Almost in the afternoon when Yelu Zongzhen and Zhang Jian were discussing countermeasures, the notification from the Song State had already arrived.
Soon all the officials in the Liao Kingdom knew the news.
Because Zhang Jian's information came from Liao's spies in the Song Dynasty, it was delivered to Nanjing by express horse as soon as possible, so Yelu Zongzhen got first-hand intelligence.
Fan Zhongyan was sent to the Liao Kingdom through official channels, so the news could not be concealed and naturally became known to the officials of the Liao Kingdom.
When the Liao officials heard the news, they were furious. Even those who had been discussing peace talks stopped talking. The pro-war faction immediately gained the upper hand and petitioned Yelu Zongzhen to immediately mobilize troops and march south.
Fortunately, Yelu Zongzhen received the news in advance and discussed it with Zhang Jian. Otherwise, under such circumstances, he would probably be forced by the powerful and ministers in the country to send troops.
The problem now is that sending troops will definitely not end well. They have just suffered a major defeat, their morale is low, and their food and supplies are still on the way. Naturally, they cannot fight a siege war with the Song State.
However, if one wants to achieve the strategic threat of bypassing the Song Dynasty cities, directly attacking Hebei, Henan and other places of the Song Dynasty, and plundering the heartland of the Song Dynasty, it is certainly impossible to do it with the more than 100,000 Pi Shi troops in Yelu Zongzhen's hands. It is necessary to mobilize troops from all over the country.
Otherwise, if more than 100,000 troops march south, the troops from Hebei Road will block the way back, and the main force of the Song army of hundreds of thousands will surround them. How long can your cavalrymen survive by looting in the wild?
War horses tire, and men must plunder for survival. The Song army, though a two-legged force, possesses greater endurance than horses, and they also possess approximately 100,000 cavalry. While you're looting or your horses are resting, the enemy will seize the opportunity to surround you. This mere hundred thousand-man army would likely be annihilated quickly.
Therefore, in order to complete this grand strategy, your army must be stronger than the Song army, with more troops than the Song army, so that the destructive power will be greater. Otherwise, if you have fewer troops and horses, doing this kind of thing will probably be no different from delivering food.
Yelu Zongzhen's ability was not top-notch, but that did not mean that a person with the posthumous title of "Xing" was incompetent. Therefore, he could naturally understand how dangerous the current situation of the Liao Kingdom was.
Therefore, facing the surging desire to send troops at home, as one of the few people who could still remain sober, Yelu Zongzhen naturally would not agree to their request.
But the Liao emperor also had many constraints, and it was not something he could solve simply by going against the majority.
Although the Liao Kingdom had completed the transformation from tribal civilization to feudal system, it still carried the shadow of grassland nomadic peoples and tribal culture in its bones.
The nobles of the Liao Dynasty were not only powerful but also the leaders of various tribes. If Yelu Zongzhen, faced with such an indignant situation, forcibly suppressed them and did not go to war with the Song Dynasty, but chose to agree to the conditions of the Song Dynasty, it would be a huge blow to his prestige.
Therefore, Yelu Zongzhen had to find a way to appease the domestic dignitaries and skillfully deal with the Song Dynasty.
The best outcome would naturally be for the State of Song to agree to their conditions.
But it seems to be quite difficult at the moment. The head of the Political System Institute of Song State does not give him any chance at all. Even the previous annual tribute is going to be cancelled. This will be a huge blow to Yelu Zongzhen's prestige.
For this reason, Yelu Zongzhen was forced to firmly express his intention to retaliate against the Song State during a meeting with his ministers. However, when he discussed with Zhang Jian privately, he came up with another approach.
He told his ministers that he would gather troops and ask for money, food and troops from the vassal states and tribes, and actively prepare for a decisive battle with the State of Song.
At the same time, he discussed with Zhang Jian whether he could continue to send people to negotiate with the State of Song. Even if the currency could not be increased, the previous annual tribute of 300,000 should be maintained so that he could report to his country.
Obviously, Yelu Zongzhen was also making preparations for both scenarios.
Zhao Jun's two-pronged plan was that if the Liao agreed to his terms, the two sides would sign a peaceful alliance. If not, he would incite the Liao's vassal states and tribes to revolt.
Yelu Zongzhen hoped that Liao and Song would each take a step back. Since the other side was unwilling to increase the currency, they would restore the Treaty of Chanyuan.
At the same time, he tried to test the attitudes of the vassal states and tribes. If their attitudes changed and they were no longer as respectful as before, Yelu Zongzhen would probably have to suffer a loss and have to accept the peace talks with the Song Dynasty.
If their attitude does not change, then we will naturally start to take real action, whether it is to really start to use that grand strategy or strategic deterrence, we must take action.
certainly.
The premise of all this is that those vassal states and tribes do not fall for Zhao Jun's tricks and are all determined to follow Yelu Zongzhen to the end.
So under such circumstances, the Song and Liao countries actually achieved a brief peace.
It just flows violently in secret.
Yelu Zongzhen superficially appeased the Liao nobles and the pro-war factions, declared that he would mobilize for war, and then immediately sent people to the various major tribes to ask them to send troops and food.
In fact, he maintained frequent correspondence with Fan Zhongyan, expressing his willingness to make concessions and hoping that the Song State would restore the conditions of the Chanyuan Alliance.
Fan Zhongyan originally wanted to report the Liao envoy's request back to Bianliang, but thinking of Zhao Jun's attitude, he finally decided not to go and get scolded. He rejected Yelu Zongzhen's intention himself and also expressed Zhao Jun's attitude.
In fact, if Yelu Zong really wanted to appease the people in the country with money and food, it would be simple. He could just open a trade and exchange resources such as horses and minerals that were previously prohibited from being sold. Both sides would get what they needed and it would be mutually beneficial.
However, the Liao Kingdom used to regard the Song Kingdom as the Southern Dynasty and itself as the orthodox Northern Dynasty. Therefore, it often required all other countries to come to pay tribute, placing the Song Kingdom's status below its own, and describing the Song Kingdom's annual tribute as tribute from the lower country to the Liao Kingdom. As a result, Yelu Zongzhen himself was unwilling to accept the Song Kingdom's demand for equal status between the two sides.
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