Three Liao messengers stood in the tent drunken with wine burps, and the gifts they brought were placed in the middle of the tent, the seals of the three large wooden barrels had been opened, and the pungent smell of fire oil filled the tent.

Yelu Zongzhen read Xia Guo's reply, and Xia's tone was also gentle, expressing regret for his previous provocative words, but he did not speak ill of him.

“…… Since your country does not want to withdraw its troops, my Great Xia has to fight with you, after the snowstorm, my Great Xia Iron Cavalry will launch an attack, and then the deer will be killed; We have heard that your army is short of fuel for fire, and there is no fire in the soldiers' tents for several days, and the weather is so cold that even if your army is brave, it is difficult to endure the bitter winter without firewood for heating; Originally, it was a human virtue to send charcoal in the snow, and my state of benevolence and righteousness in Great Xia could not watch your soldiers freeze to death, but who taught you that I am a hostile country? Although there is a heart to help, but there is no reason to help, the right to let your army messenger bring back three barrels of oil as a gift, a fox fur big one, is for the emperor His Majesty to keep warm, please smile; I hope that His Majesty the Emperor will take care of his body, eat and stay warm, and wait until the day when you and my army will fight each other, but don't freeze to death. ”

Yeluzong's sincerity was like a boulder falling into the water, he sank to the bottom of the valley, put down the letterhead, walked to the side of the oil barrel, ordered someone to scoop out a few spoonfuls and put them in the copper basin, and lit a fire, but when he saw the light blue flame rising, the whole tent instantly warmed up.

The tent was warm, but the heart was colder.

"Your Majesty, this is indeed the best fire oil, this thing is extremely valuable, it is very difficult to refine, and the Xia people will use this thing as fuel for heating? I don't believe it. Zhang Jian shook his head and said.

Yelu Zongzhen looked at the three drunken messengers and shouted, "Have you noticed the situation in the camp of the Xia people? What do Xia people eat? What is used for heating? ”

A messenger burped and shook his head: "How can the little ones not pay attention to this, the Xia people were indeed suffering from the cold a few days ago, and many people died; But the news I heard was that they had brought fuel and a large amount of beef and mutton from the city of Kedun, and it was dinner time when I walked around the camp tents of the summer people, and I passed by dozens of tents, which were full of hot pot, wine and meat, and all of them were burning this kind of oil brazier, which was not cold at all, and their life was much more comfortable than ours. ”

Yelu Zongzhen shouted: "Hugh is talking nonsense, where do they get wine and meat to eat?" The Xia people can't even supply grain and grass, so what kind of wine and meat are they talking about? ”

The three of them hurriedly knelt down and said, "I'll see it with our own eyes, and I'll just report it according to the truth, but I don't dare to fabricate it indiscriminately." ”

Zhang Jian said: "Your Majesty, maybe the Xia people made a show for them to deceive my Da Liao; However, the old minister thinks that it is difficult to distinguish between true and false, if it is false, it is fine, but if it is true, our army will suffer a great loss if it is consumed like this, this is the territory of Xia Kingdom, they are backed by the city of Kedun, and with the strength of the whole country, it is indeed possible to supply the grain and grass fuel of the army with all their might, unlike our army's supply line needs to pass through the Helan Pass, and it cannot be transported when the wind and snow are full. ”

Yelu Zongzhen frowned and was silent, the expression on his face was extremely entangled, he understood that if the other party had no worries about food and clothing, it would be self-defeating to consume them, they didn't even need to attack, they just needed to wait for their army to starve to death and freeze to death, and after the army's morale was weakened, it would be self-defeating.

"Brother Huang, my brother doesn't understand, where did the Xia people get the oil from? We have been dealing with the Xia people for so many years, and we have never heard of the news that the Xia country can produce fire oil, according to the ministers, it must be the Xia people who are bluffing and trying to scare us into retreating. Yelu Chongyuan stepped forward and said loudly.

Yelu Zongzhen frowned, stepped forward and circled around the three large wooden barrels to check, and saw a square fire mark the size of a palm on the outside of the barrel, and suddenly asked, "Where is the 'Su Ji Baoshan Fire Oil Valley'?" Does Xia have this place? ”

"Su Ji Baoshan Fire Oil Valley?" The generals were stunned for a while, silent for a long time, and suddenly someone exclaimed: "Your Majesty, the minister knows where this oil comes from, the minister sent an envoy to the Song State last winter, and saw that the Song capital Bianliang and the officials and the people are burning a kind of cake-shaped charcoal in winter, the minister asked, and learned that this is a kind of charcoal called Su Ji Baoshan Coal Cake, the minister had the heart to inquire about it, this Su Ji business name is the Song State's Northwest Fourth Road Envoy Su Jin, you see, the name on this fire sign has the words Su Ji Baoshan, it must be a family, it seems that this fire oil is from the Song Kingdom. ”

The ministers were shocked, these words were tantamount to a blow to the head, and everyone was dizzy, such as fire oil, which was an extremely important strategic material, the Song people would never be able to trade with the Xia people, they were all materials controlled by the government, and smuggling was impossible; However, since there is Song State's fire oil in the Xia State's army, it can only show one point, Xia State's strategic materials, grain, grass and fuel are secretly supplied by Song State, and the fire sign on this oil drum exposes the truth of the matter.

"Your Majesty, ......" Zhang Jian's voice trembled a little: "Su Jin is the general of the Song Kingdom Town, and he is also the commander of the Song army who originally agreed to cooperate with my Daliao to cooperate with the north and south. This is not difficult to explain why Xia Jun has enough wine and meat and fire oil to use as fuel, fortunately they don't understand the wonderful use of fire oil, and it is indeed a terrible thing to use for heating, but even so, we must not consume it. ”

A messenger staggered and spewed out a puff of wine and said: "Yes, the little ones saw that the Song soldiers were all wearing fur and underwear, eating and drinking wine and meat, they were really envious, if this is a fight, how can we fight?" ”

Yelu Zongzhen slapped the table and shouted: "Pull these three dog things out and cut them, and order you to send a letter, you should not be arrogant or humble, Xia people poured a few cups of yellow soup to make you confused, and also revealed that the situation in my big military camp is known to the Xia army, this is a careful trip, come on, cut off the heads of three people, and hang them on the flagpole to show the public." ”

The three messenger soldiers were so frightened that they suddenly sobered up, and they all knelt down and wailed for mercy, but Yelu Zong really ignored them, and ordered the guards to pull out the big tent, cut them down with three knives, and immediately settled the account.

Yelu Zongzhen's anger did not subside, and he shouted angrily: "What should I do now? The previous time you had to pretend to refuse to test the reaction, but now it is self-defeating, the Xia army has decided to fight to the death with me, the Song people secretly support the materials, the Xia army has abundant food and grass and fuel, and it can't survive, it seems that it can only fight to the death? ”

Zhang Jian said: "Don't worry, the emperor, now that we know about the Song people's attempt to devour the tiger, we must not fight this battle, otherwise we will definitely lose both sides and hurt the Song people; Now the best policy is to withdraw the troops as soon as possible, taking advantage of the wind and snow to retreat to the north of Helan Mountain overnight, as long as there is one night, we can retreat at least forty miles away, and even if the Xia people know about it, they will not be able to catch up. ”

"Lord Zhang, this is a dangerous move, once the army retreats, it will be like a mountain and a sea, if the Xia army takes the opportunity to attack, it will be difficult to organize a counterattack, dangerous." Xiao Hui shook his head slightly.

"The old minister didn't know the danger, but the old minister was sure of it, because the Xia people sent a letter before and proposed to withdraw their troops, and the old minister analyzed that they must also have insight into the tricks of the Song people, and they didn't want to lose the main force, but it was inconvenient to say it explicitly; If they find out and rush to pursue, regardless of the wind and snow night, even if they catch up, how can we please it under the desperate battle? Therefore, Lao Chen thinks that even if they know, they will turn a blind eye, at most they will bluff, and they will never come to fight hard, and the two sides will not use their swords and soldiers to retreat is not only my Da Liao's idea, but also the idea of Xia Ren. ”

Xiao Hui thought for a while and said: "Father Zhang Shang's analysis is reasonable, but in order to ensure the safety of His Majesty, I suggest that the forbidden army escort His Majesty first, and at the same time, after the former army is broken, prepare for the enemy's surprise attack." ”

Yelu Zongzhen sighed and said: "It is taboo for the labor division to attack the distant soldiers, not to mention that the Song people are cunning, and they can't be allied with them at all. ”

Everyone advised: "Your Majesty, why should you blame yourself, it is indeed the best policy to retreat in this situation, and the country that betrays its trust can be punished calmly." ”

Yelu Zongzhen gritted his teeth and said: "I, Yelu Zongzhen, swear here, from now on with the Song people, in the spring of the year, the army will gather on the front line of Bazhou, I want to wave the army south, go straight to Bianliang, I want to personally catch Zhao Zhen, ask him why he dares to betray me, the Song people will pay a painful price for this." ”

The ministers said in unison: "The ministers are willing to follow Your Majesty to level the Song Kingdom." ”

Yelu Zong really sneered, and said loudly: "Come on, send a message to the summer camp for me, I agree with their suggestion, thank them for the gift, as soon as the wind and snow stop, the two armies will start a war, and they will not die!" ”