On a plain in the northernmost plain of Xijing Road in Liao Kingdom, Yelu Chun's army after surrendering to the Song Dynasty was stationed here, at the center of the camp

Yelu Chun established a country on the grassland and claimed to inherit the name of the Great Liao. Although the tribes that resisted the Liao Kingdom on the grassland had never thought of interrupting, they had ruled the entire grassland for nearly two hundred years, so the Liao Kingdom still had a considerable reputation on the grassland. In addition, Yelu Chun's personal appeal, in just a few months, more than a dozen of Western Liaos surrendered to Yelu Chun's Western Liao, and wiped out several tribes that opposed him. For a time, the Western Liao Dynasty's popularity rose greatly, and it seemed that it really had the momentum to revive the Liao Kingdom.

Faced with the rise of Western Liao, the Song Dynasty also paid close attention to it and temporarily stopped its combat plan against the Jin Dynasty. After all, the Western Liao was next to the Western Army and could harass their attack at any time. Moreover, if they colluded with the Jin Dynasty, it would likely cause a pincer attack on the Western Army. Moreover, even if they did not attack the Western Army, they might take advantage of the opportunity of the Song Dynasty's local troops being empty, and this impact would be greater. Therefore, the Song Dynasty must make a new arrangement for the rise of Western Liao.

"Uncle San, the strength of Western Liao is getting stronger and stronger, but the ministers in the court cannot come up with a solution. Do you have any good ideas?" Zhao Xu asked Zhao Yan in the study of the King Yue Mansion in Tokyo with an anxious look on his face. During this period, he was also very worried about the matter in Western Liao, but the opinions in the court were not unified, so he came to ask Zhao Yan for his opinion.

"Compared with Zhao Xu's anxiety, Zhao Yan was very calm at this time. He slowly tasted the tea before asking: "What do the ministers in the court think about the Western Liao?"

"The ministers in the court have many opinions, but in general, they are divided into two factions: "fighting" and "harmony". One of them believes that Yelu Chun's threat is far greater than that of the Jin Kingdom, so he should be able to suspend the war with the Jin Kingdom and instead fight Yelu Chun with all his might. The other part believes that since he has reached this point with the Jin Kingdom, and the other party has provoked our Song Dynasty several times, it is better not to care about Yelu Chun for the time being, and continue to destroy the Jin Kingdom in one fell swoop according to the original plan, and then turn around to deal with Yelu Chun!" Zhao Xu spoke out the two opinions in the court. It was precisely because he was unable to make up his mind that he wanted to ask Zhao Yan for advice.

After listening to the opinions in the court, Zhao Yan did not express it immediately. Instead, he turned around and looked at a map on the wall of the study. This was a map from the north of the Song Dynasty, in which both the Jin and Liao Kingdoms were marked on it. Zhao Yan looked at the vast grassland in the north of the Liao Kingdom on the map and slowly fell into deep thought.

Seeing Zhao Yan thinking, Zhao Xu didn't dare to disturb him, but sat there respectfully. After a while, he suddenly sighed and said, "Fight, you must not let Yelu Chun grow up, otherwise it will only put my Song Dynasty in a greater crisis!"

"Uh?" After hearing Zhao Yan's choice, Zhao Xu was stunned for a long time. He originally thought that his third uncle hated the Jurchens so much, he would choose to destroy the Jin Kingdom first and then pay attention to Yelu Chun. After all, Yelu Chun was just a nobleman of Liao Kingdom who surrendered and rebelled, and the threat to the Song Dynasty should not be as threatening to the Jurchens. But he did not expect that the third uncle would unexpectedly choose to attack Yelu Chun first, which made Zhao Xu unable to react for a long time.

Seeing Zhao Xu's surprised look, Zhao Yan smiled and said, "Don't be so surprised. I do hate the Jurchens very much, and I wish I could destroy them immediately to eliminate future troubles. However, this is not an easy task. Although they have been forced into a small Huanglong Mansion by us, based on my understanding of Aguda, when he can't beat us, he will almost 100% choose to escape into the mountains and forests. In this way, it takes a lot of time and energy to destroy them again, which cannot be completed overnight."

When he said this, Zhao Yan paused and then said, "If we focus on destroying the Jurchens, it will only make Yelu Chun on the grassland bigger. This person has ambition and courage. In addition, the Yelu Dashi beside him is a talented person. If they really stand on the grassland and even unify the grassland, their threat to our Song Dynasty will be even more. Think about the Turks during the Sui and Tang Dynasties back then, even with the strong military force of the Tang Dynasty, they would not be able to completely eliminate them. Therefore, in comparison, Yelu Chun's threat to our Song Dynasty is greater than that of the Jin Kingdom."

"Turkish?" Zhao Xu couldn't help feeling a little chill when he heard this name. It was the grassland empire that even the two dynasties of Sui and Tang dynasties had to bow to them. Although it was finally defeated by the Tang Dynasty, the influence of the Raiders still existed on the grassland for many years. Later, although the Khitans established a powerful Liao Kingdom, even when the Liao Kingdom was at its peak, it was far less than that of the Turks.

"San Uncle, Yelu Chun is just a nobleman who lost his country. Does he have such great ability to unify the grassland?" Zhao Xu suddenly asked. The threat of the northern grassland does exist, but for so many years the Liao Dynasty unified the grassland, and the grasslands were still in chaos. The defeated tribes were attacked endlessly. Even when the Liao Dynasty was in its prime, it could not completely unify the grasslands, let alone the defeated generals like Yelu Chun.

Hearing Zhao Xu's words, Zhao Yan looked at him and shook his head and said, "Xu'er, do you think the Liao Kingdom really has no ability to unify the grassland? In fact, unifying the grassland is the most difficult for them, but the Liao Kingdom has never done this before, because they are also nomadic peoples from the grassland. They know the terrible unification of these nomadic peoples, so they dare not do this. I even suspect that the Liao Kingdom has been provoking conflicts between the tribes on the grassland, making the grassland people always in internal friction. As long as the grassland becomes chaotic, it will be more in line with the interests of the Liao Kingdom on the grassland."

"This..." Zhao Xu was stunned again when he heard Zhao Yan's words. He didn't know what to say for a moment. He did not doubt the authenticity of Zhao Yan's words, but it was a little difficult to accept for a while. However, if he thought about it carefully, Zhao Yan's analysis was reasonable. If he were the ruler of the Liao Kingdom, he would definitely make the same decision without the ability to change the grassland.

Thinking of this, Zhao Xu finally nodded and said, "Uncle San, I understand that the Liao Kingdom did not dare to unify the grassland before, but Yelu Chun now has no such concern. Moreover, no matter whether he has this ability or not, he may unify the grassland in advance. This is obviously a very bad thing for our Song Dynasty. Therefore, we must take advantage of the fact that Yelu Chun has not yet established a firm foothold in the grassland and eliminate their threat in the cradle!"

"That's true. Although the Jurchens were established, they had been forced to Huanglong Mansion by us. They could only be said to be in a corner. As long as we guard the west and south, they would have no possibility of developing outward. Moreover, the biggest feature of the Jurchens is that they come and go like the wind. Apart from the mountains and forests, there is no fixed residence point at all. But now they occupy Huanglong Mansion, but they have lost this advantage. And as they settled for a longer time, they will definitely not want to leave Huanglong Mansion and return to the bitter and cold forests. This is a good phenomenon for us. After the Jurchens completely settled, we can destroy them in one fell swoop, instead of letting them escape into the mountains and forests, spending a lot of time and energy to clear them out." Zhao Yan analyzed again at this time.

Zhao Xu also felt his eyes lit up when he heard this, and then he slapped his thighs and said, "It's amazing, you can see thoroughly, Uncle San, then this matter is settled. First drive Yelu Chun out of the grassland, and then solve the nomadic people on the grassland. As for the Jurchens, let it go temporarily. Anyway, with their current situation, there will be no big trouble!"

However, the excited expression on Zhao Xu's face did not last long. Soon he frowned again and said, "Uncle San, even if we drive Yelu Chun out of the grassland, it will be very troublesome to solve the problem of the nomadic people in the grassland. After all, the Liao Kingdom has ruled the grassland for nearly two hundred years and has not been able to solve this problem. It can only be dominated by differentiation. However, when we reach the Song Dynasty, we can't use differentiation methods. This method can only treat the symptoms but not the root cause. If we are not careful, we may unify the nomadic people in the grassland. By then, our Song Dynasty will have another great enemy."

Hearing that Zhao Xu was worried about the future rule of the grassland, Zhao Yan laughed and said, "Xu'er, you don't have to worry about the rule of the grassland. Speaking of which, the reason why the northern grasslands are chaotic is entirely due to two reasons. The first is that the land is vast and sparsely populated and inconvenient transportation. A rebellion occurred in one place, and it is difficult for the imperial army to rush over in time. The second is that it is poor. However, it is not that there are no good things on the grassland, but because of some blockades by our Central Plains dynasty, they cannot exchange things for money and daily necessities. However, when our Song Dynasty ruled the grassland, isn't it easy to solve these two problems?"

"Uncle San, what you are talking about..." Zhao Xu's eyes lit up again when he heard this, and he also understood what Zhao Yan meant. The inconvenient transportation on the grassland made various tribes not ruled by the court. However, if railways and cement roads were built on the grassland, the Song Dynasty's army could reach wherever the roads extended at any time, which could fully satisfy the Song Dynasty's rule over the grassland, and the economic problem would be better solved. As long as the Song Dynasty encouraged merchants to do business on the grassland, exchange cattle, sheep and other livestock produced on the grassland for daily necessities and money, so that the herdsmen's lives would be rich. No matter how much others encouraged them, no one would be willing to give up their current rich life and take the risk of rebellion.

Thinking of this, Zhao Xu finally showed a happy smile, and discussed some other government affairs with Zhao Yan. When he was about to say goodbye, he suddenly thought of something and said to Zhao Yan: "Uncle San, I have prepared to send a fleet to Europe, but when will he come back? Let's discuss it carefully at that time?" (To be continued.)
Chapter completed!