In the Privy Council, Du Zhongxiao and Tian Kuang sat in the middle. Fu Bi and Ouyang Xiu were sitting on one side, and Zhao Zi and Zhang Maoshi were sitting on the other side.

After the ceremony, Du Zhongxiao said: "Today, we summoned two people to discuss how to negotiate with the Khitan envoy. Liu Jiyan and Ma Huaide issued a certificate of Khitan as the Hebei Road pacifier. He went to the document several times, but he still has no response. Moreover, it is said that the Khitans are assassinating the people as soldiers. It seems that the Khitans do not intend to admit defeat, but want to recruit soldiers to confront our dynasty."

Ouyang Xiu said: "Ten thousand soldiers came, but in one day, there was no one left. The result of this is the Khitans, but they still refused to admit defeat?"

Du Zhongxiao shook his head: "Don't forget that since the establishment of the Khitan country, it has never been a big defeat to the outside world for 150 years. Especially the Khitan may have insufficient attacks against the Central Plains, and it is more than enough to defend. From experience, the Khitan has an absolute advantage, so how can he admit defeat? In the battle of Tang Longzhen, it happened to kill the king of the country in one battle, and then the two emperors fought for the establishment. The Khitans did not think they were a big defeat."

Fu Bi said: "The Khitan army has been invincible for too long, and they cannot accept failure no matter how they are. Even if they are defeated, they must bow their heads and admit defeat. Do you still remember the battle between Khitan and Dangxiang? After several attacks, the Khitan could not take much advantage, but in the end, Dangxiang accepted his mistakes, and the two countries finally eased. Now, it is not easy to make them bow their heads and admit their mistakes to this dynasty."

Zhao Zi said: "The combat power is ultimately due to fighting on the battlefield. If the Khitan is defeated and lost, they will not bow their heads. However, this dynasty has won consecutive victories in recent years, and in the case of a great victory in Xiongzhou, they cannot bow their heads. How to talk to the Khitan requires two people to consider."

Zhang Maoshi said: "The two officials were ordered by the saint to entertain Khitan envoys. How to talk about it? I would like to ask the Grand Marshals to show you what to do."

Tian Kuang said: "You are the ones who go to see the Khitan envoys. You are the ones who know the most about their temperament and attitudes. Of course, you have to ask your opinions and understand the way they meet, so that you can do things well."

The Song Dynasty and the Khitan each sent envoys to each other, both civil and military. Moreover, in general, the Khitan sent a Khitan military man to cooperate with a Han literati. The difference is that the Song Dynasty was a civil servant who was the official envoy, while the Khitan was a military officer who was the official envoy. When the envoys from both sides met, if there was no important matter, the military general accompanied the general and the civil servant accompanied the civil servant, and they would be happy.

Zhang Maoshi is the son of Zhao Zhen's legitimate brother wet mother. When his mother entered the palace, Emperor Zhenzong handed him over to the eunuch Zhang Jingzong to raise him. He was the adopted son of Zhang Jingzong. Zhenzong and Zhao Zhen were particularly caring for Zhang Maoshi and have always had high officials and generous salaries. There are rumors among the people that Zhang Maoshi was the illegitimate son of Zhenzong outside. In the era when Zhao Zhen was in power, there were many rumors about such illegitimate sons, which were no longer strange.

According to convention, the deputy envoy of the Song Dynasty accompanied the Khitan envoys to eat, drink and have fun, and generally did not participate in national affairs. So in Zhang Maoshi's eyes, if the Privy Council had anything to say, it was just that there was no need to call his Ouyang Xiu to discuss.

Ouyang Xiu said: "The Khitan deputy envoy who came this time was Yao Jingxing, a Hanlin scholar. He was originally a Jinshi and was generous. He was not a person who was very difficult to talk to. He was just making Yelu Yixin, which was extremely difficult to talk to, and he couldn't talk to each other after meeting several times."

Du Zhongxiao nodded: "It seems that the Khitan court has the same view as Yelu Yixin. Let's do this, you should accompany you as normal envoys. If you really can't talk together, then don't talk. When you go to court, let them not involve the battle of Xiongzhou. If you negotiate with the Khitan, you will leave it to Ma Huaide of Xiongzhou. Where did the battle be fought, so let the officials of Hebei Road discuss it."

The pacifiers along the border of the Song Dynasty resolved border conflicts with the Khitan, and the Khitan had a counterpart. The Hebei Road was divided into four military routes, so a pacifier was set up separately to negotiate with the Khitan. Xiongzhou was on the two post roads, and the pacifiers were always the magistrate.

Tian Kuang said: "Harmony is the most important thing. When you meet with the Khitan envoys, don't be aggressive. Some words can be said by them, as long as they do not hurt the prestige of the court, don't try to speak out for a moment."

Ouyang Xiu said: "Taiwei, this time the Khitan was defeated, and all 10,000 troops were wiped out. But he didn't expect that Yelu Yixin kept talking badly when he met, as if they had just won a big victory. If he just accompanied them to relieve their boredom, he would be afraid it would be difficult to do it."

Du Zhongxiao said: "If the Khitans do not let go of the battle in Xiongzhou, then you will have no serious talks with the Khitan envoys. If you don't talk about the serious talks, what disputes will there be? If the Khitan envoys talk about this battle, you will just get around the topic. It seems that this matter cannot be good, so just wait and see what changes will happen."

Ouyang Xiu and Zhang Maoshi bowed together to say that. If the topic does not involve the battle in Xiongzhou, then only food and drink are left, which is much easier.

Du Zhongxiao said again: "Also, it is strictly forbidden for Khitan envoys to go out of Duting Post! As long as you go out, you must be approved by the court. Including the servants brought by the Khitan envoys, Duting Post must send a special person to follow him. They are not allowed to walk around casually and buy forbidden goods. Remember!"

Ouyang Xiu bowed: "What the Grand Marshal ordered is that the subordinates remember it."

After talking again, they confirmed that the two envoys who came with had nothing to talk about, Ouyang Xiu and Zhang Maoshi said goodbye and left.

When the two left, Tian Kuang said to Du Zhongxiao: "Now it seems that the Khitan is not going to bow his head. How should the Xiongzhou matter be handled?"

Du Zhongxiao said: "I have ordered Xiongzhou, and the two losers under my rule will no longer serve in Khitan's taxes. Let's see how the Khitans deal with it. After all, the Khitans lost on the battlefield and could not find it back for a while. I just want us to give them some benefits."

Tian Kuang said: "If you just give me some good things, you'll get over it. You might as well give it a try."

Du Zhongxiao shook his head: "How can there be a reason in the world that you will apologize if you win a war? Dangxiang will do this because a small country has few people. If you win once or twice, it will not prevent the Khitans from attacking next year. When the two countries fight, it will be nothing if the Khitans lose ten times. If Dangxiang loses once, they may be destroyed. How is this the dynasty like this? Even if the Khitans come south after the country is overwhelming, they will only fight another battle."

Fu Bi said: "Since a few years ago, Taiwei Du saved Tang Longzhen, and the court has not lost the outside world for several years. At this time, morale is in full swing. If he bows to the Khitan, it will inevitably affect the morale of the army. This time he has won a great victory, and he must be tough on the Khitan to the end."

Tian Kuang said nothing for a moment. After a while, he shook his head and sighed. Since Du Zhongxiao opened up the Hequ Road, how many wars have the Song Dynasty fought over the years? Many ministers in the court felt that there were too many wars and that they should ease for a few years. However, every war was a great victory in the Song Dynasty, and the morale of the pro-war faction became increasingly strong. If they wanted to ease, they had no support from the court officials. This was the case with Tian Kuang and he didn't want to continue to fight.

When Yuanhao rebelled against the Song Dynasty, Xia Shun was appointed as the commander of Shaanxi Road, and specially appointed Tian Kuang as the judge. Since then, Tian Kuang has been in the northwest and has participated in many years of wars against Dang Xiang. In that war, the Song Dynasty used all its strength but still could not do anything to Dang Xiang. Later, Fan Zhongyan and Han Qi went to the northwest and took many measures, which was just to prevent Dang Xiang from attacking. Tian Kuang was in it and opposed the war from the bottom of his heart. Once he won, he thought about using the victory to check and negotiate with the enemy as soon as possible. It was already very good to have good conditions.

Du Zhongxiao was different. He led his troops to rescue Tang Longzhen and won many victories? He defeated the Khitan, defeated Dangxiang, and kept recapturing the Western Regions without a single defeat. Now he entered the Privy Council, thinking about restoring Yanyun and even greater victory. This time he tried his best in Xiongzhou, but the Khitan was defeated in a mess. This time, he wanted to expand the results of the battle. How could he reduce his identity and reconcile with the Khitan? The Khitan did not pay a huge price and there would be no peace talks at all. As for the struggle for peace and the imperial guards to train, Du Zhongxiao was more willing to train in the war with the Khitan, saving a lot of trouble.
Chapter completed!