"Master Xue".

"This humble subject is here!"

"Continue to sell silk to the Abbasid Caliphate, sell as much as you can."

"yes!"

"While you're at it, how about you go on a diplomatic mission to the Abbasid Caliphate on my behalf?"

Xue Donglai was slightly taken aback, and said, "It is my greatest honor to be able to serve His Majesty."

"The Abbasid Caliphate has just fought a war with the Liao Dynasty. The king of the Abbasid Caliphate hates Yelü Dashi to the bone. You take my sincerity with you and tell him that Yelü Dashi has acted against the natural order and is willing to join the Abbasid Caliphate in attacking the Liao Dynasty."

Zhao Huan added, "Don't worry, I will send experts to protect your safety."

"yes!"

"After you complete this task, I will not treat you unfairly."

After meeting Xue Donglai, Zhao Huan did not linger in Chang'an any longer.

He led the Imperial Guards northwestward.

About half a month later, the army passed through Yumen Pass and arrived in the Western Regions.

The emperor personally led the expedition, and war clouds loomed over the Western Regions.

Day and night, a steady stream of grain was transported from the Central Plains and the Jiangnan region, as well as further south, to the front lines in the Western Regions.

One hundred thousand imperial guards arrived in Gaochang City in early May.

A large number of elite troops were dispatched from various prefectures in the northwest to the west.

Wu Jie, the commander of the left wing army, already has five major corps, each with 40,000 elite troops, for a total strength of 200,000.

The Right Route Army Commander Yue Fei commanded a force of 320,000 men, comprising eight major legions.

The three armies combined numbered 620,000, earning them the nickname "million-strong army."

In addition, the Beifu and Hetao routes served as the rear supply lines for grain.

According to incomplete statistics from the State Council and the Privy Council, as many as five million people participated in the logistical construction for this western expedition.

Of course, this number is exaggerated.

They included the laborers who built the railway from Chang'an to Xingqing Prefecture and then to Dunhuang.

This is actually controversial; the actions of these laborers did indeed contribute to the westward expedition.

Strictly speaking, however, it was considered as the daily construction expenses of the government offices and local governments.

In the words of Zhou Chao, the Minister of the Three Departments, local officials reported in this way, clearly intending to cover up their local extravagant spending.

They forcibly tied some of the expenses to support the western expedition, thereby requesting temporary funds from the central government.

In any case, the scale of this logistical mobilization is unprecedented.

This also shows the emperor's determination.

Along the road from the Central Plains to the Western Regions, every time you passed through a prefecture or along a highway, you could see people seeing off the soldiers heading north.

This is an era where people take pride in serving their country.

The mother was packing food for her son to eat on the road, while the father didn't forget to give the troublesome little rascal a few words of advice.

The girl at the village entrance has also planted trees, waiting for her sweetheart to return so they can enjoy the flowers and the moon together.

Along the main road from Chang'an to Xingqing Prefecture, one could see squads of soldiers in uniform everywhere.

Some of them were to be deployed as reserves to Dunhuang for assembly.

Some served as logistics units, sharing the heavy responsibility of procuring food from various prefectures.

I heard that this time, the emperor is determined to avenge Marshal Zong Ze, and all the young men in the army are united in their hatred of the enemy.

On the first day Zhao Huan arrived in Gaochang, officials from all walks of life came to pay their respects.

For a time, the morale of the Song army in the Western Regions was greatly boosted.

The scouts had already worn out several horses in their pursuit of the news of the Song emperor's arrival in the Western Regions, which was then delivered to the palace.

The Song Dynasty's continuous reinforcement of troops, and even the emperor himself leading the Imperial Guard, undoubtedly put enormous pressure on the Liao Dynasty.

Back then, the Tanguts were defeated by the Song emperor's imperial guards.

This is something Li Ganshun will never forget.

The Liao court was immediately divided into two factions: one advocating peace and the other resolutely advocating war.

The peace faction believed that the Song Dynasty's main purpose in assembling a large army and marching westward was not to destroy the newly established Liao Dynasty, but to demonstrate the military power of the Celestial Empire.

At present, the Liao Dynasty has just finished a battle with the Abbasid Caliphate in the west. Although it won, it also suffered casualties and needs time to recover.

Furthermore, the Arab troops on the western front have not yet withdrawn, and if war breaks out on the eastern front, the Arab army will inevitably take the opportunity to attack.

Being attacked from both sides at that time, defeat is inevitable.

If we rashly start a war with the Song state now, it would undoubtedly be courting our own destruction.

The pro-war faction vehemently denounced the pro-peace faction as traitors to Liaoning!

According to military reports from the front, the Song emperor has mobilized a million-strong army to march west, revealing his clear intention to destroy the Liao dynasty.

If we do not fight, we will only face death.

On this day, Yelü Dashi inspected his military equipment depot.

The Liao Dynasty had already begun manufacturing firearms, and based on the experience of the Song Dynasty, the process was progressing very quickly.

This confirms the saying: the difficulty of creating something from nothing is 100,000 times greater than the difficulty of going from one to ten thousand. The former stems from doubt about the direction and the existence of the future, while the latter merely addresses the issue of standardization.

Yelü Dashi currently has three thousand muskets, has manufactured one hundred cannons, and has over a thousand thunderbolts.

The Liao Dynasty was constantly upgrading its swords, spears, shields, and armor.

If Yelü Dashi were given another three years, the Liao Dynasty's military equipment and combat capabilities would be completely transformed.

But Zhao Huan clearly sensed something and, disregarding the risks of instability within the country, brazenly launched a western expedition, aiming to take Yelü Dashi's life now.

Looking at the people working tirelessly in the armory and those new gadgets (machinery), Yelü Dashi felt a heavy weight in his heart.

Unlike the vast and resource-rich Song Dynasty, Yelü Dashi did not have a huge economic scale to support him; his money was limited.

Seeing his emperor's worried face, Xiao Hanli said defiantly, "Your Majesty, as long as you give the order, I will lead the people of the seven provinces and eighteen tribes to fight the Song dogs to the death. Not one of us will retreat!"

Yelü Dashi remained silent.

Xiao Hanli retorted, "Your Majesty, we defeated the Abbasid Caliphate's army of 100,000 with only 10,000 elite troops. Each of our men can fight ten against one. Now our Great Liao has 300,000 mercenaries! What do we have to fear from that dog emperor's million-strong army!"

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