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Because the Liao army was defeated by Zhou Chen and suffered heavy losses, although the Liao Kingdom was angry, it had to agree to the peace talks with the Song Dynasty.

Ever since, the two sides sent peace talkers and started negotiations in a safe place.

But negotiations cannot be successful overnight. Both parties have made preparations and have put forward conditions to each other.

It was obvious that the Song Dynasty was the victorious party in this negotiation, but as the negotiations went on, it actually became the weaker party. Not only did it not gain any advantage, but it was instead pressed step by step by the Liao Kingdom.

What is even more bizarre is that in the face of the Liao Kingdom's relentless pressure, the Song Dynasty was actually compromising step by step. Apart from being unwilling to cede cities and land, it also agreed to pay various tributes and annual payments to the Liao Kingdom.

This is not a peace talk at all, it is simply a one-sided offer of warmth from the Song side.

Zhou Chen had always sent people to keep an eye on the results of the peace talks, but when he learned about the process and conditions of the talks, he was also stunned.

Sure enough, reality is sometimes even more exaggerated than imagination. The victorious party pays compensation to the defeated party, which is very explosive no matter in which era.

"You want to negotiate, have you asked me?"

Zhou Chen sneered in his heart. He certainly couldn't sit idly by and watch the peace talks between Song and Liao succeed. If they succeeded, what would happen to his own mission?

After doing side quests for so long, he knew very well that the more difficult the side quest, the better the reward. He had waited for so many years just to complete the side quest of recovering the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun. Anyone who dared to hinder him would be his enemy.

As for how to prevent the peace talks, he had already made preparations.

Just when the negotiations between the envoys of Song and Liao were about to succeed, a piece of news suddenly came, instantly interrupting the negotiations between the two sides.

It turned out that news came from the front line that tens of thousands of captured Liao soldiers suddenly rioted in the military camp, killed countless Song soldiers, and tried to escape.

The commander of the Song army, Zhou Chen, was also assassinated by the Liao people and was injured. His generals had no choice but to order the killing of the Liao army prisoners.

At the critical moment of the peace talks, such a thing suddenly happened, and the peace talks naturally could not go on. Even the Liao envoys became furious, clamoring that the Song Dynasty should pay a price, etc., and then left angrily.

When the news reached the capital, the whole government was shocked, and Emperor Zhao Zhen was also very shocked.

He had been gradually feeling relieved because the peace talks were about to succeed, but unexpectedly this situation arose, making him anxious again.

"What's wrong with this Zhou Chen? He is invincible on the battlefield, but how come he can't even keep an eye on some captured Liao people?"

Zhao Zhen was furious. As an emperor, he did not want to go to war and did not have any great ambitions. He only wanted peace in the world and the people to be united.

However, this prisoner riot directly disrupted the peace talks between the Song and Liao sides. According to the Liao people, this war was inevitable.

There were many officials who had the same idea as Zhao Zhen, especially the civil servants. They were already dissatisfied with Zhou Chen, so they took the opportunity to attack him in various ways, as if Zhou Chen was not a meritorious official who defended the country, but an unforgivable criminal.

The nobles and officials who supported Zhou Chen naturally would not give in to weakness. They all made excuses for Zhou Chen and supported going to war, proposing that Zhou Chen lead the army to counterattack the Liao Kingdom.

The two sides quarreled fiercely, and the grand court meeting ended in this quarrel.

Emperor Zhao Zhen, who was raised by civil servants since childhood, was different from the previous emperor Zhao Heng. As Zhou Chen destroyed Western Xia and defeated the Liao army, his reputation grew and his military power became greater. He couldn't help but become a little wary of Zhou Chen.

Especially since the civil servants around him kept instilling in him sharp words like "wearing the yellow robe" and "military men disrupting the country", which made him even more wary of Zhou Chen.

So he was inclined towards the civil service group and did not want to continue the war, and Zhou Chen's behavior undoubtedly disrupted his plans.

Although he was dissatisfied, he had no choice now. The Liao Kingdom no longer wanted to negotiate with him and had made it clear that it wanted to go to war. He couldn't just chop off Zhou Chen's head and send it over to force the Liao Kingdom to stop, so this war was destined to be inevitable.

And once the war breaks out, the only one he can rely on is Zhou Chen, so he has no choice.

(End of this chapter)

Chapter 1017: The Emperor and His Ministers Obsessed with Peace Talks, the Officials Became Suspicious

In order to allow Zhou Chen to command the army with peace of mind, Zhao Zhen had to reward Zhou Chen again.

Zhou Chen was granted the posts of Prince Taibao, General of the Cavalry, General of the Liao Expedition, and the title of Duke of Liang.

When Zhou Chen received the imperial edict, he couldn't help but sneer a few times.

This official of our Song Dynasty has not learned much of the king's tyrannical ambition. This suspicious character is very suitable for an emperor.

He was the Grand Marshal before, and now he is the Grand Tutor to the Crown Prince. The rank of the Grand Tutor to the Crown Prince is very high, reaching the first rank, but in terms of actual power, he cannot be compared with the Commander-in-Chief of the Palace Guard.

What was the purpose of removing his post as the commander-in-chief of the Palace Guards and giving him the post of the Prince's Guardian?

Not to mention the honorary military position of General of the Cavalry, as for the General who attacks Liao, will this position be useless once the war is over?

As for the Duke of Liang, his rank is several levels higher than that of a marquis, but the problem is that for a hereditary duke, each generation will be demoted by one level. After three generations, if the title is no longer bestowed, even the title of marquis will be lost. How can this compare to the hereditary title of marquis of loyalty and bravery?

Zhou Chen saw through Zhao Zhen's little thoughts clearly in his heart, but he did not show it. His main goal now was to complete the side quests first, and he would deal with the other things after completing the quests.

When I was studying history, I knew that the emperors of the Song Dynasty were more weird and cowardly than each other, but that is history after all.

But now, after experiencing it personally, he finally understood that the Song Dynasty was a dynasty that looked glorious on the outside but was a mess on the inside. Not to mention compared with the Tang and Ming dynasties, even compared with the short-lived Sui Dynasty, it was far inferior.

Zhao Zhen, who would be honored as "Emperor Renzong" in the future, was really brainwashed by the civil service group. Even when those civil servants slapped him in the face, he could endure it and even responded with a smile.

But what about me? I helped him destroy Western Xia, resolved the threat on the Song-Xia border, and resisted the invasion of the Liao army. Now I have to fight against the angry Liao army again.

As a result, Zhao Zhen had already started plotting against him before the battle even started.

He is really good at internal fighting, but a coward when dealing with external parties.

However, Zhou Chen has no time or energy to think about these things now. All his energy is now focused on the Liao Kingdom.

When he fought against Western Xia before, he had planned it out deliberately and for a year before he was able to destroy Western Xia in one fell swoop and capture the founding emperor of Western Xia alive. You can also say that he was the emperor who destroyed the country.

The Western Xia in this fictional world is not as powerful as the Western Xia in official history. It can defeat both the Song Dynasty and the Liao Dynasty.

The Dingnan Army, the predecessor of Western Xia, had been wiped out by Zhou Chen once. So although Western Xia was established, the emperor who established Western Xia was not the same person as the founding emperor of Western Xia in history, and his strength was far inferior. That's why it took Zhou Chen more than a year to destroy the country with only less than 200,000 troops.

But the situation was different with the Liao Kingdom. The Liao Kingdom's military strength was stronger than that of the Song Dynasty. Although the Song Dynasty had a large population and a vast territory, it had hardly ever won a few battles against the Liao Kingdom.

Because the Song people and the Liao people had different living habits, it was extremely difficult to send spies to the Liao Kingdom.

Although Zhou Chen had made plans in advance, the intelligence passed back to him by the spies sent to the Liao Kingdom was limited, and even less was able to access the core resources of the Liao Kingdom.

Based on the intelligence he had gathered and his own analysis, he came to a general conclusion.

The most prosperous period of the Liao Dynasty should be the era of the previous emperor, Emperor Shengzong of Liao. At that time, the Liao Dynasty had a standing army of 300,000 to 400,000 soldiers. If the whole country's strength was combined, the number could reach 700,000 to 800,000, nearly one million.

But with the current emperor, Yelü Zongsheng, ascending the throne, internal strife broke out within the Liao Kingdom, and the national strength has been gradually weakened, and is no longer what it was twenty years ago.

The Liao Kingdom's current standing army has at most 300,000 soldiers. Even if they fight a national war, 500,000 or 600,000 soldiers would be the maximum.

However, many of the Liao army's troops were elite, especially their cavalry, which were invincible.

Zhou Chen may despise the Liao army strategically, but he will definitely take it seriously tactically.

As the general in the northern expedition against Liao, he has summoned troops from all over the north, numbering more than 200,000. The manpower is absolutely sufficient, but it is far lacking in elite troops. There are even fewer cavalrymen who can fight against the Liao cavalry.

In short, this battle is not easy to fight.

If it was just a matter of repelling the Liao army, Zhou Chen was 100% sure, unless the Liao Kingdom went crazy and attacked desperately.

However, if one wants to take back the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun from the Liao Kingdom, or even attack the capital of the Liao Kingdom, the difficulty will increase exponentially.

"Father, this was sent by Uncle Nine."

Zhou Bai, dressed in black armor, walked into the mansion and handed the letter in his hand to Zhou Chen.

Two years have passed, and Zhou Bai is no longer a member of the Royal Guards, but a captain of the cavalry battalion.

Of course, this was wartime. Normally, he would study with Zhou Chen, and everyone in the army knew that he was Zhou Chen's son.

Zhou Chen did not deliberately conceal this matter. If Zhou Bai could not even withstand this little bit of pressure, it would be a waste of all his years of training him.

Zhou Chen took the letter, opened it and started reading. Soon, he frowned.

This was the information Lei Jiu sent back, saying that the Liao Kingdom sent an army of 150,000, led by Xiao Hun as the main general and Yelu Zongyuan as the deputy general, coming from Shangjing and heading straight for the Song-Liao border.

Zhou Chen also had some understanding of the Liao Kingdom and knew who Xiao Hun was. He was a descendant of a famous general of the Liao Kingdom. He was over 50 years old this year and was a very famous military general of the Liao Kingdom. He was very good at cavalry combat and had participated in many wars between the Song and Liao Kingdoms, including the battle of the Chanyuan Alliance.

Yelu Zongyuan is the younger brother of Liao Emperor Yelu Zongsheng. Although he is young, he is also a fierce character who should not be underestimated.

Of course, the most important thing is the 150,000-strong army, half of which are cavalry. Once tens of thousands of elite cavalry enter the battlefield, the destructive power is too terrible. If they charge and kill, I am afraid that even an army of 200,000 may not be able to stop them.

He would not doubt Lei Jiu's information. Lei Jiu had followed him for nearly thirty years and would never betray him, so the information was absolutely credible.

But even so, he frowned. An army of 150,000 was not scary, as he had experienced wars with larger numbers. But 60,000 to 70,000 cavalry were really scary. If they did not destroy the Liao cavalry, they would have no chance of winning.

Although he had a headache, Zhou Chen was still full of confidence. If he didn't even have confidence, how could he recover the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun?

"Cavalry is not invincible."

Zhou Chen had several ways to deal with cavalry in his mind, some of which were not usable, but some were usable.

Not to mention the distant future, let’s just say that in the future, General Yue’s method of dealing with the Jin cavalry can be used here. However, this method can be used against heavy cavalry, but not light cavalry.

The Liao Kingdom was more light cavalry-based, so this method alone was not safe, and it was also necessary to train heavy infantry and equip them with heavy weapons such as sabers...

With the war approaching, Zhou Chen can only start training the army, finding craftsmen, and forging weapons in the shortest possible time.

In fact, the population of the Song Dynasty was several times larger than that of the Liao Dynasty, but the Song Dynasty emphasized culture over military, which led to the weak domestic military power.

The Song Dynasty had a considerable military force, but its military men had a low status, and there had been even fewer wars in recent years. It was very difficult to gain promotion through military exploits.

Over time, many military officers had no room for advancement, and naturally they lost the motivation to strive. Over time, the combat effectiveness of the Song Dynasty army became increasingly worse.

A few decades later, the Jin Kingdom invaded Bianliang, captured the two emperors alive, and destroyed the Northern Song Dynasty, which was a disgrace to the Central Plains dynasty.

Looking back at the thousands of years of Chinese history, there are really few dynasties as weak as the Song Dynasty.

…………

Zhou Chen originally thought that the battle with the Liao army would be a difficult one, but to his surprise, the Song army he led achieved an astonishing victory in the first clash between the two sides, killing thousands of Liao people and capturing thousands alive, defeating the Liao army.

This battle stunned Zhou Chen. Where was the Liao army supposed to be invincible? How come they were so weak in their first encounter?

But he soon realized that it was not that the Liao army was too weak, but that they were underestimated.

In previous wars between the Song and Liao dynasties, the Song army was no match for the Liao army and had almost no victories. The last time the Liao army invaded and was destroyed, they thought more about the fact that they were not weak in combat, but that they were defeated by the despicable Song people with conspiracy and tricks.

Therefore, in this first battle when he led an army of 150,000, he underestimated the Song army, which led to this great defeat.

Although it is strange, this should be the most reasonable explanation.

After this defeat, the Liao army became much more cautious and began to use light cavalry to clear the way. Even though Zhou Chen was well prepared, he still suffered heavy losses facing the Liao cavalry charge.

The Liao army is the invading party, and Zhou Chen cannot just hold his ground. With the Liao army's mobility, if they are not stopped, they can use their flexible mobility to bypass the Song army and invade the heartland of the Song State. At that time, the people of the Song Dynasty will be massacred.

So Zhou Chen knew that the Liao cavalry was unstoppable, but for the sake of the innocent people of the Song Dynasty, he had to lead his troops to stop the Liao army's offensive.

The number of Song troops was greater than that of Liao troops, and with Zhou Chen's iron-blooded order, no one retreated on the battlefield. Even if the Liao cavalry was strong, they could not break through the Song army's defense line.

However, in this case, the number of casualties of the Song army would far exceed that of the Liao army.

Zhou Chen has been on the battlefield for a long time and has seen life and death. He knows that casualties are inevitable for victory, so he can be ruthless.

However, his son Zhou Bai has seen so many life and death situations in recent days that he is a little dazed and his character has not yet been tempered.

This time was different from the last expedition against Western Xia. That battle ended in an almost crushing victory under Zhou Chen's command. This time, although they were able to resist the Liao army every time and even continued to repel the Liao army and win, the casualties were far greater than in the Song-Xia War.

The Liao army had only 150,000 soldiers. At the beginning, they were caught off guard by Zhou Chen and many of them were killed and captured. Later, they were surrounded and attacked by Zhou Chen. Although they killed and wounded countless Song soldiers, they themselves also suffered heavy casualties, especially the light cavalry that were targeted by the Song army, which suffered even more severe losses.

After more than a month, more than half of the 150,000-strong army were lost. It was winter again, and due to a shortage of food and fodder, the Liao army had to retreat.

When the news of Zhou Chen's victory in repelling the Liao army was sent back to Bian Jing, the whole government was shocked. Even those civil servants who disliked Zhou Chen breathed a sigh of relief and no longer targeted Zhou Chen as before.

As for the people, it caused an uproar. Zhou Chen was already a famous person in the Song Dynasty. He became famous at a young age. He had previously destroyed Western Xia and now he was repelling the Liao army.

For a time, his prestige among the people reached its peak. Even young children knew about General Zhou Chen, and many people even called Zhou Chen the God of War of the Song Dynasty.

The Song-Liao War was temporarily stopped, but a strange thing happened again. The Song Dynasty official Zhao Zhen once again sent envoys to the Liao Kingdom to negotiate peace with it.

Zhou Chen has become accustomed to all kinds of weird strategies in the court. These big men don't treat the soldiers on the front line as human beings at all.

They negotiate if they lose the battle, and they still negotiate if they win the battle. In their eyes, the life and death of the soldiers on the front line are not important at all, and the outcome of the war is just a bargaining chip.

If they lose, they have to pay more tribute, such as gold, silver, land resources, etc.; if they win, they have to pay less tribute. Anyway, no matter whether they win or lose, they put themselves in a weak position.

There is another possibility, that is, they have always regarded the Liao people as barbarians, and believed that the Liao Kingdom invaded the Central Plains just to steal some yellow and white products, some food and the like.

In this case, why not just give them some rewards and send them away? There is no need to start a war.

In their view, war costs money and in the end they have to pay annual tribute. It would be better not to fight and just pay money directly. Wouldn't it be good to have peace in the world?

Only the Song Dynasty could use money and dignity to beg for mercy from the enemy.

The Liao emperor was already furious because of the defeat, and he was confused when he heard that the Song wanted to negotiate. But he quickly reacted and sent someone to contact them.

The boy who brings money has come to your door, why wouldn’t you want it?

As I said, Zhao Zhen wanted peace talks, but Zhou Chen refused to let him have his way. He took advantage of the peace talks between Song and Liao to direct and act out a scene in which the Liao people invaded the border again. Then his generals led their troops to fight, massacred the Liao army, and entered the heartland of the Liao Kingdom, imitating the Liao invasion and killing and looting the Liao people.

This action directly angered the entire Liao Kingdom, and the peace talks collapsed halfway again. The angry Liao people even beheaded the peace envoys from the Song Kingdom.

The war between Song and Liao, which had stopped for several months, broke out again.