In April of the second year of Baoyuan, the news of Li Yuanhao's defeat at this time had already spread all over the world.

The Liao side was also speechless.

They also wanted to use Li Yuanhao's invasion to threaten and blackmail the Song State and increase the annual coins that the Song State gave them.

As a result, Li Yuanhao was so down, thinking that he was strong and strong, he took the initiative to attack Song Jing, and then he was beaten to the ground, and he was really the younger brother of the younger brothers.

Song Guo replied to Liao Guo, and the irony implied in it also made Liao Xingzong Yelu Zong very unhappy, but the strength shown by the Song army also made Liao Guo jealous, so he had to stop it.

After Zhang Yuan helped Li Yuanhao stabilize the situation and formulated a new strategic plan, he was ready to set off in March towards the vast Liao State.

It's just that the distance between the two sides is too far.

Where is the capital of Liao?

In the later generations of Inner Mongolia Chifeng City, Bahrain Zuoqi County.

The capital of Western Xia was Yinchuan in Ningxia.

The two places are more than 1,600 kilometers apart.

In addition, Zhang Yuan's envoys still had to bring gifts, and there were many carriages and horses, so the movement was slow, and it was estimated that it would take more than a month to arrive.

However, Yelu Zongzhen also knew the news that the Western Xia had sent an envoy group, and he was also very interested in why the Western Xia raised an army of more than 100,000 people, but was defeated so quickly in the northwest of the Song Kingdom.

Did the Song Kingdom become stronger, or did the Western Xia pull it so much as always?

And just when Li Yuanhao joined forces vertically and horizontally, wagging his tail and begging for mercy to the Song Dynasty, he secretly colluded with the Liao State and prepared to attack the Great Song Dynasty with the Liao State.

In April, Zhao Jun inspected Sichuan and went north to Shaanxi.

At this time, more than a month had passed since the Song-Xia War, and Zhao Jun met Pang Ji in Chang'an, inspected the agricultural construction in Guanzhong, and affirmed his diligent management in the rear.

The prototype of Master Pang in "Young Bao Qingtian" is obviously a little stigmatized, but in fact, this person is not only capable, but also honest and upright.

After Fan Zhongyan was transferred back to the capital, Pang Ji continued to reuse Di Qing as his successor, repairing and governing the border, making the border defense strong, so that Li Yuanhao did not dare to continue the attack, and finally promoted the Qingli peace talks.

In a way, this person is indeed a good governance talent.

Zhao Jun saw him in Guanzhong for two years in office, keeping the vast Guanzhong Plain in good order, repairing water conservancy facilities everywhere, restoring agriculture that had been overcultivated in the Tang Dynasty, and even planting trees on both sides of the Yellow River and Weishui.

Although this is a decree that Zhao Kuangyin and Zhao Guangyi are implementing, in fact, planting trees on both sides of the Yellow River and Weishui has long been slackened by the local government, and he can have this responsibility, obviously for long-term consideration.

Seeing that although Guanzhong is not as prosperous as recorded in the Tang Dynasty in history, it can be regarded as a stable region and agricultural production has been restored, which also makes Zhao Jun feel very satisfied.

After praising Pang Ji's ability, Zhao Jun went north to Yanzhou.

Yan'an Mansion is also a place he has always wanted to visit, he wants to see the caves here, and he wants to see the traces of the great men of later generations.

But alas, he was disappointed.

When I arrived in Yanzhou, I realized that this place was actually a mountain col, surrounded by mountains, all of which were hilly slopes dozens of meters high and less than one or two hundred meters at most.

Although it was the end of April, the mountains were verdant, but you could still vaguely see the desolation of the loess slopes, and the vastness and silence.

Yanzhou City is located at the foot of the mountain, the surging water flows in the west of the city, and in the small hill in the east, there is a small city covering an area of four or five square kilometers.

Zhao Jun entered Yanzhou City under the leadership of Fan Zhongyan, and the two of them exchanged pleasantries for a while and entered the city.

Then, under the introduction of Lao Fan, I met Liu Ping, Ren Fu, Shi Yuansun, Wang Zhongbao, Xu Huaide, Zhang Kang and others.

After that, it's time to catch the wind and wash the dust.

As the saying goes, if you win, you smile, and you lose MMP.

Because of the victory, everyone at the dinner table talked and laughed.

At the dinner table, Zhao Jun pointed out that the ambition of the Xixia people and the wolf, Li Yuanhao did not change his life, even if he won a big victory in this battle, he still could not take it lightly, and he should still take good precautions, and never underestimate the enemy.

He stressed that offense is the best defense, and if there is a chance to send troops outside the plug and inflict heavy damage on Western Xia, he must not let go of the opportunity to beat the water dogs.

The so-called "it is advisable to chase the poor bravely, not to sell the name of the overlord", the soldiers of the Great Song Dynasty must have the spirit of not being afraid of sacrifice and having the courage to pioneer.

As long as they have the determination not to be afraid of difficulties, dare to fight, and be able to fight tough battles, the imperial court will not be stingy with food and wages.

The words of encouragement were heard in everyone's ears, and they were all happy.

In addition to praising the good literary talents of the Zhiyuan, they also praised the Zhiyuan for their foresight and gave them such constructive proposals.

Hello and I are hello to everyone, they praise each other, eat all-you-can-eat, drink wine in place, and then happily disperse.

In fact, everyone knows that Zhao Jun is just talking about some scenes.

But the sentence at the end that the court will not be stingy with food and salary, but it is a real benefit.

And Zhao Jun also made a promise that as long as the soldiers who made meritorious contributions in this battle, the court would be rewarded.

In this age of money, there's nothing more motivating than handing out money.

Although Zhang Kang has made many military exploits in history, he has been repeatedly impeached and suppressed, and even imprisoned for a time.

The reason is that in order to reward his subordinates and motivate his fighting spirit, he has repeatedly tried ways to make money, such as using public funds to let his subordinates go to Chengdu to do business, and colluding with those businessmen who entered China and France through false salt valuation, embezzling the assets of the imperial court.

But what he did was for his soldiers, and then the court did find out that he had no intention of seeking personal gain, and the money he earned was distributed to his generals.

It's a pity that because Zhang Kang has an upright personality and offended Shangguan Zheng Jian and Xia Zhu many times, he was retaliated against by them, and asked the Yushi of Yushitai to impeach him for using public funds to do business, and framed him for personal gain, so that Zhang Kang was later transferred out of the northwest.

So to some extent, Zhao Jun's promise to reward the army was more important than the promise to give them these generals promotions.

The food is in place, and Yuan Hao is crushed.

They need to pay money to guarantee the combat effectiveness of the army.

Now Zhao Jun has given the promise of reward.

Everyone was happy.

After pacifying the soldiers, in the evening, Zhao Jun and Fan Zhongyan finally had the opportunity to chat alone.

In the back office of the state capital, when you look up, you can see the towering hills, and the two of them are walking in the backyard.

"I haven't seen you for more than two years, Lao Fan, you have gone through vicissitudes."

Zhao Jun said with a smile.

"This place in the northwest is grinding."

Fan Zhongyan glanced at the white spots on Zhao Jun's sideburns, frowned, and said, "Why is your hair white?" ”

"It's true that there are some gray hair, and my dad is also young and white, but it's not that serious, except for some genetic reasons, or this time"

Zhao Jun sighed: "I knew from the history books that the people of the Great Song Dynasty were bitter, but I didn't expect it to be even more bitter than I imagined." Have you ever seen a family, how many brothers go out, and who wears the only pants in the house? ”

"Yes."

Fan Zhongyan said expressionlessly: "I have seen no less than you." ”

"Okay, Banmen got an axe."

Zhao Jun shrugged.

"How's it going, how do you feel?"

"I've written a lot of things, and I'll leave it for you to see when the time comes."

"Hmm."

Fan Zhongyan nodded, and then said, "Yuan Hao wrote to me a few days ago, saying that he wanted to return to Shun. ”

"Do you believe it?"

Zhao Jun asked rhetorically.

"If he really wants to be obedient, he doesn't just say it in a letter."

Fan Zhongyan is not stupid.

Conversion should also have the appearance of obedience.

His father, Li Deming, was a role model, not only often sending envoys to Bianliang with gifts, but also personally coming to Yanzhou many times to communicate with the officials of the Song Dynasty at that time, and to discuss border security matters between the two countries together.

It was precisely because of this sincerity that Song Zhenzong was moved, so Song Zhenzong gave back a lot of rewards, and gave Li Deming an official title, which laid the friendship between Song and Xia.

As a result, in the era of Li Yuanhao, he not only made enemies with the Song Dynasty, but also took the initiative to attack the Great Song Dynasty.

Now that you've been defeated, please surrender to the table.

Isn't that a fuss?

If you are really sincere, you should send gifts to Bianliang and come to Yanzhou in person to ask for your guilt, which is much better than the last two letters of conformity.

"If it's fake, he just wants to stall for a while, then guess what he wants to do?"

Zhao Jun asked.

"Do you still need to guess?"

Fan Zhongyan sneered: "I know with my toes that he is going to find Liao." ”

"Learn what I say."

Zhao Jun rolled his eyes.

Fan Zhongyan smiled: "It's quite interesting. ”

"If you know, it's good."

Zhao Jun said: "In fact, the Liao State did not go to war with the Song State in history, but the appearance of the grenade will definitely make the Liao State feel threatened. If the Liao State could not threaten the Great Song Dynasty by force, would it still be the Liao State? Therefore, on the side of Liao Xingzong, eighty percent is going to really fight. ”

"The situation has changed, and there is no way."

"But you can't give them the opportunity to attack from both sides, although grenades can change the situation on the battlefield, but they can be caught in two fronts at the same time, which is really unfavorable for the Great Song Dynasty."

"What do you mean?"

Fan Zhongyan thought for a moment, looked to the north and said, "Cripple Western Xia first?" ”

"Not bad."

Zhao Jun nodded: "Even if you can't destroy the Western Xia, at least you have to ensure that the Western Xia does not have the ability to invade the Great Song Dynasty again, and when you deal with the Liao State, you can slowly clean up Li Yuanhao." ”

"Forget about destroying the country, if the Western Xia is destroyed, then the army of the Liao State will be killed directly from Xiazhou, which is not good for us."

Fan Zhongyan shook his head.

Although he also wanted to destroy Western Xia, from the overall strategy, it was actually not suitable to start a full-scale war with Liao.

If the Song Dynasty continued to fight with the Liao State, the finances would be tight, and the taxes would be increased, which would inevitably cause domestic turmoil and frequent uprisings among the people.

And if Western Xia existed, then the soldiers and horses of the Liao State would not attack from the side of Western Xia. It is true that Li Yuanhao was hostile to the Song State, but he was also worried that the Liao State would attack him by the way, and by the way, he would also swallow him, so he would never allow the army of the Liao State to enter the Xia Land.

So what are the areas bordering Liao and Song at this time?

One is Hebei and the other is Shanxi.

To the north of Yanmen Pass in Shanxi, it is currently the territory of the Liao people, and the two sides are facing each other in Yanmen Pass, Hequ County and other places.

The soldiers and horses of the Liao State were in Shuozhou, and the soldiers and horses of the Song State were in the area of Daizhou and Lanzhou.

The two sides are basically bounded by Luliang Mountain and Heng Mountain.

The Liao State almost never attacked the Great Song Dynasty from Shanxi, except that here it is Luliang Mountain in the west, blocked by the Hengshan Mountain Range in the middle, and Taihang Mountain in the east, which is not conducive to cavalry attacks.

The most important is the Volcano Army, the Baode Army, the Caulan Army, the Ninghua Army, the Jinning Army, the Pingding Army and other military towns, with more than 100,000 troops.

Under the circumstance that it was difficult for the Liao cavalry to break through the mountains, the Song army had so many troops relying on favorable terrain to block the attack, so naturally it could not pose any threat to Shanxi.

Therefore, the Liao State could only march from Hebei every time, where the terrain was flat and more suitable for cavalry galloping.

But it would be different if the Western Xia were destroyed.

The cavalry of the Liao State was able to attack the loess high slope from the Xiazhou grassland, although the loess high slope also has mountains, but they are all small hills, which cannot stop the cavalry attack.

When the Song State destroyed the Western Xia, it would usher in the Liao State attack at the end of its heyday.

Even if the Liao State at this time was not as powerful as the Liao Shengzong period, but the emaciated camel was bigger than the horse, at least in the hands of Liao Xingzong, there was no problem in suppressing the Great Song Dynasty.

Therefore, in order to prevent the Great Song from being under great pressure from the Liao State when it was necessary to alleviate the internal contradictions first, it was better to keep the Western Xia first, so that the Liao State could not attack the Great Song from both the northwest and northeast sides at the same time.

This is also in line with Zhao Jun's original strategy.

first crippled the Western Xia, so that the Western Xia had no ability to threaten the northwest border of the Great Song Dynasty, and then resisted the Liao attack with all his strength and repelled the Liao State.

After the border was stabilized, Zhao Jun and Fan Zhongyan would be able to calmly carry out internal reforms, alleviate social contradictions, improve the national strength of the Great Song Dynasty, and then begin to rectify the soldiers and horses, first destroy the Western Xia, and then go all out to deal with the Liao State, and crush this huge empire that has suppressed the Song Dynasty for more than a hundred years.

Hearing Fan Zhongyan's words, Zhao Jun nodded slightly and said, "This is the best, or that sentence, we must seek the initiative." If you are only passively beaten, there is no end after all, and only by taking the initiative can you change the passive situation. ”

"I have sent party members who are willing to submit to the border, drawing a map of Xiazhou, investigating Yuan Hao's troop deployment, if nothing else, in the second half of this year, I will send people to take the initiative to attack."

Fan Zhongyan said with a smile: "Di Qing is really a good seedling, in the battle of Lucheng City, he chased Li Yuanhao for more than 100 miles, killed dozens of enemies with his own hands, and killed several enemy generals, but after the battle, he felt very dissatisfied and asked the blacksmith in the army to make him a bronze mask." ”

"Bronze mask, why?"

Zhao Jun subconsciously asked, but then regretted it, because he suddenly remembered that Di Qing had a reason to wear a mask.

Really.

I heard Fan Zhongyan say: "Di Qing is not majestic on the battlefield because of his handsome appearance. He led more than a dozen people to break through the enemy's army of hundreds of people, and the other party not only did not surrender, but also dared to fight back, which made him very angry. He said that only by wearing a mask can he show his majesty. ”

"Then he really should wear it, I just remembered that he had worn that thing in history, he was so white, and his appearance was so handsome that it almost seriously threatened my status as a beautiful man."

Zhao Jun joked.

"You are really shameless, you look far worse than Di Qing, and you are not as good as the official family, at most you are better than me, a bad old man."

Fan Zhongyan rolled his eyes.

"Hahaha."

The two men looked at each other and laughed.

In the second half of this year, the Song army will go out of the fortress for the first time in history and attack Western Xia.

Offense and defense have changed shape!

Actually, I really want to finish writing the rest of it, that is, Zhao Zhen discovered a little secret, and this is actually the beginning of the mid-term climax, which is funny, unexpected, and the protagonist is about to promote reform. But since the afternoon, my head has been dizzy again, I have no strength, I don't know what the situation is, and my thinking is very poor anyway.

I've even recently snuck a little bit into the beginning of a new book, just a chapter, and the beginning is very well written and attractive. But I found that it didn't take long to degenerate into mediocrity after writing the beginning, one is that I often spend a long time polishing the beginning, and after it is put on the shelf, I have to write more than 8,000 words a day, which is really not so much time to repair and take care of, and even there are a lot of typos. The second is this kind of long story, it is really difficult to grasp the plot behind it, even if the outline is written, but who can write it completely according to the outline?

I can only say that I still lack pen power, and I hope that I can grow up, but the good news is that one is stronger than the other, and the results are better than the other.

But don't worry, everyone.,There's a beginning and an end.,There's just a little idea on the new book.,The main thing is to try my best to write the current one.,The situation is a little better tonight.,Tomorrow is the plot that everyone loves to see.。

(End of chapter)