People in the Song Dynasty were lawless

Chapter 346: Liao Xia attacks east and west
The north wind blew across the prairie, gently blowing past Yelu Zongzhen and Li Yuanhao, lifting the corners of their clothes and cloaks.

It was evening at this time, the sun was high in the distance, the setting sun was shining on the sunset, and the gorgeous burning clouds hung in half of the sky at dusk. There were wild geese that seemed to have returned from the south for the winter, crossing the distant sky like black dots.

Under the setting sun, the two hosts of Xixia and Liao were sitting cross-legged, eating dried beef and mutton, drinking goat milk wine produced in Liao, and talking about what was happening in the Song Kingdom in the south.

Li Yuanhao was still playing with the wine glass in his hand, raised his head and asked Yelu Zongzhen: "Where do you think this person comes from?"

"I heard that the Song Dynasty made many voyages overseas. I'm afraid they came from distant countries."

Yelu Zongzhen said.

"Well, I think so too."

Li Yuanhao frowned and said, "It's just that I have met many foreign people, but found that they are different from the Han people."

"I haven't heard whether Zhao Jun is Han or not. Maybe he is from other countries and I can't say for sure."

Yelu Zongzhen said: "What's more, since the pre-Qin Dynasty, there have been rumors that there is an elixir of life overseas, which has attracted many people to go to sea. It is normal for some Han people to live overseas."

Yelu Zongzhen's brows furrowed even deeper.

"Forget it, whether it was because of him or not that the Song State became so powerful, the top priority now is to think about how to deal with the Song State."

"I'm afraid this won't work."

Li Yuanhao was puzzled. Xixia was inland and there were not even a few larger lakes, let alone the sea, so it was unrealistic to form a fleet to go to sea.

Li Yuanhao then said: "But does this also mean that there are not only countless gold and silver treasures overseas, but also powerful people like Zhao Jun?"

It is said that when he traveled, he was not only protected by hundreds of guards, but also followed by a large number of dead spies, disguised as common people and hiding nearby.

"It's a pity that I didn't pay too much attention to this person at the beginning. Otherwise, if I sent an assassin while he was patrolling the world, I might be able to kill him, and my Majesty and I wouldn't have to worry so much today."

The ship technology alone was far inferior to others. The Song Dynasty was able to build huge ships with more than thirty or forty cannons on board, while the ships of the Liao Kingdom were much smaller, and the power of the artillery was not comparable.

Li Yuanhao shook his head. Maybe it was the best time to kill Zhao Jun when he was patrolling the world, but don't think about it now. It would be as difficult as climbing to the sky to assassinate Zhao Jun in Bianliang City.

Yelu Zong said helplessly.

"That's true, but are overseas countries so powerful?"

"Maybe, but the Song Kingdom has completely controlled the ocean, and I can't do anything about it."

Yelvzong really didn't want to admit the Liao Kingdom's failure at sea, but it was impossible for him to really agree to Li Yuanhao's sending people to the sea, even if he pretended to agree.

"Do you want me to organize an ocean-going fleet?"

But Yelu Zongzhen said: "Since seven or eight years ago, the Song fleet has been sailing across the Bohai Sea. It's not like I have never formed a fleet, but after going to sea, there is no news."

But Li Yuanhao said: "Your Majesty, I think this matter is worth considering. Your Majesty, think about it, if Zhao Jun comes from overseas, and there are powerful equipment overseas, if we can also go to sea."

Yelu Zongzhen shrugged: "At least the Song Dynasty has been going to sea, maybe it has something to do with it."

Yelvzong really didn’t want to talk too much about this topic.

This made him realize that the fleet he formed was likely to be wiped out by the Song Dynasty.

"Yes, with the strength of the Liao Kingdom, it may be possible, if we can find someone like Zhao Jun"

After all, if Li Yuanhao pinned all his hopes on him going out to sea to find a strange person like Zhao Jun, then Li Yuanhao would most likely stop joining forces with him to directly go to war with the Song Dynasty, and daydream about a person like Zhao Jun coming to help them become stronger. .

It's just that there is no long-distance communication capability in this era, so he doesn't know whether the Song Kingdom was wiped out.

"I'm afraid it was someone sent from Song State who caused the harm."

As he spoke, he raised his head and sighed.

"Why?"

In the absence of evidence, even if he sent someone to question Song Guo, Song Guo would only need to reply that the risks at sea were high and the entire fleet might be destroyed if there was a storm, and he would have nothing to say.

"Who knows?"

Therefore, Yelu Zongzhen once tried his best to form a fleet that tried to cross the Bohai Sea and the East China Sea to Japan, but ended up missing at sea, and not even a message was sent back.

It can be said that if you want to assassinate Zhao Jun in Bianliang, you will need tens of thousands of troops. Otherwise, it would be unrealistic for just a few assassins to get close to Zhao Jun or want to go to his house in the middle of the night.

Once there is any move, there will be thousands of guards in an instant. In addition, the Imperial City Division and the Imperial Guards on the left and right sides will also rush to the rescue immediately.

How could Yelu Zong not be greedy for this trade profit?
Even if it is not for making money, just by directly trading with Japan, so that the middlemen in the Song Dynasty cannot make the difference, it will save a lot of defense expenditure.

But now Yelu Zong really realized that he was naive. The Song people had already established a powerful force on the ocean. No matter whether it was military force or civil force, the Liao Kingdom could not compete.

So he could only count on Yelu Zongzhen. After all, the Liao Kingdom also had a huge and long coastline.

None of them thought that Zhao Jun came from the future.

Li Yuanhao said immediately.

"It's not that I don't think so, but there is no evidence."

"The Song people are really insidious. They have firmly controlled the sea and there is no room for us anymore."

Li Yuanhao was still surprised.

Sea trade between the Song Dynasty, Goryeo, and Japan was flourishing. The Liao Kingdom's sulfur was all bought by Song merchants from Japan and resold to them. For this, they had to bear high costs.

Therefore, Yelu Zong really suffered a dumb loss in this matter, and never formed a fleet since then.

After all, this is really beyond their knowledge. They would rather believe that Zhao Jun is a god descended to earth, but they cannot think that Zhao Jun comes from a thousand years later.

But Yelvzong really knew that he couldn't do it, so they could only die slowly. In the end, the Song Dynasty became more and more powerful and terrifying, and then easily wiped out the Liao Dynasty.

Therefore, Yelu Zongzhen could only reject Li Yuanhao and make him completely lose interest in overseas affairs, so that they could focus their main energy on dealing with the Song Dynasty.

"Okay, let's not talk about this anymore, let's talk about business first."

Yelu Zongzhen said seductively: "You also know that if this continues, the Song State will only become stronger. Although we are also getting stronger, you should also understand how big the gap is between our national strength and the Song State."

"Yes, although our national strength has also changed, it is just a scrap from Song State. How can it be compared with Song State?"

Li Yuanhao also said with emotion: "I once sent someone to secretly check the forts on the border of Song Dynasty. I don't know how many cannons they have on their camps. The number of artillery in the dozens of military forts outside the border alone is greater than that of our country, Daxia." There are too many, let alone the city behind them.”

"The same is true in Hebei. I also deployed a lot of artillery in Yanyun, but the number is far less than that of the Song Dynasty. Especially their muskets, which can be said to be weapons in field warfare. They can kill people from a hundred feet away, and even ordinary armor cannot withstand them."

Yelu Zongzhen said: "I heard that their muskets are getting more powerful now, and the muskets I imitated..."

"Your Majesty made a copy of the musket?"

Li Yuanhao's eyes lit up. This thing made him suffer a lot in the last battle. If the Liao Kingdom could imitate it, then he wouldn't have to be afraid of fighting in the wild with the Song Kingdom.

However, Yelvzong's true words disappointed him.

I heard Yelv Zongzhen sigh and say: "The muskets I imitated are not even remotely inferior to the muskets of the Song Dynasty. Not only is the reloading speed slow, but it is also easy to explode. It is not as useful as a sword or a gun." This is normal. .

Because what Yelu Zong really didn't know was that muskets were not only technology, but also the product of advances in materials science.

Before the Industrial Revolution, steel production was insufficient, so firearms could only be made of wrought iron.

However, wrought iron is far less strong and durable than steel. The explosive rate of artillery and muskets during the Ming and Qing Dynasties was so high that soldiers in the Ming and Qing Dynasties would rather use cold weapons than use these things.

In the West, starting from the British Industrial Revolution, with mature steel-making technology, steel production has greatly increased, and the raw materials used to make muskets and artillery have become much more reliable and stronger, and the explosion rate has naturally dropped, which has led to the development of muskets and artillery. technological development.

It can be said that many technological products have actually changed due to changes in materials. For the same gun, even if the internal structure and external shape are exactly the same, the one made of plastic and the one made of steel are completely different in power.

So this is why it is said that materials science can change the world. If the nanomaterials developed by Wang Miao in "The Three-Body Problem" can really be realized, maybe the space elevator in the future will not be a dream.

Neither Liao nor Xixia had the steel-making method provided by Zhao Jun, so there was no steel. Compared with the muskets and artillery made by Song Dynasty Steel, it was more than one level behind.

Therefore, Zhao Jun never concealed the gunpowder count and even sold the complete gunpowder formula. Because only in this way will the Liao and Xixia countries purchase large amounts of sulfur from the Song Dynasty, indirectly contributing to the economic development of the Song Dynasty.

"Ugh."

Li Yuanhao also sighed.

"I am afraid that the muskets will not be as good as those of the Song Dynasty after all, but the artillery will not be much worse."

Yelu Zongzhen said in a deep voice: "If we can gather together and catch the Song Dynasty by surprise, maybe we can defeat them."

"Is Your Majesty planning a decisive battle with the Song Dynasty?"

Li Yuanhao asked.

"Ah."

Yelu Zongzhen nodded slightly, closed his eyes, looked up to the sky and sighed: "If it is possible, who would want to bet on this elusive national destiny?"

If there is no all-out war, the gap between the two sides will become wider and wider, especially when the Song State's railway is built to the border between Song Xia and Song Liao, that will basically be the time when Xixia and Liao are completely finished.

Once the Song Dynasty wanted to go to war with them, the family's hundreds of thousands of troops and the baggage that could supply the army would have arrived in a day or two.

And their troops are still coming from behind, and the supplies will have to be escorted for a long time.

Unless they concentrate most of the country's troops on the border.

But what should we do in China?
You must know that because of its huge territory, the Liao Kingdom was often under pressure from uprisings by other ethnic groups within it, not to mention the Jurchens, the Mongolian Uighurs on the grasslands, the Bohai people in the northeast, the Jinwu people in the northwest, etc.

There are more than a hundred ethnic groups in the country, and there are thousands of tribes, large and small. Many people are dissatisfied with the rule of the Liao Kingdom, and there are many ethnic minorities who want to overthrow their rule.

Therefore, Yelu Zong really had no way to concentrate a large number of troops on the Song and Liao border. Even if he went into full-scale war, he would have to leave some troops at home.

This made Yelu Zong really uncomfortable.

But this is also a helpless place. The larger the territory, the more powerful the country seems to be, but at the same time it also has to pay the price of the vast territory.

Li Yuanhao naturally has the same troubles.

Although there are not as many tribes in Xixia as there are in Liao, there are also many other ethnic groups.

It's not just the Dangxiang, Uighur, Tubo and other tribes, but also the Han people in the Western Regions. Once the Xixia troops cannot suppress it, then he will definitely suffer a backlash.

Therefore, the two of them can be said to have sympathy for each other.

Hearing Yelu Zongzhen's words at this moment, Li Yuanhao felt the same and said: "Yes, if we delay it any longer, we will be in ruins."

"This time we are meeting here to form an alliance to agree on a common plan for advance and retreat. How to attack and how to attack must be discussed. We must come up with a countermeasure, otherwise I will not be involved in this."

Yelu Zongzhen said.

Li Yuanhao said: "I do have a way."

"Oh?"

Yelu Zongzhen said: "Tell me and listen."

"The Song people are powerful, but they don't take the initiative to attack us."

Li Yuanhao said: "When I attacked Qingtang, the Song army had already won a complete victory and our country was empty, but they did not take advantage of it. This shows that they themselves were not sure of destroying us."

"Ah."

Yelu Zongzhen nodded slightly. The Liao Kingdom was also defeated by the Song Army at the beginning, but Fan Zhongyan only recovered Zhuozhou, but did not take advantage of the victory to capture the entire Yanyun. Perhaps the Song Kingdom is only superficially strong, but in fact it is not strong against Liao Xia. Still a little weak.

"So I think they will definitely not start a full-scale war with us now. I even suspect that they should be waiting for the country to become stronger before sending troops to destroy us. This is our last chance."

Li Yuanhao said.

This was their own thinking. They thought that the Song Dynasty was not completely sure of its demise, so they did not dare to take the initiative to attack. However, they did not know that Zhao Jun deliberately left them alone and had other plans.

But this is also normal.

The thinking of the ancients had certain limitations. They did not know what a commodity dumping place and a raw material producing country were.

If he had known about it, it would probably have been regarded as a great shame and humiliation.

"But if we take the initiative to attack, we still have to touch the hard nails on the Song border."

Yelu Zongzhen said.

"So I learned the lesson from the attack on Qingtang. Instead of attacking the Song Dynasty directly, I made an attack in the east and in the west."

"Oh? How to attack the east and the west?"

"I thought that if the Song Dynasty signed a treaty with Qingtang and Goryeo, it would have to be abided by. Otherwise, how could it convince the public?"

Li Yuanhao said: "Looking at the last war between me and Qingtang, we know that their main force in the northwest has been dispatched, and they must protect Qingtang. If we attack Qingtang and Goryeo at the same time, the Song Dynasty will definitely rush to help, especially Goryeo. Song Dynasty China will definitely send troops from the sea."

"Well."

Yelu Zongzhen nodded slightly in thought.

Li Yuanhao took the opportunity to continue: "We feinted. On the surface, we were attacking Qingtang and Goryeo on a large scale, but in fact, we were deploying troops at the border. Once their soldiers and horses on our border are transferred away, their steam train has not yet been built, and Kaifeng's troops If the horses can't cross in a short time, we can directly capture their Shaanxi and Hebei roads. We only need to seize their supplies on the border and use their muskets and artillery to fight with their Kaifeng Forbidden Army."

"Well"

Yelvzong really narrowed his eyes.

this strategy.

It seems interesting.

(End of this chapter)