother and son are estimated to have some scruples, plus they have to gather a large army, so they have not done anything for the time being, and the imperial court is now strictly blocking the news of attacking Liao, so as not to be stimulated by the outside world, Yeluzong's true mother and son will join forces, and when they really fight, it will be the day we send troops!" Li Zhang finally spoke again.

After listening to Li Zhang's introduction, I saw Liu Ping show a contemplative expression again, and after a long while, he spoke again: "Your Majesty is very thoughtful, the struggle for power between the emperor and queen of the Liao State is indeed a good opportunity for us to recover Yanyun, but I want to know how much power the imperial court can give me this time?" ”

Liu Ping's question is not untargeted, but it asks the most critical question, he is not asking for power from the imperial court, but wants to play freely, after all, the Great Song Dynasty has been bound to military generals for a long time, even on the battlefield, it is difficult to play freely, such as the last time Zhao Zhen sent troops to the party, but there are also supervisors in the army to follow all the way, if he has any decisions that make the supervisors suspicious, then the supervisors have the right to suspend his command.