Brother Song Taizu

Chapter 271 The thieves have arrived
What Zhao Guangmei has always done in terms of political reform has always been one thing: let the Song Dynasty centralize power without being dictatorial.

Dictatorship is the most terrifying political system in the world because in most cases, the interests of the dictator may be different from the interests of the ruling class.

If the interests of the ruling class and the interests of the country are no longer the same, the politics of this country will have to be strangled to death.

The reason why he did not become the emperor but concentrated on running a trading company was the same. The trading company was the ruling class he prepared for the Song Dynasty. The descendants of the old Zhao family could just crush the ruling class to death. There was no need to be the ruler. This The greatest use of the ruling class is to check and balance the rulers from becoming a dictator.

For example, Yelvxian and Yelvwuzhi, as rulers, their interests have actually deviated from those of the ruling class.

For their own sake, they did not hesitate to tie the entire Liao Kingdom and even the entire Khitan nation together to fight against the Song Kingdom.

Although if you do this, there is a high probability that what will greet the Liao Kingdom is not only the subjugation of the country, but also the annihilation of the Khitan.

But since I can no longer be emperor, what does it have to do with me if the Khitan is immortal?
As a subject of the emperor, isn't it reasonable for me to be buried with him?
You must know that the Song-Liao border has been withdrawing troops from each other since the Song Dynasty was first established. It has been the same in history. This is a tacit political understanding between the two countries. On the long Song-Liao border, the soldiers of both sides are equal. No more than ten thousand soldiers.

With the increase in trade volume between Song and Liao in recent years, people-to-people exchanges have become more and more frequent, and the confrontation at the border has actually become looser year by year.

In fact, there are no more soldiers now, and the few soldiers we have are not for fighting, but for collecting tariffs and the like.

Recently, news of building trains came, and a large number of people were transferred to the railway bureau for preparations and other work. From top to bottom, all ordinary people and businessmen were immersed in the huge benefits of railway construction. Everyone knows that railways use steel Iron consumption is measured in tens of millions of tons. Hebei and Hedong are places where coal and iron are produced. It is impossible to transport such a large amount from Kaifeng to here, not to mention that Kaifeng does not have the production capacity.

Therefore, major cities are now hurriedly building steel plants, mining coal mines, and expanding production capacity. They are all very busy.

Guo Jin and Li Hanchao, who were responsible for guarding the two important towns of Hedong and Guannan in the Song Dynasty, were no exception. They were also Jiedu envoys, and they were almost the only two people in the inner region of the Song Dynasty who still had absolute real power. There is no difference between the Jiedu envoys and the border envoys.

Zhao Kuangyin had high hopes for them.

But with the relationship between Song and Liao now like this, how much energy can these two people devote to organizing their troops?Besides, if the army does not fight for a long time, it is impossible not to become corrupt. Although the two armies cannot be said to have loose military discipline, it can at least be said to be lax in their armaments.

Guo Jin was more interested in digging coal than training troops, and Li Hanchao was more interested in steelmaking than preparing for war.

He is also a Jiedushi envoy. After others retire, they can enter a trading company, and they can clearly arrange for their own soldiers. They will have no worries about food and clothing for the rest of their lives. They will make a fortune with their brothers. I will join the board of directors and enjoy endless wealth for my children and grandchildren. Prosperity and wealth seem to be far away from the court, but in fact they have the power to decide the national reserve.

That is the real ruling class.

How could the two of them not be envious?

They also want to retire and join the board of directors.

Speaking of which, they and Shi Shouxin were all of the same age and were old brothers. Seeing how much fun the old brothers had now, they were envious.

Military power?

Who really thinks that the board of directors of a commercial bank has no military power? !

Of course, they are not saying that they have neglected their duties, but based on the current relationship between Song and Liao, everyone sends a lot of spies to each other. Normally, if there is any big move in Liao, they will definitely be able to do it in advance. Yes, similarly, if they make any moves, the Liao Kingdom will definitely know.

Guo Jin even knew the color of the bellyband of his newly married concubine, Brother Yeluxiu. That was the female spy he had trained.

Naturally, border defense becomes more and more neglected.

As a result, as soon as the armament was slack, others took it away.

The Liao Kingdom sent out the elite of the Pishi Army this time. They were recruited from nearby Linhuang Mansion. They rode down lightly and divided their troops to advance. The whole process did not even pass the Privy Council. Officials within the Liao Court were all confused.

In this case, even if the intelligence personnel in the Liao Kingdom noticed that there was a problem, they had no time to transmit it, because almost no intelligence in the world could be transmitted faster than the light cavalry's sudden advance.

Who would have thought that the Liao Dynasty would send the Royal Guards, equivalent to the Gongsheng Army and the Japanese Army in the front division of the Great Song Dynasty, to the border as vanguards to harass?

So even though the Liao Kingdom was galloping thousands of miles, it still easily penetrated the almost ineffective defense line of the Song Army and flooded into the Song Dynasty. By the time Guo Jin and Li Hanchao reacted, at least 10 Khitan elite cavalry had penetrated deeply into Hebei and Hebei Provinces. In the two places east of Hedong, at least [-] people were massacred.

Both of them were immediately stunned.

With a bang, Guo Jin, who had always had a bad temper, kicked down the table in the commander's tent and couldn't help but curse: "Who can tell me where the enemy is? Where is it? Where should I go to find those Khitan Hudogs for a fight to the death? "

This question is simply in vain. The land west of Hexi consists of three large basins with mountains and mountains. Now that the cavalry has entered, they will not be able to find them as long as they don't stop.

"Commander, the Liao dogs are crazy. If they are here just to hunt grass and valleys this time, then it's okay to say that we can always defeat them. They will definitely run away before we mobilize heavy troops. Although brothers have been fighting this kind of battle for many years, We won’t fight, but that doesn’t mean we won’t fight. It’s just a mere provocation, so we can just fight back. It’s scary...”

"What are you afraid of?"

"I'm afraid that they are not harvesting grass in the valley, but I'm afraid that after the elites of the Pishi Army come out, they have no intention of going back alive. Of course, there are 1 elites of the Pishi Army who entered Hedong, and I also believe that these 1 are People can't all be death squads, but even if there is only a small half of them, there are three thousand..."

He didn't say anything else because he found that Guo Jin's face was as purple as an eggplant.

To put it bluntly, if these Khitan soldiers want to go back alive, then this battle still has to be fought. If these people are death squads, then there is nothing he can do now, and the consequences are simply impossible to undo.

If they want to survive, after they enter Hexi and plunder, they can go to Hebei through Xingdao and go from Li Hanchao. The border there is so long that Li Hanchao's small number of troops cannot block them all, and they will definitely be able to return alive.

However, Hebei itself has been a war zone for many years and is close to the Central Plains. The court's support will arrive at any time. The key is that although the people of Hebei are not all soldiers, they are brave and well-organized, so the problem will not be too big.

But if they don't want to live anymore and go to the Guanzhong Plain after burning, killing and looting in Hexi, they will be in too much trouble.

There has been no war there for a long time, and several passes have long been abandoned. Even if there are garrisons, there are only a few hundred people at most. It is even unknown whether the entire pass in total can still produce [-] troops.

Those soldiers in Guanzhong who could fight either followed Zhao Dezhao and others to Bashu, or followed the Guiyi Army to the west to fight against the Gaochang Uighurs.

Moreover, the so-called heroic troops in Guanzhong are all from the old history. In fact, the development of Guanzhong in the past few years since the end of the Tang Dynasty has stopped, let alone all the people are soldiers, and the folk customs cannot be said to be fierce, because there has never been horse politics here, so on the contrary No one keeps horses.

Not many people still have weapons and armor at home.Even if only [-] Khitan elites enter this area, break them up into thirty hundred-man teams, and burn, kill, and loot here, it will take at least half a month, or even a month, for the court to react. .

Such a long time is probably enough to devastate the lives of the people in Guanzhong, and it is probably normal for hundreds of thousands of people to die.

The death of hundreds of thousands of people was not a big deal in other dynasties, especially the Liang, Tang, Jin, Han and Zhou dynasties. You must know that just when Yelu Abaoji went south, the Khitans at least plundered the Central Plains and Hebei. 30 people.

This is just catching alive, killing countless people.

But this is the Song Dynasty.

Since the establishment of the Song Dynasty, it has been accustomed to being invincible. Although the time is short, Zhao Song is people-oriented. Let alone a hundred or eighty thousand, he has never suffered a loss of 35.

If this thing happened, it would definitely not affect the overall situation of Song and Liao Dynasties, but who else besides him, Guo Jin, could shoulder this responsibility?

Still want to retire?
The Zhao family was really not soft-handed when killing generals. Wang Quanbin, who was instrumental in conquering Shu, Wang Jixun, the queen's brother, and Li Chuyun, Zhao Kuangyin's second-in-command, who didn't just cut them off at the drop of a hat?

If he didn't want to think of a solution, Zhao Kuangyin might not blame him, but Zhao Guangmei would definitely kill him!

So Guo Jin asked again: "Who can tell me where I should go to fight to the death with these Khitan dog thieves?"

Everyone was speechless after hearing the words.

They couldn't find them, they couldn't find them at all, and they didn't have enough troops to use containment tactics. They could only follow the Liao army.

Damn, there are so many infantrymen riding bicycles to chase the horses’ butts. I’m afraid they won’t be able to hold on for long after chasing them.

"In that case, all you gentlemen, please use all your troops and horses and follow me to Yunzhou to kill them. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. If the invaders can go, I can go too!"

But he wanted to learn from Fu Yanqing and kill the Khitans.

You kill my common people, old, weak, women and children, and I will kill your common people, old, weak, women and children. Let’s see who of us can kill faster.

This is an old tradition for these generals, but this time they were stopped by someone and said: "Commander, think twice! Today is different from the past. Yanyun Sixteen Prefectures are Han people!"

"Commander, the Liao dog suddenly went crazy. It must be because of His Highness the King of Qin's long-term plan. The general heard that something big is going on in the capital. The King of Qin is going to formally marry the daughter of the Xiao family, the envoy of Liao. There are rumors that the Sixteenth Prefecture of Yanyun, It’s this princess’s dowry, let’s… we’re going to plunder Yunzhou at this time. The general is not afraid of fighting, but is actually afraid of ruining His Highness the King of Qin’s plan!”

"Commander Guo, I think that if you send troops to Yunzhou at this time, you will definitely fall into the plot of the Liao people. You are a Khitan dog thief. What he wants is for you to send troops to Yanyun to massacre the Han people in Yanyun and undermine His Highness's plan to peacefully regain Yanyun. .”

Guo Jin's teeth hurt when he heard this.

I had to suppress my temper and think long term.

Then in the afternoon they received news that the hurriedly sent out Liao army elites did not have enough food and grass. Therefore, when they arrived, these Khitan soldiers had already taken advantage of them and robbed the Yanyun Han people without the Song army taking action.

Killed at least [-] civilians.

The Han people in the Yanyun area were confused. Brother Yelvxiu thought they were here to attack him, so he hurriedly organized his army, but as a result, they went south.

Brother Yelvxiu was also stunned by this operation.

He really can't move now, and he can't move either. He himself doesn't know where he belongs now, and he can't even explain it to his soldiers.

The Han people in Yanyun were even more confused. After all, this was the first time in so many years that they were killed by one of their own people.

Robbery had always happened before when we sent out troops. After all, no one's military discipline was that good. But this time it was obviously not just for robbery. It was impossible to kill so many people for robbery.

This special girl is planning to break the jar.

"Commander, this is a major matter. In any case, you should consult the imperial court and His Highness before making a decision."

Guo Jin shook his head and said: "I am the military envoy. If I have to consult the imperial court before making a decision on everything, what use will the imperial court give me? I have to go back and forth to Luoyang for official documents. By then it will be too late. I have already made up my mind. Jue, you continue to track Liao Gou’s whereabouts, and I’m going to see Brother Yelvxiu, and I want to question him properly about what the hell is going on.”

"Ah? Marshal, you, you want to go to Datong? How dangerous is it?"

"If I do nothing, it will be more dangerous. If something happens to me and I die, it will be regarded as sacrificing my life for the country. It is better than asking the King of Qin to kill me after the fact. The King of Qin is a mad dog. He is better than Brother Yeluxiu." How terrible!”

"Brother Yeluxiu is a member of Xiao Siwen and was promoted by him. Xiao Siwen is now the father-in-law of His Highness King Qin. If such good things can be accomplished, then Brother Yeluxiu will not harm me. If I die, there will be no need to discuss this matter again. Mention it, when you prepare your troops for war, you don’t have to worry anymore. Just kill the Liao dog. The King of Qin will not be blamed for it afterwards. Damn, that’s it. I’m going to the meeting alone, but I want to see What kind of medicine are these Khitan thieves selling in their gourds?"

………………

On the other side, the Liao soldiers were actually as Guo Jin expected. A group of elite cavalry had crossed the river and entered Guanzhong.

"Master Liao, this way, this trade road was newly built in the past two years. It goes straight into Chang'an City. I am willing to guarantee it with my life. The garrison of Chang'an does not exceed 1000 people at most. Chang'an, everyone Master Liao, I know the road to Chang'an. I promise that at least we will be able to reach the foot of Chang'an by this time tomorrow. That is Chang'an, the former capital of the Tang Dynasty. How prosperous it was? If we can get there, Isn’t it a hundred times or a thousand times better than robbing those small places? Moreover, the villain also has a factory in Chang’an. The villain can make the villain’s people cooperate with you inside and outside to ensure that the city of Chang’an can be captured easily.”

After hearing this, all the Khitan people nodded with satisfaction.

This person is a Song Dynasty person who went to Beijing to do business, but he is a big traitor known to everyone. Over the years, they have smuggled things from him that the Song Dynasty people do not sell, such as gunpowder, expenses, etc. It can be said that He is their good friend from Daliao.

There are people like this among Liao people as well as people from Song Dynasty. He has property in Shangjing and his wife and children are all in Shangjing. Naturally, these Liao soldiers will not doubt him.

It is quite normal for Han people to serve the Liao Kingdom. Han people can even serve as prime ministers in the Liao Kingdom.

"Okay, okay, after this time, my position as Privy Councilor Chengzhi of the South Liaoning Academy will be yours. By the way, what is your name?"

"Villain, Tian Qinzuo."

(End of this chapter)