Traveling through Tianlong: Starting from the Zhenlong chess game

Chapter 281 Only five hundred soldiers are needed to defeat the enemy

Zhe Zong's question is indeed the right one to ask.

No matter which dynasty or generation you are in, the registered population, available troops, annual income, and material reserves are all highly confidential matters of the country. Even the dignitaries of the country would not know this information if they were not in their positions.

However, Zhao Mu could clearly tell the total population of the Liao State, the number of standing troops, and the military secrets of the empty treasury of the Liao State.

Zhao Mu naturally did not dare to say that he only learned these from textbooks because he was good at history. And what Zhao Mu was talking about was the total population and standing army of the Liao Kingdom at its peak. The current Liao Kingdom has begun to decline, and its real mobilization strength is much weaker than Zhao Mu said.

Zhao Mu said casually: "Your Majesty has forgotten that I come from the Xiaoyao Sect. The chief helm of the Xiaoyao Sect is Tianshan Lingjiu Palace. In addition to the girls from Lingjiu Palace, my uncle Tianshan Tonglao has thirty-six Cave, the slaves from the Seventy-Two Islands can be driven around. Although these people are all a ragtag group of three religions and nine streams who cannot achieve any great success. But these ragtag groups have an ability that we, the officials’ children, do not have. "

"That is the collection of all kinds of intelligence. Some of these people are natives of the Liao Kingdom, and they inevitably have some official friends. These people must be unguarded against their blood relatives and like-minded friends. Just said it. During the time when I was in Lingjiu Palace, I also deliberately read all kinds of information collected in Lingjiu Palace."

"After I collected this information and made simple calculations, I came to these conclusions. Moreover, I used the most conservative calculations to estimate. The current real national power and strength of the Liao Kingdom is probably weaker than what I estimated. Some, so I have absolute confidence that I can defeat the Liao army."

Zhe Zong nodded and said: "Uncle Huang is really working hard for the country. It is really a blessing for the Song Dynasty to have such a wise minister as Uncle Huang. In this case, I will go over my shoulder once, and we will go to war with Liao now. Just like the emperor As my uncle said, even our Song Dynasty can afford to fight for three to five years!"

When Zhao Mu heard this, he shook his head and said: "No! To report back to your majesty, I have said before. To pacify Liao, destroy Xia first. Now that Xixia has not been pacified, it is not the time to completely break up with Liao. Besides, our Song Dynasty and Liao still have conflicts. The alliance of the Abyss Alliance is in place. Although there are occasional small-scale frictions between the two countries, there is indeed no major war. Since ancient times, when an army is launched, it must be famous. If an unknown army is established, it will affect the morale of the soldiers, and it will also affect the morale of the soldiers. He was criticized by the people of the world. When Lü Meng crossed the river in white clothes and betrayed his alliance to attack, he has been criticized by future generations to this day. I don’t want to be the second Lü Meng.”

After hearing what Zhao Mu said, Zhe Zong was a little confused. Zhe Zong asked: "According to the emperor's uncle's words, the emperor also agrees that we should not fight with the Liao Kingdom now, so what is the 'fight' method mentioned before? "

Zhao Mu replied: "We, the Song Dynasty and the Liao Dynasty, can fight, but we can't do it first. We can fight local wars, but if we want to start a full-scale war, we need to capture Xixia first to avoid worries. Lest the two barbarians unite to deal with us. Although we, the Song Dynasty, can fight against the two of them with our current national strength, the outcome of the battle between the two sides will not only compete with the national strength of the two countries, but also factors that cannot be calculated such as time, location, and people."

"Therefore, fighting on two fronts is always dangerous. Therefore, I suggest that we use the reason that the Liao envoy disrupted the Song Dynasty's marriage ceremony and disrespected the Emperor of the Song Dynasty to reject the unreasonable request of the Liao envoy and fight a small-scale war with the Liao. Fight. If the Liao envoy asks for peace after the war, your Majesty must agree to it. Do not listen to the words of the main war faction in the DPRK and China to 'take advantage of the victory and pursue it'."

"We are only doing this to show the majesty of the Celestial Kingdom to Dali, to deter the Liao people from feeding tigers with their own bodies, and to punish the weaklings of the civil servants in the Dali, so that their knees will be stronger and stop being so impatient. Kneel down. Besides, I don’t think that the Liao Kingdom will really go to war with us."

"What the Liao envoy said before was just the intimidation of a paper tiger. It looks scary, but in fact it is broken with one poke. The barbarians are afraid of power and have no morals. If they want to beat you, they don't have to find any high-sounding reasons. They would have been there long ago. Take action. Now they have been at peace for hundreds of years, which shows that the battle of Chanzhou has scared these barbarians." After Zhezong thought about it, he nodded silently and said: "What the emperor said makes sense. It's just like what the emperor said. , Liao is a strong foreign country but a powerful one, what if they don’t fight us?”

Zhao Mu said with a smile: "No, in order to protect their own image, the Liao Kingdom will definitely fight this battle. If they don't fight, they will never be able to extort money from us again in the future. And if the Liao Kingdom fights If the front is frustrated and knows that it cannot swallow the Song Dynasty, it will make peace with us as soon as possible and renegotiate the 'Chanyuan Alliance'. After all, Xixia is also a threat to the Liao Kingdom. The Liao Kingdom is also afraid that it will break its muscles and bones. , being targeted by the capricious wolf of Xixia. And if they really give in this time, that would be the best. This can be regarded as your Majesty’s first contribution to not disgracing the country."

Zhe Zong asked: "Then according to the emperor's opinion, I can sternly refuse this time and regain all the face I lost just now?"

Zhao Mu nodded silently and said: "Yes, Your Majesty can focus on their disturbing the wedding banquet, saying that this is their disrespect for the Song Dynasty and Dali. The envoy of the Liao Kingdom was the one who bit him to death for being rude. . And verbally rejected their unreasonable request to double the annual coins. And using this matter as an entry point, he asked the Liao Kingdom to exempt this year's annual coins as an apology for this matter. If we do this, the Liao envoy will definitely threaten us with force. When the time comes, Your Majesty will not be afraid of power, reprimand the barbarians for their rudeness, and then send them away."

Zhezong wrote down Zhao Mu's words, and then asked: "Then if the two countries really go to war, what should happen? Who will be in charge?"

Zhao Mu said confidently: "This matter is the trouble caused by me, and I am naturally responsible for it. If the Liao people attack, I will go and fight."

Zhe Zong couldn't help but frown when he heard this, but Zhao Mu had never let him down. Seeing that Zhao Mu was so confident, Zhe Zong chose to believe him.

Zhe Zong said: "Okay! Those who can do the hard work, and I have entrusted this matter to the emperor's uncle. I just don't know how many troops and horses the emperor will need for the expedition?"

Zhao Mu stretched out five fingers when he heard this.

Upon seeing this, Zhezong said: "Uncle! Isn't fifty thousand soldiers and horses a little less? The emperor said before that the Liao Kingdom has two to three hundred thousand standing troops. Even though the emperor is brave enough to win the three armies, the enemy is outnumbered and our army is outnumbered." I am afraid that the morale of the soldiers will also be very low. Although I don’t know soldiers, being timid before fighting is a taboo for military strategists, so please bring more soldiers, uncle."

Zhao Mu smiled and shook his head and said, "Your Majesty has misunderstood what I meant. What I want is not 50,000 troops, but 500."

"Oh! Five hundred. What! Five hundred!" Zhe Zong had just finished hearing the first half of the sentence and had not yet reacted. But then after confirming that he had heard correctly, Zhe Zong suddenly stood up with his support on the table. He stared at Zhao Mu and continued, "Five hundred! Did the emperor just say five hundred?"

(End of this chapter)