In the morning court the next day, the rumors in the market were finally confirmed. Yan Shu led a group of officials from two government offices and three yamen to jointly petition Zhao Zhen to recommend Su Jin to the central government. Yan Shu actually proposed to give Su Jin a better position, so Du Yan had to pretend to let him go.
Get out of the position of privy envoy.
Of course, Su Jin knew that this was their courtesy. Although he might enter the center, if he wanted to become a Privy Councilor or Prime Minister, it was just talk. Even if they were sincere, Zhao Zhen would not agree.
I don't just have merit, he must be a person who plays a decisive role in advancing and retreating. I am not qualified yet.
Sure enough, after Su Jin humbled himself and said that he was too young to take on the important task, Zhao Zhen naturally rejected the proposal of Yan Shu and others to make a move, but immediately announced the appointment of Su Jin as deputy privy envoy to participate in political affairs; that is to say, Su Jin
With the triple status of deputy prime minister of the Political Hall, deputy envoy of the Privy Council, and deputy envoy of the Third Department appointed before the war, he had a say in government affairs, military affairs, and finance.
It's just that the three deputy positions of political, military and economics seem to be more prestigious, but they have the power to make decisions. Apart from the glory, it is a little embarrassing, but it shows that Zhao Zhen really values Su Jin this time; as the third deputy of political, military and economics
This is the first person to hold an important position since the founding of the Song Dynasty. What's more, this person is only 21 years old and has only been an official for five years. This is enough to make the world talk about it and marvel at him.
In the court hall, the ministers expressed their opinions and had a discussion about the post-war pattern of Xia and Liao Dynasties. Such discussions had been held many times before, and the opinions were basically unified. However, Su Jin was not present. This kind of discussion
Somehow, it is not weighty enough. Now that the parties involved have arrived, the discussion has set the tone for decision-making.[
Prime Minister Yan Shu recounted the results of many days of discussions in court. The attitude of the court was quite clear. Everyone believed that after the Xia-Liao War, the vitality of the two countries was seriously damaged, and they would start to provoke each other again in a short period of time.
At this opportunity, the imperial court should focus its main efforts on suppressing the rebellion of Nong Zhigao in the south.
Nong Zhigao took advantage of the high mountains and dense forests and fought with Di Qing for nearly half a year. The court's attention was focused on the northern war situation, and it was obviously not too interested in the campaign against the small barbarians. As a result, the officers and soldiers suffered a losing streak, which made Nong Zhigao arrogant.
The sharp rise, when both the Xia and Liao countries were in danger, the imperial court could mobilize the two garrison troops in the northwest and northeast to go south to eliminate Nong Zhigao's troubles.
Su Jin was a little surprised after listening to Yan Shu's account; there is no doubt about Di Qing's ability. The reason why he was unable to achieve success for a long time was probably due to insufficient supply of materials and troops. The main force of Di Qing's southward campaign to quell the rebellion was the Xiang of Guangnan's Zuojin Prefecture.
Soldiers, peace has been rising in the south for a long time. Although it is a borderland, the neighboring countries such as Nanyi and Jiaozhi are all vassal states of the Song Dynasty. Naturally, the court does not need to spend huge sums of money to strengthen the training and equipment of the Xiang army in the southwestern states. Di Qing has another
It's hard to do this with a ragtag group of people who can't fight.
Of course Su Jin agreed to increase troops in Guangnan, but he never agreed to withdraw troops from the northwest and northeast because he had a slightly different view of the current situation than everyone else; when Zhao Zhen asked about it by name, Su Jin said frankly
Sued.
"Your Majesty, gentlemen, increasing troops in the southwest is a top priority. In addition to increasing troops, we also need to provide sufficient supplies. Nong Zhigao occupies a favorable location and is familiar with the terrain. Perhaps the local Yi people will secretly support him. We must provide support to General Di Qing.
Only with enough support can we help him suppress the rebellion; I would like to express my personal opinion that the five thousand barrels of kerosene I provided to Xia State this time have not been used. I have brought all of them back to the northwest. I will immediately order people to take these batches.
The kerosene was ordered to be transported to the south. There are many mountains and forests in the south, so it may come in handy."
Everyone secretly murmured, Su Jin was very wealthy, and it was unknown where the five thousand barrels of kerosene came from, but the value of these five thousand barrels of kerosene was worth millions. Su Jin just gave it away without frowning.
Sure enough, after operating in the northwest for several years, I have become very fat.
Zhao Zhen nodded with a smile and said: "Su Aiqing is very thoughtful. You financed the refining of the kerosene yourself. At this moment, you can devote all your money to support the imperial court in countering the rebellion. This act of disregarding personal gain should be regarded as an example. Although the imperial court spares no effort to give you money,
In return, I will mark this credit in my heart for you."
Su Jindao: "National affairs and personal interests must naturally be the most important thing. If the Song Dynasty cannot achieve peace, how can individuals be honored? Moreover, this batch of kerosene was originally intended to be used in the Liao-Xia war. It is already quite valuable if it can be preserved.
This surprised me; the imperial court also wants to support General Di in all aspects, but I think it is inappropriate to mobilize troops from the northwest and northeast borders to go south."
Zhao Zhen frowned and said, "Oh? There are currently 200,000 troops stationed in the northwest and 250,000 troops stationed on the Bazhou front in the northeast. Under the current situation, it seems that there is no need to station so many troops."
Su Jindao: "I can only say that everything is not what we imagined. Yes, Liaoxia suffered huge losses this time. The total number of casualties in the war between the two countries exceeded 400,000, which greatly damaged the vitality of both countries. But based on this, we can conclude that the two countries have threatened
The decision seemed a bit hasty; around the New Year, while closing the door to thank guests, I also analyzed the situation. Looking back on everything before and after this battle, I admitted that my previous judgment of Xia and Liao was biased.
It is not an accident that Guoneng has been competing with our Song Dynasty for more than a hundred years and gradually has the tendency to suppress our Song Dynasty."
Zhao Zhen raised his eyebrows and said, "Oh? Let's talk about it, Su Aiqing. Listening to your words, I actually have some respect for Xia Liao."
Su Jin nodded and said: "Yes, I do have respect for them. Behind the respect is fear. In other words, I am a little afraid of the Dangxiang and Khitan people."
The ministers were buzzing with discussion. Some were shocked, some were thinking, and some were disapproving. Su Jin said this today when the Song Dynasty's strategy of not killing a single soldier was successful, causing the two countries to fight each other and causing hundreds of thousands of casualties.
The words seemed a bit out of place, but at this moment, if Su Jin had said this a few years ago, some ministers in the court would have immediately refuted him. At this moment, Su Jin was already an important minister in the central government, and the weight of what he said was greatly different.
In addition to being surprised, what I want to know more is the reason why Mr. Su, who is in the prime of his life, said this.
"This is the first time I have heard such words from you. In my impression, you seem to be not afraid of anything. Please tell me your reasons." Zhao Zhen said with a smile.
Su Jindao: "The fear is due to knowledge. My previous knowledge of Xia and Liao was only superficial. My dealings with the Xia people were limited to the battle in Weizhou. My dealings with the Liao people were only a confrontation with the Liao envoy."
But this time I had direct contact with the Liao and Xia armies and gained a lot. The success of this strategy of driving away wolves and devouring tigers was due to the right timing. The Liao people made mistakes in their decision-making and wanted to take advantage of our army.
The Song Dynasty's hatred for the Xia people achieved their goals, and then we seized the opportunity; and the reason why the Xia people were willing to cooperate was because they were on the verge of annihilation and had to join forces with us. In fact, we, the Song Dynasty
The actual effect is to achieve the purpose of sitting on a mountain and watching the tiger fight, but psychologically it has caused great hatred between the two countries, which the emperor and your lords should understand."
Zhao Zhen lowered his head and thought, and the officials also began to discuss among themselves.
Su Jindao: "As the old saying goes, 'take history as a guide', during the Three Kingdoms period at the end of the Han Dynasty, the three kingdoms of Wei, Shu and Wu stood in power. Wei was the strongest, but Shu and Wu did not unite before Wei showed aggressive offensives. When Wei was strong enough to destroy
When they were either countries, Shu and Wu cooperated closely to jointly fight against Wei, completely ignoring the multiple conflicts of interest and rifts between the two countries. That was because when life and death were at stake, any kind of festival could be left behind; looking back now,
This war between Liao and Xia happened under extremely unwilling circumstances. If it were not for the coercion of the Song Dynasty, the Xia State would never be driven to fight to the death with the Liao people. If we think wishfully, these two countries will become mortal enemies for generations.
That would be a big mistake. Under the current circumstances, we must be on guard against secret alliances between the two countries. We can trick others, and others can trick us."
Zhao Zhen frowned at the sound of the ministers, and Du Yan couldn't help but said: "Mr. Su, it's not as serious as you said, isn't it? The two countries have been so severely damaged, even if you have the intention, you may not be able to attack with all your strength, right?"
Su Jin shook his head and said: "Don't be careless. The news I got is that after the war, the Xia people immediately transferred their army to the south. The number of troops in Huizhou and Youzhou increased from 100,000 before the war to 200,000."
Man, how do you explain this? Logically speaking, after the Liao-Xia war, in order to prevent the Liao people from retaliating, the Xia State should have stationed large armies in the north and south of Helan Mountain. But in fact, they had no such plan at all. On the contrary, they were on the border with the Song Dynasty.
Isn’t it worth pondering that we increase troops everywhere without even the slightest hesitation?”[
Zhao Zhen said slowly: "Perhaps it is precisely because the Liao people were injured and we, the Song Dynasty, are a direct threat that the Xia people arranged this."
Su Jindao: "I don't think so, at least I don't completely agree. The Liao people's claim of having one million soldiers may be an exaggeration, but at least they have a standing army of seven to eight hundred thousand. This time, more than two hundred thousand were wiped out, and there were only five or six remaining troops."
As many as one hundred thousand, this number is not much different from the total of 800,000 of the imperial army of the Song Dynasty; and this time I saw with my own eyes the ability of Xia State to recruit troops. Under such difficult circumstances, Xia State was able to recruit troops in almost a few days.
Over time, 80,000 new troops were recruited. The military system of Liao and Xia was similar. From this, it took little effort for the Liao people to recover in numbers. Their main loss was the loss of elites. The combat power of the new soldiers was limited. This was their
scruples; and in terms of combat strength, the combat capabilities and strict military discipline of the soldiers of the two countries are their highlights. I can only say that on these two points, my soldiers of the Song Dynasty are far inferior."