?…

After confirming that Ma Kuo had no intention of surrendering, Li Yan knew that his relationship with Ma Kuo had not yet arrived, so he asked Ma Kuo and several other people who were unwilling to stay in the clouds to return in a carriage full of their heads.

After Ma Kuo and others drove the carriage back to Xiongzhou, they learned that Tong Guan and Cai You were no longer in Xiongzhou, but in Hejian Prefecture.

It turned out that Cai You really didn't dare to stay on the front line of Xiongzhou, so he saved Tong Guan and retreated to the relatively safe Hejian Mansion.

Tong Guan agreed to consider that even if he went north for the second time, he would need to reorganize the army.

Ma Kuo and others drove the carriage to Hejian Mansion again.

After seeing these hundreds of heads, Cai You was frightened and said, "Why is Li Yan so angry?"

Tong Guan said: "No matter how strong Li Yan is, he will not be able to make a fuss at you, Mr. Cai. Are you not a friend to him?"

Cai You said: "So what? Will Cai You use private to abolish public?"

Tong Guan and Cai You have actually gotten along well recently.

In addition, Tong Guan’s current situation is very bad, so he might be able to use the favored Cai You.

So, Tong Guan smiled and said, "Mr. Cai doesn't need to be like this. A certain family naturally knows that you will not use private corruption. A certain family just envys your friendship with Li Yan. Speaking of which, Mr. Cai, you are really good at dealing with people. Li Yan is so difficult to get along with, and you have to sell you three points of thinness."

Cai You was a little satisfied and said, "The interaction between people is more important than one..."

Cai You suddenly realized that Tong Guan said this might be a trap, so he immediately changed his words: "Actually, I am not that familiar with Li Yan either."

Seeing that Cai You was so alert, Tong Guan was a little disappointed, so he stopped talking to Cai You, but looked at Ma Kuo and said, "Tell me what you saw during this trip."

Ma Kuo did not speak, but handed the memorial he wrote on the road "On the Not to Entrust Li Yan to Pass" to Tong Guan and Ma Kuo hoped that Tong Guan could hand over the memorial to Zhao Ji.

The first sentence of the memorial: Li Yan will rebel!

The second sentence is: Li Yan has called the official family and Taizu by the name of the official family and Taizu, which is a clear idea!

The third sentence is: The Liangshan Army is united and cannot compete with each other, so Li Yan must not be allowed to enter the pass!

Ma Kuo then said in the memorial that the key to preventing Li Yan from entering the pass was that the Song army of the Song Dynasty should go north quickly and seize Yanjing before Li Yan, and then stockpile heavy troops in Juyongguan, Zijingguan, Daomaguan and other dangerous places, trapping Li Yan in Yundi and not allowing him to leave. Yundi only has less than one million soldiers and civilians. Even if Li Yan has the talent to overcome the world, it is difficult to achieve success in the small Yundi. In this way, the border can be stable and the Song Dynasty can be safeguarded, otherwise, there will be endless troubles.

In addition, Ma Kuo asked the court to remove him from his position as an envoy and asked him to lead 10,000 infantry and cavalry to be the vanguard army to pacify Yanjing. He would quickly take down Yanjing to prevent Li Yan from "seeing the troubles."

After seeing it, Tong Guan shook his body and said, "Liangshan Army is so strong?"

Ma Kuo said in a deep voice: "The Liangshan Army is definitely the most powerful army in the world. I think the reason why the Liao Kingdom, Xixia and Mongolian coalition forces were defeated by the Liangshan Army was not because they were weak, but because the Liangshan Army was strong, so our Song Dynasty should send troops as soon as possible."

Tong Guan was silent for a while and said, "The official has called Liu Yanqing back to Beijing. I believe that it won't take long before our Song Dynasty will raise troops north again."

...

In mid-August, Zhao Ji issued an edict to appoint Liu Yanqing, the governor of the Three Cities of the Procuratorate, Heyang, as the commander-in-chief of the Northern Expedition Army, Liu Guangshi, the commander-in-chief of the Infantry Army, and He Guan, the commander-in-chief of the Infantry Army, sent 200,000 troops to recapture Yanjing.

The court decided to raise troops to fight the Northern Expedition again, which made the court more furious, some supported and some opposed. Everyone talked and talked a lot.

In fact, since Zhao Liangsi offered advice, the debate between senior officials of the Song State on recapturing Yan Yun has never been interrupted.

Tong Guan, Cai Jing, Wang Fu and others were supporters, Deng Xunwu, Zheng Juzhong, Li Bangyan and others were oppositions, while Zhao Ji was completely based on his mood. It can be said that he thought about it and it happened one by one. As a result, the Song State always repeated the revenge of the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun.

Cai Jing's attitude towards regaining Yan Yun suddenly changed and he became very unpositive.

Zhao Ji became firmer for various reasons.

So, Zhao Ji thought Cai Jing was old, so he changed to Wang Fu, who knew him better, to be the prime minister.

Now, the ministers have started a fierce debate on the right and wrong of sending troops north.

In order to unify thoughts and avoid disturbing the morale of the army and the people, under Wang Fu's repeated requests, Zhao Ji issued a stern edict: Those who discuss this matter will be punished without mercy!

Most of the ministers were shocked and kept silent.

However, the loose political environment of the Song Dynasty still made some bold people jump out to oppose it.

Like Chaosan Lang Song Zhao.

He gave Zhao Ji a fierce memorial to oppose the Northern Expedition.

In his memorial, he said:

Since Your Majesty ascended the throne, the art of controlling the Rong was actually the best strategy. The Liao envoys came to give him a banquet and rewarded him, and the grace was over. Therefore, they were jealous of virtue and feared power, admired the righteousness of the wind and bowed to the vassal states, and the vassals of the ancestors stopped, and the people of Guizhou and Li sang and sang.

After three generations, I have been impressed and sincere in my heart. Nothing is like today, which is a great event for peace and a world of peace.

The people of Wang Fu and Tong Guanli led the crazy student Li Liangsi and Dong Pang'er to provoke border affairs, causing trouble. They sent ministers to raise heavy troops and long-term troops on the frontier. The granaries and treasury were empty, and countless officials and militias died.

If money can still be regained, how can the dead be resurrected?

Wang Fu, Tong Guan deceived the king and the superiors, and harmed the people. His crimes are unforgivable. I am willing to cut off these few heads to thank the world. Not only can I comfort the people of Yan, but I can help them know your majesty and be suspicious, and keep the alliance well. It can also punish other treacherous ministers and thieves who are proactive in border affairs.

Li Liangsi and Dong Pang'er were both traitors in the Northern Court, and they were resentful and hopeful, so they joined the border ministers and wrote false words, hoping to fake the Chinese power to restore personal grudges. In fact, the traitors of the two dynasties, how could they be loyal and righteous?

Now the Jurchens are brave and good at fighting, sweeping across the northern country. Li Yan's thieves seized the entire Yundi territory and defeated the Liao Kingdom, Western Xia and Mongolia's ten-year cavalry. If they are adjacent to the two, what skills will they use to defend them?

To destroy a weak country and become a neighbor of two powerful countries, it is probably not a blessing for China, but only for the Jurchens and Li Yan's benefit.

I have also heard that the alliance between the two countries will bring disaster to the nine tribes. Your Majesty is filial to the world, and will he forget to be the spirit of the saint in heaven?

Your Majesty defeated the world with kindness, and did he tolerate the people of Hebei in the midst of a disaster and make his heart trampled on the ground?

After reading Song Zhao's memorial, Zhao Ji was so angry that he slapped the table: "Song Zhao, a crazy man, actually said something rude. I just issued an order and could not argue. He dared to go against the wind. He was so bold!"

Wang Fu was even more hated at Song Zhao, and he suggested to Zhao Ji: "Behead Song Zhao, kill one to warn a hundred, kill a chicken to show the monkey, see who dares to be so arrogant and disrespectful!"

Zhao Ji was angry, but his mind was still calm. He said, "It's better not to kill him. A scholar would be useless to kill him. He would remove him from the list and let the local officials strictly control him."

Soon, Song Zhao was dismissed from public office and escorted to Haizhou.

It should be said that Zhao Ji appointed 55-year-old Liu Yanqing as the commander-in-chief of the Northern Expedition Army.

First, Liu Yanqing was born into a family of generals and had many years of practical experience. He fought against Tubo and Xixia several times in the northwest. Due to his military achievements, he was promoted to the position of General Manager of the Fuyan Road and Deputy Commander of the Ma Army.

Second, Liu Yanqing had a very successful cooperation with Tong Guan, that is, to eliminate Tian Hu, Wang Qing, and Fang La, which was the commander-in-chief under Liu Yanqing.

but

This is just Zhao Ji's unilateral idea.

In fact, Liu Yanqing was very complicated about being appointed as the commander of the capital this time.

On the one hand, he felt that this was an opportunity if he could win the battle north this time, then his prestige in the army would surpass that of Zhong Shidao and become the number one coach of the Song Dynasty.

On the other hand, he felt that this was a test. As a general who had been on the battlefield for a long time, he knew that the advantage of the Liao army lies in the cavalry. The Song army did not have powerful cavalry, and it would be difficult to win by relying solely on the flesh and blood of infantry to fight against the golden swords and iron horses. He felt that dealing with the Liao army was not as simple as dealing with Tian Hu, Wang Qing, and Fang La. Therefore, he warned himself that this time he sent troops north, he had to be careful and careful. Especially after he saw the troops that Zhao Ji had matched him.

Some people may be puzzled. What kind of military force Zhao Ji has equipped Liu Yanqing with, which makes Liu Yanqing so worried?

It turned out that Zhao Ji felt that the troops heading north were not strong enough, so he asked Gao Qiu to withdraw 50,000 troops from the Central Imperial Army to Liu Yanqing.

But all the troops in the imperial guards who could manage were taken by Gao Qiu to attack Shuibo Liangshan, so who could give Liu Yanqing?

So, Gao Qiu shied the matter to his deputy, Liang Fangping, deputy commander of the Palace Front Office, on the grounds that he was fighting on the front line at this time.

After Liang Fangping received this hot potato, he passed it directly to He Guan.

He Guan spent a lot of effort to screen out 20,000 soldiers who could barely fight from the imperial guards, and temporarily recruited 20,000 new soldiers among the vagrants in the capital. Then, from Gao Qiu to the east, he made joint efforts, either to buy and trade, or to rely on favors, and to act as officers. Gao Qiu won the wise and did not avoid relatives. Not only did he stuff his two nephews into them as officers, but he also let his son Huahua Tai Sui Gao Shide serve as the supervisor of this army.

Liu Yanqing really didn't dare to think about how such an army fought?

In fact, none of this army had thought about war. They went there to make a strong reputation for the Song Dynasty and to make some military achievements so that they could make a good job in the future. The Western Army and other troops would go to war.

Zhao Ji didn't know what the army he had matched to Liu Yanqing was. Zhao Ji only knew that he had matched Liu Yanqing with another 50,000 troops. In addition, Zhao Ji waved his hand and transferred all the Hebei troops to the north. After a quick calculation, he matched Liu Yanqing with an army of 200,000.

In addition, there are tens of thousands of troops that are already on the border, as well as the rural brave troops of Zhao Xu, Zhang Guanyu and other rebels.

This time, the Song army had a total of 400,000 or 500,000 people.

From the number of troops whom Liu Yanqing was matched, it is not difficult to see that Zhao Ji had great hope for Liu Yanqing, and it is not difficult to see that Zhao Ji was determined to win against Yanjing.

On that day, Zhao Ji met Liu Yanqing in Yanfu Palace.

Zhao Ji said: "When Fang La was pacified, Liu Qing made great contributions as the commander-in-chief. This Northern Expedition regained Yanjing, I have carefully considered it and decided to appoint Liu Qing as the commander-in-chief again. I hope Liu Qing will continue to work hard and make new contributions."

Zhao Ji gave Liu Yanqing a flag, a golden spear, an imperial robe, and a colorful belt.

At the same time, Zhao Ji also gave Liu Yanqing the "Seven Treasures".

These "seven treasures" are: gold, silver, glass, pear, clam, beads and amber.

Liu Yanqing knelt down and thanked him for his gratitude, saying excitedly: "I bathe in the emperor's grace, and remember His Majesty's teachings sincerely. I will go through fire and water, crush you to pieces, and scatter your blood, and swear to put the banner of the Song Dynasty on the top of Yanjing City!"

If Zhao Ji did not want to go to war with the Liao Kingdom when he first sent troops in April this year, he hoped to win without a fight.

Then, Zhao Ji's idea of ​​sending troops this time was very different from last time. Zhao Ji hoped that the army would take real action this time and use real weapons to recover Yanjing with real swords and guns.

Therefore, Zhao Ji did not interfere with the guiding ideology of the operation and the specific military deployment. He hoped that Tong Guan and Liu Yanqing could act accordingly and complete the strategic concept of regaining Yanjing, which they had planned for many years in the Song Dynasty.

...

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Chapter completed!