The court of the Great Song Dynasty has been quarreling endlessly in recent days, and the content of the quarrel is the question of whether to take the initiative to attack after the Liao army has quietly transferred 100,000 troops from the front line and built fortifications on a large scale and seems to no longer attack.

Yan Shu Xia Zhu really stood on the same front for the first time, and they urged to launch a counteroffensive according to the original plan, not only because the situation of the enemy and us has changed subtly, and the Liao army has been building fortifications to make a defensive posture, but also because Su Jin's army has been fighting in Liao for several months, and the 100,000 transferred back by the Liao people are obviously to encircle and suppress them, if they do not counterattack, Su Jin's situation will be extremely dangerous.

Needless to say, although Yan Shu disagreed with Su Jin on many things, Yan Shu knew that no matter when, Su Jin was on the same front as himself; Yan Biyun went back to the Yan Mansion several times to visit, although her niece didn't mention anything about state affairs, her haggard face and forced smile could not escape Yan Shu's eyes.

Needless to say, Xia Siling gave birth to a baby boy in early October, according to the agreement, Su Jin will change the baby boy to the surname Xia to continue the incense of the Xia family, but Xia Siling's situation is worrying, missing and worrying about making Xia Siling weak after giving birth, and there is no milk at all, so he only looks for a nurse to breastfeed; Xia Zhu ignored his busy military affairs and returned to Beijing many times to visit, and he was deeply disappointed that the emperor did not order the attack.

Of course, the opponents have reasons for the opponents, Zhang Yaozuo and other courtiers believe that the timing of the counteroffensive set before Su Jin sent troops was to take the Liao capital Shangjing, but now Shangjing has not been taken, and the psychological defense line of the Liao people has not collapsed.

Zhao Zhen hesitated, he decided to recruit Fan Zhongyan and Han Qi to return to Beijing to discuss this matter, and the two front-line commanders should be more accurate in their judgment of the situation.

On the day of the collapse of Xinzhou, the court discussion of the Great Song Dynasty was also officially launched, and the two sides quarreled endlessly.

"Your Majesty, what Yan Xiang said is obviously a personal friendship, at present, there are still 400,000 Liao troops in my territory, which is not a small number. The third line of defense is less than 200 miles away from the capital, once it is broken, the Liao army can come to the city overnight, can Yan Xiang ignore the safety of the capital and the emperor? ”

Han Jiang and others echoed one after another, saying that the safety of the emperor and the capital was the top priority.

Yan Shu said angrily: "Lord Zhang's words are wrong, at the beginning, the Liao people of 700,000 had not been able to attack the capital, but now there are only 400,000 but what is the danger of the capital, what are your intentions?" Now that the rebellion in the south has been quelled, General Di led the army to join the battlefield, and our Great Song Army has the conditions for a counteroffensive in terms of numbers and morale, and the Su Jin army has gone deep behind the enemy line to cross and cross, and the Liao people have been miserable. It's a joke. ”

Xia Zhu also said: "What Yan Xiang said is extremely true, the original plan was that Lord Su marched into the heart of the Liao people, and the enemy had to be saved, so as to reduce the pressure on the front line, and when the Liao army returned to help, our army attacked with all its might, teaching the enemy to be difficult to care about, why is it now going back on his word, isn't this selling Su Jin's 200,000 people to the Liao?" ”

Zhao Zhen sighed, looked at Du Yan and said, "Du Shumi, what are you going to do?" ”

Du Yan wanted to stay out of the matter, but he didn't have an exact judgment on the current situation, and Zhao Zhen asked by name, but he couldn't answer.

Zhao Zhen frowned and said, "At this time, didn't Du Shumi think about advancing and retreating?" ”

Du Yan hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, the minister naturally thought about it, the original plan was that Su Jin's army broke through Shangjing and forced the Liao army to retreat across the board, and the current situation is that Su Jin's army did not capture Shangjing, but the fifteen cities and captured the Liaoyang Mansion in Tokyo, and the results achieved were also expensive, but the Liao people did not return to the aid on all fronts, but only sent 100,000 horses to guard Shangjing and encircle and suppress Su Jin. ”

Yan Shu almost scolded Du Yan angrily, but this person finally fell to Zhang Yaozuo's side, saying that it was difficult to consider, and it was not suitable to send troops.

Zhao Zhen's mood is very contradictory, on the one hand, he wants to order an attack to level the Liao State to complete the immortal cause, on the other hand, he is really a little afraid that stealing chickens will not be lost, it is obvious that Su Jin's destruction in the territory of the Liao State is not as strong as expected, he knows that Su Jin's situation is very difficult, but once the order to attack is given, it means that the Liao people are really swordsmen and guns, if the army is defeated and collapses, not only the dream of annexing the Liao State will be shattered, but Bianliang City will not be guaranteed, because it is too close.

When Zhang Yaozuo and others raised their worries, they hit the weakness in his heart, and he introspected himself several times, and finally felt that he could not be radical, and he was more conservative before he was sure.

But in this way, it gave the courtiers who advocated the attack an illusion, that is, they did not abide by the strategy set before the war, and disregarded Su Jin's life and death; This is what Zhao Zhen doesn't want to see, but Zhao Zhen doesn't care too much, because in the final analysis, Su Jin is important, but if you choose between him and his own Jiangshan Sheji, the answer is self-evident.

"Fan Aiqing, Han Aiqing, what is your opinion?"

Fan Zhongyan and Han Qi had been standing in the queue without speaking, they were able to be reactivated thanks to Su Jin's recommendation, but they also knew that the emperor still had a grudge against the two of them, and it was the best choice to keep a low profile.

"Your Majesty, as far as the current situation is concerned, the minister thinks that it can be attacked or not." Fan Zhongyan said.

"What are these words, when did Fan Aiqing become so sophisticated, but it is okay, it is not necessary, what medicine is indispensable?" Zhao Zhen said displeasedly.

"The emperor and listen to the ministers, the situation between the enemy and us has changed greatly, the period of the Liao people's strength has passed, and now they have to return to the army to encircle and suppress the army of Lord Su, at this time the attack is indeed a good time, and the minister also dares to guarantee that even if the attack fails, it will not even be able to hold the capital, which Lord Zhang is a little worried."

"Oh? Doesn't that mean that you agree to strike now? ”

Fan Zhongyan said: "Your Majesty, although attacking at this time can relieve the pressure of Lord Su and will not cause a catastrophe, purely from a military point of view, it is not the best time; The cold winter has arrived, the first heavy snow of this winter is coming, if the snow is attacked, the advantage of the Liao cavalry will be greatly reduced, the chance of victory will be greater, and the Su people in the belly of the Liao people for several months, the Liao country on the Beijing Road and the Tokyo Road city was destroyed, the food and materials were destroyed, the number of displaced people, after the snow, such a problem is even more serious, the more it drags on, the more the Liao people have no intention of fighting, the greater the chance of victory; It's just that the more time passes, the more slim the hope that Lord Su and them can come back alive, and the ministers can't make a choice, so they ask the emperor for a holy judgment. ”

Zhao Zhen rolled his eyes, hating the root of his teeth, Fan Zhongyan put a multiple-choice question in front of him, pointed his nose in front of the ministers and asked him, do you want Su Jin's death in exchange for victory, or do you want Su Jin to live and take a risk; How do you choose? Although I really want to choose the latter safe method, once Su Jin's life and death are disregarded, I am afraid that the signboard of my benevolent and righteous monarch will be smashed, and the courtiers in the court are estimated to be cold, Yan Shu and Xia Zhu and Su Jin are now relatives, and Su Jin himself is also a well-known figure in the Great Song Dynasty, and the consequences of doing so are unimaginable.

Zhao Zhen frowned and pondered, his fingers tapping lightly on the armrest of the dragon chair.

"Your Majesty, do you still need to think about this?" Someone said in a deep voice, and everyone looked at it, it was Cheng Bao Zheng in the imperial history.

"Lord Su is a treasure-like figure of my Great Song Dynasty, my Great Song Dynasty has gone from being in danger of being coveted by Liaoxia to now having the strength of the two countries of Liaoxia, the merits of Lord Su are obvious to all, if there is no painstaking design of Lord Su, how can the Great Song Dynasty have today's atmosphere? Now fighting against Liao, if there is no Lord Su who sacrifices his life and forgets his life to lead his troops deep into the hinterland of the Liao people to contain it, dare to ask me if the border can survive to this day? The 700,000 Liao army may have already driven straight in; Some people say that Lord Su is not able to contain it, but I want to ask, you all have words on your lips, why didn't you volunteer to lead your troops deep into the Liao State in the first place? You may also show us how you can contain it; Liao has a vast territory and has been operating for a long time, is it as easy as you think to take Beijing? Lord Su must have judged the situation before choosing to make a nuisance in the fifteen cities, dare to ask, if Shangjing gathers heavy troops, will Lord Su still fight the enemy in order to take Shangjing? What a ridiculous statement. ”

Everyone was silent, no one said anything to refute, for Bao Zheng, everyone thinks it's better to avoid some, this person never shows mercy when he speaks, at this time of argument, Bao Zheng will never show mercy, and what Bao Zheng said is indeed reasonable.

"The minister thinks that Su Jin alone can be worth a million male soldiers, if Su Jin is killed by the Liao people this time, it will be a great loss for my Great Song Dynasty, and ...... And Mo Weichen speaks uprightly, if he doesn't save Su Jin's army, the people of the world and the ministers in the court will also be extremely cold, and the ministers may as well reveal their hearts, it is indeed the righteousness of the courtiers to sacrifice their lives for the country, but if they are abandoned by the country, I am afraid that they will not be blind; If that is the case, Bao Zheng asks to resign and go into hiding, and never take half a step on his official career. ”