When Zhou Ping and Li Cheng returned to the Pure Dirt Temple, it was already the time of the first shift, and with the two of them was a seven or eight-year-old child, Li Sheng, the youngest son of Li Chuwen. This child, whose fate had taken a sharp turn, was so precocious that Zhou Ping's series of preparations in advance were useless. After Li Sheng was taken to the inner room to rest, Li Cheng, who was already a little unbearable, smiled and said: "The general is really good, and he forcibly brought salt and armor soldiers from that Li Lao'er's hands, with these, he will definitely be able to open up a situation in Yingzhou!" ”

"It's not that simple!" Zhou Ping sat down on the chair and made a gesture for Li Cheng to sit down: "This is just a verbal promise, and the things haven't arrived yet." Besides, we are still the Great Song Dynasty Mission, and we are escorted by the Khitan army when we leave Yanjing City, how can so many salt and armor soldiers be sent to Yingzhou? That's a big problem! ”

"That's right!" Li Cheng nodded, as Zhou Ping said, the road is not quiet at the moment, and it is definitely not possible to transport so many salt and armor soldiers to Yingzhou without a horse guard, and a formal mission like Zhou Ping has soldiers and horses to guard on the road, and it is okay to have two people less, and dozens of Khitan soldiers who are not guarded by dozens of people have become blind.

"What can the Lord do?" Li Cheng asked, after so many things, in his eyes, Zhou Ping seemed to be an omnipotent miracle maker.

"I don't have any ready-made solutions, just act when the opportunity arises!" Zhou Ping smiled: "Anyway, this time, if you can bring Li Chuwen's young son back, it will be in vain!" ”

"Justify what the Lord has said!" Li Cheng nodded again and again, just as Zhou Ping said. What could be a better hostage than Lee's youngest son? Even if he didn't say anything else, just convincing Li Chuwen to surrender to the Great Song Dynasty was enough to make Tong Guan overjoyed.

"Li Cheng, you let everyone clean up, if my estimate is good, we will go back in a few days!"

"Whoa!" Li Cheng responded, hesitated slightly, and asked, "How do you know?" ”

"Huh!" Zhou Ping smiled slightly, and casually led him into the palace by Li Chuwen to meet Ye Luchun and Xiao Puxian. The story of being smashed by the Jerod stone is recounted. said with a smile: "After Yelu Dashi goes back, he will definitely send someone to tell Xiao Gan about this matter, so that he can lead the troops back quickly and suppress the situation in Yanjing City." I guess at that time we will be evicted! ”

"Xiao Gan?" Li Cheng was stunned when he heard this: "Then Li Chuwen recruited warriors to deal with him?" ”

"Not really. It's just for self-preservation! Zhou Ping smiled: "As long as Ye Luchun doesn't die for a day." The Khitan nobles and Han officials will not tear their faces. That Li Chuwen is an old fox, he must have bet on several sides, and he must have something to do with Chang Shengjun. If Xiao Gan crossed Yelu Chun and killed Li Chuwen, it would be equivalent to driving Chang Shengjun to the side of the Great Song Dynasty, whether Xiao Gan would do this I don't know, Yelu Dashi is a hero in the world, and he will definitely not do such a stupid thing! ”

Listening to Zhou Ping explain the intricate relationship between the many forces in Yanjing City, Li Cheng was speechless: "If it weren't for the fact that this old thing had already voted for my Great Song Dynasty, I would have to dig out his heart and see how it grew, and only you could control him!" ”

"Since the end of the Tang Dynasty, the land of Youzhou has been a place for the Hu people and the Han people to fight, like the Li family, if the Yan clan wants to survive, they will definitely not bet on one side, if I guess correctly, he must also have a connection with the Jin people in case of emergency. There is no right or wrong in this way, it is nothing more than a way to survive in troubled times! Speaking of this, Zhou Ping couldn't help but sigh, and a look of pity appeared on his eyebrows. Like Li Chuwen's practice was very representative of the Yandi clan at that time, whether from the feudal morality at that time or from the historiography of later generations, it was an attitude of criticism, but for these Yandi Han clans who were unable to stand on their own in the gap between the two powers, the qualities of loyalty, honesty, and keeping promises in the troubled times were too luxurious, and it was the first thing for the clan to survive. In order to win this battle, there is no point in simply condemning them, only understanding their situation and responding accordingly is the right approach.

"You've had a hard day, go get some rest early!" Zhou Ping sighed and instructed Li Cheng.

"Whoa!" Li Cheng respectfully saluted Zhou, took a few steps back, and turned around and retreated when he reached the door.

As the saying goes, the world is unpredictable. Although he may have known the most about the future of chaos in the land of East Asia in the four years of Xuanhe, he still can't grasp all the details. For example, Xiao Gan did lead the Xi army back to Yanjing City three days later, as he speculated, but this was not the credit of Yelu Dashi's dispatch of urgent envoys, and an even more shocking news made the entire Yanjing City silent-Jin Bing and Bai Shuibo broke up the Khitan and released the goose tent, Emperor Tianzuo almost escaped alone, and the vanguard of the Jin soldiers had reached the boundary of Yingzhou, and it was less than three days away from Yanjing's iron cavalry.

Yanjing, Yaoguang Palace.

Perhaps because the weather has warmed up, the screens and curtains on the temple have been removed a lot, but because they are already full, they are even more cramped. Ye Luchun was still lying on the brocade couch, the difference from the last time was that he had changed from lying flat to half-sitting and half-lying, and on the left and right sides of the brocade couch sat the queen Xiao Puxian and her brother - the king of the four armies who had just returned from the leading army of the states behind the mountain - the privy secretary of the Zhibei Yuan, and all the armies were under Xiao Gan.

"In this way, the king of Xiangyin was defeated by the Jin people again this time, and there is not much left of the palace tent army?" Ye Luchun, who was lying on the brocade couch, asked in a low voice.

"Exactly!" Xiao Gan, who had just finished telling the general, nodded and said: "In our army, we have accommodated many sergeants and generals who escaped from the original palace tent army, and this news has been confirmed from their mouths!" ”

"Alas!" Yeluchun sighed, like him, the expressions of the Khitan, Xi, and Han ministers and nobles in the palace were very complicated, especially for the Khitan and Xi magnates, Emperor Tianzuo was not only their former master, but also the target of rebellion; But after all, it also represents the mother country that has existed for more than 200 years, and his defeat by the Jin people once again means that there is one less hope for revival. And for those Han ministers, this news is much simpler, first of all, Yelu Yanxi returned to Yanjing City with the army of Xifan, and the threat of killing traitors was lifted, so the next thing to consider is how to choose the object of refuge.

"Your Majesty!" The first to speak was Li Chuwen, who was second only to Xiao Gan and Xiao Puxian in the distance from the brocade couch, he stood up and saluted Yeluchun on the brocade couch, and said, "The old minister thinks that he should send an envoy to the south with the Song people to discuss peace talks!" ”

Li Chuwen's words were like a drop of cold water falling into the boiling hot oil, which immediately provoked a violent quarrel, although it was said that the Song envoy had come to Yanjing for quite a long time, and even Ye Luchun and his wife had secretly received each other, but they proposed peace talks in front of the court's ministers -- this was almost equivalent to the first time that the surrender matter had been encountered, especially from the mouth of Li Chuwen, who had the merit of support, won the trust of Ye Luchun and his wife, and was hidden as the head of the Han Dynasty.

"Your Majesty!" Xiao Gan snorted coldly: "This king only returned to Yanjing yesterday, and you are going to send an envoy to the Southern Dynasty today, so it's a little early, right?" ”

"The King of the Four Armies!" Li Chuwen smiled slightly: "The Southern Dynasty has long had an alliance with the Jin people, and the Jin people's defeat of the King of Xiangyin in Baishuibo can't be hidden from them for a long time, maybe they all know about it now." Rather than waiting for the Southern Dynasty army to reach Yanjing City to negotiate peace, it is better to negotiate peace as soon as possible, and better conditions can be obtained. ”

"A certain family recruited 20,000 Xi troops from the states in front of the mountains and behind the mountains this time, plus no less than 50,000 Yanjing guards, and the Southern Dynasty came to fight its own king to resist, what are you afraid of?"

"The king of the four armies is brave and invincible, and the old minister naturally knows it!" Li Chuwen still looked tepid: "It's just that as the saying goes, soldiers can't do without food, and now Yanjing can't govern seven states, and in fact, only three or four states can be managed, I'm afraid I can't feed the king's army!" ”

"You!" Xiao Gan was suddenly pushed back by Li Chuwen, a nail that was neither soft nor hard, but he had always led the army to fight, and he really didn't know how to refute Li Chuwen for a while.

"If Li Xiang has no way, there is a way to try it!" At this time, someone on the side interjected, Li Chuwen turned his head to see, it was Yelu Dashi, the muscles of his cheeks twitched slightly, and he smiled forcefully: "Dashi Linya, please speak!" ”

Yelu Dashi was not humble, stepped forward and said loudly: "The armor and weapons Yanjing City has its own, mainly food and military salaries, Yanjing has more than 50,000 households, so that each household is given five times, and then three households raise a soldier, which can support this army more than enough!" ”

As soon as Yelu Dashi's voice fell, there was immediately a wave of opposition in the hall, whether it was Hanchen, Khitan, or Xi magnates at this time, they were unanimous. The reason is very simple, most of their family relatives are in this Yanjing City, and Yelu Dashi's idea is tantamount to letting them bleed to raise soldiers, who is willing to accept this.

"Okay, this is a good solution!" The only one who applauded was Xiao Gan, who patted his thigh and smiled: "Your Majesty Li, now that there are soldiers, you have nothing to say, right?" ”

Li Chuwen's face changed slightly, but he soon regained his composure, and said with a smile: "Da Shi Linya's idea is naturally good, but even if there are soldiers, they should not talk with the Song Dynasty, even if it is to listen to the intelligence of the Southern Dynasty, they should send envoys, they can fight to make peace, and they can survive only if they can make peace!" ”

When Li Chuwen said this, most of the people in the palace nodded one after another, and even the most resolute main battle factions Xiao Gan and Yelu Dashi could not refute it. The reason is very simple, since the Liao State does not have the strength to destroy the Song Dynasty, even if it starts fighting, it will definitely have to negotiate peace, it is nothing more than what kind of conditions, since this is the case, it should be a two-pronged approach from the beginning. (To be continued......)

PS: Thank you for the gift chapter of banrui24, I've been too busy lately, and I'm tossing before going to bed, and the update time is messy, forgive me!