I served as an admonisher in the Song Dynasty

Chapter 509: On the Baigou River, Su Liang’s strategy of killing three birds with one stone!
Inside the Chui Gong Hall.

Zhao Zhen looked at Su Liang and continued, "Pang Ji is slow and steady, good at managing troops but not good at commanding them. Han Qi is impatient and eager for success, good at commanding troops but not good at managing them. If I choose one of them, both have shortcomings. Only if they are both in Hebei Road, I will feel at ease."

Su Liang nodded in approval.

Zhao Zhen knew the two of them very well.

Pang Ji served in the Privy Council for many years. He was well-versed in military books and had a good method in commanding the army.

Fan Zhongyan and Di Qing both asked him for advice on how to command the army.

Under his rule, the Hebei Imperial Guards enforced strict military laws and their combat effectiveness was significantly improved.

Han Qi followed Xia Song and Fan Zhongyan to fight in the northwest in his early years.

He had experience in commanding troops and fighting wars, but he was stronger in government and civil affairs, and was far inferior to Pang Ji in military management.

The current Hebei border.

Pang Ji is more needed when there is no war, and Han Qi is needed to immediately step forward and deploy troops in times of war.

The court can feel more at ease if the two of them are in Hebei together.

"Su Qing, I ordered you to go to Hebei to persuade them to make peace. On the one hand, I want to let the two know my intentions and reach a reconciliation, and at the same time solve the problem of the twelve stowaways."

"On the other hand, I want you to inspect the Hebei Imperial Army on my behalf. At present, although the Hebei Imperial Army has been making progress, there is still a gap compared to the strength of the Western Army and it needs to be further improved."

"I obey your command." Su Liang bowed.

As a censor, he did have the duty to inspect and monitor military and political affairs on the border.

Zhao Zhen thought for a moment and said, "During this inspection, I want you to find faults at the border. Do you understand?"

Su Liang was stunned, and all the gentlemen were also stunned.

But everyone soon understood.

The emperor wanted Su Liang to go to Hebei and give the Hebei Imperial Guards a warning.

in short--

Don’t praise for a good job, criticize for a bad job, and treat small flaws as big problems.

This will urge them to continue to break through and improve their strength.

in this way.

Only during the Song-Liao War could they demonstrate stronger combat effectiveness with fewer casualties.

"I understand." Su Liang bowed heavily.

Wen Yanbo smiled and said, "Your Majesty is wise, this matter is best handled by Jingming."

Suddenly, Zhao Zhen and all the ministers laughed.

Pang Ji, 67 years old, had a lot of experience, and even if Prime Minister Wen Yanbo found fault with him, Pang Ji might not be convinced.

Han Qi, 48 years old, has always had the ambition to become a prime minister and is very capable. None of the ministers are sure of suppressing him.

But Su Liang is different.

As the Chief Censor.

He had the duty of supervising all officials and was supposed to restrain these two border commanders.

In addition, his achievements in Hehuang last year and the Liao Kingdom's fear of him were enough to make Pang Ji and Han Qi bend slightly when speaking to Su Liang.

……

March 11th, early in the morning.

Su Liang led three hundred imperial cavalrymen to the northern border, and Liu Sandao still served as his guard captain.

……

March 12th, late at night.

North bank of Baigou River.

In the Liao army camp, in the central army tent.

Yelu Tiancheng, the Liao Dynasty's defending general, was very depressed when he looked at the imperial edict and two letters spread out in front of him.

This was the Liao court's response to the Han people from Youzhou entering the Song territory.

The imperial edict came from the ill Liao emperor Yelu Zongzhen.

Yelu Zongzhen only replied with one sentence.

"We cannot fight, nor can we damage the reputation of the Liao Dynasty."

The other two letters came from the Liao Dynasty's military commander, the eldest prince, Yelu Hongji, and the Liao Dynasty's crown prince, Yelu Chongyuan.

Yelu Hongji ordered Yelu Tiancheng to be tougher.

Yelu Tiancheng was asked to use force as much as possible to fight the Song army without causing large-scale casualties or an all-out war with the Song army.

And we must get the twelve Han people from Youzhou back, otherwise it may cause more Han people to defect.

Yelu Chongyuan ordered Yelu Tiancheng to show weakness.

He was asked not to engage in armed conflict with the Song army even if he could not get back the twelve Han people from Youzhou.

The three powerful people in the Liao Dynasty gave him three different orders.

No matter what Yelu Tiancheng did, it was wrong, so he was very depressed.

Yelu Tiancheng was from a branch of the royal family. He was promoted by Yelu Chongyuan, so he was somewhat close to Yelu Chongyuan.

But he did not dare to disobey Yelu Zongzhen's orders, nor did he dare to offend Yelu Hongji.

At this moment, his mind was in a mess.

At that moment, he was unable to complete the orders of the Liao Emperor Yelu Zongzhen.

On the premise of avoiding war, we must also maintain the face of the Liao Dynasty, unless the Song Dynasty shows weakness and returns the hostages.

What are Yelu Hongji and Yelu Chongyuan planning?

He knew it too.

Yelu Hongji advocated a tough stance in order to target Yelu Chongyuan. Since the latter's subordinates were unable to carry out the court's orders, his subordinates would have the opportunity to come to the border and take control of the military power.

Yelu Chongyuan did not want to start a war because he was worried that if a full-scale war broke out, most of the people on the Song-Liao border were his confidants. Once they were killed, he would completely lose the opportunity to inherit the throne.

After thinking for a long time, Yelu Tiancheng picked up the imperial edict and letter on the table.

Tear!

Tear!

Tear!

He tore them all to pieces, then muttered, "I'd better wait and see how the Song people deal with this matter. If I don't break the jar, maybe I can save my life!"

……

March 18th, near noon.

After eight days, Su Liang and three hundred others passed through Xiongzhou City and arrived at the Hebei Imperial Army camp on the south bank of the Baigou River.

Pang Ji, the deputy privy councilor and judge of Daming Prefecture, originally lived in Daming Prefecture; Han Qi, the pacification commissioner of Hebei West Route and the governor of Dingzhou, originally lived in Dingzhou.

But since the war between Japan and Goryeo and the outbreak of the Song-Xia War, the two of them moved into the military camp on the south bank of the Baigou River one after another.

In order to prevent the Liao army from suddenly attacking Song. When Su Liang arrived in front of the Hebei military camp, Pang Ji, Han Qi and other officials were already waiting outside the camp.

This time, Su Liang was supervising the military and political affairs of Hebei on behalf of Zhao Zhen, in addition to his position and military performance.

Pang Ji and Han Qi naturally went to welcome him in person.

The generals in the military camp were also very excited when they heard that Su Liang was coming to supervise.

At present, Su Liang is the civil servant most admired by the military generals of the Song Dynasty. The story of Su Liang persuading the people to surrender in Hehuang has spread throughout the Song Dynasty.

"Prime Minister Su!" Pang Ji and Han Qi looked at Su Liang and bowed at the same time.

Su Liang got off his horse and said with a smile, "Mr. Pang, Brother Zhigui, long time no see, long time no see."

Su Liang chatted and laughed with the two of them.

The three were no strangers.

After exchanging a few pleasantries, Su Liang followed Pang Ji and Han Qi into the central military tent.

After a while, there were only three people left in the big tent.

Han Qi looked at Su Liang and asked, "Brother Jingming, how does the court plan to deal with these Han people who sneaked in?"

Pang Ji also looked at Su Liang.

The two knew that Su Liang came to handle the matter and monitor the military and political affairs of Hebei, and they did not know what the court was planning to do.

Su Liang did not answer, but asked: "What are the identities of these twelve people? Has it been confirmed?"

The Song Dynasty left a large number of spies in Yanyun. Now, more than ten days have passed, and Pang Ji and Han Qi have probably found out the identities of these people.

Pang Ji said: "It is true that these twelve people are Han people from Youzhou, but they are definitely not good people. They killed people, hijacked goods, kidnapped and extorted people in Youzhou. In total, they killed at least a dozen Han people. They are really bandits."

"How do you two plan to deal with this?" Su Liang asked again.

"Although they are Han people from Yanyun, they are Liao people, not Song people. They chose to return to Song just because they were captured by Liao people. Their attitude is insincere and we should not accept it. I suggest that they be repatriated immediately and handed over to Liao people for disposal." Pang Ji said seriously.

Before Pang Ji finished speaking, Han Qi kept shaking his head.

After Pang Ji finished speaking, he immediately took over the conversation.

"I think these twelve people are indeed extremely evil, but they should not be sent to Liao. Since they have surrendered to Song, they are Song people. We will sentence them in Xiongzhou. This will not only eliminate the evil, but also show that we regard all Yanyun people as Song people."

"This is ridiculous! They are Liao people. We are trying Liao people and not returning them. What if a dispute breaks out and leads to an all-out war between Song and Liao?"

"Right now, Xixia and Goryeo are desperately requesting reinforcements from Liao. If Liao goes to war with us, it will disrupt many of our plans. In particular, it will prolong the time it takes for the Song Dynasty to destroy Xia. We must never do that," said Pang Ji.

"Let's fight now. We are not afraid at all. Can't more than 100,000 Hebei Imperial Guards defeat the Liao Kingdom which is in constant civil strife? We should be tough!" Han Qi shouted at the top of his voice.

……

The two of them started arguing again with saliva flying.

"Enough! Enough! Enough!" Su Liang raised his voice and yelled three times before the two of them quieted down.

Su Liang said slowly: "I will now announce the court's opinion."

"After discussing with the ministers, the emperor finally decided. If these twelve people are Khitans, they will be arrested as spies and will not be allowed to return to Liao. If they are good Han people who defected to Song, they will be taken in. If they are thieves who defected to Song, they will be expelled."

"What? Expulsion?"

"Jingming, we can't show weakness! What will the Han people in Yanyun think if we return the Han people who surrendered to Song to Liao? They will think that we don't treat them as our own people. This is a great opportunity for us to win over the Han people in Yanyun! We must not miss it, we must not miss it..."

Han Qi was so excited that he couldn't stop talking.

Su Liang wanted to open his mouth to speak, but couldn't find a gap.

"Snapped!"

Seeing that Su Liang had difficulty getting a word in, Pang Ji slammed the table.

The moment Han Qi stopped talking, Pang Ji glared at Han Qi and said, "Not steady! Listen to Jing Ming's reasons first."

Han Qi took a deep breath and looked at Su Liang.

Su Liang slowed down and said, "At the moment, these people are indeed Liao people."

"They surrendered to the Song Dynasty to escape punishment, not purely to the Song Dynasty. We should not accept such people, otherwise it will lead to many vicious Han people sneaking across the border, affecting our management and judgment of the people of Yanyun."

"In addition, once we acknowledge that they are Song people, there will certainly be many Han people in the Yanyun area who will risk their lives to surrender to the Song Dynasty for the low taxes and high subsidies. This will cause the Liao soldiers to kill people in the Yanyun area and prohibit people from escaping, which will harm many innocent Han people. It's not worth it!"

"But...but if we return these Han people, the people of Yanyun will certainly think that we are afraid of the Liao Kingdom. The Liao court may even think that we are more afraid of war, and thus become more aggressive and do more provocative things." Han Qi said angrily.

Su Liang's current reasons did not convince him.

Su Liang smiled slightly and said, "It depends on how we return it."

"I suggest that Brother Zhigui go to Baigou River in person tomorrow to return these twelve bandits!"

"You first shouted to the Liao garrison commanders on the river, saying that they were incompetent and that the bandits had fled the country. Now we, the Song Dynasty, have identified the bandits and found evidence of their evil deeds, and then returned them to the Liao Kingdom."

"We have helped Liao so much, so they must write a letter to express their gratitude to us publicly. Once the Liao people have written the thank-you letter and delivered it to you, you can release them. This way, we will have both face and substance."

"This thank you letter represents that the two countries will not go to war and have made concessions to each other. In addition, we will pass this thank you letter to the Xixia people and the Koreans. When they see that we have such a good relationship with the Liao Kingdom, they will naturally understand that the Liao Kingdom will not help them anymore. Doing so will be in the best interests of us. Is it feasible?"

"This... this is killing three birds with one stone! The Liao Kingdom bowed its head to express its gratitude to us, and Xixia and Goryeo knew that the Liao Kingdom could no longer help them. We are still the most advantageous. I am willing to go there tomorrow!"

Han Qi was very excited and gave Su Liang a hug excitedly.

"Good idea, it's indeed a good idea. I fully accept it, fully accept it!" Pang Ji also said with a smile.

"Are you two still arguing?" Su Liang asked jokingly.

"Stop arguing! Stop arguing!" they said at the same time, then looked at each other and couldn't help laughing out loud.

The conflict between the two mainly comes from——

Han Qi's reputation was tarnished and he lost face during the Song-Xia War, so he was eager to become famous and especially wanted to fight.

Pang Ji happened to be a slow-tempered person, so they disliked each other and impeached each other.

……

March 19th, early morning, south bank of Baigou River.

Twelve Han people from Youzhou, wearing anklets and bracelets and with their mouths sealed, were driven onto a boat by a group of imperial guards and then sailed towards the river.

When Yelu Tiancheng, the Liao garrison commander on the other side of the river, learned about this, he immediately came to the river bank.

Han Qi stood in the middle of the river and ordered a soldier with a loud voice to shout, "General Yelu, we, the Song Dynasty, are here to return the people. Please come to the river to pick them up!"

Yelu Tiancheng couldn't believe his ears. He didn't expect that the Song Dynasty would actually surrender on its own initiative.

He could not help but be overjoyed, and immediately ordered his men to drive the boats on the shore, and with his personal soldiers, he quickly headed towards the middle of the river.

Soon, the distance between the bows of the two ships was less than five meters.

The people around Yelu Tiancheng quickly confirmed that these twelve people were indeed the twelve Han people who escaped from the Liao territory.

Han Qi puffed out his chest and said, "After investigation, it was found that these twelve people were bandits, not citizens of our Song Dynasty, so they were returned according to the rules. However, your country allowed the bandits to cross the border, which was a serious mistake. I found them for you, you should express your gratitude!"

After that, Han Qi waved his hand, and the people around him immediately brought out a set of pens, ink, paper and inkstone. He smiled and said, "The friendship between Song and Liao will last forever."

Yelu Tiancheng understood instantly.

The other party asked him to write a thank-you letter so that people all over the world would think that the Song Dynasty would not be afraid of fighting and return the enemy.

"I'll write it!" Yelu Tiancheng said with a smile.

The other party's return of the people was already a way out for him, so he naturally had to take it. As long as he got these twelve Han people back, he would not be punished.

(End of this chapter)