There is an early court today. Fang Zian is a fourth-grade Minister of Household Affairs and is qualified to participate in the morning court. At the morning court, Emperor Zhao Gou was absent as usual, and Prince Zhao Shen presided over the court meeting on his behalf.

Several important things were mentioned in the morning meeting today. The first one was that the Emperor Wanyan Liang of the Jin Kingdom sent an envoy. Unexpectedly, this time Wanyan Liang's words were not domineering accusations and threats, but actually went along with the big talk. Song talked about the truth.

Not long ago, the Huaixi Army crossed the border and attacked. The imperial court punished Li Xianzhong, the commander of the Huaixi Army, and demoted him. In addition, Zhao Gou agreed in principle to Qin Hui's proposal to apologize to the Jin people and compensate them with two taels of silver to appease the Jin people's anger. But after Qin Hui's death, everything turned around. Official Li Xianzhong was reinstated, and it was naturally impossible to apologize and compensate the Jin people.

But everyone in the imperial court was worried. They knew that the Jin people would not let it go. After suffering such a big loss, and now that the traitor Qin Hui was found out and killed again, they were afraid that they would immediately break up and launch an attack. Therefore, the new Privy Councilor Zhang Jun Jun even ordered troops and horses to be deployed in Huaixi and Huaidong, the Jinghu garrison, and the Sichuan and Shaanxi garrison to be on alert, ready to welcome the Jin's attack at any time.

The envoy from the Kingdom of Jin arrived in Lin'an yesterday. Everyone was paying attention to the mission of the envoy. Most people believed that this time the envoy from the Kingdom of Jin must come to declare war. Unexpectedly, Zhao Shen informed the crowd in the early morning. The purpose of the envoy from the Kingdom of Jin is not to rebel, but to negotiate peace.

"The Jin envoy made some complaints, but it was not a falling out. On the contrary, Wan Yanliang demanded that the terms of the Shaoxing peace treaty be re-proposed, continue the terms of the previous peace treaty in which the two countries had good relations and peacefully coexist, and keep the good relations between the two countries unchanged. For me in Huaixi Regarding the cross-border attack by the Jin army, Wan Yanliang only asked us to provide silver to compensate for the losses of the dead and wounded Jin army soldiers and horses, and never asked us to punish the culprits. As for the previous involvement of Mr. Shi and Mr. Fang in the civil strife of Jin Not even a word was mentioned about the incident. When the emperor met the envoy and read the letter of credence, he felt incredible. Could it be that the Jin people have changed their temper? I don’t know what to think." Zhao Shen smiled and told the general situation. Once again, ask everyone.

Everyone started talking, the people of Jin were so honest and polite, it was like the sun was rising in the west.

"It seems to me that the Jin people are wise. They know that I, the Song Dynasty, are not easy to mess with. I have said before that I, the Song Dynasty, are not weak. The reason why I tolerate it is because I want to end the war and the people will suffer, so I can't bear to go to war, so I Respond with gentle measures. If the Song Dynasty is angered and the Song Dynasty launches a thunderous attack, they will not be able to seek revenge. The attack of the Huaixi Army should have made them realize this, so they mentioned the matter of reconciliation again. I think that this time it cannot If you are fond of the Jin people, you must tell them that the Shaoxing peace negotiation cannot continue. If they want peace, they have to send people to negotiate peace with us. The terms must be beneficial to us, the Song Dynasty. Otherwise, they will never be allowed to negotiate peace." Tang Si retreated. Stand up and speak loudly.

Listening to Tang Situi's words, those who didn't know thought that Tang Situi was a hardline person who actively took the initiative in the war. Who would have thought that Tang Situi, who not long ago followed Qin Hui to vigorously suppress the war faction, could actually say such a thing? Strong words.

"What Mr. Tang said is absolutely true, we can't coddle them. If the Jin people want to make peace, they can make peace? If they want to fight, they can fight? It's up to us to decide. I, the Song Dynasty, gave them face, and now I know that I, the Song Dynasty, have powerful soldiers and horses. , I wanted to ask for peace. The peace treaty must be like asking for peace. The peace agreement was re-drawn, and we asked them to pay us tribute coins and return the land in the Central Plains of Hebei to the Song Dynasty before peace could be approved." Privy Councilor Zhang Jun is a tough man. The main war faction immediately echoed loudly.

Both the Prime Minister and the Privy Council have this attitude.

, immediately ignited the passion of the ministers. There had been a change of people in the DPRK, and the militant radicals had the absolute upper hand. Under such circumstances, there was naturally no room for other voices.

"The Jin people bully the weak and shy away from the strong. This time, this was completely exposed. When the beating hurts, they will know that it is powerful."

"Wei Chen suggested that the court should speed up the pace of army reorganization. It is probably impossible to ask the Jin people to return the land in the Central Plains of Hebei. In the end, we need to fight over them and drive them away completely. To restore our territory in the Song Dynasty, we must at least reach Yanyun

Only those north of the sixteen states can negotiate peace with them."

"How can it be done? The Jin people are tigers and wolves, and their duty is to eliminate evil. Not only must they be driven away, but they must also be driven to Mobei to drink from the northwest wind. They cannot be given any chance to make a comeback. The imperial court should have great ambitions to surpass the Han and Tang Dynasties.

Great deeds, opening up a realm of immortality for all eternity.”

"..."

The courtiers were excited and said one after another.

Fang Zian frowned and stood in the crowd without saying a word. He suddenly felt that the entire court seemed to be filled with a passionate and radical atmosphere. This atmosphere seemed to make people excited and share the same hatred. However,

But it is a bit unreasonable and unrealistic. Based on the current comparison of the strength of Song and Jin, the Song Dynasty is still weak, and the Jin Kingdom's military strength is much stronger. How dare these people say that they will drive the Jin people to Mobei. Others

It's okay for people to say that. What's scary is that the prime ministers and ministers all think so, and there is a sense of blind optimism. This is actually very scary.

"Fang Zian, what do you think about this matter?" Zhao Shen saw Fang Zian bowing his head in thought, so he asked by name with a smile.

Fang Zian came out of the queue and saluted: "I have not thought about this matter carefully, so I dare not talk nonsense. Such important military and national affairs should be treated with caution. I'd better not talk too much."

Tang Situi smiled and said: "Mr. Fang actually has an opinion in his heart, but he just refuses to say it. Mr. Fang, this is an important matter for the court. You are an important member of the court, how can you have an idea and not say it? Aren't we just going to take it together today?

Is this your idea? You just came back from the Kingdom of Jin recently, and you have fought against Jin Bing, and have met Wan Yanliang. You also know more about the current situation in the Kingdom of Jin than we do. Let me tell you what you think."

Fang Zian thought for a while and nodded: "Okay, since Mr. Tang insists on telling me what I think, I will say a few words. However, I am afraid that you may not like to hear what I say, and I am afraid that it may be contrary to your ideas. I

I think that the Jin people are showing weakness, which seems to be a good thing. But to be honest, I don’t think that the Jin people are really showing weakness. Based on this, all of you may think that the Jin people are afraid of us, but that is probably overthinking. How have the Jin people ever been afraid?

Can we conclude that the Jin people are afraid of us after a small defeat in Huaixi? You are too hasty."

As soon as Fang Zian said this, many people coughed in embarrassment. Indeed, what does a failure in a battle mean? When the Jin people went south, they also suffered many defeats. In the battle of Huang Tiandang, the Jin people were almost destroyed. What happened in the end?

Aren't they making a comeback? In fact, the Jin people did not win many times in battles with the Song Dynasty, but the Jin people continued to attack with all their strength, and the Song Dynasty wanted to make peace after winning, so the Jin people never thought that defeat was a big deal.

of.

"Master Fang, tell me, why did Wan Yanliang send someone to show his kindness and want to negotiate peace with us? Isn't this abnormal?" Tang Si said with a smile.

Fang Zian laughed and said: "Master Tang also knows that this is abnormal, so there must be an internal reason. I personally guess that there are two reasons. One is to paralyze us and make us think that they are really timid.

Just as everyone here thought just now, thinking that gold

People are afraid of us. It is a taboo to underestimate the enemy. Once we think that the Jin people are vulnerable, we are not far from failure. The situation in the past few decades has proved that the Jin people are not made of paper and clay, otherwise we would not be in Lin'an

We are now talking about government affairs."

Everyone was shocked when they heard Fang Zian's last words. This Fang Zian really had no inhibitions when speaking. Can such words be said in court? Fortunately, the emperor did not go to court today, otherwise he might have jumped up.

"…The second reason, I think, may be a delaying tactic. I guess something happened within the Jin Kingdom, and Wanyan Liang couldn't take action against us for the time being, so he wanted to negotiate a peace first to stabilize us. I guess, Wanyan Liang

Liang should be focusing on quelling the rebellion within the Jin Kingdom. Three months ago, Mr. Shi and I assisted the Zhongyi Eight-Character Army in repelling Xiao Huaizhong's army in the Taihang Mountains. After Xiao Huaizhong's defeat, he fled to Xijing Datong, which was like a separatist regime. By the way

Let me mention that two months ago, the Huaixi Army's surprise attack was won when the Jin people mobilized soldiers and horses from Suzhou to pursue Xiao Huaizhong's troops northward, and the troops were empty. It was not a victory in the attack as some people said before.

The victory of the Western Army does not reflect the comparison of strength between the two armies. Not to mention these, Xiao Huaizhong is a capricious person. After the defeat, he refused to accept Wan Yanliang's punishment, so he returned to his Datong Prefecture in Xijing to separatist power. Wan Yanliang

Obviously we have to deal with him first. He was unwilling to antagonize the Song Dynasty at the same time, and at the same time he wanted to quell Xiao Huaizhong's rebellion, so he temporarily stabilized us with a show of goodwill. Of course, this is my guess. I think the court must have a dedicated

Si is looking for information. The Northern Room of the Privy Council should have many eyes and ears in the Kingdom of Jin. There should be definite news coming." Fang Zian continued in a deep voice.

Zhao Shen nodded slightly and asked in a deep voice: "Privy Privy Zhang should know if there is any news of internal rebellion in the Kingdom of Jin."

Zhang Jun nodded and said: "The veteran has indeed received the report. There are signs of mobilization of troops within the Jin Kingdom. They are indeed gathering from Yanjing and Shangjing to Xijing. But doesn't this mean that the Jin people have no time to go south, and we are more

Should we actively prepare for war and launch the Northern Expedition as soon as possible while taking advantage of the internal counterinsurgency?"

The ministers nodded one after another, and someone said: "Exactly, since we know that there is chaos inside, it is a good time to send troops. Let it be difficult to care about the head and tail, and it will fall apart."

Fang Zian said: "Since Privy Council Zhang knows the news about the mobilization of troops within the Jin Kingdom, he should know whether there are any signs of mobilization of the Jin soldiers on the border between the two countries? Are there any unusual movements of the Jin soldiers on the border between Huaidong and Huaixi?"

Zhang Jun said: "There is no sign of that."

Fang Zian nodded and said: "That's the problem. The Jin people obviously took precautions. The troops and horses on the border have not moved, which means they are prepared to deal with the unexpected and are also prepared to prevent us from attacking at this time. So, in fact, at this moment

On the contrary, it is the time when the Jin people are most alert, and it is not suitable for military operations."

Zhang Jun frowned and thought, he had to admit that Fang Zian's words were reasonable.

Tang Situi chuckled and said: "As far as I know, Mr. Fang is actively taking the lead in the war. I remember that Mr. Fang has a poem that says: The survivors have shed their tears in the dust, and looked south to Master Wang for another year. It is written about love.

It’s sincere and touching. Why is it that now that the imperial court is about to take action, it doesn’t seem to agree? Could it be that like many people, poems are poems and things are matters?”

Everyone looked at Fang Zian. Tang Situi said this with a smile. In fact, he was accusing Fang Zian of being different from what he said. Indeed, what Fang Zian said today seemed to be different.
Chapter completed!