This year, many people in the Song, Xia, and Liao Kingdoms had a restless life. This is especially true of Zhao Guangyi. Xichuan has already sent heavy troops, but this time it is far more difficult to suppress the bandits than before, although a large number of troops and materials have been allocated, but so far, the results have not been great.

The reason for this is that in addition to the fact that the bandits' activities have disrupted the bureaucratic system in Nishikawa and made it impossible for it to operate normally, the bandits' different practices have played a great role. In the past, when Zhao Dezhu was the leader of the bandits, he was completely a bandit, even if they built a city, they did not defend it, and left without waiting for the official army to arrive after looting.

At that time, the suppression of bandits was usually the process of the imperial army entering the mountains and sweeping away. After Zhao Dezhuzhong's death, the imperial court thought that this was a major blow to the rebels, but they didn't expect that Tong Yu would be more difficult than Zhao Dezhu after he succeeded him. Since Tong Yu sat on the top spot of the rebel army, he changed the previous practice of leaving and wandering around after fighting, and every time he built a city, in addition to looting the gentry of the treasury to replenish the armament, he also opened a warehouse to provide food, Guangze the people, and acted as the official duty.

The cities he chooses when attacking are no longer aimless, but prioritize places of great influence where the cities he already occupies can be used as horns to help each other. Meanwhile. He also began to establish a base in the dangerous and difficult places of Bashan Shushui, so that the old, weak, sick and disabled, women and children were left behind in these cottages built in the depths of the mountains and Daze, and only the loyal and brave warriors were left under his command, and at the same time these horses were reorganized, and four armies of Xiaoxiong, Xiaoyong, Xiaozhan and Xiaosheng were established, each army had only 20,000 people, although the number was smaller, the weapons and equipment equipped with it were relatively good, and the combat effectiveness was ten times that of before.

At the same time, Tong Yu also strengthened the implementation of military discipline, after the victory in the past, it was said that it was only to rob the gentry and the powerful, but in fact, the well-off family, if the family is solid, it is inevitable to be a pond fish. There is a woman with an outstanding posture, and the rebel army enters the city, and it is inevitable that someone will cause trouble. Although these rebels were originally ordinary people with four walls, once they held the handle of the knife in their hands, their fierceness and greed were not inferior to that of bandits.

After Tong Yu strictly disciplined the military, he demanded that Qiu should not commit any crimes in every broken city, and the necessary supplies should be used in the treasury first, and when it was insufficient, he called on the people to report the local rich and bad Jian merchants, confiscate their family property to make up for the shortage, and if there was a surplus, he would help the people, and those gentry with good reputation, even if the family wealth was million, he would never take a penny.

This time, Tong Yu's army won the hearts of the people, and when he attacked a city in the past. The local gentry and magnates have spared no effort to support the government in all aspects of people, property and property, but now it is much different, and sometimes the capture of a city is indeed as the Chengdu prefect Zhou Weiyong said that the banner goes, looking at the wind and falling, there is not even a little decent resistance.

And Wang Xiaobo, who sat in the third golden chair in the rebel army, became Tong Yu's most relied on staff, and proposed for him, "I am sick and rich and poor, and now you are equal." The weight of my disease and harsh taxes is now reduced by you, and the cultivators who are sick have no land, and now they are divided by you". And that's exactly what they did, giving relief to the poor everywhere they went, exempting them from tax reductions, and dividing the land and land, thus winning the hearts of the people.

Tong Yu's series of practices made this group of bandits wandering everywhere begin to have the appearance of a regular army, while Wang Xiaobo's series of practices made this army have the characteristics of a political regime, which made the imperial court no longer dare to ignore those mud legs in Xichuan.

The situation on the Hexi side also began to become complicated, taking advantage of the conflict between the Liao and Xia states in the Fengtai Mountain area, Pan Mei organized several counterattacks, although he now had a limited number of troops and did not occupy the advantage, he still achieved certain results. The Xia army was forced to abandon some fortresses and beacons at the outpost of the eastern line of Hengshan, but the Song side had just gained the upper hand, and the Liao side immediately stopped the attack. Empress Dowager Xiao's envoys also arrived in Xia at this time, and the two sides began to negotiate. On the one hand, the Xia State negotiated with the Liao State, and on the other hand, concentrated its forces, launched several counter-assaults on the Song State's side, and recaptured some fortresses, and the two sides won and lost in half, and in general, it was still a stalemate at present.

One southwest, one northwest, made Zhao Guangyi very sad, the new chūn had just finished the big holiday, and after the court meeting early in the morning, he immediately left several leaders from all walks of life in the military and political circles, and discussed these two major events that gave him a headache in the Wende Palace.

After the ministers had finished giving their gifts, Zhao Guangyi said straight to the point: "Ladies and gentlemen, now that Xichuan is erosive, Hexi is stuck, and the court is distracted, which is quite difficult." Xichuan is the heart of the imperial court, and if the bandits are in Xichuan, Jinghu Yungui and even Guanzhong will not be at peace, and this trouble in the heart must not be eliminated. Yang Hao in Hexi rebelled and ignored the imperial court, which was a great rebellion, and it was not necessary to punish the world, but the current situation, the southwest and northwest were fighting. Who is the main and who is secondary, who is light and who is heavy, what are your opinions? ”

For the military, the privy council decreed that Cao Bin, as the supreme head of the military, should naturally express his opinion first, and immediately went out to play: "Shengshang, the people of Xichuan gathered to rebel, the remote cause is that when we were the first and took Xichuan, the killing was too heavy, Wang Quanbin and the army was bandits, looting everywhere, so as to arouse public resentment, the proximate cause is that after our dynasty unified Xichuan, the harsh taxes of the former Shu have not been canceled, the people have a difficult life, no livelihood, and there is a big problem with the salt tea policy.

Speaking of which, the Xichuan bandits are just some desperate grass people who plundered the Quartet in order to beg for food, and their harm is very different from that of Hexi, so I think it. On the one hand, the stubborn ones should be encircled and suppressed with heavy troops, and on the other hand, the excesses and miscellaneous taxes should be abolished, the Xichuan salt and tea policy should be adjusted, and the disaster should be eliminated by giving grain for disaster relief and cutting off the root cause of the chaos. And Yang Hao of Hexi was originally a Song minister, but he rebelled against the land, this fang is not punished, why is it jǐng the world? Now Yang Hao has just called the emperor and founded the country, and his foundation is shallow. It is a God-given opportunity for our dynasty to fight with the Liao people, and the imperial court should stabilize the Northern Dynasty and crusade against Hexi with heavy troops, and complete the battle in one battle. ”

"Lord Cao's words are wrong."

Zhang Xun immediately went out to refute: "For Xichuan, the combination of grace and power, and the use of suppression and appeasement, this point is also agreed, but for the policy of Hexi, the official feels that Lord Cao's idea is a bit wishful thinking." ”

Cao Bin didn't think it was angry, and arched his hand and said: "What is Lord Zhang's opinion, Cao is willing to hear the details." ”

Zhang Yi said: "Internal worries are more important than external troubles. The Xichuan Rebellion was caused by the people of our Song State in the territory of my Song Kingdom, and the soldiers and horses that Yang Hao commanded, the territory under his jurisdiction, and the people he governed were based on the Hexi Tuoba clan and the westward expansion of the Yumen. Xichuan is the heart of the imperial court, and if it does not subside for a long time, it will hurt its vitality.

As for saying that the Xichuan bandits are just desperate grass people who are plundering in all directions, and they have no ambitions, Lord Cao inevitably takes them too lightly. Qiang Qin unified the six countries, Wei Jia Yunei, strong and prosperous for a while, but the cause of the overthrow of the Great Qin Empire was the rebellion of a group of mud legs in Daze Township. Since ancient times, when the old is removed and the new is ushered in, and the regime changes, how many times have the grass people acted as bandits at the beginning and indulged in trouble?

Those grass people may really have no ambitions, but when their climate is established, the ambitions and aspirations of their leaders are naturally not as good as they are in the past, and even if they have no ambition to make a living, they have their own ambitions to take advantage of them. When Zhao Dezhu, the leader of the Xichuan bandits, was there, he led the bandits to loot everywhere. Gathering in the mountains and forests, it is indeed a group of bandits with no ambitions, and now it is ...... What they have done is clearly intended to establish a regime. Once they really make them the climate, isn't the harm especially worse in Hexi? ”

These words are fair, Lu Yuqing, Xue Juzheng and others nodded frequently after hearing this, and Zhang Xun said: "On the other hand, looking at Hexi, how easy is it to complete the battle in one battle?" My Song country has just gained the upper hand, and the Liao people, who have always been fierce and arrogant, immediately stopped fighting with the Xia people, how can I understand? I don't want to give me a chance to take advantage of it. Even if there is no Liao State to interfere with it, now that there is the Xichuan Rebellion in the imperial court, it is not an overnight achievement to conquer Hexi. ”

Lu Duoxun twisted his beard and asked: "Then according to what Lord Zhang said, the imperial court should focus on Xichuan, take Xichuan first, and then conquer Hexi?" ”

Zhang Xun smiled slightly, and asked instead of answering: "Master Lu thinks that the fundamental enemy of my dynasty is in Hexi or in Saibei?" ”

Lu Duoxun was stunned, and when he saw that everyone was looking at him, he had to answer: "Naturally, it is Saibei, even if Yang Hao is called the emperor, it is just a small domain in Hexi, Hexi is barren and poor, and it is difficult to become a big weapon. ”

Zhang Xun said with a smile: "That's it, Saibei, for example, it is my great enemy in the Central Plains, since the Sixteen Prefectures of Youyun fell into the hands of the Northern Kingdom, the threat of the Northerners to my Central Plains has been greater." Because of this, Emperor Shizong of the former dynasty personally conquered the northern kingdom and recaptured the land of Ying, Mo and Yi. At the beginning of the founding of the country, Emperor Taizu of our dynasty set the national policy of Chi first in the south and then in the north, first the easy and then the difficult, and I also wanted to recover Yanyun.

After the first emperor unified the Central Plains, he refused to accept the invitation of his ministers to add the honorific title of "unification of Taiping", because the first emperor never forgot Youyan and did not recover. Today, the royal drive to conquer the Han Kingdom, is to recover Youyan to eliminate resistance, in the minister, the will of the first emperor, will be fulfilled in the hands of the saint, this "unification of the peace" of the honorific title, will be waited by us, please add to the saint. ”

Zhao Guangyi listened, and the red light on his face suddenly flashed, "The royal drive to conquer and set foot on the Han Kingdom" is the most glorious feat in his life so far, and he was naturally very excited when he heard Zhang Xun mention it. And the honorific title of "Unification of Taiping", the former dynasty Shizong Chai did not get it, and the imperial brother Taizu did not get it, if it can be added to his emperor title, he can override Chai Rong and Zhao Kuangyin. He is now the emperor, rich all over the world, and his status is unmatched, what else can he pursue? The only pursuit is only the status in the history books, surpassing Chai Rong and Zhao Kuangyin, and being the most brilliant son of heaven after Emperor Qin, Han Wu and Tang Taizong, this idea made his blood boil.

Zhang Xun saw that he had successfully provoked the ambition of the official family, and he was more determined in his heart, and said eloquently: "Now, Hexi has become a force of its own, if it joins forces with the north, and the west and the north join forces to clamp down on my Great Song Dynasty, I will be attacked on both sides, and the move of plotting Youyan will come to naught. ”

Zhao Guangyi heard him mention his feat of exterminating the Han State, and the gods were quite self-satisfied, but when they heard this, they couldn't help but sink their faces, and said unhappily: "Yang Hao is self-reliant as a courtier, facing the south and turning his back to the north, this is a great rebellion, if you don't crusade, why do you show the world, is it because you are afraid that you will join forces with the Northern Dynasty, so you will recognize his throne?" ”

Zhang Xun hurriedly bowed down and said: "The minister doesn't dare, what the minister means is that the people under Yang Hao's jurisdiction and the land under his jurisdiction are all the five states and the states of Hexi. The army led by him, one came from the old department of the Dingyan army, one came from the Ganliang Susha Prefectures in Hexi, and the other was the Western Regions Zahu recruited, I was established at the beginning of the Great Song Dynasty, and there was no time to look westward, and the above people and their land were not under the original rule of my Song State, and now the hands of Yang Hao are better than in the hands of the party, Tubo, and Hui Zhufan, of course, the premise is that Yang Hao can still claim to be a Song minister.

Yang Hao was called the emperor, he had no such ambition, but it was actually the westward march of the imperial army, and his identity was embarrassing, and he had no choice but to advance or retreat. Therefore, if the imperial court can take advantage of the evil relations between the Xia State and Liao, stop the army and send envoys, persuade him to go to the emperor's title, demote himself to a higher level of regulation, and still regard himself as a Song minister, then he can be restrained in the name of righteousness. In this way, we can free up our hands to calm Xichuan first and relieve our worries. At the same time, it can also completely cut off the connection between Xia and Liao, and clarify the sovereignty of our dynasty over Hexi, which can be described as killing two birds with one stone.

After that, when Xichuan is pacified, when the time is ripe, the Holy Northern Expedition can also be carried out, and the Western Expedition can also be carried out. If you want to go on the Northern Expedition, Hexi is weak and lonely, and it has been restrained by the imperial court, but if you are lucky, you will not provoke right and wrong, and you will be the pioneer of Liao. As long as the imperial court shows its favor, it can be appeased, so that the northwest can sit on the wall and watch, and will not drag the court back. If you want to go west, the rear will be appeased at that time, and it will be much easier than now. ”

Hearing this, Luo Kedi shook his head slightly and said: "In the past, Li Yu of the Tang Kingdom also surrendered to the emperor, but failed to prevent my army from going south. If he is attached to the Liao State, at least he can keep the throne alive, and between Song and Liao, he will not choose the Song State. ”

Old Man Luo, who has always believed in doing more things and talking less, stood on the side with his eyes half-open and half-closed, as if he was asleep, until his son spoke, his old eyes opened slightly, and after listening to his son, there was nothing out of proportion, the upper eyelids and lower eyelids were closed again, and that appearance was just one more breath than the Longting stone pillar next to him.

Zhang Xun had already been entrusted by Yang Hao, and he was confident, and said angrily: "Han Guogan is a pawn of the Liao State, what will happen is also a lesson from the past, where to go, of course, it depends on Yang Hao's choice, but if we can take the initiative to recruit and persuade him, I know that he will not choose my dynasty?" What's more, now that there is a dispute in Liaoxia, this is a good opportunity, seize the opportunity, you can get twice the result with half the effort, if you can get the law with words, why can't you convince Yang Hao? ”

When Zhang Xun said this, he arched his hand to Zhao Guangyi and said: "If the Holy Lord agrees, Zhang Xun is willing to preside over the affairs of the imperial court and persuade Yang Hao to bow down to the official family!" ”

Zhao Guangyi thought about the increasingly rotten situation in Xichuan, and then thought about the performance of the Liao State, which had always been arrogant and arrogant, before and after the Song army went to war, and he didn't feel a little moved. The two feudal domains of Linfu, the five states of Dingdifficult, and then the Tubo Huifu to the west, has not been under the control of the imperial court before, and now the imperial court has won the two states of Linfu, but the fiasco of the Black Snake Ridge has made the offensive stop in Hengshan, if Yang Hao can be forced to claim the vassal again, the Linfu has already arrived, and the imperial court has temporarily withdrawn from Hexi with dignity. The Southern Tang Dynasty and the Northern Han Dynasty are not invincible at one time, today's Xia State does not seem to be inferior to the Tang and Han Dynasty, and it is impossible for the imperial court to spend all its strength in Hexi, Zhang Xun is right, the most threatening to the Great Song Dynasty is the Liao State, and the Liao State will not sit idly by and watch the Song State occupy Hexi, and take it when it is good......

The more Zhao Guangyi thought about it, the more he felt that this delaying tactic made Lu Duoxun always observe the words and observe the sè beside him, and when he saw Zhao Guangyi's gods, he couldn't help but secretly say that it was not good, he remembered the history books that Zhao Guangyi had read some time ago, and couldn't help but suddenly realize: "This is the intention of the saint at all, the saint wants to follow the example of Han Wu, and restrain Hexi to control Mobei, if Mobei is determined, Hexi will naturally surrender, but Yang Hao is a rebel in the end, and the saint is not good at taking the initiative to compromise, Zhang Xun ...... I am afraid that I was instructed by the Holy Lord to come up with this idea. ”

As soon as he thought of this, Lu Duosun suddenly felt a sense of crisis, and he consciously checked Zhao Guangyi's pulse, for fear that Zhao Guangyi would immediately nod and agree, and he would have to show off his talents to show that he and the saint have always had a good heart, so he hurriedly went out of class and said: "Saint, the minister thinks that what Lord Zhang Yi has seen is very good. In the past, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty took the Xiongnu in Mobei as the great enemy, and dragged his feet for the fear of the Western Regions, so he took the initiative to conclude an alliance with the King of Wusun, the Xiongnu were defeated, and the Western Regions surrendered without a fight.

Yang Hao in Hexi, because of the situation, but its land is barren, its people are fierce, now the imperial army is pressing, and the miscellaneous Hu departments under its jurisdiction can still work together, and the external force is gone, Yang Hao wants to integrate the Tubo and Hui tribes for their own use, and it is difficult to ascend to the sky. If the imperial court restrains Yang Hao now, it can solve the problem of using troops on both sides, and can concentrate all its efforts to quell the Xichuan Rebellion, and if you want to go north to the Khitan in the future, you can also make Yang Hao sit on the wall and watch. Once Youyan arrives, Yang Hao is just the second Chen Hongjin, in addition to sacrificing land and accepting land, is there a second choice? ”

The most important place in Zhao Guangyi's heart is also Youyan, the reason why he must fight Hexi is because Yang Hao is the emperor, and the courtiers of Xi Rì are on an equal footing with him, which he can't accept anyway, he doesn't think that Hexi alone can pose any threat to the Central Plains, but once Hexi joins forces with Liao, it will be different. And at the moment, it is clear that the more ruthless the Xia State is fought, the greater the possibility of the Liaoxia Alliance, since the plan of the surprise attack and quick battle has come to an end in Linfu and can no longer obtain more benefits, it is indeed a good choice to end the war in Hexi with dignity and concentrate on solving the Xichuan Rebellion first.

As for the Xia Kingdom, when Xichuan is pacified in the future, if Xichuan is taken, he can follow the example of the imperial brother and summon Yang Hao, a courtier, to see him, if he comes, he can put him under house arrest in the capital, if he does not come, he is afraid that there will be no excuse to conquer Hexi again. The more Zhao Guangyi thought about it, the more he felt that it was most appropriate to deal with it in this way, and now the two prime ministers he relied on the most agreed on the same opinion, Zhao Guangyi's determination was set, he nodded and was about to speak, Lu Duoxun took a step forward and said: "When Yang Hao was appointed as the secretary of Honglu Temple, he was quite familiar with the minister, and the minister was willing to share his worries for His Majesty, negotiate with Yang Hao, and say that he came to surrender." ”

Zhao Guangyi was overjoyed, and said happily: "Okay, in this case, this matter will be handed over to the two Aiqing, the two Aiqing have the talent of Su Qin and Zhang Yi, and I have the assistance of two Aiqing, and the hegemony can be expected!" Hahaha......"