The Privy Council, several privy envoys and deputies, sat together and discussed the war at the front.

Jia Changchao said: "Di Qing broke Lingzhou by himself, and the subsequent battles were extremely smooth. A few days ago, it broke through Yanzhou, and is attacking Youzhou and Hongzhou all the way to the east. Although the party members resisted, it was not fierce, and they thought that the party war would be over in a month or two. ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "Although the progress is smooth, I heard that the military discipline of the front-line army is not strict, and there are many killings. The overall situation of the party has been decided, and all that remains is the remainder, and Di Qing should be informed and his subordinates should be restrained. ”

Jia Changchao said: "200,000 troops are fighting, where can we strictly abide by military discipline!" As long as the battle goes well, the rest have to rely on the generals. ”

Du Zhongxiao shook his head, and was about to say more, when Tian said: "Hequ Luyan, Xiao Ge, a subordinate minister of Yelu Chongyuan, sent his son to Shengzhou with a letter, intending to return to the imperial court. From this point of view, the situation of the struggle between the two Khitan emperors is coming to an end, and the sooner Di Qing ends the war, the better. ”

Jia Changchao nodded: "After destroying the party, Hequ Road has no worries, and you can concentrate your forces to deal with the Khitan." Han Qi's department has 200,000 soldiers and horses, plus Di Qing's department of 200,000, which can fight with the Khitan! ”

Seeing that Jia Changchao was in high spirits, Du Zhongxiao hurriedly said: "Captain, the army can't be counted so simply. The imperial court has been accumulating for several years, and last year the war was exhausted, and it was unable to carry out a big war. For the Khitan, it is best to use various means to get one state or two states. It is good to avoid dangerous places, and when you have enough savings in the future, it is good to send troops. Now in the big war, after Yelu Hongji's new victory, it is the time when morale is at its highest, and I am afraid that it will be unfavorable to the imperial court. ”

Jia Changchao said: "Deputy Envoy Du, the lack of savings is because the imperial court is sympathetic to the people's feelings and has not increased taxes. Now is the opportune time, as long as some taxes are raised, it is not difficult to support three or four hundred thousand people to fight. If you can take Yunzhou, it will be worth the price! ”

Du Zhongxiao was about to say more, shook his head slightly, closed his mouth and stopped talking. What he was really worried about was whether Di Qing's 200,000 people could be put into the battlefield in time. If there is really a great opportunity, it is not impossible to increase taxes for a while and collect materials from the people. But the current situation, Di Qing's 200,000 people, the combat power they showed, is really unreassuring.

The Song Dynasty and the Khitan fought several times, not because the combat strength was inferior to the Khitan, but because the two armies were stalemate, and there was often a situation of poor command. A mistake in the middle led to a reversal of the tide of the battle and a big defeat in the end. The further back it went, the more ineffective the command of the large army became, and it became a stubborn disease.

Di Qing's own command can also see that he has always held the large army in his hands, and he does not dare to divide the troops, and if he divides the troops, something will happen. The officials of the court were accustomed to the previous Song army, but Du Zhongxiao was worried. Because the army was so uncontrolled, the Song Dynasty suffered a lot of losses and could not repeat the mistakes of the past. It's just the current situation, Du Zhongxiao can't go against Jia Changchao's intentions, so he has to shut up.

Restoring Yanyun was the national policy set by the Song Dynasty when it was founded, and there was no way to reach the Zhenzong Dynasty, and it was a brotherly country with the Khitan. Now that the Song Dynasty has an advantage in military strength, there are many officials who have given birth to this ambition, and even Zhao Zhen himself is eager to try.

Jia Changchao said: "Xiao Ge intends to return to the imperial court, but he can order Han Qi to contact him more." If you can offer Datong Mansion, the court can give a heavy reward, and the prince is not a problem. Tempting them to make heavy profits can have unexpected benefits. ”

Seeing Jia Chang's vigorous appearance, Tian said: "Taiwei, the new party item is better to be cautious about the Khitan." Without the cooperation of Yelu Chongyuan, it would be very difficult for Xiao Ge to go down to Datong Mansion alone. Yelu Hongji's army has arrived in Tiancheng County, not far from Datong Mansion. Even if Xiao Ge wants to return to the imperial court, we are not as convenient as Hong Ji. Deputy Envoy Du decided to seize Shuozhou, and it was appropriate for Xu Tu to forge ahead in the future. Of course, it would be better to have one or two more cities, such as Yingzhou and Ulzhou. ”

Jia Changchao said: "The two emperors of Khitan are fighting, Yunzhou is in front of you, if you don't take advantage of the situation, how can you be willing!" ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "Taiwei, this dynasty fought in the Western Regions and the party, everything went well, and there was no big war, so you can't think like this about the Khitan." Compared with the Khitan, the Western Regions and the Party are small forces, and the military strength is not strong. But the Khitan is different, it is a big country, with a million armor, and once the war starts, it cannot be ended in a short time. To start a war with the Khitan, the imperial court must prepare early, and the army has savings before it can deal with it calmly. Otherwise, one mistake will easily shake the country's foundation. Hebei Road is a flat river, not to be taken lightly. ”

Jia Changchao looked at Tian Guo and Du Zhongxiao were against him, and couldn't help but turn his head to look at Cheng Huan.

Cheng Jian said: "After the party war, all the savings in Guanzhong and Jingxi Road in the past few years have been exhausted, and it is difficult to raise them for a while. Moreover, the party has more than 100,000 prisoners, and it can't be ignored, and it will be stable for a few years. According to what Deputy Envoy Du said, it is better to take Shuozhou first and open the road to Datong Mansion. ”

Seeing that Cheng Jian didn't support him, Jia Changchao had no choice but to sigh and say no more.

A few days ago, let Du Zhongxiao and Zeng Gongliang and Zhang Fang pacify the strategy against the Khitan, Du Zhongxiao proposed Shuozhou first, and then negotiated peace with the Khitan, which was approved by the imperial court. However, Xiao Ge sent a letter to Han Qi, and Jia Changchao thought there was hope and proposed to attack Datong Mansion. Du Zhongxiao is the deputy envoy, and he has just entered the Privy Council, so there is no way but to discuss it with everyone.

The Khitan is incomparable with the party, the territory is vast, the battle is often hundreds of miles deep, and the advantage of the Song army is not obvious. Moreover, it is difficult to cross the Yanmen Pass Road, and it is not easy to build the railway to Datong Mansion. To the north and west of Youzhou, it is difficult to reach by rail, and the cost of fighting is not comparable to before. What Du Zhongxiao wanted was to open the gap in Shuozhou and not stimulate the Khitan. Wait until you save up for a few more years, retrain the forbidden army, and then fight to the death with the Khitan.

Jia Changchao started as a scholar and a scholar, and he thought a lot, but the officials were not his strengths. Civilian politics is still average, and the army with which he is not familiar is even more disrespectful. It's just that I saw that I have won consecutive foreign wars in the past two years, and I want to make more contributions in my own office. Whether he can really do it or not, he doesn't know in his heart. Partnering with this privy envoy, Du Zhongxiao felt that he was very tired.

After discussing the matter, Du Zhongxiao returned to his official hall, looked at the official document sent by Di Qing on the front line, and thought carefully.

After the capture of Lingzhou, Di Qing's various departments progressed smoothly, and there were no more party troops defending the city. Yanzhou descended easily, and the army spread out and headed towards the hinterland of Hengshan. However, due to the lengthening of the logistical distance and the fact that it has entered the densely populated area of Hengshan, the army has partially implemented the policy of giving food to the enemy according to its needs, and has requisitioned a large amount of grain from the occupied areas, which has caused many contradictions.

Du Zhongxiao is not opposed to giving food to the enemy, but he wants the army to carry out it in a unified manner, have a strict policy, and not oppress the people in the occupied areas too much. Otherwise, after the war, all kinds of problems will accumulate and it will be difficult to solve them. This is the place where the party members started, and if they cannot convince the people, their future rule will inevitably be unstable. What Di Qing's army has done now has aroused a lot of party members to resist.

With a sigh, Du Zhongxiao put down the official document and carefully searched for countermeasures. The Hengshan area has a more famous name in later generations, the base area of northern Shaanxi. The transportation conditions there are complicated, the population is relatively scattered, and it is not easy to govern in peacetime, let alone now. To occupy there, it is not enough to kill people alone, it is necessary to appease people's hearts. The forbidden army under Di Qing's department is really difficult to complete this task.

After thinking about it again and again, Du Zhongxiao couldn't think of a better way, so he could only sigh. I hope that after Di Qing eliminates the party chieftains there, he will quickly withdraw the army and find another way. Although the party is extinct, it is not a simple matter to properly govern its jurisdiction. The old methods, such as establishing camps and farms, merging villages, etc., were unrealistic in the Hengshan area, where the terrain was too fragmented. To really govern there, it is still necessary to break up the various Tibetan tribes, disperse the forces, and then set up counties and send officials. When will it be able to govern there? Du Zhongxiao didn't know. It's a tall order, as long as they don't mess around.