"I didn't expect this Korean envoy to be so tactful, praising me so highly at that critical juncture."
After the morning ceremony, Zhao Zhen returned to the palace surrounded by officials and common people, and held another meeting with many prime ministers of the Council of Political Affairs.
His face was flushed and he was extremely excited. Witnessing the birth of this industrial miracle with his own eyes, he still hadn't recovered from the shock.
After all, even though he had contributed to the development of the train, he had not participated in either the specific design or the experimental operation. He could only imagine it in the palace. Today, he was naturally very happy to finally see it.
Zhao Jun smiled and said, "Korea and Dali are fence-sitters, they'll side with whoever wins. Japan is far away overseas and may not pay any attention to us. Jiaozhi is under our control, and only Xixia and Liao hate us to the core. But at that critical juncture, who dares to offend the Song Dynasty?"
"In the past, they would have certainly dared. Back then, the Liao people were so arrogant. When the envoys arrived, not only did they want us to greet them with great fanfare, but they also marched through the streets and alleys with arrogance and disrespect. Now look at them again."
Fan Zhongyan smiled and looked around at the crowd. "Now, if Liao envoys come to Bianliang again, not only will no one greet them, but if they dare to oppress the people, they will be arrested and imprisoned in an instant. They are like rats crossing the street. Ordinary people dare to provoke them at will, so they can only behave themselves."
“Hahahahahahahaha.”
Everyone laughed, and everyone's face was filled with a happy smile, feeling quite proud.
It has to be said that, at least before the Liao and Song signed the alliance in the first year of Kangding, the Song Dynasty had been holding its breath for too long. From the Battle of Gaoliang River to the Battle of Chanzhou, the Song Dynasty was always in a weak position.
A weak country has no diplomacy.
Under such circumstances, according to the "History of the Song Dynasty", every time the Liao envoys came, the Song Dynasty had to spend at least 30,000 strings of cash on reception expenses, which shows how high the reception standards were.
Moreover, when the Liao envoys arrived in the capital of the Song Dynasty, except for staying in the imperial palace which was slightly better, they stayed in the Protocol Court and went shopping on the streets. During the time they lived in the Song Dynasty, their attitude was extremely arrogant and they often did illegal things, but the Song Dynasty had to swallow their anger.
Now that the offensive and defensive patterns have changed, the Liao envoys are no longer as arrogant as before. This is enough to show that Yelu Zongzhen had been intimidated by the Song Dynasty on the battlefield in Hebei.
"Don't be too happy too soon."
At this moment, Zhao Jun suddenly poured cold water on the situation, saying, "The advent of the steam locomotive marks the official entry of the Song Dynasty into the industrial age. While the Liao people may not understand what this means, they certainly know that the Song Dynasty's national strength is growing, and their hearts will only grow increasingly uneasy."
"Well, Hanlong means to prepare early?"
Lu Yijian asked.
"Yes."
Zhao Jun nodded and said, "We are currently in the midst of a major military refit, and troops equipped with firearms still need training, so we can't let our guard down. However, if the Liao people really dare to come, we can't be timid. Even if we don't want to destroy the Liao and Western Xia outright right now, reclaiming the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun shouldn't be a problem."
He disagreed with destroying the Liao and Western Xia now, not because he was worried about being defeated, but because he was concerned that the Song Dynasty had just begun its industrialization and was in a period of high expenditure. If the Liao and Western Xia were destroyed, it would require a huge expenditure of manpower and material resources to cope with the situation.
You have to know that the Liao Kingdom and Xixia Zhao Jun intended to let them serve as a supplier of raw materials and a dumping ground for goods. Once a war breaks out, the Liao Kingdom and Xixia will definitely stop providing raw materials.
Even if the Liao Dynasty and Western Xia were destroyed, the Han people in Northeast China and Mongolia had a relatively weak foundation, which would likely lead to continuous rebellions.
Not only will the imperial court not gain any benefits, it may also have to spend a huge amount of money to suppress the rebellion.
This is not worth it.
Therefore, it would be better to temporarily maintain the current order and let Liao and Xixia serve as raw material production areas for the Song Dynasty.
"Are you only taking back the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun?"
Zhao Zhen asked with a bit of disappointment.
In history, Emperor Huizong of Song threatened that whoever took back Yanyun would be made king.
During the Song Dynasty, the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun have always been a source of heartache.
However, Zhao Zhen was no longer satisfied with this. In today's Song Dynasty, isn't it possible to annex the surrounding countries?
"Of course not only that. What I mean is to take back the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun at this stage."
Zhao Jun laughed and said, "In the international community, a larger territory or faster expansion doesn't necessarily mean a stronger country. As the saying goes, taking too big a step can easily lead to failure. The Yuan Dynasty was large enough, but it fell apart within a hundred years. Eat as much as your appetite allows; you can't achieve everything overnight."
"Hmm"
Yan Shu agreed, "I agree with Han Long on this point."
"When I was developing the Eastern Pole Strategy, I was working on a 100-year plan. Each generation has its own tasks. What my generation wants to do is to reclaim the 9.6 million square kilometers of our country for future generations."
Zhao Jun added, "It's not that I have a small appetite, but with the current level of productivity, even if you conquer so much territory, it will be very difficult to hold on to it. Communications, transportation, geopolitics, ethnic integration, and so on are all problems. Unless the Song Dynasty is crazy and wants to make enemies on all sides, it will often take its time."
"All right."
Zhao Zhen nodded to show that he understood.
Zhao Jun said, "Let's ignore the Liao Kingdom and the Western Xia for now. If the news gets back to them, it will be Li Yuanhao and Yelu Zongzhen who will be anxious. We should just focus on our own development. The future is in our own hands. Many things will fall into place naturally once our national strength increases."
As he said this, he stood up, walked to the desk, and began to spread out the local map of Henan.
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