"Without a fight?" In the Chongzheng Hall of Qionglin Palace, Zhao Ji, an official of the Great Song Dynasty, held a wine glass, "Could it be that Da Lang wants to spend money to buy the land of Xingling?" ”

Wu Haogu smiled lightly and took a sip of the wine in the immortal, "Your Majesty Shengming, once the Yinxia Yanyou and the Hetao grassland are lost, the territory of the Western Thieves is only the land of Xingling, Ganliang, and Guasha.

And the land of the Western Regions, as far as the minister knows, is the land near Middle-earth with many deserts, the land near Persia with many rivers and famous cities, and the land near Flynn with many grasslands. If the Western Thieves want to create a situation in the Western Regions, they must approach Persia and take the rich land of the Western Regions as their home. And the rich land of the Western Regions is thousands of miles away from the land west of the Xingling River, how can the western thief take care of both? When the time comes, we will be able to buy Xingling Erzhou for hundreds of thousands or millions, and it will be more cost-effective than sending troops to attack. ”

Spending millions of dollars to buy the Land of Xingling may not be politically correct, but it is in line with the grand strategy of expanding the living space of Chinese civilization.

Although the Western Xia and the Great Song Dynasty fought fiercely for many years, they were still a member of China in terms of civilization. Moreover, the current head of the Western Xia Kingdom, Qianshun, has greatly promoted Confucianism in the country, following the line of Buddhism governing the heart and Confucianism.

If Western Xia can be turned into a strengthened version of Western Liao—which now has a population of two or three million and an army of hundreds of thousands, far more powerful than Yelu Dashi in the historical expedition to the west—it may be possible to establish a powerful state of Buddhism and Confucianism in the Western Regions.

Mi Youren also said: "When the minister presided over the Bosi of Jiehe City, he saw many Hu merchants from the western domain city, some said that they came from the broken leaves of one of the four towns of Anxi in the Tang Dynasty, some said that they came from Balasha, the capital of the Qarakhanid State, some said that they came from Samarkand, the largest city in the Western Regions near Persia, and some people came from a huge valley called Bakhana (Ferghana). These places are all beautiful mountains and rivers, rich land, and prosperous cities, far better than the land of Xingling, sweet and cool melon sand. ”

Mi Youren said that of course these were all taught to him by Wu Haogu, but it was indeed the information that the city boss had painstakingly collected over the years, coupled with Wu Haogu's memories of later generations.

Zhao Ji just shook his head: "It has been a hundred years since the Western Thief founded the country in Xingling, how can it be said that he will move if he moves?" Moreover, even if the western thief moves west, he may not return the land of Xingling to the Great Song Dynasty, and it may also be given to the Khitan. How to seize it when the time comes? ”

His concerns were justified, but they were also a bit unnecessary. Because it is now 1104 years in the Western calendar, it is only 10 years since Agu raised troops against Liao, and it is only 11 years since the Battle of Hubu Dagang, which broke the backbone of Liao.

And the westward migration of Western Xia is a very huge event, and it is impossible to complete it in ten or eight years. At that time, the Khitan himself will be a mud bodhisattva crossing the river, and will he tear his face for the land of rejuvenation and the Great Song Dynasty?

However, this kind of unpredictable prophet's words, Wu Haogu has no way to say it to Zhao Ji.

Zhao Ji smiled: "Da Lang, after all, fighting a war is not a business, and the country's land is not something that can be bought for a few small bucks." Otherwise, what are we going to do with the thieves for many years? ”

"Your Majesty."

Knowing that Zhao Ji was hot-headed, Wu Haogu no longer continued to persuade - Shangguan is never wrong, let alone the official family?

"Your Majesty," Wu Haogu still wants to think of ways to save himself, Tong Guan, and Gao Yu from possible disasters, "but the minister feels that Tong Guan and Lu Huiqing's suggestions are also reasonable, only by garrisoning the river and setting up Shuofang Road to guard against the Khitan can the Zhulu army have no worries." ”

Zhao Ji nodded: "Now that the Western Thieves have been ruined, only the Khitan is a big problem, and they have to be strictly guarded."

Da Lang, who do you think is better to preside over Shuo Fang Road? ”

"This matter should be decided by His Majesty," Wu Haogu would never directly recommend Tong Guan, that would make Zhao Ji feel that Wu Haogu and Tong Guan were forming a party, "From the perspective of a minister, it is better to be a person who is known for his prestige, is familiar with military affairs, and will not cultivate power in Shuofang." ”

can't push Tong Guan directly, but he can draw a standard according to Tong Guan's conditions and let Zhao Ji take the bait himself.

Although Tong Guan was a eunuch, he had made great contributions in the battles of Huangzhou and Shanzhou, as well as in the battle of Wudinghe, which is now at halftime, and his prestige had been established, and he also showed extremely high military qualities.

However, there are many people in the Northwest Army who meet the same conditions. But most of those people are the head snakes in the northwest, at least they are also old military strategists who have been in the northwest for many years and have established an intertwined network of relationships.

Let them preside over Shuofang Road, maybe it will cause a disaster in the feudal town! In fact, the Song Dynasty did not have zero tolerance for feudal towns, such as the Fuzhou Zhejia, the Banzhou Yang family, and the Shanzhou Zhao family (Renduo Baozhong is now called Zhao Baozhong), all of which were feudal towns. Jiehe Commercial Market is also a commercial town!

But the land of a state is not the same thing as the land of the five states of silver, summer, you, salt, and Shuo.

And Shuofang has always been a place where elite soldiers and strong generals gather, if a Shuofang town is built in order to get Xingling, Zhao Ji would rather not Xingling......

Therefore, a group of generals of the Western Army and Wang En, an old military strategist from Kaifeng Mansion, were naturally excluded.

In addition, Lu Huiqing also drew a line, that is, the military attache served as the envoy of the system, and the civilian official served as the envoy of the camp and the herd - although Shuofang Road was not a feudal town, the nature of the military town was still obvious, and if a civilian official who could not lead troops was allowed to preside over it, it would be easy to delay the matter.

Besides, how many intellectuals and civil servants in Zhao Ji's hands can serve as envoys all the way? Count them on your fingers, but they are Lu Huiqing, Tao Jiefu and Zhong Fu. Lu Huiqing is old, and Tao Jiefu and Zhong Fu still have to preside over the meeting to attack Xingling. So he just wanted to send civil officials, but there was no one to send.

"Then there are only Tong Guan and Gao Yu...... Zhao Ji said to himself, "Gao Yu is a little young and lacks qualifications, it seems that Tong Guan is the most suitable." ”

"Your Majesty."

Wu Haogu complimented Zhao Ji again, and his mood was much more relaxed.

Tong Guan was sent by Shuofang Lu Jingluo to appease the envoy, which means that Wu Haogu, Gao Yu and the three straights of the imperial front can be unraveled.

Because Tong Guan can't go to Shuofang to be a bare-bones commander, there must always be troops and generals, and the three straight fronts of the emperor and Gao Yu and Wu Haogu can all be transferred.

And Tao Jiefu will not refuse to give, after all, the credit can't be taken by them, and others will also share some money.

Zhao Ji took a chopstick and didn't know what to eat, and he didn't stuff it into his mouth, but asked thoughtfully: "Will the Khitan people provoke by the river?" If the Khitan sent troops from Yanjing, Jiehe Shang City would bear the brunt, right? ”

The first to bear the brunt is, of course, the Jiehe Commercial Market!

To put it bluntly, the Khitan people are also a group of robbers, and the Jiehe Commercial Market is the place with the most money in the whole of Hebei. How could the army of the Liao State put the Jiehe Commercial Market and not rob it, and go directly south to Kaifeng Mansion?

In addition, the Jiehe commercial market is also stuck in the throat of the Yellow River, the Jiehe River and the sea. If you don't take the boundary river, Yanjing will have to run out of food! There will also be problems with the logistical supply of the Khitan army.

Therefore, for the Khitan, from Hebei to the south, the Jiehe commercial market is a must. Similarly, if the Khitan army can't even fight a commercial market, then what do you want to Kaifeng Mansion? There is only a group of short-sighted, mercenary merchants in Jiehe Commercial Market. In Kaifeng Mansion, there is an army of house slaves of the Heavenly Khan Zhao Ji!

"The Khitan will provoke in Hebei," Wu Haogu said, "but they will not send troops from Yanjing to take the border of Heshang City." And...... They can't beat the Nether River Market! ”

"Can't beat it?" Zhao Ji frowned slightly, "Isn't it just a commercial market?" ”

"Your Majesty," Mi Youren interjected, "the current Jiehe Shang City has long been an impregnable city. The city walls surrounding the merchant market are all made of rammed earth and bricks and marble from the boundary river, which is very strong. Moreover, the city has complete armor, many strong men, and abundant reserves. Moreover, nine of the ten ships that came and went on the surface of the Jiehe River were from the Great Song Dynasty...... Among them, the sea ships can be used for water battles. Therefore, as long as the pontoon bridge of the Jiehe River is burned, the Khitans will have no way to cross the river before the Jiehe River is frozen, let alone go south along the Yellow River. By the time the river freezes, the war in the northwest should be over, right? ”

Jiehe Shang City has actually turned into a fortress city with combat power!

Zhao Ji was also a little surprised, this matter ...... It may seem inappropriate, but it's a good thing. If the Jiehe Commercial City really doesn't have the slightest resistance, then it's a headache.

"In that case," Zhao Ji laughed, "It's better to find an opportunity to turn Jiehe Commercial City into Jiezhou, Dalang, you should know about Jiezhou, even if you follow the example of Xiangzhou." ”

Zhao Ji is still quite interesting, he is willing to let the Wu family hereditary prefect of the state affairs - of course, the hereditary is only the prefect affairs, not the domain of the martial family.

"Your Majesty, no!" Wu Haogu shook his head again and again, revealing a panicked expression, "Jiehe Commercial Market is still nominally co-founded by Song and Liao, and the Liao Kingdom has made a lot of profits from it, so it is impossible to give it up easily...... If it becomes a state and county of the imperial court, I am afraid that Song Liao will really have a big war. I am not afraid before the boundary river freezes, but once the river freezes, the Khitan iron horse will come by stepping on the ice, and I am afraid that it will not be able to hold on for long by relying on a city wall alone. And the minister doesn't know how to fight, so he really can't do the affairs of Zhijie State. ”

Zhao Ji is actually trying to explore the possibility of establishing a boundary state. Lu Yihao blew the Jiehe Commercial Market to the sky in the secret music, what account is 100,000, the wealth is 100 million, and the annual income can reach 1 million. And it's stuck in the throat of Yanyun Sixteen Prefectures! Such a good place, of course Zhao Ji wants to return to the imperial court.

However, he also knew that this matter was not easy, at least the current Hebei Lianglu pacification strategy envoy Han Zhongyan would not dare to do so. Not only did Han Zhongyan not dare, but none of the soldiers and horses in Hebei and the states and armies dared to do that.

There are half of the Liao people in Jiehe Shang City, and this place is still pinching Yan Yun's throat, if the Great Song Dynasty swallows it in one bite, it will be strange if the Khitan does not work hard! When the time comes, hundreds of thousands of Khitan iron horsemen will step on, who can stand it?

Now Wu Haogu doesn't dare to ...... It seems that Cai Jing can only be asked again.