Chapter 351 The life and death of the country is based on profit
Outside Qinzhou City, Takeo Army Camp
In the Chinese army's tent, Gu Tingye held the military book in his hand, but he was a little absent-minded.
At this moment, Shitou walked in and saluted: "Command from Zhendu, Lord Wang is here!"
"Please come in quickly!"
Gu Tingye looked happy, put down the book of war, and stood up.
Shitou retreated after hearing the words, and after a while, Wang Shao walked in.
"Zichun, how are you?" Gu Tingye asked quickly.
Wang Shao looked serious and said: "Hehuang and Tubo have agreed to our conditions, but..."
"Great!" Gu Tingye said happily when he heard this: "I will make people beat the drum and gather together!"
"Zhong Huai, listen to me first." Wang Shao stopped Gu Tingye and sighed: "Xi Xia was defeated!"
"Xixia was defeated?" Gu Tingye said in disbelief: "Didn't you say that Xixia won consecutive battles? How could it suddenly lose?"
"Xixia has indeed won consecutive battles. That's why we were a little careless. Zunsiluo personally led his troops to attack Xixia and destroyed Xixia, causing Xixia to suffer a lot of losses. This news came back just now." Wang Shao said with a bitter smile.
Gu Tingye and Wang Shao were very excited after receiving Zhao Xing's secret decree.
The imperial court has always used troops, and even if civil servants lead the troops, their autonomy is very limited.
Zhao Xing not only gave them great autonomy, but also gave them all the nearly 50,000 soldiers and horses of Qinzhou's three armies.
He even said that if there are insufficient troops and horses, you can contact the British Duke and they will transfer some troops and horses to them.
After careful discussion, the two made a preliminary plan.
That is, in the name of helping Tubo, send troops to Hehuang, assist Tubo in Hehuang to defeat the Qiang people, then recruit the Qiang people to surrender, and finally recruit and surrender the Tubo people.
The reason for this was because the Qiang tribe was so powerful at this time that there was no possibility of them surrendering.
Although Hehuang and Tubo were united under the Qiang attack, they were attacked by the Qiang before, and each had their own agenda at the beginning, causing great losses. Now they only have more than a dozen cities and tens of thousands of troops.
Before that, Hehuang Tubo also asked for help from the Song Dynasty, but Wang Shao kept delaying and refused to agree.
Now that Zhao Xing has given them autonomy, the strength of Tubo in Hehuang has been reduced to the lowest level. This is a good opportunity for the Song Dynasty to intervene in the situation in Hehuang.
In the past few days, Wang Shao has been negotiating with Tubo about the conditions for sending troops.
Hehuang Tubo also built strong cities for defense on the border with the Song Dynasty.
Wang Shao's condition was the fortified city. Only in this way can Tubo be forced to surrender after helping Hehuang Tubo defeat the Qiang people.
Although it is possible to use a false trick to destroy Guo, it would damage the reputation of the Song Dynasty. It is naturally best to obtain it through normal means.
After some negotiations, and with the Qiang people pressing harder and harder, Hehuang Tubo finally agreed to Wang Shao's conditions.
Wang Shao was filled with joy, and when he came to report the good news to Gu Tingye, he received the news of Xixia's defeat.
"Didn't you say that Zunsiluo is seriously ill and is about to die?" Gu Tingye frowned upon hearing this.
Zusiluo is the largest Tibetan branch on the plateau. The reason why the Xixia troops retreated before was because he united all the Tubo tribes and blocked the Xixia army.
This person is very capable of using troops. The reason why Xixia retreated its troops last time was because it suffered a lot from this person.
However, Susiluo is already old. Although he repelled Xixia's attack last time, Susiluo also fell seriously ill due to poor conditions in the army.
When Xixia retreats, in addition to causing chaos in Tibet on the plateau, it may not be that they have no intention of waiting for Xisi Luo to die of illness.
Rumor has it that after the Xixia army retreated, the disease not only did not improve, but became worse and worse, and was already terminally ill.
This is also one of the reasons for the chaos in Tibet on the plateau.
"It may be that he is holding on, or it may be that he is simply pretending to be ill." Wang Shao shook his head and said: "Now that Xixia has suffered a defeat, although it has not retreated, it has also shrunk. It should be that it wants to find out what's going on with Xixia. If Xisiluo pretends to be sick, Xixia will have no choice but to retreat. With this person here, it is impossible for Xixia to capture the plateau before the heavy snowfall."
"So, we can't send troops anymore?" Gu Tingye said with an ugly expression.
"Yes, if Xixia retreats and the Song Dynasty sends troops to intervene in the Hehuang battle, Xixia will also have enough ability to intervene. Then it will evolve into a battle between the Song Dynasty and Xixia." Wang Shao nodded.
Hearing this, Gu Tingye paced back and forth in the tent irritably.
After a while, Gu Tingye stopped and said firmly: "I don't care, I can only gamble. I decided to send troops to Hehuang!"
"Zhong Huai, you have to think carefully!" Wang Shao advised: "Once you send troops and Xixia intervenes later, the best result is to retreat. But in this way, a lot of manpower and material resources will be wasted, and someone in the court will definitely impeach you. Even the officials may not be able to keep you.”
"Zichun, you are so old. I think it is unlikely that you will pretend to be ill. Even if he pretends to be ill, at his age, how long can he survive if he personally leads troops and horses to attack? I don't believe that Xixia will do it for the sake of He Huang, give up the plateau you are about to reach," Gu Tingye said.
"But..."
"No but!"
Gu Tingye waved his hand and said: "The chaos in Hehuang is related to the Song Dynasty. There is no way to hide it from Xixia. After Xixia takes over the plateau, it will be difficult to have such a good opportunity in the future. You should know this better than me!"
"What about the consequences?" Wang Shao looked at Gu Tingye and asked.
He had heard about some of the things the officials did in the court.
They are also the confidants of the official family. Once they are given authority, they will inevitably be impeached by the civil and military officials of the dynasty.
Although Zhao Xing granted them the right to act expeditiously, this decree was not issued through Zhongshu Sheng.
In other words, this was Zhao Xing's private purpose. It would be fine if things came to pass, but once the troops were lost, he would not be able to take advantage, and even caused a war between the Song Dynasty and Xixia.
At that time, even Zhao Xing might not be able to protect them.
Hearing this, Gu Tingye looked at Wang Shao and said: "I used to be with His Majesty, and Your Majesty once told me that if you want to benefit the country's life and death, how can you avoid it because of misfortunes and blessings! The land of Hehuang is of great importance, how can I do it because of it? Think about personal gains and losses, but don’t even have the courage to take a chance?”
If sending troops would lead to the loss of the city, the loss of territory, or even the possibility of the entire army being annihilated, he would hesitate again and again.
If Xixia really retreats, the worst it can do is retreat from Hehuang, which will not cause these consequences.
The only possibility is that he will be accused, and Gu Tingye feels that he can give it a try.
"If you only care about the country's life and death, how can you avoid it because of misfortunes and blessings!"
Wang Shao savored these words carefully and bowed after a while.
"Brother Zichun, what are you doing?" Gu Tingye quickly ducked away.
"Zhong Huai, I'm not as good as you." Wang Shao laughed at himself: "After I heard the news, I wanted to wait and see what happens. In addition to worrying about triggering a war with Xixia, I also have the thought of cherishing myself."
In fact, this is the difference between civil servants and military generals. When civil servants do anything, they will subconsciously consider the pros and cons of all aspects.
It's not that military commanders won't consider it, but civil servants will find ways to avoid risks at the beginning.
Military commanders, on the other hand, think about it after the fact.
Just like some generals who have achieved great success and shocked the master, they will choose to commit suicide.
But Wen Chen would never allow himself to have the possibility of overpowering his master.
"Brother Zichun is serious." Gu Tingye smiled and said: "Don't you support sending troops now?"
"Haha." Wang Shao was stunned when he heard this, then laughed loudly and said: "You are right!"
"Since Zhong Huai has decided to send troops, the sooner the better. You summon the soldiers of the three armies to discuss the dispatch of troops. I will write a letter first to report our plans to Your Majesty!" Wang Shao said.
(End of chapter)