Chongzheng Hall.

The sick Song Dynasty official Zhao Xu is a little anxious and excited now. He lowered his head and stared at the urgent report sent by the Hebei West Road Pacifier Office spread on the imperial case. The four words "There is a policeman on the frontier" were as if he was stabbed, and his eyes immediately left the memorial. This is not the first alarm sent from the north. The urgent memorial on Hebei East Road and Hedong Road was sent to Kaifeng Prefecture from 600 miles yesterday.

The contents of the three memorials are similar, and they all inform the abnormal movements of the Northern Dynasties!

The Northern Dynasties, that is, the "abnormal movements" of the Liao Kingdom, were fully discussed in the court long before the start of the Battle of Hengshan in the Song Dynasty.

Although all the important officials, including Prime Minister Zhang Dun, agreed that the Khitans would not tear up the "Chanyuan Alliance" that had existed for more than 90 years for the sake of the Song-Xia dispute to provoke a war that was not good for both sides.

However, the victory of the Song army in the Hengshan-Pingxia City battle has far exceeded the previous ideas.

The Song army not only defended Pingxia City and repelled hundreds of thousands of Western thieves' fierce attacks for thirteen days, but also frequently penetrated into the territory of Western Xia, destroying the city walls one after another, ambushing the Western thieves, and even took advantage of the chaos of the Western thieves' retreat. With Guo Cheng and Zhe Keshi, two thousand elite cavalry attacked Tiandu Mountain, the important city of Western Xia, captured more than 3,000 people, captured more than 100,000 cattle and sheep, and captured the six commanders of the Western thieves' Weiming Abian alive!

This series of victory was not achieved in passive defense of the city, but in field battles and siege battles, and the battlefield was in Xixia.

After this series of battles, the initiative in the battle between Song Xia has completely fallen into the hands of the Song army!

The Western Army of the Song Dynasty now seems to have the strength to fight face to face with the Western thieves on the desert grasslands and win.

Although the Song army is not yet able to break through large and sturdy cities like Xingqing Prefecture and Lingzhou, it can weaken the Western Xia through continuous field battles and harassment.

At the same time, Zhang Dun and Zeng Bu also proposed a plan to restart the Hehuang battle. They were preparing to take advantage of the Qingtang Tubo lord who blindly conquered Xinji, and their status was unstable. The subordinates had the opportunity to attack Hehuang and seize Qingtang, thus surrounding the southern line of the Western thief.

In short, Prime Minister Zhang Dun and Privy Councilor Zeng Bu both now believe that the possibility of destroying the Western thieves or expelling the Western thieves from the Lingxia area (forcing the Western Xia to move westward to Central Asia) is becoming increasingly greater.

Just stick to the current strategy - not to attack Lingxia Jiancheng, not to cease war with the Western thieves, and constantly expand the front line - the Western thieves will sooner or later become unable to hold on.

Especially the Song Dynasty currently has completely controlled the Hengshan area, which can block the Western thieves outside the hinterland of the Song Dynasty, so that the Western thieves will not be able to obtain wealth by plundering the Song Dynasty to support the war.

It can be said that it is already a matter of time before the demise of the Western thief.

But will the Khitans watch the "Three Kingdoms" side eliminate or rush away?

Probably not!

If the Khitans want to join the war, can the Song Dynasty resist?

Zhao Xu had no idea about this problem at all. Since the news of the victory in Pingxia City came, he had been insomnia all night, his health was getting worse and worse, and the old problem of back pain became increasingly serious... After winning a big victory, he was so scared that he was so embarrassed to say it!

Just when Zhao Xu sighed, the important officials in the court were talking and each other was talking, but no one could come up with a convincing argument, Tong Guan, the entourage official who was sent out to run errands by the empress dowager, posted a secret note a few days ago. It was said that when he was summoning the painter Wu Haogu, he met a son of the Ma family in Yiwulushan, who was probably one of the four major families of the Liao Kingdom, and he also found out many important internal information about the Liao Kingdom...

In fact, the Guoxin Institute has been spying on the information of the Liao Kingdom, and has also received some reports of the Beizhubu Rebellion and the possibility of a change in the Naomen of the Naomen of the Body, but they are all very vague and some are contradictory. It cannot be compared with the things that Tong Guan reported in the secret memorial!

If what was said in that memorial was true, then the Liao Kingdom was simply bluffing... because their "400,000" palace tent army could not be drawn out at all!

Otherwise, all the ministries and the tribes of the birth of daughters would be in chaos. Unless the Khitans did not want their hometown in the north, they could only watch the Song Dynasty repair the Western Xia.

Once the Western Xia was destroyed or expelled by the Song Dynasty, the Song Dynasty would immediately draw out 200,000 elite soldiers who had seen blood and fought old wars, and also gain a large number of Tubo, Hexi good horses and cavalry strengths.

Next, as long as you send capable ministers like Zhang Dun, Zhang Feng, and Zeng Bu to rectify Hebei East Road, Hebei West Road and Hedong Road, build there like the Shaanxi roads, and support long-term wars. You can fight another protracted war with the Khitans...

He did not seek to restore Yanyun in one fell swoop. As long as he could drag out a civil turmoil in Liao, the Song Dynasty could recover the land of Youyan as he wished.

Although it was not certain that the authenticity was true, Zhao Xu summoned Tong Guan immediately and listened to him for an hour. Then he was in a good mood. Not only did he promote Tong Guan, he also gave a gift to the painter named Wu Haogu, Zhao Xu, who was the master of Hanlin Painting Academy, to the painter named Wu Haogu, who had also seen the "Vishaman Heavenly Tu" and Lu Zhishen sent by Han Yanzhong, so he knew that Wu Haogu's ability could be regarded as a guest.

That night, Zhao Xu had a beautiful sleep. However, after waking up, he became nervous again...

In the Chongzheng Hall, the prime minister and the two systems (Hanlin scholars and the Zhongshu Sheren) were the important officials who could determine the national policy of the Song Dynasty, just ended a debate on the Liao and Xia policies. Standing in the queue of the prime ministers, Zhang Dun seemed confident. During the Zhezong period, a situation that was different from the rest of the Northern Song Dynasty was the "unique prime minister".

The official Zhao Xu's standards in employing people are different from other Zhao's emperors. He did not believe in the emperor's mentality of "disturbing different opinions", but adopted the policy of "not doubting people, not doubting people". The person who made him "not doubt" was Zhang Dun, the only prime minister of the Song Dynasty, who was truly in power.

Zhang Dun was the only prime minister, while his cousin Zhang Feng served as the commander of the Western Front (supervisor, appeasement envoy, and so on). Such a combination is not common even in the Han and Tang dynasties, not to mention the Song Dynasty, which was passed down by the officials, even in the Han and Tang dynasties!

However, this "undoubted employment" policy has achieved good results in the battle against the Western Xia. The Western Army has achieved the best results since the Western thieves suffered disaster.

The reason for this is that Erzhang's ability is indeed outstanding. Although Zhang Dun had a poor evaluation in history and was a treacherous minister. However, during his reign, the Song Dynasty was full of treasury, strong military power, and domestic people's livelihood was stable. He won consecutive victories in foreign wars - it was not the kind of winning streak with a winning rate of 70%, but the realization of territory and the battle between Xixia and Qingtang Tubo was the one who bowed down.

Zhao Xu looked at the old prime minister who was white in his hair but still energetic, and thought to himself: If God could give himself and Zhang Dun ten years, the weakness of the Song Dynasty would be wiped out...

"Zhang Qing," Zhao Xu spoke, his voice a little hoarse, "Everything on the West Road is carried out according to the original strategy. The battle to attack Qingtang should be prepared as usual. The North Road... strengthen the vigilance and do not show weakness to the Khitan."

"I will obey the order."

Zhao Xu's words moved Zhang Dun: A wise monarch! He is unquestionable in employing people, boldly delegating power to the front line, and has no fear under the intimidation of the Khitans... It is a blessing for the Song Dynasty to have such an official family!

But the body of the official family is getting worse day by day, with a dark face, thin body, and shaking when walking.

The official family is only in his twenties!

Why did he become sick like this?

Does God look down on the Song Dynasty to become stronger?

"Let's retreat."

Zhao Xu felt a little tired, so he asked the priests to leave Chongzheng Hall to do their own affairs. In fact, after the morning court this morning, he no longer had to call the priests to Chongzheng Hall for a small meeting.

It was just because he was restless that Zhang Dun, Zeng Bu and others were summoned to discuss matters. He originally wanted to present Tong Guan’s secret letter in Chongzheng Hall, but it was not appropriate to think about it. As a result, he didn’t know what the details of this horse craft were. What if it was a detailed work by the Liao people?

Secondly, if this Ma Zhi is really a generous gift given to him by God, he must also use it well... He should not show it to others easily, otherwise it would be bad if the news is leaked and the Khitans find out.

After thinking about it, he suddenly asked his side and said, "Where is the painter... named Wu Haogu? Go and see him."

"Here!"

An internal official guarding Chongzheng Hall responded when he heard this, turned around and walked towards the Hanlin Painting Academy. Hanlin Painting Academy, also known as Hanlin Painting Bureau, belongs to one of the four bureaus, including the Imperial Doctor, Astronomy, Calligraphy, and Medical Officer under the Hanlin Academy. The yamen office is located in the east corridor of Xuanyou Gate inside the palace city. After entering the palace from Donghua Gate, pass the left Chengtian Gate and walk a hundred steps west along a corridor. It is a crossroads. The north side of the intersection is Xuanyou Gate, and the south side is the left Yintai Gate. Entering from Xuanyou Gate, on the right are Hanlin Four Bureaus, Liu Shang Bureau, Imperial Kitchen, Lecture House, Zishan Hall and other affiliated palace institutions. On the left are Chongzheng Hall, Yanhe Hall and Jingfu Hall, three palaces where the emperors work and rest on their daily work.

Just as the official summoned by Xuan came to the Hanlin Painting Bureau, Wu Haogu visited the Painting Bureau accompanied by Liang Shicheng and met his colleagues.

The inner east corridor occupied by the Painting Bureau is actually a row of gallery houses, including studios for Attendant, Yixue and the waiter, classrooms for students of the Painting Bureau, studios for craftsmen, and rooms for the Acting Officer and the waiter. There are not many staff members for Attendant, Yixue and the waiter. There are only three people, including the direct chief, Yixue and the waiter, and there are six people, four people, and there are only thirteen people in total, and they are often dissatisfied.
Chapter completed!