Zhang Jun said in a more solemn tone: "The official family, the thieves in the Western Xia are still alive."

"Oh, what do you say?"

Zhao Ning more or less knew some of the situations in Xixia.

The people of Xixia made many detailed works within the Song Dynasty, but Zhao Ning also made many detailed works in Xixia.

Sun Fu is an open diplomatic envoy, so he can inquire about some information.

The people who really spy on the news were from the Military Intelligence Department.

But then again, spying on news, especially confidential news from a country has always been a very difficult thing.

For example, the Western Xia and Jin Dynasties set up detailed works in Tokyo, but they were unable to obtain the effective documents after the implementation of the new policy.

The Jin Dynasty and the Xixia could only see strong rebound and confrontation on the surface of the New Deal, thinking that the New Deal would intensify internal conflicts in the Song Dynasty.

But in fact, the people's livelihood on Gyeonggi Road has been unprecedentedly improved this year, and society has seen a stability that has never been since Zhao Ji ascended the throne.

The detailed work of the Military Information Department cannot bring back the real core secrets of the Western Xia and Jin Kingdom, but the key is hidden in many fragmented details.

Zhang Jun continued: "I have arranged a group of merchants to regularly conduct trade in Huizhou to inquire about information. In recent years, the demand for food has increased day by day through the Western Xia, especially in the Hengshan area. Many businessmen from Qinfeng Road privately smuggled food to the Hengshan area."

Zhao Ning asked in confusion: "What can this mean?"

"Hengshan suddenly increased its food demand, either the Xixia people stationed troops here on a large scale, or the mining of iron ore there was increased, requiring more food supply."

Zhao Ning fell into deep thought.

Xixia is a country that is extremely special. If you say that it occupies a very good geographical location, it is indeed biased.

Xixia is located in the northwest, advancing from the Yellow River to the east, bordering from Yumen Pass to the west, connecting from Su Pass to the south, and controlling the desert to the north.

At first glance, it was very awesome and even controlled the Hexi Corridor.

But in fact, there are a large number of desert areas in China, which has great restrictions on commerce and agriculture.

Not only that, the southeast of Xixia is the mortal enemy of the Song Dynasty, the northeast of the Liao Dynasty, and the Great Liao Dynasty has launched several battles to destroy the country against Xixia.

Now the Northeast has been replaced by the Jin Kingdom, and the Jin Kingdom has been constantly putting pressure on the Western Xia.

As for the north of Xixia, there was the territory of the Mongolians, and the northwest was the Uighurs, and the Uighurs' heavy cavalry were also famous.

The heavy cavalry of the Western Xia Dynasty, the Iron Harrier (yao), is said to be adapted from the heavy cavalry of the Uighurs.

In short, the country of Xixia is surrounded by powerful enemies on all sides.

If such a country wants to survive, it must not only have the spirit of Xiaoqiang, but also know how to kneel when it should.

The biggest feature of Xixia is that when the national strength is strong, it will be extremely arrogant to attack you. When the national strength is in a slump, quickly pretend to be dead and surrender.

Originally, the Hengshan land had been taken over by the Song Dynasty at the end of the Northern Song Dynasty, and the Western Xia Dynasty was about to destroy the country.

Emperor Huizong of Song suddenly committed suicide and wanted to join forces with Jin to attack Liao, which led to the later battle between Song and Jin.

At the beginning of the first year of Jingkang, the Western Xia took advantage of the Jin Dynasty's attack on Liao and the Song Dynasty mobilized elite Western troops to advance eastward to support the army. The army went south and regained the inevitable barrier of Hengshan.

Xixia was able to breathe.

And because of the changing international situation, in order to resist the Jin Dynasty, Zhao Ning did not hesitate to put aside his past hatred and make a big deal with Xixia.

The Song and Xia have been in alliance for more than two years, and even the people on Jingji Road have blue and white salt, which shows how much profit Xixia has made in this Song and Xia alliance.

As long as the people of Xixia are strong, they will inevitably raise troops to go south!

Alliance contract?

That thing is different from the Song and Jin armistice contract except for the different shapes of the characters, it is just a tacit understanding between the two sides.

Once the time comes, those contracts are too hard to wipe their butts.

Zhao Ning pondered for a while and said, "If I want to destroy Xixia, how many troops will I need?"

Zhang Jun was stunned for a moment, but he didn't expect that Zhao Guanjia would speak so directly.

“Now for fashion.”

"What I asked is, how many troops are needed?"

Zhang Jun said: "If you want to destroy Xixia, you will first seize Hengshan. You will need 200,000 troops and 300,000 military and civilians to do logistics."

The total population of Xixia Kingdom is about 2.3 million. Although Xixia has few people, Xixia has always been committed to the principle of being a soldier for the whole nation. At its peak, 500,000 new forces can be quickly mobilized.

Moreover, there is Hengshan in the south of the Western Xia Dynasty. Hengshan is high in the north and low in the south, which is easy to defend and difficult to attack. There is Helan Mountain in the east to defend against Liao and Jin Dynasties, and the desert in the north.

With such a terrain, as long as the Western Xia concentrates its troops in one place, the Song, Jin and Liao cannot take it.

Back then, Li Yuanhao concentrated his troops to fight against the Song Dynasty and the Liao Dynasty, and both Song and Liao were defeated and returned.

As for the strategy of seizing Hengshan, it was decided during the Fan Zhongyan era.

Fan Zhongyan said at the time: Yu Qi should train troops and select generals, gradually restore Hengshan to break the arm of the bandit. It will be expected to be pacified in less than a few years.

Hengshan produces grain, salt, iron ore, and has a high terrain.

After hearing Zhang Jun report this number, Zhao Ning is still feeling heavy now.

Xixia is a tough guy. To destroy it, it really requires a lot of troops, food and money. Moreover, if Song Xia breaks apart and really destroys Xia, the Jin Kingdom will definitely interfere.

This is the balanced deterrence of the Three Kingdoms.

The future situation is much more difficult than imagined.

Zhao Ning said: "Do you think it is necessary to destroy Xia?"

Zhang Jun said firmly: "If Your Majesty wants to resist the Jin Dynasty, he will destroy the Western Xia!"

"I set a ten-year plan last year. The goal of the ten-year plan is to destroy Xixia. There are still nine years left. Can it be destroyed?"

Zhang Jun fell silent.

Zhao Ning said: "I have provided enough logistics support, troops, money, and food. I will give as much as you want. Can I destroy it in nine years?"

Zhang Jun stood up and then knelt down: "I am willing to devote myself to my whole life until I die!"

Zhao Ning helped him up. Zhang Jun alone would definitely not be able to complete the task of destroying Xia, and he needed to provide a lot of support.

In the long run, if you want to provide a lot of logistical support, the disadvantages of internal affairs must be solved.

In the short term, if we want to destroy Xia, we still need to truly build a powerful army.

The Western Army was in a strong battle, but there were many factions and they were all in power, which consumed huge internal consumption.

If you want to destroy Xixia within nine years, you must also solve the problems of military and political affairs.

"Xigong has been imprisoned in the prison. Over the past year, I have received memorials from many civil officials and generals of the Western Army. They all want to protect Xigong. What do you think about this?"

Zhang Jun said bluntly: "If the battle between Song and Jin has not stopped, Xi Gong cannot be killed, but now, Song and Jin have officially ceased to fight, and Your Majesty can handle it with all his power."

"If I want to kill not only Xi Gong, but also Liu Guangshi, will everyone in Shaanxi be in chaos?"

"Now is a brief peace period for the three parties."

"I understand what you mean."

Xi Gong and Liu Guangshi both made big mistakes in the third battle between Song and Jin.

However, due to the special nature of the Western Army, killing these two people during the urgent period of war will definitely have an impact on the border army, especially the Western Army.

The Western Army began by killing these two people.
Chapter completed!