Chengming Hall.
After the ministers of the two governments took their seats one after another, the court meeting officially began.
"My lords, the Liao army is moving southward with inexplicable movements. They may have the intention of breaking the alliance. The Liao Dynasty ignores the alliance and should be attacked!"
As soon as the court meeting began, Li Jie took the lead in setting the tone.
If the Liao State really dared to invade its borders, the Song Dynasty would never ask for peace.
Want to fight!
Then fight!
As soon as these words came out, even if the faces of the civil servants present did not show anything, they all felt pain in their hearts.
Come and try it quickly. 】
The iron cavalry of the Liao Kingdom intimidated all parties. If they really wanted to fight, the country and the dynasty might not be able to defeat them.
"Officials, I believe that the current trend of the Liao Kingdom is unclear, and our government should not act rashly to avoid unnecessary misunderstandings."
At this moment, Deputy Privy Envoy Zhang Shixun stood up.
From the ninth year of Dazhong Xiangfu (1016), he was the king friend of Shouchun County until the first year of Qianxing (1022), Zhang Shixun had been an official in the East Palace.
In addition, in August of the second year of Tianxi (1018), after Le Huangmu, the chief official of the East Palace, was demoted, he became the chief official of the East Palace.
Therefore, among the ministers of the two governments present here, Zhang Shixun has the best and closest relationship with the official family.
Not only Zhang Shixun thought so, but others also thought so.
But the current official family is no longer the 'young emperor' that Zhang Shixun was familiar with.
For Li Jie, Zhang Shixun's talent, learning and virtue are indeed outstanding, but if we look closely at his political ability, Zhang Shixun falls short.
Moreover, Zhang Shixun's political style also tends to be stable.
This is completely inconsistent with the current situation.
Being too stable is not a good thing.
When Zhang Shixun finished speaking, Li Jie did not respond directly, but glanced at Ding Wei indifferently.
Ding Wei, who received the prompt, immediately stood up.
"Vice-Shu Zhang, according to what you said, is it possible that we just wait and wait until the Liao army invades the border?"
"The military situation is like a fire. With such a passive response, how should the guards in the border areas respond?"
Although Ding Wei is now an independent prime minister, Zhang Shixun is not afraid of him. When he saw that Ding Wei was opposing him, he immediately choked.
"According to Prime Minister Ding's wishes, our country and the Liao Kingdom must be at war with each other, but I would like to ask Prime Minister Ding, the war in the northwest has not subsided yet, does our country still have the strength to open another battlefield?"
"If the Liao army goes south and repeats the old story of Jingde, can the story of Chanyuan be repeated again with the existing military strength?"
"At that time, will Prime Minister Ding be able to take on this responsibility?"
Facing a series of questions, Ding Wei was silent for a while. He was not speechless after being refuted, but felt strange.
Why is Zhang Shixun so radical today?
Fortunately, Ding Wei did not wonder for too long. Soon, his doubts were solved by Cao Li.
During this gap, Privy Councilor Cao Lili suddenly spoke.
"What Vice-Shu Zhang said is true. In the northwest war, the DPRK and China dispatched a total of 50,000 forbidden troops for reinforcements. Now, the number of forbidden troops defending the capital is only over 100,000."
"With the existing military strength, there is really no spare capacity to reinforce the Hebei border."
'That's it. '
Hearing Cao Lili's words, Ding Wei suddenly understood.
Zhang Shixun has the support of Cao Liang. No wonder his performance today is different.
"According to Privy Cao's wishes, our court has no troops available now?"
Seeing that Cao Lili also stood up, Ren Zhongzheng no longer held back.
"Who is responsible for this?"
This sentence seems to be a question, but it is actually an affirmative sentence.
Who else could be responsible?
Of course it is the responsibility of the Privy Council!
The Privy Council is in charge of military affairs, and the deployment and garrison of the Forbidden Army is all the responsibility of the Privy Council. There is currently no force to reinforce Hebei Road.
Obviously, the Privy Council was not prepared in advance!
Obviously, this is the Privy Councilor's dereliction of duty!
Hearing this, a cold light flashed in Cao Li's eyes. Ren Zhongzheng was just a dog under Ding Wei, but he dared to fight with him in court!
I really don’t know what to say!
At the same time, Cao Lili also secretly wondered why the Queen Mother hadn't expressed her position yet?
Based on his understanding of the Queen Mother, Liu E would definitely not side with the main war faction. The Queen Mother should side with him.
At this time, Cao Lili had no idea that Liu E's mentality had changed.
Although Liu E was still worried about the war in the north, seeing Li Jie's confident look, she was no longer as worried as before.
If I had to describe it, it would probably be that I have found the backbone.
Although the official family is still very small, trust is such a strange thing. Once you trust someone, it is difficult to be overthrown in a short time.
Unless the person being trusted made a big mistake.
"I believe that our government should make two-pronged preparations. On the one hand, it will dispatch troops and generals to strengthen the border defense. On the other hand, it will send people to the Liao Kingdom to question what the Liao army's intention is when it goes south."
Lu Yijian's speech sounded like a quarrel, but he used the word "question", which was enough to express his attitude.
He is inclined to fight.
Of course, the premise is that the Liao Kingdom really wants to go to war.
After Lu Yijian expressed his stance, the vote count immediately changed from 2 to 2 to 3 to 2, and the main war faction temporarily had the upper hand.
Now, the only one left who did not speak was Zu Shiheng, the envoy of the Third Division of Quan.
Who is Zu Shiheng?
Ding said it!
In this case, do you still need to listen to his speech?
They must be on Ding Wei's side.
The vote was 4 to 2, and the main war faction had the absolute upper hand. Even if Liu E sided with Cao Lili, it would not be able to affect the final result.
Seeing that the main fighting faction was about to win a complete victory, Liu E suddenly asked.
"Ancestral Envoy, if the war is about to start, can the Third Division supply food and grass along the Hebei border in time?"
Upon hearing this, Zu Shiheng glanced at Ding Wei subconsciously, and then answered immediately.
"Although the wealth of the three divisions is insufficient, the local government has surplus wealth. If it is transferred from the local government in time, it will be enough to supply an army of 200,000 people."
"good."
Liu E nodded slightly when he heard this. The country implemented the rule of three, and its original purpose was to support the capital in times of emergency.
She had had similar thoughts before.
At this point, Liu E no longer has any doubts in her mind. Money can be used, and people can also be used. It should be no problem just to defend the city.
To take a step back, even if something goes wrong, the court can urgently order Cao Wei to lead the army to support the war in the north.
Immediately afterwards, Liu E also expressed his attitude to the ministers.
"I think Lu Shenzheng's opinions are quite good."
The vote was 5 to 2, Li Jie said directly.
"Since the eldest empress likes Lu Shenzheng's opinion, let's deal with it according to Lu Shenzheng's suggestion."
"The official sage!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the main fighting faction headed by Ding Wei immediately shouted.
"The Queen Mother is sage!"
Seeing other people shouting "Sheng Ming", Cao Li had no choice but to follow suit with a dark face.
Today, the most frustrated person is Cao Lili.
He really didn't want to fight this battle.
During the Jingde period, although the Liao Kingdom finally retreated, and the Liao and Song Dynasties also signed an alliance, only those who experienced it personally knew how dangerous that battle was.
He didn't want to do it again.
