Zhao Zhen saw that the prime ministers Wen Yanbo and Pang Ji, who were also privy envoys, had solemn faces, and hurriedly asked: "Two Qing families, what is the emergency military situation?" ”

Pang Ji replied first: "Your Majesty, I just received a report from the Hebei Economic Strategy Envoy, saying that three days ago, Li Buqi led the Zhenwu Army and the cavalry of the Police Division to the Great Wall to attack the Liao Army's grain road, and there is no news so far. ”

Now there is a situation map of the two armies in Hebei hanging next to Zhao Zhen's imperial case, and Zhao Zhen hurriedly looked over. The eunuch Li Yonghe hurriedly pointed out the location of the mouth of the Great Wall, and Zhao Zhen saw that the mouth of the Great Wall was surrounded by symbols representing the Liao army, and couldn't help but gasp: "Li Buqi really went to the mouth of the Great Wall?" ”

Wen Yanbo said: "Here is Li Buqi's notebook, which clearly says that he will march to the mouth of the Great Wall to cut off the grain route of the Liao people. ”

Zhao Zhen asked: "Then can Li Buqi come back?" ”

Wen Yanbo and Pang Ji didn't speak, but the meaning was already very clear. Wen Yanbo said: "The report of the Hebei Economic Strategy Division has attached Li Buqi's notebook, please read it. ”

Zhao Zhen was busy looking at Li Bu's notebook, and saw that it was completely the meaning of thanksgiving and rejection. Li Buqi said in the notebook that in order to report Zhao Zhen's kindness and avoid the suffering of the Li people's war, he would cut off the grain road of the Liao people, as long as he forced the Liao army to retreat, and did not ask for a horse leather shroud. Between the lines, it was completely a generous emotion to die, and Zhao Zhen couldn't help but be moved.

Zhao Zhen looked at the notebook twice before he raised his head with red circles and said: "Li Buqi suggested in the notebook to establish a 'Loyal Martyrs' Shrine and enshrine the soldiers who sacrificed their lives for the Great Song Dynasty. What do you think? ”

Wen Yanbo said: "The minister thinks that the heroes who sacrificed their lives for the country can deserve to enjoy the royal temple, and there is no need to do more. ”

Although Pang Ji was also very moved by Li Buqi's behavior of sacrificing his life for righteousness, he still disagreed with Li Buqi's suggestion, and when he saw Zhao Zhen looking at him, he used a procrastination trick: "The minister thinks that this matter should be discussed by the Ministry of Rites." ”

Whether to build a martyr's shrine or not is not a matter of urgency. Wen Yanbo had already decided that if Li Buqi really went to fight the mouth of the Great Wall, he would be dead, and he was anxious to deal with the aftermath, and said: "Although Li Buqi is loyal to act like this, he is reckless. Xia Ziqiao and Han Zhigui are worried that if Li Buqi falls and the Liao State will be a big blow to the morale of the people of our Great Song Dynasty, so please make a decision as soon as possible. ”

Seeing that Zhao Zhen didn't understand, Wen Yanbo explained: "Li Buqi has made many inventions in recent years, and his reputation is well known to everyone. He is also rumored to be a famous general, if even he is defeated by the Liao, then the common people and soldiers will definitely be afraid of the Liao, then the morale of the people will be greatly damaged, and the morale of the Liao people will be strengthened, and they are afraid that the war will be unfavorable. ”

"Huh? So what to do? The Emperor asked.

Han Zhigui asked that if the news of Li Bu abandoning Chengren came, it would be announced that Li Bu had already made up his determination to take righteousness and become benevolent this time, so that the people of the world would know that his defeat was not a crime of war. In this way, it is the Liao people who will preach the defeat of Li Buqi in the future, and the people already know that Li Buqi will die for a lifetime, and failure is inevitable, so they will naturally not be frightened. ”

Zhao Zhen suddenly remembered a question and hurriedly asked: "Could it be that if Li doesn't give up, there is no hope of survival?" ”

Wen Yanbo and Pang Ji glanced at each other, and finally Pang Ji said word by word: "There is little hope, it's just a life of nine deaths." ”

Now the emperor said no more. After a long silence, he said, "Okay." Just play according to Han Qing. If there is any news, report it to me immediately. You should also draw up a charter first, and give generous compensation to the officers and men who went out to fight this time. ”

Generous compensation was originally the proper meaning of motivating soldiers to kill the enemy, and Wen Yanbo and Pang Ji naturally would not object. In their eyes, it was only a matter of time before the news of Li Buqi's death or capture came. Looking at Li Buqi's tie, it is full of generosity to die, so it is almost certain that only the news of Li Buqi's death in battle will come. Therefore, Li Buqi is dead, and even Han Qi, who is extremely incompatible with Li Buqi, does not mention that Li Buqi is extremely dangerous, and they will not say bad things about Li Buqi.

After Wen Yanbo and Pang Ji withdrew, Zhao Zhen's face was as gloomy as the bottom of the pot, and the attendants and palace maids in the palace carefully held their breath, for fear of making a little noise and attracting punishment.

It was only at this time that Zhao Zhen clearly realized that Li Buqi was an existence different from ordinary courtiers for him. But how is it different, he couldn't understand it for a while, the first thing he thought of was that he might faintly have great expectations for Li Buqi, thinking that there are some ways for Li Buqi to do everything, and once Li Buqi dies, the country will lose a pillar in the future.

Just when Zhao Zhen was in a low mood, Gan Zhaoji, who was promoting the Imperial City Division, stepped forward cautiously, and his steps were so light that the emperor didn't notice it. He reported in a voice that was slightly lower than the humming of a mosquito: "Your Majesty, Judge Lian Guangzhi of the Police Department has asked for a meeting, and there is a strategy to break the Liao." ”

Although Gan Zhaoji's voice was very low, because the hall was too quiet, the emperor could still hear it clearly. This emperor has been on the throne for more than 20 years, and his kung fu as an emperor has long been perfect. Hearing that Lian Guangzhi had a strategy to break the enemy, he hurriedly adjusted his mood and said: "Xuan!" ”

The Police Department is a special department, and now it is directly under the emperor, so Lian Guangzhi, the judge of the Police Division, can directly meet the emperor, which is also a measure to check and balance the chief of the police department.

After Lian Guangzhi entered the palace to salute, Zhao Zhen asked: "Lian Qing, do you have any good strategies to break the Liao Kingdom?" ”

Lian Guangzhi said: "The minister recently studied the past wars between the Western Xia and our Great Song Dynasty and believed that the reason why the Western Xia was able to fight against the Celestial Empire in a remote place was because it had the advantage of being vast and sparsely populated, and had the advantage of nomadic cavalry. And the Xia people relied on this advantage and continued to harass, so that even if there was no big war, the court had to spend food and salary on the border, and if there was something to do, they were even more tired of running for their lives. ”

"Now in fact, my Great Song Dynasty also has such an advantage over the Liao State, if it can be used, it will be able to make the Liao State tired in the short term, and it will not be able to go all out to the south. In the long run, it may be able to greatly reduce the taxes of the Liao State, and the perennial use of soldiers and salaries will be like a long-term illness and gradually weaken. ”

Zhao Zhen came to his senses after hearing this, and immediately asked, "Say it quickly, what is the advantage?" ”

Even Guangzhi looked left and right, Zhao Zhen immediately waved his hand, and Chen Lin ordered all the palace maids and eunuchs in the palace to retreat. Lian Guangzhi said: "This advantage is at sea. The minister learned that there were many pirates in the Bohai, Yellow and East China Seas. The minister's plan was to secretly send people to recruit some pirates to raid the coastal areas of the Liao State and make the Liao people unstable. So the Liao lord must send troops, but the Liao people are not good at navigation, can only guard on the shore, so they will encounter the problems encountered by our Great Song Dynasty to deal with the Western Xia and Liao, even if there is nothing to do, air defense must be set up everywhere to consume food and wages, when there is something to do, because the division of troops is lonely, but the rescue is not possible. In addition, the perennial attacks of pirates made it difficult for the coastal people of Liao to cultivate and boil salt, and the taxes of Liao should be greatly reduced. In addition, the people along the coast have lost their livelihoods, and they will definitely be resentful, and the civil strife in Liao will definitely increase. In the long run, the Liao State will be thorned in the back, and even if you want to go south, you will not be able to do it. ”

"Because it is a private recruitment of pirates, if the Liao State wants to provoke it, there is no excuse. Pirates live on the island, and if the Liao people let me do this, I will only say that I am powerless to exterminate them, or just make a show. Pirates have existed since ancient times, how can the imperial court wipe out all the pirates? ”

Zhao Zhen's eyes lit up when he heard this, and he asked, "I don't know how much this method costs?" ”

Lian Guangzhi said: "If it is according to the minister's method, for the time being, you only need to give the pirates some weapons, and you don't want a penny from the court." ”

"Huh? Don't spend a penny on the imperial court? The emperor was shocked and hurriedly asked, "What should I do then?" ”

Lian Guangzhi said: "I heard that now that maritime merchants are going overseas to hunt seals and Jiaoyu, there is not only a shortage of crews, but also a shortage of cultivators to provide them with food. However, most of the people of the Great Song Dynasty were reluctant to travel thousands of miles and go overseas. Therefore, as long as the pirates were recruited to provide them with a small number of weapons, and they acquiesced in the sale of the captured Liao people to the maritime merchants, then under the temptation of money, they would go to the coastal areas of the Liao country to plunder. Even if they don't do anything on the shore of Liao, Liaoguo will send troops to guard against them. ”

"Oh? This ...... "For Zhao Zhen, the emperor, Lian Guangzhi's method was too appalling, and he couldn't help but hesitate.

Lian Guangzhi understood that Zhao Zhen sometimes abused good people, so he said: "Does Your Majesty not recognize the Liao people's wives and disperse?" However, it was these Liao people who provided grain, grass and soldiers to the Liao Emperor, and personally came to our Great Song Dynasty to rob them, causing the wives of many people in our Great Song Dynasty to be separated. How to complete the house of the Great Song Dynasty is what His Majesty should consider as the emperor of the Great Song Dynasty. ”

Gan Zhaoji saw that the emperor was a little embarrassed, and hurriedly diverted the conversation: "Even the judge has a wonderful plan, but the pirates are difficult to control, what if they also plunder the coastal area of the Great Song Dynasty?" ”

Lian Guangzhi said: "This is easy to do. In the future, as long as you build a strong sailor, so that the pirates do not dare to be delusional. It's just that the sailor needs money and food, but before the sailor is established, he can use Shandong's original merchant fleet to restrain the pirates, and choose a proper person to rely on the merchant fleet to control the pirates. ”

The Emperor asked, "Who is up to the task?" ”

Lian Guangzhi said: "If the minister has the courage to protect one person, he will definitely be able to succeed." ”