Yeli Yuqi was very resourceful and made suggestions to Li Yuanhao in Xixia language.
Li Yuanhao glanced at Zhang Yuan and Wu Hao in the room and said in Chinese, "The Song Dynasty has changed its border commanders. Does that mean we won't march south? We've tried all sorts of methods over the years: provoking Song envoys, showing weakness to the enemy, and writing letters to the Song Emperor as a subject. But it still can't change the fact that they are wary of us. We might as well be more generous."
Zhang Yuan looked at Li Yuanhao gratefully, bowed his head, and said, "Your Majesty is wise. The Song Dynasty is weak and the people are not united. Even if they feel something is wrong at the border and take precautions, what good will it do? With the right strategy, we will surely defeat them and seize the entire Shaanxi Road."
Historically, Zhang Yuan advised Yuanhao to block Tongguan and occupy Chang'an. Strategically, Western Xia had always wanted to annex the entire Shaanxi Road. Although Li Yuanhao won many times, the Western Xia military and civilians also suffered heavy casualties, and the economy almost collapsed. It was difficult to annex such a large territory, so the strategy ultimately failed.
But since Zhang Yuan went to Western Xia in the first year of Jingyou and was eventually appreciated by Li Yuanhao and promoted to military advisor of the Great Xia Kingdom, he has been encouraging Li Yuanhao to attack the Song Kingdom. It can be said that he deserves at least two-thirds of the credit for Li Yuanhao's determination to attack the Song Kingdom.
Only Yeli Yuqi remained clear-headed. He said, "Your Majesty, after all, Great Xia is a small country with a small population. If the enemy is unprepared, we may be able to take it easily. But if they are prepared, it is still inappropriate to start a war with a powerful neighbor."
"We have been paying attention to the situation in the northwest of the Song Dynasty over the years. I am well aware of their situation. Even if they change their commander, I am not worried."
Li Yuanhao frowned, threw down the document in his hand and said, "I am only worried about the situation of the Song Dynasty's Political System Council."
He turned to look at Zhang Yuan and said, "Military Advisor, you are from Song and have been to Bianliang many times. Have you heard of this Zhao Jun before?"
Zhang Yuan went to Bianliang for examinations many times, but failed to pass the examination.
He shook his head and said, "I've never heard of this person. According to reports from spies in Bianliang, he only appeared in Bianliang in July or August last year. He was initially appointed by the Song Emperor as the Director of the Imperial City Bureau. Soon after, the Song Emperor established the Political System Council and appointed him as the Director."
"This person's surname is Zhao. Could he be from the Zhao royal family?"
Li Yuanhao was thinking.
The first thing he thought about was not Zhao Jun's extraordinary talent or the fact that Zhuge Liang was still alive, but what kind of connections Zhao Jun had.
It's not that he has bad intentions, it's just the truth.
At least Zhang Yuan was indeed very talented, but he could never pass the examination to become an official in the Song Dynasty.
Given the national conditions of the Song Dynasty, even if Han Xin came, he would have to study for two years. If Zhuge Liang were reborn, he would probably have to hesitate to take the imperial examination.
In the Song Dynasty.
It is simply impossible for someone with extraordinary talent to achieve success overnight without passing the imperial examination.
So Li Yuanhao instinctively thought that Zhao Jun was from the royal family.
But he never expected that Zhao Jun, the time traveler, was almost tricked into taking the imperial examination, but he managed to turn the tables by coaxing, deceiving and threatening Zhao Zhen.
So this situation arose that even Li Yuanhao was confused.
Zhang Yuan expressed his doubts, saying, "This doesn't make sense. The Song Dynasty is extremely suspicious of the royal family. How could they allow a member of the Zhao clan to hold such high power?"
"Maybe it's Zhenzong's heir?"
Li Yuanhao thought of a possibility that everyone in Bianliang thought of at that time.
Zhang Yuan was at a loss for words and said, "If he is really the son of Emperor Zhenzong, then the Emperor of Song should be even more suspicious of him."
"never mind."
Li Yuanhao felt a headache and waved his hand, saying, "Let's ignore this person for now. There are big changes happening in Song right now. We have bribed some officials and learned that starting this year, Song has sent 20,000 more troops to the northwest border and transported a large amount of food and fodder. It seems that they are guarding against us. What should we do?"
Yeli Yuqi insisted, "Your Majesty should send an envoy to Song to express to the Emperor Daxia's desire to establish friendship with Song. With Liao to the north, I believe Song will not dare to offend us too much."
Li Yuanhao was unhappy and said, "It was you who persuaded me to become emperor, and it was you who asked me to make friends with the Song Dynasty. What is your purpose?"
Yeli Yuqi shook his head and said, "Being friends with the Song Dynasty and becoming emperor are not actually in conflict. After becoming emperor, we can also sign alliances with the Song Dynasty and the Liao Dynasty. With the Liao Dynasty nearby, why should we provoke the Song Dynasty?"
This sentence made Li Yuanhao very shaken.
This is what Li Yuanhao did in history. Although he proclaimed himself emperor, he wrote a letter to the Song Dynasty as a subject, recounting and praising the relationship and contributions of his ancestors with the Central Plains dynasty, explaining the legitimacy of his founding of the country and becoming emperor, and requesting that the Song Dynasty formally recognize his title of emperor.
So from this we can see that Li Yuanhao still had awe of the Song Dynasty and did not dare to go too far.
It was not until the Song Dynasty decisively rejected his claim to the throne and issued an edict to "strip away his granted surnames, official titles, and suspend trade with the emperor" and posted notices offering a large reward for his capture that the two sides completely broke off relations and a war was imminent.
Now the Song Dynasty suddenly sent reinforcements to the northwest, seemingly to guard against his attack. In this situation, Li Yuanhao had to consider whether to proceed according to the original plan.
However, Zhang Yuan was adamant in persuading Li Yuanhao to attack the Song. He advised, "Your Majesty, no emperor in this world has ever been made through charity. To achieve great things, you must conquer through war. Your claim to the throne will inevitably incur the displeasure of both the Song and Liao kingdoms. If you defeat the Song first, the Liao will become wary, and only then can you secure your throne."
He then added, "If we fail to defeat the Song and establish our prestige, both the Liao and Song will think you are weak and can be bullied. Claiming the throne is a challenge to their authority. If they join forces to attack, Daxia will be in imminent danger. Therefore, we must not hesitate. We must first defeat one of them before we can establish our own kingdom!"
My dear, there is more to this chapter. Please click on the next page to continue reading. It will be even more exciting later!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
