A powerful minister of the Song Dynasty

Chapter 26 I Wish to Develop the Northwest (Please Read More)

Song Xuan immediately pointed at the target on the wall:

"I stood under the eaves. The target was on the wall, a good thirty paces away. Every arrow hit it."

Fan Zhongyan said "oh", stretched out his arms and roughly measured it in his mind, knowing that Song Xuan was right.

He chuckled twice: "Could it be that Brother Twelve has the ability to shoot an arrow through a target from a hundred paces away?"

"Mr. Fan is right."

"I don't believe it." Yan Shu shook his head: "In such dim light, it's hard to hit the bull's eye."

"Just wait and see, sir."

Song Xuan immediately asked Tao Hong to get his bow and arrow, and then washed his hands carefully.

Zhang Fangping drank cold beer with a smile on his face. He had seen his twelfth brother's archery skills.

Song Xuan stood under the eaves with a bow and arrow in his hand and took the initiative to speak:
"Mr. Song, are you going to go and take a look at the wall?"

Song Shou obviously didn't believe in Song Xuan's craftsmanship, so he snorted and ignored him.

Instead, Zhang Fangping raised his hand and said, "Twelfth Brother, I'll go. I'll go."

As soon as he finished speaking, he heard a whoosh sound.

Song Xuan shot the arrow in an instant.

hum.

The tail of the arrow was still vibrating, but it hit the target straight away.

Song Shou wanted to persuade the genius Zhang Fangping not to take risks, but he didn't even have time to open his mouth.

Song Xuan's arrow had already hit the target.

"Ah, ah, ah."

Song Shou could only make a few "ah" sounds to ease his embarrassment, and silently let go of the hand that was about to hold Zhang Fangping.

"it is good."

Yan Shu was the first to applaud. He felt that there were very few people in the imperial guards who had archery skills like Song Xuan.

Fan Zhongyan also nodded in approval. This bow and arrow was not something that ordinary children could afford to play with.

Not to mention that Song Xuan is such a good shooter!

Those evildoers who were looking for money thought that Fan Zhongyan also felt that his sword could drink blood.

Not to mention that Song Shou is talented, but apart from the pain he suffered from the lack of family affection, he never felt wronged the rest of the time.

"Twelfth brother's archery skills are so good, I'm afraid he has put in a lot of hard work."

Song Shou stroked his beard and shook his head. If he had focused so much on studying, why would he always rank last in the private school exams?

"Not as good as the brave generals in the army."

After Song Xuan put away his hard bow, he sat back on the bamboo chair:
"I'm thinking that after I pass the imperial examination, I'll go to the northwest or Hebei Province to serve as an official. Then I'll have the opportunity to show my abilities."

The three officials, after listening to Song Xuan's ideals and ambitions, began to wonder what this kid meant.
Fan Zhongyan nodded:
"Twelfth brother's thoughts are similar to mine. The people in the south of the Yangtze River are prosperous, but the people in the border areas are living in poverty."

Song Shou's hometown is Zhaozhou, Hebei. He naturally knows how much pressure the soldiers there are under in defending against the Liao Dynasty's southward advance.

The people are barely surviving and cannot be compared with the people in the south.

"Everyone in the world wants to go to a wealthy place to serve as an official, but I don't think so." Song Xuan said with a smile while eating the skewers:

"When I arrived in a prosperous place and saw the powerful and wealthy oppressing the people, I realized that laws alone were not enough to deter them, and I couldn't help but feel murderous.

Why not go to the border areas, where killing people to establish your authority would be considered normal?"

"Hahaha."

After hearing Song Xuan's childish remarks, Yan Shu couldn't help laughing. He felt that Song Xuan's political arguments were still extremely childish.

"Twelfth brother, you made me laugh to death." Yan Shu wiped away the tears of laughter:

"Being an official isn't like this. I understand that young people are prone to murderous tendencies." "I'm just talking nonsense."

Song Xuan didn't care about Yan Shu's evaluation of his remarks.

After all, the Song Dynasty was to share the world with the literati and officials. The powerful local gentry, apart from the literati and officials, rarely had any noble titles.

The princes of the Song Dynasty did not have fiefs.

"When you become an official, you won't think so."

Fan Zhongyan also encountered superiors who had different ideas from his own. He protected the local gentry rather than the common people.

The frustrated Fan Zhongyan would record every dispute he had with his boss on the screen in his room. By the time he was transferred, the room was full of records.

"Maybe I really want to go and see Yumen Pass, where even the spring breeze doesn't reach."

Song Xuan picked up his beer and smiled: "And the scene of dark clouds pressing down on the city, threatening to collapse, and armor shining towards the sun, with golden scales blooming, I want to go to the northwest of Daxing."

Today, these territories are controlled by King Xia Li Deming.

"In the fourth year of Tianxi, the Liao emperor personally led an army of 500,000 to attack Li Deming of Western Xia and failed. He then appointed Li Deming as Shangshu Ling and King of Daxia."

Yan Shu pinched his beard and explained to Song Xuan:

"Moreover, Li Deming would send people to Bianjing to pay tribute every New Year's Day, Halloween, and Winter Solstice. The imperial court was also happy to see Li Deming become an enemy of the Liao Dynasty."

"So what?"

Song Xuan's question surprised Yan Shu.

"It won't delay him from leading his troops to attack the Song Dynasty's territory after paying tribute!"

Song Xuan's words left Yan Shu speechless.

Even though the Song Dynasty regarded Li Deming as a loyal and meritorious official, he repeatedly provoked border conflicts.

"Also, I heard that Li Deming is building a palace in Huaiyuan Town and a capital city. It seems he wants to become emperor. How will he submit to the Song Dynasty then?"

Song Xuan took another sip of beer:
"In recent years, he has pretended to be dependent on Liao and allied with Song, and launched a strong attack on the northwest, attacking Tubo and Uighur in the west, and seizing Xiliang Prefecture, Ganzhou, Guazhou, Shazhou and other places.

His sphere of influence extends to Yumen Pass and the entire Hexi Corridor. Lord Yan, don't you think he has no ambition to become emperor?"

Yan Shu paid little attention to the affairs of the Northwest, and even Fan Zhongyan paid little attention to the affairs of the Northwest.

He just felt from the soldiers he had seen that the world had been peaceful for a long time, the army had not been used for a long time, and the soldiers had not received systematic training, so it would be difficult for them to fight.

Since the Treaty of Chanyuan, Liao and Song maintained peaceful life for decades.

The Song Dynasty believed that they had won because they were able to avoid the pressure of heavy border defense and imperial taxation by spending only 300,000 coins, and it only cost less than one percent of the military expenditure.

Moreover, the money for the annual tribute was paid by the emperor and had nothing to do with the people, so the civil officials were even more in favor of it.

The Liao Dynasty also thought that they had won, but they had taken advantage of an unfavorable military situation and obtained things that they could not get on the battlefield.

No one is a loser!

Yan Shu had worked in the central government.

If Li Deming proclaimed himself emperor, where would the dignity of the Song Dynasty be?
The reign of a Xia king had come to an end, yet he actually dreamed of becoming emperor. This was definitely unacceptable.

At that time, it will inevitably lead to war.

Fan Zhongyan agreed with Song Xuan:

"Twelfth Brother is right. Hebei and the capital are both in a state of disarray. No one wants to reclaim the Sixteen Prefectures of Youyun anymore."

Song Xuan pointed at himself:
"I want to!"

Yan Shu and others looked at Song Xuan, wondering why he said such a thing.

"If we don't have the Sixteen Prefectures of Youyun as a defensive base, in the long run, the Liao cavalry could directly attack Kaifeng Prefecture. Do you think I'm exaggerating?"

Fan Zhongyan shook his head. In fact, he also had this worry in his heart.

However, unilaterally tearing up the Treaty of Chanyuan would be extremely disadvantageous to the Song Dynasty at present.

(End of this chapter)