For a time, the Kaban Banner tribe became more powerful, and the number of troops increased exponentially. The living soil of some small and medium-sized tribes that were originally neutral continued to shrink. As a last resort, in order to survive, they had to surrender to the Kaban Banner tribe and claim the title of king.
The Kaqi tribe, which had become powerful for a time, began to mobilize its troops and considered waiting for the beginning of spring to commit another invasion of the Song Dynasty.
Liao.
The senior leaders of the Liao Kingdom, who had not reaped any benefits from the successive defeats, had already felt the threat posed to them by the Song Dynasty.
After Zhang Jian returned to Beijing after a long journey, he quickly met with some important officials in the court. He first reached an agreement with Yelu Renxian, the deputy privy envoy of the Beiyuan, and confirmed the threat to the Song Dynasty.
With his help, he lobbied a lot of people, and finally got the approval of Liao Xingzong Yelu Zongzhen. The Liao army sent another 200,000 troops to fight in the Song Dynasty, and it was necessary to recover all the previous losses.
Xixia.
The originally good situation was ruined.
All this was caused by Su Shi, which also made Xixia King Li Yuanhao extremely angry.
It is rare that Xixia and Liao capitals united to attack the Song Dynasty.
It was rare for the Song Dynasty to have a minister like Wen Yanbo who would rather suffer losses than go to war.
The original idea was very good, but with Su Shi's two big fires, all the advantages were destroyed.
It's good now. The goal of severely damaging the Song Dynasty and the Western Army of the Song Dynasty was not achieved. On the contrary, it caused the loss of troops and generals.
Naturally, this result did not satisfy Li Yuanhao. In addition to cursing the incompetence of Liao and Meng in his heart, he also considered withdrawing his troops.
Xixia was too poor to support a protracted war. Now that there were 70,000 troops outside, the amount of food consumed every day was an astronomical amount. If it had not been for the northern troops from the Song Dynasty,
Jing has robbed a lot of money, and I'm afraid I won't be able to hold on for a long time.
Li Yuanhao had the idea of retreating, but the Prime Minister Zhang Yuan had a different idea.
He believed that if the war reached this point, Xixia would never be able to retreat.
Otherwise, once the Song Dynasty reacts and sends troops to their west, they will only fight against the enemy alone without even finding an ally.
Now we should continue to fight on the basis that the Liao Kingdom is already an enemy of the Song Dynasty. At the worst, we will have a blood feud between the Song Dynasty and the Liao Dynasty. In this way, even if the Xixia army retreats, there is no need to worry about the Song people.
Take revenge on them.
If Song and Liao can continue to fight at that time, it will of course be the best thing.
If that were the case, no one would pay attention to Xixia.
At that time, whether they wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to develop or directly send troops, they had too much autonomy.
Zhang Yuan's statement was quickly recognized by Li Yuanhao. Following the other party's suggestion, he mobilized an army and began to put pressure on the western border of the Song Dynasty.
It is impossible to send reinforcements to the northern border, but they can threaten the western border of the Song Dynasty and force the Western Army of the Song Dynasty that originally entered the northern border to retreat, which can be regarded as reducing the pressure on the northern border.
There were many Xixia troops on the opposite side of the western border. Without saying anything, Chen Zhizhong wrote a memorial and sent it to Bianliang City in an expedited manner of 600 miles.
Chen Zhizhong had his own calculation, that is, no matter whether the war could be fought or not, there was nothing wrong with asking the imperial court for food and money.
Chen Zhizhong would not miss this opportunity to ask for something openly.
The memorial also stated that the situation in the Western Territory was dangerous, and that Di Qing's troops who had previously been sent to the Northern Territory were to be sent back.
thing.
Soon, Zhao Zhen in the palace received this memorial and called some important ministers to discuss matters in Longtuge.
"Your Majesty, the troubles in Xixia must be guarded against. I believe that we should strengthen our military preparations in advance to prevent unexpected events. Di Qing's troops can also order them to return to the west. After all, there is no war in the north." Prime Minister Du Tao stood up and took the lead in speaking out.
Make your own attitude clear.
There are also factions among civil servants, which are small groups composed of people with good personal relationships and similar ideas.
Du Hao and Chen Zhizhong have always had a good relationship, and they often communicate with each other.
Even for memorials sent by Chen Zhizhong, Du Ai was usually the first to support them.
Chen Zhizhong proposed to transfer Di Qing from the northern border to return to the Western Army. Wen Yanbo, the political advisor standing below, his eyes lit up and he stood up to express his support.
Wen Yanbo was not supporting Chen Zhizhong, nor was he trying to sell Du Hao, he was targeting Su Shi.
Aren’t you Su Shi very powerful?
According to the memorial sent back by Bao Zheng, Su Shi took action, and the alien tribe was defeated and the situation in the north was stabilized.
Very good, then I will transfer the most capable person around you now, and wait until you become a toothless tiger to see how you can stabilize the situation.
When you are defeated, he will immediately add insult to injury, deal with this person, and let others see the consequences of offending you.
As soon as Wen Yanbo stood up, Privy Councilor Wang Deyong also stood up and seconded the proposal.
Needless to say, Wang Deyong also hated Su Shi deeply.
If it weren't for Su Shi's comparison, Wang Deyong would not have been shown to be so incompetent.
"I also agree." Da Zongzheng Zhao Yunrang also stood up to express his support. But
This time, he did not speak out as a member of the Zhao clan, but expressed his attitude as a deputy privy envoy.
Yan Shu resigned, leaving a vacant position for Privy Councilor, which was taken by Bao Zheng.
Bao Zheng was promoted to Privy Councilor, and the position of deputy envoy was vacated. Zhao Yunrang went to Zhao Zhen to express his interest in the position.
According to Zhao Yunrang, he is a member of the Zhao family. The entire army cannot be left to others to manage. After all, one must have one's own family members to trust him.
For this reason, Zhao Yunrang also sent some money to Empress Cao in advance. With her help, Prime Minister Jia Changchao, who belonged to the empress' line, also expressed support when Zhao Zhen asked for his opinion. Da Zongzheng officially became a public official.
One of the ministers became a deputy privy envoy of the current dynasty.
With so many people standing up to express their support, Fu Bi, the political advisor who originally wanted to put forward some different opinions, knew that he could not do it alone, so he first looked at Prime Minister Pang Ji standing in front of him.
At this moment, Pang Ji seemed to be attracted by something. At this moment, he was looking up at the sky with a dazed look, as if his attention was not focused on government affairs at all.
This scene made Fu Bi know that Pang Ji would not stand up to oppose.
He simply kept his mouth shut. Even if he stood up to object, it was useless, so why should he stand up?
His father-in-law, Yan Shu, had to resign because he made the wrong decision and supported the wrong person.
The lessons from the past were there, so he had to be careful in his actions. In addition, there was no news from Su Shi before telling him what to do, so he was happy to watch the show.
In the end, there was a lot of support, and only the third commander, Song Chu, stood
He came out and said that although there was some surplus money in the treasury, it could not withstand the consumption of the war. If possible, it would be best if the Western Region could not fight with Xixia, and then he kept his mouth shut.
Song Chu is definitely a smart person.
Usually, as long as the matter has nothing to do with him, he will not express any opinions. He only needs to guard his one-third acre of land and get things done. He believes that the officials will continue to support him.
Trust him and reuse him.
In front of all the ministers, Zhao Zhen adopted the opinions of the majority and asked for funding for the Western Army. At the same time, he also issued a decree to allow Di Qing's troops to return from the northern border to the western border.
In the previous dynasty, Emperor Zhao Zhen was still discussing affairs.
But the relevant topic has spread to the palace, and Zhao Xi, who is studying in the Royal Academy, learned about this matter from his teacher Li Di.
"Teacher, the northern border has not been completely recovered, and the Xixia and Liao armies have not withdrawn from our territory of the Song Dynasty. Now let Di Qing return to Xijing. If so, will there be too much pressure on Su Shaofu?"
Zhao Xi said that Su Shi was not a loyal general, but a young official, which showed that he still regarded Su Shi as a civil servant. According to the Song Dynasty's policy of emphasizing civility and suppressing military power, this was actually elevating Su Shi.
"The truth is this, but whether it is the Northern Territory or the Western Territory, they are all part of our Song Dynasty. Now that there is something going on in the Western Territory, Your Majesty can only settle it with a bowl of water, otherwise the Western Territory will really appear because Di Qing's troops did not return.
No one can bear the responsibility for any mistakes."
"His Majesty must have noticed this and agreed to Xianggong Chen's memorial."
Li Di first made some analysis and told Zhao Xi what the current emperor thought when faced with such a problem.
. And if you become the emperor in the future, how will you deal with such a thing?
After saying these words, Li Di coughed twice, causing Zhao Xi to ask with concern, "Teacher, I am not feeling well. Quickly, please call the imperial doctor."
"It doesn't matter, it's just that I'm getting older and my cough has gotten worse. It's just an old problem and it doesn't bother me." Li Di waved his hand and said as if nothing was wrong, "Your Highness, this person is Su Shaofu."
He has the talent to command troops, but in the end he is still a little too young. As the saying goes, a jade cannot be used until it is pecked. Now that I have the opportunity, I can train him."
"If you can rely on your own strength to defend the northern border this time, it will prove that he has passed the test. When His Highness ascends the throne in the future, you can reuse this person. In this way, the border of the Song Dynasty will be worry-free for decades."
"On the other hand, if Mr. Su cannot withstand the pressure this time, it only shows that his abilities are limited. Such a person is not worthy of being relied upon by His Highness in the future."
Li Di's words were spoken from the bottom of his heart, and he was helping Zhao Xi analyze it as the emperor's teacher.
There is no emotional component involved in this, it is purely for teaching the art of the emperor.
After all, Zhao Xi is still young, only eight years old after the Chinese New Year. Although he is much more mature than his peers due to the environment in which he grew up, he is not as good as his father or Li Di in terms of personal relationships.
Take this matter lightly.
"Teacher, Su Shaofu is very good at fighting, but if Di Qing leaves, he will be unable to fight alone. If the aliens are increasing their troops, it will be very difficult to win this battle. Are we going to watch him lose it by then?
Defeat?"
Seeing that Zhao Xi had some emotions of his own when he said these words, Li Di chuckled.