Do you know the long song of laughter?

Chapter 468 Shen Congxing's Weird Idea
No one cared about Molan's jealousy. Rulan insisted that Minglan take her around the house, so Minglan led the women to the garden.

Li Anze was chatting with Sheng Changbai and others in the main hall.

Liang Han and Yuan Wenshao were having a good chat.

Now Liang Han has also entered the Five Cities Military Department with the help of his influence, but he is only a captain.

However, Liang Han, a man with no big ambitions, is quite satisfied with this.

Wen Yanjing seemed a little out of place, and as the host, Li An didn't want to ignore him, so he chatted with him from time to time.

Overall, the atmosphere is still harmonious.

But the four sisters of the Sheng family in the garden are not like this.

Rulan pulled Minglan and walked in front, shouting all the way.

After Hualan talked to her for a few words, she became much more obedient.

"Is the fourth sister okay now?"

Looking at Molan who didn't say a word, Hualan thought that she was the eldest sister, so she took the initiative to talk to her.

"My lord is very nice to me." Molan said with a smile.

Liang Han is a playboy who is easily bored with the old and easily attracted to the new. When she first came into the family, the relationship between him and his wife was indeed good.

But as time went on, Liang Han became less interested in her and went to her room less and less frequently.

Molan used the methods that Lin Xiaoniang taught him, but found that they were of no use at all.

In fact, Lin Xiaoniang’s methods were not that clever.

Brine some tofu, one thing down one thing.

All we can say is that she happened to meet Sheng Hong, who fell for her tricks.

Liang Han is such a fickle person that even if Lin Xiaoniang is possessed, she won't be able to keep him with her tricks.

Not to mention that Molan only learned half of it.

But Molan didn't think that there was anything wrong with what her mother had arranged for her.

She felt that men were fickle, including Sheng Hong.

Otherwise, why would he be so cruel to her mother?

Since they are all the same, it is naturally better to marry someone from a higher social class.

Even if there is no man to love you, you can still enjoy wealth.

But she naturally wouldn't tell all this in front of Hualan and the others.

In her opinion, Hualan's concern was just an attempt to make fun of her.

How could she give them a chance!

Perhaps Rulan had matured a little after getting married, and she didn't bully Molan, but chattered with Minglan.

After walking around the garden, Minglan brought a few people to the backyard and sat down in the main hall to chat.

As they were talking, Danju hurried in and said, "Madam, His Royal Highness Prince Huan and Uncle Shen are here, and they are bringing their wives with them. The Lord has gone to greet them, so please hurry over."

"Got it!" Minglan stood up and said, "Big sister, fourth sister, fifth sister, I'll go over first, you guys continue chatting."

"Sixth sister, just go. We are not outsiders." Hua Lan said.

"Yes." Minglan told the maid to serve her well and left in a hurry.

"Didn't Sixth Sister say that you didn't invite anyone else? Why are Prince Huan and Uncle Shen here?" Rulan asked in surprise.

"He must have gotten the news and came here on his own. I heard from Minglan that when Sixth Brother-in-law was still studying at the Sheng family, he went out to study with Gu Tingye. At that time, he got to know Prince Huan and Uncle Shen and others." Hualan said.

"Sixth brother-in-law is so lucky." Rulan exclaimed.

Molan curled her lips. What good is it if Li Ang has a bright future? It won’t be long before he has to marry a concubine.

In Molan's opinion, Princess Anyang had the merit of delivering the blood edict, so she was naturally closer to the emperor and the queen.

After she got married, Minglan's life became difficult.

Maybe in the future they will find an excuse to divorce you.

When she thought of this, she suddenly didn't envy Minglan so much anymore.

……

Li An was talking to Sheng Changbai and the others when he learned that Zhao Ceying and Shen Congxing had come uninvited and brought their female relatives with them. He ordered someone to find Minglan, and he hurried to greet them with Sheng Changbai and the others.

When they arrived at the front yard, Zhao Ceying, Shen Congxing and others had already come in, followed by two women and several servants carrying gifts.

When he saw the two women, Li An guessed that they should be Xiao Shen and Xiao Zou.

After all, women would tie their hair up after getting married, but these two didn’t, so they were obviously still girls.

"Your Highness Prince Huan, and I greet Uncle Shen." Li An bowed.

"Haha, congratulations Ziqian. We come here uninvited and apologize for disturbing you." Zhao Ceying said with a smile.

"It is an honor for your visit, Your Highness. I do not wish to disturb you." Li An said with a smile.

"Zi Qian, this is where you're wrong. You didn't even invite me to your housewarming party, not to mention that we're neighbors." Shen Congxing pretended to be displeased.

"None of my relatives are in Bianjing, and I don't have many close friends, so I don't want to bother you. I'll set up a table another day to entertain Uncle Shen."

Li An apologized, introduced Sheng Changbai and the others, and asked them to go inside.

When they arrived at the central courtyard, Minglan hurried over. After greeting them, she led Xiao Shen and Xiao Zou to the backyard.

Li An took Zhao Ceying and Shen Congxing to the main hall.

Because Zhao Ceying was there, Sheng Changbai and the others felt somewhat uncomfortable.

He sat there for nearly half an hour and then left.

……

After seeing off Sheng Changbai and others in the afternoon, Li An and Minglan returned to the main hall.

"Did Xiao Zou and the others cause any trouble when they were in the backyard?" Li An said, rubbing his eyebrows.

"She still has some sense and didn't cause any trouble." Minglan shook her head and said, "Sir, I see you are a little drunk, why don't you go to your room and take a nap?"

In fact, what Xiao Zou said in the backyard was somewhat sarcastic, but Hualan and the others knew her identity and were tolerant of her, so no conflicts arose.

She didn't tell Li Ang about this.

"Well, let's go together. I see that your face is red and you must have drunk a lot of wine." Li An said.

"I just drank some rice wine with my elder sister and the others," Minglan said.

"That's great, let's take a nap together." Li An said, holding Minglan's hand.

Li An did feel a little dizzy, but when he returned to his room, washed up and went to bed, he became more awake and his hands started to become naughty.

Minglan held Li An's hand as he climbed up the mountain, and said with a dazed look in her eyes, "Sir, it's daytime now."

"It's just right during the day so we can see more clearly." Li An said with fiery eyes.

"But... um~"

Minglan wanted to say something, but her mouth was blocked by Li An.

After a while of chasing each other, it finally turned into catering to each other.

On the first day of moving, the two left their marks in their new home.

……

Moving to a new home had both advantages and disadvantages. The good thing was that he had to spend less time commuting to the palace every day.

The downside is that the Weibei Marquis Mansion is next door, and Shen Congxing likes to bring little Shen to visit his home when he has nothing to do, and occasionally he will bring little Zou as well.

He would come to Li Ang to drink every other night, and every time he was drunk he liked to talk nonsense.

Shen Congxing and Zou had a very good relationship and were somewhat dissatisfied with Zhao Zongquan's arrangement. But Li An didn't dare to talk about this topic any more.

He could only keep pouring wine for him, until he was drunk and then his followers sent him back.

That would have been fine, but when Shen Congxing poured him wine, he would not forget to ask him to drink as well, so that he would get drunk every time.

Sometimes Ang Lee even suspected that he pretended to be drunk on purpose just to vent his dissatisfaction.

But he had no way of verifying this matter, and was annoyed by it.

Not long after Li An returned home from work that day, the servants reported that Shen Congxing had arrived.

Li An got a headache after hearing this. He even suspected that Shen Congxing had asked the doorman at home to inform him when he saw him coming back.

As soon as Li An brought Minglan to the central courtyard, he saw Shen Congxing and Xiao Shen. It was as natural as if he was returning to his own home.

"Haha, Ziqian, I brought my sister here to have a free meal again." Shen Congxing said with a smile.

"Uncle Shen, I really can't drink anymore." Li An said with a wry smile.

"I'm not drinking today. I came to talk to you about something." Shen Congxing said.

"Then let's go to the study and talk?" Li An said.

"Okay." Shen Congxing nodded, looked at Minglan and said, "Madam Li, I'm sorry to bother you with my sister. The dishes cooked by your chef are really delicious, and she likes them very much."

"Since Uncle Shen and Miss Shen like it, why not let the chef in our mansion come and learn it." Minglan said with a smile.

"Is it okay?" Xiao Shen's eyes lit up when she heard that.

"Of course." Minglan nodded.

Li An ignored them and took Shen Congxing to the study.

After the servants brought tea and left, Shen Congxing said, "Ziqian, I heard from Zhong Huai that you also understand the art of war?"

"I have read some of them, but they are just theory on paper," said Li An.

This is not his modesty. He has indeed read some military strategies, but he is not proficient in them.

"I have an idea. Please help me analyze it and see if it works." Shen Congxing said and repeated his idea.

"The king's uncle wants to launch a surprise attack on the Liao Kingdom?" Li An looked at Shen Congxing in disbelief after hearing this.

My goodness, are you addicted to sneak attacks?

"That's right!" Shen Congxing nodded and said, "I have carefully studied the Liao Kingdom's defense during this period and found that there are two cities on the Liao Kingdom's border that protrude beyond the Liao Kingdom's defense line. The Liao Kingdom does not attach importance to them and has few defensive troops. If we can take them down, the Song Dynasty will have a bridgehead on the Baigou River, which will be of great benefit to the future dispatch of troops to recover the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun." Shen Congxing said.

In the last sneak attack on the Liao army camp, Shen Congxing and Gu Tingye were the main contributors.

But the soldiers in the army all praised the Duke of England's command.

This is not wrong. After all, the Duke of England is the commander, and Shen Congxing and Gu Tingye are the executors.

But Shen Congxing was very dissatisfied. If the Duke of Ying had not accepted his advice, the sneak attack would have been successful long ago.

As for the speculations made by the Duke of England, they were just speculations in his opinion.

The success of the raid made him feel that the Liao Kingdom had never taken the Song Dynasty seriously and had no defenses at all.

If the Duke of England had adopted his advice earlier and sent the cavalry ahead, the raid on the camp could have been successful as well, and it wouldn't have taken so long.

He did not hide any of this and told it all.

Now he is in charge of the infantry of the Imperial Guards, which means he is in charge of most of the Imperial Guards. He always feels that the way others look at him is not right.

Later he thought about it carefully and understood.

Others thought he got his position through nepotism.

This made Shen Congxing very dissatisfied, and he was eager to prove himself.

So they planned to launch another surprise attack on the Liao Kingdom.

Li An was speechless after hearing this. It turned out that it was not only Xiao Shen who felt inferior, but Shen Congxing as well.

But Shen Congxing’s train of thought is too weird. What’s the difference between his rhetoric and the Ziwu Valley strategy?

Zhuge Liang did not adopt Wei Yan's Ziwu Valley strategy, which led to the failure of the Northern Expedition, and Wei Yan was quite resentful.

He felt that if he did as he said, he would not necessarily fail, and believed that Zhuge Liang was suppressing him.

However, Zhuge Liang did not adopt the Ziwu Valley strategy because it was too risky. At that time, the Northern Expedition had just begun, so there was no need to take such a big risk.

However, after the failure of the Northern Expedition, there was no opportunity to implement the Ziwu Valley strategy.

Therefore this is a false proposition.

The mainstream idea of ​​fighting in ancient times was to win by combining the right tactics with the unexpected, which is what is called winning by taking the enemy by surprise.

Many people think that this "奇" means a surprising move, but in fact it is not the case at all.

To win by using the normal and the unusual means to use most of the troops to fight the enemy, leaving only a small part of them.

After discovering the flaw, sending out this surprise force is called winning by surprise.

It doesn't mean that you have to rely on strange tactics to win a war.

In fact, although there are many examples in history of the majority defeating the minority, they are rare in the context of thousands of years of history.

Most wars in history were fought in an upright manner.

Using a smaller force to defeat a larger one is only a last resort. Who with a million soldiers would be stupid enough to send tens of thousands of people to fight against an enemy with hundreds of thousands of soldiers?

To put it bluntly, there is no one here, so we can only take a gamble.

Although Li An was not very proficient in military tactics, he had heard about the Duke of England's command ideas and did not think there was anything wrong with them.

Shen Congxing's proposal to send cavalry to launch a surprise attack was indeed feasible.

But what if it fails?
If they fail, the 100,000 Liao troops stationed on the border will certainly be angry and will definitely attack the city.

Many things are double-edged swords, and sneak attacks are no exception.

Failure and loss of troops will naturally have a huge impact on the morale of our side.

If we are not careful, the Liao army might really break through our defense line.

By then, the Song Dynasty would be in a passive position.

Even if it could be held, the Song Dynasty would still be in a passive position.

Yes, the Liao Kingdom and the Song Dynasty were not very willing to go to war, but that does not mean they did not have the desire.

The most crucial factor that led to the final peace talks was the attack on the camp, which caused heavy casualties to the Liao Kingdom and greatly reduced its morale.

The Liao Dynasty had an army of 100,000 soldiers stationed at the border. If it hadn't been for that great defeat, how could they have retreated so easily?

If the sneak attack failed, either the Song and Liao would fight, or the Song Dynasty would agree to the Liao's conditions.

And the conditions will only be more stringent at that time.

In this situation, the most correct choice for the UK is to seek stability.

However, Li An did not tell Shen Congxing these things. As the saying goes, the truth hurts, and Shen Congxing was not easily persuaded by a few words because of his low self-esteem and dissatisfaction with his marriage.

"Has your Majesty ever thought about what the consequences would be if we launched a surprise attack on the two cities of Liao?" Li An asked.

"I've thought about it. The Liao Kingdom endured the defeat last time, which shows that the Liao Kingdom would not easily mobilize troops. In addition to the two cities protruding from the Liao Kingdom's defenses, the Liao Kingdom did not take them seriously. If we can take them down, the worst that can happen is that we will have to pay some money," said Shen Congxing.

Li An was speechless when he heard this. How could this be the same? You have already seized their city, it would be strange if they could still tolerate it.

And it doesn't make any sense. Although most of the people in the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun are Han people, these Han people have no sense of belonging to the Song Dynasty.

Even if the Liao Kingdom could endure taking it down, there would be endless troubles and troubles.

"Uncle, have you asked the emperor?" Li An asked.

"Not yet, this is just my initial thought." Zhao Ceying said.

"Uncle, although I don't know much about military tactics, I also know that it is not appropriate to make enemies with the Liao Kingdom at this time. Those two cities are an enclave for the Song Dynasty. Even if the Liao Kingdom is benevolent, it will waste a lot of financial and material resources, which is not worth the cost." Li An said.

(End of this chapter)