"Get it without fighting?" In the Chongzheng Hall of Qionglin Palace, Zhao Ji, the official of the Song Dynasty, held a wine glass, "Is it possible that Dalang wants to spend money to buy the land of Xingling?"

Wu Haogu chuckled softly and took a sip of the immortal in the wine, "Your Majesty, once the Yin Xia Yanyou and the Hetao grassland are all lost, the territory of the Western thieves will only be Xingling, sweet and cold, and the melon sand. The land is weak and the people are poor and the strong soldiers with a hundred battles are in hand. There is no way to advance eastward, so you can only explore westward, and get all the lands of the Han and Tang dynasties and start another situation.

As far as I know, the Western Regions are located near Central Earth, the land near Persia has many deserts, the land near Persia has many famous rivers, and the land near Flynn has many grasslands. If the Western thieves want to create a situation in the Western Regions, they must reach Persia and take the rich land of the Western Regions as their homes. The rich land of the Western Regions is thousands of miles away from the west of Xingling Hebei. How can the Western thieves take care of both ends? At that time, we can spend hundreds of thousands or millions to buy the two states of Xingling, which is more cost-effective than sending troops to attack."

It may be incorrect to spend millions of money to buy the land of prosperity, but it is in line with the grand strategy of expanding the living space of Chinese civilization.

Although Xixia fought with the Song Dynasty for many years, it was still a member of China in terms of civilization. Moreover, Qianshun, the leader of the Xixia Kingdom, developed Confucianism in the country, and followed the route of Buddhism governing the mind and Confucianism.

If Western Xia could be turned into an enhanced version of Western Liao and Western Xia, it would now have an army of two or three million people and hundreds of thousands of people. It would be much stronger than Yelu Dashi, who had fought in the West in history. Maybe a powerful country with Buddhism and Confucianism could be established in the Western Regions.

Mi Youren also said: "When I was presided over the Jiehe Maritime Boxers, I saw many famous cities in the Western Regions. Some said they came from the Broken Leaf, one of the four Anxi towns in the Tang Dynasty, some said they came from Balasha, the capital of the Karakhanate, some said they came from Samarkand, the largest city in the Western Regions near Persia, and some came from a huge valley called Bahanna (Fergana). These places are beautiful mountains and rivers, rich land, and prosperous cities, far better than the land of Xingling and sweet melon sand."

Of course, Wu Haogu taught him all this, but it was indeed a combination of information collected by Maritime Corporation over the years and the memories of Wu Haogu's later generations.

Zhao Ji just shook his head: "The Western thief has been established in Xingling for a hundred years. How can he move just by saying that he can move? Moreover, even if the Western thief moves westward, he may not return the land of Xingling to the Song Dynasty, and may also give it to the Khitan. How can he seize it then?"

His concerns also make sense, but they are also a bit redundant. Because it is already 1104 years in the Western calendar, only 10 years have passed before Aguda started his rebellion against Liao, and only 11 years have passed before the Battle of Bubuda, which broke the backbone of the Liao Kingdom.

The westward migration of Western Xia is another very huge event, and it is impossible to complete without ten or eight years. By then, the Khitans themselves would be clay Buddhas who crossed the river, and would they still break up with the Song Dynasty for the sake of the spiritual development?

However, Wu Haogu could not tell Zhao Ji about such words that were ahead of the uncertainty.

Zhao Ji smiled and said, "Dalang, after all, war is not a business, and the country's land cannot be bought with a few small money. Otherwise, what would we do to fight with the Western thieves for so many years?"

"Your Majesty's wiseness."

Knowing that Zhao Ji was so angry, Wu Haogu stopped persuading Shangguan Zhiyong, let alone the official family?

"Your Majesty," Wu Haogu still needs to find a way to save himself and Tong Guan. Gao Qiu from the possible disaster. "But I think Tong Guan and Lu Huiqing's suggestions also make sense. Only by garrisoning troops in Hejian and setting up Shuofang Road to prevent the Khitan can the army all have no worries."

Zhao Ji nodded: "Now that the Western thief has been destroyed, only the Khitan is the biggest concern, and we have to be careful.

Dalang, do you think who will preside over Shuofang Road?”

"This matter should be judged by Your Majesty," Wu Haogu would never directly recommend Tong Guan, as it would make Zhao Ji feel that Wu Haogu and Tong Guan were forming cliques. "From the view of the minister, it should be based on prestige, be familiar with military affairs, and not develop power in Shuofang."

You cannot directly recommend Tong Guan, but you can draw a standard according to Tong Guan's conditions and let Zhao Ji take the bait himself.

Although Tong Guan was an eunuch, he made great contributions in the battles of Huangzhou and Shanzhou, and the Battle of Wudinghe, which is now resting in the halftime. His prestige has been established and he has also shown his high military qualities.

However, many people in the Northwest Army met the same conditions. However, most of those people were local tyrants in the Northwest, and at least they were old military strategists who had established a mixed network of relationships for many years in the Northwest.

If they were asked to preside over Shuofang Road, they might lead to the disaster of the vassal states! In fact, the Song Dynasty did not have zero tolerance for the vassal states. For example, the Zhe family of Fuzhou, the Yang family of Bozhou, and the Zhao family of Shanzhou (Renduo Baozhong is now called Zhao Baozhong), were all vassal states. Jiehe Shangshi was also a commercial vassal state!

However, the land of one state is completely different from the land of Yin, Xia, Yu, Yan, and Shuo.

Moreover, Shuofang has always been a place where elite soldiers and powerful generals gather. If a Shuofang Town was built to win Xingling, Zhao Ji would rather not Xingling...

So a group of Western Army generals and Wang En, an old military strategist who was born in Kaifeng Prefecture, were naturally excluded.

In addition, Lu Huiqing also drew a line, that is, military officers served as commanders, and civil servants served as camp and field clerks. Although Shuofanglu was not a vassal state, the nature of military towns was still very obvious. If a civil servant who could not lead troops to preside over the presidency, it would be easy to delay trouble.

Besides, Zhao Ji had a few military officials who could serve as commanders of the whole country? He counted with his fingers, but it was Lu Huiqing, Tao Jiefu and Zhong Fu. Lu Huiqing was old, and Tao Jiefu and Zhong Fu had to preside over the attack on Xingling. So he wanted to send civil officials but no one could send them.

"Then there are only Tong Guan and Gao Qiu..." Zhao Ji said to himself, "Gao Qiu is a little young and has insufficient qualifications. It seems that Tong Guan is the most suitable one."

"Your Majesty's wiseness."

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

Tong Guan was sent by the Shuofang Lu Jingli to appease the commander, which means that Wu Haogu, Gao Qiu and the three emperors of the imperial family were able to get out of the trap.

Because Tong Guan could not be a commander of Shuofang as a bare commander, there must be troops and generals, and he could ask for transfers to Wu Haogu.

Moreover, Tao Jiefu would not refuse to give it to him. After all, they cannot take all the credits, and others will also benefit.

Zhao Ji picked up a chopstick and didn't know what kind of dish it was, but instead asked, "Will the Khitans seek trouble by the river? If the Khitans send troops from Yanjing, Jiehe Market will be the first to be affected?"

Of course, Jiehe Market is the first to bear the brunt!

To put it bluntly, the Khitans were also a group of robbers, and Jiehe Market was the place with the most money in Hebei. How could the Liao army put Jiehe Market and go directly to Kaifeng Prefecture without robbing it?

In addition, Jiehe Market is stuck in the Yellow River, the throat of Jiehe and sea transportation. If you don’t take Jiehe, Yanjing will have no food! Logistical supplies of the Khitan army will also have problems.

So for the Khitans, Jiehe Market is a must-have from Hebei. Similarly, if the Khitan army cannot even fight a single market, then what else do you think of Kaifeng Prefecture? Jiehe Market only has a group of short-sighted and profit-oriented merchants. There is a large army of house slaves from Tian Khan Zhao Ji in Kaifeng Prefecture!

"The Khitan will seek trouble in Hebei," said Wu Haogu, "but they will not send troops from Yanjing to capture Jiehe Shangshi. And... they cannot defeat Jiehe Shangshi!"

"Can't you win?" Zhao Ji frowned slightly, "Isn't it just a market?"

"Your Majesty," Mi Youren interrupted, "The Jiehe Market is now a solid city. The walls surrounding the market are made of rammed earth and bricks and mortar, which is very strong. Moreover, the city has complete armor, many strong men, and rich reserves. Moreover, nine of the ten ships passing through the water of the Jiehe River are from the Song Dynasty... All of them can be used for water battles. So as long as the Jiehe pontoon bridge is burned, the Khitans will have no way to cross the river before the Jiehe River is frozen, and it is even more impossible to go south along the Yellow River. When the river water freezes, the war in the northwest should have ended, right?"

Jiehe Shang City has actually become a fortress city with combat effectiveness!

Zhao Ji was also a little surprised. This matter... seems inappropriate, but it is also a good thing. If Jiehe Market really doesn't have any resistance, it will be a headache.

"Since that's the case," Zhao Ji laughed, "It's better to find an opportunity to turn Jiehe Market into Jiezhou. Dalang, just be the magistrate of Jiezhou. Even if you are Xunxiangzhou, you can do it."

Zhao Ji was quite interesting. He was willing to let the Wu family inherit the position of magistrate Jiezhou, of course, the hereditary only the affairs of magistrate, rather than turning Jiezhou into the vassal state of the Wu family.

"Your Majesty, no!" Wu Haogu shook his head repeatedly, showing a panic expression. "Jiehe Market was nominally organized by Song and Liao, and the Liao Kingdom made a lot of profits from it. It is impossible for the Liao Kingdom to give up easily... If it becomes a prefecture and county of the court, I am afraid that Song and Liao will really have a big battle. I was not afraid of it before the Jiehe River was frozen, but once the river water freezes, the Khitan cavalry will come on the ice. I am afraid that it will not be able to defend it for a long time with a city wall alone. Moreover, I cannot fight and I really can't do the work of magistrates."

Zhao Ji was actually testing the possibility of establishing Jiezhou. In his secret memorial, Lu Yihao made Jiehe Market almost as popular as the sky, such as 100,000 household registration and 100 million yuan in wealth, and an annual income of one million yuan. And it was also stuck in the throat of Yanyun's Sixteen Prefectures! Such a good place, Zhao Ji certainly wanted to take it back to the court.

However, he also knew that this was not easy. At least Han Zhongyan, the current Hebei two routes pacifying the military commander, did not dare to do this. Not only did Han Zhongyan not dare, but none of the military commanders and commanders of the Hebei two routes and the states, dared not do that.

There are half of the Liao people in Jiehe Shang City, and this place is pinching Yan Yun's throat. If the Song Dynasty swallows it in one bite, it would be strange if the Khitans don't fight to the death! Who can stand it if hundreds of thousands of Khitan cavalry stepped on it?
Chapter completed!