Can this boy... really represent Song Ting?
Could it be that this son is... wrong? Didn’t the Lord of Song have no heirs?
The emperor's adopted son? Isn't the emperor's adopted son named Zhao Zongshi?
Could it be another one?
The Liao envoys looked at each other in shock, and for a moment they didn't know how to answer the question.
Could it be that they really broke up and restarted a war that had not happened for decades since the Chanyuan Alliance? And is it still the kind of war that will overwhelm the country as Sozi said?
To be fair, this is not in line with the current interests of his Liao Kingdom.
Exchanging glances with Xiao Xiaoyou, Qiu Hong, a bachelor of the Liao Kingdom, frowned and said: "Xiao... Zhao Zhengyan is young and energetic. I can understand it, but don't be arrogant... You open and close your lips and start a war with one sentence. Do you know how many people will suffer from this?”
Zhao Yang took out the information compiled by the Privy Council from his arms and said slowly: "I don't know the details, but I can get a glimpse of it from the battle between Song and Liao in the 25th year before the Chanyuan Alliance: During the Taizu Dynasty, The Song Dynasty and the Liao Dynasty won all three battles. The first was the Battle of Jiashan, where the general Han Chongyun beheaded three thousand people, and the Song Dynasty won; the second battle of Shiling Pass, the general He Jiyun beheaded a thousand men, and the Song Dynasty won; the third battle of Suicheng , the leader will be Tian Qinzuo, who defeated 3,000 against 60,000 and won without killing a single person, tsk tsk... Until the Taizong Dynasty, there were twenty-seven battles, twenty wins, five defeats, and two draws. The Song army suffered casualties and captured about From 110,000 to 140,000, the Liao army suffered casualties from 120,000 to 150,000 prisoners, which is roughly the same. The details are: the battle of Shiling Pass, the general Guo Jin, beheaded 10,000 people, and Song won; the battle of Gaoliang River... Taizong personally conquered the Song Dynasty, and the Song Dynasty was defeated. However, more than 10,000 people were killed in the Song and Liao Dynasties. In the Battle of Mancheng, the generals Li Jilong, Cui Han, and Liu Tinghan, Song Sheng, beheaded more than 10,000 people and captured 30,000 people. In the Battle of Sanjiaokou, Song Dynasty defeated the Liao Dynasty and defeated thousands of people. ; In the battle of Xinzhou, Song Sheng defeated thousands of Khitans; in the battle of Guannan, Song won and beheaded 10,000 people; in the battle of Yanmen Pass, the main generals were Yang Ye and Pan Mei, Yang Ye killed the Liao general and captured the deputy general, Song Sheng..."
Listening to Zhao Yang slowly reciting the history of the war between Song and Liao, the Liao envoys looked ugly but could not refute. After all, these were the war casualties compiled by the Privy Council of the Song Dynasty. Although the number of casualties was slightly different, the outcome was basically the same. It's unmistakable.
Compared with the ugly-looking Liao envoy, the Song officials raised their heads and held their chests high. In fact, they were not the only ones who were surprised. Zhao Yang, who was reading the summary of the battle report, was even more surprised.
Taizong, who was ridiculed by later generations as the "God of Chariots on the Sorghum River", actually had twenty wins, five defeats, and two draws against Liao in his entire reign?
Although the overall casualties between the two countries are not much different.
Until Zhao Yang read about the Zhenzong Dynasty's war against the Liao Dynasty, there were few defeats and the results were brilliant. The casualty ratio between the Song and Liao Dynasties was actually 1:2 to 1:3, which surprised Zhao Yang.
Is this really a "weak Song Dynasty"?
He took a breath and quietly finished reciting the results of the last few wars of the Zhenzong Dynasty: "In the battle of Shun'an Army, the main commanders will be Ship Pu and Song Sheng; in the battle of Peking Debt, the main commanders will be Tian Min and Song Sheng, and it was almost Capture the Holy Lord of your country; Song won in the Battle of Baozhou; Song won in the Battle of Caochengchuan; Jia Zong and Gao Jixun were the leaders; Song won; the Liao army fled and ravaged each other, killing 10,000 people; Song was defeated in the Battle of Suicheng; Yingzhou In the battle of Tianxiong Army, the general Li Yanwo won a great victory, killing 30,000 Khitans and injuring more than 60,000 people; in the battle of Tianxiong Army, the generals Wang Qinruo and Sun Quanzhao led the Song Dynasty to victory; in the battle of Dixiang Temple, the general Sun Quanzhao led the Song Army; the Deqing Army In the battle of Chanyuan, the generals Li Jilong, Shi Baoji, Qin Han, etc. were defeated by the Song Dynasty, and the commander of the Liao Dynasty, Xiao Taolin, was shot dead. …”
When Zhao Yang finished reading about the last battle of the Zhenzong Dynasty, the Song officials all looked proud. In fact, if Zhao Yang hadn't read out the battle reports summarized by the Privy Council, even they might not have known that it was his Song Dynasty that fought against Song and Liao. Gain the upper hand.
Seeing this, Xiao Guhe, the Liao envoy on Xiao Xiaoyou's right hand, laughed loudly, shook his head and sneered: "I have heard a little about the battle examples you mentioned, just like the battle of Dixiang Temple, it was only a trial with about a thousand people, you How dare the Southern Dynasty call it victory?"
What he said is true. Song Taizong's "twenty wins, five defeats, and two draws against Liao" is indeed true even in Zhao Yang's opinion. Otherwise, it would be impossible to explain why Song and Liao had such dazzling results. The casualties on both sides were almost the same.
The Zhenzong Dynasty was similar.
Zhao Yang did not explain this, and said calmly: "I am not debating with the Liao envoy who has more scenic spots between Song and Liao, but to answer the Liao envoy's previous question... According to my estimation, the Song and Liao wars lasted for two In fifteen years, about 300,000 people were killed on both sides, and the number of casualties is calculated as two to three times, and the total number of casualties is tentatively one million."
Hearing this, Xiao Guhe put away his mocking expression and frowned: "You are so young, you are so loud and your heart is so cruel? You want to make the Liao and Song Dynasties start war again because of your words, and kill and injure millions of people on each other! "
More than a dozen Liao attendants behind him also criticized him, which aroused the same hatred among Song officials.
Seeing this, Zhao Yang lowered his hand and signaled to Wang Yiyong, He Tan, Chen Xu and other Song officials accompanying the negotiations to calm down, and said seriously to the Liao envoy: "Is it because of my words that the two countries will go to war again? It is clearly Your country is going back on its word and being aggressive, which is intolerable!"
"What Zhao Zhengyan said is absolutely true!" Zhang Yaozuo finally took the opportunity to interject, causing Wang Yiyong, He Tan, Chen Xu and other officials of the Song Dynasty who accompanied the negotiations to express their hatred and echo.
Xiao Guhe shouted: "I, the Liao Dynasty, stood up for you in the Southern Dynasty a few years ago. I raised troops to attack Xixia and forced it to reconcile with the Southern Dynasty. For this reason, I lost troops and generals. Therefore, I came to ask for rewards this time. It is reasonable and well-founded. You are young and don't know how powerful you are." , the opening of your mouth is to instigate the two countries to restart war, are you not afraid of being punished by the Song Lord and criticized by the people?"
"I'm really not afraid." Zhao Yang spread his hands and retorted: "As Song Prime Minister said before, your Liao Kingdom sent troops to attack Xixia based on the agreement in the second year of Qingli. The defeat can only be attributed to the incompetence of your generals. What does the Song Dynasty have to do with me? Since I don’t have the ability to force Xixia to submit, why do I need the Song Dynasty to increase the amount of 200,000 silver silk every year? According to me, it is better to go back to the past amount of 300,000 silver silk every year... No, just three Don't give me the hundred thousand silver silk. Let the two countries go to war. It will also test whether the 'Tanglu' on Hebei Road is useful or not."
As soon as these words came out, not to mention all the Liao envoys were dumbfounded, even the Song officials were dumbfounded.
"Zhao Zhengyan..." Pang Jilian winked at Zhao Yang.
Zhao Yang turned to look at Pang Ji and Song Xiang, who was silent, and motioned them to calm down with his eyes. Then he turned back to the Liao envoy and continued to say: "I, the Song Dynasty, spend a lot of money building ponds on Hebei Road every year. It's quite a lot of money...Do you have two hundred thousand silver silk, Mr. Gao?"
He slapped Gao Ruona's arm beside him with his backhand.
Gao Ruona cursed secretly, but had to cooperate and nodded: "It must be more than that."
In fact, the main fortifications of Tangluo Defense on Hebei Road have been completed long ago, and the rest is just tinkering, and Gao Ruona is just talking nonsense.
Seeing this, Zhao Yang put his palms together and smiled and said: "What do you think, your honor? Why not take this opportunity to test the effectiveness of the ponds on Hebei Road for our Song Dynasty? As long as your country can defeat our ponds in the Song Dynasty, kill the famous people The mansion proves that the pond is useless. In the future of the Song Dynasty, we will simply not build the pond. The money for the construction will also be used as annual military expenses. From then on, 700,000 silver silk will be given to your country every year. On the contrary, if the pond is Useful, tsk tsk..."
Although he didn't finish what he said, I believe all the Liao envoys present understood what he meant.
Liao envoy Qiu Hong frowned and said: "Why did Zhao Zhengyan try his best to instigate the Liao and Song Dynasties to go to war? Could it be that Zhao Zhengyan has any resentment against me, Daliao?"
"No, no." Zhao Yang shook his head and said: "Song and Liao are brotherly countries. I recognize this, and I personally have no resentment towards the Liao Kingdom. It's just that since the Chanyuan Alliance, there have been no more conflicts between the Song and Liao countries. There has been no war. In the past fifty years, our Song Dynasty... As your envoy said before, although there are one million forbidden troops, there are only two hundred thousand who can be used. The ancients said that although the motherland is big, it must be warlike. Although the world is at peace, it will be in danger if it forgets to fight. ... But let me say, being warlike may not necessarily lead to destruction, but forgetting to fight will definitely lead to destruction. Today, we have the Song Dynasty, which is on the verge of forgetting to fight. It is difficult for military officers to go to temples, and many civil servants do not know how to fight. …”
"Ahem, Zhao Zhengyan." Song Xiang finally couldn't sit still and interrupted with a cough.
Pang Ji, Gao Ruona and all Song officials present seemed restless.
Zhao Yang glanced at the officials, then chuckled and said to the Liao envoys: "I made all the Liao envoys laugh... In short, I think our Song Dynasty has been at ease for a long time, as if a ferocious beast has fallen into a deep sleep. If this continues, the country will not be able to survive." . Therefore, there is an urgent need for a war to awaken the martial spirit of the Song Dynasty and the country. Even if it costs millions of casualties, it is worth it in my opinion. ... This matter is not directed at the Liao Kingdom, so please do not misunderstand me."
"..."
Xiao Xiaoyou, Xiao Guhe, and Qiu Hong looked at each other, not knowing what to say.
You must know that on their way to the Song Dynasty, they also made predictions about the reaction of the Song Dynasty, but they never predicted that someone would actually tell them that the Song Dynasty was currently in need of a war. It did not matter who to fight, the important thing was to awaken the Song Dynasty. country……
For such a bizarre thing, the boy said it very sincerely, and it was not unreasonable for them to hear it - in fact, they also felt that the Song Dynasty enjoyed too much comfort and was cowardly and could be bullied.
The negotiations reached a deadlock again, and no one from the Liao envoys spoke, because they felt that the boy named Zhao Yang seemed to really want Song to engage in a war, and it could still be a war that could awaken its people and arouse the martial arts culture in the country. At this time, one after another, it is a war between the two countries.
Zhao Yang's unreasonable remarks caused all the Liao envoys to suddenly become silent, and also made the Song officials who were also shocked gradually calm down. Including Song Xiang, Pang Ji and others, the Song officials were originally frightened by Zhao. Yang's provocative remarks, but the sudden silence of the Liao envoys made them realize that the Liao State at this time may not be willing to go to war with the Song State.
Is this an unexpected gain?
Pang Ji looked at Song Xiang dumbfounded.
Song Xiang also felt a little bit amused. He coughed and said to Xiao Xiaoyou: "Your Majesty, Xiao, how about we discuss it after a short break?"
"Okay, okay." Xiao Xiaoyou looked at Zhao Yang in astonishment and nodded repeatedly.
So both parties left the negotiation room one after another and went back to their respective lounges.
After returning to the rest room, Censor He Tan breathed a sigh of relief and said to Zhao Yang with a wry smile: "Zhao Zhengyan's remarks almost scared me out of my soul."
"Which sentence?" Zhao Yang joked: "Did I say that most civil servants don't know how to fight?"
If anyone else had said this, everyone present would have scolded him, but no one dared to say anything when Zhao Yang said this. Supervisory censor Chen Xu, who had a good relationship with Zhao Yang, said: "Zhao Zhengyan, please stop joking."
"Okay, okay." Pang Ji smiled and smoothed things over: "Although what Zhao Zhengyao said was shocking, the effect was good, wasn't it? The Liao envoys fell silent."
"That's true." Everyone nodded.
At this time, Song Xiang frowned and asked Zhao Yang, "Zhao Zhengyan really wants to cancel the annual coins since the Tanyuan Alliance?"
Zhao Yang shook his head and said: "Sooner or later it will have to be cancelled, but not now. I still stick to my previous idea, Xia first and Liao later."
Song Xiang, Pang Ji and others were suddenly enlightened. They cupped their hands and chuckled, "Then let Zhao Zhengyan be the 'evil man'..."
Zhao Yang smiled and returned the favor.
A moment later, officials from Song and Liao returned to the negotiation room.
It can be seen that the Liao envoys also had some internal discussions. As soon as they sat down, Xiao Guhe preemptively asked Song Xiang: "Privy Minister Song, your country really wants to tear up the Chanyuan Alliance and ruin the decades of peace between the two countries. once?!"
Seeing this guy questioning himself instead of questioning Zhao Yang, a trace of contempt flashed in Song Xiang's eyes, and he said calmly: "This is Zhao Zhengyan's personal opinion, and the officials and I don't agree with it. Even if it is as he said, I am missing a big song in the Song Dynasty." Your country should not be chosen for war..."
When all the Liao envoys were relieved, Zhao Yang chuckled and said: "What Song Prime Minister said, I did not say that I must choose the Liao Kingdom, I can only say that it coincides with it."
The Liao envoys were not fools. After listening to Song Xiang and Zhao Yang singing, they roughly guessed what was going on. But even so, they did not dare to be as aggressive as before. After all, they were really not sure whether Song would go to war with Liao. , after all, Zhao Yang's previous view that "if you forget to fight, you will perish" is so convincing that it is difficult to refute.
After a brief silence, Liao Hanlin Qiu Hong probed: "It's hard for me to refute what Zhao Zhengyan said just now, but did Zhao Zhengyan pick the wrong person? Zhao Zhengyan also admitted personally that your country's millions of forbidden troops are embarrassing There are only 200,000 warriors. How can we defeat the hundreds of thousands of Liao cavalry and hundreds of thousands of soldiers? Although Zhao Zhengyan is worried about the future of the Song Dynasty, if the war is started lightly, once the Song army loses, Zhao Zhengyan will definitely be the leader of the Song Dynasty. Court sinner, and by that time, even if my master cares about the Liao and Song Dynasties, I am afraid that I will not be able to stop the tribe under my command from wanting to defeat the Song Dynasty..."
Zhao Yang cupped his hands and said: "Thank you Qiu Neihan for the warning. But since I made this suggestion, how could we, the Song Dynasty, not be prepared? What I say is unfounded, and what I see is proof. In the past two days, your distinguished envoys invited us to inspect your country. The heroic appearance of five hundred knights, it just so happens that the Song Dynasty has also prepared a soldier drill, I wonder if all the Liao envoys would like to go and observe it?"
Are you trying to retaliate against us?
Xiao Xiaoyou, Xiao Guhe, and Qiu Hong looked at each other, and then Xiao Gu and Lang smiled and said: "Since you are invited, why not go? I also want to meet the elites of your country."
"Then it will be scheduled for this afternoon, how about?"
"Okay." Xiao Xiaoyou nodded.
