Brother Song Taizu

Chapter 152: Agent war, the most important thing is to choose teammates

"Li Yi is Yin of the Difficult Army, ah, isn't it, Li Yi is Xingxing?"

They were originally named Li Yiyin, and they have been called this name for decades, but who asked their father to be called Zhao Hongyin? The character Yin was given away. In fact, Li Yixing was indeed quite respectful to the Song Dynasty. .

Zhao Guangyi still didn't know why, but after getting a clear direction, he did vaguely guess something.

"Li Yixing...will help us fight against Tubo, right? Tubo's strength is actually far greater than that of the Dangxiang people. It's just that they were not united in the past. They were all rich people who closed their doors and lived a life, so no one took them seriously. It’s nothing, but in fact, they are actually the largest force in the northwest.”

Zhao Guangmei also smiled and said: "Tubo, it has fought with the Tang Dynasty for nearly 200 years, and has been entangled with the Shatuo people for nearly a hundred years. How can it be weak? To be honest, the Tang Dynasty will eventually perish, at least Half of the blame lies with Tubo. Although it is now a mess due to civil strife, a skinny camel is still bigger than a horse. If we are truly united, who can not be afraid?"

"Besides, as far as the Tibetan culture, customs, and religious beliefs are concerned, they are actually the real locusts crossing the border, and they are much, much more terrifying than the Khitans."

Of course, due to some well-known reasons, all dynasties in the past dynasties kept secrets about Tibetan affairs. They did not mention it much in history, or even deliberately ignored it, just like this man who was able to compete with the Tang Dynasty and beat the Tang War God Xue Rengui to defeat. After the sinking Tubo finally led to the demise of the Tang Dynasty, it suddenly had no sense of existence.

Almost no one has studied them in future generations, or if they have studied them, they have little influence. After all, you can't say anything that affects unity.

In fact, as far as the Liugu Tubo is concerned, not only do they still have strength, but their unity is enough to make any force in the northwest drink a pot. Secondly, they act very cruelly. After all, if people are too devout in their beliefs, they will In the eyes of many people who have no faith, this is mental illness.

Some things are not suitable to go into too much detail, but it is basically certain that in any area ruled by Tibet, all foreigners are basically slaves.

Their nobles wish they could be slaves.

Moreover, they have no governance ability at all and can only be simple and rough. The treatment of slaves is simple and rough, which is often bloody and cruel.

People of all ethnic groups are afraid of Tubo and are afraid of Khitans. After all, the Khitans still have humanity. Although they are powerful, they at least will not kill people at will. Especially now that the Liao Kingdom is undergoing transformation, they are very good to the foreign races within the territory. Yes, they often engage in marriage alliances. To put it bluntly, what they subvert is only the interests of the ruling class. The common people should do whatever they want. To be honest, the ordinary people of Yanyun Sixteen Prefectures have lived a very poor life in the past 30 years. It is really better than the people in the Central Plains who have been fighting endless wars. There are often people who take the initiative to flee to the Yanyun area to avoid the war.

Although it is not said to live and work in peace and contentment, at least it is a peaceful life. It is said to be under alien rule, but in fact, the people live a much better life than the people in the Qing Dynasty.

And Tubo...

If the Tubo people come over, then they will not live anymore and just wait to be integrated into the ethnic group.

Zhao Guangyi thought thoughtfully and said: "So, if Liangzhou Tubo really has a clear leader and establishes a clear political entity, will it only make other ethnic groups in the northwest, such as the Dangxiang people, wary of it?"

Zhao Guangmei nodded and said: "That's true, but it's more than that. The Dangxiang people are not monolithic, but the most powerful one is undoubtedly the Lingzhou Li family, which is Li Yixing."

"However, all along, although the Dingnan Army was nominally subordinate to our Central Plains dynasties, it was actually like a separate empire and formed its own system. In this process, the Liao Kingdom was really a good mixer."

"The national policy of the Liao State is to continuously support the separatist regime north of the Yellow River to contain our Song Dynasty, or in other words, to contain all the Central Plains dynasties. Now that the Northern Han Dynasty has been destroyed, they will naturally look for new anchors. You say, still Is there anyone more suitable than this army of trouble-shooting troops?"

"If I were Liao Ting, I would definitely support him in annexing the two prefectures of Lin and Fu, occupying Lingzhou and Yinzhou, and then look at the entire Hexi region, and then annex the rebels. By then, we will really have a headache. .”

"However, if this is done at this time, the situation in the northwest will be different immediately. If the Tubo in Liangzhou can unite under the pressure of our Song Dynasty, the party members will feel the crisis to some extent, and friction will naturally arise between them and the Tubo. Moreover, At least in name, they are our Song Dynasty’s trouble-shooting army.”

"Originally, the Difficulty Army would definitely be the best candidate to support the Liao Kingdom, but now that the Song Dynasty is making such a fuss, the Liao Kingdom has begun to support Tubo, and even has to support Tubo. Naturally, it is impossible for them to support Party Xiang Li No matter what they do, the Difficult Army will definitely be pushed hard towards our Song Dynasty."

After hearing this, Zhao Guangyi finally understood and said: "I understand. On the surface, the situation in the northwest is just a provocation between Tibet and the Song Dynasty. But in fact, it is still a continuation of the conflict between Song and Liao. The national policy of the Liao State is like this. Sooner or later, we will be in the northwest. We are going to fall into a quagmire, so instead of passively waiting for the Liao Kingdom to choose, we should change from passive to active and choose ourselves."

"Yes, to put it bluntly, it is a proxy war."

Zhao Guangmei said: "Actually, it was the Liao Kingdom that supported the Dingnan Army to become the next Northern Han Dynasty and disturb the restlessness in the northwest of the Song Dynasty. Then we roped in Tubo to form an alliance. But, Tubo is really too scattered. Their The customs are too... right, why should this opponent and teammate be chosen by Liao Kingdom? Li Yixing, being a teammate is much better than being an opponent."

Zhao Guangmei has always believed that the development process of history is rarely changed by the personal will of a certain ruler, especially small countries. In most cases, they are the pawns of big powers from beginning to end.

Li Yixing in history was indeed relatively loyal to the Song Dynasty, more obedient and sensible, but that was because the Northern Han Dynasty was there in history, and the relationship between Li Yixing and the Northern Han Dynasty was not very harmonious.

Whether it was Li Jiqian's rebellion or Li Yuanhao's founding of Xixia, the Liao Kingdom was essentially the driving force behind it. This kind of thing was inherently a game between great powers. Whether the Dangxiang people were loyal or rebellious was really not something they could decide by themselves.

In the Northern Song Dynasty, really since Zhao Kuangyin, there was no one who could be called a strategist. All strategic rhythms were completely dictated by the Liao Kingdom.

Zhao Guangyi's level was not very good, and his son was even worse. Xiao Chuo and Han Derang were almost pushed to the ground and rubbed against each other repeatedly, one party and the other Tubo. Even a fool knows that he should choose the party.

In history, Zhao Guangyi and Zhao Heng did not realize the inevitability of the proxy war between the Song and Liao in the northwest region. They stupidly waited for the Liao Kingdom to finish their moves before going to confront them.

Can Xiao Chuo spoil you?

The natural result was that the Dingnan Army rebelled repeatedly, and the Song Dynasty could only passively choose to form an alliance with Tubo to fight against Dangxiang.

And because of their semi-alliance with Tubo, they had to ignore the Guiyi Army far away in Dunhuang, and put their passionate blood on their cold buttocks.

Tubo is famous for its popularity!

The Uighurs were still a vassal state of the Liao Kingdom. After more than ten years, I still don’t know what their specific diplomatic strategy is for the Uighurs. I can’t even figure out whether they are enemies or friends.

Obviously the situation in the northwest was very good for the Song Dynasty, but because Zhao Guangyi and Zhao Heng were incompetent, they were disturbed by Xiao Chuo and others, and a Xixia was created.Of course, after Xixia became powerful, it was also an unfamiliar white-eyed wolf, and later broke away from the control of the Liao State, but that is a story for another day. Moreover, the demands of the Liao State and the Song State were originally different, and the northwest region could allow them to separate themselves. , they have achieved their goal. It doesn't matter if the dog is disobedient, as long as it can bite people.

So the current move, to put it bluntly, is to deliberately push Tubo to the Liao Kingdom.

After Tubo passed, the Dingnan Army naturally came over.

The most feared thing about strategy is short-sightedness. This thing is often based on ten years as the basic unit. If people who are only thinking about temporary gains and losses formulate strategies, it will be a disaster for the country.

Zhao Guangmei drank the last crab-stuffed orange, stretched out her hand to signal the palace maid to bring a basin and washed her hands, then stood up and said: "Li Yixing came faster than expected, brother, how about we sing a double act? You are responsible for benevolence. Am I responsible for being tough?”

Zhao Kuangyin thought for a moment, nodded and said: "I am originally a benevolent person. As for being overbearing, business houses belong to trading houses and the court belongs to the court. They must not be confused."

Zhao Guangyi: “…………”

What are they doing?
At this time, Zhao Guangmei patted Zhao Guangyi on the shoulder and said: "Second brother, please be prepared. Within the next ten days, the envoys from the Guiyi Army will arrive. These are the Northwest Lonely Loyalty of our Han people, our Song Dynasty Since they have inherited Tang Zhi, they are naturally the heroes of our Song Dynasty. This is our first contact with them. The reception work must be done well and grandly. You will be responsible for receiving them when the time comes, okay? Big brother?"

Zhao Kuangyin also nodded: "Okay, it's just right."

Zhao Guangyi said confusedly: "But if I receive them, what should I talk to them about?"

"You are responsible for the state reception. You don't need to talk about any practical issues. You should do a good job with the etiquette and be more formal. You can take them to pay homage to the heroic spirits, visit famous mountains and rivers, hold more banquets and so on. If we chat, Just talk about the feelings of family and country, loyalty, filial piety and righteousness, and hire a bunch of civil servants to accompany you, you are the best at this kind of thing."

"........."

"As for serious business, I will talk to them later, but I have to keep a low profile when talking about serious business. I can just meet them by chance when they are having dinner in Fan Lou later."

Zhao Guangyi: “…………”

There is always a feeling that I am being treated as a mascot.

…………

The purpose of Li Yixing's visit this time was "simple", which was to pay tribute and offer about [-] good horses to the Song Dynasty, and then expressed his loyalty. After hearing that Tubo actually dared to provoke the Song Dynasty, he expressed his determination. The Nanjun army was willing to serve as a vanguard, share the worries of the Song Dynasty, and teach the Tibetan barbarians a small lesson.

Zhao Kuangyin affirmed his loyalty, commended and expressed condolences to him, commended him for the post of Taiwei, allowed his son to inherit the post of Jiedushi of the Dingnan Army, and recognized the title of King of Xiping conferred on him by the later Zhou Dynasty. Okay, I'm okay, everyone.

Then when it comes to business, he doesn't even say anything.

Even if he kept emphasizing that Li Yixing was a loyal minister of the Song Dynasty and a model of good generals, and then chatting with him eagerly about his daily life, he was particularly interested in marrying him, especially the legendary His Highness the King of Qin, and he would not be so enthusiastic. .

"Does your Li family have a man named Li Jiqian? I heard that this man is the most heroic and brave man. How about we get married and let him marry into the capital and become the son-in-law of our Zhao family in the future?"

"Um... Your Highness must have heard wrongly. I do have a great-nephew named Li Jiqian, but... he is just one year old and he is still crawling all over the floor."

"Yes, that's right, it's him. This boy will definitely be one of the best in the future. It just so happens that my second brother has a daughter. Let's get married. How about letting him be my son-in-law, Zhao Song, in the future?"

Zhao Guangyi; “…………”

This girl has a ball with me.

Naturally, Li Yixing found it baffling and unreasonable. He had never heard of a baby being given to a one-year-old child. Given the premature death rate in ancient times, it was unknown whether the child would grow up.

'I heard that His Royal Highness the King of Qin in the Song Dynasty was always witty and acted out of tune, just like a crazy person. When I saw him today, it turned out that... no matter how outrageous the rumors were, they were definitely not groundless. '

Then Li Yixing waited and waited in Kaifeng. As a result, for several days in a row, officials from the Ministry of Rites and the Privy Council took turns taking him on sightseeing tours and talking nonsense that was useless. As for letting him He came to serve as a vanguard to conquer Liangzhou, but no one talked to him.

Of course, the Privy Council and the Forbidden Army were very busy, but they were always busy with preparations for the expedition to Shu, which made Li Yixing completely confused.

'Could it be that the thunder was loud but the rain was small, sending envoys in such a high-profile provocation, and even Tibet united because of it, but nothing happened? '

If you really do this, the Song Kingdom will become a huge joke.

Moreover, with the Tubo people being unruly and fierce, once the Song army conquers Shu and Qinzhou is empty, these people will have to break in and rob after being organized. If this is the case, how can the Song Dynasty have any dignity? ?

While he was wondering, another Song official said: "Taiwei, tomorrow, His Highness the King of Qin will visit the development zone with you and talk to you about business cooperation."

"Business matters? Ah... this brother, isn't our Song Dynasty going to fight Tibet? Shouldn't we talk about war?"

"His Highness said that the business of the business is a matter of war. Please come to the appointment on time. As for the specific details of what His Highness wants to talk to you, I naturally don't know. In our Song Dynasty, no one can guess His Highness King Qin. thoughts."

(End of this chapter)