Emperor Zhao Xu sat upright and waited for Li Kuikai to say, just like a poodle in the palace, don't get me wrong, it's the little thing called Jingba.

It is said that the dog breed of Jingba is extremely noble, and the purebred bloodline that has lasted for 2,000 years in the Chinese court is purer than the bloodline of any dog breed in the world. According to legend, during the Qin Dynasty, it was the exclusive pet of the harem. Moreover, for the next two thousand years, the poodle has been breeding in the court and has never severed its bloodline. This has the title of the court poodle, and the reason why the poodle does not have to worry about the blood being tainted is that the pastoral dog cannot enter the palace.

Don't look at poodles are very cute, they make a living by showing off their looks.

But this creature has a great legend, and according to legend, the poodle is the embodiment of the mythical beast unicorn.

As a dog with unicorn blood, its dog life must be noble, elegant, and detached from low-level tastes......

Anyway, there is no problem at all when the rice comes to open the mouth.

Hearing that Li Kui opened his mouth is Pingxia Wuce, Zhao Xu's heart is extremely warm, he is the emperor, how can he lose his temper outside. At this time, the little emperor, like the poodle of the court, looked at Li Kui with blank eyes, waiting for Li Kui to feed, oh, wrong, waiting for Li Kui to reveal the mystery.

But Li Kui didn't have the slightest awareness to explain the confusion of the little emperor Zhao Xu, but pretended to hold his chin and look at the emperor profoundly, which seemed very unreasonable, but it gave people a look of embarrassment, and people couldn't guess what Li Kui was thinking in his heart.

"Before we come up with a plan, there's a problem."

"But it doesn't hurt to say it!" Zhao Xu is the emperor, how can he not have a temper. But in Li Kui's family, especially in front of the third uncle, he has been repeatedly frustrated, and he has become accustomed to the rhythm of the family's talking and ambushing. If it was a different one, Zhao Xu would have been unhappy a long time ago, and it was not impossible to even walk away.

"Does the imperial court want to destroy the Western Xia, or does it directly want to solve the temporary troubles and weaken the strength of the Western Xia, so that it cannot attack our borders?"

"What do you mean by that?"

Li Kui gestured to Zhao Xu and said: "If you want to temporarily solve the frequent invasion of our Great Song border by Western Xia, as long as the court is determined, there will be a prepared counterattack from Huanqing Road, Dunyan Road, and even Jinning and other places." The Western Xia army was dragged around the Huanqing Road, and heavy troops were sent to storm the Hengshan area bordering the Yanyan Road, and advanced to Longzhou and Hongzhou, seizing the Hengshan line, bounded by the desert outside Yulin, to prevent the Tangut from moving south. ”

"What's in it for this fight?"

"The advantage is that the effect is fast, three or five years is enough, as long as the main force of Western Xia is annihilated by 100,000, the troops of Western Xia will naturally not be able to defend the border of more than 1,000 miles bordering my Great Song Dynasty. It was necessary to shrink the defensive line in order to stabilize the Hetao Plain, the core area of the Western Xia country. Although Western Xia claimed to have an army of 500,000, in fact, there were no more than 300,000 troops that could fight. The destruction of the 100,000 army and the recovery of the Western Xia army will take twenty years. ”

Twenty years, that is, a generation.

"Twenty years?" Zhao Xu thought thoughtfully, he may think that under his wise decision, the Great Song Dynasty will not be the same in twenty years.

But Li Kui is not optimistic.

Why? Very simple. If the Great Song Dynasty had made great efforts, the Renzong period would have been hegemonic long ago, even if Emperor Renzong was too benevolent, but what about Emperor Shenzong? There is still no drama, and the reason for the absence of drama is naturally caused by the system of the Great Song Dynasty, not through the decision of wealth. The Great Song Dynasty has always been very wealthy, and I don't know how much distance it is from the surrounding countries in terms of wealth.

However, the foreign war of the Great Song Dynasty has not been smooth.

From the beginning of Zhao Er's ambition to recover the sixteen states of Youyun; Later, Emperor Zhenzong was deceived by Kou Zhun to the front line in Danzhou and was almost scared to death; During the Renzong period, the Western Xia was established, and the Great Song Dynasty had no good way.

The army of the Great Song Dynasty was not bad, and the weapons were even more ahead of any opponent. But the results have not been satisfactory.

Zhao Xu thought a lot, it was all done by his ancestors, and he also felt that he had no bottom in his heart, he couldn't destroy Xixia now, could he destroy Xixia in twenty years?

Don't forget, the period when the Great Song and Western Xia fought most frequently was not the Shenzong period, but the Renzong period. But was Western Xia crippled?

No.

The party is like a Xiaoqiang who can't be killed, every time he can't do it, and after a blink of an eye, he has to fight to the death with Da Song. All along, Da Song has been in a passive situation strategically.

Zhao Xu felt that twenty years was not unreliable, and asked: "Then what should be done about the strategy of destroying Western Xia?" ”

"Hehe, find a simple one, but before you say the answer, you must know how many people are in Western Xia?" Li Kui's laughter was a little cold, which made people feel very uncomfortable when they sounded.

Zhao Xu didn't care, and muttered, "About three million, right?" ”

The figures that Zhao Xu could get were basically accurate numbers, and three million was also the heyday of the population of Western Xia. But compared with the 10,000,000 population of the Great Song Dynasty, the 3 million people in Western Xia are simply not enough.

Li Kui finally said his standard for destroying Western Xia, he grinned, showed his miserable white teeth, and jumped out word by word: "Kill half, slaughter three main cities, and destroy the clan if you don't accept it." ”

Zhao Xu thought he had heard it wrong: "What kill half?" ”

"Reduce the Tangut to 1.5 million, slaughter at least three major cities that have been conquered, completely crush all the illusions and ambitions of the Dangxiang people, and completely break their backbones. It's as simple as that. ”

"This ......"

Especially the murderous tone, which made Zhao Xu feel like he was in the sea of corpses and blood. Like a cold wind pouring in from the placket of his clothes, Zhao Xu's face turned pale with fright, and he didn't know that the tea cup he was holding for warmth fell on the dining table.

On the contrary, Tong Guan on the side heard Li Kui's words, and trembled excitedly, gurgling in his throat, and his pants were a little damp. But it doesn't matter, for him, the kind of charge that spreads the battle flag under the flying loess in the sky makes you want to roar a few times, arousing the most warlike demon in Tong Guan's heart. When he found out that something was wrong with Zhao Xu, he panicked and said, "Emperor, sixth master." You ......"

Zhao Xu waved his hand and pushed Tong Guan's arm away, a little annoyed to see that he was making a fool of himself. But his eyes stared at Li Kui and said, "You want the Celestial Empire to establish a country with unkindness? ”

"Sage Cloud: Only the benevolent can be good and evil. The party is of a different race, greedy and brutal and warlike, and the people on my side have been separated from their wives and their wives have been ruined, and their families have been ruined and destroyed by the Western Xia. Li Kui knew that this was the result, and Zhao Xu couldn't make up his mind. said coldly: "The battle to destroy the country, destroy the court, collapse the society, and burn the temple, how can it happen in harmony." Only when blood flows like a river and the first level gathers mountains can the party members be completely frightened. ”

"Why was the former dynasty able to submit to countless nations?" Zhao Xu still wants to fight for it, after all, he is the age of the second year of secondary school. is still a rising star that even Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty can look down on. Of course, it's one thing to look down on, it's another thing to be strong. When the emperor said the former dynasty, he certainly did not mean the later Zhou, but the Tang Dynasty. Although the Great Song Dynasty lacks borders and corners, at least it is also a unified dynasty, where does the Later Zhou Dynasty deserve to be compared with the Great Song Dynasty?

Li Kui raised his eyelids and glanced at Zhao Xu, and said softly: "There is rarely a defeat in a hundred battles in the previous dynasty!" Although this is a bit exaggerated, there is nothing wrong with Datang.

China has not always been a ceremonial state, there are two dynasties, for seven or eight hundred years, it has always been a fighting nation.

The Han Dynasty destroyed the Eastern and Western Huns, and the remnants of the Xiongnu went to Eastern Europe, and then beat the Roman Empire to the point of shouting Dad!

The Tang Dynasty will not talk about it, it is also the master who starts fighting if he disagrees. Especially in the 100 years after the founding of the country, he was a madman who went into battle with the emperor and the people. When they hit the surrounding kingdoms, they could only bow their heads and admit that the Tang Dynasty was their heavenly khan. There are few dynasties in the Central Plains that can control the Western Regions, but both the Han and Tang dynasties have the confidence to win the Western Regions. This led to the prosperity of the Silk Road.

As for the Song Dynasty?

Li Kui is hard to say. After saying that he was afraid that Emperor Zhao Xu would be annoyed and ashamed, he jumped up and wanted to fight with him. The emperor led his troops to fight, and then lost, leaving the ministers to take the blame. If you can be brave and brave, it will be enough to take back the lost face, the key is that after Zhao Er lost this game, his confidence was gone. This is still one of the two emperors of Wuxun's founding, how does this make him evaluate?

"Hmph-"

Naturally, the emperor was not satisfied with this result. Even Li Kui's Pingxia Five Strategies didn't ask, and left in a bad mood. Some things can't be said thoroughly, and if they are said thoroughly, the fig leaf of the Great Song Dynasty is gone.

Where did the imperial power of the Great Song Dynasty come from?

The soldiers came.

However, Zhao Kuangyin's mutiny was a relatively peaceful mutiny for Hou Zhou. After the mutiny, Zhao Kuangyin quickly took control of Bianliang City, but did not raise a butcher's knife against the Later Zhou royal family, but forced the Later Zhou Emperor Chai Zongxun Chan to make concessions. The emperor of the Later Zhou Dynasty was not killed, but made King Zheng king. Moreover, Zhao Kuangyin made an oath that the Later Zhou royal family and the Great Song Dynasty would live and die together.

This move allowed Zhao Kuangyin to quickly control the rebellion in the Later Zhou and take power.

Compared with the replacement of other dynasties, the national glory of the Great Song Dynasty was too easy to obtain.

In addition, starting from Zhao Kuangyin, the vigorous reuse of Wenchen made the blood of the Great Song Dynasty less iron-blooded fanaticism.

The emperor wants to leave, and as the master, Li Kui must send it away, and he has to send it respectfully.

Walking out of the alley, waiting for Li Kui to bow down and stop, the distance was relatively far, Zhao Xu thought about it, and saw that Tong Guan's excited nose was red, and his heart was also irritable.

According to Li Kui's words, it will naturally be a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood. This is contrary to the core values of the Great Song Dynasty, especially the difference in the education that Zhao Xu received. He launched the war against the Western Xia, more because the Western Xia's attack on the people of the Great Song Dynasty had seriously affected the dominance of the Great Song Dynasty in the northwest.

If it is allowed to continue, it is bound to be a stubborn disease that cannot be cleaned up.

But if he really made up his mind to slaughter half of the party members, this decision was simply incompatible with the Confucianism he received. Don't look at Zhao Xu's storytelling and serving in the Chongzheng Hall that the Empress Dowager Xuanren chose for him, these teachers who nominally enlightened the emperor and taught the emperor's knowledge have a bad relationship. But Zhao Xu is Confucianism after all, and his personality is not competitive, at most because of his age, he is a little strong.

"Tong Guan!"

"Your Majesty!"

After getting into the car, Zhao Xu was in the car, and Tong Guan was outside the car, and hurriedly agreed.

"Do you think what Li Qing said is right?"

"Your Majesty, the slave is just a crippled person, and he doesn't dare to speak falsely!"

"Forgive your innocence!"

Only then did Tong Guan twist his upper body respectfully, trying to control the volume of his voice as much as possible, but he also had to guard against being heard by outsiders: "The slave thinks that the party is of a different race, and the heart of a non-mine race must be different." Life and death have nothing to do with my Great Song Dynasty, but as long as the people of the Great Song Dynasty think it is good, the slave and maid have soft ears, and maybe it makes some sense when it sounds. ”

Isn't this nonsense?

The Great Song Dynasty and the Western Xia fought for decades, is it possible that the people of the Great Song Dynasty still expect the prosperity of the Western Xia? Everyone can't wait for the party members to die. If it is really the child of the party members, if they walk on the streets of the Great Song Dynasty, some people will throw this unlucky child into the well. This is no longer a confrontation at the national level, but from the people to the country, it has become a mortal enemy.

This is also Tong Guan, who is used to being cautious, and his speech is also leaky. not only expressed his thoughts, but gave people the appearance of following the crowd and being bullied.

"You old dog, what you say is not leaky." Zhao Xu leaned back in the carriage, stretched his waist, and then slapped the car door and said, "Go to the capital hall." ”

Outside the capital hall, the Imperial City Division, who had already come to inform him, dismounted and ran into the yamen. On the one hand, it is to see that the prime minister Zhang Dian is not there, and at the same time let Zhang Dian take time out to wait for the emperor and arrange for irrelevant people to leave.

In less than a pillar of incense, Zhao Xu got out of the carriage, and Zhang Xuan was already waiting in the capital hall.

"Official!"

"Aiqing is flat, I have a question for Zhang Xiang." After taking his seat, the emperor spoke. Zhao Xu is a person who has always been very cautious outside, except for Li Kui's house, he is like putting on a mask that makes people wonder through. Of course, this is also a kind of protection for himself. He ascended the throne as the emperor at the age of ten, and he had no right to dispose of it, and he had to be supervised and studied by the emperor's grandmother all day long.

Nominally an emperor, in fact, it's more like being a crown prince.

Because of the power of the Empress Dowager Xuanren at that time, it was not difficult to abolish Zhao Xu. A ten-year-old child, with a group of adults, or a group of smart people who have been tested in the palace and in the court, is clever, and it is not easy for him to survive smoothly.

Zhang Xuan was sitting precariously, staring at Zhao Xu with a blanket look.

Although Zhao Xu is hairy in his heart, Zhang Xuan's character is like this. Strong people like to use their eyes to get the initiative in the conversation before they even open their mouths. Of course, Zhang Dian couldn't really make Zhao Xu feel uncomfortable, and after a pause, he spoke: "Your Majesty, you have also seen the court meeting in the court in the past few days, although the old minister is the prime minister, it is not appropriate to ask about the affairs of the northwest. ”

Zhao Xu waved his hand and said: "Zhang Xiang has thought about it a lot, I have already decided, and the Great Dynasty will grant Zhang Xiang the right to 'know soldiers' after the year." ”

Zhang Dian was overjoyed, he finally waited for this appointment. The prime minister didn't know about military affairs, and the most important thing for the court was like an outsider who was excluded, which embarrassed him: "Thank you for Your Majesty's trust, and you can only do your best!" ”

Regardless of whether to destroy the Western Xia or fight back to the Western Xia, the Great Song Dynasty will inevitably have a few fierce battles.

Since the national war is not good, the real Great Song Dynasty has to serve the army, and the prime minister is excluded from military decision-making, which is not in line with the operation of the Great Song Dynasty.

Moreover, Zhao Xu also saw that Li Qingchen alone could not control the strategy of the Great Song Dynasty against Western Xia.

In fact, Zhang Dian was the only minister in the Great Song Dynasty who was very familiar with warfare, had experience in commanding large armies, and had a proud record of achievements. Except for Zhang Dan, Li Qingchen, Zeng Bu, Cai Bian and others had no experience in leading troops to fight, let alone planning such a major event as the Great Song Dynasty fighting against Western Xia.

After Zhao Xu came out of Li Kui's house, he came to the capital hall non-stop, definitely not to chat, and asked Zhang Duan straightforwardly: "Someone offered me five strategies for Pingxia, but before offering advice, I asked myself how to deal with Western Xia." Extinguish or weak. ”

"How to say extinguished, how to say weak?" Zhang Tun asked.

"Annihilate, kill half of the party's population, slaughter the three main cities, break their guts, and destroy their clans. Weak, tired and tired, twenty years later, Western Xia had the foundation of a war with the Great Song Dynasty. Zhao Xu sighed, anyway, when Li Kui said this, he was murderous. He doesn't have Li Kui's momentum.

Zhang Dian smiled slightly: "Li Kui, this kid said that, right?" ”

"Alas, Zhang Xiang knows?" Zhao Xu was surprised, thinking that Li Kui had visited Zhang Dian before, and even the two had ulterior secrets. This made Zhao Xu suspicious.

Zhang Dian smiled and said, "This kid is eager to kill the Tangut people, and I still have a few impeachment notes accusing him of killing prisoners." In addition to the old ministers, the civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty can say such things. ”

"Why?" Zhao Xu suddenly realized that Li Kui was so different.

Zhang Dian smiled: "Because the old minister also wants to do it once and for all." ”

Li Kui said that he was killed, which made Zhao Xu feel terrified. However, Zhang Xuan expressed almost the same meaning, but Zhao Xu felt at ease. It seems like that's how it's supposed to be. This is the status gap.

Although it was a recital to sue Li Kui, there was a strange appreciation in Zhang Kui's eyes. sighed: "Li Kui, this kid is so murderous, such a good root, he shouldn't be thrown into Sumen, a school that knows how to dance and write." Wouldn't it be better to follow the old man? ”

Zhang Dian muttered to himself, let his son Zhang Zhu listen, and said in his heart: "You are just talking." "Zhang Dian didn't even bother to teach his son, and went back to accept disciples outside?

For Zhang Dun, there are only two kinds of people in the world besides him: stupid and soft.

He didn't even have the heart to speak. As for the soft egg, if he doesn't go up and kick it, it can already be regarded as his old man's kindness.

Coming out of the Dushitang, Zhao Xu swept away the gloom after going out from the Li family, and his mood suddenly improved, and he was in the mood to tease Tong Guan, and said with a smile: "Tong Guan, do you know what Li Kui said when he sent me out?" ”

"The slave and maid don't know, and they don't dare to know."

Zhao Xu laughed: "You can know that Li Kui's words are too bad. He said: In the war in the northwest, it is better for the eunuch not to lead the troops, let alone become the commander. ”

Tong Guan's heart chuckled, he thought about it for a long time, and was ready to ask Zhao Xu to go to the northwest at the right time. His idol in life is the former chief of Shanxi Sixth Road, the eunuch Li Xian. Tong Guan, as Li Xian's disciple, naturally wanted to follow Li Xian's unfinished business and completely destroy the state of Western Xia. Unexpectedly, he also had a time when he committed a villain.

Hearing that Emperor Zhao Xu copied Li Kui's slander, he suddenly became anxious and said nervously: "Your Majesty, why is this?" ”

"Ahaha......" Zhao Xu looked at Tong Guan for a while, and then said with a smile: "Li Kui said that there is a drawback in the eunuch army, when it should be hard, it can't be hard!" ”

Tong Guan's face was red, and he felt a kind of grievance about being humiliated.