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Zhao Ji hadn't been happy for long before two blockbuster news came. Pen ~ fun ~ pavilion www.biquge.info

First, the Western Xia side released a signal of intent for peace talks;

Second, the Liao army was mobilized and was conducting exercises near Youzhou, and its crown prince Yelu Jun and Zhao King Yelu Yixin personally led the army to preside.

It seems to be ordinary news, but there are many implications hidden behind it, but in fact, it is a bombshell dropped in the calm lake, and the slightest carelessness will cause huge waves.

Above the court, a minister said: "It is a good thing that the Western Xia intends to negotiate peace, this time we won a complete victory in Dashun City, and captured the Western Xia Prime Minister Liang Yiburied, both in terms of momentum and chips, we can fight on the basis of reason, and have a good talk with the Western Xia." ”

There has always been a fear of summer in the Great Song Dynasty, as long as it is not related to major issues of principle, it is absolutely unwilling to easily start a war with Western Xia. If it weren't for the joint advocacy of Prime Minister Wang Anshi and Zeng Gongliang in this battle, I am afraid that there are not a few lords and courtiers, and the voice of opposition will remain high.

Now the results of the war are relatively ideal, so these officials have the mentality that they will accept what they see, and such results are already good, and they must cherish them. If you provoke Xixia, it will not be good to fight and break the net. Although Dashun City was victorious, the Fuzhou Zhejia army was defeated in Jingzhou, indicating that the war was not fully beneficial and was still very risky. If you continue to fight, you may not be able to get more benefits, and maybe there will be dangers, so it's best to take it when you see it.

As in the beginning, there were many New Party members in the main peace faction. The continuation of the war will inevitably affect the implementation of the reform, and the impact on the side has already been shown that it will not be beneficial to continue to delay the reform. will affect their status. affects their vital interests. Now the war is going well. Finally, I had a chance. If there is an opportunity to cease the war earlier, it is natural to cherish it, so the call for an armistice and peace talks is very high.

Of course, there are many sensible ministers, and they all see a fact. That was the Liao State's exercise near Youzhou, which was said to be an exercise, but after all, it was a mobilization of soldiers and horses, even including their most elite leather room army. There is the command of the crown prince and the first favorite of the Liao lord, Yelu Yixin.

This information is enough to show that the Liao army cannot be ignored, it is a drill in the territory of Liao, but if it has to cross the border, it is an invasion. Over the years, the Liao State has always had the intention of attacking the Song Dynasty, and it has never stopped, and the Song Dynasty's defense has never been relaxed.

Western Xia was a problem for the Song Dynasty, involving a lot of trouble and trouble, but in fact the direct damage caused was not particularly great. Even though all these years have been in the northwest. It's just a robbery, how easy is it to occupy the land? It is only Shaanxi Road that threatens it. The impact on the Central Plains around Bianjing is not very great.

The Liao State is different, they are not moving, and once they are dispatched, they are a mortal threat. If you are not careful, the Great Song Dynasty may encounter the danger of losing the country, or at least the world is in turmoil.

With the loss of the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun, the entire land of Hebei is in no danger to defend, and as long as the Liao cavalry breaks through the border defense line, it will drive straight in. The shame of the abyss back then was not very long, and it still made people feel palpitations. The Song Dynasty monarchs did not want the Liao State to invade the banks of the Yellow River again and threaten Bianjing across the river. So that the Son of Heaven was shameless, the mountains and rivers were turbulent, and even jokes about moving the capital were made again.

Later generations said that the Song Dynasty was poor and weak, and this is true! Especially in the area of foreign relations, it has always been very weak.

Fear of Xia is one thing, but they may be more afraid of Liao, and if the two come together, the consequences will be even more serious.

Now the Song army is fighting in the northwest and Western Xia, if at this time, the eastern front will clash with the Liao State, and the consequences will be unimaginable. Let's not talk about whether it can deal with it, at least it will make the Song Dynasty stormy and turbulent. This is something that the Song Dynasty monarchs and ministers did not want to see, at least for now. Even Wang Xianggong, who has the ambition to restore the majesty of the old Han and Tang dynasties, knows very well that the time has not yet come, and he must be patient.

Of course, there were also those who thought there were objections, and an official of the Privy Council said: "The Liao State is only practicing in Youzhou, and has no intention of going south. Even those leather room troops are said to be only the servants of their crown prince Yelujun, not for the purpose of war...... Moreover, the Liao State had just experienced the Xiao Hujian Rebellion two years ago, and its internal situation was not peaceful, so I am afraid that it would not dare to use troops easily with foreign countries.

It is rare for our army to make a breakthrough in the northwest, and it is the time to take advantage of the victory to pursue and teach the Western Xia a good lesson. It's a shame to waste it! ”

The Privy Council presided over the military, presumably suppressed by Western Xia for a long time, and he had been holding a bad breath in his heart. Now that there is finally such a breakthrough, how can we give up easily?

"Yes, the Tangut people will go to war if they want to fight, and they will negotiate peace if they want to stop fighting, is this really up to them? Where should I put the face of the Heavenly Empire? Now we agree that it is to fuel the arrogance of the Western Xia, and in the future, when they encounter similar situations, they will still intensify. This wind can't last long, and the minister thinks that he should go all out to attack Western Xia. "There are still a lot of supporters of the main battle.

"But the Liao State is eyeing the tiger, why did the prince of the Liao State go to Youzhou at a critical time and mobilize a large army?"

"The prince of Liao is still young, just a child......"

"If Yelu Jun is less and more important, but what about Yelu Yixin? He is the number one favorite of the Liao lord, and he holds great power in the Liao country, which is extraordinary, and the actions of the Liao army in Youzhou are likely to be entrusted to him by the Liao lord. ”

Obviously, no one in the Song Dynasty took the teenage Liao prince Yelu Jun in his eyes, but the Zhao king Yelu Yixin was worried.

"Even if the Leather Room Army participates, what can it do? The Liao State may just be favoring the Western Xia and putting pressure on our dynasty, so don't worry about it......"

Once again, there were different opinions in the court, and they expressed their opinions on the treatment of the Western Xia and the Liao State, and once again there was a situation of dispute. Seeing this, Zhao Ji's head suddenly became a little bigger.

When will there be less strife? Is there any need for such a dispute? The signs of party strife have become stronger and stronger, and Zhao Ji has begun to pay attention. However, once something happens, it is difficult to remedy it after the fact......

Actually, Zhao Ji himself also has ideas. When the war began, he had difficulty riding a tiger, and he was forced to do so. At that time, he was very distressed, on the one hand, he didn't want to be dismissed by Xixia. On the other hand, they are worried that the start of war will affect the implementation of the reform. It's a dilemma.

It would have been hesitant. Later, it was Wang Anshi who expressed his support, and Zhao Ji agreed. Sending troops to the northwest to fight with Western Xia, Zhao Ji can be said to have sweated and was very worried about defeat.

Now the result of the war is better than expected, Wang Shao and Lin Zhao performed very well, achieved a lot of victory, saved face and avoided defeat, it can be described as a very perfect ending.

It's time to stop. Zhao Ji is also thinking about accepting it when he sees it. Although he really wanted to continue the offensive in his heart, and even directly destroy Western Xia, he had great ambitions. But reason told him that according to the current strength of the Song Dynasty, it could not be done, so he had to endure it.

At present, the most urgent task is to change the law to strengthen the country, and the focus is on internal affairs. Again, Wang Shao has already given him a lesson, saying that the relationship between Dong Yu and his brother Blind Felt in Hehuang and Tubo is improving, and Hehuang and Hezhou have a tendency to reconcile and connect as before. Follow their established strategy. It was to attack Hehuang first and threaten the flank of Western Xia. And then in one go.

Prior to this, because of the limited strength, it could not be done, so it adopted the method of forming an alliance with Hehuang and Tibet. This time, he originally expected that Dong Yu would be able to send troops to threaten the rear of Western Xia, but he didn't want this old man to be unmoved, and he also came with a high-sounding reason. Is the blind felt of Rivers State reversed? But according to Wang Shao's investigation, the brothers are more like acting.

I didn't expect Dong Yu and Blind Felt to reconcile, which means that from now on, Hehuang will be connected. The plan to take advantage of their brother's feud to attack Hehuang will also come to naught. After getting such news, can Zhao Ji not be in a hurry?

Wang Shao has already made it clear in the recital that the war against Tibet may need to be advanced. In this way, the next military action of the Great Song Dynasty will be aimed at Tibet, how can it be in a fierce war with Western Xia? If this provokes the Liao State again, then the entire plan will be completely disrupted.

Obviously, Zhao Ji didn't want this, he wanted everything to go according to plan and in an orderly manner. So he also moved the intention of ending the war, and he was still thinking about how to end it, but he didn't expect the Xixia people to bring it up by themselves, and Zhao Ji felt that he was in the middle of it. In the case of victory, it is best to agree to the peace talks of the Tangut people, and it is very decent.

As for the Liao side, I don't know what path the Western Xia took, or the Liao State saw the stakes, so it adopted this way to exert pressure. There was news from the Xiongzhou guard, and the situation did not seem to be very serious.

Therefore, Emperor Zhao's original intention was to negotiate peace, but many times there are difficulties in being an emperor, and some words cannot be said easily. In particular, such face-damaging words as peace talks cannot be easily spoken. It can only be suggested by a certain minister, and then push the boat down the river himself.

But at this moment, the court is arguing, how to decide? Zhao Ji inevitably had some difficulties.

However, the ministers were very cooperative, especially a group of ministers, who properly figured out the emperor's thoughts.

"Your Majesty, the minister thinks that since Xixia has bowed his head and admitted his mistakes, my Heavenly Empire should naturally convince people with virtue...... Now it is already the beginning of spring, if the border troubles are endless, the spring ploughing of Shaanxi Road will inevitably be affected, the war that has lasted for a long time has greatly affected the lives of the people, and now it is really not appropriate to make the situation worse! "The speaker is a scholar of Jixian Palace, Prime Minister Zeng Gongliang.

What is the heavenly kingdom, convincing people with virtue, and pragmatic people are muttering in their hearts after hearing it, scolding and increasing the appearance of pedantic. But he didn't dare to say anything publicly, who would dare to plunder the prime minister's tiger whiskers easily? Although he is already a dying old man, his power is still there, which makes people jealous. Moreover, people specifically mentioned spring ploughing later, which is cherishing the people. "The people take food as the sky", "the people are the most important, and the community is secondary", these are all the teachings of the sages, who dares to oppose it?

It's just that there will inevitably be a little uncontrollable disdain in his eyes, although Zeng Xianggong didn't look back, he knew it all. The old man says his own words, let you think about it, say that the old man is pedantic, that is your stupidity.

There is a reason why the Prime Minister said such high-sounding words. The previous time he suggested sending troops to Western Xia, in addition to really benefiting the Great Song Dynasty, it was also a way for him to re-establish his position as prime minister. Now the war has had a preliminary result, and it is relatively smooth, Dashun City annihilated 50,000 enemies in a battle, and captured Liang Yi, the minister of the Western Xia Kingdom, which is a feat that has not been done for decades.

That's enough, it's not good to exhaust the little merit that you have earned so hard, and then suffer some failure. Sometimes you really have to take it when you see it. The interests of the country are well taken into account. Zeng Xianggong's own goal was achieved. The official family seems to be thinking the same way, the matter has come to this point, what is there to continue? It is rare for the Tangut people to take the initiative to put it forward, so they have to cherish it even more.

Truce, peace talks!

At the same time, Zeng Xianggong personally came forward, which was also to show an attitude to Emperor Zhao Ji, I just emphasized my position, and I had no intention of competing for power and profit with Wang Anshi. Loyal to you as well. As for those high-sounding reasons, anyone who understands can understand them. As for those ignorant people, Zeng Xianggong didn't bother to pay attention to them......

Wang Anshi would not object, and they supported sending troops to counterattack the Western Xia. It is considered in many ways, there are factors of great ambition, and it is also because Li Fugui has caused the turmoil in the northwest, which has a lot to do with himself, and he expressed his support out of public intentions.

Now the war is going well, Li Fugui has been ambushed, and the news has been transmitted back to Bianjing. Wang Anshi just sighed lightly. didn't care about Wang Shao and Lin Zhao directly killing them on the battlefield, and Wang Yan was happy for a long time after getting the news. praised Wang Shao for doing things. If Li Fugui returns to Bianjing alive, he doesn't know what he will say in that mouth, and maybe there will be another uproar. Naturally, this is the best way to deal with it.

Li Fugui was ambushed, Wang Anshi had a wish, and Liang Yibu was captured, he was very satisfied with the result. Coupled with the situation of the Liao State sending troops to exert pressure, it is enough to this extent. At least for now, Wang Anshi's focus is still on changing the law, and he also hopes that the court's attention will be shifted back to changing the law from foreign wars......

The two prime ministers expressed their support in unison, which is really rare. However, in this way, the matter is settled, and the opposition of the other courtiers becomes weak.

Zhao Ji was also overjoyed when he saw this, and pushed the boat down the river and said: "Okay, since that's the case, let's talk to Xixia and show my Heavenly Empire's prestige and mind......"

The emperor nodded, what else did the ministers have to say?

I only heard Zhao Ji ask: "Who are you just sending to the peace talks?" ”

The ministers looked at each other, this candidate was indeed a troublesome matter. Peace talks involve a great deal of responsibility, and they need to be bold, shrewd, eloquent, and well-versed in the situation, ready to respond......

Not to mention, there was really no suitable candidate for a while, especially in the land of tigers and wolves in Western Xia, and few people were willing to take the initiative to go.

Seeing that the crows were silent, Zhao Ji had no choice but to say in a deep voice: "What other suggestions do you have from the Ministry of Rites, Taichang Temple, and Honglu Temple?" "The Ministry of Rites and Honglu Temple itself have a diplomatic matter, Taichang Temple is in charge of ritual music, and Xixia is nominally a courtier of the Song Dynasty, since it is a peace negotiation, it must also be involved in this aspect.

Zhang Zongyi, the waiter of the Ministry of Rites, remained silent, and now was the critical period for him to become the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, so he didn't want to take on such a risky errand. As for the Honglu Temple, Chai Xiao is old...... And it was already known before I came, and now is not the time to speak......

On the side of Taichang Temple, Zeng Gong, who had just been transferred back to Bianjing from the Yuezhou General Judgment and served as the Shaoqing of Taichang Temple, suggested: "Your Majesty, the minister recommends a candidate!" ”

"Oh? Who does Zeng Qing recommend? Zhao Ji himself admires Zeng Gong's talent and learning, and he is Ouyang Xiu's master, so he attaches great importance to it.

Zeng Gong said in a deep voice: "Dashun City commands Lin Zhao! ”

"Lin Zhao?" There was a slight commotion in the court!

"Yes, Lin Zhao has been an envoy to Liao and Hehuang Tubo, not to mention eloquence and wit, brave and strategic, based on reason, and excellent performance. The first two times were very successful, and I believe that this time he will perform very well in peace talks with Xixia. Moreover, he is now fighting in the northwest and Western Xia, and he has a lot of knowledge about the Western Xia and the war situation, so he can adapt to the situation, and it is also convenient to have close contact with the northwest army and cooperate with each other, so he thinks that Lin Zhao is the best candidate. ”

Zeng Gong was very surprised, he didn't know why his teacher Ouyang Xiu didn't know why the prophet expected the peace talks, and asked him to recommend Lin Zhao. What's going on here? Is there anything special about it? Zeng Gong was very curious, but Ouyang Xiu didn't tell him a word, but only told him that the stakes were very high, and he must keep his mouth shut. The teacher's order was difficult to disobey, and Zeng Gong himself had a good personal relationship with Lin Zhao, so he followed the instructions and told a very appropriate reason.

You must know that Zeng Gong once went to Liao with Lin Zhao to envoy the Liao State, and he knows a lot about Lin Zhao's talent in this area. It was not unobtrusive for him to make such a suggestion.

Zhang Zongyi, the waiter of the Ministry of Rites over there, suddenly came back to his senses, this is really a wonderful suggestion, Lin Zhao knows what he is capable of, and he will definitely succeed immediately. Immediately echoed: "Your Majesty, the minister agrees, Lin Zhao performed well in the Liao State back then, and the Liao lord was impressed...... Last time, he sent an envoy to Hehuang and Tubo, and Zampu Dong Yu also fell behind, Lin Zhao was in charge of peace talks, and he was indeed the best candidate! ”

The person in charge of Honglu Temple is Chai Xiao, and Uncle Cao Guo has already informed him, although he doesn't know what happened yet. However, since it was requested by Lin Zhao and Uncle Cao Guo's mansion, his uncle naturally couldn't hold back.

"Envoy Lin Zhao, what do you think?" Zhao Ji asked in a deep voice, at least he did not object to this proposal.

After a while, Zhao Luan, who was the new Kaifeng Mansion Yin as a bachelor of Hanlin, agreed: "Your Majesty, Lin Zhao is indeed a good candidate, Han Xuanfu is in charge of the overall situation in the northwest, and Lin Zhao is in charge of the peace talks, which complement each other!" ”

In this way, Lin Zhao is undoubtedly the best candidate for peace talks with Western Xia! (To be continued.) )