The victory in Northern Xinjiang, Zhao Ji was naturally very happy, his face flushed, but when he heard Lin Chong's proposal, he waved his hand without thinking about it.

"Don't mention the matter of continuing to march, the Liao State is strong and prosperous, although it is suffering a loss at the moment, but if it is forced again, it will definitely make it urgently transfer its army to the south. Although the national strength of my Great Song Dynasty is strong, but the soldiers are not as brave as the Liao soldiers, if there is really a full-scale war, I am afraid it will be difficult to match, this time Zhao Bufan fulfilled his promise to me, and it is enough to skillfully recover Xin'an Prefecture, the next thing to do is to guard the homeland and force the Liao State to negotiate peace, as for the recovery of the Sixteen Prefectures of Youyun, it will be discussed in the long run!"

"Your Majesty, this time it's really ......"

Lin Chong was anxious to persuade, but Zhao Ji interrupted unceremoniously, his face was slightly unhappy: "Okay, you have followed Zhao Bufan to recover your homeland, and you have been tired from afar, so go and rest for the time being, there will be a reward later, go down!"

"Your Majesty'......"

Lin Chong opened his mouth, but saw that Zhao Ji had already turned his back, sighed helplessly, lowered his head to bow and retreat, and when he walked out of the hall, he still couldn't help but look back at the majestic golden hall, and sighed.

Not long after, Zhao Ji, who was in the excitement, summoned important ministers to come to the discussion, because Zhao Bufan reported the news to the palace first this time, so even the privy envoy Tong Guan only learned the news of the victory in Northern Xinjiang after arriving at the palace.

When Zhao Ji happily finished talking about the battle situation in Northern Xinjiang, Tong Guan almost didn't think about it, and immediately rushed out to play: "Your Majesty, Zhao Bufan broke the Liao army and recovered Xin'anzhou, which will definitely make the whole country excited, and the morale of the army is high, so it is a good time for the Northern Expedition, I hope that Your Majesty will immediately order it to enter Yanjing north, and Liu Zhongwu will lead the elite forbidden army under his command to rush to the aid to respond!" At the same time, the Zhe family will send troops to attack Shuozhou of Liao, force into Datong Mansion, and use it to contain the Liao army in the west, while the minister will quickly gather the main army to raise grain and grass, and will launch a full-scale northern expedition within two months, so that it will be able to recover the sixteen states of Youyun and complete the last wishes of the previous emperors!"

"No!" As soon as Tong Guan's voice fell, Cai Jing followed closely behind, glanced at Tong Guan lightly, and said: "Your Majesty, Tong Guan's words are really misleading the country and the people, although the current Liao State is weak, but the foundation is still there, and there are many bandits in my Great Song Dynasty now, and natural disasters have been going on for many years, at this time, the Northern Expedition is tantamount to fighting with disease, how can you win?" The minister thinks that he should take this great opportunity to negotiate peace with the Liao State in a timely manner, take advantage of the fact that the Liao State is fighting with the Jin State, and have no intention of going south to recuperate, and also use Zhao Bufan's victory as a bargaining chip to fight for more interests for the Great Song Dynasty.

As soon as Cai Jing's words came out, almost half of the important ministers present echoed it, and a small half did not say anything, and only a small half showed disdain.

Obviously, for various reasons, the vast majority of these important officials of the Great Song Dynasty opposed the Northern Expedition, or did not support the Northern Expedition, and only a small number of Tong Guan's die-hard friends firmly supported the strategy of the Northern Expedition.

Tong Guan's face was cloudy, he was the most staunch supporter of the Northern Expedition, although the starting point was not for the country and the people, just to be able to make meritorious contributions and strive for greater power for himself, but his intention was very clear, and he could do whatever it took to do so, because he understood that his military exploits were the main reason for his current power.

"Humph!"

With a cold snort, Tong Guan glared angrily at the many ministers in the hall, and asked angrily: "The Lu of the Eater, the Worry of the Dividing the King, the West Mountain of the Liao Kingdom is the God-given opportunity for my Great Song Dynasty to recover the Sixteen Prefectures of Youyun, you ask yourself, what is wrong with the Northern Expedition?"

His anger caused the ministers to fall silent for a moment.

Cai Jingpi didn't smile, his old face was wrinkled, his eyes flashed, he stared at Tong Guan for a long time, and slowly said: "Lord Tong, as a privy envoy, it is indeed a good thing that Your Excellency is eager to kill the enemy and make meritorious contributions, but you can't push the Great Song Dynasty into the fire pit, since the founding of Emperor Taizu, the Great Song Dynasty has never wanted to recover the Sixteen Prefectures of Youyun, but when has it succeeded? The Khitans are brave and good at fighting, if the Northern Expedition fails, the army will be lost, and the Liao State will invade the south at that time, how can we resist?"

"Cai Xiang is a dignified minister of the Great Song Dynasty, so he has the spirit of being an enemy country, wouldn't he lose the face of my Great Song Dynasty?" Tong Guan refused to show weakness and competed against each other.

"Face is a small matter, the people of the country are a big matter, whether my Great Song Dynasty really has the strength of the Northern Expedition now, should Tong Shumi be clear? If it is to rush to send troops for merit, once an incident arises, who can afford it?" Cai Jing pointed to something, and looked deeply at Tong Guan.

The argument between the two made Zhao Ji, who was sitting upright, very annoyed, in fact, he was not unmoved at all, and he also wanted to go on the Northern Expedition, but he had too many concerns, as Cai Jing said, he was afraid of defeat, and deep down in his heart he just wanted to keep the great Song Dynasty and the current prosperity.

"Enough!"

Zhao Ji got up suddenly, his eyes swept over the ministers in the palace, and he reprimanded sharply: "What kind of system are you fighting for in the court like this, this matter will be put aside for the time being, and it will not be too late to discuss it when you have a perfect plan!

"Your Majesty!" ......Tong Guan shouted anxiously, trying to continue to persuade, he understood how favorable the current situation in northern Xinjiang was, and this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity was often fleeting, and it was even possible that if it was missed, it would be missed forever.

Zhao Ji was very irritable, and interrupted before Tong Guan could speak: "You insist on the Northern Expedition, then do you dare to make a military order? Unless you have the certainty of victory and a perfect strategy, otherwise the Northern Expedition will be held back for the time being, and we will discuss it when there is a better time in the future!"

These words were so blocked that Tong Guan didn't dare to make a sound anymore, and the whole thing fell silent!

He did not dare, nor was he willing to make a military order.

Zhao Ji took one last look at the Wenchen generals present, suddenly waved his sleeves, and left.

The ministers looked at each other for a moment, their expressions were different, some sighed, some regretted, and some proud, but in the end they all left silently.

Tong Guan, who walked out of the hall, was still very unwilling, and consciously walked to Cai Jing's side and walked side by side with him.

The old Cai Jing seemed to understand what he was thinking, waiting for him to speak first.

After dozens of steps, Tong Guan sighed helplessly and looked up at the sky in the distance.

"Enxiang, you should know that the Northern Expedition is the right choice, regardless of personal grievances, it is a good thing for the entire Great Song Dynasty!"

"I know!" Cai Jing smiled faintly, his eyes narrowed, as if he was talking to an old friend. "Strategy is a good strategy, and timing is also a good time, but the final result is difficult to say, the people are not aligned, sending troops will only suffer disasters, don't make the Liao State not defeated, we ourselves will die first and blood will flow, isn't it?"

"If Eun Xiang can support me this time, I can control the situation!" Tong Guan's voice was very soft, but there was obvious unwillingness in his words.

Cai Jing smiled, he couldn't tell what he was laughing at, but he still walked very slowly, but he didn't look at Tong Guan beside him at all.

After walking in silence for a long time, he opened his mouth again, his voice a little hoarse and even more mocking.

"If you dare to throw away all the military orders, I will leave everything to support you, but you won't!"

These words made Tong Guan's face slightly angry, and he responded coldly: "Enxiang, if you dare to abandon all your full support, I will dare to make a military order, but you won't!"

Cai Jing's expression did not change, but he smiled slightly: "Yes! There is a saying in the rivers and lakes that people are in the rivers and lakes, and they can't help themselves, aren't we the same? We don't dare, we won't, so what's the point of saying this, I won't support your Northern Expedition, because I can't afford to lose, and Your Majesty won't support your Northern Expedition, because Your Majesty doesn't dare to bet!"

The two never spoke again, and walked quietly side by side!

The afterglow of the setting sun fell on this majestic palace, as if she wanted to use the last light to illuminate the prosperity that was about to darken, and in another palace in the distance, the graceful and luxurious queen was listening to the battle report of the northern frontier, crying with joy!

..................

Sikou Pass, one of the three passes in the northern Xinjiang of the Great Song Dynasty, is sandwiched between two mountain ranges, there is a boundary river in the north, easy to defend and difficult to attack.

After Zhao Bufan returned to Bazhou from Cangzhou, he saw that the ice and snow were melting and the amount of water was surging, so he immediately implemented the plan that had been prepared for a long time. He originally wanted to take advantage of the victory of the Northern Expedition to Yanjing, but because Emperor Zhao Ji sent an 800-mile rush two days after receiving the battle report, he was strictly ordered not to march, and the Northern Expedition could not be carried out.

Although this news made Zhao Bufan deeply regretful, it was expected after all, so he quickly let go of his unwillingness, transferred troops in the northern Xinjiang of Bazhou, Xin'an and Cangzhou, deployed the northern Xinjiang defense line in his heart, and at the same time moved the general's mansion to the Sikou Pass, taking the Sikou Pass as the core of the northern Xinjiang defense line. The five tiger cavalry of the Liangshan Army were all stationed in the large camp south of Sikou Pass, as the main mobile force, and the infantry of the five armies was only stationed here by the Chinese army, and the remaining four armies were transferred to Cangzhou and Bazhou respectively to lead the local border army to jointly carry out the garrison task.

Compared with the previous defense method of sticking to dangerous passes, Zhao Bufan made a comprehensive change, requiring all departments to advance the forward defense line to the south bank of the Jiehe River, set up camps and checkpoints, and contain the main roads, so that the Liao army could not directly threaten the major passes, forming a closely connected defense system and strategic depth.

The benefits of this are also obvious, in addition to avoiding the direct threat of the major passes, and at the same time making it difficult for the Liao army to send a small force from the mountains and forests to sneak into the hinterland of the Great Song Dynasty to burn and loot, the people's lives will be much more stable, but the disadvantage is that the pressure on the army is increasing rapidly, and the support and cooperation of the various departments must be tacit and timely enough, and the collision and friction between the patrol posts of the Song and Liao countries on weekdays have also increased significantly.

Soon after, the establishment of the Cangzhou Liutun Forbidden Army was also obtained by Zhao Bufan, Cai Jing and Liang Shicheng respectively sent people to send a message to express their approval, although the price he needed to pay was really not small, but it was finally within the scope of acceptance.

After careful consideration, Zhao Bufan handed over the establishment of 20,000 people to the most trusted Lu Zhishen, and asked him to immediately release the conscription list and completely reorganize the army. According to the agreement reached in secret, in the future, the military supplies allocated by the imperial court to this Liutun forbidden army will still flow into the pockets of Cai Jing and others as before, and Zhao Bufan will provide an additional 100,000 yuan to Cai Jing and Liang Shicheng every year.

After arranging all the major matters, Zhao Bufan, who was in a good mood, no longer bothered with those trivial matters, and stayed in the martial arts hall in the backyard of the general's mansion all day long to practice martial arts.

Cangzhou Dongxian Town almost died in the hands of Fuji Wu Jinping in the first battle, which made him very shocked, and he also had a lot of questions about his martial arts.

On this day, the gun spirit in the martial arts hall was rampant, Zhao Bufan quickly practiced the Luo family's marksmanship, and his mind recalled the moves that Fujitake Jinping used that day, but no matter how he changed, he always felt that if he faced Fujiwu Jinping again, it would still be a helpless result.

"Bang!"

Zhao Bufan threw the iron gun in his hand fiercely, and the iron gun carrying his amazing internal force was deeply inserted into the hard rock ground, and the body of the gun trembled non-stop, making a crisp sound.

Orizuki, who was sitting in the corner, blinked her beautiful big eyes, supported her chin with her hands, and supported her knees with her elbows, as if she was worried about him.

"Brother Fan, don't be too anxious, take your time! It's useless to be in a hurry when practicing martial arts!"

Zhao Bufan sighed and shook his head gently: "The Luo family's marksmanship is really not suitable for me, it can't exert my true strength, and I can't exert its ten-layer power, I got away with it in the face of Fuji Wu Jinping last time, and I may not have such good luck next time, now there are too many people who want to kill me, I must find a martial art that suits me." ”

"I think the Eighteen Palms of the Dragon Descending and the Nine Yin Divine Claws are quite suitable for you, since the marksmanship can't be broken through for the time being, let's practice the other two first!" Zhi Yuezhi persuaded.

"The eighteen palms of the dragon descending are the most suitable for me, but I only have six palms, it is not easy to practice like this, if you want to cultivate to the depth, you still have to get the remaining twelve palms and the general outline, but this thing is the secret book of the beggar gang, how easy it is to get it together, as for the Nine Yin Divine Claw, I only got an introductory chapter, it used to be very good, but now it looks like that, it doesn't play much role at all!"

Zhao Bufan said as he wiped the beads of sweat from his forehead, his eyes were full of determination, "I must improve my martial arts as soon as possible, Song Liao should not have any large-scale wars in the short term, but I need a huge amount of money and materials now, and I can't feed so many people by guarding this silt pass every day, so I can only go out, and if I go out, I will definitely meet those masters, and I must have the power to protect myself." ”

"You dignified general, can't you tell everyone to do it, not to mention that you can also bring more masters by your side!" Zhi Yuezhi looked puzzled and stared at him suspiciously.

Zhao Bufan shook his head: "There are some things that I have to do personally, and only I can do them!"

After the words fell, he walked straight to the door of the martial arts hall, "By the way, I will leave for Luoyang tomorrow, do you plan to follow me all the way, or with Hu Sanniang and them?"

"Isn't it good for everyone to walk together, why do you want to go separately?" Orizuki complained.

"The more people there are, the more eye-catching they are!" Li Luo dropped a sentence and walked out of the martial arts hall......