Chapter 295 I Almost Made a Mistake
The Liang family wanted to control the power of Western Xia, and Zhao Xing needed Western Xia to be in chaos.
If the Liang family wants to control the power of Western Xia, they must not only kill the current Western Xia emperor, but also clean up the nobles of the Dangxiang tribe within Western Xia.
In this way, both parties have a basis for cooperation.
Even if the Liang family knew that the Song Dynasty had ill intentions, they would not refuse.
However, Liang Yimai is a junior after all, and he may not know his father's plan, so he needs to test it out first.
In the evening, Zhao Xing held a banquet in the East Palace and invited Liang Yimai to attend.
Liang Yimei was about sixteen or seventeen years old, and had a rather youthful and frivolous air. When he saw Zhao Xing, he bowed bluntly without much respect in his eyes.
Zhao Xing didn't care and asked him to sit down.
After the food and wine were served and the music started, a group of dancers filed in and began dancing in the hall.
Liang Yimei did not enjoy the dance, but kept staring in the direction of Zhao Xing.
Zhao Xing didn't react at first, but he did later.
This guy is looking at the big double and small double behind him.
No wonder I always thought his eyes were weird.
Zhao Xing was so furious that he wanted to have Liang Yimai dragged out and chopped to pieces.
How dare you think about his woman?
Zhao Xing is actually a very possessive person.
And his identity after traveling through time can also support his possessiveness.
Even though he had no feelings for Da Shuang and Xiao Shuang, he still felt unhappy when others were thinking about his woman.
"Minister Liang, come and have a drink with me." Zhao Xing raised his glass.
Liang Yimai reluctantly withdrew his gaze and raised his glass, saying, "I toast to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince of Song!"
As he spoke, his eyes couldn't help but drift to Dashuang and Xiaoshuang who were beside Zhao Xing.
The Liang family did not have a very high status in Western Xia before, so there was no way he could get his hands on beauties like Dashuang and Xiaoshuang.
Although his status is no longer the same as before, and there is no beauty of this appearance around him.
Not to mention that they are twins.
Zhao Xing was furious when he saw this. He drank the wine in his cup with a cold face and said, "I wonder why Emperor Xia sent Minister Liang to the Song Dynasty?"
"Now that Liao is in civil strife, my emperor wants to form an alliance with the Song Dynasty and jointly send troops to destroy Liao!" Liang Yimai said.
"Huh?" Zhao Xing was stunned when he heard that.
He had thought of countless possibilities, but this was the only one he hadn't thought of.
Although the situation between Song, Liao and Western Xia is somewhat similar to that of the Three Kingdoms period.
But there are still big differences in essence.
Although there was a gap in strength between Shu and Wu during the Three Kingdoms period, the gap was not large.
Even so, the Shu and Wu states could only unite when the Wei army was approaching.
They usually say they are united, but in fact they stab each other in the back quite a bit.
However, no matter how Shu and Wu fought secretly, they had no intention of joining forces with Wei to destroy each other, because the two countries were in a relationship of mutual dependence.
Although the Song Dynasty and the Western Xia could not be said to be in a situation of mutual dependence, a joint attack on the Liao Dynasty was definitely not what the Western Xia wanted to see.
Although the Song Dynasty lost the previous Song-Xia War, in terms of war potential, Western Xia could not compare with the Song Dynasty.
If the Liao Kingdom were really to be destroyed, the Song Dynasty would gain greater strength. Although Western Xia would also benefit, it would not be as good as the Song Dynasty.
After all, Western Xia had only a few million people, and if everyone was a soldier, they would have an army of hundreds of thousands.
After destroying the Liao Dynasty, how much territory could Western Xia take over?
It's not like you can digest the territory immediately after occupying it.
Joining forces to destroy Liao is simply helping the Song Dynasty. Could Western Xia be so stupid?
"There is an alliance between the Song Dynasty and the Liao Kingdom. If we join forces with the Xia Kingdom to send troops, wouldn't that be a betrayal?" Zhao Xing shook his head.
"Why do you have to deceive yourself, Your Highness?" Liang Yimei said sarcastically, "In the past, the Song Dynasty could still deceive itself and describe the tribute to the Liao Kingdom as a gift, but now it has been changed to a tribute."
"Minister Liang!" Zhao Xing said coldly, "Don't think you can speak recklessly just because you are on a diplomatic mission on behalf of Emperor Xia. Based on what you just said, even if I kill you, Emperor Xia won't say anything!"
That’s right, the Tanyuan Alliance was indeed a self-deception.
It was clearly a tribute, but in order to save face, they said it was a gift.
However, after the Song Dynasty was defeated in the Song-Xia War, the Liao army approached the border and not only forced the Song Dynasty to increase the annual tribute, but also changed it from gifts to tribute.
To give is to present something as a gift, but to accept is to pay tribute.
One word difference makes a world of difference.
But given the situation at the time, the Song Dynasty had no choice but to agree.
To be honest, Zhao Xing was also very dissatisfied with this.
But it was his grandfather who signed the Treaty of Tanyuan, and it was his father who agreed to change the gift into tribute.
A son does not speak of his father's faults, and he is not allowed to say anything either, let alone allow others to say anything.
“This…”
Liang Yimai wanted to say that this was the truth, but facing Zhao Xing's gaze, he finally didn't say it.
He could see from Zhao Xing's eyes that if he really dared to say it out loud, he would really kill him.
Although he felt that Zhao Xing was bluffing, he still didn't dare to gamble.
Liang Yi stood up and bowed, saying, "I am not good at drinking. I have drunk too much and talked nonsense. I beg Your Highness to forgive me!"
"In that case, then Minister Liang should go back and rest."
Zhao Xing gave Liang Yimai a cold look, then stood up and left the hall.
The banquet was just beginning and ended just now.
"boom!"
Zhao Xing returned to the back hall, furious, and kicked over the table.
"Your Highness, calm down!" Sanshui bowed and said. "Huh..."
Zhao Xing took a deep breath, calmed down a little, and said, "Let someone clean it up."
After saying that, he entered the bedroom.
…………
In the steaming bathtub, Zhao Xing leaned against the wooden tub with his eyes closed.
Da Shuang and Xiao Shuang wore their underwear and washed Zhao Xing.
Zhao Xing has now calmed down and sensed something is wrong.
Even if Liang Yimei was really a playboy, he couldn't be so stupid as to irritate him so much.
Liang Yimei didn't seem to want him to agree to join forces to destroy Liao.
Or maybe it was his father Liang Guangchuan who didn't want him to agree.
So, the one who wanted to unite and destroy Liao was the Western Xia Emperor?
The more Zhao Xing thought about it, the more he felt that this possibility was very high. He almost misjudged Liang Yi because he looked at Da Shuang and Xiao Shuang with lustful eyes and thought he was a playboy.
However, he had no room to make use of this matter.
He couldn't possibly reveal this matter to the Western Xia Emperor on purpose.
After all, it is more in line with the interests of the Song Dynasty for the Liang family to seize power.
Not only can he not do this, he also has to cooperate with the Liang family.
Thinking of this, Zhao Xing felt very unhappy.
Although Liang Yimai's behavior was pretended, he was really thinking about Da Shuang and Xiao Shuang.
I am a man too, and I can't fake that lustful and possessive look.
"Damn it, when we destroy Xixia in the future, we must capture Liang Yi's sister alive!"
Queen Liang was able to first marry the eldest son of a powerful official in Western Xia, and then have an affair with the young emperor of Western Xia. It is impossible for her to not be pretty.
Liang Yimai dared to think about his woman, so Zhao Xing wanted to take revenge on his sister.
As for the woman buried by Liang Yi, Zhao Xing looked down on her.
Thinking of this, Zhao Xing grabbed the hand that was washing him.
As for whether it was a big double or a small double, Zhao Xing couldn't tell, and was too lazy to tell.
"Come in and take a bath with me."
"Yes."
Da Shuang and Xiao Shuang responded and got into the bathtub.
After a while, the sound of water splashing was heard in the house.
…………
The next day, Zhao Xing formally summoned Liang Yimai, who proposed to ally with Song to destroy Liao.
There was no need for Zhao Xing to refuse, as many civil and military ministers in the court stood up to oppose it.
Zhao Xing stopped the ministers, looked at Liang Yimai and said calmly: "You have also seen that the Song Dynasty cannot agree to Emperor Xia's proposal. When you go back, tell Emperor Xia that the Song Dynasty has an alliance with Liao and Xia. The Song Dynasty has always been a peace-loving country and will not take the initiative to provoke a war, let alone betray its alliance!"
"May I ask Your Highness the Crown Prince, since the Song Dynasty has no intention of sending troops, why is it sending reinforcements to the north?" Liang Yimai said.
Li Liangzuo wanted to ally with the Song Dynasty to destroy the Liao Dynasty in order to regain the territory that was seized by the Liao Dynasty more than ten years ago.
Although Li Liangzuo was determined at the beginning, he began to waver after Liang Guangchuan's repeated persuasion.
However, the Song Dynasty sent additional troops to the north, causing Li Liangzuo to mistakenly believe that the Song Dynasty wanted to take advantage of the situation.
However, the Song Dynasty increased its troops by 100,000, and together with the original garrison on the border, there were only more than 200,000 troops.
Apart from the troops left behind, only a few hundred thousand could actually be mobilized.
This amount of troops could not put too much pressure on the Liao Kingdom.
Therefore, Li Liangzuo once again thought of joining forces with the Song Dynasty to destroy the Liao Dynasty.
However, unlike before, this time he wanted to use the alliance to reassure the Song Dynasty so that it could send more troops.
At this time, the Liao Dynasty was in civil strife. If the Song Dynasty could put great pressure on the Liao Dynasty, the Liao Dynasty would most likely withdraw some of its troops to defend against the Western Xia.
At that time, Western Xia would be able to launch a surprise attack and take back the territory that was lost that year.
Amid internal and external troubles in Liao, as long as he withdrew his troops after regaining the territory, Liao would not provoke him.
But Liang Guangchuan didn't think so.
Li Liangzuo's idea is good, but no one can guarantee whether it can develop as he expected.
And even if they succeeded, how could they stop after the civil unrest in Liao was quelled?
In Liang Guangchuan's opinion, among the Three Kingdoms, Western Xia is the weakest and should expand its strength as much as possible first.
If Xixia could swallow up the plateau, the Western Regions and the Hehuang area, then it would have the confidence to truly confront Liao and Song.
Now that Liao was in civil strife and Western Xia had just formed an alliance with the Song Dynasty, it was a good time for Western Xia to expand.
The lands occupied by the Liao Dynasty were mostly grasslands with vast areas and sparse population. Even if they were taken back, it would not greatly increase the strength of Western Xia.
However, Li Liangzuo refused to listen and was determined to regain the territory he had lost.
After Liang Guangchuan’s persuasion failed, he could only try to send his people.
However, the people he could truly trust did not hold high enough positions now, so after much deliberation he decided to let his son come.
Liang Yimei received guidance from Liang Guangchuan before leaving, and he really wanted to anger Zhao Xing last night.
The current reaction of the Song Dynasty is very consistent with Liang Guangchuan's ideas.
But it would be difficult to explain this to Li Liangzuo when I return home.
After all, if the Song Dynasty had no intention of sending troops, why would it send more troops to the north?
Liang Yimai asked this at this time because he wanted a reasonable explanation.
"Why? Do we need to report to the Xia Kingdom when our Song Dynasty mobilizes troops?" Zhao Xing said indifferently.
"Your Highness the Crown Prince has misunderstood. It is just that sending troops is a win-win for both countries. The Song Dynasty..."
"That's enough!" Zhao Xing said calmly, "I've said that the Song Dynasty has no intention of sending troops. As for the increase in troops, it is because they are worried that there will be bandits in the Liao Dynasty who will come to the Song Dynasty to rob and plunder due to the internal turmoil in the Liao Dynasty."
(End of this chapter)