When Zhao Zhen wanted to visit Daming Prefecture in person, the news that he led the troops north to fight in person was revealed, the court was like a blow. Although Xu Ping defeated the Khitan in Shengzhou area last year, the two sides did not fight until after all, and it was not a life-and-death battle. The shadow of Taizong's failure in the Northern Expedition that year has always been shrouded in the hearts of the Song Dynasty's government and the people.

Headed by the Censor Jia Changchao, the officials of the censorate submitted intensive letters to oppose the Northern Expedition for several days. Their reasons were mainly that the world had just been peaceful for a few years and needed to be healthy and restored. Although the Dangxiang Rebellion was pacified in three years, it used half of the world's money and food. Until now, the Jinghu and Sichuan areas still had to be transfusions there. Moreover, the imperial guards were training, and it would take several years to complete it all, and it was not the time to restore Yanyun.

Xu Ping and the minister of the Secretariat remained silent, neither came forward to support nor explicitly objected.

Lu Yijian was not old, but his health was not good, so he couldn't support it. In the Secretariat, Lu Yijian returned to the Political Affairs Hall to serve as prime minister, and he had basically no hope. He really wanted to make a last fight and retire gloriously. It was precisely because of Lu Yijian's thoughts that Xu Ping was silent and let Lu Yijian take the Privy Council to play a big game.

The Northern Expedition was restored to Yan Yun, and the time was not yet ripe. Xu Ping knew about this, and Lu Yijian also knew about this, but this did not mean that he could not blackmail the Khitan once. Taking advantage of the victory of the Battle of Shengzhou, Zhao Zhen went north to Daming Prefecture, and the Song Dynasty increased troops on a large scale to the Hebei front line. At the same time, he put military pressure on the Khitan on Fengsheng Road and Hedong Road, forcing the Khitan to engage in a military confrontation.

Even if one cannot stop and a war occurs, as long as it does not really attack the Khitan on a large scale, everything is controllable. As long as the Khitan is forced to gather 600,000 or 700,000 troops at the intersection of spring and summer, even if there is no battle, the Khitan cannot support it.

The officials of the censorate submitted a reckless report on the act of recklessness, but a large number of young middle and lower-level officials expressed their support. Some even suggested that it would be better for the Khitan to make trouble in Xijing without reason than to take the power of victorious states to win the state, and to lead troops north, go straight to Yanyun, and build a martial arts in the world.

Everyone wants to make achievements, but Zhao Zhen knew that it is not the time. If he really wants to fight, he should not be the one who fights in person, but instead he will select a suitable general to lead the army to the northern expedition. His father, Emperor Zhenzong, went north to Chanzhou and personally expedition, and he won a great victory. In fact, he was a puppet. The war command was completed by Kou Zhun and a group of priests. Several times Zhenzong lost confidence and wanted to retreat south, but he was forced back by Guan Zhun and his men. In the battle of Chanzhou, Zhenzong boosted morale and gained a reputation.

As the debate became more and more intense, Zhao Zhen could not calm down and summoned the priests to Chongzheng Hall to discuss.

The matter is serious. In addition to the prime ministers, there are also Hanlin scholar Song Xiang, Liu Han, Zhang Fangping, Censor General Jia Changchao, and the Third Office Envoy Wang Yaochen. Among the important officials, only the Kaifeng Prefecture Ren Bu was not here.

The ceremony was like rituals, and Zhao Zhen ordered the seat to be given.

When everyone sat down, Zhao Zhen said, "The Khitan did not obey the oath and promoted Yunzhou to Xijing Prefecture, which would cause great disaster. The ministers all felt that they could not help but respond, otherwise the enemy would not know how to advance or retreat, and press forward step by step, and it would be difficult to deal with it in the future. Therefore, this dynasty rectified the palaces in Beijing, set up left-behind officials and officials. I was afraid that the Khitan would not know the intention of the dynasty, so I wanted to lead the troops to patrol the Daming Prefecture in Beijing. What do the ministers think?"

Jia Changchao held the scepter and said, "Your Majesty will be in charge of the army when he is in the north. Although he is not the name of a personal expedition, he actually has a personal expedition. How can the Khitan not respond? At that time, the two countries gather in the northern border, and if one is not careful, he will attack the generals, and he may be afraid that the people of Hebei will be plagued by Wuwang's soldiers!"

Zhang Fangping said: "The Party has been destroyed and the world is peaceful. This is the time for the world to recuperate. I hope Your Majesty will remember that God has the virtue of being alive and not use his weapons. A great country has its own demeanor. How can one get angry about small matters and make a bad relationship with a great country?"

All the prime ministers did not speak, and Wang Yaochen also remained silent. The new Hanlin Liu Ying said: "The barbarians fear power but do not have virtue. If the Khitan builds Xijing this time, if this dynasty cannot respond carefully, it may make the Khitan be lucky."

Zhang Fangping said: "The establishment of Xijing was ultimately a matter of the Khitan, and it did not violate the oath. This dynasty can send an envoy and blame him."

Liu Xiong said: "The promotion of Yunzhou to Xijing is clearly aimed at this dynasty. The oath is just a piece of paper, and we will negotiate with the Khitan. If we treat this paper as a law, it will be a big mistake and will eventually bring disaster to the country!"

Song Xiang has been impeached a lot of impeachments recently because his son violated the law and kept silent. Liu Han, Jia Changchao and Zhang Fangping argued endlessly, believing that the Khitan's actions should not be tolerated and the court must respond.

Lu Yijian frowned, and saw that the two sides could not find a conclusion, so he asked Wang Yaochen: "If Your Majesty is going to visit the north, will the three departments still have enough money and food? Nearly 300,000 imperial guards in the capital, and 200,000 people will follow Your Majesty north."

Wang Yaochen said: "When he returned to the Taiwei, he had already accumulated food and grass and could still deal with it. However, the army of 200,000 was launched, and the reward was not enough."

The imperial guards who had never trained the training should continue their previous habits and would pay money as soon as they move. The army went north and the rewards they should pay were quite a lot. This money could not be saved. Without this money, the imperial guards would have to go north with Zhao Zhen.

After listening to Wang Yaochen's words, the ministers looked at Zhao Zhen together.

Zhao Zhen said helplessly: "As the same as before, the money allocated will be paid from the inner treasury, so there is no need to worry about it."

Lu Yijian said: "If there is no shortage of money and food, your Majesty will be fine if you go to the north. It is natural for Your Majesty to go to inspect the Daming Mansion in Beijing, so why worry about what the Khitan thinks? Since the Khitan camp Xijing is an internal matter, the construction of Beijing palaces in this dynasty is even more internal matter. No matter what the Khitans are doing, do we have to think about our own internal matters for them?"

Jia Changchao was silent for a while and said, "If the Khitan had made a northern tour of His Majesty and thought that he was going to start a war, what would he do if the army gathered? "

Lu Yijian said: "The soldiers come and the generals block the water and the soil come and the Khitans point their troops, and they are the ones who are dispatched to Hebei!"

"What if you really fight? It's not a blessing for the world if you fight in a war!" Jia Changchao finally said something that everyone was worried about.

After all, the opposing officials still have no confidence in defeating the Khitan, and the rest are just excuses.

Lu Yijian said in a deep voice: "When the fight comes, then the two armies will fight! The country raises nearly one million soldiers, and is still afraid of the enemy like a tiger. What's the point of becoming! If the Khitan really launches troops to invade, then take advantage of the north to advance and restore Yanyun, what's wrong?"

After saying that, Lu Yijian looked at Xu Ping and said, "Mr. Zhaowen, you are in the northwest. You have destroyed Dangxiang in three years and defeated the Khitan. No one in the world knows more about your army than you. If the Khitan launches troops to invade, how will the court respond? Can you solve your doubts?"

Xu Ping bowed: "Return to the Taiwei, now our dynasty has more troops than Khitan and more skilled than Khitan. I don't think they dare to go south. Of course, it is possible that the barbarians cannot be reasonably estimated, or that the Khitan monarch and ministers are crazy and insist on fighting."

"The Khitan went south and could not walk on Hedong Road. There was a danger of Yanmen there. The imperial court only had thousands of soldiers and horses, so the Khitan could only sigh. Fengsheng Road could not be attacked. They could not be attacked before the New Year, and now they could not be attacked even more. There, the imperial court could capture Fengzhou of Khitan at any time and attack Datong Prefecture on both sides. The Khitan was to invade this dynasty, and only Hebei could walk on the way."

"The eastern section of Hebei Road has many ponds and is connected into one, and the army is difficult to overcome. This is a natural danger and manpower cannot cross it. The Khitan offensive in the south, but in fact, he can only go to Zhending Prefecture, Dingzhou, and the southward offensive of Cizhou and Daming Prefecture."

"If the Khitan Zhendi attacked Zhending Prefecture and Dingzhou with a large army, it would be difficult to resist. Therefore, Your Majesty visited Daming in the north and cleared the fields in the areas of Zhending Prefecture and Dingzhou, collecting grain into the city, just in case. If the Khitan came south, the army and the people would all enter the city to defend. The court transferred the troops and horses from Hebei to confront him on the front line of Zhaozhou."

"The Khitans promote the attacks of the whole country in the south, with only about 300,000 troops at most. The original imperial guards were enough to defend them. At this time, Sang Yi's troops could order them to reorganize the 70,000 to 80,000 people after training, and take Dingzhou to attack the right wing of the Khitan. The Khitan troops were under the city. When Sang Yi's army attacked its flank, it would be difficult to support it. Stick to the front and attack on the side, this is the way to win."

"There is a natural danger of Yanmen on Hedong Road. The local imperial guards stationed in the area were enough to prevent the Khitan from coming south. The Khitan fought to the death and defended the Khitan at Yanmen Pass. Several troops from Fengsheng Road were launched to attack Datong Prefecture. Several states behind the mountain could be owned by our dynasty."

"So, the Gaodaquan branch of Hedong Road has completed training for about 50,000 people, so there is no need to defend Daizhou. You can advance from Daizhou east, take the Pingsha Village, exit Feihu Pass, attack the Lingqiu of Khitan, Feihu, and cut off the return route of the Khitan army."

"If the two armies face each other, they may be lucky. If they attack thousands of miles, they will follow the geography. This dynasty destroyed Dangxiang and won the prefecture, and the geography of the world is like this. The Khitans dared to invade the south, unless it was blessed by the gods and Buddhas in the sky, or they would be suddenly attacked under the city of Zhending Prefecture, and there would be Sang Yi to attack its flanks in the east, and Gao Daquan to cut off its return path in the north. This is the sheep entering the tiger's mouth."

"With the city of Zhending Prefecture, the Khitans destroyed their entire country's troops. The Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun can go down without fighting, and the Khitan's more than a hundred years of foundation will be destroyed. In this way, the Khitans will not dare to take this risk no matter what."

"So, I think that if your Majesty is going to the north, the Khitan will definitely be bluffing and will definitely not dare to go south. If his king and his ministers are crazy, they must come south, which is nothing more than annihilation of him at the city of Zhending Prefecture."

The Song Dynasty destroyed Dangxiang and occupied the Yunzhong area, and had a strategic advantage over the Khitan. Both sides were pointed at the front area in Hebei Road Mountain, and each was good at winning the game, but behind Hedong Road Mountain, the Song army had an absolute advantage.

In the eight passes of Taihang, the Song Dynasty occupied two passes and could support the Hebei battlefield from Hedong Road. This was a great strategic advantage. The Longyou Army brought by Sang Yi and Gao Daquan had field combat capabilities, not less than the Khitan army. With more than 100,000 people who could fight maneuvers, 300,000 to 400,000 Khitans went south, and they came to die in vain. In the past, they could use cavalry maneuvers to roam the vast plains without any obstacles, and hundreds of miles of range were under their control. The Song army could only be passively beaten. With Sang Yi and Gao Daquan, the Khitan had no advantage and could only fight positional wars with the Song army. Position wars were the dead end of the Khitan.
Chapter completed!