The most important thing in the Song Dynasty was nothing more than the relationship with the Khitan.

The next morning, after all the things were discussed, Zhao Zhen suddenly spoke: "You ministers stay." ”

The Zheng family boy is ignorant and ignorant, although he is talented, he "doesn't know" the severity of things, which may be the basic national policy of the Song Dynasty in the next few years. It is even related to the garrison of the border defense, the expenditure of military expenses, the reserve of grain and grass, and so on.

What was the biggest expenditure in the Song Dynasty, military spending!

It's strange, but it's not strange to put it bluntly, because the emphasis on literature and light on military force has led to a decline in combat effectiveness, and it has to be compensated for by numbers. In addition, in order to appease the displaced people, a large number of van troops were recruited. As a result, the largest and most bloated army in history appeared.

Military spending accounted for almost 70 percent of the Song Dynasty's expenditure.

How much is that? At this time, the tax revenue of the Song Dynasty had not yet reached its peak, but it was gradually approaching the income of 100 million yuan, that is, a year's military expenditure, which may be close to the total income of the country in two to three years at the peak of the Tang Dynasty!

Often, in the blink of an eye, hundreds of thousands of dollars are wasted.

In fact, Song Zhenzong's idea was good back then, before the alliance of the Yuanyuan, several battles were fought, plus the pension, the imperial court spent 70 million taels of silver in vain, so I saw Cao Yu stretching out three fingers, three million, although it was more, it was okay. As a result, the iron rooster was born from the hundreds of thousands of Khitan troops, without compensating any territory, and pushed the price to 300,000. Indeed, for the Song Dynasty, this money was far less serious than later generations thought. It is possible that the salaries of several prime ministers plus allowances and rewards are so many.

The most serious thing is the loss of confidence and integrity.

The little emperor is benevolent, not stupid, some didn't think so clearly, but he understood how important Zheng Lang's words were, and immediately repeated Zheng Lang's words.

Xue Kui's eyes lit up when he heard this, and he said, "Your Majesty is wise. ”

This time, it is explained clearly, not only did the Khitan send two groups of people to congratulate the old lady's Zhengdan, but there was also a general, Yeluba, and the Zhaode Army, who sent Han Qi to the Song Dynasty to celebrate the Changning Festival. Of course, knowing the reason, no minister dared to say, I see, let's send troops to rob by fire.

Then he looked at the little emperor in surprise, Your Majesty, you are too great, and you have such a long-term vision.

The little emperor made him look embarrassed, and said: "Xue Qing, it's not my credit, it's because of some other things after Zheng Jieyuan entered the palace yesterday. ”

"Zheng Xiaolang?"

"Yes."

"Why is it him again?" Zhang Shixun asked.

The other bigwigs all had strange expressions on their faces. Zheng Lang is not young, fifteen years old, maybe he will be a good child in the next generation, but in this era, if he is precocious, some of them are married and have children, and they are in charge of their families. But after all, he was only fifteen years old, and this vision was a bit long-term.

Xia Zhu whispered and said: "Zhang Xianggong, it's not surprising, people's purpose is to aspire to heaven and earth, to establish the way for the people, to go to the saints to continue learning, to open peace for all generations, and even Confucianism has to make it practical, how can you not care about national politics?" ”

Several other bigwigs were also happy when they heard it.

Xue Kui said solemnly: "It's a pity that this son is too distracted, and I heard that he went to learn the piano from that monk." ”

Yan Shu smashed his elbow and said, "Xue Xianggong, okay, this son doesn't travel to study, he doesn't travel, he stays at home all day and studies behind closed doors, occasionally learns the piano, and can understand if he is scattered." But it's okay, it's a little distracted, otherwise even those of us would be ashamed and uneasy. ”

Xia Zhu said: "Yes, that Zhiyu is also very funny, saying that he is a high-ranking monk, and no one can disturb him, but he just let this son have some tunes, which tempted the hearts of mortals." ”

A few bigwigs are low vocals again.

It's still a matter of mentality, if all the ministers are here, there are many middle-level officials and young officials, and they may not be jealous. At their point, Zheng Lang may not be able to shake their status within twenty years, so why eat this taste?

But the little emperor thought of something. Yesterday, Zheng Jiazi refused his reward, and did not use his talents to "coerce" as he did with the great monk Zhizhi. Why reject yourself? After thinking about it, I finally figured out why. Zheng Lang was just afraid of causing trouble in the future, but in the heart of the little emperor, he became the word Fadu. It is the law not to accept your own reward, and occasionally write long and short sentences for yourself that you are rarely happy, it is a degree, as long as it is not excessive, you can relax it a little, but you can't exceed the range of degrees, so after going out, you should warn Yan Wen.

This explanation makes sense, and suddenly remembered Zheng Lang's eyes, that kind of look is very strange, I have only seen it occasionally in the eyes of the eldest lady and the little lady before, it seems to be love. But soon this thought will be wiped out, what does he, a little fart child, care about himself? It was his teacher Feng Yuan who had this qualification. You know that this little guy has a good impression of himself, not only loyalty, but also this emotion, which he can feel.

The old lady was also in a daze in the back.

Originally, I just wanted to borrow Zheng Jiazi to steal the word, turning the big thing into a small thing and a small thing, but I didn't expect this incident to happen again. Of course it's a good thing, it seems that there is a real genius! But you can't just focus on Zheng Jiazi, since you put it forward, it seems that the idea is not bad, and it is important to discuss the right thing. So he coughed behind the curtain.

Understood, a few bigwigs are thinking hard.

With an accurate positioning, several bigwigs didn't really grow up eating rice, and they came up with many ideas in an instant. Isn't it to make the Khitan little emperor and the nobles flashy? The Song Dynasty had a lot of talents, and sent some young talents, such as Wen Yanbo, Ouyang Xiu, etc., to be young, to be handsome, to play like the exchanges between the Northern and Southern Dynasties. It doesn't matter if you look like you are inferior, but you must have absolute talent and bearing, such as Zheng Jiazi.

"This won't work, he still has to try," the little emperor interrupted Xia Zhu's words.

"Yes, the minister is an example."

Everyone smiled again, a very relaxed atmosphere. It's not funny, it's that the pressure has been released, and after knowing the details of the Khitan, several bigwigs have confidence in their hearts. In fact, since the alliance between the two countries, the two countries have rarely exchanged troops, and sometimes they send troops, mostly for a show, so that they can have the capital to negotiate. And as Zheng Lang said, the Song Dynasty was afraid of the Khitan, and the Khitan also had a headache for the Song Dynasty when it was not necessary. After Liao Shengzong and Empress Dowager Xiao fled back that time, they were actually very lucky in their hearts.

Proceeds resumed.

After these talents were selected, they sent envoys to Liao and visited Liao, and the Khitan was very polite, sending envoys again and again, and it was also the turn of the Song Dynasty to be polite.

First use talent to bring up the Khitan people's love for Wenhua.

It's okay for the Central Plains people to like Wenhua, it's been like this since ancient times, can the Khitan people like Wenhua? They are a nation on horseback, and when they get off the horse and recite poetry, isn't that the end of it?

This strategy was quickly recognized by everyone. If it doesn't work, it's also the Song Dynasty to show the Khitan a good one, right?

Then they were given some exquisite crafts, and even offered to send technicians to teach them how to make them. Further corrosion. There is a term for this, called cultural invasion, but unfortunately you don't understand it, but you only vaguely know that there is a great benefit.

even found an excuse to send some acrobatic masters, etc., to the Khitan to perform programs.

Buddhism was also mentioned, and the ministers were also troubled by this, because Buddhism led to the good of the people, but there were too many fields that could be encroached upon, and too many homeless people who were lazy to eat and lazy, which gradually hindered the development of the country. However, in the face of the huge number of Buddhists, none of them dared to move.

Let's also go and scourge the Khitan.

And many more.

It should be good, but I don't understand military affairs, and I didn't give full play to the sound effect of Zheng Lang's words. Zheng Lang means to reconcile with the Khitan on the surface, carry out cultural corrosion, pay close attention to the dynamics of the party members, and make preventive preparations in advance.

However, they all ignore the party members. What is a party member? It has been defeated again and again by our dynasty, and if it weren't for the fact that it is not easy to rule, it would have been brought over a long time ago. How big can the territory be now, starting from Xiazhou, the North and South Hetao, the Lingzhou Plain, and a narrow Hexi Corridor can jump upside down?

But is that really the case?

Not only did the party ignore it, but it was also proposed that some eminent monks could be sent to the Khitan to borrow something to promote Buddhism, but these monks could actually use it, walk around, take a look, they are the best scouts, and they can bring a lot of useful information.

However, several bigwigs didn't understand the military, and they didn't think about it.

But the more the bigwigs talked, the happier they became, how many years had passed, and they didn't dare to raise their heads when they saw the Khitans. Take a look at the Khitan envoy who came to the capital of the Song Dynasty, rode a horse and galloped on the street, and no one dared to stop and reprimand, how was it flying and domineering? However, after the envoys of the Song Dynasty arrived in the Khitan, they could only be good grandsons. It's rare to have a chance to calculate the Khitan, happy!

Even the old lady patted the back of the chair behind the curtain, forgetting the unhappiness brought by her son, watching several bigwigs spitting and flying, the more they talked, the more energetic they became, and a relieved smile bloomed on their faces. At this moment, the old lady had no more hatred for Zheng Lang.

After much deliberation, there is still one thing left undone. Scripts!

Calling the four Khitan envoys, some bigwigs are speculating, why send two groups of people to He Zhengdan, is one group of people from the Khitan Empress Dowager and the other group of people from the Khitan Emperor? It's a pity that there is too little information about the Khitan, and nothing is known except for some major events, such as the death of the original emperor Bodhisattva. Otherwise, it may be possible to use it.

The four envoys brought and after seeing the little emperor and the old lady, the little emperor asked them to sit down, beckoned his hand, and the eunuch took the two paintings painted by Zheng Lang yesterday, handed them to Xiao Cha, and said, "This is what I painted for Zheng Lang, the new Xie Yuan." ”

The four Khitan envoys opened it and praised it: "Good words, good long and short sentences." ”

Several bigwigs glanced at each other, there really is!

I'm glad.

Isn't it very simple, yes, but in the Northern Song Dynasty, almost no one really thought about it.

How did the four envoys know that this group of top gods of the Song Dynasty had already begun to fight the Khitan idea, Xiao Cha asked puzzledly: "Your Majesty, why did you show this to the ministers?" ”

"Yesterday I summoned Zheng Xie Yuan, and inadvertently said about your Khitan, he said that the reconciliation between the two countries is a great event of great merit, and for decades, many people have lived and worked in peace and contentment, and their wives will not be separated. Therefore, I heard that your Khitan emperor likes calligraphy and painting, so he specially painted these two paintings, and by the way, he wrote the long and short sentences he made before and presented them to your majesty. ”

"He has this heart, okay," Zhang Tuibao was a little surprised. Originally, he came to express peace and friendship, and although the young man was not an official, he had some prestige among the people. I didn't expect him to agree to reconcile the two countries, but he was a good child...... Zhao Zhen didn't finish, and said: "He rarely has this heart, don't bother him in the future, he is still young, and he has not taken the provincial exam." ”