In mid-September, the Song Dynasty Sheng Zhenwu County was the Zhenwu Army and no longer under Yunneizhou. Tan Hu and Zeng Gongliang led the Qing Pass army down the Yellow River and moved to the Zhenwu Army. Subsequently, Zhang Kang and Liu Huan's Ningshu Army, Liu Jianji and Zhang Sheng's Qingshuo Yue concentrated in the Zhenjun one after another. The situation was already very obvious. The Song army wanted to take advantage of the mountain to occupy Dezhou, isolate Fengzhou, and at the same time cut off the road between the Datong Prefecture in Xijing and the northern grassland. Once the Song army achieved its goal, it would form a three-sided surround Yunzhou and Shuozhou.

Yelu Zongzhen, who had been stationed in Nanjing for a short time, received news and did not dare to stay for a moment and returned to Shengzhou. Fengshengzhou is located in the area in front of the mountain and behind the mountain, and can support the two places at any time. It is also a place where farming and nomadic junctions can advance or retreat, making it convenient to recruit troops from the grassland nomadic tribes.

When Liu Liufu received the news, he urgently asked to see the Emperor of the Song Dynasty. He was rejected and had to meet Prime Minister Xu Ping.

In the official hall, Xu Ping and Liu Liufu finished their ceremony and sat down.

Liu Liufu bowed: "My husband, I still remember that I had a few days ago that your country wanted to be harmonious. But now the two countries cannot reach a price agreement, and there may be conflicts for a while, and even a fight will begin. At that time, my husband said that he wanted to go in front of the mountain this winter. In the next few days, he heard rumors that your country promoted Zhenwu County to the Zhenwu Army and mobilized troops there. Wouldn't he have the intention to go behind the mountain?"

Xu Ping looked at Fu Bi who was accompanying him and smiled and said, "You have less than 100,000 troops in the several states behind the mountain, which is tantamount to letting go of empty cities. A scholar wouldn't hear that God would not take it, but instead suffer the blame? There is no agreement between the north and the south, so if there is no empty space, the people of the world should not ask, can the court raise soldiers? Is this dynasty interested in using troops behind the mountain? A scholar does not need to ask me, as long as you know the arrangement of your country's troops, you will naturally understand. The army moves according to the situation, which is of course!"

Liu Liufu was speechless for a moment and then said after a while: "Why did my husband say that he was interested in the mountain a few days ago? Is he trying to deceive me?"

Xu Ping smiled and shook his head repeatedly: "Bachelor, the last time I was at the Dilianggong Temple, I said, "I am not a false article, how could I mess with you?" If you ask me, I will naturally tell you, but I told you, you may not understand. A great country is adjacent to it, and it is necessary to work together to ensure the border is safe and sound. I have deployed more than 300,000 troops on Fengsheng Road and Hedong Road. How much does it cost? These are all people's wealth! You have less than 100,000 soldiers behind the mountain. Is it true that the dynasty's more than 300,000 troops are as if nothing is there? How many troops and horses are deployed on the border? You must have the corresponding defensive forces to see the Northern Dynasty's sincerity in defending the border peace! Where is your sincerity in the tens of thousands of troops behind the mountain? Where does Wucheng come from? If you have sincerity, you will not have any trouble behind the mountain this winter. This dynasty wants to promote peace by fighting, so that you can use troops in front of the mountain. Is this the truth of the scholar?"

Liu Liufu shook his head blankly and nodded again. He really couldn't figure out what Xu Ping was. Why did the Song Dynasty deploy a large army and the Khitan had to deploy corresponding defenses, otherwise it would be natural to fight. The only way to do the two countries' interactions is to fight?

After a while of silence, Liu Liufu said: "I really don't agree with my husband's words. If one country has deployed heavy troops, the other country must use heavy troops to defend, otherwise there will be only one way to fight. If my husband thinks so, then no country in the surrounding countries of the Song Dynasty can fight against you except this dynasty. Wouldn't it be necessary to fight all over the surrounding areas? But there are so many small countries in the world, and we have not heard of the great Song Dynasty's conquests."

"Although there are many small countries, no country can use power to ask for money and land when quelling the rebellion in this dynasty! Bachelor, do you remember when I led my troops to pacify the rebellion in the northwest, how should you change your oath?"

Why did the two countries have a quarrel until the current situation? Did the Khitans not know much about it? They took advantage of the Song Dynasty to fight Dangxiang and wanted to increase annual quotas and Guannan in Hebei Road. How could they reach this point today? It wasn’t that they did it nonsense. After the Song Dynasty destroyed Dangxiang, they didn’t know how to cancel annual quotas. The disaster was caused by themselves. Now, peace is what happened?

When Liu Liufu mentioned the old story, he had nothing to say. At that time, the Khitan felt sorry for not taking advantage of the Song army to use troops in the northwest and to get some benefits from it. He sent envoys to the south excitedly, one to increase the annual quota, and the other to take the land of Guannan that year by Zhou Shizong. As a result, even the Emperor of the Song Dynasty did not see it, Dangxiang was destroyed and several states in the northwest were lost.

Now, let alone increasing the annual monies, the Song Dynasty would not give a penny, and the promise of Chanzhou that year was completely abolished. Don’t want to come back from the Guannan area. The Song Dynasty was not satisfied with the number of states, and it would gradually erode the north.

Liu Liufu bowed: "It was really unrighteous to this dynasty that day, but it was not intended to put down the detriment of the Southern Dynasties, but because the dynasty and Dangxiang had the right to be nephew and uncle, he really wanted to persuade the two countries to be harmonious-"

Xu Ping waved his hand: "Bachelor, don't say that. Dangxiang is the old land of this dynasty. Yuanhao usurped the enemy. Where did the two countries come from? The north and the south are brotherly countries, and where did Dangxiang's nephews come from? Isn't it a beast to interfere in the state affairs of the Southern Dynasties? Isn't it a beast to ask for more coins to cede land? The Northern Dynasties are breach of trust and unrighteousness. Today's situation is caused by you, so you will naturally have to take responsibility! A real man stands in the world and sits upright and can talk about righteousness! What the Khitan has done in the past two years is not qualified!"

Liu Liufu opened his mouth and finally couldn't say anything. Dangxiang's place was indeed the place of the Song Dynasty. After Zhao Jiqian rebelled against the Song Dynasty, the Khitan had the purpose of restraining the Song Dynasty and sheltering and supporting him. When you couldn't beat you, you were all right. Now that you have beaten you, you have to vomit twice as much as you eat before.

With the reform of the military system, the military expenditure of the Song Dynasty had decreased, and the finances increased, and the proportion of military expenditure in the entire finance decreased even more. In the past, 700,000 yuan of annual fiscal revenue was used for military expenditure, but now it was less than 30%. Although raising 800,000 imperial guards was still a huge burden for the Song Dynasty, it was easier and more comfortable than before. If you don’t spend more money every year, the officials of the Song Dynasty were still uncomfortable. Especially the old ministers of Lu Yijian’s generation, who worked hard to support the army when they were in power, and now they feel lost if they don’t spend the remaining money on military affairs.

In the past, the Song Dynasty had to make peace and even preferred to pay annual monies because the financial pressure was too great, and paying annual monies was much more cost-effective than military confrontation. Now military confrontation is just a matter of doing things for the Song Dynasty. Who would recognize the old debts after looking up the old ones?

If there was no internal reform and the military reform, it would be unsuitable for military tension to continue, Xu Ping would not want to negotiate peace. This year, another battle against the Khitan and complete the military system reform, the Song Dynasty would need time to recuperate internally and integrate from top to bottom. As long as the mobile corps of more than 400,000 on the front line and force the Khitan to make corresponding arrangements, the Khitan economy would be able to be destroyed in ten or eight years. At that time, the people in Yan land did not need to ask about the hearts of the people, and they would definitely be eager to return to Song, and there would be no need for peace agreements.

Seeing Liu Liufu's face awkward expression, Xu Ping's tone eased: "You have violated the vows in Chanzhou first, so don't forget this. Then make a vow. The Northern Dynasty wants us to see what you are willing to do sincerely in order to maintain peace between the north and the south. Whether it is war or reconciliation, it is an opportunity to show the sincerity of both sides. Bachelors, right?"

Liu Liufu said: "Although what my husband said makes sense, fighting will always cause trouble. If you can avoid it, it is a blessing for the people."

"Yes, I think so too. The whole dynasty thinks so. But you must be sincere and not be indifferent to our hundreds of thousands of troops. If you can't see the sincerity of your army, how can the court explain to the people what the cost of raising the army has done."
Chapter completed!