Doctor of the Great Song Dynasty: In the beginning, Li Qingzhao and Li Qingzhao made a private decis

Chapter 357: The Great Detour Strategy Southward

"Great roundabout strategy!"

The officials were shocked. According to the plan of the Great Roundabout Strategy, the Song Dynasty's next plan was to wait until the Liao Dynasty was in civil strife, find the right time to destroy Xixia, and then fight a decisive battle with the Liao Kingdom.

"The officials should think twice. Now is not the best time to destroy Xixia." Lu Dafang objected.

However, the current situation is due to the death of Empress Dowager Xiaoliang of Xixia. Although Xixia dominates the Shao Kingdom, it has made the relationship between Liao and Xia closer through the marriage between Liao and Xia. Attacking Xixia at this moment may cause a joint counterattack by Xixia and Liao.

The old party opposed it one after another. The old party has always been opposed to war. The reason why the old party agreed to the Great Roundabout Strategy was because the Great Roundabout Strategy was the same as the Song Dynasty's policy of first easy things and then hard things when they unified the world.

But now Zhao Xu is forcibly advancing the Great Detour strategy before the time is ripe, which naturally makes the old party extremely opposed.

Zhao Xu frowned. When he was in power as a young man, he was in a period of rapid progress, so naturally he couldn't stand the conservative policies of the old party.

The new party was eager to give it a try. Zeng Bu said proudly: "I have reported to the officials that I think it is possible to implement the Great Roundabout Strategy. Now our Song Dynasty has strong soldiers, horses, and sufficient financial resources. We are stronger than Xixia and can implement the second step of the Great Roundabout Strategy. "

According to the New Party's vision, if you want to destroy Xixia, how can you just wait and see? Now that Xixia has just experienced civil strife and weakened its national strength, while the Song Dynasty is booming, weapons, money and food are the highest in the history, there is no opportunity to create opportunities.

"Absolutely not! Soldiers are dangerous. Even if a country likes war is big, it will perish. If there is no certainty of victory, how can we start the war lightly!" Yang Wei objected repeatedly.

As for the old party, they are quite satisfied with the current situation. The Song Dynasty has won several foreign wars in succession. It has more than enough self-preservation but insufficient offense. It is not oppressed by foreign enemies and prevents the Song Dynasty from starting the war lightly. This This is simply the ideal situation for conservatives.

"Although the country is safe, it will be in danger if it forgets to fight. Last year, Xixia and Liao jointly attacked the Song Dynasty for no reason. How can we be willing to not avenge this revenge? What's more, with the Liao-Xia marriage now, with the support of Liao, it won't be long before... Xixia will once again become a serious problem for the Song Dynasty, and the ministers and others believe that it is necessary to implement the great detour strategy in advance and not allow Xixia to have a chance to breathe." Zhang Dun said fiercely.

The current situation is extremely clear. Neither the Song Dynasty nor the Liao Kingdom is sure of defeating the other. Naturally, they will not start the war lightly, and the main focus of the struggle is Xixia.

The intention of the Liao State was to support Xixia to continue to attack the Song Dynasty and let the Song Dynasty continue to weaken, while the Song Dynasty tried its best to suppress Xixia and wanted to completely destroy Xixia once and for all.

Xixia can be said to be a battleground for the world's powers. Whoever wins Xixia will have the upper hand. Now that the Liao Kingdom has bound Xixia through marriage, what the Song Dynasty can do is to carry out a roundabout strategy in advance and completely destroy Xixia.

However, officials in the Song Dynasty had different opinions on whether to forcibly destroy Xixia, and the old and new parties argued endlessly.

Su Song was also hesitant. Naturally, he did not want to start a war lightly. Of course, he could not sit back and watch Xixia rise again and continue to threaten the Song Dynasty.

"For the record, since the Grand Detour Strategy was proposed by Fan Taicheng, it would be better to ask Fan Taicheng for his opinion." Su Song changed his words.

The old and new parties couldn't help but look at Fan Zheng.

Both the new party and the old party believed that Fan Zheng would agree with their views. After all, in the new party's view, Fan Zheng proposed a grand detour strategy with the purpose of annihilating Xixia. Now is the time when Xixia is at its weakest, and it is a good time to defeat Xixia.

The old party is also full of confidence. The officials implemented the great roundabout strategy in advance, which obviously violated the steps of Fan Zheng's previous great roundabout strategy. Now there is no civil strife in the Liao Kingdom. If they rashly attack Xixia, they may suffer the same fate as the Liao Dynasty. Xia Allied Forces attack.

Looking at the glances Zhao Xu and Manchao were looking at the officials, Fan Zheng sighed, stood up and said, "Fan thinks that the officials and all of you have misjudged Xixia's strength."

"How do you say this?" Zhao Xu asked confused.

Fan Zheng said solemnly: "Today's Xixia has been weakened by the Song Dynasty's continuous cold war, and its true strength has been greatly reduced. However, Xixia is a serious concern of the Song Dynasty, how can it be easily eliminated."

"I agree with Fan Taicheng's words!"

Everyone in the old party rarely agreed with Fan Zheng's point of view. It was indeed too hasty to send troops to Xixia at this moment.

"Then the Song Dynasty will miss this God-given opportunity!" Zeng Bu frowned.

He did not have Fan Zheng's divine perspective and did not know how much damage the Jurchens would cause to the Liao Kingdom. In his opinion, the current situation in Xixia and the advantages of the Song Dynasty were enough for the Song Dynasty to destroy Xixia.

"Back then, both Renzong and Shenzong thought about wiping out Xixia once and for all, but they both suffered a huge defeat. Although the Song Dynasty is now stronger, the trapped beasts are still fighting. Xixia still has sharp weapons such as iron kites, cold-forged armor, and divine arm bows. Even if the Song Dynasty barely defeats them, with the oriole of the Liao Kingdom behind them, it may be difficult to destroy Xixia." Fan Zheng retorted.

Zhang Dun said forcefully: "How can we know without a fight? Will the Song Dynasty have to wait until Xixia rises again in the future to continue attacking the Song Dynasty?"

Everyone in the New Party nodded their heads. The New Party pursues a border-opening policy and has always advocated being tough on Xixia. Moreover, Xixia is a territory that was split from the Song Dynasty, and the Song Dynasty is eager to take it back.

Fan Zheng asked rhetorically: "What if the Song Dynasty is defeated?"

Zhang Dun was stunned for a moment, sweating profusely.

Zeng Buqiang said: "How can we be defeated? Now the advantage lies with us, the Song Dynasty. The Song Dynasty has occupied the farmland in the southern part of Xixia. With the help of thunder, it is enough to destroy Xixia."

Zhao Xu nodded. It was with the help of the thunder that could attack that Song Dynasty had the confidence to destroy Xixia.

Fan Zheng shook his head and said: "Although the new Thunder Thunder has been improved, it can only go as far as thirty steps. The last time we defeated Xixia, we just relied on surprise. Now that Xixia is on guard, it is not enough to change the situation of the battle."

In this era, battles are still dominated by cold weapons. The Xixia army has the advantage of war horses, as well as cold forged armor and divine arm bows. Having used gunpowder weapons at close range once, the Xia army must be on guard. I am afraid that the next attack will not be so smooth. .

Zhao Xu frowned. He was full of confidence that he wanted to destroy Xixia in one battle and achieve unparalleled achievements. However, he did not expect that Fan Zheng, who supported him the most, opposed the battle.

Suddenly, Fan Zheng changed his words and said: "But as Zhang Xianggong said, how can you know without a fight!"

Zhao Xu was overjoyed and said, "Fan Taicheng also agrees to implement the second step of the Great Detour Strategy in advance?"

Fan Zheng shook his head and said: "The beating that Wei Chen mentioned was not to fight Xixia, but to fight Tubo!"

"Hit Tubo?"

The officials looked at each other in confusion, not understanding that just now they were discussing whether to attack Xixia, but in the blink of an eye Fan Zheng actually proposed to attack Tubo.

Fan Zheng nodded and said: "After our Song Dynasty captured Qingtang, Tubo was instigated by Xixia and has been unstable, intending to regain the land of Qingtang. Now our Song Dynasty has cracked the cause of the Qingtang, and the various tribes of Tubo are fighting each other." It is time to eliminate this potential threat." Zeng Bu frowned and said: "We destroyed Xixia to advance the great roundabout strategy. Now, if we leave Xixia as a powerful enemy without getting rid of it, we will create new enemies. It’s not putting the cart before the horse.”

The officials nodded slightly, not to mention the new party, even the old party thought Fan Zheng's move was inappropriate.

According to the old party's intention, it was best not to start a war, but Fan Zheng was better off. On the contrary, it was not enough to have a strong enemy in Xixia, but another battlefield had to be found.

Fan Zheng said matter-of-factly: "Fan, this is also a great detour strategy!"

Cai Jing immediately seized on Fan Zheng's loophole and mocked: "Is it possible that Fan Taicheng is confused? The great detour strategy is to go north to destroy Xixia first, and then defeat the Liao Kingdom to unify the world, instead of going south to attack Tubo. Isn't this the opposite?"

Fan Zheng continued: "The Great Roundabout War is a roundabout battle. To achieve the goal, you can go north or south. Now Tubo and Xixia are secretly communicating. Qingtang is in danger. Attacking Tubo is also isolating Xixia. , and after we attack Tubo, we can take advantage of the situation and take Dali, unify the southwest, and complete the great cause of surpassing the Tang Dynasty."

"Capture and attack Tubo, capture Dali!"

All the officials in the court looked at Fan Zheng in stunned silence.No one expected that Fan Zheng would be so bold as to make a U-turn in the grand detour strategy and make a major detour to the south.

This is indeed a great detour strategy, and the possibility of success is easier than the detour to the north, but it runs counter to the original strategy of the Song Dynasty.

"That's so audacious. We, the Song Dynasty, have already made Xixia and Liao our great enemies. How can we provoke Tubo and Dali again?" Lu Dafang said in shock and anger.

The original intention of the old party was to cease the war, maintain the status quo, and wait for a good opportunity to destroy Xixia and regain the sixteen states of Yanyun. Now Fan Zheng is doing well, and the enemies of the Song Dynasty have directly changed from Liao and Xia to Liao, Xia, Tubo and Dali. Shikoku.

The New Party looked surprised. They still underestimated Fan Zheng and did not expect Fan Zheng to be more radical than them.

Zhao Xu's heart was pounding. According to Fan Zheng's southward detour strategy, the Song Dynasty's occupation of Tubo and Dali was a great achievement that surpassed the prosperous Tang Dynasty. However, the Song Dynasty was not strong in force, and it would be unwise to make enemies everywhere.

However, Zhao Xu did not rush to deny it, but looked at Fan Zheng patiently. He believed that Fan Zheng would give him a reasonable explanation.

Faced with the opposition of hundreds of officials, Fan Zhengzheng said without changing his expression: "Although the Song Dynasty had artificial insemination to breed horses on a large scale, it still lacked good land for raising horses, so Qingtang was a top priority for the Song Dynasty. There is no room for error, but the Tibetans, who have the same origin as Qingtang, continue to harass Qingtang. The number of [-] Xiang soldiers has now increased to [-], so that the situation in Qingtang can be stabilized. "

Zeng Bu nodded slightly. The small Qingtang already occupied [-] soldiers. Although the cultivation on the spot did not require a large amount of food and grass, it also showed the importance of Qingtang and the pressure it faced. Tubo was indeed a very condescending person. Big threat.

"Detouring from Qingtang to the south and annihilating Tubo will not only eliminate the threat of Qingtang, but also cause Xixia to lose important allies and further weaken Xixia." Fan Zheng said solemnly.

Zhao Xu nodded slightly. Qingtang was indeed the only horse breeding land in the Song Dynasty. It was too important to improve the strength of the Song Dynasty and could not be missed.

"Fan Taicheng is too warlike. Not to mention Tubo, Dali has always been respectful to me, the Song Dynasty, so how can he attack without reason." This time, even the good old Cai Bian couldn't stand it. In his opinion, Fan Zheng's move It's simply too crazy.

Fan Zheng shook his head and said: "Fan Zheng and the Song Dynasty are indeed on good terms, but Dali is a vassal state of the Song Dynasty. The Duan royal family in the country was forced by powerful ministers to become monks, so they escaped death. In this matter, the Song Dynasty is the suzerainty of the Song Dynasty. , how can we just sit idly by and ignore it.”

"Dali Duan!"

All the families in the court could not help but be stunned. They were naturally aware of the chaos in Dali. However, the Song Dynasty had always been too busy to take care of itself, so naturally they could not worry about the chaos in Dali.

Nowadays, the Song Dynasty has become a powerful country and has begun to show its influence. With the intervention of the Song Dynasty, the young emperor of Goryeo has established a firm foothold and stabilized the inheritance of imperial power. As for the civil strife in Dali, the Song Dynasty did have reasons to intervene.

"Does Fan Taicheng really want to help the Duan family?" Zhang Dun sneered.

In order to secure the throne, the young emperor of Goryeo purchased a lot of armor and weapons from the Song Dynasty. In the past two years, Goryeo's treasury was almost emptied. He did not believe that Fan Zheng would help the Duan family of Dali regain the throne for no reason.

Fan Zheng said calmly: "The land of Dali was under the rule of China during the Han and Tang Dynasties. It has been the territory of China since ancient times, so it naturally fell under the rule of the Song Dynasty."

Zhang Dun couldn't help but be shocked. He didn't expect that Fan Zheng no longer wanted money, but wanted the entire Dali Kingdom.

"We, the Song Dynasty, are a country of etiquette, how can we act so arrogantly as to destroy the country at every turn!" Zhang Dun said with a frown.

Fan Zheng sneered and said: "Taizu once said that there is no room for others to sleep soundly on the side of the bed. Who can guarantee that Dali will not be the next Xixia? Moreover, with the great roundabout strategy of going south, both Tubo and Dali are small countries. If Dali is If the Song Dynasty cannot defeat these two countries, there is no need to go north to destroy Xixia and defeat the Liao Kingdom."

Fan Zheng was not a war madman, but the officials, with the encouragement of the New Party, actually wanted to launch a grand detour strategy in advance.

Fan Zheng took advantage of the situation and turned a corner on the Great Roundabout Strategy. He went south to destroy Tubo and Dali in a roundabout way. This not only increased the strength of the Song Dynasty, but also trained its troops for the Song Dynasty. It was used as a drill for the Great Roundabout Strategy.

The old party thought that if the Song Dynasty could not even destroy Tubo and Dali, it would naturally not be able to destroy Xixia and Liao. It could take advantage of the situation and maintain the status quo with Liao and Xia.After all, compared to the two small countries of Liao and Xia, Tubo and Dali, which were completely hostile to each other, the Song Dynasty could still afford to offend them.

Of course, if the Song Dynasty successfully defeated Tubo and Dali, it would prove that the roundabout strategy was feasible. By then, the Song Dynasty's national power would be strengthened and there would be no foreign troubles. It would not be a bad idea to fight against Liao and Xia again.

"I'd like to report to the officials, I agree with Fan Taicheng's policy!" Lu Dafang agreed immediately.

The old party is unwilling to go to war, so it naturally does not want to provoke Liao and Xia. The roundabout strategy of going south can consolidate Qingtang, a horse breeding area, and is famous for the Dali division. Of course, the more important thing is that the relationship between Tubo and Dali is not good, and Tubo Often relying on the plateau air epidemic, they are confident and plunder Dali, fearing that if they attack Tubo, Dali will stand still and realize the great roundabout strategy perfectly.

The New Party members thought for a moment and said, "I think this strategy may be feasible!"

Compared with Liao and Xia, Tubo and Dali are indeed two soft persimmons, and they can also verify the success of the Great Detour Strategy.

"allow!"

Seeing that everyone in the court had reached an agreement, he also understood that he had acted too hastily, so he nodded and said: "Yes!"

"The officials are wise!"

Hundreds of officials bowed their hands one after another.

(End of this chapter)