In the officialdom of the Great Song Dynasty, officials who could not quarrel were not qualified to become high-ranking officials in the court at all.

Quarreling is also a skill of being an official, and it is also a very important skill.

And there are many kinds of quarreling skills of civil officials, such as writing poems and insulting, spreading rumors and causing trouble, falsely accusing the confrontation of imperial history, and all kinds of off-the-shelf tricks.

It stands to reason that Anton can sit in such a high position, and his ability to quarrel will definitely not be bad.

But you have to compare it with whom.

Compared to conservative political opponents, he has a good chance of winning. After all, the conservative means are there, but after he has no backing, he is alone and is no longer his opponent.

Li Kui's opponent is very unusual, both literary and martial arts are good hands.

Speaking of Wendou, Li Kui is good at planning and likes to dig the pit and watch the opponent jump into the pit. Speaking of which, Anton has already fallen in love with Li Kui, they haven't seen each other for a few days, and Li Kui has done two things.

One is to prepare for the withdrawal of troops, which goes without saying.

Another thing is to report the good news, and then take advantage of the emperor's happiness to get the Shang Fang sword.

And he did it. An Dian just couldn't figure out why the recovery of the sixteen states of Yanyun was in sight, and the emperor would agree to Li Kui, who had made the greatest contribution in this battle, to withdraw his troops, which was not in line with common sense.

This is already a posture of raw rice cooked and mature, and Anton just wants to oppose it, but he can't find a reason.

To be reasonable, An Dian felt that he should influence Li Kui on the moral high ground: "Renjie, you and I are both important ministers of the imperial court, and now we are both fighting for the country and taking charge of a side of the army and horses. When we are in the same boat, I don't know if there are doubts? ”

"Master An, don't you stop? On the one hand, let Wang go in to subdue Yuyang and Shunzhou, and divide the soldiers into two ways, such a stupid approach will kill many people. On the other hand, you don't need me to tell you what you did in Yanzhou City, right? Give the gentlemen eye medicine, you also match? ”

As soon as Li Kui opened his mouth, he didn't plan to give face to An Dan, and told him about An Dan's efforts to steal merit and the means of framing his colleagues. It's like a negotiation, when the two sides just sit down, someone flips the table and makes it clear that the person who came is not good.

An Kui didn't expect Li Kui to be so rude and not give face, and civil officials didn't play much.

Of course, the hand played by Li Kui is not the way of playing by civil officials at all. On the contrary, eunuchs like to use this kind of thing the most, waiting for the emperor to give an order at every turn, holding chicken feathers as an arrow, showing off their might. Then with a sharp throat, he pointed at the other party's neck and angrily scolded: "You dare to disobey!" ”

Civil officials are calculating, how can they ask for Shang Fang's sword?

Only the eunuchs are well versed in the benefits of this.

And the imperial order from Kaifeng is not the sword of Shang Fang?

"Li Kui, this official ordered the king to go in and attack Shunzhou and Yuyang, this is for the Great Song Dynasty to expand its territory and recover the lost territory, is this official wrong? This official is for the Great Song Dynasty, and you ......"

At this point, the mood and momentum arrived, and Anton felt that he should stand up, but ......

Straight lady thief, why is he in a bathhouse, or in an open-air hot spring bathhouse, this is not a good place to quarrel at all. Standing up and speaking, not only did he not have the courage to be upright, but he had a kind of ignorance that did not know how to be honest.

In particular, across from him was Li Kui.

Even if it is through the water, An Kui can still find Li Kui's majesty, physique, and height, even if it is ...... That lump of stuff. This is embarrassing, standing up not only will not allow him to absorb momentum, but will humiliate himself.

Secretly covering his waist with a square scarf in the water, An Dan's eyes were red with anger, but he still said stiffly: "Li Kui, you should understand that now is the best opportunity for the Great Song Dynasty to seize the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun, once this opportunity is lost, you and I will be the sinners of the Great Song Dynasty." ”

"It's you, not me."

Li Kui said disdainfully: "This official has commanded the army many times, and I dare not say that I am invincible!" The opponents who should have won have won. At this time, although there was civil strife, the Liao State. But if you want to recover the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun, and if you want to rely on the soldiers and horses in your hands and me, you can't do it at all. You are just taking the name of a Song Dynasty soldier to dye your official seal red. ”

"Why not?"

An Dian doesn't believe in this evil, Li Kui can do it, why can't Wang Jin do it?

Li Kui snorted coldly: "If this official doesn't fight, with Wang Jin's waste, can he defeat the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun?" ”

"You...... Don't think that the world's affairs can't be achieved without you. Also, you know that you command 20,000 elites of the Great Song Dynasty, why did you deliberately stand still when you needed to serve the Great Song Dynasty? What is your heart? ”

Anton was-for-tat and did not back down at all.

However, the two of them looked very funny, and the group sat in the hot spring pool, so it was better not to look at their mouths, as if the two of them were not like they were quarreling, but as if they were enjoying the comfort they had not seen for a long time.

Li Kui said disdainfully: "Do you know how to fight? The ammunition replenished by the Janissaries was flintlock bullets, there were simply no shells and not enough gunpowder. Without the suppression of artillery, it simply could not support the output of fire in field battles. Once the cavalry rushed into the Praetorian Guard, it would inevitably face the threat of total annihilation. ”

"If the Praetorian Guard and the Feilian Army are annihilated by the Liao army, will the tens of thousands of infantry you lead be able to escape the pursuit of the Liao cavalry?"

An Dan said angrily: "Li Kui, you are the old man's soldiers and horses who want to break through Shunzhou and Yuyang." The men and horses of these two cities were less than 5,000. The old man doesn't believe it, 50,000 soldiers and horses will be helpless against this Liao army? ”

Li Kui smiled and said with a smile: "Old horseman, you won't refuse to go back because you haven't made an inch of success after sending troops from Zhending Mansion, right?" For this reason, you do not hesitate to use despicable means to coerce your own officials, just for your so-called military merits? For your own selfish interests, but ignoring the exhaustion of the army, in case the battle for the emperor within the Liao State ends hastily and the Liao army goes south, how can you protect yourself? ”

Don't hit people in the face, and don't expose their shortcomings when scolding.

Li Kui is not used to Anton, and points to the place where Anton is not good at squirting.

An Tang was angry, he was good in Zhending Mansion at the beginning, if he hadn't been forced by Li Kui to send troops, he would not have come to Liao, and even entered the mansion of Liao, and stayed in Yanzhou, one of the five capitals of Liao. But hundreds of miles along the way, he miraculously led 50,000 horses without making any contributions, can you believe this?

But this is a real thing.

For this reason, An Kui wanted to hold Li Kui's handle and coerce Li Kui. Unexpectedly, Li Kui didn't give him a chance at all.

If this was a different person, he would have already fought with Li Kui.

Ruan Xiaowu and the others, who were standing in the distance, watched in astonishment as Li Kui and An Dan came and scolded each other. In the end, he even tore his face, and before the class teacher returned to the court, he quarreled because of the uneven distribution of work, right?

However, although An Kui said that he was sincere in his meritorious service, he also figured out and understood Li Kui's thoughts.

The Janissaries suffered a lot of losses, but they were short of ammunition and could not resist the enemy in the field as before.

The firearms army, without its powerful firepower output, may really be useless.

And the biggest losses of the Fei Lian army were the cavalry.

However, cavalry was the last resort for the Praetorian Guards to save their lives on the battlefield, and if the cavalry of the Fei Lian Army could not gain a foothold on the battlefield, then it was only a matter of time before the Janissaries were completely annihilated.

An Tun is a person who understands, and it is precisely because he guessed the situation of the Praetorian Guard from Li Kui's words that he found that he really had no chance to coerce Li Kui.

After all, life is obviously much more important than handles.

However, this is not the time to ask for face, if the civil official puts down his face, he will really do everything.

Anton, who had just been sprayed with a spit on his face by Li Kui, asked Li Kui with a shy face: "Li Kui, if you want to withdraw from the army, I won't stop you." But leave Liu Fa to me. ”

"Liu Fa is not my person, he is a general of the Western Army."

"Under the law of generals, there is no Western Army and Northern Army, they are all generals of the Great Song Dynasty."

"Okay, you go and talk to him."

……

An Dan knew that this matter was urgent, and the reason why he fell in love with Liu Fa was that this guy was quite bold when he was guarding Yi County. can attack and defend, such a general will definitely not disappoint him if he stays by his side.

A day later.

Li Kui still left.

With the Praetorian Guards and the Flying Guard.

Before leaving, Li Kui also gave An Dian a bad idea: "Yanzhou will inevitably become the focus of Song and Liao contention in the future, and it is not easy for Wang Jin to hold it. Whether it is the Liao people or the Han people in Yanzhou Chengnei, because they have shared the royal property and women, they have to be coerced by you to fight with the Liao people. Perhaps, Yanzhou can hold out until the beginning of spring next year. ”

"Why don't you use this trick?"

"It's so hateful."

After Li Kui finished speaking, he swaggered away. And carrying thousands of carts of goods and booty, which made Ann curse in a low voice: "Dog thief! After this official defeats the Liao army, he will expose your face. ”

However, Li Kui couldn't hear this curse, and he didn't care if he heard it. If you have the ability to command the army to capture it yourself, you have pink eye, Li Kui is not used to him.

The capital of the Great Song Dynasty.

Kaifeng Mansion, Imperial Palace.

Emperor Zhao Xu has been immersed in the troubles of happiness these days, on the one hand, Li Kui did give him a long face, and he was completely unsure of the battle. The Song army, which seemed to be at an absolute disadvantage in terms of strength, turned defeat into victory.

not only drove the Liao army that entered the Song realm out of the country, but also hooked up the emperor of the Liao State.

In the end, Yelu Hongji, the old boy, because he couldn't beat him, fell off the cart when he ran away, fell half of his body, and saw that he was going to die.

Although Zhao Xu didn't see Yelu Hongji fall from the car, let alone see Yelu Hongji fall halfway, he couldn't help but be willing to think about the worst.

The Great Song Dynasty had a lot of spies in the Liao Kingdom, and the news sent to the Imperial City Division pointed directly at Yelu Hongji, the old boy, who was going to die.

As long as the enemy is unlucky, Zhao Xu is as happy as if he is celebrating a holiday.

Since Yelu Hongji fell into the well and knocked Emperor Shenzong with a bamboo pole, the two families have completely torn their faces. The wars between Song and Liao have repeatedly been on the verge of breaking out on the border. This is not a unilateral problem between the Great Song Dynasty and the Liao State, but both sides are tightening the strings of the war, and maybe the fight will start that day.

In Zhao Xu's view, Yelu Hongji is an enemy.

The great enemy of the old Zhao family.

In addition, the Song army was careless and conquered Nanjing, one of the capitals of the Liao State, Nanjing, that is, Yanzhou, which had been split from the Central Plains for more than 100 years.

If you work harder, it is not impossible to even defeat the entire Yanyun Sixteen Prefectures.

It's a pity that winter is coming.

Li Kui's Praetorian Guards and Fei Lian Army were also unable to continue fighting.

Li Kui told An Tan that the Praetorian Guard and the Feilian Army suffered heavy losses, and the lack of artillery shells caused the artillery to lose its due effect.

But in fact......

In rain and snow, artillery and muskets have greatly reduced firepower, and may even be completely ineffective.

In the season when it may snow anytime and anywhere, what capital does Li Kui have to fight with the Liao army?

If the artillery and muskets were to be fired in unison, there was a real possibility that the entire army would be wiped out on the battlefield.

Of course, Li Kui would not tell An Dan about such a confidential matter. However, the generals of the firearms army, Emperor Zhao Xu, Prime Minister Zhang Dan, and Privy Envoy Li Qingchen all knew the weaknesses of the firearms army.

In the season when there is a lot of rain and snow, the best thing for the firearms army is to hide in the city and try not to engage the enemy.

However, before that, Zhao Xu needed to discuss in the court how to keep the fruits of victory.

This day is just a small court meeting, in the vertical arch hall, a few important ministers of the court, sitting on chairs, with a solemn face. And Zhao Xu, who was sitting on the dragon chair, looked at his humerus minister nervously: "Ladies and gentlemen, Aiqing, Yizhou, Zhuozhou, Yanzhou, plus Tongzhou and other seven states were captured by the forbidden army, and now after the 20,000 horses and horses of the Praetorian Guard and Feilian Army have withdrawn, who will lead the army to replenish the front line?" ”

The emperor's meaning was to protect the fruits of victory, but he thought it was simple, but it was not easy to put it into practice.

Lin Xi, who was temporarily out of the imperial history, glanced around at the other few who were silent, and felt a little inexplicably lost in his heart. He seemed to be sidelined, obviously several other people knew about the battle on the northern front, but he didn't know.

It doesn't matter if I don't know, but he can't accept Li Kui's withdrawal: "Official, Li Kui commanded the Hebei Army well, why did he withdraw the army?" ”

"This ......" Zhao Xu frowned dissatisfiedly, and did not speak, but Zhang Dian explained: "The main force of the Praetorian Guard and the Feilian Army, with more than 20,000 horses, defeated more than 100,000 horses of the Liao army one after another, and killed countless enemies, but after the war, the losses were quite large, and they were no longer able to fight. ”

This explanation is also reasonable, and Lin Xi no longer insists.

Zhao Xu continued: "Now for the Great Song Dynasty, the battle on the northern front and the western front is going well, do you fully support the northern front now, or wait for the end of the Pingxia battle, and then seek the advancement of the northern front, so that you will take the sixteen states of Yanyun in one fell swoop?" ”

Su Zhe then spoke: "The minister thinks that the forbidden army should withdraw from Yanzhou. There are three reasons, the spies reported that after the Liao Emperor Yelu Hongji crashed, he was already in a coma, and the new emperor Yelu Yanxi was in sight to ascend the throne. Once he ascends the throne, for his imperial merits, he will also lead the army south. At that time, Yanzhou, which has a large number of Liao people, will be difficult to defend. ”

"Secondly, it is difficult for the Great Song Dynasty to send reinforcements, and it may be difficult to last long when the army is alone."

"Third, after Li Kui withdraws, Anton's 50,000 infantry may not be able to stop the Liao army. Once defeated, Hebei Road, which is empty of troops, will be difficult to defend. Official, my Da Song should have made plans early. ”

Su Zhe's suggestion was a conservative suggestion, but Zhao Xu was a little reluctant.

Yanyun Sixteen Prefectures is the heart of the Great Song Dynasty, and it was not easy to fight it, but he had to give it up, which made him feel very uncomfortable.

For today's plan, if you want to send reinforcements, you can only find a way from the Western Army, and the commander of the Western Army, Zhang Qi, is still fighting with the Western Xia, and I don't know what the war will end.

Zhang Dian spoke: "Official, it is better to recruit Li Kui back to Beijing and let him explain the strategy of the northern attack, after all, Yanzhou was recovered by him, let him say that the effect is better than our guess." ”

"Yes!" Zhao Xu bowed his head and said: "With such a big victory, I can't turn a blind eye and want to celebrate." ”

"How about welcoming all the officials?"

Zhang Dian was simply and immediately threw out the specifications.

Zhao Xu happily agreed.

Later that day, Cai Jing found Cai Bian with a list of degraded children, including Qin Guan, Huang Tingjian and others......

Cai Bian asked Cai Jing in surprise: "Why is this?" ”

"Rehabilitate them, Yuan Du, you have to take out the party membership of these people. Now that Lord Li is in full swing, even Zhang Xiang has to give enough face, you can't repeatedly suppress Sumen for selfish desires, and make Lord Li embarrassed. Those who exclude dissidents are narrow-minded. The old man was quite disgusted with his treacherous behavior. Cai Jingyi said righteously.

Cai Bian was stunned, he couldn't understand why his brother Cai Jing was more like a traitor than him, why did he point to his nose and say that he, the younger brother, was a traitor?