Chapter 963 The strategy of Liao Kingdom (two updates combined into one)

Seeing the Liao envoy Yelvpo and his deputy Xiao Xi leaving, Li Ping, the accompanying deputy envoy, quickly spoke out to persuade him: "Two noble envoys, please calm down and rest for now. We will give you another one tomorrow."

reply."

Li Ping's efforts were left to Yelupo and Xiao Xi's side.

Yelvpo's man also immediately borrowed the donkey down the slope and said, "Since Deputy Li has spoken, let's wait and see what happens tomorrow."

"But there is one thing you must understand. We, the Liao Dynasty, inherited the Sui and Tang Dynasties, and entrusted the Jin and Han Dynasties below. We were founded earlier than the Song Dynasty. Our territory is far greater than that of the Song Dynasty. Our soldiers and horses are stronger than those of the Song Dynasty. It is China's orthodoxy. Who else can we do in the Liao Dynasty?

.”

Speaking of this, Yelvpo was quite conceited.

After saying that, the other party walked away with a wave of his sleeves. Xiao Xi snorted and left, and the envoys from the Liao Kingdom also left. Some even kicked over several tables filled with wine and food.

The Song Dynasty officials looked at each other in confusion.

Zhang Yue, Han Zhen, and Li Ping continued to sit high, while the other civil servants and generals such as the Pacification Department, the Transportation Department, the Military and Horse Supervisors, etc. all remained silent.

Li Ping said to Zhang Yue: "My lord, we, the Song Dynasty, have always managed the border areas with the help of trees that grow in size, so that we can control them and always encounter barbarians."

"The Liao Kingdom is even more different. Since Emperor Zhenzong signed the Chanyuan Alliance, the people of Hebei have not known the military for seventy years. They have no year-end expenses and are not able to spend 12% of the military expenses. Once the war resumes,

, I cannot absolve myself of the blame! His Majesty has no way to explain it!"

Who is this Li Ping?

Li Zunxu's grandson is related to the emperor by marriage, that is, he is a maternal relative.

Moreover, Li Ping was not an ordinary relative.

He is a person that the officials trust very much, and he is a talented person who knows how to write and study books. When Han Jiang sent troops to Luowucheng, many people did not want him, so the officials sent him to see if Han Jiang had any inaccuracies in his report.

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Later, officials asked Li Ping several times about his opinions on the reform. Li Ping was opposed to it, but Wang Anshi found out about it and demoted him from the palace.

After Li Ping was demoted, he was very angry and told the officials that Wang Anshi would protect whomever Your Majesty deposed and promote him. Wang Anshi didn't like anyone, even if His Majesty knew that he had no fault, he would punish him and drive him away.

Far away, like this.

The officials did not want Li Ping to leave, but they were helpless about Wang Anshi's strength.

In the end, Li Ping was demoted, but this incident caused a grudge between the officials and Wang Anshi.

At the same time, because of this incident, when Tang Dynasty impeached Wang Anshi, he also complained about Qu Ming because of Li Ping. After Wang Anshi resigned as prime minister, the officials re-appointed Li Ping and put him and Han Zhen in charge of negotiating with the Khitan.

Therefore, Li Ping's opinions represent the opinions of the officials to a certain extent.

Therefore, Zhang Yue's views on him must be taken into account. The official's intention was not to fight.

Zhang Yue commented to Li: "If we follow what the Khitan said, at least six to seven hundred miles must be cut off. This is to use the land to serve Qin, and still hold firepower to put out the fire. If the firepower is not exhausted, the fire will not be extinguished."

Zhang Yue's implication is that today you are satisfied with the Khitan ceding territory because you are afraid of war, and tomorrow the Khitan will threaten war again. What will you do?

Li commented: "I think this is the last time. What's more, our Song Dynasty is not comparable to the other six countries. As long as the officials level Jiaozhi, it will be time to go north to control the Liao Dynasty."

Zhang Yue said: "Deputy Ambassador Li may have forgotten that between the Song Dynasty and the Khitan, there is another Xia Kingdom. Once it seems that my negotiations with the Khitan are not going well, what will the Xia Kingdom think? What if we take the opportunity to seize the land?"

Xixia, Liao, and Song Dynasty are like three people. If one person is slapped by another person, the other person will not try to help the weak one back, but also wants to take advantage of the other person.

Countries and countries are just like people. Unless there is a distinction between superior and inferior, if you are insulted, you must fight back immediately. Otherwise, it is easy for a third party to treat you as a soft persimmon. In addition to Xixia, the newly surrendered Qingtang and Tibetan tribes will also have different intentions.

You must know that Dong Fei was still the son-in-law of the Liao Kingdom.

The struggle is by no means just a relationship between two people, but a third party watching. Every move you two make in the fight actually gives the third party an evaluation.

At the same time, political strongmen also like to gather domestic unity by acting very strong externally or launching wars to make their dominance more stable.

On the contrary, a monarch who is weak externally must transfer part of his power internally in order to stabilize his rule.

For example, Emperor Taizong launched two wars against the Liao Dynasty twice, but after being defeated, he gave up and changed his policy to govern the country with leniency.

The same goes for Emperors Zhenzong and Renzong. Is their generosity really just a matter of character?

Yelu Hongji, the leader of the Liao Dynasty, wanted to act as a political strongman to balance various domestic forces, so he blackmailed the Song Dynasty.

Zhang Yue told Li Ping another meaning. When the officials used Wang Anshi's reform, the result was to whip the barbarians. As a result, after a long time of reform, they were usurped for six to seven hundred miles, and they couldn't explain it internally.

Li Ping thought to himself that Zhang Yue had expanded thousands of miles of land on Xining Road, so this six to seven hundred miles was enough.

Han Zhen listened for a long time and decided to support Zhang Yue's opinion. After Han Zhen supported Zhang Yue, other officials agreed in unison. On such a major matter, they did not dare to make the first comment easily, as this would easily put them at risk.

Being involved in the whirlpool, I can only agree.

Seeing this, Li Ping had no choice but to say: "Then we will do it according to Zhang Xianggong's wishes."

Li Pingxin made some calculations and ordered someone to fly the news to the officials in Bianjing.

Zhang Yue glanced at the other party, not knowing what he was thinking, so he said: "This time I left the capital, Zhang got a personal judgment from the officials. The prime minister gave him instructions in person. The two governments gave full support to the plan. Everyone has made arrangements for planning and response.

We must follow the orders of the Xuanfu Division!"

All the officials said yes.

Li Ping thought of this and knew what Zhang Yue meant, and immediately calmed down.

Early the next morning, Zhang Yue and others were ready to negotiate with the Liao envoy. As a result, Yelupo actually acted contrary to common sense and said that there would be no negotiation today. Instead, he asked Zhang Yue where he could hunt outside Zhending City.

The Liao envoys will appear today and tomorrow, obviously to seize the initiative in the negotiations.

You people from the Song Dynasty want to talk today, but we won't talk today, and we won't give you a precise time. We will talk about it when we want to.

Zhang Yue just took it easy. Besides, it is well known that Liao people like hunting. The Sleeping King of Liao State was so addicted to hunting that he ignored state affairs.

Zhang Yue also took more than 200 good horsemen and archers from the Song army to hunt with the two Liao envoys.

Unexpectedly, when they arrived, they saw that among the more than 500 people in the Khitan delegation, there were actually two to three hundred people who were good at shooting and shooting. These people could be a powerful force if they were gathered at random.

The officials of the Song Dynasty were a little discouraged when they saw it. The Song army in Hebei included forbidden troops, rural soldiers, archers, etc. Although there were many names and numbers, how could they be integrated to confront the Khitan cavalry in a field battle?

Yelupo was over fifty years old, but he was still agile. However, when he saw an elk being chased out of the dense forest by two Khitan riders, Yelupo shot an arrow at the deer's neck.

Seeing this scene, everyone in the Liao envoys cheered, and even Zhang Yue applauded Yelupo's skill, which showed the magnanimity of the officials of the Song Dynasty.

Yelupo was quite conceited. He threw his bow aside and said to his companions: "What's this? When I was young, I went hunting with the late emperor, and I didn't even know how many big insects I killed. Now that I'm old, I can only shoot some sheep and deer."

"

After saying this, Yelupo glanced sideways at Zhang Yue, implying that I killed tigers when I was young, but now you treat me like a sheep and a deer.

Zhang Yue smiled when he heard this. At this time, a colorful golden pheasant was driven out of the mountain. Zhang Yue, who was standing on the horse with his bow and arrow drawn, also killed it with one arrow!

Zhang Yue threw the bow to Tang Jiu, spread his hands on the horse and said with a smile: "I also shot big insects when I was young, but now I have no choice but to shoot chickens."

After Zhang Yue finished speaking, all the Song Dynasty officials were smiling.

Yelupo didn't expect Zhang Yue's superb shooting skills at first, but when he pushed back with a word, his face suddenly turned red and he immediately drove his horse forward.

Although Zhang Yue did not fall behind, the Khitan envoys from Yelupo, Xiao Xi and below were all very active on horseback.

Although he knew that the Khitans deliberately used hunting to show off their military power, Zhang Yue couldn't help but think about it. Han Zhen, who was standing beside him, rode to Zhang Yue's side and said: "Ms. Zhang, although there have been many Khitan nobles who enjoy feasting and dancing in recent years,

, but his martial spirit has not faded, and he is not an enemy that can be defeated easily."

Han Zhen served as the military commander and understood military affairs. He meant that the Khitan army and horses had not declined much from their peak.

Without Han Zhen's reminder, Zhang Yue knew all about this.

As a propaganda envoy, I can shout loud slogans and talk about a fight to the death, but when it comes to implementation, I have to weigh it repeatedly. Not to mention Zhang Yue, people in his position are as clear as a mirror in their hearts, and there is no emotion.

The problem.

Although the Khitan has experienced civil strife at this time, its national strength has not declined yet. It is unwise for him to start a war now. He is not as strong as the other party, so you have to endure it. If you are not convinced in your heart, you have to hold it back.

Zhang Yue and Yelu Po rode side by side to the depths of the forest, and saw a yellow deer standing in the forest. This creature was so agile that it escaped the pursuit of several riders!

Yelupo was still not convinced by Zhang Yue's shooting skills just now.

So Yelvpo said: "How about one more shot by Xianggong Zhang?"

Zhang Yue smiled and said, "Just shoot it!"

"Let's bet something!"

"What to bet on?"

"How about betting a hundred miles on the country?" Yelupo said rather domineeringly.

Han Zhen said: "How can one gamble on the country? No"

Yelu Po said proudly: "What can't you bet on? I just bet on this country. If you lose, we will give you Song people a hundred miles of land. If you win, you will cut a hundred miles of land for me!"

"It's such a cheap deal, no matter whether you win or lose, you are trading on my Song people's land!" Han Zhen said sarcastically.

Yelu Po said domineeringly: "Dare you dare? If it's not cost-effective, just add my Yelu Po's life! How about it? Are the southerners really cowardly and cowardly?"

Yelupo was quite arrogant and planned to buy and sell by force.

"Okay! It's a deal." Zhang Yue agreed.

As soon as Zhang Yue finished speaking, Yelu Po immediately took action, drawing an arrow from his horse and shooting it, which was a trick.
To be continued...