"Bastard!" Zhao Yan slapped the letter he received on the table, and then cursed loudly. With his status and status, he rarely cursed like this in recent years. However, when he received this news today, he couldn't help but scold him.

"Third brother, don't be too angry. Lu Huiqing's actions were expected. He used this suggestion to use military service to the Liao Kingdom to deceive His Majesty's favor. This time he proposed it again, just to guess the idea in His Majesty's mind, and wanted to use it to exchange for greater power!" At this time, Wang Shiyi also spoke and persuaded.

Not long after Lu Huiqing became prime minister, he finally proposed to Zhao Xu to send troops to Liao Kingdom again. Although this matter was firmly opposed by Sima Guang and others, Zhao Xu had been looking forward to this matter for a long time. In addition, after more than a year of rest and recuperation, he felt that the Song Dynasty had recovered from the previous drought and the new law could not be implemented for the time being, so he wanted to use a victory in a foreign war to increase his reputation. Therefore, with his secret support, coupled with the efforts of Lu Huiqing and others, the court finally passed this resolution. Now the Song Dynasty is under intense preparations. Of course, the news is still in a state of confidentiality. Except for some important ministers, the outside world has not heard any news at all.

"No, I must write another letter to my elder brother to persuade him. Although some strength has been restored in China, the harm caused by the reform has not been calmed down. If we were to launch troops to the Liao Kingdom at this time, the consequences would be really unpredictable. Why would my elder brother be so confused?" Zhao Yan also said anxiously at this time. After that, he was about to sit down and write a letter to Zhao Xu.

"Third brother, I think even if you want to write a letter to Your Majesty, don't directly oppose the use of military force against the Liao Kingdom. After all, you also understand Your Majesty's temper. He will definitely not listen to other people's persuasion now. If your words are too intense, it may even arouse Your Majesty's disgust!" Xu Yuan, who had not spoken at this time, suddenly said.

"That's true. Your Majesty is getting older and has a bit stubborn temper. Although you have a deep relationship with Your Majesty, you should not be too direct in some places!" At this time, Wang Shiyou also spoke. In fact, he and Xu Yuan both thought that even if Zhao Yan returned to the capital and personally persuaded Zhao Xu, it would be difficult for Zhao Xu to change his mind, because they found from Zhao Xu's style of behavior in recent years that the other party's personality has become increasingly stubborn, and it is difficult to listen to others' persuasion.

When Zhao Yan heard the words of his two brother-in-law, he couldn't help but be stunned for a moment, and then he showed a thoughtful expression. He and Zhao Xu did have a deep relationship, but he has been staying in Guangzhou in recent years, and he has military power and financial control. He had long heard that some people in the court had complaints about him. Although Zhao Xu had never said anything and had to accept his request, he had to admit it. After several years of separation, the relationship between their brothers was definitely not as good as before, so Xu Yuan and Wang Shi made an appointment to persuade him to speak more tactfully, and it was also for his sake.

Thinking of the above cause, Zhao Yan nodded and said to Xu Yuan and the others: "I understand. I will pay attention when writing a letter to my elder brother, but now it is not a good time to use troops in the Liao Kingdom. I am not optimistic about this. It seems that we must also be prepared!"

Xu Yuan and Wang Shiyi both knew that Zhao Yan had already started to make some preparations as early as when Lu Huiqing first persuaded Zhao Xu to use troops against the Liao Kingdom. Of course, if Zhao Xu could defeat the Liao Kingdom smoothly, these preparations would definitely not be used. But if the progress was not smooth, Zhao Yan's preparations might save the foundation of the Song Dynasty.

It was precisely because of this that Xu Yuan and Wang Shishi made an appointment with each other carefully and discussed with Zhao Yan. They discussed a way to deal with the possible situations in the future, and tried to be foolproof. After finally sending them away, Zhao Yan sat down and wrote a letter to Zhao Xu. The letter did not directly express his attitude towards sending troops to Liao. It was just a reminder that Zhao Xu is not stable at the moment. If he sends troops to Liao, it would be better if the time is shorter, but if it is not effective for a long time, it will probably only make the situation in the country worse. Therefore, please make sure to make plans in advance, and never be impatient, etc.

In the Chuigong Hall of the Imperial Palace in the capital, Zhao Xu has been very excited these days because he finally passed a resolution for sending troops to Liao. Although Sima Guang and others still stubbornly opposed it, with the support of Lu Huiqing and others, this matter has become a foregone conclusion. Next, it is time to think about the specific matters of how to use troops to Liao.

Speaking of military use, Zhao Xu asked himself that it was no worse than anyone else. During the Battle of Xia, he was the nominal commander. Of course, the specific military use and war were all handled by generals such as Yang Wenguang, but he was not an outsider. At least he also participated in the plan for the entire war and the dispatch of various materials later. Therefore, he also planned to personally formulate a plan for the attack on the Liao Kingdom this time.

Of course, before making a plan, we must determine whether to completely destroy the Liao Kingdom or just recover Yan Yun. From an emotional perspective, Zhao Xu naturally hoped to destroy the Liao Kingdom in one fell swoop, so that there would be no strong enemy in the north of the Song Dynasty. Unfortunately, he also knew that the Liao Kingdom was not Xixia, and even if the national strength of the Liao Kingdom declined, it was definitely not comparable to that of Xixia. With the current strength of the Song Dynasty, it was simply a delusion to destroy the Liao Kingdom in one fell swoop, so Zhao Xu set a goal for himself to recover the land of Yanyun and complete the feat that Emperor Taizong could not accomplish at the time.

The Land of Yanyun is also known as the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun. In order to get the support of the Liao Kingdom, Shi Jingyi, a famous son emperor in history, handed over the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun and the countless Han people living here to the Liao Kingdom. Speaking of which, the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun have always been a dangerous place, with easy to defend and difficult to attack, and there are many famous checkpoints. This has always been a natural barrier for the Central Plains dynasty to resist the northern Hu people. However, since it was occupied by the Liao Kingdom, the Central Plains dynasty seemed to have lost its strongest armor. The Liao team could go south to rob at any time, which made the Liao people psychologically regard the Central Plains dynasty as their prey, and they could go south to hunt at any time when they were hungry.

It is precisely because of the above reasons that the Central Plains dynasty had always wanted to recover the land of Yanyun. For example, in the Later Zhou Dynasty before the Northern Song Dynasty, Chai Rong, the Later Zhou Dynasty Emperor Taizu Zhao Kuangyin, became a sworn brother. He wanted to recover Yanyun. In the sixth year of Xiande, he launched an attack on the Liao Kingdom, and was unstoppable. He recovered Ying, Mo and Ning three passes, as well as Yijin Pass, Waqiao Pass and Yukou Pass, which can be said to be of great military achievements. The Liao army actually lost consecutive battles. Unfortunately, when the war entered a critical moment, Chai Rong was seriously ill and had to retreat. Finally, he died of illness in Kaifeng. It was Chai Rong who died young that Zhao Kuangyin took advantage of the loopholes and seized the Later Zhou Dynasty and established the Song Dynasty.

However, although the Central Plains dynasty changed, Zhao Kuangyin did not forget to recover Yan Yun after the founding of the country. He even set up a "stake sealing warehouse" in the inner treasury. The money stored in it was prepared to recover Yan Yun. Unfortunately, he died without using it. Later, Zhao Guangyi succeeded to the throne and finally used the money left by his brother to launch a war against the Liao Kingdom. Unfortunately, Zhao Guangyi was a good player in conspiracy and tricks, but he was far inferior to his elder brother in war, let alone compared to Chai Rong. As a result, he was defeated by the Liao Kingdom. Not only was he killed by the Liao Kingdom, but he also escaped in a donkey cart. It can be said that it was extremely embarrassing. Later, there were constant wars between the two countries, but the Song Dynasty won fewer victories and more defeats, and he was no longer able to recover Yan Yun's land.

The Song Dynasty did not have the strength to recover Yan Yun, but it was not unwilling to think that in fact, every emperor of the Song Dynasty dreamed of regaining Yan Yun. After all, Yan Yun did not belong to the Song Dynasty for a day, so the Liao Kingdom was like a machete hanging over the Song Dynasty's head, which could fall down at any time. It was not very pleasant to hand over his life to others. However, since Zhao Guangyi's defeat, the Song Dynasty has been at a disadvantage in terms of force. Later, after the Western Xia betrayed, let alone recover Yan Yun.

However, this situation finally changed with Zhao Yan's time travel. Zhao Shu's national strength grew rapidly when he was in power and destroyed the great trouble of Xixia. However, that battle also consumed a lot of money from the Song Dynasty. In addition, he was not Zhao Xu as the emperor at that time, so he did not attack the Liao Kingdom immediately. After Zhao Xu ascended the throne, he was busy with reforms and wanted to eliminate domestic disadvantages and crush the Liao Kingdom with absolute advantage. Unfortunately, the reform failed, but Zhao Xu was not willing to accept it. Perhaps in his opinion, even with the current national strength of the Song Dynasty, it had a great advantage over the Liao Kingdom, which was one of the reasons that prompted him to decide to launch a war against Liao.

The strategic goal has been determined, and the next step is some details and preparations for launching the war, such as which army was the main force when launching the attack. Originally, the Western Army was the strongest combat-capable army among the imperial guards of the Song Dynasty. However, after pacifying the Western Xia, the Western Army was scattered and stationed there. In addition, the Western Regions were also a little uneasy, so a large number of troops were needed to guard the Western Frontier, which also made the Western Army not able to use much force.

However, although the Western Army was delayed, the Hebei Army had been rebuilt. After several years of training, it was a very powerful army. In addition, with firearms, Zhao Xu believed that only the Hebei Army was enough to take on the heavy responsibility of attacking the Liao Kingdom. In addition, let the Western Army harass the Liao Kingdom from the other side, restrain the Liao Kingdom's troops, and then use the Hebei Army to attack Yanyun from the front, and think that it will take not long to recover the homeland.

Just as Zhao Xu was excitedly formulating a plan to attack the Liao Kingdom, the letter sent by Zhao Yan from Guangzhou was finally delivered to Zhao Xu. As a result, Zhao Xu was very happy after reading Zhao Yan's letter, because Zhao Yan did not directly persuade him to give up attacking the Liao Kingdom in the letter, but only reminded him of the risk of attacking the Liao Kingdom. In Zhao Xu's view, Zhao Yan's non-opposition was actually a kind of tacit consent. (To be continued)
Chapter completed!