Northern Song Dynasty: Starting from the son of Song Renzong

Chapter 52 I haven't spoken yet
Tianzhang Pavilion.

After everyone was seated, Zhao Zhen resumed the discussion and said, "There are too many people in the court, so it is not convenient to discuss. You are all my trusted aides, so you can speak freely here."

"Faced with the threat from the Liao Kingdom, how do you think we should respond? Feel free to speak freely. Prime Minister Lu, you go first!"

After all, he is the person with the highest power after the emperor since ancient times. Lu Yijian said: "Your Majesty, I think it is impossible to cede this land. After all, it is the land conquered by our ancestors, and it is impossible to hand it over to others. Moreover, the ten counties south of the pass are also the barrier of our Song Dynasty against the Liao Kingdom. If this barrier is gone, we will be in greater danger."

Zhao Zhen then asked, "But what if we don't cede the land and Liao doesn't agree?"

Lu Yi simply said: "By then, we will be attacked from both sides. It will be very difficult to fight Xixia alone. Xixia can attack us at any time, and we can only defend passively. Military expenditures are getting higher day by day. If we add Liao Kingdom, I'm afraid..."

Then Lu Yijian looked at the reactions of others.

The reactions of other people were fine, but Zhao Xin's reaction was what he found interesting.

Shou Guogong looked at him with a frown and listened very seriously.

Zhao Zhen also asked at this time: "What are you afraid of?"

Lü Yijian then said, "Please forgive me for my bold words. I am afraid that even if we can win, the Song Dynasty will return to the past decades, and it will be difficult to see the prosperous and wealthy Dongjing City again."

What Lu Yijian said was quite euphemistic.

Yan Shu also echoed at this time: "Once the war starts, the people will be displaced. The national finances are not rich to begin with, and it is difficult to support us to fight on two fronts."

At this time, Zhao Zhen's gaze was also directed at Zhang Fangping, the head of the Censorate, and Fu Bi.

Asked: "What do you think?"

Although Zhang Fangping and Fu Bi are both young people in their early thirties, they are actually very energetic, but anyone who knows the history of the country knows this.

Xixia is still okay, it can be said to be a small country, but Liao is different. Like them, Liao is a big country.

The Chanyuan Alliance had ended in a draw, and it was still a nightmare to this day. Now, do they dare to say that the Song Dynasty can defeat the Liao Dynasty? Even if they were given ten courages, they would not dare.

Not to mention, they must have known something about the problem of redundant soldiers over the years. Although they say there are a million troops, in fact, it is hard to say whether they are capable of being used.

And if it was really useful, they wouldn't have had to fight so hard against Western Xia.

For this reason, Zhang Fangping also suggested: "Go back to your Highness, I think it is not the time to fall out with the Liao Kingdom yet."

Zhao Zhen also said: "But now the Liao Kingdom is asking us for the ten counties south of the Guan Pass. Do we really have to give them back?"

Then Zhang Fangping stopped talking.

Zhao Zhen then turned his gaze to Fu Bi.

Fu Bi then said, "There were many people in the court just now, so some things cannot be said, Your Majesty!"

Zhao Zhen: “Hmm?”

Fu Bi: "I have already inquired about the opinion of Xiao Ying, the Southern Court Xuanhui Envoy of Liao. Xiao Ying said that Liao is raising troops just to demand the land south of the pass and some gold and silk when the northwest of our Song Dynasty is in a tight spot. In fact, they have no intention of a decisive battle."

As soon as Fu Bi finished speaking.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

Everyone stared at him, the expressions on their faces said, "Why didn't you say it earlier!"

Fu Bi saw what everyone meant and replied, "There are many people in the court."

Then... Zhao Xin saw his father asked anxiously, "How much gold and silk does Liao want?"

Fu Bi replied: "We'll have to wait until we get there and finish discussing this."

Zhao Zhen then asked, "So Fu Bi, what you mean is, don't fight?"

Fu Bi thought.

I didn't say that.

but……

The emperor needed someone to take the blame for him, so he had no choice but to take it. Fu Bi then pulled other people together and said, "As Prime Minister Lu, Prime Minister Yan, and Zhang Zhijian said, our Song Dynasty cannot fall out with the Liao Kingdom for the time being, so we have no choice but to do this."

Zhao Zhen said: "If you can pay the money, that would be the best!"

Zhao Xin looked at his father and found that he was really a coward.

Fu Bi then said, "The Liao Kingdom also requires that the princess be married to the Liao Kingdom's prince."

Everyone looked at Fu Bi and asked, "Can you please finish what you want to say at once? Why are you always hiding things?"

This made Zhao Zhen unhappy, and he said, "Doesn't the ruler of Liao know that my daughter is still young?"

Fu Bi said, "They said that a daughter of a royal family could marry him."

Zhao Zhen thought for a moment and replied, "It is not a disgrace to marry a daughter of the royal family to the prince of Liao. Do you have any other requests?"

Fu Bi then said, "No more."

Zhao Zhen then asked the others, "What do you think?"

At this time, Lu Yijian, Yan Shu, and Zhang Fangping certainly had no opinion.

Anyway...

They won't be the ones paying the bills, and their salaries will remain the same.

What's more, the initiative now lies with the Liao Kingdom. If you are not convinced, you have to dare to fight them.

If the situation becomes rippled, they might even lose their salaries.

The Liao Kingdom's demands were excessive, very excessive, and it was clearly taking advantage of the situation to rob. But it was not excessive either, and it was nothing more than extorting some money.

We, the Song Dynasty, made the profit back in just a few moves!

"The official sage!"

This is your own decision, not ours!

Seeing that they seemed to have reached an agreement, Zhao Zhen then began to say: "Then Fu Bi, you should prepare today and go north as soon as possible to complete the negotiations. The Liao army is already deployed in the north and a fight may break out at any time. We should finish the negotiations and stop the war as soon as possible."

Fu Bi could only bow and say, "Yes."

Seeing that they had all discussed it, Zhao Xin raised his hand again and said, "What about me?"

At this time, everyone realized that Zhao Xin was also there. They almost forgot about Zhao Xin's existence.

Zhao Zhen lowered his head and frowned at Zhao Xin. To be honest, he really shouldn't have brought Zui Xing along at such a humiliating time.

Zhao Xin added: "I haven't spoken yet!"

Zhao Zhen was really afraid that he would say something that didn't fit the atmosphere of the scene, so he said, "Don't say it, you're still young."

Zhao Xin refused and said, "I am not small! I want to speak too! Sit down! Sit tight!"

Everyone: "..."

Zhao Zhen wanted to speak more.

Then Zhao Xin said first: "Dad, don't say anything. It's my turn to speak next."

When Zhao Zhen heard him say this, he originally wanted to withdraw and leave him alone, but now...

All I could do was sit back down and wait to see what he wanted to say.

Then he said, "I wanted to say something, but now I have nothing to say."

Zhao Xin also replied: "There is a lot to say!"

(End of this chapter)