Li Di quickly adjusted his mentality and said with a smile.
This political rhetoric immediately brought a knowing smile to everyone's face.
Although everyone knows that the Han people in Yanyun want to come back for their own interests, everyone has to find a plausible excuse.
Isn’t it the best reason to return to our motherland as a Han Chinese?
"Well, okay, I've explained the details of this matter, and everyone has discussed it. Now we all roughly understand what the Xixia and Liao people are trying to do."
Zhao Jun said, "They want to attack our allies and provoke a war, so that we can join the fight. If we do, we will inevitably attack their homeland or fight on their territories, thus exposing our weaknesses and giving them an opportunity to exploit."
"Hmm."
Everyone nodded slightly in agreement. This was something that everyone in the Constitutional Council recognized.
As the highest decision-making body of the Song Dynasty, who among those who can sit here is not an elite who has fought his way up from the bottom of the officialdom?
There will be no lack of political wisdom and means.
What's more, they have now opened the full map and placed a complete map of the surrounding countries in front of them.
In this way, through various considerations, we can quickly judge the situation of Liao and Xixia.
Then, when switching to the enemy's perspective, this strategy of making a feint to the east and attacking in the west, luring the tiger away from the mountain, and luring the snake out of its hole is already the optimal solution.
The Liao Kingdom and the Western Xia led the main forces of the Song Dynasty into Qingtang and Goryeo, leaving only two options.
One option is that the Song Dynasty sends troops to the Liaoxia hinterland, and they fight a defensive battle. The second option is naturally that the Song Dynasty continues to hide, only supporting the allies without sending troops.
"Does that mean that as long as we don't take the initiative to attack the Western Xia and Liao mainlands, they can't do anything to us?"
Yan Shu asked.
"That's right, but didn't I tell you? Since they dare to provoke me, I have to leave a piece of meat."
Zhao Jun pressed the map and said, "In Western Xia, I'm targeting Qingtang, Zhuolao, and Nan. Even if Li Yuanhao is lucky, I'll have Han Qi focus on conquering these two areas. Liao won't be so lucky. I'll have to conquer their homeland."
"Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun?"
Everyone's eyes lit up.
"Um."
Zhao Jun gestured on the map and said, "I plan to use part of the navy to transport soldiers to Goryeo to help Goryeo resist the Liao Kingdom. The other part will attack from Bohai Bay and cooperate with the army to launch a lightning surprise attack on Yanyun. We must make the Liao Kingdom pay a heavy price."
"Is that so?"
Cai Qi frowned and said, "Didn't Han Long say before that the Song Dynasty would annex Korea, Japan, and neighboring countries in the future to become the dominant power in East Asia? Why not take advantage of this opportunity?"
"But I also said that this is a very long-term plan. My generation probably can't do it. It may take the next generation, or even the next generation."
Zhao Jun waved his hand and said, "So, given the current situation, the Song Dynasty still needs these allies. It's not that I want to be a moral role model, but national interests are paramount, and politicians need to use shameless means to seize and plunder. After all, the vast land of China was not acquired through etiquette and integrity, but through real battles."
"But we must also understand that the West's bloody plundering was achieved through force, the suppression of primitive society by feudal society. Western colonists during the Ming Dynasty, also a feudal society, had no way to deal with the Ming Dynasty. They were even beaten by a single pirate of ours at the end of the Ming Dynasty."
"In this case, we must consider that the Song Dynasty is currently in the early stages of the First Industrial Revolution and has not even completed it. With its current capabilities, it is impossible to carry out colonial plunder against countries like the Liao Dynasty, Western Xia, Goryeo, and Japan, nor is it possible to occupy such a large area of land."
"The Mongols had a vast territory, but they were eventually forced to split into four khanates. With constant uprisings, it wasn't long before each khanate was overthrown. It's the same with us. The Tang Dynasty only destroyed Goguryeo, but they eventually formed the Goryeo Kingdom we know today, a nation that encompasses the entire Korean Peninsula."
"So, civilization is far from enough to rely solely on conquest. It also requires powerful military force and cultural infiltration. Only by making the people and masses of East Asian countries identify with our ideas and culture can we conquer their countries and turn them into our subjects."
"Otherwise, it would be like when the Liao attacked Goryeo a few years ago. Even though they captured their capital, their king and ministers led the people in guerrilla warfare outside, and were still able to repel the Liao and eventually restore their country."
"In the final analysis, completely integrating a nation and a culture is not as simple as some people think."
"Once nationalism awakens, it's a terrifying thing. Japan enslaved Korea for over thirty years before World War II, attempting to destroy it culturally, linguistically, and ideologically. But did it succeed?"
"To put it bluntly, what we are doing is destroying other people's countries and exterminating their races. We are turning so-called other nationalities, such as Koreans, Mongols, Jurchens, Bohais, Khitans, Dangxiangs, Tibetans, and so on, into part of the Chinese nation."
"And while the concept of nationalism doesn't exist in this era, we can influence other ethnic groups, allowing them to be accepted and assimilated by us. Eventually, they will gradually identify with us and become part of us."
"Instead of being hostile and resisting us, like the world's struggle for independence after World War II, which ultimately ended in a dead end for both sides."
"Now."
"Now you know why I'm trying so hard to sell Confucian books abroad."
Zhao Jun looked around and smiled with a look of triumph.
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