Chapter 736: What's going on

Hangzhou line, forbidden, Daqing Palace.

Just by listening to the name, you can know what this palace is used for, and there is no mistake, the Emperor of the Great Song Dynasty, the Emperor Taishang, the clan, and the hundred officials of the imperial court are holding a celebration here to celebrate the Song and Liao joint destruction of Xia. Emperor Zhao Jin, in the face of the ministers' instructions, recalled the arduous efforts made by the previous kings to pacify the west, not to mention, now the Song and Liao armies have broken through the Xia capital and forced the Xia lord to flee, which is enough for him to comfort the souls of his ancestors in the sky.

Of course, when talking about destroying Xia, you can't avoid anti-Jin. The emperor also took this opportunity to call on the military and the people of the people to make persistent efforts to expel the Beiyi and restore the old frontier. I believe that as long as the whole country works together and the government and the opposition work together, the day of washing away the national shame will not be far off!

After nightfall, the Daqing Hall held a grand banquet, the emperor and the emperor were present, civil and military officials and retired officials in Beijing, such as Xu Churen, Wang Shu, Zhe Keqiu, etc. were invited.

Xu Liang was out of the limelight, although the coalition was not initiated by him, and it was all his cousin who contributed to it. However, it is undeniable that Lianliao is also an important part of his policy program, and he has made efforts to this end. Now that Song Liao has united to destroy Xia, he naturally has a merit, and at the celebration ceremony, he was named and praised by the emperor.

On the Daqing Palace, the lights are brilliant, the staggered planning, the sound of the silk and bamboo orchestra, and the sound of laughter of the monarchs and ministers, are endless. The young emperor was on top and looked a little cramped. It is said that he was really a good emperor, and as soon as he ascended the throne, the Song-Liao coalition army wiped out the Western Xia. During the reign of Emperor Zhao Jin of the Song Dynasty, the Song army united with the Liao army to break through the Xia capital and destroy the party regime.

However, Zhao Jin himself felt a little dizzy. Since his accession to the throne, he has been tormented by the imperial government, and he does not like to sit upright in the palace every day and listen to the opinions of the ministers. When the ministers asked for advice, he was especially depressed, because he didn't know what to say. He did not like this kind of celebratory occasion even more, reading according to the manuscript written by the minister. Everyone was elated, and although he knew why these people were happy, he couldn't understand the mood of the other. I just hope that the banquet will end soon, so that he can return to the little world of the harem that he thinks belongs to him. At least, his Empress Liu won't put any pressure on him.

Xiang Zhao Ding, who was sitting in the front row, stood up, held a wine glass in his hand, and shouted: "Rank colleagues, rank colleagues!" ”

The noise gradually stopped, and all the officials looked at the prime minister, only to hear Zhao Ding continue: "The ministers and others salute Your Majesty for a cup, and I wish to destroy Xia as the beginning of defeat!" It is not far from recovering the old frontier and returning my rivers and mountains! ”

As soon as he called, the ministers responded en masse, and one hundred and ten people toasted together to congratulate the emperor. Zhao Jin reluctantly picked up the wine glass, forcibly squeezed out a smile, and said: "May the monarch and ministers work together, as soon as possible, as soon as possible." ”

After a cup of drinking, the hall was full of laughter, Zhao Jin sat down silently, and suddenly heard a voice next to him: "The ministers are ecstatic, why is the emperor sullen?" "It was the Emperor Zhao Huan who spoke.

Zhao Jin was a little nervous, and defended: "I'm not unhappy, it's just, it's just ......."

"You're the emperor, you should be happier than them." Zhao Huan said and drank a glass of wine alone. The two fathers and sons were silent, in stark contrast to His Highness's rejoicing ministers.

The banquet was over, and the ministers went home from the palace. Emperor Zhao Jin finally breathed a sigh of relief and returned to the dormitory with his head drooped.

"I finally got through it." As soon as he entered, the emperor shouted.

I saw a woman in it moving the lotus step out lightly, she was at most about twenty years old, and the so-called youth is beauty. This woman does not have the appearance of a sinking fish and a wild goose, and the appearance of a shy flower in the closed moon, but because of her youth and a brocade dress, she immediately shines brightly.

"The official family is not happy?" She stepped forward and grabbed the head that Zhao Jin had taken off, and asked.

"Alas......" Zhao Jin sighed. The party was once a great disaster for our dynasty, and now that the Western Army and the Khitans have swept them away, the DPRK and China are naturally jubilant. The Minister has arranged a series of celebrations, and this is not the end. ”

The woman followed the emperor, and when he sat down, she poured him a cup of tea and handed it to him, and said, "It's just a celebration, why is the official family so sad?" ”

"Have you ever seen a puppet show? I was the puppet, and the ministers had prepared a draft in advance, and I read it, and then they told me to do something, and I did it step by step, for fear that something would go wrong. When I was worshipping my ancestors in Taimiao, my gesture of holding the cup was a little different, and you didn't see the expressions of the prime ministers, as if the sky was falling. I'm really ......," Zhao Jin was full of complaints. "Also, Zhao Ding said that he was going to go on a northern expedition, and the deputy prime minister and the governor said that he was in a hurry and had to wait. Ask my opinion and how do I answer? I don't know? Annoying! ”

The woman was silent for a moment, and then said, "These military affairs, if you can't rush them, you have to learn them slowly." ”

"Learn? I never thought I'd be on the throne! In the past 18 years, I have lived my duty, and no one has taught me how to deal with government affairs, how can I learn? Every time I sat in the senior palace, I was like a clay statue, and I couldn't understand what they were saying. When they quarreled, I had a headache, and I couldn't show it, so I had to pretend as if I knew half of it in heaven and everything about it. You don't know what I'm suffering from. Zhao Jin complained that it was not over when they came together.

The woman was relieved when she heard this: "The official family, it seems that the concubine has never been a queen before, and she suddenly became the master of this harem." Concubines often had to face the concubines of the Daojun, and also had to face the concubines of the Emperor Taishang, as well as the wives of the clan and ministers. At first, I didn't understand anything, but gradually, it became enough. Therefore, the official family does not need to be in a hurry, just let it be. ”

This woman is Zhao Jin's wife, the current queen. She is the daughter of Liu Guangguo, the pacification envoy of Huaixi, the granddaughter of Liu Yanqing, and the niece of Liu Guangshi, the commander of the Western Army. Because she became the queen of the world, the Liu family was also stained, his father Liu Guangguo added a town festival envoy, and the second uncle and third uncle were also promoted, and even her grandfather Liu Yanqing was also promoted to the first rank.

"That being said, it's just ...... As soon as I faced those ministers, I felt uncomfortable. Zhao Jin said distressedly.

Empress Liu sat down and persuaded: "Official, since the ministers have different opinions, why don't you choose a side and support their opinions?" ”

"What?" Zhao Jin didn't seem to understand much.

"The official family always says that they don't know how to deal with it, rather than not being able to come up with an idea, it is better to support one side, so doesn't it seem that the official family has an idea?" Empress Liu said. This kind of words, coming out of the mouth of a twenty-year-old woman, are not too ridiculous.

When Zhao Jin heard this, he took a breath: "Hey, don't say it, this is really a way!" Instead of sitting in the main hall and listening to their arguments in the clouds, mountains and fog covers, it is better for me to choose one side to support it, and I can save myself from not coming to the stage! It works, it works! ”

But just after a while, he became distressed again: "But the prime minister shouted for an immediate northern expedition, and the second minister said that he was not in a hurry, what should I do?" You don't know Zhao Ding, that old man is terrible. Nine times I saw him, he had bruises on his head and spit flying, and he would never finish everything until he fought to the end. To be honest, I, I'm a little scared of him. ”

Empress Liu corrected: "The official family, you are a national yuan, he is just a courtier, and the official family should not be afraid of him." On the contrary, he should fear the officials, all the ministers, all the people, should fear the emperor. ”

At the end of June, in the territory of Xiliang Province.

On the avenue, a team of horses galloped against the sun. On both sides of the road, the people of Fanhan have already begun to harvest crops. Although Xiliang Mansion is mainly inhabited by Tibetan people, there are also a considerable number of Han people living here. They are no longer simply nomadic for their livelihoods, but can also farm. And the people didn't seem to be surprised by the army or anything, and the horses of hundreds of men galloped by, and they didn't even lift their heads.

Ma Kuo leaned over, twisting his neck from time to time to look at both sides, and his heart was very relieved. The last time he went to Xiliang Mansion, the territory was desolate, and now it has only been a long time, and there are already crops in the field to harvest.

"Staff officer, it's almost time to get to Fucheng!" Ahead, a knight shouted back.

"I hope the Khitans arrive first, I don't like to wait!" Ma Dang laughed.

After a while, Xiliang City was already in sight, this ancient city has been in the past dynasties, and I don't know how many times it has suffered from wars. To this day, it still stands in the west. The Western Army seized this place and set up troops in Xiliang to appease the Qiang people. Now, Xihe Shuaisi has formed a Qiang army of more than 5,000 people here.

Xiliangfu is located in a remote area, and there are no post stations on the road, because it is impossible for local officials to know the itinerary in advance, so it is impossible to meet Ma Kuo outside the city, and even he has to identify himself outside the city before he can enter the city. Although this place is now the territory of the Great Song Dynasty, as soon as they enter the city, these people suddenly seem to have entered a foreign land, and when they look at the clouds, they are all Tubo people.

And these Tubo people are obviously not often seen in official robes of the Great Song Dynasty officials, as soon as Ma Kuo entered the city, he became the focus of attention, so he "swaggered" through the market, all the way to the Yamen.

The prefect of Xiliang, who heard the news, repeatedly apologized for not being able to go out of the city to greet him, but Ma Kuo didn't care about this, and asked directly: "Are the Khitans here?" ”

"Returning to Ma Staff, the Khitan envoy arrived yesterday, it seems that the other party is in a hurry, and he has already sent someone to urge him twice." The prefect of Xiliang replied.

"Well, then you can send someone and ask them to come over, and we can start the meeting now." Ma Kuang Road.

"Now? Staff officers don't have to rest overnight, and they will ...... tomorrow."

"No need, the king is waiting to hear the letter, go quickly." Ma Kuo waved his hand. The prefect of Xiliang received the order, and immediately sent someone to the pavilion to ask the Liao envoy to come to the mansion to discuss.

Taking advantage of this time, Ma Kuo pondered several key points of this meeting in his heart. First of all, how to deal with the follow-up matters, although the land and city of Western Xia have been taken by the Song-Liao coalition army, and the army has been defeated, but the Xia lord Li Renxiao and his officials are still there, and they are in the hands of the Jurchens, which requires the Song and Liao countries to come up with countermeasures.

Secondly, according to the pre-war agreement, the land and cities taken by the Xia this time belonged to the Liao State, and the Western Army only helped, but there was no help in vain in this world, that is, the wages had to be paid for short-term work. This question is somewhat practical.

In the end, after the destruction of Western Xia, how to take the follow-up route also needs to exchange views with the Khitans. And this is the most important thing, because when he was leaving, King Xu had secretly revealed the major policies of the post-Sichuan and Shaanxi periods. This may not be very satisfying for the Khitans......

Just as he was thinking, there were already voices and footsteps outside. Ma Kuo looked for prestige, and saw the Xiliang prefect accompanying the two guests to walk in. To Ma Kuo's surprise, both of them were in standard Han Chinese attire.

"Two, this is our Sichuan Shaanxi Xuanfu Disposal Division Staff Officer, Ma Kuanma Staff Officer." The prefect of Xiliang introduced.

One of them, about forty-five years old, was tall, had a thick beard, and spoke Chinese with a Hebei accent: "I have heard the name of the staff officer for a long time, and I can see it today, which is enough to comfort my life." ”

Ma Kuo once raised volunteers in Hebei, so as soon as he heard his accent, he asked: "Listen to the accent of the envoy, are you from Hebei?" ”

The Liao envoy smiled: "Under the surname Bi, the name is Zheyuan, and he is from Yanjing." ”

"Oh, no wonder I heard your accent kind, in the dismount, fortunately." Ma Ku laughed.

Nabi Zheyuan introduced another envoy, who was also from Yanyun Han, and the greetings had been completed, because it was a meeting, so the two sides were seated opposite each other, regardless of the host and guest. Bi Zheyuan said first: "This time, the two of us came to Xiliang on the order of Marshal Du to discuss follow-up matters with Staff Officer Ma. This first case, there was already a statement before the war, the land, cities, and household registration seized by the summer this time all belonged to the Khitan, and in this section, King Xu Jun and Staff Officer Ma had no objections, right? ”

Ma Kuozheng said: "King Xu Jun is full of words, why ask? ”

"Yes, yes, but please rest assured that King Xu Jun can compete for all the success of this summer war, and we will be deeply grateful to the marshal for this, and we will never let the brothers of the Western Army run in vain." Bi Zheyuan said.

With his words, Ma Kuo avoided the inconvenience of speaking, so he only nodded and smiled, and did not say anything.

"In addition, it is believed that King Xu Jun also received the news that the gold thief had taken the Xia Lord and his officials captive to the Jin Kingdom. This matter is a bit troublesome, although I have all the cities in the land of Xia, but as long as the Lord Xia is here, especially in the hands of the Jurchens, after all, there are still many dreams at night. I don't know, does King Xu have an opinion on this? Bi Zheyuan asked. As the saying goes, cutting the grass does not remove the roots, the spring breeze blows and grows again, Li Renxiao is in the hands of the Jurchens, he still has appeal to the party members, as long as he is there, it is a hidden danger.

Ma Kuo didn't answer, but said: "This time, your army is the main force, and we, King Xujun, want to hear Marshal Xiao's opinion." ”

Bi Zheyuan was a little surprised, because Song Liao had met many times before, Xu Wei had always had a clear opinion, and he had always given the impression of being confident, why wasn't he positive this time?

After a moment of silence, he replied: "Well, what our marshal means, Lord Xia is in the hands of the Jurchens, and it is a disaster after all. ”

"That's right, but the Jurchens will never hand people over to any of us." Ma Kuang Road.

"Of course, therefore, this requires both you and me to jointly exert pressure on the Jurchens and ask them to hand over people." Bi Zheyuan said.

Ma Kuo was speechless for a while, and if he wanted to put pressure on the Jurchens, of course, he had to take the diplomatic route first, but only diplomatic efforts would absolutely impossible to make the Jurchens submit, and they must be backed up by military intimidation. That means, war.

"Okay, we can both send envoys to deposit money at the same time, and ask Ginting to hand over Li Renxiao and all relevant personnel. If the Jurchens don't agree, then ...... Again. Ma Kuo said. It is almost certain that even if the envoys of the Song and Liao countries jumped to their feet and scolded in the Jin court, the Jurchens would not obediently hand over Li Renxiao unless you put a knife to its neck.

Bi Zheyuan nodded in agreement, perhaps the previous conversation was too serious and depressing, and he suddenly smiled: "Since the Western Xia is dead, the Jurchens must not be able to sit still, the so-called death of lips and cold teeth, it is this truth." ”

"Haha, who says it's not?" Ma Kuo also smiled.

"In the next step, our side plans to stabilize the situation first, eliminate the remnants of Western Xia, and restore order. I wonder if the Southern Dynasty has any suggestions for the follow-up? Another Liao envoy suddenly asked.

This question was to the point, Ma Kuo thought cautiously for a moment, and then replied calmly: "The great government of my dynasty is to unite Liao, accumulate strength, and wait for the time." If the time comes, our dynasty will launch the Northern Expedition on the front from Jianghuai in the east to Guanzhong in the west. If Da Liao raises troops at the same time, it will be a big thing! ”

Even fools can hear that this is too general, and some of the answers are not what they asked. The Liao envoy asked what the next step was after the destruction of the Western Xia, and you answered the long-term strategy of the Great Song Dynasty.

What is surprising is that the Liao envoy did not have any objections when he heard this, and nodded approvingly: "It should be so." Our marshals also hold this opinion, Xia Tu is newly returned, and the Liao army's top priority is to stabilize the situation, restore order, and then observe the changes in the current situation. ”

Ma Kuo was a little surprised to hear it, because the Khitans had come all the way from the Western Regions, and their desire to conquer the country in the east was more serious than anyone else! Now that the Western Xia has been defeated, it stands to reason that the Khitans should be non-stop and eager to start a war against the Jurchens. How can Liao Envoy say that he will observe the changes in the current situation?

As soon as he thought of this, he couldn't help asking, "Does the envoy mean that at this point, your army does not plan to take further action in the near future?" ”

Bi Zheyuan was silent for a moment, then nodded: "That's exactly what I mean." ”

Ma Kuo couldn't figure it out, and before he left, Xu Wei talked to him. Frankly told him that after this summer attack, the Western Army would not take the initiative to fight for the time being unless it was a last resort. The people of Sichuan and Shaanxi have suffered from war for many years, and the people's strength has been exhausted, and now it is time to recuperate and recover with the people. Although since the battle of recovering the whole of Shaanxi, the Western Army has never moved the large-scale war that gathered the main forces of the commanders and divisions in the past, but the small and medium-sized wars have been continuous, and all sides have whispers and complaints, and it is time to take a breath.

Therefore, Xu Wei asked Ma Kuo to explain this opinion when he met with the Liao envoy. Unexpectedly, before he could say it, the Liao envoy showed his tone first. Supposedly, the Khitans must be more active in cleaning up the Jurchens than we are! Their homeland is still completely stolen by the Jurchens! What's going on? Could it be that the Khitan people have changed something? ro

【…… Chapter 736: What's Going On]