Traveling through Tianlong: Starting from the Zhenlong chess game

Chapter 258: Going to war to fight against each other

As a king, you must consider the overall situation and find ways to take into account the interests of everyone as much as possible.

Since ancient times, no reform has been without bloodshed. In order to avoid ending up like Shang Yang in the future, it is better to keep silent now. Even if Zhezong wants such drastic reforms in the future, he can only propose three strategies for him to choose. Instead of executing it yourself.

The main content of the internal affairs part is to strengthen Zhezong's determination to regain his territory and create an "iron-blooded strong Song Dynasty".

In terms of internal affairs, in order to strengthen Zhezong's determination, Zhao Mu quoted the original text of "On the Six Kingdoms" written by Su Xun of this dynasty, and Zhao Mu's views were the same as Su Xun's. That is, the Song Dynasty's appeasement of Xixia and Liao was nothing more than raising tigers.

Then the relationship between the Han Dynasty and the Xiongnu, and the former Tang Dynasty and Tule were mentioned.

Zhao Mu cleverly combined what happened in the Song Dynasty with what happened in the Han and Tang Dynasties. Because today's Song Dynasty, like the Han and Tang Dynasties, is facing threats from the north. The threat of the Han Dynasty was the Xiongnu, the threat of the Tang Dynasty was the Eighteen Tribes of the Grassland, and the main threat of the Song Dynasty was the Khitan.

Emperor Gaozu of the Han Dynasty was troubled by Bai Deng's request for peace, so Zhao Mu combined this incident with the tragic defeat of Emperor Taizong of the dynasty who "got an arrow in the butt and the donkey cart drifted".

Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty made a "bridge alliance" with Jieli Khan beside the Wei River. This incident was also combined with the Song Dynasty's first alliance under the city, the "Chanyuan Alliance" during the Zhenzong period.

Zhao Mu said in the memorial that Han Emperor Gaozu and Tang Emperor Taizong endured the temporary humiliation only because the country was weak and the people were poor and could not compete with these barbarians. After the treasury of the Han Wenjing Dynasty was full, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty launched a northern expedition against the Xiongnu to avenge his previous humiliation. After Tang Taizong established his foothold in the Central Plains, he sent capable ministers and good generals to completely wipe out the eighteen grassland tribes.

Nowadays, the Song Dynasty has a full treasury after several generations of accumulation. Now there are heroes inside and weak enemies outside. Now is the time to use force.

However, just by saying this, Zhao Mu still felt that he could not completely strengthen Zhe Zong's fighting spirit.

Zhao Mu also described the different attitudes of Soochow's civil and military forces when facing Cao Cao's troops before the Battle of Chibi. Lu Su's words of advice to Sun Quan were also included. Zhao Mu told Zhe Zong that the civil servants did not want to fight because even if the country was destroyed, they would not lose their official positions in the state and county. Therefore, military and state affairs must be addressed to ministers who have the mastermind, rather than blindly following the nonsense of civil servants.

Zhe Zong only read this short paragraph and looked at Zhao Mu with great admiration. Although this was his plan with Zhao Mu. But when Zhao Mu wrote these words, they really entered Zhe Zong's heart.

And then comes the diplomatic strategy. This is also the focus of this memorial.

Although Zhao Mu can talk less about internal affairs, he has to make more arrangements for foreign affairs.

Zhao Mu wrote down all his previous ideas. The first point mentioned is "going to war to fight against the enemy". If you can't deal with these barbarians who don't understand the ethics, you won't take action. Besides, there are still internal insects that are blocking it.

Seeing this, Zhe Zong couldn't help but frown.

Zhao Mu had told him about the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun before, and contacted Dali to purchase military supplies. After that, he presented a map of Xixia and said that Ping Liao would destroy Xia first.

Zhezong thought that Zhao Mu would support him in sending troops directly to completely cripple Xixia and Liao and reshape the Song Dynasty. But when he saw the words "Send troops to attack the enemy" and specifically mentioned that the Song Dynasty could not take the lead, Zhezong was a little disappointed and confused. However, when Zhezong saw the following content, he felt a sudden sense of enlightenment.

Zhao Mu mentioned in the memorial that there would be a war between Song and Liao sooner or later, but this war could not be provoked by the Song Dynasty. Firstly, because of the Chanyuan Alliance, although there were frictions between the Song Dynasty and the Khitan, there were indeed no major disputes over the years.

If the Song Dynasty betrays its alliance and launches a sneak attack, Wu Ming will be at the front and Bu Zhan Zhengyi will be at the back. It will also be infamous in the history books of later generations. If the army is unknown, there will be opposition from the ministers, and the soldiers will fight without knowing why. Therefore, the battle between Song and Liao can be fought, but the Liao people must make the first move.

Although the Song Dynasty could not directly use troops against the Liao, it could support some forces in the Liao that resisted the Liao, such as the Jurchen tribe who were also oppressed by the Liao, or other forces with anti-Liao tendencies. As long as you are the enemy of your enemy, you are a friend. The Song Dynasty provided money and materials to support their rebellion against the Liao Kingdom, allowing the Liao Kingdom to break out of civil strife first.

If these forces become stronger and Liao asks for help from Song, Song can take the opportunity to seize the sixteen states of Yanyun. If the Sixteen States of Yanyun can be recovered without bloodshed, that would be the best result. At that time, the Song Dynasty will send troops to mediate and implement the two-state plan. At this time, it will gain both favor and face.

But it doesn't matter if the anti-Liao forces are weak. At least such actions will disintegrate the internal strength of the Liao State and test the actual military strength of the Liao State.

The Song Dynasty only lost some money and supplies, but it could test the strength of the Liao army and weaken the Liao country without turning against the Liao. If there are still anti-Liao forces at that time, they can continue to support them. And these expenses are much cheaper than sending New Year coins or sending troops.

After Zhezong read it, he suddenly felt like the sun was clearing from the clouds, and he was suddenly enlightened. He didn't expect that the war could be fought like this. But it's not surprising that Zhe Zong didn't think of it. After all, the concept of "peaceful evolution" is a modern product. Of course, these ancient people did not think of it so easily. In ancient times, the strategies used to incite hostile forces were simply "driving the tiger to devour the wolf" and "two tigers competing for food." Zhao Mu's strategy of creating a pack of wolves to control the tiger was indeed a bit ahead of his time.

After Zhezong read the part about Ping Liao, Zhao Mu began to mention the part about exterminating Xia. Zhao Mu emphasized that the prerequisite for Pingliao was to destroy Xia and recover Yongliang, a strategic place that produced war horses and led to the Western Region. And it can also prevent Xixia from watching the fire from across the bank and taking the opportunity to invade the Song Dynasty.

Zhao Mupingxia's strategy was very simple and crude, which suited Zhe Zong's taste. It was to directly send troops to destroy him.

However, several diplomatic opportunities are needed before Xia is destroyed. If Xixia was attacked by the Song Dynasty, it would definitely ask for help from Tubo and Liao. The Song Dynasty needed to unite with Dali to suppress Tubo from the south, and the Liao Kingdom also had to deal with civil strife. After that, the Song Dynasty used a lightning-fast "blitzkrieg". When the civil strife in the Liao Kingdom had not subsided and there was no time to take care of Xixia, it destroyed Xixia as quickly as possible or forced Xixia to surrender.

As for the reason for using troops against Xixia, the Song Dynasty could make up any reason, such as insufficient tribute, or asking Xixia, a vassal state, to cede territory. As long as Xixia disagrees, the Song Dynasty will directly send troops.

After Zhezong read Zhao Mu's "Mount the Army to Attack Friendships", Zhezong stood up excitedly before reading the military strategy that followed. He happily said to Zhao Mu: "It is really a blessing for our Song Dynasty to have a hero like the emperor. Especially this strategy of 'sending troops to attack enemies' and 'using wolves to control tigers' is very popular with me."

Zhao Mu was very happy when he heard that Zhe Zong affirmed his policy.

Zhao Mu then asked: "I don't know, I wonder if your Majesty also approves the military affairs mentioned in the memorial?"

Zhezong was a little embarrassed when he heard this. He then sat down again and resumed his dignity as an emperor. Zhe Zong said with some embarrassment: "Ahem, I haven't finished reading the one about military affairs yet. I'll read it later."

(End of this chapter)