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Jiying Palace, Song Shenzong, Wang Anshi, Lv Huiqing, Lv Gongzhu, Sima Guang, Han Qi, Cai Jing, Shen Kuo, Su Shi, Shi Zhe, Su Xun...... A cadre of civil and military officials gathered. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

During the Zhengdan court, Sima Guang and the others came to see the Son of Heaven and had not yet returned. In the past, when they had finished meeting the Son of Heaven, they would have hurried back. However, now, they are not, but waiting in Bianjing. They were not waiting for anything else, naturally they were waiting for news of the war in the north.

You know, in the battle on Chinese New Year's Eve, the Song Dynasty achieved an unprecedented victory, which is really exciting. However, immediately afterwards, the war broke out again, and no one can say whether the Song Dynasty can win it. However, one thing is certain, the Song Dynasty has been invincible.

It can be said that after this battle, the Song Dynasty was in a completely new situation, and Song Shenzong needed to consult with the ministers, and would not let Sima Guang and Han Qi go. Although these two people were the core figures of the opposition, Sima Guang was indeed a talented person, and when such an important matter was discussed, Song Shenzong would definitely let him participate, even if they were in Henan Mansion, they would summon him.

Not to mention Han Qi, he is a famous general, famous in the world, although there is a good battle of Shuichuan, he is a rare minister among the elders, this kind of major event is naturally indispensable to him.

However, when they gathered here today, Sima Guang and Han Qi didn't dare to feel good about themselves as before, but instead sat on pins and needles. The reason is very simple, the opposition's biggest backer, Empress Dowager Cao, has now fallen to Song Shenzong, which makes them lose their support and feel uneasy.

The reason why they can participate in this matter today is that on the surface, it seems that Song Shenzong values them, but in fact, Song Shenzong is testing them. If they couldn't come up with an attitude and idea that would satisfy Song Shenzong, they would have no way out.

The reason couldn't be clearer, today's Song Shenzong is no longer the previous Song Shenzong. In the past, Song Shenzong was pressed by Empress Dowager Cao, and Song Shenzong had many scruples about doing things, hesitated, and did not dare to kill the killer. Now, Empress Dowager Cao has fallen to Song Shenzong, then, there is no sword hanging over Song Shenzong's head, since then, Song Shenzong has no scruples about doing things, and he has decided to kill no longer under anyone's control, if they are not good, provoke Song Shenzong to settle old accounts, they will wait and see.

After a series of victories in the north, Song Shenzong's throne is becoming more and more stable, and Song Shenzong is getting stronger and stronger, even Empress Dowager Cao can't help Song Shenzong, let alone Sima Guang and their opponents, how can they not be afraid.

Of course, Sima Guang and Han Qi just buried this idea in their hearts and did not say it, but together with everyone, they gathered in front of a giant map, with Song Shenzong as the center, everyone was looking at the map, their eyes were round, and they did not speak.

The map they were looking at was not the map of the Great Song Dynasty that Song Shenzong had seen before, but the map of the territory of the Tang Dynasty in its heyday.

Song Shenzong used to see the map of the Great Song Emperor, mainly the map of the whole territory of the Song Dynasty, although there are sixteen states of Yanyun, but it is specially indicated, there belongs to the Liao State. Today, on the territory map of the heyday of the Tang Dynasty, the sixteen states of Yanyun belong to the Tang Dynasty. During the heyday of the Tang Dynasty, the territory was extremely vast, including not only all the territories of the Song Dynasty, but also the sixteen states of Yanyun, Liaodong, Western Xia, Damo, Western Regions, Vietnam, and Nanzhao.

Compared with the map of the Song Dynasty and the territory map of the Tang Dynasty, it is only about half of the appearance, and the comparison of the two maps is really speechless and makes people sigh. It is unbelievable that the Tang Dynasty has only been in existence for a few years, less than two hundred years, and the size of China has shrunk by half.

However, the facts are right in front of you, and who can not believe it? Who wouldn't believe it?

The territory map of the Tang Dynasty, that is a peak, that is a prosperous era, that is a monument, that is a mountain that people look up to! It makes people feel admirable!

And compared with the imperial map of the Song Dynasty, it is much shabby! It can be said that the imperial map of the Song Dynasty makes people quite speechless. If it is said that the Liao State was strong, the Western Xia was good at fighting, and the Song Dynasty had no way to take these two places, then how could the two inherent territories of China not be included in the territory of Vietnam and Nanzhao?

Vietnam, known as Cochin during the Qin and Han dynasties. After Qin Shi Huang swept away the Six Kingdoms and unified China, the Qin army rested for a while, and the 500,000-strong army set off to the south to pacify Baiyue, and included Jiaozhi in the territory. Since then, Vietnam has been a Chinese territory for more than a thousand years, until the end of the Tang Dynasty. Vietnam refers to this period of history belonging to China as the "Northern Period".

Not to mention the Southern Zhao, it was included in the territory during the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, and it has been owned by China for more than 1,000 years, and it was not until the end of the Tang Dynasty that it was read out.

These two places belong to the land of projectiles, and the Song Dynasty did not take them back, which is really speechless.

Song Shenzong was the first to break the silence and stroked his cheek with his hand: "I don't know how many times I have read the map of the previous dynasty. Whenever I look at the map of the previous dynasty, and then look at the map of the emperor of this dynasty, I feel that this face is hot, and I am ashamed! ”

As soon as these words came out, the ministers couldn't help but lower their heads and sighed. They had nothing to say about Song Shenzong's conclusion. Even Sima Guang, Han Qi, and Lu Gong were all ashamed of these oppositionists.

"The former dynasty was known as strong and powerful, commanding all nations, don't dare to disobey! The territory of Huaxia is so vast, you can open your eyes and take a good look at these two maps! Song Shenzong's voice turned higher and said: "Since the fall of the previous dynasty, the rebellion of the five dynasties and ten kingdoms, China has fallen into a world of great chaos, and there is no time to take care of the north. Whenever I dream back at midnight, I wonder why the same nation, which was prosperous in the previous dynasty, could command all nations, but in this dynasty, it is pressed and beaten by other races! Moreover, a dozen is more than a hundred years. Could it be that Huaxia was wise in the Han and Tang dynasties and stupid in the current dynasty? ”

It's a very poignant question, to the point, and to the point where it is most thought-provoking. When countless people mention the Song Dynasty, it is that the Song Dynasty is weak, how timid it is, and how it cannot compete with other races. However, have they ever thought about why the same nation was in a prosperous era during the Qin, Han, Sui and Tang dynasties?

"You are all people who have read poetry and books, and you are knowledgeable, but you are terrible to open your mouth, with sharp bows, iron horses, invincible, the Great Song Dynasty is not the opponent of the Khitans!" The more Song Shenzong spoke, the more angry he became, his voice turned higher, and he asked in a questioning tone: "Han Qi, you are a famous general of a generation, and your name is important in the world. You have always advocated riding on foot. You say that cavalry is too expensive, and the cost of one cavalry is enough for five infantrymen. You also said that the cavalry of the Khitans is invincible and cannot be surpassed, so I am about to ask you, why can the cavalry of the Qin, Han, Sui and Tang dynasties fight like that? Why were the cavalry of the previous dynasty stronger than the Turks? ”

These words were like a giant hammer, beating Han Qi hard, Han Qi only felt that the Venus in front of him was in a daze, but he couldn't help but answer. After thinking about it, Han Qi said tremblingly: "Official, what the minister said about riding on foot refers to Shaanzhou. The official family knows that Shaanzhou is mountainous, the terrain is complex, and the terrain is dangerous, which is not convenient for cavalry to fight, and it is more convenient to use infantry than cavalry! ”

"Really?" Song Chao rummaged through the desk for a while, threw a somewhat yellowed piece of music at Han Qi's feet, and said, "You can take a good look." This is a piece of music that you have written by your own hand, and you strongly advocate the use of foot. It was under your impetus that the emperor set the national policy of riding on foot. However, for decades, did the infantry of the Great Song Dynasty restrain the iron cavalry of the alien race? You are right to a certain extent when you say that the terrain in Shaanzhou is complex and dangerous, which is not conducive to cavalry combat. However, you have fought with the Western Xia for so many years, you say, which battle did the Western Xia not use cavalry? Why was the cavalry of the Western Xia able to come and go in Shaanzhou and fight the Great Song Dynasty helplessly, but the cavalry of the Great Song Dynasty was helpless against the Western Xia? ”

This is a fact, it is not that Song Shenzong wants to make things difficult for Han Qi. Han Qi's greatest military achievement in Shaanzhou for so many years was to put forward the strategy of "riding with foot", which eventually rose to the national policy of the Song Dynasty and had an impact on the Song Dynasty for decades, but eventually became a big joke.

Because, it was the Song Dynasty that implemented this strategy and did not pay attention to cavalry, and in the end, it was exterminated to the alien race. And the alien races that destroyed the Song Dynasty, the Jurchens and the Mongols, all had a large number of cavalry. Is it useful to ride on foot?

The answer comes from the fall of the Song Dynasty!

"This ......" Cold sweat trickled down Han Qi's forehead, and his clothes were wet.

"Riding by step, riding by step, what a misguided strategy!" Song Shenzong let out a long sigh.

A sigh was like a shocking thunderbolt crashing on Han Qi's heart, making him break out in a cold sweat, and he knelt down with a bang, and kept kowtowing: "Official, the minister is guilty of death!" Death penalty! ”

Riding on foot is a national policy implemented by the Song Dynasty for decades, of course, it is not from his own hands, but he is the biggest promoter of it, without Han Qi, this strategy would not be given as a national policy.

If in the past, Han Qi would not only not be afraid, but could justifiably say that his strategy was right. However, now he didn't dare to say this, because Wu Ji used a large number of cavalry, crisscrossing the Liao realm, and had achieved great success, which was the best counterattack to the strategy of riding on foot.

Without a large number of cavalry, Wu Ji would not dare to lead his army into the Liao realm to plunder, let alone sneak attack Zhuozhou on Chinese New Year's Eve and kill tens of thousands of Liao troops in one fell swoop!

"Last time, in order to give me permission to attack Zhuozhou, Wang Shao personally returned to Beijing and reported to me. By the way, he talked about Wu Ji, but Wu Ji's proposition was to form a large number of cavalry and ride to control the cavalry. At that time, I was still hesitating whether it was better to ride on foot or on horseback, and I couldn't decide. Now, I've figured it out, it's better to ride on horseback! Song Shenzong raised his eyebrows, and a smile bloomed on his face: "Wu Ji's reason is very simple, but no one has said it for decades. Wu Ji said that the cost of cavalry is really large, and the cost of one cavalry is as high as five infantry. However, the benefits of one cavalry are far from being comparable to those of five infantrymen! ”

Speaking of this, Song Shenzong couldn't help but let out a burst of laughter and said, "At that time, I was still a little puzzled. Now, I understand. Do you think, if you don't say anything else, let's just say that the battle of the surprise attack on Zhuozhou on Chinese New Year's Eve, if you use infantry, can it be completed? No! The cost of cavalry is great, but the benefits of cavalry are far greater than that of infantry. Han Qi, have you ever thought about this question? ”

"The minister is ignorant, and he didn't think about this!" Han Qi had to lower his once proud head.

In the face of the fact that there is an iron plate, any reason is so pale and powerless!

(To be continued)