Five Dynasties River Mountains Fengyue

Chapter 211 Hot Potatoes
That night, a grand banquet was held in the palace to show the great grace of the emperor and pardon many sinners, including Zhou Xingfeng and Gao Baorong.

In the end, many officials each received rewards, among which Gao Baorong retained the title of King of Nanping, and Zhou Xingfeng was awarded the title of King of Chen.

The rest of the officials also had their own arrangements. Shi Congyun sat at the top left at this banquet, and many colleagues in the banquet raised glasses to him, such as Wang Pu, Wang Pu, Wei Renpu and others.

Soon there were maids performing songs and dances, and the atmosphere suddenly became lively.

On the way, he got up to go outside the hall to have a shower, and Wei Renpu followed him out. The air outside the hall suddenly became much fresher. Shi Congyun turned around and asked curiously, "Why did Privy Councilor Wei come out? Could it be that the lady inside is not pretty enough?"

Wei Renpu laughed: "What's the matter, the handsome is young and ambitious, but the old man is old, with more energy than energy." He spoke frankly, without any shyness, and he was also a funny person, and Wei Renpu was like that.

Shi Congyun grinned, "I thought Wei Shumi couldn't stand stimulation."

"I think so, but it's a pity that I don't have that ability." He said while stroking his beard and laughing.

The atmosphere was relaxed, and the two exchanged a few gossips. Wei Renpu suddenly said while talking, "The officials have decided to go to the Northern Expedition."

North cutting
When Shi heard these two words, Shi suddenly jumped out of Yun's heart, and then asked: "Northern Han or Liao Kingdom?" At most, the country sends troops to rescue, and it may be soldiers from the South Court (a mixed army of Han, Xi, female straight, etc.), not elite soldiers from the North Court.

However, things backfired, Wei Renpu opened his mouth and said: "Liao Kingdom, the officials want to take advantage of the victory to take back the sixteen prefectures."

Shi Congyun was a little anxious, "As for Shu, the Southern Han, Southern Tang, Wuyue, and Northern Han are all still there."

"The officials have their own views. The officials think that they should take advantage of successive victories to immediately go north to solve the problem of the sixteen prefectures. Although I agree with Wang Wenbo (Wang Pu)'s view that the south should go north first, I also think that the officials It makes sense, the Northern Expedition can give it a try, maybe it will succeed.

The officials have already made up their minds, the old man just let you know in advance, lest you get too excited when it happens. "Wei Renpu said.

Shi Congyun sighed, understanding Wei Renpu's kindness, cupped his hands and said, "Thank you, Privy Councilor Wei, for letting me know."

Wei Renpu nodded, looking at the lights of the imperial palace in the distance, the moonlight was clear tonight.

After a while, Wang Pu and Wang Pu also just came out to blow some air, so they just met again, and they clasped their hands together and talked together.

"Actually, what the officials said is also reasonable. If you can win Youzhou in one go, many problems will be solved immediately, and a lot of things will be saved in the future." Wei Renpu said.

Shi Congyun opened his mouth, wanting to say from the perspective of a game of chess in the world that the time for a full-scale war with the Liao Kingdom has not yet come, but he quickly stopped because he knew that Wang Pu must have said it.

Since it's useless for Wang Pu to say anything, it's useless for him to say it.

"I understand. Since it is the official decision, I will obey it."

"The officials are also planning to let Marshal Shi serve as a recruitment envoy to preside over the war." Wang Pu said again.

Shi Congyun's heart skipped a beat again, and he said, "I'm so flattered by the officials."

Wang Pu seemed to see the insincere in his words, so he looked at him puzzled, "I still don't understand, Marshal Shi has won many battles in these years, and you must be much more experienced in fighting wars than me. Don't you like it?"

When Shi Congyun saw him asking this question, he thought he couldn't tell you that I had read history.

Facing the puzzled eyes of several people, Shi Congyun said, "Because of Liao's actions."

"The move of the Liao Kingdom?" Wei Renpu was puzzled.

"The elite soldiers of the Liao Kingdom are all in the north of Youzhou. If you start fighting, what do you think is the worst situation?"

"All the Liao soldiers from the north of Youzhou went south to fight us in Hebei." Wei Renpu took the lead and said, "In that case, we may have to throw all the imperial troops in, and if something happens, the main beam will be lost."

Wang Pu and Wang Pu nodded slightly, "This is a dangerous move."

Shi Congyun shook his head, "The views of the ministers are inherently reasonable, but we see wars differently. What we are most afraid of is not the army of the Liao Kingdom going south."

But he didn't say anything later, because he knew he couldn't explain clearly, just at this time the eunuch came to him in a hurry, saying that the official family had something to see him.

When Shi Congyun came to the main hall, many people were still drinking and eating, and there were no figures of the officials above. He followed the eunuch through the back hall, and soon saw the officials in the small courtyard in the distance.

Under the moon, the chrysanthemums in the garden are just right, and the yard is full of yellow and bright, especially dazzling. The officials are wearing yellow robes, shining against each other. Lean over and wait on the side.

After a while, the officials noticed his arrival, so they turned around and beckoned him to pass.

Shi Congyun was dressed in a black military uniform, and slowly walked into the flowers, which was incompatible with the golden color of the courtyard.

"Why don't you come here?"

"I thought the officials were thinking about world affairs and didn't dare to disturb them, so they didn't dare to approach." Shi Congyun said in a low voice.

The official nodded and coughed softly: "You have already solved half of my world's major affairs for me."

"Don't dare, these are all relying on the protection of the gods of the officials."

The official said with a smile: "Who didn't say that, but none of them did what you did. I know it in my heart. The sacrifice of prisoners is for outsiders to see. I have other ideas about how to deal with them.

Tell me, what about Gao Baorong and Zhou Xingfeng, and how to deal with them. "

Shi Congyun cupped his hands and said: "The officials are wise. In my opinion, Gao Baorong has no skills. He acts as a dominator in Nanping and oppresses the people. Just give him a title and let him live in peace. If something happens to him or he doesn't If you are willing to be restless, it doesn't matter if you kill him.

Zhou Xingfeng was quite different. Although he came from an ordinary farmer and was punished severely after his fortune, he also took the lead in frugality, had great ambitions and skills, and was very popular in Wuping.

He should be sealed and given good treatment, but he must be watched carefully. If he dies in the capital, maybe Wuping's people's hearts will change.

Just like when Tang Gaozu killed Dou Jiande back then, disasters would be left behind. "

The official nodded, "According to what you've said, Zhou Xingfeng is indeed unkillable."

Shi Congyun thought about it, and then answered: "It's up to the officials whether to kill him or not. It's just that killing him is more harmful. This kind of major matter needs to be decided by the officials themselves."

The official was very satisfied, "Yeah."

Then the official said: "Just now you and Wei Renpu and others went out."

Shi Congyun broke out in a cold sweat, he went out alone, Wei Renpu and the others went out later, but the officials insisted that they went out together
He tried his best to calm down, without denying it at all, and his mind turned quickly: "Report to the officials, yes, Wei Xianggong told me one thing, he said that the officials are preparing for the Northern Expedition."

"Hehe, before I can say anything else, I will speak first." The official said slowly while standing among the yellow flowers.

"Wei Shumi was afraid that the officials would contradict the officials, so he came to persuade XX."

"Are you contradicting me?" the butler asked curiously.

"I have always agreed with Wang Fuyin's statement that the south should be the first to go north, so I don't want to send troops to the north too early. I am going to suggest that the officials take Shu first, and then pacify the Southern Han and Tang countries. When the time is ripe, the north will be attacked."

"Well, what did Wei Renpu tell you?"

"Secretary Wei said that the officials wanted to take advantage of the victory to make the Northern Expedition, and they had clever considerations. Let me think about it."

The official's face softened, "What do you think."

"The official's high opinion!" Shi Congyun said repeatedly. At this point, he had no way out.

When the night wind blew, the small courtyard was filled with the fragrance of autumn chrysanthemums, but Shi Congyun felt a little pungent and even dizzy.

"Okay, I'm going to let you do this instead of me to recruit envoys, the Northern Expedition, and take back Youzhou!" The official turned around as he spoke, and patted him on the shoulder heavily. The golden autumn chrysanthemums under the moonlight in the garden are particularly dazzling and warm.

But Shi Congyun's heart was agitated, because Da Zhou was also like these golden chrysanthemums, beautiful but fragile, if a strong wind blows, the ground will be covered with broken petals.

At this moment, he had no choice, he cupped his hands and said: "I am willing to die for the official!"

The official nodded, "Don't talk about this matter for the time being, I have to make thorough preparations for this dispatch of troops, and taking back the sixteen prefectures will solve many problems once and for all.

Just think about it, if we want to take back Youzhou this time, how many troops will we have to send. "

"How much do the officials think the Liao people will send troops?" Shi Congyun asked cautiously.

The official said: "It is true that the Liao Kingdom has many soldiers and a large territory, but I think they also have problems. I heard that the current leader of the Liao Kingdom is incompetent and many things cannot be done at all.

I think they will send at most [-], no, [-] troops to Youzhou and its south. "

"Nachen thinks that we can send 2 troops as the main force, and another 2 troops are needed to block the possible rescue of the Northern Han Dynasty. We also need a reserve team of about [-] people, which will be deployed in the south of Hebei."

"Why are there so many reserves?" The official looked at him.

Shi Congyun did not hide anything, and cupped his hands and said: "I am incompetent, but to be honest, I cannot guarantee that I will be able to defeat the Liao Kingdom for the time being.

Arrange the rear troops in the Chanzhou area. In case the front is unfavorable, sticking to several ferries north of the Yellow River can also prevent the Liao army from crossing the Yellow River.

The Pingchuan River in the central and southern parts of Hebei must not be defended. "

The official frowned: "Are you so pessimistic about this battle?"

Shi Congyun saw that the officials were not happy, and shook his head: "No, I just want to lose the game before fighting, at least to ensure the safety of the court and the officials, I have long-term considerations."

The official nodded: "You are really my great Zhou's Zhongliang!"

Shi Congyun bowed his hand to thank En.

The official thought for a while, and then said: "I will reward you for meritorious deeds in the future, and I will promote you to be inspected in front of the palace. Next year, I will send troops to lead the northern expedition. At that time, I will personally lead the army to sit in Chanzhou for you!"

Shi Congyun thanked you again.

After that, he said some things that were neither serious nor serious, and the officials didn't let him quit until night.

After Shi Congyun came out, he was blown by the cold wind and his back felt a little chilly, and the cold sweat just now gradually dissipated.

Then he sighed, the officials were really ready to attack the Liao Kingdom.However, fighting the Liao Kingdom is actually not that scary. What is feared is the reaction of the Liao Kingdom and the follow-up officials' command of the situation.

If the reaction of the Liao Kingdom is not great, it is best for the officials to take the opportunity to occupy some land and stop.

Once the full-scale war is launched, it will be troublesome. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty fought against the Xiongnu. First, Wei Qing won seven battles and seven victories, and Huo Qubing won three battles and three victories. After capturing Hetao and Hexi, he launched a strategic decisive battle with 10,000+ cavalry, infantry and hundreds of thousands of supply and logistics personnel. After defeating the Huns, there were decades of successive wars before the Huns who did not surrender were almost wiped out.

It shows how much determination and courage and the support of manpower and material resources are needed to completely deal with a huge dynasty. This kind of war does not end in a year or two, but takes decades.

The best way to deal with such a huge dynasty is naturally to wait for his internal collapse, and then exert appropriate external pressure.

Once the Zhou Dynasty and the Liao Kingdom are in full-scale war, the Great Zhou will fall into the quagmire of such a war.

But Dazhou is now far inferior to the Western Han Dynasty. The land and population, financial resources, material resources, and military power are far from the players of the same level as the Han Dynasty who had recuperated for 70 years.

Under such circumstances, if there is a full-scale war, even if you are lucky and capture Youzhou, Khitan can go southeast and south of the river, which is still in the hands of the Northern Han Dynasty.

Or forcibly use heavy troops to seize Youzhou again, and then go south. As long as it is a protracted war and continues to fight, it is absolutely impossible for Dazhou, which is one-third of the world to be close to it, to see-saw with the unified and powerful Liao Kingdom for a long time, and it will be dragged down. .

So Shi Congyun had an idea in his heart that the south must be integrated in order to fight against Liao.

The war can be fought, but the officials are determined to fight, and he has to fight if he is eager for quick success.

But we must grasp the scale, try to fight, and try our best to leave room for the time being, not to start a full-scale war with the Liao Kingdom, and then free up our hands and feet to clean up the separatist regime behind it.

He didn't expect that when he came back, he would receive such a hot potato before his butt was hot.

When I got home that night, the three wives had been waiting for a long time, but Shi Congyun was in a trance along the way, thinking about a lot of problems, tired from the day's travel, and feeling powerless when he wanted to swell, so he fell asleep holding the well-behaved Fu Liu. night.

At the end of August, all the southern troops had returned to the north, leaving only some rear troops and Li Gu's supply troops.

The mighty dispatch of troops in June is still in sight. Just two months later, the army began to retreat, and the whole process can be described as extremely fast.

Under Li Gu's command and dispatch, the army returned to the north in an orderly manner, and gradually only the rear team of more than 2000 people was assembled.

Li Gu made arrangements to bring them back from Xiangzhou to the north, but at this time he received news from the southern scouts.

It turned out that the Shu Kingdom who threatened to beat him up on Monday finally started to act after bewilderment.

After mid-July, the tens of thousands of troops from the Kingdom of Shu slowly arrived in Kuizhou, west of Jiangling, and began to garrison. Since then, they have been in a tense defensive transition.

At this time, I probably realized that Da Zhou didn't touch it, but took care of Nanping and Wuping with his backhand. Doesn't this make Kuizhou's Shu army look like a fool?
(End of this chapter)