Chapter 256: Discussion on Sending Troops
In fact, it would be best if the Liao Kingdom did not admit it. Otherwise, if the Liao Kingdom directly said that it was me who did it, what would the Song Dynasty do?
How can we explain to the people living in the border areas if we don’t send troops?
The Song Dynasty could not send a large number of troops, or perhaps the Song Dynasty was afraid of the Liao Dynasty and did not want to break off relations with it.
Therefore, the two sides formed a tacit understanding that every year when the Song Dynasty’s borders were looted, they would send envoys to question the Liao Kingdom.
In the eyes of the Liao Kingdom, the Song Dynasty's behavior was just incompetent barking, and the Liao Kingdom did not care at all.
"Of course not." Hong Ze said: "After my emperor ascended the throne, he also wanted to solve this situation. This year, the Song Dynasty repaired the border city, and the border was full of civilians. Logically, no nobles would send troops to plunder. But the King of Qin said that the Song Dynasty repaired the border city with the intention of raising troops and wanted to send troops to destroy it.
The two countries have an alliance, so my emperor naturally disagrees. But Qin is powerful and has many supporters in the court. My emperor can only disagree to send troops, but he can't stop the king of Qin from sending a small group of cavalry to harass. "
"Brother Hong, what do you want to say?" Yan Kuan frowned.
Hongze talked for a long time, complaining all the time, but there was no need to do so.
The Liao Kingdom has always refused to acknowledge it, and the Song Dynasty has also acquiesced to this statement. What is the point of Hongze bringing this up?
"My emperor feels very guilty about this matter. Qin is powerful and my emperor cannot stop it. But I can provide a hiding place for the cavalry sent by Qin! If the Song Dynasty can send troops to encircle and suppress these cavalry, Qin will suffer heavy losses and will naturally give up." Hongze said.
Yan Kuan was shocked when he heard this and looked at Hong Ze in disbelief.
Hongze just looked at Yan Kuan with a smile and said nothing.
After a while, Yan Kuan came back to his senses and frowned, thinking.
It was no secret that Yelu Chongyuan and the Liao Emperor were at odds.
His first reaction was that the Liao emperor wanted to use the Song Dynasty to weaken Yelu Chongyuan's power.
Even if we eliminate a few of the small cavalry groups that harass the border, it won't make much sense.
But it would be different if we could find their hiding place.
There is a large buffer zone between the borders of the Song Dynasty and the Liao Dynasty.
The cavalry sent out by the Liao Kingdom to plunder would not go back after plundering once, but would hide in buffer areas.
Every time the money and food looted would be transported there, and then they would rest there for a few days before continuing to loot.
The looting would continue from the autumn harvest until the snow fell, and then they would withdraw to the Liao Kingdom.
The Song Dynasty actually knew about it, but had no way to find it.
If you send too few people, they may never come back; if you send too many people, it may provoke a war.
But if we know the exact hiding place of the Liao cavalry, we can catch them all in one fell swoop before the Liao can react.
Even though the number of Liao's marauding cavalrymen is small, they can become a large group when gathered together.
Every year, the Liao Kingdom sent out about 10,000 cavalrymen for looting.
If he were surrounded and suppressed, it would be a heavy blow to Yelu Chongyuan.
The Liao Kingdom did not admit that those horse bandits were sent by the Liao Kingdom. Even if the Song Dynasty wiped them out, the Liao Kingdom could only suffer the loss in silence.
Thinking of this, Yan Kuan was indeed moved.
If he brings this news back, it will be a great achievement.
Yan Kuan was not overwhelmed by the news. What if this was a trap set by the Liao Kingdom?
However, Yan Kuan quickly denied this possibility.
It is possible that the Liao Kingdom set a trap for the Song Dynasty, but it is impossible for the Liao Emperor to cooperate with Yelu Chongyuan to set a trap for the Song Dynasty.
"Brother Yan, winter is not far away now. Once it snows, those people will evacuate."
Seeing that Yan Kuan had not responded yet, Hongze added some sense of urgency to Yan Kuan.
Yan Kuan gritted his teeth and said, "I can't make the decision on this matter. I can only report it to my superiors!"
"I understand this. I believe that the Emperor of Song and his ministers will make a wise choice. If the cavalry sent to plunder this time are surrounded and suppressed, those nobles may not dare to send troops to plunder Song in the future." Hong Ze said with a smile.
The two chatted for a while, Hongze told Yan Kuan where he was hiding, and then said goodbye and left.
After Yan Kuan saw Hongze off, the officials who came with him on the mission asked about Hongze's purpose.
Yan Kuan didn't say it and just made up an excuse to get away with it.
And tell everyone that he will set off back to Song Dynasty tomorrow.
The officials naturally didn't believe it, and since Yan Kuan was in such a hurry to go back, it was obvious that there was something wrong.
But since Yan Kuan didn't say anything, there was nothing they could do.
Some people also said that the purpose of this mission was not achieved and they could not return so soon.
But Yan Kuan was the mastermind, he insisted on going back, and the others had no choice but to obey.
On the same day, Yan Kuan informed the Liao officials responsible for hosting them that they would return to the city the next day.
The Liao officials pretended to try to retain him and then reported the matter.
Soon news came from the Liao Emperor, approving this matter.
The next morning, Yan Kuan and others left Shangjing on a horse-drawn carriage.
A few days later, Yan Kuan and his party arrived at Bazhou City.
He rested for a day in Bazhou, wrote a letter in his own handwriting, and sent it to Bianliang by express delivery at a distance of 800 miles. He set out for Bianliang the next day.
When Yan Kuan set out to return to Bian Jing, Sheng Changsong also received a letter from Zhao Xing.
In his letter, Zhao Xing said that he agreed to Li Ge's request to speed up the transaction and complete it as soon as possible.
After reading the letter, Sheng Changsong immediately sent someone to contact Li Ge to discuss the transaction.
Bazhou is more than a thousand miles away from Kaifeng. The messenger arrived in Bianjing in the evening of the second day.
After reading the letter, the emperor immediately summoned important officials to discuss the matter. Some advocated sending troops to encircle and suppress the rebels, while others worried that this was a trap.
Yan Kuan felt that the Liao Emperor and Yelu Chongyuan would not join forces to set a trap for the Song Dynasty.
But that doesn't mean the Liao emperor won't use Yelu Chongyuan to set a trap.
Perhaps it was Yelu Chongyuan's idea to send troops to harass this time.
The Liao emperor also wanted to use the Song Dynasty to weaken Yelu Chongyuan's power.
But the Liao people were not fools. The Song Dynasty was able to find the Liao army's hiding place and complete the encirclement and suppression without the Liao being aware of it. It is very likely that they had received the news in advance.
Yelu Chongyuan suffered too much loss and would certainly not give up.
In order to clear himself of suspicion, the Liao emperor would also question why the Song Dynasty sent troops into the buffer zone between the two countries, thereby forcing the Song Dynasty to increase the annual tribute.
The husband said he was right, and the wife said she was right. The official was very hesitant and couldn't make up his mind for a moment.
…………
The postman who delivered the urgent letter over an area of 800 miles had to change horses but not people along the way, and the checkpoints and cities along the way had to be opened to let the letter pass even at night.
Even in Bian Jing, riding a horse was allowed.
It's impossible to hide such a big commotion.
When Zhao Xing learned the news, he hurried to the palace.
When he arrived at the palace, Zhao Xing learned that his father and a group of ministers were discussing matters, so he could only wait in a side hall.
After waiting for about half an hour, a eunuch came to report that the meeting was over and the emperor let him go.
Zhao Xing heard this and came to Longtu Pavilion. After paying his respects, he asked, "Father, I heard that there is an urgent message from the north, but what happened on the northern border?"
"It's not the northern border." The official shook his head, asked Zhao Xing to sit down, and told Zhao Xing what happened.
Zhao Xing frowned slightly after listening to this, and combined with Li Ge's sudden suggestion to speed up the transaction, he came to a conclusion.
The Song Dynasty could not stand up to the Liao Kingdom. In addition to being afraid of the Liao Kingdom, the most important reason was that there was no strategic location to defend in the north.
Although in recent years the Song Dynasty has formulated strict defense measures in the north to defend against the Liao cavalry.
However, if the Liao invaded on a large scale, it would still be difficult to resist.
The Liao Kingdom only needed to break through the defensive measures in the north and did not need to capture the frontier cities at all, but could directly break into the rear and cause destruction.
There were few garrisons in the rear cities, and the Song Dynasty lacked cavalry. Although the border cities had many troops, they did not dare to leave the city to fight a field battle with the Liao Kingdom under such circumstances.
If there was a dangerous pass in the north of the Song Dynasty, it would be able to defend it even if it could not defeat the Liao Dynasty.
Naturally, they would not be afraid of the Liao Kingdom, and would not pay annual tribute.
The emergence of cement made the Liao Kingdom uneasy.
After all, with cement, it is entirely possible to artificially create dangerous passes, and then the Song Dynasty will not have to face the threat of the Liao army at any time.
It's like having a neighbor who is honest but easy to bully, with no wall between the two houses and can be bullied at any time.
In order to avoid being bullied, this neighbor pays protection fees every year.
Suddenly one day, the neighbor wanted to build a wall between the two houses, and the evil neighbor next door naturally wanted to find a way to stop it.
However, the Liao Kingdom was internally unstable, and the Liao emperor did not have the confidence to go to war with the Song Dynasty.
So he wanted to send a small group of cavalry to harass and prevent the Song Dynasty from repairing the city.
Yelu Chongyuan was eager to obtain the secret recipe of perfume and wanted to speed up the transaction. He thought this was a good opportunity and volunteered to take on the job.
The Liao emperor also wanted to take this opportunity to consume Yelu Chongyuan's power, so he agreed to it.
These were Zhao Xing's guesses based on the existing intelligence.
Perhaps there are some other factors involved, but the two points he guessed are likely to be true.
If this is the case, what the ministers are worried about may happen.
After all, the Liao emperor didn't want to see the Song Dynasty as a neighbor that was easy to bully, so he built a wall to give himself the confidence to avoid being bullied.
After the Song Dynasty weakened Yelu Chongyuan's power, the Liao emperor would inevitably take advantage of the situation and force the Song Dynasty to promise not to build the Great Wall on the border.
"Fuer, do you think we should send troops?" asked the official.
Zhao Xing hesitated for a while after hearing this, and said, "Father, I think we can send troops!"
"Why?" asked the official.
“Father, the Emperor of Liao may take advantage of this situation, but before dealing with Yelu Chongyuan, he will at most threaten the Song Dynasty and not build a Great Wall to connect the border cities.
At worst, we can just agree to it when the time comes. However, the benefits of encircling and suppressing the looting Liao cavalry to the Song Dynasty are enormous.
The people in the north have been robbed by Liao cavalry disguised as bandits every year, and the imperial court has not taken any action, and has almost lost the support of the people in the north. "Zhao Xing said seriously.
In his opinion, it would be impossible for the Liao emperor to send troops to attack the Song Dynasty before dealing with Yelu Chongyuan, and even if he deployed troops to threaten the border, it would be unlikely.
If Yelu Chongyuan dealt with the Liao emperor, the Liao Kingdom would inevitably be in chaos for a period of time and would no longer pose any threat.
Zhao Xing just said that the imperial court had lost the support of the people in the north, but there was something else he didn't say.
The Song Dynasty's repeated concessions to the Liao Kingdom also made the soldiers lose confidence in facing the Liao Kingdom.
If we can encircle and wipe out thousands or even tens of thousands of Liao cavalry this time, it will be a great boost to the morale of the people and the army!
(End of this chapter)