Cao Zimu nodded and said, "I see." ”

Brother Richard thought about it and said: "Yang Zhi is another hidden danger of my Great Xia, this person's means are endless, and the person who can destroy my Great Xia in the future must be this person." ”

Cao Zimu looked at Brother Richard in amazement, he didn't expect Brother Richard to be so pessimistic; Brother Richard said with some sadness: "Daxia still has two chances for a decisive battle at most, Zimu, do you think we have a chance to win the battle in front of Yang Zhi's balloons flying in the sky? If such balloons fly over Lingzhou in the future and drop dozens of thunderbolts, do you think these officials in Chengli still have the courage to fight?"

Paradise Hall still worked, and soon after the decisive battle of Gyeongju, he figured out that the kind of flying thing was called a hot air balloon, and like the thunderbolt, it was a weapon invented by Yang Zhi; Cao Zimu thought about it according to Richard's description, sweat suddenly broke out on his forehead, and he hurriedly said: "Lord, this matter cannot be assumed. ”

Brother Richard's eyes shrank suddenly: "Next time, if I have a decisive battle with the Dingbei Army, I must go to meet this Yang Zhi in person, no matter what, I want to see how much ability he has, and how many means he can subvert my understanding? To be honest, I don't want such a situation, if Zhao Kai can really do this according to the letter, in my lifetime, I hope that Song Xia will be peaceful." ”

Cao Zimu understood Brother Richard's ventriloquis, he agreed to negotiate peace with the Great Song Dynasty according to Zhao Kai's conditions, Cao Zimu said sincerely: "The prince has no reservations for the sake of Great Xia." ”

"If you want to keep it, you can't keep it," Brother Richard chuckled: "What we have to do is not to let the people of Great Xia stop thinking when accepting Zhao Kai's conditions; although Zhao Kai and Yang Zhi are young, they will die after all, and in thirty or fifty years, Great Xia must survive until the day when the two are gone." Zimu, you are younger than me, and you will be of great use in the future, you must remember this, don't start the war lightly, and don't waste your strength in vain. ”

Cao Zimu didn't expect that he would be so favored by Brother Richard, and he would be compared with a hero like Yang Zhi, and said helplessly: "Lord Wang, I have been away from the court for too long. ”

Richard raised his head, stared at Cao Zimu and said: "Now that the door to the east of Great Xia is open, we must fight for a place through trade, those people in the court can't do it, you have been a merchant for more than ten years, but you have more advantages than them in this regard." You should understand that no matter how imposing my Western Xia army is, but when you encounter the kind of balloon flying in the sky, the accumulated morale will be wiped out in an instant, and you have a task to figure out how to make this kind of balloon, or how to destroy him. I will support you financially, so that you and Yang Zhi can start business smoothly and win his trust. ”

Cao Zimu didn't expect such a difficult task, and asked tentatively, "What about the people from the Paradise Hall?"

"They are also going on, but these people are not our royal clan after all, and when it comes to the need, I am afraid they will still be driven by interests. Brother Richard said lightly: "If you are not a member of the party, but a clan like Ren Dejing, I will not give you such a task, lest everyone end up together in the end." "Read

As far as Cao Zimu knows, the Jin King in front of him, Brother Richard and Ren Dejing, had a hot fight, and they did not refuse Ren Dejing's bribe, and the two of them were almost called brothers, but they didn't expect Brother Richard to be so wary of Ren Dejing; Cao Zimu suddenly remembered the so-called rumor, and changed color and said: "Could it be that what the Dingbei Army leaked is true?"

Brother Richard smiled bitterly: "I don't know, Yang Zhi's hand is playing beautifully, false and real, true and false, so we don't dare to gamble, but even if there was no such thing in the first place, do you dare to conclude that Ren Dejing doesn't have such an idea in his heart now? ”

Cao Zimu pondered and said: "We use the way of others to govern their bodies, and divide the relationship between Yang Zhi and Taiyuan?"

Brother Richard shook his head and said: "Now is not the time to implement, if it weren't for the defeat of our army at that time, and everyone from top to bottom wanted to find a scapegoat, Ren Dejing would not be so anxious to deal with this matter, and he would have time to analyze it; unless you collect evidence of Yang Zhi's crimes in the future business, it will be difficult to tell a lie that people can believe." I warn you that doing so will put you in danger. ”

Cao Zimu said disapprovingly: "There is no need to go through a lot of trouble, we can start in Bianliang, Yang Zhi asked me to bring an official letter from Youzhou, hoping that the two countries will negotiate; we can ignore it, send a letter abroad to ask for negotiations in Runzhou, and then walk the rumors in Bianliang and Runzhou to see if we can transfer Yang Zhi away." ”

Brother Richard couldn't help but walk back and forth in the house a few times, and said after deliberation: "This matter can't be risked, I will tell the lord of the country, but hide your name, so as not to be found and betrayed by someone with a heart; In the future, don't contact me, I will arrange for Wu'er Siqi to take care of you, he is about to become the commander of Lingzhou, and it will be more convenient to take care of you. ”

Cao Zimu could only nod his head, since he was unwilling to watch the Dangxiang clan sink, then he needed to fight to the end; Cao Zimu handed the official document entrusted by Yang Zhi to Brother Li Cha and said, "Can you make some fuss in the negotiations and let the officials of the Great Song Dynasty come to Xingzhou?"

"There's no need for extraneous complications. Brother Richard asked some of the details of what Yang Zhi said, and decisively extinguished Cao Zimu's thoughts: "The other party is not a fool, besides, we need to negotiate now, I will enter the palace, and you go home and wait for me." ”

The situation in the palace was worse than Richard imagined, not because of the pressure of the Great Song army, but because of the main battle and the dispute between the main peace. The stagnation of the Song army in Youzhou made the Western Xia monarchs see that the other party's strength was limited, and the news from Hengshan made Xia Renzong's heart twist like a knife; everyone understood that Hengshan would not be able to withstand the attack of the Dingbei army for a period of time in the future, and it was only a matter of time before Hengshan was abandoned, and the most important thing was whether it could reflect the value of that battlefield.

The main battle faction headed by Ren Dejing still wanted to control the situation, and suggested taking advantage of this opportunity to mobilize 200,000 troops from the west and north, and give Yang Zhi a thunderous blow in the spring; Yang Zhi's descendants can fight again, but there are only 100,000 people, so it's a big deal to avoid it. However, the hot Gongji has become a faction of the Lord and He, believing that such a battle to destroy the country does not lie in a two-game victory, and if 300,000 troops are invested to take back Weizhou and other places, the loss will not be too great.

This is the death hole of the main battle faction, and basically everyone has to admit that even if they win, the loss will be more than 200,000 troops; but Ren Dejing is a smart man, and in order to please Li Renxiao, he makes a moral fuss, which makes the hot Gongji and others a little incomprehensible. When the monarch was feeling troubled, the arrival of Brother Richard made Li Renxiao overjoyed, and he immediately gave a seat and asked, "What does Uncle Huang think?"