Song Qi received Zhao Guangyi's holy decree. Before rushing to Fengtai Mountain, I found that the development of the situation has been completely in accordance with the hope of the official family, Xia and Liao two countries played a fire, around the Fengtai Mountain Xia military camp, the two sides launched a tug-of-war station, this morning the banner of the Liao State was on the mountain, maybe in the afternoon it was replaced by the dragon flag of the Xia State, tomorrow morning when I opened my eyes, but it was replaced by the flag of the Liao State.

The fly in the ointment is that the fighting between the two sides has always been revolving around the Fengtai Mountain area and has not been further expanded. However, this is also a matter of no way, of course, the territory bordering the Liao State and the Xia State is more than this, but most of the rest of the area is a desert, not only the northern border area of the Xia State is a large desert, but the northwest region of the Liao State is also the same terrain, such a desert area, can not support the army for a long time, the only breakthrough is only one Turbidity Wheel River area, and Fengtai Mountain is the only entrance to this area.

At the same time, the Liao State and the Xia State also deliberately controlled the conflict situation and avoided further expanding the war situation. Needless to say, unless Yang Hao went crazy, he would never want to start a war with the two empires of Song and Liao at the same time, and the Liao State did not want to further expand the war situation out of consideration for its own national interests. The Liao State is now in the stage of recuperation, just as the Song State has the Tiger of the Liao State and does not dare to do its best, the Liao State is also afraid and does not want to consume its strength in Hexi.

For Liao, the rich land of the Central Plains is their coveted goal, and the land west of Hexi is not as rich as Liao, and the horses that the Song people value the most, and the Liao State itself is not lacking, as for Hexi as an important passage for east-west trade, the aristocratic class of the Liao State is far from raising the east-west trade to the important xìng that can send a large army to conquer.

The most important thing is that although the Song State was happy to see the Liao State and the Xia State fighting each other, it would never sit back and watch the Liao State destroy the Xia State and occupy Hexi in one go, thus forming a great encirclement of the Song State from north to west. Don't look at the Song State now standing aside and shouting for the battle of Liaoxia, once the Liao State really breaks through the defense line of Fengtai Mountain and advances deep into the Xia State, the Song State will definitely run out and drag them back, and even make a big northern expedition when they are deep in Hexi, stabbing them deeply in the heart.

Making wedding garments for others? The Liao people are not so stupid. What's more, in the eyes of Liao, the Song State is far more threatening than the Xia State, they don't want the Xia State to grow, but they don't want the Song State to take advantage of it. In view of this, Jeruxiugo still sensibly controlled the scale of the war.

However, the news of the big fight between the Song and Xia countries in the Fengtai Mountain area reached back to Shangjing. Or did it cause an uproar in the upper echelons of the Liao State, for the dispatch of troops from the Liao State, the Xia State should be grateful, could it be that the Xia people lost their minds? Why is it that who is arrested and bitten by whom, Song Guozheng's army is pressing, and he still dares to do it with Liao?

Most of the upper-class nobles and officials of the Liao State believed that this Xia Emperor was not as easy to manipulate as Liu Jiyuan of the Han State, I am afraid that he saw that the Liao State would not sit idly by and watch the Xia State fall into the hands of the Song State, so he dared to act so recklessly, so he suggested that the Empress Dowager should put more pressure on the Xia State and force him to submit.

Empress Dowager Xiao didn't believe that Yang Hao was so crazy, she even wondered if it would be Yelu Hugh who deliberately provoked Yang Hao, a rival in love, after he arrived in Xijing, and provoked the defenders of the Xia State to cause the current situation, because she couldn't imagine that Yang Hao had any reason to do such a crazy thing, and actually offended the two powerful countries of Song and Liao at the same time.

In view of this, Empress Xiao was not in a hurry to break off the relationship, she ordered someone to send an envoy to the Xia State, and directly questioned Yang Hao, the emperor of the Xia State, and secretly ordered Yelu Huge to strictly control the situation. Don't take advantage of the opportunity with Song Guo.

The Song State did not let go of such a good opportunity, taking advantage of the Liao State to attack the Xia State, the Song army launched several attacks on the Xia State Hengshan defenders one after another, although no great progress was made, but also swept away the decline, the Xia State not only could no longer use the advantage of Hengshan to continue to attack the two states of Linfu, but also was forced to turn to a comprehensive defense, and the situation became difficult.

Under such circumstances, the morale of Xia Guo has just fallen into a slump again due to the victory of Black Snake Ridge, and many middle and high-level officials continue to advise Yang Hao, and the admonition book is transmitted to the palace like snowflakes, all of them believe that it is unwise for Xia to declare war on Liao now, and the anger of Liao should be quickly calmed, and the two sides should strike a truce, so even if some compensation and concessions are made.

Yang Hao has nothing else to do, he has been watching the battle in Fengtai Mountain with full attention, not only to play an impact, but also to control the fire, this kind of battle is a severe test for Yang Jiye, for Yang Hao, the same is true, he knows that he is playing with fire, of course he will burn himself if he doesn't play well, but if he plays well, he must be a full house.

He is inferior to Song Liao in terms of strength, and he is also inferior to Song Liao in terms of development potential. If he didn't want to repeat the history of Western Xia, he would be sandwiched between Song and Liao to survive until the Jurchens and Mongols rose successively. In the end, he ushered in the fate of a country that was destroyed and annihilated forever in the long river of history, and he had to play this fire once.

At this time, Chongfang and Ding Chengzong, the two most loyal and highest-ranking close ministers, couldn't hold their breath, the two of them had a private meeting, exchanged opinions on the current situation, and found out that the other party's mind was the same as his own, so he immediately came to see Yang Hao and admonished him face to face.

When the two saw that Yang Hao hadn't spoken, Yang Hao smiled and said, "Two adults, do you think that I am now a thin donkey pulling hard, and I am blindly struggling here?" ”

He was stunned for a moment and said, "The Holy One knows why we are here? ”

Yang Hao pointed to the mountains of music piled up in front of the imperial case, and said with a smile: "The book of advice flew like snowflakes, don't I know why the two of you entered the palace together?" ”

Ding Chengzong couldn't help but say: "Shengshang, my country is newly established, the national strength is weak, the foundation is unstable, and it is inevitable to fight with the Song Dynasty for a long time, go to the emperor, and reduce the regulations, so as to end the war with the Song State." However, Chen Shi did not expect that the method adopted by the Holy Lord was to be the enemy of Liao, in fact, as long as we deliberately fought a few defeats, and then negotiated peace with Song, it would be enough.

At that time, we will have to use the Liao State to exert pressure on the Song State, so as to force the Song State to accept this kind of ending in which we have benefits and the Song State has a decent outcome, but now it is out of harmony with the Liao State because of a small discord, in this case, I am afraid it will be self-defeating. Under the pretext of a conflict with Liao, he was forced to make peace with Song, but I am afraid that Song would refuse to agree. ”

Yang Hao turned to the seed release and asked, "Does the seed master also think the same way?" ”

Chong Fang said: "Yes, the minister is worried that the two countries of Song and Liao are at the same time, and we want to make concessions by surrendering the king, but the Song State will not agree, in that case, we will lift a stone and shoot ourselves in the foot, and there is no more to rely on." ”

Yang Hao said: "The two Aiqing are loyal and commendable, and their concerns are very reasonable. It's just ......"

Ding Chengzong asked anxiously, "But what?" ”

Yang Hao glanced at them and asked, "Do you remember what I said at the beginning that we must seize Longyou and ensure that our country has strong enough strength to avoid the Song State from waging a continuous war against us and depleting our strength?" ”

Chong Fang and Ding Chengzong glanced at each other, nodded and said, "The minister naturally remembers, but what is the relationship between this matter and the conflict that happened in Fengtai Mountain?" ”

Yang Hao said: "Why doesn't it matter? The two have a lot to do with each other. At that time, you and I discussed that the establishment of the country and the emperor was divided into three steps, the first step was to call the emperor first, and set up a name and righteousness to implement the rule of Hexi; The second step is to remove the emperor, negotiate peace and strike the army, recuperate, and seek to win Longyou; The third step is to wait for the soldiers to be good and strong, and then become the emperor. When it was mentioned that the Song State would inevitably be involved in the Song Kingdom, and I said that there must be a way to make the Song Kingdom have no time to take care of other things, so that I can calmly seek to take the Longyou, right? ”

Rao is Ding Chengzong is full of wisdom and long-term strategy, Yang Hao said this, they still couldn't figure out how this had to do with the current war in Fengtai Mountain, but the two heard Yang Hao mention this matter at this time. Knowing that there must be a key point between the two that he has not yet understood, he just nodded and listened to Yang Hao continue with bated breath.

Yang Hao said: "Longyou is a borderless land, the party, Tubo, Hui and Han people are scattered among them, and there is no threat to the Song State, so the Song State can still tolerate its existence at the moment, when we take the Hexi Corridor, the Song State whip is beyond the reach of the whip, and we can't control it, but if we want to annex Longyou, the Song State has no reason to sit idly by." can make the Song State not chasel the battle between the right and the right, today, except for the Liao State, who has this power? ”

The more Chongfang and Ding Chengzong listened, the more confused they became, and Chongfang couldn't help but smile bitterly: "The saint said this, the minister is more and more confused, since the saint thinks that the only one who can stop the Song State from fighting the right of the Song State is the Liao State, then we should establish a close relationship with the Liao State, why should we use troops with the Liao State?" ”

Yang Hao sighed and said: "Two, if we establish a close relationship with the Liao State and join forces to contain the Song State, then when we send troops to seize Longyou, the Liao State will send troops to take Bianliang and launch a full-scale war with the Song State, so as to win us an opportunity?" ”

Ding Chengzong and Chongfang didn't think about it, and immediately shook their heads and said, "No." ”

Yang Hao said again: "Then, if I declare myself a vassal to the Liao State, take the Liao Emperor as my father emperor, and call myself the son emperor, I will be a vassal of the Xia State for the Liao State, and the Liao State is willing to send troops for us, pour out its national strength, and bear the strong pressure of hundreds of thousands of jīng Rui forbidden troops of the Great Song Dynasty head-on, and help us seize Longyou?" ”

Chongfang and Ding Chengzong shook their heads again, and Ding Chengzong smiled bitterly: "How is it possible? If the strength of the Liao State is strong enough to control our Xia State like the Han State, then their only choice is to order us to send troops together with them to attack the Song State, drive us to use it for their own use, and when the Song and Xia countries are both defeated, they will plot to seize the Song State, how can they pay such a price for us. ”

Yang Hao smiled: "That's it, since the more I stutter it, the more unfavorable it will be for me, so why should I stutter it?" ”

Chongfang frowned and said: "Holy Lord, forgive the minister for being stupid, the minister still doesn't understand, even so, is it possible that we have a bad relationship with Liao, but it will help us contain the Song army and make me calmly seek to take Longyou?" ”

Yang Hao's face was calm, he smiled as if he was blessed by the heavenly officials, and said, "Exactly." ”

Chongfang and Ding Chengzong entered a sleepwalking state at the same time when they heard this, their faces were dull, and their eyes were not even focused.

Yang Hao was about to go crazy when he saw his right-hand man, thinking that many important things had to be done by relying on them, although some of the most secret strategies were for the purpose of secrecy and could not be understood by all officials in advance, but if even the two of them were kept in the dark, the negative attitude of the two of them would gradually affect their first-level subordinates.

If this empire of mine is a mature empire, but now that it has just been established, it is not yet a foundation, and it is difficult to guarantee that there will be no unexpected internal crisis, so after thinking about it carefully, I decided to explain my plan to these two ministers in advance, so that they can know it in their hearts.

Thinking of this, Yang Hao took them out of the court, Yang Hao hurriedly called the emperor, in fact, it was just the construction of the country name, called the emperor, because of the simplicity, there was no time and not enough money to extravagant, so the specific things did not change much, the so-called Golden Palace is the original festival hall, and the Marshal's Mansion was only renamed the palace, in fact, there was no change at all.

Yang Hao led the two of them out of the court, returned to his own house, sat down in the study, waited for someone to bring tea, closed the door, and then said in his heart: "Although the Liao State is strong, it has been greatly injured because of the internal rebellion for many years, and it is now in the stage of recuperation and rest, even if they are promised ten percent of the benefits, they will not go south to the Central Plains, let alone go south because of us."

On the contrary, the Song State with ten years of effort, exterminated Jing, Lake, Shu, Southern Han, Tang, Northern Han, annexed Wu Yue, the momentum is like a rainbow, the sword is like a broken bamboo, so far there has not been a defeat, if you say ambition, now the Song State is far greater than the Liao State. At present, the Liao State has no intention of invading the south, but the Song Dynasty has been eyeing and coveting the clouds since the establishment of the country. ”

Yang Hao said this very firmly, and in fact it was true. The Khitans were foreigners at that time, so in the novels and biographies handed down by the Han people in the Central Plains, the Liao State established by the Khitans was described as extremely aggressive, barbaric, and fierce, but intentionally or unintentionally blurred the fact that the Song State, which was regarded as the Zhengshuo tradition, was the most aggressive country at that time.

None of the countries in the Central Plains had the strength and ambition to provoke the Song State, and they were all wiped out by the Song State's troops, whether it was the Song State or the Liao State, no matter how high-sounding the banner was, its essence was nothing more than a war of imperial invasion, conquest, and expansion of territory.

Although the Liao State was fierce among the people, and when the Song State was in power, the Liao State was already a large empire with a large territory and strong strength, but the Liao State never officially launched a war against the Song State, and the war between the two countries officially began with Zhao Guangyi's Northern Expedition.

Yang Hao said: "Of course, the monarchs and ministers of the Liao State are not good men and women, but the key for us to seek Longyou is for Song Liao to fight." And we are counting on the Liao State to fight the Song State, and its hope is small, it is better to wait for the Song State to fight the Liao State. ”

Yang Hao sighed, pointed to his nose and said: "But Yang Hao suddenly appeared in Hexi, and kicked his nose in the face, and actually established himself as the emperor as Song Chen. It must first eradicate my Xia State before it can be done, even if we beg and surrender, in addition to the emperor's name, we still regard ourselves as Song Chen, if we have a very good relationship with the Liao State, and the Song State will never rest assured of the Northern Expedition. Now, you get it? ”

Chongfang and Ding Chengzong are both clever and exquisite, and they can see through it at one point, and when they heard this, they couldn't help but open their eyes in shock, and said expectantly: "Could it be ...... Could it be that the Holy One wants to ......"

Yang Hao said: "Yes, it is far from enough for us to just remove the emperor and call ourselves vassals to the Song State, we also have to make enough gestures, such as creating a few civil strife, so that the Song State thinks that we are powerless to take care of the outside world; For example, when comparing with Li Guangrui, he paid tribute to the Song State of war horses, and paid ten times the tribute of war horses, so that the Song State would never doubt that my Xia Kingdom had greater ambitions; Another example...... Fight with the Liao State, and even fight hard, so that they will never doubt that we have the possibility of a secret alliance with the Liao State, so that the Song State can be wary and rest assured that the Northern Expedition will come! ”

Chong Fang chased after him and asked: "The strength of the Liao State is far from being comparable to that of the southern countries, how can the Holy Lord predict that the Song State will definitely go on a northern expedition?" ”

Yang Hao naturally can't say that he knows the original direction of development of history, knowing that in history it was the Song State that first launched a war against the Liao State, and Zhao Guangyi personally led hundreds of thousands of troops to invade the Liao State, he had the opportunity to get close to Zhao Guangyi, understand this person's xìng character and willingness, plus the memory of the original events in history, so he has this kind of foresight that his wisdom is close to the demon, this golden finger is not as accurate as other politicians can not predict as accurately as him, and it is also irreproducible, if he is honest, it is his speculation, it was difficult to convince Chongfang and Ding Chengzong, and it was impossible for him to tell them that he was a traverser, so he made up a reason:

"When I was in Bianliang, I was the secretary of Honglu Temple, and I knew a lot about the major political strategy and basic national policies of the Song Dynasty, and at the beginning of the Song Dynasty, I was determined to dominate the world, but it was quite difficult to think about it first in the south and then in the north or in the south, when Zhao Pu and other ministers from the dragon were still in the court, they carefully weighed and decided to follow the national policy of the emperor Guo Wei of the Zhou Dynasty, first the south and then the north, from easy to difficult.

Now, the southern countries have been pacified, all under the jurisdiction of the Song State, and the Song State has embarked on the Northern Expedition. Do you really want to redeem the Sixteen Prefectures of Youyun with money? Zhao Kuangyin, a generation of heroes with great talents, can say that "next to the couch, how can others be allowed to sleep soundly", will he really be so naïve, will he believe that he can buy back the land with money? That was just a pretense, from the very beginning, this money was the military expenses saved, and it was prepared for the recovery of the Sixteen Prefectures of Youyun by force. The current emperor Zhao Guangyi's elimination of the Han dynasty's Liu Jiyuan regime was the last obstacle for him to clear the Northern Expedition of the Song State. ”

There is another sentence, Yang Hao did not say it, it turned out that during Zhao Guangyi's Northern Expedition in history, although the Western Xia regime was also a dúlì regime, it was not called the emperor, and now he was forced to build a country and call himself the emperor, although this variable could not dispel Zhao Guangyi's dream of surpassing the emperor's brother: the Northern Expedition to Yanyun was a miracle. But in history, Zhao Guangyi immediately waved the Northern Expedition after defeating the Northern Han Dynasty, and now the appearance of Yang Hao has changed this history, and it is difficult to say how big the impact of this variable is.

What he has to do now is to work hard to reduce the impact of his little butterfly on the direction of history, and promote Zhao Guangyi to return to the original historical track by demoting himself to the throne, creating civil strife, offering tribute horses, and making enemies with the Liao State. With his understanding of Zhao Guangyi, this person is ambitious and happy, and his lifelong wish is to surpass his eloquent brother, come out of his brother's glory, and establish his immortal feats.

And he wants to surpass Zhao Kuangyin, other credits are not enough, recovering Yanyun is the only chance, he is not the kind of person who is down-to-earth, willing to endure it, and leave the opportunity to his children and grandchildren with more mature conditions to achieve this grand cause, as long as there is a glimmer of hope, he will complete it with his own hands. He is now in the prime of life, since he has the heart of the Northern Expedition, he will not wait until he is old and half-cut into the soil to drive the expedition, therefore, as long as he can successfully dispel his vigilance, he will definitely follow the original historical trajectory, the Northern Expedition Khitan!

Yang Hao said that the Northern Expedition to the Khitan was the established national policy of the Song State, and the imperial court built a pile warehouse and eliminated the Northern Han State, which laid the conditions for the Northern Expedition from both financial and geographical advantages, and there was no reason to believe it. Ding Chengzong thought for a while, and said happily: "I see, the bird will strike, and the wings will fly; When a tiger preys, it must first be ambushed; Chancellor understood. ”

Chong Fang hesitated and said: "If according to what the Holy Lord said, the Song Dynasty has already started preparations for the Northern Expedition, so risky, it is necessary to fight." It's just that...... Now that they have a bad relationship with the Liao State and beg for peace with the Song Dynasty, will they still agree? It is rare to have such a good opportunity to directly annex Hexi, why should they want another Xia State that has its own land and is nominally a vassal? If you want Song Guo to let go, I'm afraid it will be very difficult. ”

Yang Hao smiled and said: "It's difficult to say, but it's not difficult." The Liao people are not idiots, how can they let or even assist the Song people to take my Hexi? The Song court also knew this, and if we voted for the Liao State, the Song State would have to consider it. But I don't want to use this method, I have two treasures, one of which has not yet come, and now is not the time to show it, and the other one, as long as it is dedicated to the Song Kingdom, this problem will be solved. ”

"First: It can make the Zhao official family believe that I am satisfied with a corner of the west of the river, and there is no greater ambition; Second: it can infinitely expand the ambitions of the Zhao Guanjia and speed up the steps of his Northern Expedition; Thirdly, and most importantly, there is ......"

Yang Hao looked at these two confidants and said: "I only had a first-line land in Luzhou and Yinzhou, with less than 40,000 troops, but now I have unified the eighteen states of Hexi, with two million people under my jurisdiction, from Yumen to Hengshan, with a total strength of more than 200,000.

Especially the Zhejia army, Zhe Shuai is my brother-in-law, when I was in Weimo, I had to take care of him in many ways, and when I was in danger, I had to fight side by side, and now he is in a trap, like a prisoner, I can't take back to Fuzhou, and I can't save him, but for my own safety, I surrendered to Song Qihe, called the minister Nagong, how to explain to the tens of thousands of soldiers of the Zhe family? What will the 200,000 soldiers under my command who have been obtained from all sides think of me? How can I be at ease and enjoy peace? I want to use this thing in exchange for his whole family's zìyóu! “

Chongfang and Ding Chengzong were moved when they heard this: "Holy Lord, what kind of treasure is that, it has such a wonderful use?" ”

Yang Hao smiled and said: "This treasure, in fact, you have already seen it, but you didn't know what it was at that time." This thing is the brocade box that Miss Ziyu gave me last time, and what is hidden in it is ......'Ordered by the heavens, both longevity and prosperity'...... The jade seal of the country. ”

Chongfang and Ding Chengzong were originally sitting under him, and when they heard this, their bodies were shocked, and they shouted loudly: "Inherit the jade seal of the country?!" ”

Ding Chengzong said with surprise and joy: "Heirloom jade seal? How did such a treasure fall into the hands of the Holy One? ”

But he said: "Inherit the jade seal of the country!" How can such a treasure be given to others? ”

Yang Hao sat up straight and said leisurely: "King Qin Zhao is Yi and the clan with fifteen cities, and the Qing thinks that it can be exchanged?" ”