"Your Majesty, three adults, have you ever thought about why the Liao Kingdom chose this time to invite the Song Dynasty to destroy Xia?" Su Jin asked.
"Do you still need to ask? Of course it's because the time is right. Xia is in civil strife and its national power is further weakened. Naturally, the Liao Kingdom is unwilling to let go of this good opportunity." Zhao Zhen said.
Su Jindao: "Then with the strength of the Liao State and the current national strength of the Xia State, can it withstand the Liao people's attack? I am talking about the situation without the participation of the Song Dynasty."
Zhao Zhen twisted his beard and pondered, and Xia Song said: "The nine military divisions of the Liao State have the palace army, tribal army, and Jingzhou army, which are said to be 800,000, and there are also troops from the northeastern country that can be dispatched. Calculated in this way, in total,
The number of troops should be in the millions; even if this number is exaggerated, the Liao people have been recuperating in recent years. Unlike the Song Dynasty and the Xia Kingdom, which have been fighting for so many years, the quality and quantity of the troops should not be much different; based on the Liao people
With such strength, the current Xia Kingdom will be destroyed in a matter of seconds. The Xia Kingdom is already declining and cannot resist the attack of the Liao army. This is obvious."
Su Jin smiled and said: "What do Prime Minister Yan and Privy Du think?" [
Yan Shu nodded and said: "What Mr. Xia said is roughly correct. It is doubtful that the Liao people destroyed Xia."
Du Yan also nodded in agreement.
Su Jin said: "Your Majesty, you have heard that the Liao people can destroy Xia with the power of one country, but why did they invite us, the Song Dynasty, to jointly conquer Xia?"
Zhao Zhen said: "There is nothing strange about this. The Lord of Liao and I have a brotherhood. The relationship between the two countries is currently very harmonious. This is easy to understand."
Su Jindao: "What the emperor means is that the Liao Kingdom wants to get a share of the wealth and want to get me, the Song Dynasty, to get a share of the pie, right?"
Zhao Zhen said: "That's roughly what it means."
Du Yan interjected: "The Liao people dare not not share a share of the pie with us, because if they monopolize the benefits, how can the Song Dynasty sit back and watch? Aren't they afraid of us stabbing them in the back?"
Su Jindao: "The emperor rules the world with benevolence and treats the people of the world with the same benevolence and righteousness as I did in the Song Dynasty. That is because in the eyes of a gentleman, everyone in the world is a gentleman. But the minister is a villain, so you might as well use the heart of a villain to infer the thoughts of the Liao people."
; Maybe the Liao people are really sincere in making friends with the Song people, so everyone can take advantage of it as the emperor thought, but that is another matter; however, in fact, this possibility is very small, the Liao people are a country of tigers and wolves,
Since the Chanyuan Alliance, the Liao people have not always coveted the prosperity of the Song Dynasty. They only think about themselves, so how can they make the Song Dynasty stronger?"
Zhao Zhen said: "Don't think so radically. When the Song Dynasty attacked the Xia Kingdom, didn't the Liao people send troops to help the Xia Kingdom in the joint attack?"
Su Jindao: "I remember explaining this before. The Song Dynasty, Liao Kingdom and Xia Kingdom were three pillars, so there was balance. When Li Yuanhao invited the Liao Kingdom to send troops together, it was because of the difference in attack positions. Xia Ke went straight to Bianliang, while the Liao Kingdom
However, they could only contain them in the Bazhou area. To put it bluntly, the uneven distribution of interests led to mutual suspicion. At the same time, when the Liao envoys came to spy on them, they pretended to have new types of firecrackers and cannons.
Out of fear, the 300,000 troops gathered at the border retreated. When they realized that the Song Dynasty had defeated the Western bandits in the battle of Weizhou, and the time for their joint attack had passed, how could they still attack?"
Zhao Zhen nodded slightly.
Su Jin continued: "The three kingdoms of Song, Liao and Xia are all in check with each other. No one wants to see another country become too powerful. If one country annexes another, it will be a fatal threat to the third country. The reason why the Liao people invited us to send troops to the Song Dynasty
, just to eliminate the concerns of the Song Dynasty and to give the illusion of benefit sharing, but in fact, if the Song Dynasty sends troops, the benefits will be very small. The Liao people have been stationed in the southwest for a long time, and they can destroy Xingqing Mansion and large areas in the west and northeast along the way.
In the open area, and Huizhou and Youzhou in the south are where Xia's heavy troops are gathered, our Song Dynasty can only be restrained by the main force of Xia and cannot advance. Isn't it just making wedding clothes for the Liao people? Do you still expect the Liao people to occupy it?
Will a large piece of land be spit out and shared with me, the Song Dynasty?"
Zhao Zhen took a breath of air, walked slowly to the bookcase, took out a map, spread it out, and stared at it desperately.
Su Jin pointed at the map and said: "Your Majesty, you can see clearly. The Liao people's attack will be from the northeast to the southwest. The large grassland desert land is far away from Xingqing Mansion and the defense is very weak. Once the attack begins, our Song Dynasty will attack from the south."
Beizhang was the first to encounter the main resistance of the Xia army. Don't underestimate the strength of the Xia army. The army left by Yuan Hao has not suffered too much loss. There are at least 300,000 combatable troops. It is impossible for us, the Song Dynasty, to mobilize
All the troops to attack, at most the northwest four routes plus reinforcements, will not exceed 200,000 in total. If there are more, the court will not be able to bear it; 300,000 Xia troops are fighting with us, whether we can win is a question, even if we win, I'm afraid
It was also a tragic victory; but the Liao people could easily cross the Gobi grassland in the north and directly occupy Dingzhou and Xingqing Prefecture from the front and back. Doesn't this make us, the Song Dynasty, fools?"
Zhao Zhen looked at Yan Shu, Du Yan, Xia Song and others. Everyone nodded slightly. Once the war started, the situation would definitely be like this.
Su Jindao: "What is even more worrying is the post-war situation. If our northwest army suffers too much loss, and the southern campaign against Nong Zhigao fails to end as soon as possible, and the Liao people turn against us and attack the Song Dynasty, then it will be
What should we do? Are we sure that we can fight on two fronts and win on both fronts? That is when we are most in danger. I am thinking that that is the true intention of the Liao Kingdom; they have been holding back for too long, and the northwest wolves are too hungry.
It’s so cruel that if you can’t feed one person enough, I’m afraid we will have to spare some of our Song Dynasty’s cities and make a humiliating treaty before we stop.”
Zhao Zhenhan has come down, and the faces of several veterans are blank. It's like playing chess. Take one step and watch the next three. If the first step is wrong, the following steps will be controlled. When the northwest army is in Hexia Kingdom,
If the main force is completely lost during the battle, the imperial army from the capital will have to be mobilized to supplement it, and the war is going on in the south, which will be a great test for both financial and military strength; although defeat may not necessarily lead to the country's subjugation, as Su Jin said, the territory must be ceded
To lose money, if the northwest is occupied and even the capital city has to be relocated, it will be a huge mistake, and I can't even think about it.
"It seems that I thought simply. Thanks to Aiqing's reminder, I almost fell into the Liao people's trick." Zhao Zhen stretched his sleeves to wipe away the sweat, his calves felt a little weak.
Su Jin smiled and said: "I am just testing. I am a villain, so I naturally think bad things about people. The Emperor is a gentleman, so I naturally will not think of such dark places." [
"Although it's just conjecture, you can't be wary of others." Yan Shu sighed.
"Yes, Mr. Su's analysis is quite reasonable. We must take this into consideration to avoid getting out of hand." Xia Song already supported his son-in-law from the bottom of his heart.
"I have rejected the Liao people's invitation and will not give him a chance." Zhao Zhen said.
Su Jin hurriedly asked: "Your Majesty, what reasons do you plan to give to refuse?"
Zhao Zhen said: "The teacher is famous, Song and Xia have already negotiated peace, and Xia has declared itself a vassal of the Song Dynasty. How can we attack on the pretext?"
Su Jin smiled and said: "This is a good reason, but if the Liao people go it alone, what is the emperor's plan?"
Zhao Zhen said: "Will they go it alone? Aren't they afraid that we, the Song Dynasty, will unite with the Xia Kingdom to attack them?"
Su Jindao: "Of course they are afraid, but they have reasons to attack Xia. In order to get assistance from the Liao people when Yuan Hao was alive, he promised to marry Princess Xingping to King Jinghai of Liao as his concubine, and he also promised to open the northern pastures to Liao.
Li Yuanhao freely herds horses and promised to repay the food and materials provided after the country's strength improves. Now that Yuan Hao is dead, will Queen Yeli abide by Li Yuanhao's promises? I have had many contacts with Queen Yeli.
She seems to be a weak person, but her heart is as strong as iron. She will never keep her promise, so the Liao people can take the opportunity to attack the Xia Kingdom legitimately, and we, the Song Dynasty, can't help but send troops to rescue them, because they have a legitimate reputation and our division is famous.
"
"Why is the master so famous? The peace agreement between the two countries made it clear that the Xia Kingdom is a vassal state of the Song Dynasty, and attacking a vassal country is an attack on the Song Dynasty." Zhao Zhen said angrily.
Su Jin shook his head and said: "That's true, but everyone knows that the so-called vassal state is just for the sake of appearance. Li Yuanhao still claims to be the emperor; besides, since the Xia Kingdom is a vassal state of the Song Dynasty, I, the Song Dynasty, should supervise
The vassal country has fulfilled its promise and the vassal country has fulfilled its promise. Should we repay it for them?"
Everyone rolled their eyes. Are you crazy to pay the debt to Xia Guo? Besides, Princess Xingping has been secretly taken as your concubine by you. Are you willing to hand it over to you? Why don't you jump like a monkey with its tail stepped on?
Is it high?
"There is another issue that the emperor must consider clearly. Once the Liao people ignore it and attack the Xia Kingdom by force, will the Song Dynasty send troops to assist? This is an unavoidable question." Su Jin said seriously.
Zhao Zhen fell into silence again. This was a dilemma. If he did not send troops, he would just watch the destruction of the Xia Kingdom. From then on, he would face an unprecedentedly powerful threat from the Liao Kingdom, and there would be no peace. If he sent troops, it would be tantamount to falling out with the Liao people.
, and the combined power of Song and Xia may not be able to stop the Liao people, and it also gives the Liao people a reason to directly attack the Song Dynasty. It seems that the left is neither the right nor the left, and the left and right are very troublesome.