"Your Majesty, the peak of the Liao Kingdom's military strength was not now, but during His Majesty's two northern expeditions. On the surface, the two northern expeditions were command errors, but in fact, there were deeper reasons."

"During the reign of Emperor Jingzong of Liao, the Liao Kingdom used very few troops, and only a small-scale war, which not only honed the soldiers, but also received good rest. But our dynasty had just used troops in Jiangnan and Hedong again. If the late emperor obeyed the advice of his ministers and rested for a few years before fighting, it might be another ending. Therefore, the two Northern Expeditions were defeated by the soldiers' long warfare."

"But the same is true for the Liao Kingdom. Under the leadership of the warlike Xiao Yanyan, the Liao Kingdom fought with our dynasty many times, and at the same time conquered Goryeo, Jurchen, Tatar and Ugu enemy Lie, and the soldiers gradually became tired of war. This is the deep reason. With Li Jilong's command ability, he defeated the Liao Kingdom's first general Yelu Xiuge twice. From the Battle of Qigou Pass, the Liao Kingdom began to decline. Although they were a small victory in the Battle of Yingzhou and Wangdu, they did not represent the real strength of the soldiers of the two countries, but it was entirely the result of Fu Qian and Zhou Ying's cowardice."

Song Jiu said.

Not only that, there was such a great crisis in the Song Dynasty in history, and there was a slight advantage in the Battle of Chanyuan, so Yang Liulang, Kou Zhun and others demanded a decisive battle. However, the situation seemed even more dangerous at that time. Wang Chao gathered more than 100,000 Hebei troops in the distant Dingzhou and stayed in the door. There was another strong enemy in the northwest.

This led to Zhao Heng having to confront the alliance.

In fact, when Cao Wei or Li Jilong was transferred to Dingzhou to serve as the chief general, the situation may be another direction.

But the truth is that although the Liao army went south to capture several cities, it was repeatedly defeated from the front line to the city of Chanzhou when it was really fighting.

Then the Liao Kingdom was beaten to death by Li Yuanhao and ran away in a mess.

However, no one noticed this truth.

Because of the alliance under the city, the Song people were humiliated and had to cover up and exaggerate the combat effectiveness of the Liao Kingdom. After telling the lies a hundred times, they became the truth.

It was obviously defeated by Xixia and almost wiped out the entire army, and the Western Xia fought against the Song Dynasty and had a victory or defeat, but the Song army gradually became afraid of the Liao army. Even until the reign of Emperor Huizong of Song, because of this mentality, coupled with Yelu Dashi's command ability, the two defeated Tong Guan.

Even in the records of Su Dongpo and others, the Liao envoy came to the capital and ran around and ran. He was like a place without a man on the street, but no one dared to fight back. Instead, he hid aside and shook his face, and the literati and officials looked like earth.

Even later generations ignored the several great victory of the Song Dynasty, including Mancheng, Yanmen, Tudianzhai, Tanghe, Xuhe, Zifanhe, Xiongzhou, Mozhou, Weilu Army...

This even led to many scholars and officials not wanting to fight at all and fearing war.

Song Jiu continued: "Therefore, there is no need to be afraid of war. However, wars will hurt the people, hurt the country's finances, and make soldiers tired of war. However, after peace for a long time, many disadvantages will arise. The most obvious example is the people of Guanluo in the Tang Dynasty before and after the Anshi Rebellion. There were also many wars in the early days of Emperor Minghuang of Tang, but the military system of the palace was defeated, so a Jiedushi was established and the border army was used to use Hu soldiers. At that time, the Tang Dynasty's military system was mainly divided into three parts: one was the army under An Lushan, Hebei, the army in the Western Regions of Qinghai, and the third was the imperial guards in Guanzhong."

"The Imperial Guards have not fought for a long time and began to fall and have no war, so they were defeated when they pacified Nanzhao. The Imperial Guards became a fancy and were no longer available. In addition, Emperor Ming of Tang ignored the government affairs, and An Lushan boldly launched a rebellion. Although Emperor Ming of Tang transferred Geshuhan and Gao Xianzhi and Feng Changqing back, they did not transfer many troops from the Western Regions of Qinghai due to urgent time or taboos. The three tiger generals had to use the Imperial Guards in Guanzhong, or conquer the people from Luoyang as soldiers. How could they be undefeated? Later, the entire north was full of beacons and the people were no longer afraid of war, so Guo Ziyi gradually defeated the rebels. If the three generals exchanged with Guo Ziyi, Guo Ziyi might not be able to win in Luoyang and Tongguan, and the three generals might not be defeated after the chaos. It is a difference between not being accustomed to war for a long time and fearing war and adapting to war."

This statement may not convince everyone, but it cannot be said that it has no reason at all.

"There is another special case, such as in the early Tang Dynasty, and in the early Tang Dynasty, the soldiers were in constant war, but why did they never get tired of fighting? Because the Sui and Tang Dynasties replaced each other, the country was in chaos, the mountains and rivers were broken, the homes were burned, and people were in a state of peace. In order to rebuild their homes, the war was also supported by soldiers and the people, and thus they never get tired of fighting. However, after a long period of peace, the nature of the country was different. For example, Emperor Taizong of Tang conquered Goryeo. The same was true for the Liao Kingdom. They were established for a longer time, and the people were in peace, and they did not even desire the little wealth brought by the Grass Valley. Therefore, after a long battle, they would get tired of war."

"So I said that the prosperity is the worst, and the decline is the most prosperous. My grandson said that raising troops for a thousand days is used for a moment. You must rest for a thousand days before a battle is a battle. However, resting for a thousand days is a rest for a battle. Therefore, the Master also said that the mean is not to teach everyone not to learn that the trees are in the forest and the wind will urge them, but to learn to have wisdom and virtue to maintain the middle way. If everyone pretends to be mediocre, dare not take responsibility, and dare not stand out, will Your Majesty still have talents? Is the country worth it? At least Your Majesty has no words."

"Therefore, there is no need to fight without fighting. The soldiers lack practical training. Once the war comes, even if the country raises millions of banished soldiers, what is the difference between the people's soldiers recruited? Then why should the country spends so much money to raise so many soldiers? It is better not to raise them and benefit the people. I believe that if the country abolishes the cost of raising banished soldiers, all two taxes will be cancelled immediately. But if you cannot fight for war, it will increase the burden on the people and the soldiers will also be tired of war."

"If Yanyun can be taken back, maybe he can recover Liaodong immediately and let all the troops in the desert accept it. But there will be wars in the future. The late emperor once had a dream to restore the power of the Han and Tang Dynasties. At least the east of Yumen Pass will be taken back, including the four prefectures of the Hexi Corridor of Sugan and Lianglan in the Lianglan in Qinghai, as well as the Hehuang area in the south, as well as Jiaozhi and Dali in the south. Maybe there will be rebellions in the north one after another. Therefore, there will be no lack of wars. However, Your Majesty needs to have a way of holding on. With the permission of the DPRK and the lack of much burden on the people, first use good generals to launch some wars moderately, which is beneficial to the country but not harmful to the country."

"But the south must pay attention to the weather in the south. The weather in the south is humid and hot, and the northern army is not adaptable. Therefore, in my opinion, if Your Majesty intends to the south in the future, he will use Sichuan soldiers, Guang soldiers, and Sichuan horses, and then select generals familiar to the south. If Ma Zhijie leads the army, then the army will not suffer malaria due to inadequate to the terrain. There will be no command errors caused by unfamiliarity. The three armies will be defeated."

"This is true for military affairs and political employment, just like Tai Chi diagram, where there is yang in yin and yin in yang. The country is not without talents, but without good talents. If Kou Zhun dares to take responsibility, he can decide to ask Kou Zhun for major issues. However, Kou Zhun is arrogant and cannot tolerate others. It is his weakness to be nepotist. Therefore, Your Majesty can ask Kou Zhun for his country's major government affairs, but he cannot obey Kou Zhun's employment."

"Zhang Qixian is a distant person, with a sloppy and sloppy character, but he is not limited to minor details. Therefore, he is a widow who makes people laugh at the world. However, Zhang Qixian has been in politics for many years and has always been experienced, especially in military affairs, and is also his director. Your Majesty can ask Zhang Qixian about military affairs. But you cannot expect Zhang Qixian to make careful plans."

"If Wang Qin has the ability to manage finances, he can be a weak-hearted person and a short-minded person. Therefore, if your Majesty uses Wang Qin, he can use his ability to manage finances. But you cannot listen to Wang Qin's advice, otherwise you may flatter and slander your Majesty and slander your Majesty and slander the ministers in the court."

"There is another person in the court. Wang Dan, who is the same as Li Yan, Chen and Bi Shi'an. He likes to act but is less than words. If he is used as the prime minister, the court will reduce unnecessary disputes, which will intensify conflicts, and will rush into the sky, preventing the development of the country. However, this person is negligent in speaking. If His Majesty makes serious mistakes, he will not be able to correct the situation in time."

“…”

Song Jiu commented on the strengths and weaknesses of more than a dozen important officials in one breath.

Ordered in front of everyone.

So everyone was smiling bitterly, including Kou Zhun and Wang Qinruo who came to welcome the throne.

But at this time, no one was angry. This was Song Jiu's decision to explain the country's precautions in the future. If he was angry because he talked about his shortcomings and collided with Song Jiu at this time, it would be nothing less than to die.

"Let me talk about what the Master valued most, etiquette. In fact, etiquette is order. When the country has order and norms, each person will be content with his or her duties, the country will be stable, and the people will live and work in peace and contentment are the foundation of etiquette. You cannot leave etiquette for etiquette, that is to give up the roots and seek the end. Especially respecting ghosts and gods, the Master's way, respecting ghosts and gods and stay away from them. I believe that after this stability, there will definitely be ministers to flatter you and ask Your Majesty to go to Fengshan."

"Well, let's look at the end of the Fengshan Mountain Tai country. Qin Shihuang was in the Fengshan Mountain Tai, but the Qin Dynasty soon became destroyed. Emperor Wu of Han Fengshan Mountain Tai, the prince was unjustly killed, and the country was poor. Emperor Gaozong of Tang Fengshan Mountain Tai, Wu Zetian usurped the country, and the Li family almost slaughtered them all. Emperor Xuanzong of Tang Fengshan Mountain Tai, but the Anshi Rebellion and the Tang Dynasty declined. It was Han Guangwu Fengshan Mountain Tai a little better, but the Eastern Han Dynasty was not as good as the other generation, and there was no king who revived. Why?"

"Buddhism is a good religion, so why did Zhou Shizong destroy the Buddha, and why did Wang Yuxi dismiss the Buddha? There is no other, and there are not many real monks. Eighty percent of monks became monks not to believe in Buddhism, but to become monks because they were lazy. Therefore, many monks regarded money as honey. Then, using the name of Buddha, they bewitched people's hearts, deceived people's wealth, and even committed evil deeds, annexed land, and privately lend usury to exploit people. Moreover, building temples and repairing bronze Buddha statues will inevitably damage the country's finances. Many people became monks, resulting in no one farming and desolation. People placed their property and land in the name of Buddha, and the state's taxation could not be collected. These people were called monks, but they were no longer children of Buddha."

"If I listen to their instigation, even after my death, the Buddha would not bring this person to heaven. The most famous one is Emperor Wu of Liang, because he believed in the false Buddha, he would immediately be rewarded in this life. So what does the Buddha want us to accumulate good deeds, this is not to give the Buddha much incense, but to do good deeds to the world. If Your Majesty is a wise ruler, so that the people can live and work in peace and prosperity, and the country is strong, the Buddha will like it. If you ignore the lives of the people and use the tax money of the people's blood and sweat to go to Fengshan and to repair temples, will the Buddha like it, and will it bring good luck to the country?"

"It's well said." Kou Zhun said.

Song Jiu didn't say anything more.

Maybe I will say it later, but I will say it when I think about it.

Be in office for one day and do your best for one day.

Then he looked at the north, mainly the north.

However, there were two good foundations that he did not say. The first was that the Liao Kingdom abducted many Han people and even gave them to Tatars. Song Jiu did not intend to learn from Emperor Taizong of Tang and brought the Han people back together. With them in various northern tribes, it was conducive to accelerating national integration.

The second is years of brainwashing and publicity.

There were many bad things in the Song Dynasty, such as some poor mountainous areas, especially Kuixia, which made Song Jiu think that it was the biggest stain on his years of rule. But in general, the living conditions of the people in the Song Dynasty were much better.

And it will get better and better.

Cotton, irrigation "mechanization", taxation may become lower and lower in the future, developed business, some policies, and the academy has invented electricity and batteries, but it cannot be used, overseas cultivation of evacuation of population pressure...

Besides, many people have been captured, and their lives should be pretty good. As long as a group of original Liao people are transferred back to promote, and combined with the previous propaganda policies, they will be more stable and integrated more quickly.

But then Song Jiu suggested that Zhao Heng issue three edicts.

The first edict was issued to the Hedong Army and the Northwest Army. It can be decided at the discretion of whether to immediately take back the mountain. However, except those who resist, they must not be killed, nor disturb the people, must not be raped, or burned.

The second edict was issued to all the soldiers in the north and the people who participated in the capture of deserters of the Liao army. If the deserter was killed, they must carry relevant armor, weapons and military cards as proof. They cannot come to receive rewards with just a head. They are not allowed to kill civilians and make contributions, and those who violate will be killed.

The third edict was sent to Cao Wei, Wang Deyong and Li Jilong. For the large Liao army, if they can be reduced, they will be annihilated if they cannot be reduced. Those who surrender must be properly placed. Rewards are equivalent to killing them.
Chapter completed!