The time goes back to the third year of Zhenghe, July.

Song Huizong finally decided to send envoys to the Liao State and the Jurchens, so he personally held a banquet in Yanfu Palace.

Huizong sat on the royal platform, the queen was behind him, and then the crown prince Zhao Huan, and the king of Jia, Zhao Kai; Cai Jing is on the right, the head of the civil officials, followed by the Taishi Han Zhongyan and the privy deputy envoy Cai You; Gao Yu is on the left, the head of the military attaché, followed by Tong Guan and the middle of the division.

There are also two people who accompany the last seat, namely Xu Guanzhong, who sent an envoy to Liao, and Li Lianghe, who sent an envoy to Jurchen.

One evening when Tong Guan went to Liao the year before last, Ma Zhi, one of the local Han people, quietly visited Tong Guan. After some talking, Tong Guan was wandering and imagining, and he couldn't believe his ears! He was ecstatic and skeptical; Amazed, dreaming even more...

Emperor Shenzong left an edict, "Those who recover the clouds can be crowned kings even if they have a different surname!" ”

On the way back, Tong Guan accompanied a counselor named Li Liangsi. Tongguan Road collected information from all aspects, mountains, rivers, geography, population, taxes, ......

After Li Liangsi appeared, he instantly cured the phobia that had existed in the Song Dynasty for more than a hundred years. Tong Guan is full of confidence, when the Liao State is weakened, not only will the Song Dynasty rise strongly, but he Tong Guan will be able to ascend to the sky in one step. Become the greatest hero since the Song Dynasty!

At that time, no one would care that he was a eunuch, only that he was a groundbreaking figure! Stronger than the founding lord Zhao Kuangyin, and greater than the Later Zhou Shizong Emperor Chai Rong!

Therefore, when he heard that the emperor was going to send an envoy, Tong Guan rushed back non-stop and won the opportunity for Li Liangsi to send an envoy!

Expand the territory and recover the clouds! Tong Guan peeked at Li Liangsi, and then withdrew his gaze.

Xu Guanzhong had already discovered the secret of Tong Guan and Li Liangsi, although he changed errands, but it didn't matter! It's just a matter of going down a different path and re-planning!

"The wine, the food, the fairy music, the wonderful dance, and the magnificent scenery are complemented. Wonderful! Everyone, raise your glass! ”

Song Huizong spoke, and everyone drank a cup.

Silk music sounded, and the enchanting dancers entered. sixteen dancers, dressed in red veils; Between pitches, if a light breeze blows the sea of roses; Between advance and retreat, if the koi fish shuttles through the blue pool; Jumping and jumping, if the colorful butterflies fly into the flowers.

Huizong was complacent, and said in this cup: "The king is alone, how can he be more happy than the monarch and the minister." All Aiqing drank this cup together. And they drank it all.

Cai Jing seized the opportunity to slip his beard and said: "The emperor's talent is the best in ancient and modern times, regardless of the Qin Emperor and Han Wu, who can compose such an immortal sound." We are ordinary people, and Sansheng is fortunate to assist the Holy Lord of the Ming Monarch and can listen to the rhythm of the fairy world. ”

Gao Yu was not far behind, and said: "What Taishi Cai said is exactly what we think. Now that the Great Song Dynasty has a Ming lord, the Liao State has met a faint monarch, and the war in Western Xia has been calmed, and the sixteen states of Youyun will surely bathe in the glory of the emperor. ”

Xu Guanzhong can be among them, not only because he is the new champion of this year. is even more because he hitched a ride with King Jiawang Zhao Kai. Jiawang Zhao Kai is extremely fond of painting and has a lot of accumulation. Good at painting flowers and birds, extremely exquisite. Xu Guanzhong is also a variety of experts, and he did what he liked, and the two suddenly became confidants.

Xu Guanzhong looked at the song and dance, and didn't say a word.

At this time, Huizong suddenly looked at Xu Guanzhong and asked, "Xu She people think that I can recover the Sixteen Prefectures of Youyun in my lifetime?" ”

938 A.D. was the first year of Jin Tianfu and the first year of Khitan after the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms of China. In October of that year, Emperor Taizu Shi Jingjiao (892-942) of the Later Jin Dynasty sent envoys to the Khitan imperial capital Shangjing Linhuang Mansion (present-day Inner Mongolia Balinzuoqi) to present the books of the 16 northern states of the Central Plains to Yelu Deguang (902---947). Since then, these sixteen prefectures have separated from the Central Plains and officially incorporated into the territory of the Khitan State and become the administrative regions of the Khitan State.

The sixteen prefectures are: You (Beijing), Ji (Jixian County, Tianjin), Ying (Hejian, Hebei), Mo (Renqiu, Hebei), Zhuo (Zhuozhou, Hebei), Tan (Miyun, Beijing), Shun (Shunyi, Beijing), Concubine (Huailai, Hebei), Confucianism (Yanqing, Beijing), Xin (Zhuolu, Hebei), Wu (Xuanhua, Hebei), Yun (Datong, Shanxi), Ying (Yingxian, Shanxi), Shuo (Shuozhou, Shanxi), Wei (Weixian, Hebei), and Huan (Shuozhou, Shanxi).

This is the famous Yanyun Sixteen Prefectures in history, also known as the Sixteen Prefectures of Youyun and the Sixteen Prefectures of Youji.

Among them, the seven prefectures of You, Shun, Ji, Zhuo, Tan, Ying, and Mo are located in the southeast of Taihang Mountain, called "Seven Prefectures in front of the mountain", and the north is connected with the steep terrain of Yanshan, and there are many natural hazards that can be guarded. The other states are in the northwest of the Taihang Mountains, called "Kyushu behind the mountains", where the mountains are long, the terrain is complex, easy to defend and difficult to attack.

It is a rich and vast land, about 600 kilometers long from east to west, about 200 kilometers wide from north to south, with an area of about 120,000 square kilometers, including the vast areas of present-day Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei and northern Shanxi.

There are abundant products here, both "the rao of mulberry and jujube chestnut", and "the wealth of jade silk children".

The terrain here is steep and has important military and defensive significance. The famous passes in the north, such as Shanhaiguan, Xifengkou, Gubeikou, Yanmen Pass, etc., are distributed in this area.

Ye Longli, a native of the Song Dynasty, wrote in the "Khitan National Chronicles": "Youyan Prefectures, covering the heavens and the earth, set the limit of dividing the Han Dynasty, Cheng Yifu should be the pass, and ten thousand people will not be in front of it." ”

In the era of cold weapons, the Central Plains army, with infantry as the main type of troops, if it wants to successfully resist the invasion of nomadic cavalry, it must have steep terrain as a barrier, and the area of Yanshan and Taihang Mountain happens to constitute such a natural strategic security defense line.

As soon as the sixteen states of Yanyun were lost, the gate of the northern part of the Central Plains suddenly opened, and the northern border defense of Hebei was almost impossible to defend from then on. The iron horses of the northern nomads posed a serious threat to the security of the Central Plains Dynasty, and they could gallop across the plains at any time, and they could drink the Yellow River between day and night.

This banquet is for the envoy, and the envoy is to listen to the movements of the Khitan and Jurchen, and prepare to recover the clouds.

Xu Guanzhong hurriedly got up and said: "The Jurchens rebelled, and the Khitan was defeated again and again. If the foundation of the Liao State can be shaken, His Majesty's taking of the Sixteen Prefectures of Youyun should be like a bag of goods. ”

Gao Yu couldn't get used to Xu Guanzhong's new entry, and couldn't help but say: "There are tens of thousands of soldiers and horses of the Liao State in the land of clouds, and there are many cavalry, even if the Liao civil strife and the Great Song Dynasty want to recover, it will definitely need to go through a hard battle." How did the Xu Sheren come to explore the bag and take things? ”

It doesn't matter what Gao Yu said, Tong Guan couldn't sit still. He already advocated contacting the Jurchens and recovering the clouds, wouldn't it be a bad thing for Gao Yu to say this!

"Your Majesty! Jurchen to the Khitan, domestic slaves also; The Great Song Dynasty was to the Khitan, and the foreign enemy was also. It is better to give it to foreign enemies than to domestic slaves. In the opinion of Weichen, the sixteen states of Youyun are in the Liao State, if the national strength is strong, it can contain the Great Song Dynasty; If the national strength is weakened, it can only provoke the anger of the Great Song Dynasty. ”

Tong Guan saluted Song Huizong, looked around at everyone and talked. "Nowadays, the Song Dynasty is strong and the Liao is weak, the Great Song Dynasty is united and the Liao civil strife is everywhere, so Weichen thinks that the Great Song Dynasty only needs Chen Bing to the north, and it will not be triggered, and when the Liao Jurchens are both defeated, they can reap the profits and recapture the sixteen states of Youyun."

Huizong was very satisfied with this, looked at Gao Yu again, and asked, "What does Taiwei think?" ”

Gao Yu was also afraid that he would evil Tong Guan, so he borrowed the donkey from the slope and said: "The Jurchen grew up in the bitter cold land of Saibei, lacking food and clothing, soldiers and horses. But after all, the Liao State has a strong army of one million, and the national strength is still there. Therefore, Weichen thinks that the sixteen states of Youyun are desirable, but he must wait for the opportunity to move! Gao Yu's meaning was to wait for Xu Guanzhong and Li Liangsi to make a long-term plan.

The military of the Song Dynasty began with Song Zhenzong and has always followed a principle - if you want to break the Liao State, you must first level the Western Xia. Liaoxia is the country of uncles and nephews, like the Tang Dynasty and the Hui Dynasty. When he arrived at Song Shenzong, he added another point - if he wants to calm Xixia, he will return to Hehuang first. Now that Tong Guan has cleaned up the Western Xia, he has always wanted to recover the clouds, which can also deter the Western Xia.

After Gao Yu finished speaking, Tong Guan got up again and said, "The secretary, Lord Chengli, once suggested to the slaves and maids that they should form an alliance with the Jurchens, communicate with each other, and attack the Liao State. This time, His Majesty sent him to contact the Jurchens, and it will definitely be a success! ”

Li Liangsi is Tong Guan's person, and Tong Guan strongly supports him.

When Song Huizong heard this, he sighed and said: "From Penglai to the sea in one day to reach Liaodong, but the Jurchens are still in the north of Liaodong, and it should not be difficult to send a few envoys to disguise themselves as Han people from the north. But if you want to communicate with each other, I'm afraid it's quite difficult. ”

Song Huizong has always been like this, wanting to get but not wanting to pay, and acting timidly.

Cai Jing was cunning and cunning, and when he saw that Song Huizong's tone was wrong, he also said: "Since the ancestors, although there is this way, it is connected to Zhufan with its land, and it is forbidden to do business, and it has been more than 100 years. Once enlightened, it is not in China's interest. ”

Seeing Huizong's hesitation, Tong Guan said: "Lord Li's ancestral hometown is Yanjing, and he has a lot of strange ideas, why doesn't the emperor listen to Lord Li's strange ideas?" ”

Huizong nodded, turned to Li Liangsi and asked, "What does Li Aiqing think?" ”

Li Liangsi knew that the southern tip of the Liaodong Peninsula and Penglai were only a few dozen nautical miles, and the ships of the Great Song Dynasty had already been able to travel frequently between Goryeo, Fuso, and Nanyang, so there was no difficulty in such a distance.

Moreover, in the past, he and Yanzhong Haoshi Liu Fan, Li Zheng and his brother Rouji formed a righteous and united heart, wanting to pull out the secluded and thistle to return to the dynasty, and poured wine under the North Pole Shrine to pray for the heavens. He is familiar with the people of the Northland, and with the help of the Han people in Yanjing, great things can be expected.

Li Liangsi immediately said: "The Liao country will perish, Your Majesty will remember the suffering of the old people, restore China's former frontier, condemn it on behalf of heaven, and control the chaos. In case the Jurchen has the will, the first strike, and the second strike, it is not a matter of fact. ”

Tong Guan also said: "Liaodong has been the territory of Yan since the Warring States period, and then Qin, Han, Jin, Sui, and Tang ruled for thousands of years, and most of the people in Liaodong are Han people. Our emperor's grace shines in all directions, and the people of Liaodong suffer from the Khitan. If the Great Song Dynasty set foot in Liaodong, it will definitely be the will of the people. Therefore, Weichen thought that he could plot! ”

Song Huizong thought for a moment and said: "The Great Song Dynasty and the Liao State have been in truce for decades, and they rashly sent envoys. Saying that, Song Huizong looked at Xu Guanzhong and Li Liangsi, and said, "Xu Aiqing and go to Liao, one is to continue his old goodness, and the other is to listen to the truth." Li Aiqing went to Liaodong to open up trade routes and discuss alliances. ”

In the view of Song Huizong, he secretly opened the passage between Liaodong and the Great Song Dynasty. At that time, the porcelain and silk of the Song State were exchanged for war horses outside the Saiwai, which could alleviate the dilemma of the lack of war horses in the Song Kingdom, and secondly, they could gain an advantage over Liao.

Cai Jing and Gao Yu secretly said that the capital is prosperous, and the north is bitter and dangerous. If this matter is successful, the first credit will also go to Tong Guan, the initiator, and it is useless for them to fight. And if he loses, Tong Guan will be guilty of not knowing the candidate, so both of them agree.

So Xu Guanzhong and Li Liangsi sent envoys separately.