It is hard to say whether Zhao Xu wants to ascend to heaven or not, but the Queen Mother of Western Xia definitely wants to ascend to heaven.

In the first year of Feilong, not long after the beginning of the year, the Queen Mother of Western Xia staged a palace drama.

She directly ordered the Xixia leader Li Bingchang to be placed under house arrest.

The news was also transmitted to Tokyo Bianliang at the first time, but Zhang Fei was not surprised at all.

Because for Empress Dowager Liang, she now has no way to retreat. Since she banned trade with the Song Dynasty, more and more people turned to the Song Dynasty. It should be noted that the Song Dynasty had always used trade to threaten Western Xia, which shows that Western Xia needed trade with Song more. Therefore, the people, merchants, and some village chiefs along the border of Western Xia were very opposed to Empress Dowager Liang's order.

In fact, Empress Dowager Liang knew very well that it was wrong to do so, but she had no choice. After Li Bingchang took power, he had been using his close ministers to create public opinion in the court, restore Han rituals, and befriend the Song Dynasty. However, she was a Han woman, so she could only take more extreme measures.

But we see more and more people supporting their leader for their own interests, and the border is becoming more and more chaotic.

If this continues, Li Bingchang will most likely use this incident to regain power.

The only way was to break off relations with the Song Dynasty first, put the emperor under house arrest and ensure his own power. In this way, he would be able to negotiate with the Song Dynasty more independently in diplomacy without being involved in internal affairs.

In other words, as long as I stabilize the domestic affairs first, it would be reasonable to open the market later.

...

...

But now we have to hold on no matter what.

However, her move shocked the whole country and made the chiefs and merchants who had previously secretly traded with the Song Dynasty realize that they had no way out. If they did not rebel, they would definitely be liquidated by Empress Dowager Liang. So they directly sent people to contact Wang Shao, Zhong Yan and others, expressing their willingness to surrender to the Song Dynasty.

After learning the news, Zhao Xu immediately convened an important meeting.

Chuigong Hall.

"According to what Wang Shao and Zhong Yan said, many chieftains in the border states have already decided to rebel against Queen Mother Liang and surrender to the Song Dynasty. This is a great opportunity to destroy Xixia!"

Wang Anshi was very moved by this.

This is really a great opportunity. The national strength of the Song Dynasty is no longer what it used to be, and there is such a big internal strife in Western Xia. It really has the best time, place and people.

Wen Yanbo said, “But our spies in Xixia and Liao have also confirmed that in the second half of last year, the Queen Mother of Xixia secretly sent envoys to Liao twice.

Without the support of Liao, the Queen Mother of Western Xia would never dare to do this. They must have reached some kind of agreement. Once we send troops to Western Xia, Liao will most likely take advantage of the situation. "

Lu Huiqing said: "Since Xixia has already surrendered to Liao, if we wait until the Queen Mother of Xixia has sorted out her internal affairs, it will definitely pose a greater threat to our country."

Wen Yanbo said: "Of course we can't miss this opportunity, but we have already planned it. We will secretly send troops through merchants, build forts, and assist them in defense. This way, we will have enough troops to defend the Liao Kingdom. As long as we don't march on a large scale, the Liao Kingdom may not dare to move south."

Wang Anshi said: "Although this strategy is feasible, it may not be able to be defended. The Queen Mother of Western Xia will definitely send a large army to suppress the rebellious generals and village chiefs. If we don't send the main force in, how can we stop them?"

Wen Yanbo stroked his beard and asked Zhao Xu again: "Your Majesty, this war concerns the fate of the country. You should appoint a commander to take charge of the overall situation."

Zhao Xu nodded and said, "I want to appoint Wang Shao as the commander-in-chief of the three armies. After all, he once used the same tactics to capture the Hehuang area, and he is very familiar with the local conditions."

Wang Anshi immediately said: "I also think Wang Shao is the best candidate."

Wen Yanbo hesitated for a moment, and after thinking it over again and again, he said, "Your Majesty, trust people when you employ them, and don't employ people you don't trust. If you appoint Wang Shao as the commander-in-chief, you must trust him, and you can't make the same mistake again."

He said it very tactfully, but in fact he was implying that the emperor should not give orders blindly and should not learn from his predecessors to remotely control the war situation.

He also knew that this opportunity was rare, but the Liao Kingdom was eyeing him covetously. If he was too aggressive, the Liao Kingdom might take advantage of the situation, but if he was too conservative, he might miss the opportunity.

We can only appoint a commander and let him make the decision based on the situation on the front line.

This kind of battle situation is difficult to control remotely.

Zhao Xu nodded and said, "Now that the reform has been successful, there is no need to do so. If you have no objection, I intend to appoint Wang Shao as the chief military commander of Guanxi, Longyou, and Hedong."

Sima Guang, who was standing by, panicked when he heard this. He wanted to say that this was not the system of our dynasty, but then he changed his mind and realized that the previous official system reform followed the Tang system. Although the final result was a mess, the slogan was still there, and it was reasonable for the chief military commander to be the commander-in-chief.

Wen Yanbo did not object and said, "Your Majesty can order Wang Shao to act according to circumstances and decide how many main forces to send in, but it is not appropriate to declare war, let alone advance rashly. We should move step by step, build camps, focus on defense, and erode the territory of Western Xia. We only need to weaken Western Xia through this war to win the final victory. There is no need to launch a large-scale attack at all."

Zhao Xu nodded and looked at Wang Anshi and the others.

Wang Anshi and others certainly agreed.

In fact, they were worried that the conservatives were too weak and dared not attack, thus missing the opportunity, but they believed in Wang Shao very much, and Wang Shao would definitely not let Xixia go.

After the meeting, Zhao Xu immediately went to a small attic nearby, where Zhang Fei had already been waiting.

"Your Majesty, they didn't quarrel?"

Zhang Fei asked.

Zhao Xu shook his head and said, "Duke Wen's idea is the same as ours, but he thought this strategy was too conservative and worried that it would delay the opportunity to fight. However, when I decided to appoint Wang Shao as the general manager of the march, he no longer objected."

Zhang Fei breathed a sigh of relief, "That's good."

Zhao Xu frowned and said, "What I am most worried about now is the Northern Dynasty. According to the news, the Northern Dynasty must have reached an agreement with the Queen Mother of Western Xia. I just don't know what they are planning. Will they send troops directly, or will they wait until the Queen Mother of Western Xia pacifies the internal affairs before sending troops together with her, or will they just put pressure on our dynasty to make the Queen Mother of Western Xia equal to the internal strife."

Although the country's strength is growing, he is still very worried if he has to fight on two fronts at the same time.

Zhang Fei consoled him, "Your Majesty, we have tried our best to avoid fighting on two fronts, and even used merchants, but man proposes, God disposes, and the final initiative is in the hands of the Liao Kingdom.

However, with our current national strength, I am confident that we can stop the Liao Kingdom before launching a full-scale attack on Xixia."

Zhao Xu nodded.

Zhang Fei did not say anything more. Not only Zhao Xu, but in fact most of the ministers in the court had a fear of the Liao Kingdom, and it was impossible to eliminate it before going to war.

......

The next day, Zhao Xu sent fast horses to convey his appointment to Xizhou. To be on the safe side, he even sent fast horses to Yanzhou, Suizhou and other northwestern border states to ask them to accept Wang Shao's command.

Although Zhang Fei had already given notice when he went there before, it was the first time that these three military commanders appeared in the Song Dynasty.