King of Song

Chapter 372 The Best Candidate

Before Zhao Xu was happy for a long time, two heavy news came.

First, the Xixia side released a signal of intention to negotiate peace;
Second, the army of the Liao Kingdom was mobilized and was conducting drills near Youzhou. Its crown prince Yelu Jun and King Zhao Yelu Yixin led the army in person.

The seemingly unremarkable news, but there are many entanglements hidden behind it, but in fact it is a blockbuster dropped in the calm lake, and a little carelessness will cause huge waves.

Above the court hall, a minister said: "It is a good thing that Xixia intends to talk about peace. This time we won a complete victory in Dashun City, and even captured Xixia Guoxiang Liang Yibu. We have the upper hand in terms of momentum and bargaining chips. Fight for reason and have a good talk with Xixia."

There has always been a fear of summer in the Great Song Dynasty. As long as it is not related to major issues of principle, it is absolutely unwilling to start a war with Xixia easily.If the prime ministers Wang Anshi and Zeng Gongliang hadn't advocated this battle together, I am afraid that there are not a few masters and ministers, and the voices of opposition will remain high.

Now the result of the war is relatively ideal, so these officials have the mentality of accepting it as soon as it is good. It is already good to have such results, and they must be cherished.In case Xixia is in a hurry, it would be bad to fight to the death.Although Dashun City was victorious, the Zhejia Army of Fuzhou was defeated in Jingzhou, which shows that the war is not all favorable and it is still very risky.If you continue to fight, you may not be able to obtain more benefits, and there may be dangers, so it is best to accept it when you see it.

As at the beginning, there are many new party members in the Zhuhe faction.The continuation of the war will inevitably affect the implementation of the reform, but the influence of the current side has been shown, and continued delay will not be beneficial to the reform.It will affect their status and their vital interests.Now the war is going smoothly, and finally there is an opportunity, an opportunity to cease the war earlier, which is naturally doubly cherished, so the call for an armistice and peace talks is very loud.

Of course, there are also many rational ministers who have all seen a fact.That was the exercise of the Liao Kingdom near Youzhou. It was said to be an exercise, but after all, it mobilized the troops of the brigade, and even included their most elite leather army, including the crown prince and the first favorite of the Liao Lord Yelv Yixin. command.

This information is enough to show that the Liao army cannot be ignored. It is an exercise in the territory of Liao, but if it crosses the border, it is an invasion.Over the years, the Liao Kingdom has always had the heart to attack the Song Dynasty, and it has never stopped, and the Song Dynasty has never let go of its defenses.

For the Song Dynasty, Xixia was a confidant's trouble. It involved a lot and was very troublesome, but in fact the direct damage caused was not particularly great.Even though all these years have been in the northwest, it is nothing more than looting. How easy is it to occupy land?The threat is only Shaanxi Road, and the impact on the Central Plains in the Bianjing area is not very great.

The Liao Kingdom is different. If they don't move, they will be deadly.A little carelessness, the Great Song Dynasty may encounter the danger of national subjugation, at least the world is in turmoil.

Without the Yanyun sixteen prefectures, the whole of Hebei has no danger to defend. As long as the Liao cavalry break through the border defense line, they will drive straight in.The shame of Chanyuan was not very long back then, and it still makes people feel lingering.The monarchs and ministers of the Song Dynasty did not want the Liao Kingdom to invade the Yellow River again and threaten Bianjing across the river.As a result, the emperor has no face, the mountains and rivers are in turmoil, and there is even a joke about moving the capital.

Later generations said that the Song Dynasty was poor and weak, and it was true!Especially in terms of external relations, it has always been very weak.

Fear of summer is one aspect, but they may be even more afraid of Liao. If the two come together, the consequences will be more serious.

Now the Song army is fighting with Xixia in the northwest. If at this time, the eastern front clashes with Liao, the consequences will be disastrous.Let alone whether it can be dealt with, at least it will make the Song Dynasty precarious and turbulent.This is something that neither the kings and ministers of the Song Dynasty wanted to see, at least for now.Even Wang Xianggong, who has the grand ambition to restore the old environment of the Han and Tang Dynasties, knows very well that the time has not come now, and he must be patient.

Of course, some people thought there were objections, and an official of the Privy Council said: "The Liao Kingdom is only practicing in Youzhou, and has no intention of going south. Even those Pishi troops are said to be only the retinue of their prince Yelujun. It's not for war...Moreover, the Liao Kingdom has just experienced the chaos of Xiao Hu's eyes two years ago, and the interior is not peaceful, so I am afraid that they dare not easily use troops abroad.

It is rare for our army to make a breakthrough in the northwest, and it is time to take advantage of the victory to pursue and teach Xixia a lesson. How can such a great opportunity be easily let go?What a pity to waste it! "

The Privy Council is in charge of the military, and it must have been suppressed by Xixia for a long time, and it has been holding back a bad breath.Now that he finally had such a breakthrough, how could he let it go so easily?
"Yeah, the people of Xixia go to war if they want to fight, and negotiate peace if they want to cease the war. Is this really up to them? Where should I put the face of my kingdom? Now that we agree, it is to encourage the arrogance of Xixia Arrogance, they will intensify when encountering similar situations in the future. This trend cannot last long, I think we should go all out to attack Xixia." There are still many supporters for the main battle.

"But the Liao Kingdom is eyeing it like a tiger. Why did the prince of the Liao Kingdom go to Youzhou at such a critical time and mobilize the army?"

"The prince of Liao is still young, just a child..."

"If it is said that Yelu Jun is young and does nothing, what about Yelu Yixin? He is the number one favorite of the Liao Lord, and he holds great power in the Liao Kingdom. It is extraordinary. The actions of the Liao Army in Youzhou are likely to be instructed by the Liao Lord to preside over him."

Obviously, no one in the Song Dynasty paid much attention to Yelu Jun, the teenage prince of Liao, but Zhao Wang Yelu Yixin was worried.

"Even if the Pishi army participates, so what? The Liao Kingdom may just be helping Xixia and putting pressure on our dynasty. Don't worry..."

Once again, there were different opinions in the court, and they expressed their opinions on the issue of Xixia and Liao, and disputes appeared again.Seeing this, Zhao Xu suddenly felt dizzy.

When will there be fewer disputes?Is there any need to argue like this?The signs of party struggle have become more and more intense, but Zhao Xu has already begun to pay attention.But once some things happen, it will be difficult to remedy them afterwards...

In fact, Zhao Xu himself has ideas.When the war started, he had to ride a tiger, and he had no choice but to do so.At that time, he was very distressed. On the one hand, he didn't want to be refuted by Xixia, and on the other hand, he was worried that the implementation of the reform would be affected by the war. It can be said that he was in a dilemma.

He was hesitant at first, but it was Wang Anshi who expressed his support and Zhao Xu agreed.Sending troops to the northwest to fight Xixia, Zhao Xu can be said to be sweating, worried about losing the battle.

Now the result of the war is better than expected. Wang Shao and Lin Zhao performed very well, achieved a lot of victory, saved their face and avoided defeat. It can be described as a perfect ending.

It's time to stop, and Zhao Xu is now thinking of quitting as soon as he sees it.Although he really wanted to continue to attack, and even destroy Xixia directly, he had great ambitions in his heart.But reason told him that according to the current strength of the Song Dynasty, it was impossible, so he had to be patient.

The most urgent task right now is to reform the law and strengthen the country, with the focus on internal affairs.Another one, Wang Shao has already given him a memorial, indicating that the relationship between Dong Zhan of Hehuang Tubo and his brother Xia Zhan is improving, and Hehuang and Hezhou are likely to reconcile as before and become one.According to their established strategy, they wanted to capture Hehuang first, threaten Xixia's flanks, and then go all out.

Prior to this, because of limited strength, it was impossible to do so, so it adopted the method of forming an alliance with Hehuang Tubo.This time, Dong Zhan was expected to send troops to threaten Xixia's rear, but he didn't want the old man to be unmoved, and came up with a high-sounding reason.Hezhou's blind felt turned upside down?But according to Wang Shao's investigation of the news, it's more like acting between the brothers.

Unexpectedly, Dong Zhan and Xia Zhan reconciled, which means that from now on, Hehuang will be united as one.The plan to attack Hehuang by taking advantage of their brothers' discord will also come to naught.After getting such news, can Zhao Xu not be in a hurry?

Wang Shao has made it clear in the memorial that the war against Tubo may need to be advanced.In this way, the next military action of the Great Song Dynasty will be aimed at Tubo, how can it be fighting Xixia?If the Liao Kingdom is provoked because of this, the overall plan will be completely disrupted.

Obviously Zhao Xu didn't want this, he hoped that everything would be done in an orderly and orderly manner.So he also wanted to end the war. He was thinking about how to end it, but he didn't expect the Xixia people to bring it up. Zhao Xu felt that it was right in his arms.In the case of victory, it would be best to agree to the peace talks with the Xixia people and end it decently.

As for the Liao Kingdom, it is not known whether Xixia has gone through some channels, or the Liao Kingdom has seen the stakes, so it adopts this method to exert pressure.There was news from the Xiongzhou guard that the situation didn't seem to be serious.

Therefore, Emperor Zhao Xu's original intention was peace talks, but many times being an emperor is also difficult, and some things cannot be easily said.In particular, words that would damage face such as peace talks should not be easily said.It can only be suggested by a certain minister, and then push the boat along.

But at this moment, there are endless debates in the court, how should we make a decision?Zhao Xu inevitably had some troubles.

However, the ministers were very cooperative, especially a group of ministers, who properly figured out the emperor's mind.

"Your Majesty, I think that since Xixia has bowed its head and admitted its mistakes, our Celestial Dynasty should convince people with virtue... Now it is the beginning of spring, and if there are endless troubles, the spring plowing on Shaanxi Road will definitely be affected. The long-lasting war has already made people's lives difficult. Affected, and now it is really inappropriate to make the situation worse!" The speaker was the Prime Minister Zeng Gongliang, a scholar of Jixian Hall.

Pragmatic people would murmur in their hearts and scold Zeng Xianggong for being pedantic when they heard about the heaven and the kingdom, convincing people with virtue.But he didn't dare to say anything in public. Who would dare to easily plunder the Prime Minister's tiger whiskers?Although he is already an old man, his power is still there, making people fearful.Furthermore, they specifically mentioned the matter of spring plowing later, which is to cherish the common people. "Food is the most important thing for the people" and "the people are the most important thing, followed by the country", these are the teachings of the sages, who would dare to object?
It's just that there will inevitably be some irresistible disdain in his eyes. Although Zeng Xianggong didn't look back, he knew it all in his heart.The old man speaks his own words, let you think about it, if you say that the old man is pedantic, you are stupid.

The dignified Prime Minister, there is a reason for saying such high-sounding words.The last time he suggested sending troops to Xixia, in addition to really benefiting the Song Dynasty, it was also a way for him to re-establish his position as prime minister.Now the war has already had preliminary results, and it went relatively smoothly. Dashun City wiped out [-] enemies in the first battle, and captured Xixia Guoxiang Liang Yibu. This is an unprecedented feat in decades.

That's enough. It's not good to use up the hard-won achievements and then encounter some failures. Sometimes you just accept it when you really see it.The interests of the country are fully considered, Mr. Zeng's own goal has been achieved, and the officials seem to have the same thoughts. This is the end of the matter, what is there to continue?It is rare for a Xixia person to propose it on their own initiative, so it is even more cherished.

Armistice, peace talks!
At the same time, Zeng Xianggong came forward in person to show his attitude to the emperor Zhao Xu. I just emphasized my position, and I have no intention of competing with Wang Anshi for power and profit. I am also very loyal to you.As for those high-sounding reasons, a sensible person can understand them.As for those ignorant people, Mr. Zeng didn't bother to pay attention to them...

Wang Anshi would not object either, they supported sending troops to counterattack Xixia.It was considered in many ways, and it was due to the ambitious factors. It was also because Li Fugui caused the turmoil in the Northwest, which had a lot to do with him, and he expressed his support out of public interest.

Now the battle is going smoothly, Li Fugui has been put to death, the news spread back to Bianjing, Wang Anshi just sighed softly.Wang Shao and Lin Zhao didn't care about beheading him directly on the battlefield. After Wang Yu got the news, he was grateful for a long time and repeatedly praised Wang Shao for his ability to do things.If Li Fugui returned to Bianjing alive, he didn't know what would come out of his mouth, maybe there would be another uproar.It's best to deal with it like this.

Li Fugui was put to death, Wang Anshi fulfilled a wish, and Liang Yibu was captured, he was very satisfied with the result of the battle.Coupled with the situation where the Liao Kingdom sent troops to exert pressure, it is enough to reach this level.At least for now, Wang Anshi's focus is still reform, and he also hopes that the court's attention will shift from foreign wars to reform...

Another two prime ministers expressed their support in unison. Such a situation is really rare.But in this way, even if the matter is settled, the other courtiers' opposition will become powerless.

Zhao Xu was also overjoyed when he saw this, and said along the way: "Okay, since that's the case, then let's talk to Xixia and show my celestial majesty and mind..."

The emperor nodded, what else do the officials have to say?

Just heard Zhao Xu questioning: "Just who to send to the peace talks?"

The ministers looked at each other in blank dismay, this candidate was indeed a troublesome matter.Peace talks entail great responsibilities. They need to be courageous, alert, and eloquent. They must also be well aware of the situation and be ready to respond at any time...

Not to mention, there was really no suitable candidate for a while, especially in the land of tigers and wolves in Xixia, and few people were willing to take the initiative to go there.

Seeing the silence, Zhao Xu had no choice but to say in a low voice: "The Ministry of Rites, Taichang Temple, and Honghe Temple, what suggestions do you have?" The Ministry of Rites and Honghe Temple themselves have diplomatic affairs. Courtier, since it is a peace talk, it must be involved in this aspect.

Zhang Zongyi, the minister of the Ministry of Rites, remained calm. Right now is the critical period for him to become Minister of the Ministry of Rites, so he doesn't want to take such a risky job.As for the Honglu Temple, Chai Xiao is getting old... and someone has already informed him before coming here that now is not the time to speak...

On the other hand, at Taichang Temple, Zeng Gong, who had just been transferred back to Bianjing from Yuezhou Tongjuan, and served as the Shaoqing of Taichang Temple, suggested: "Your Majesty, I recommend a candidate!"

"Oh? Who does Zeng Qing recommend?" Zhao Xu admired Zeng Gong's talent and learning, and he was a student of Ouyang Xiu, so he valued it very much.

Zeng Gong said in a deep voice, "Lin Zhao, Commander of Dashun City!"

"Lin Zhao?" There was a slight commotion in the hall!

"Yes, Lin Zhao has been sent to the Liao Kingdom and Hehuang Tubo. Needless to say, he is eloquent and witty. He is courageous and resourceful, and he performed well. The first two times were very successful. I believe that he will also be able to negotiate peace with Xixia this time. He will perform very well. Moreover, he is now fighting in the northwest against Xixia, and he has a good understanding of Xixia and the situation of the war, so he can adapt to changing situations, and it is also convenient for him to closely contact and cooperate with the Northwest army. Therefore, I think Lin Zhao is the best candidate."

Zeng Gong was very surprised. He didn't know why the teacher Ouyang Xiu had not predicted the peace talks, and asked him to recommend Lin Zhao.What's going on here?Is there anything special about it?Zeng Gong was very curious, but Ouyang Xiu didn't tell him a word, but told him that the matter was very important and he must keep his mouth shut.It is difficult to disobey the teacher's order, and Zeng Gong himself has a good personal relationship with Lin Zhao, so he obeyed the order and gave a very appropriate reason.

One must know that Zeng Gong had traveled with Lin Zhao as an envoy to the Liao Kingdom back then, so he knew Lin Zhao's talent in this area very well.It didn't seem out of place for him to make such a suggestion.

Zhang Zongyi, the minister of rites over there, suddenly came to his senses. This is really a wonderful suggestion. He knows Lin Zhao's ability, and he will definitely succeed immediately if he comes forward.Immediately echoed: "Your Majesty, I agree with you. Lin Zhao's outstanding performance in the Liao Kingdom back then, the Liao Lord was impressed by it... The last time he was sent to Hehuang and Tubo, Zanpu and Dong Zhan also fell behind. Lin Zhao was in charge of the peace talks. Definitely a great candidate!"

The person in charge of Honglu Temple is Chai Xiao. Uncle Cao Guo has already informed him, although he still doesn't know what happened.But since it was requested by Lin Zhao and Cao Guojiu's family, his uncle naturally couldn't hold back.

"Lin Zhao's mission, what do you think?" Zhao Xu asked in a deep voice, at least he did not object to this proposal.

After a while, Zhao Yan, who was newly appointed Governor of Kaifeng as a Hanlin scholar, agreed: "Your Majesty, Lin Zhao is indeed a good candidate. Han Xuanfu sits in the northwest and presides over the overall situation, and Lin Zhao is in charge of the peace talks. They complement each other!"

In this way, Lin Zhao is undoubtedly the best candidate for peace talks with Xixia!
(End of this chapter)