After Zhang Weixin explained, what really caught the attention of Chai Rongjunchen was his sentence "Within three or four years, Bixia will definitely wave the Northern Expedition". Zhao Kuangyin and the minister surnamed Zhang's first reaction was that this kid was too arrogant, before the official family in order to unify the world and let the ministers offer advice, Duanming Palace, Zuo Sancai Chang Wang Wang Wang on the "flat side policy" is already the most daring among the ministers, but its purpose is still to pay attention to the strategy of "first south and then north", "first easy and then difficult", and it is recommended that the official family first pacify the small courts in the south, and then carry out the northern expedition when the country is strong and the soldiers are strong.

At this time, Zhang Weixin, who had only returned to Middle-earth for more than two years and was just a commoner, actually put forward a strategy that was even more radical than the "Pingbian Policy", believing that the official family would carry out the Northern Expedition within three or four years. Judging from the current strength of the imperial court, it may not even be possible to pacify the south in three or four years, let alone fight against the Khitans, whose strength is far stronger than that of the southern countries.

Therefore, Zhang Weixin's voice fell, and Zhang and Zhao scolded him for arrogance in unison. And Zhang Weixin pleaded guilty to Chai Rong while peeking at Chai Rong's expression. As a result, he found that Chai Rong's face did not have a look of blame, and he was still as calm as just now, which made Zhang Weixin breathe a sigh of relief.

The reason why Chai Rong did not blame Zhang Weixin was because Zhang Weixin's words made him feel like he had met a confidant. As an emperor with lofty goals and great talents, unifying the world was his lifelong goal. Previously, although he accepted the strategic thinking in Wang Pu's "Pingbian Policy", he decided to implement the unified strategy of "first the south and then the north" and "first the easy and then the difficult". However, in the first year of his ascension to the throne, Liu Chong, who was a puppet Han, came to dismount. Although the Zhou army defeated the Han army in the first battle of Gaoping, it was unable to quickly break through the city of Taiyuan due to the poor strength of the Zhou army at that time, and the Khitans were eyeing the side and had to return to the court, so that the puppet Han court could survive.

It can be said that Chai Rong hated Liu Chong and his puppet Han court to the core. Although Liu Chong is now dead, the puppet Han court he established is still there, and his son Liu Jun is still in front of the puppet emperor. This made Chai Rong like a fish in his throat, and he would want to get rid of it quickly. However, if you want to eradicate the puppet Han, you will inevitably clash with its protectors, the Khitans. If you want to defeat the Khitan, you must first stabilize your rear. Now the Southern Tang Dynasty, which occupies the area of Jiangbei and Huainan, has frequent contacts with the Khitan and secretly colludes, and if they wave their troops to the Northern Expedition to Youyun, the Southern Tang Dynasty is likely to take the opportunity to attack their rear, so that they can't care about each other.

It was precisely this situation of being attacked on both sides that prompted him to accept Wang Pu's strategy of "first the south and then the north" and "first the easy and then the difficult", and planned to pacify the south before launching the northern expedition. But even Wang Pu, who advocated the conquest of the world by force, only gave the strategic ideas of "south first, then north" and "easy first and then difficult", but failed to understand Chai Rong's urgency for the Northern Expedition. Therefore, in Wang Pu's "Pingbian Policy", it was proposed that the northern expedition should be carried out after all the southern courts were pacified.

If Wang Pu had followed his suggestion, it would have taken more than ten years to start the Northern Expedition. Although Chai Rong once said that he wanted to "open up the world for ten years, raise the people for ten years, and achieve peace for ten years", now he always has a feeling of "time is not waiting for me", and he always hopes to complete the great cause of reunification as soon as possible, so that the people can have a stable life. Therefore, in Chai Rong's heart, there has always been an idea, that is, after pacifying the Southern Tang Dynasty, he will first let go of the small courts in the south, but do his best to go north, recover the sixteen states of Youyun, completely eradicate the small court of the puppet Han Dynasty, so that his northern border is no longer threatened by the Khitans, and then concentrate on the south of the army and dominate the world.

Therefore, when he heard Zhang Weixin infer that the Great Zhou army would definitely go on a northern expedition within three or four years, Chai Rong not only did not think that he was talking wildly, but thought that this scholar from overseas was very interested in his own appetite. So, he was neither angry nor annoyed, but still asked in his calm voice: "Zhang Weixin, I can't imagine that you, a scholar in cloth who has only returned to Middle-earth not long ago, would come to such a speculation. You know that I once asked the ministers of the court about the plan to 'unify the world', and the most daring strategy was only 'first the south and then the north', 'the easy first and then the difficult', and only after the puppet courts in the south were all pacified, could the northern expedition be carried out in due time, recover the clouds, and eradicate the puppet Han. If this strategy is followed, it will be impossible to complete it in three or four years, even if the southern army is weak. I wonder how you deduced that I would send an army to the north in three or four years? ”,

Seeing that Chai Rong was not only not annoyed by what he had just said, but was very interested, Zhang Wei had some confidence in it, and after sorting out his thoughts a little, he said: "Bixia, although the grass people's inference seems to be too urgent compared with the pacification strategy formulated by the ministers of the DPRK and China, the reason why the grass people came to such an inference is actually based on the same considerations as the 'south first and then the north' and 'easy first and then difficult' policies that Bixia just said. In other words, the grass people's ideas are actually similar to the strategy that Bixia is implementing. However, the view of the ministers of the DPRK and China is 'south first and then north,' while the idea of the grass people is 'south first, then north, and then south and then north.' ”

"What does it mean to be 'first south, then north, then south and then north'?" Zhang Weixin's novel views aroused Chai Rong's interest, and he hurriedly asked.

Zhang Weixin explained: "Bixia, the so-called 'first south', means that before the Northern Expedition, we must first wave the army south, recover the land of Jiangbei and Huainan, and completely drive the Southern Tang Shili across the river. In this way, during the Bixia Northern Expedition, even if the Southern Tang Lord had the heart to respond to the Khitan, it would have little effect because of the river blockage.

The so-called 'Houbei' means that after recovering the land of Huainan, Bixia can safely point his troops to the north, carry out a northern expedition, recover the sixteen states of Youyun, and drive the Khitans back to the outside of the Saiwai. Afterwards, Bixia can wave westward, sweep away the pseudo-Han in one fell swoop, and pull out this 'thorn in the eye and thorn in the flesh'.

The so-called 'further south' means that after Bixia recovered Youyun and eradicated the puppet Han, the army turned back to the south again, crossed the river, pacified the small courts in the south of the Yangtze River one by one, and initially completed the unification of the world.

The so-called 'further north' should actually be divided into two parts. The first is 'to the north', that is to say, after the initial completion of the unification of the world, after a period of recuperation, after a period of recuperation, when the national strength is further enhanced, especially after the cavalry is strong enough, it can lead troops across the Great Wall, march into the hinterland of the Khitan, recover the Liao River and even the Yalu River, and restore the hometown of the Han and Tang Dynasties.

The second is to 'go to the northwest again', which will be the five prefectures of Dingnan and the two prefectures of Fulin, which have been subordinating themselves to the imperial court since the end of the Tang Dynasty, and the Liang, Gan, Su, Gua, Sha and other prefectures that have been separated from the imperial court for a longer time, all of which will be placed under the direct jurisdiction of the imperial court, opening up the road to the Western Regions, and then rebuilding the Anxi Protectorate, reproducing the majesty of the Han and Tang dynasties.

It is precisely according to this strategy that the grass people think that after recovering the land of Jiangbei and Huainan, Bixia may carry out the first northern expedition to recover the sixteen states of Youyun. And it is not difficult for the imperial court to recover the land of Jiangbei and Huainan, even if it is necessary to appease the newly recovered land and rectify the army and horses, three or four years of time is completely enough. ”

The "world" involved in Zhang Weixin's tirade has actually gone beyond the "world" in Chai Rong's thought, and has reached the maximum range that the ancient Chinese dynasty could control and once controlled. For the feudal emperors of this era, especially for feudal emperors with great talents like Chai Rong, the temptation to restore the homeland of the Han and Tang dynasties, reproduce the majesty of the Han and Tang dynasties, and leave behind the great achievements of the Han Wu and Tang Sects is quite great.

Although Chai Rong constantly reminded himself in his heart to be calm and objective, and he must not be confused by the "super delicious cake" painted by Zhang Weixin, the idea of establishing a great cause for thousands of years and becoming an emperor of the ages still jumped out, which made his original ambition of "dominating the world" even more intense.

However, Chai Rong is an emperor after all, and he has long practiced a set of skills that are not good for mood. Therefore, although his heart is full of passion, his face is still as calm as water. Regarding Zhang Weixin's strategy, he just nodded approvingly and said, "It can be seen that your remarks today are well thought out. Although some ideas are too optimistic, it is rare for you to have such a strategy in your capacity. If the unrealistic part of it is removed, it can complement the strategies offered by the ministers of the DPRK and China. ”

"Bixia has an overreputation, how dare the grass people compare with the ministers of the DPRK and China," Zhang Weixin hurriedly said humbly.

Seeing that Zhang Weixin was so humble and not complacent because of his praise, Chai Rong was even happier in his heart, and his desire to accept him for his own use was also stronger. Moreover, in addition to Zhang Weixin, Zeng Zhilin, Xu Shaoan and Wang Feng, three talents who are proficient in the use of firearms, are also within the scope of his recruitment. At the same time, Wang Kunjun, who is the leader of this group of people, will not be left behind. In Chai Rong's opinion, as long as Wang Kunjun can be recruited under his command, his brothers who stayed in Youzhou will naturally come with him. ,

Therefore, Chai Rong said to Zhang Weixin: "You are too modest. With your talents, you are fully qualified to enter the court as an official. At that time, you will be in the same house as the ministers who offer advice, and your plans will be on a par with them. Moreover, you are not alone, these brothers of yours are outstanding talents, and I will also reward and promote. ”

Chai Rong's words couldn't be clearer, he wanted to give Zhang Weixin and all the brothers present an official title. If other people heard the news, they would definitely be overjoyed, but Zhang Weixin and the others couldn't help but secretly scream that it was not good. Because the purpose of the "South Audience Delegation" to Kaifeng this time is not to seek officials, but to show favor to Chai Rong, to establish stable contacts with the Later Zhou court and the emperor, and to create more space for the future development of the team. Even if they ask for officials, they will choose to ask for it when the merit is greater, rather than now. With the current situation of the team, if they leave Youzhou, the place of foundation, all members of the team are very clear about what the consequences will be, which is why Weishenme did not bring key Jishu talents with him this time.

Therefore, after hearing that Chai Rong had the intention of being an official, Zhang Weixin quickly exchanged glances with Wang Kunjun and Xu Shaoan, and after getting the support of the two, he immediately saluted Chai Rong and said: "Bixia Mingjian, the grass people are just a scholar in cloth clothes, how can he dare to be a minister in the same hall with those talents in the world." Moreover, the grass people once swore to the sky that if the people of Youyun did not break away from the enslavement of the Khitans for a day, the grass people would never leave them. ”

"Caomin and others have also made the same oath, and I hope that Bixia Mingjian" Wang Kunjun and others echoed in unison.

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