Seeing that the ministers were all frightened, Xiao Puxiannu turned her head and looked at Prime Minister Xiao Qian.
Xiao Qian is a native of Xi, and is of the same race as Xiao Pu Xiannu. After the death of Emperor Yelu Chun of Tianxi, Xiao Qian actively supported Xiao Puxian as the empress dowager for reasons of her own clan, took charge of the Liao court and became the actual owner of the country's Jiangshan State. Also because he was from the same clan and had meritorious service, Xiao Qian was promoted to prime minister by Xiao Puxian's daughter. He was given the post of Commander-in-Chief of the Liao Army and Privy Councilor of the Beiyuan. He became a powerful figure second only to Xiao Puxian's daughter, equivalent to the regent. When Xiao Puxian's daughter met When it comes to major events or encountering huge difficulties, Xiao Qian is the first person who comes to mind. Xiao Qian has become the most trusted minister of Xiao Puxian's daughter. Therefore, Xiao Pu Xiannu had already discussed many things with Xiao Qian many times without other ministers knowing about it. Now, Empress Xiao looked at Xiao Qian and said to Xiao Qian: "Prime Minister Xiao, please inform all the ministers about the situation of Guo Yaoshi, the commander of the Changsheng Army, who led the Changsheng Army to rebel against Liao and defect to Song."
Xiao Qian came out of the queue, looked at Xiao Puxian, bowed his head, and replied: "Yes! Queen Mother." Then Xiao Qian told the ministers present in detail how Guo Yaoshi led the victorious army to rebel against Liao and surrender to Song. .
After hearing the whole incident, the ministers present started whispering.
Xiao Qian retreated to his original position.
Xiao Puxian looked around at the ministers, raised her hand and patted the armrest of the dragon chair. All the ministers were silent and no longer whispered.
Xiao Puxian said: "Dear lords, just now, Prime Minister Xiao has informed everyone of the specific situation. This is the current situation. Based on the current situation, in your opinion, what should we do?"
After Xiannu Xiao Pu asked, she looked at the ministers again. All the ministers lowered their eyebrows and lowered their heads, and no minister came forward to answer.
Xiao Puxiannu waited for a while, but no minister came out to answer, so she looked at Yelu Dashi.
Yelu Dashi was the defense envoy of Nanjing of the Liao Kingdom, shouldering the important task of guarding Youzhou. Therefore, Xiao Puxiannu wanted to ask Yelu Dashi first.
Xiannu Xiao Pu looked at Yelu Dashi and asked: "In order to see the defense envoy, can the soldiers and horses of Daliao currently stationed in Youzhou be able to defend Youzhou City?"
When Yelu Dashi saw the question, he took a step forward, bowed to Xiao Puxian's daughter, and reported: "The Queen Mother is here. I think that if the Jin and Song Dynasties unite to attack Youzhou from the north and the south, given the current military strength of Youzhou City, it will be impossible to resist the Jin and Song Dynasties. With the troops of the two countries attacking, Youzhou City may not be able to be saved.”
Xiannu Xiao Pu asked again: "What will happen if Youzhou City falls?"
What will happen? Obviously, that would destroy the country and people! But everyone is aware of this situation, but no one is willing to say it face to face.
In fact, Xiao Pu Xiannu also knew very well that after Youzhou City was captured, the imperial court would naturally cease to exist. The Queen Mother like her or some other ministers would either die or be captured. There was no other way out. ; In the current situation, we have no choice but to wait for the country to be subjugated. What else can we do? !
However, letting Daliao disappear from now on is something Xiao Pu Xiannu cannot accept. At that time, after Xiao Qian and Yelu Dashi reported to her the situation of the Changsheng Army's defection to the Song Dynasty, Xiao Puxiannu had a premonition. She knew that the Liao Dynasty was about to end, and she was unable and unable to resist the attacks of the Jin and Song Dynasties. What awaits Daliao is the destruction of the country; but the wise woman Xiao Pu is still thinking of a way to make her final death struggle. The solution that Xiao Pu Xiannu came up with was to surrender to the Jin and Song Dynasties at the same time in order to protect the current interests of the Liao Dynasty, and then compete with the Jin and Song Dynasties after they calmed down.
This idea of Xiao Puxian's daughter was hidden deep in her heart, and she did not reveal it to Xiao Qian and Yelu Dashi. The reason why Xiao Pu Xiannu did not reveal her idea to Xiao Qian and Yelu Dashi was because she was afraid that Xiao Qian and Yelu Dashi would lose their fighting spirit and cause an uncontrollable situation. Xiao Puxiannu wanted to discuss with Xiao Qian and Yelu Dashi the idea of professing vassalage to the Jin and Song Dynasties at the right time. Therefore, when Xiao Qian and Yelu Dashi reported to her that the Ever Victorious Army had surrendered to the Song Dynasty, Xiao Pu Xiannu did not reveal his thoughts to Xiao Qian and Yelu Dashi.
Now, at the court meeting attended by the ministers, can the topic be gradually led to the simultaneous declaration of ministers by the Jin and Song Dynasties, so as to give the ministers some room for delay and allow them to accept this reality without being divided? Disenchanted?
Of course, Xiao Puxiannu could not say that Daliao gave in and professed its vassalage to both Jin and Song Dynasties at the same time; Xiaopu Xiannu was waiting for the ministers to bring this up, and then she took advantage of the situation, settled the matter, and got it done. .
Although, under the circumstances at that time, this was inevitable and the method with the least loss, and all the ministers also had this intention, but without knowing what Xiao Pu Xiannu meant, no one was willing to take the lead in proposing it, and no one was willing to do so. Be the scapegoat.
Xiao Puxiannu waited for a while, but when no one spoke, she asked Xiao Qiandao: "The prime minister is the master of a dynasty. Given the current situation in the court, what does Prime Minister Xiao think should be done?"
When Xiao Qian asked, he took a step forward, looked at Xiao Pu's virtuous daughter and said, "I would like to report to the Queen Mother that I have some advice, but I don't know if I should give it to you or not?"
Xiao Puxian said: "But it doesn't hurt to talk."
Xiao Qian looked at Xiao Puxian's daughter and bowed his head, and reported: "I'll tell you, the Queen Mother. The current situation is that the Jin and Song Dynasties have formed an alliance and are working together to invade our country. The situation is very critical. Tell the Queen Mother, Jin people are tigers and wolves in nature, and they are cruel. The fierceness has invaded a large area of our country, and its harm to our country is particularly serious. The Song Dynasty attacked our country in order to take back the Yanyun homeland that Shi Jingtang ceded to our country during the Later Jin Dynasty. Compared with the Jin Kingdom, the Song Dynasty was more benevolent in character. The more, the more reliable.”
Xiao Puxian heard the memorial and didn't understand what Xiao Qian meant by what he said, so she asked: "Prime Minister Xiao, what do you mean? From what the prime minister said, I seem to have the intention of befriending the Song Dynasty and resisting the Jurchens?" "
"Queen Mother." Xiao Qian said: "That's not what I meant. I believe that there must be binding conditions for the alliance between Song and Jin. At present, Jin is strong and I am weak. It is absolutely impossible for Song to abandon Jin and help Liao. Given the current situation Generally speaking, the strength of either country in the Jin and Song Dynasties is greater than that of our country. If the Jin and Song Dynasties unite, our country has no hope of victory. I think about the Liao Dynasty, it has been more than hundreds of years since Taizu; if the country and the country are in If it is lost in our hands, we will be ashamed of our ancestors and become the sinners of the Khitan."
Xiao Qian still didn't express what he meant, but Xiao Puxian's intention to exert psychological pressure to make Xiao Puxiannu accept his suggestion was already obvious.
When Xiao Pu Xiannu heard Xiao Qian's words, "If the country and the country are lost in our hands, we will be ashamed of our ancestors and become the sinners of the Khitan."
However, Xiao Puxian's anger was not directed at the Jin Kingdom, which occupied most of the territory of the Liao Kingdom, but towards the Song Dynasty, which did not occupy an inch of Daliao's land but was occupied by Daliao's sixteen states of Yanyun. Xiao Puxiannu believes that since the Treaty of Chanzhou, there has been no war between the Liao and Song Dynasties for more than a hundred years, and the two countries have been friendly to each other. Daliao did not do anything wrong to the Song State. When Daliao was attacked by the Jurchens, the Song State did not act out of common ground. Their own interests helped Daliao to resist the Jurchens, but instead abandoned the Chanzhou Alliance, which had existed for more than a hundred years, and signed an alliance with the Jurchens to jointly attack Daliao. What exactly was this operation? It's so stupid!
Xiao Puxian did not forget the Chanzhou Covenant signed by the Liao and Song Dynasties more than a hundred years ago. She simply forgot that the territory of the Sixteenth State of Yanyun in the Song Dynasty was still occupied by the Liao Kingdom.
Based on the fact that the Liao State occupies the territory of the Sixteenth Prefecture of Yanyun and the fact that it has been defeated by the Jurchen attack, it is quite normal for the Song Dynasty to form an alliance with the Jurchen and jointly conquer the Liao in order to regain the territory of the Sixteenth Prefecture of Yanyun. matter.
Xiao Puxian only considered the problem from her own point of view, so she resented the Song Dynasty.
The resentful Xiao Puxian said to Xiao Qian: "Although I am a female generation, I value the country and the country of Liao more than my life. It can be said that where the country and the country are, the Khitan and the Xi people are also there; Jiangshan Sheji is no longer there, so what else do the Khitans need to do to ridicule them?"
When the other ministers saw this, they all looked at each other.
Xiao Puxiannu looked around at all the ministers and continued: "Yes, the Khitan and the Xi people can't deal with the Jurchens at the moment. Can the Song Kingdom be able to deal with the Jurchens? In the future, there will be no Liao Dynasty between the Jin and Song Dynasties. The Jurchens are directly bordering the Song State. Facing the splendid mountains and rivers of the Song State, wouldn't the Jurchens not peep at it? By then, the Song State will become the Jurchens' enemy, and the Jurchens will still encroach on the territory of the Song State. Is it possible? Does the Song Kingdom not care about these problems?"
When the ministers heard this, they all bowed their heads and remained silent.
"The Queen Mother." Xiao Qian looked up and said, "The Song State is most concerned about the territory of the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun. If not, it will be difficult for the Song State to form an alliance with the Jurchens. The reason why the Song State formed an alliance with the Jurchens is for Take back his territory of Yanyun Sixteen Prefectures."
Xiao Pu Xiannu looked at Xiao Qian and asked: "What does the Prime Minister mean by this? Does the Prime Minister mean to return the territory of Yanyun Sixteen Prefectures to the Song Dynasty?"
Xiao Qian bowed hurriedly and said: "The Empress Dowager is advised. The territory of the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun was ceded to our country during the Later Jin Dynasty. Our country has actually owned the territory of the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun for hundreds of years. Over these hundreds of years , although the Han, Zhou, Song and other countries in the Central Plains have not recognized the legality of our country's possession of the territory of the Sixteenth State of Yanyun, after all, the territory of the Sixteenth State of Yanyun is actually occupied by our country, and it is naturally impossible to return it to the Song State now. . Besides, at present, the only place our country occupies is the territory of the Sixteenth State of Yanyun. Return the territory of the Sixteenth State of Yanyun to the Song Dynasty? Where will we go?"
Xiao Qian's talk about the car confuses Xiao Pu Xiannu. Xiao Pu Xiannu doesn't know what Xiao Qian means by going around in circles. Xiao Puxian didn't have the patience to listen to Xiao Qian's words anymore, so she said to Xiao Qian: "Prime Minister Xiao, now is not like usual, and there is no time to consider whether the words are appropriate. If the prime minister has something to say, you may as well say it directly, don't go around again. Detoured."
Xiao Qian saw that Xiao Pu Xiannu was already anxious and no longer cared about whether what she said was appropriate, so he began to report his proposal to surrender to the Jin and Song Dynasties at the same time.
