Chapter 509 Arrangement for Retreat
"Who was the person who searched the yard before?" Zhao Xing said with a gloomy face.
Empress Xiao is a female family member. The guards are all outside the house. Without any abnormalities and being summoned, they cannot enter the yard privately.
So it is not possible to blame the guard.
But Zhao Xing had someone searched the house before.
"When you go back to your Majesty, the secret passage is not originally available, but has been newly dug recently. The secret passage leads to an empty house three miles away. The guards are now searching everywhere." Sanshui reported.
"Not good!" Zhao Xing said anxiously: "Send someone to send a message to Youzhou City and tell Zheng Jun that if Xiao Asu does not rebel, he will immediately call Xiao Ao immediately Take it down quickly! "
"Yes!" Sanshui responded and hurried away.
Zhao Xing's face was gloomy. He always felt that Empress Dowager Xiao had nowhere to go. Although he sent someone to guard him, he didn't care too much.
Now it seems that he is a little careless.
Empress Xiao escaped and was unlikely to escape to Xixia and Hehuang.
After all, she may not end up in Xixia or Hehuang, but she may end up in more miserable ways than in the Song Dynasty.
But there is no possibility of easing between Empress Dowager Xiao and Yelu Yixin. Why did Empress Dowager Xiao escape?
Although Zhao Xu couldn't figure out why Empress Xiao ran away for a while, there was one thing he could confirm. If Empress Xiao ran away, Xiao Asu would definitely run away too.
Previously, Xiao Asu took the surrendered soldiers of the Liao Kingdom to Youzhou City to cheat the city, and then stayed there.
The counties between Bazhou and Youzhou were all defeated two days ago, so Zhao Xing was not in a hurry to transfer Xiao Asu back.
It's nothing if Xiao Asu leaves alone, Zhao Xu is most afraid that he wants to lead his troops away.
Although there are only a few thousand soldiers, Xiao Asu can't hide it from Zheng Jun if he wants to take it away.
If Xiao Asu wants to take away his troops, he will either suddenly attack the city gate at night and forcefully escape.
Or they can only collude with the Liao Kingdom, and work inside and outside to help the Liao Kingdom break the city. "Your Majesty!" Sanshui's voice interrupted Zhao Xing's thoughts. "Have I done what I ordered?" Zhao Xing asked. "Report to Your Majesty, you have sent 800 miles to rush to Youzhou City."
After Sanshui finished speaking, he held up a letter with both hands and said, "Your Majesty, this is the maid who serves Empress Xiao. He was found in Empress Xiao's room. The letter reads His Majesty's personal announcement."
Zhao Xing answered The letter was written on it, saying that the Emperor of Song was personally revealed.
The Chinese characters are written, and he recognized them as the handwriting of Empress Dowager Xiao.
He had seen Empress Xiao write Chinese characters before, and he could recognize his handwriting.
Zhao Xing breathed a sigh of relief after reading the letter.
"If you tell me directly, I will not only let you go, but also provide you with some help." Zhao Xing said with a pity.
Yes, it's a pity.
In the letter, Empress Dowager Xiao said that Xiao Asu was helping the Song Dynasty to open Youzhou City, and some of the generals of the defenders in the city surrendered.
One of them is from the Xiao family.
The Xiao family was the second most noble in the Liao Dynasty after the royal family. Even Yelu Yixin did not dare to destroy the entire Xiao family.
After Yelu Yixin ascended the throne, he only moved those civil and military officials who were close to Empress Dowager Xiao's lineage.
For the rest of the Xiao family, just suppress them as much as possible.
If it were just like this, Empress Dowager Xiao would not have escaped now.
Otherwise, I would not have fled from Liao Kingdom at the beginning.
The reason why Empress Xiao escaped now was because she learned that Yelu Yixin was plotted by the British Duke and suffered heavy losses.
She believed that Yelu Yixin was no longer enough to suppress the situation in Liao.
But the Xiao family was suppressed and needed a backbone.
She is going back now to stabilize people's hearts.
I hope Zhao Xing can conceal the news that she left the Song Dynasty.
At this time, the Song Dynasty was no longer able to continue fighting with the Liao Kingdom. Empress Dowager Xiao could go back and cause trouble for Yelu Yixin, so Zhao Xing was naturally happy to see it.
If Empress Dowager Xiao explained to him, he would not only let Empress Dowager Xiao go, but also provide help to Empress Dowager Xiao.
The more chaotic the Liao Kingdom, the longer it takes to restore its vitality, and the time for Yelu Yixin to counterattack will be delayed.
The Song Dynasty had more time to digest the occupied territory.
Uncle Xiao did not believe Zhao Xing, so he did not tell him, but ran away secretly.
However, Empress Dowager Xiao mentioned at the end of the letter that she hoped that Zhao Xing could let Xiao A-stop.
Empress Xiao did this just to take the initiative.
If she discusses with Zhao Xing, the decision will be in Zhao Xing's hands.
After she left, it would be meaningless for Da Song to keep Xiao Asu.
Zhao Xing pondered for a while and said, "Let the searcher stop and explain it. You cannot miss any news about this matter."
"In addition, send a message to Zheng Jun, Let him hand over all the surrendered soldiers from Youzhou City to Xiao Asu and let him go! ”
"Yes!"
Sanshui saw that Zhao Xing had no other orders, bowed and retreated.
……………
The next day, Zeng Gongliang and the British Duke returned to Bazhou City.
Zhao Xing learned the news and asked Sanshui to go out of the city to greet the two of them in person on his behalf.
"I pay homage to Your Majesty!" Zeng Gongliang bowed to the British Gong.
"Stand up!"
Zhao Xing personally stood up and helped the two of them up, laughing and said, "The British Duke won a great victory this time, which greatly damaged the Liao Dynasty's vitality. I heard that Everyone was happy. "
"Your Majesty was in charge of the army and soldiers were inspired, and they all fought for the first place. The ministers did not dare to make merits." The British Duke bowed.
"Don't be modest." Zhao Xing shook his head slightly, returned to his main seat, and asked the two to sit down. "The rebellion occurred in the Central Plains, and Zeng Aiqing and the British Duke also knew about it. The Northern Expedition could only end here. How should the two aiqings be deployed?" Zhao Xing asked.
Gongliang looked at the British Duke. Seeing that his eyes were slightly drooping, he had no intention of speaking, so he could only stand up and salute, "Your Majesty, now the Liao Kingdom's vitality is severely damaged, and he should be unable to launch a counterattack in a short period of time. The city walls of Zhoucheng are tall and are a solid city, so there is no need to worry too much about Youzhou City." "The front line of Xijing City, because Xijing was unable to be taken, the Song Dynasty occupied it was not a solid city. , need to stock up on heavy troops to defend! ”
"Actually, I think there is no need to worry about the defensive issues for the time being. How to make the people go back to their hearts is the top priority."
"Only the people go back to their hearts can defend for a long time. Otherwise, there will be a mistake sooner or later."
Now it is wartime, and the Song Dynasty has heavy troops and occupied the city, the people are still honest.
But next time, the truce is impossible to leave too many troops in the north, otherwise the pressure of supply will be too great. The troops left behind should focus on defending against the Liao Kingdom, and there would not be too many troops stationed in the cities behind.
Once someone lures the people into chaos, it will be a big trouble.
Zhao Xing sneered: "I have considered this matter for a long time. The nobles and wealthy businessmen of the Liao Kingdom fled, leaving behind a large amount of unowned fields, and the food in the fields was about to mature. I am planning to collect all these fields. It is owned by the court and then rented to the people. The grain planted in the fields is also owned by the people after harvest. It only needs to pay taxes according to the standards of the Song Dynasty! "
The Liao Kingdom has one country and two governances. The strategy is indeed good.
But the Liao Kingdom did this just to make the Han people return to their hearts.
The classes are favored, and the taxes of ordinary people in the Liao Kingdom are much higher than those of the Song Dynasty.
For ordinary people, they don’t understand the principles of family, country, and patriotism.
Ordinary people care more about whether their family can eat and wear warmth.
As long as Zhao Xing can give them benefits and let them know that being ruled by the Song Dynasty is better than being ruled by the Liao Kingdom, they will naturally support the Song Dynasty more.
Zhao Xing distributed the land to them, although it was only rented to them, but the land they could plant was indeed more.
The food in these fields can be collected soon, and the benefits will be seen soon.
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In this way, these people will not only not cause trouble, but are worried that the Song Dynasty will not be able to defend it and that the benefits they get will be taken back.
Once the Liao Kingdom counterattacked, these people would help the Song Dynasty defend the city. "Your Majesty, this Northern Expedition consumes a lot. The food from these fields can make up for a portion. That's it..." Zeng Gongliang also agreed to share the fields with the people. He wanted to give advice. Zhao Xing distributed the fields directly to the people.
The people were in vain and worried about losing it, so they naturally supported the Song Dynasty.
He didn't expect that although Zhao Xing did not want to give the land directly to the people, he gave the food in the fields to the people.
"No need to say!" Zhao Xing waved his hand and interrupted Zeng Gongliang and said, "Land annexation has always been a problem faced by all dynasties. Only by collecting the land as state-owned and buying and selling is prohibited. Only in this way can we truly eliminate land annexation, and this hole cannot be opened! "
Zhao Xing also needs to find a way to take back the land in the world, so it is naturally impossible to give it out.
It is easy to give it out, but it is difficult to take it back.
"But..."
Zeng Gongliang opened his mouth. In his opinion, although a large piece of land has been built now.
But these territories are only temporarily owned by the Song Dynasty. Whether they can truly belong to the Song Dynasty depends on whether they can be defended later.
Although Zhao Xing's method seems to be able to make the people's hearts, renting the land to the people is ultimately not as good as giving it to the people directly.
If renting it to the people, it does not belong to the people in their hearts, and the court can take it back at any time.
In this way, it is not realistic to expect that the people would support the Song Dynasty when the Liao Kingdom counterattacked.
It's different to allocate it to the people. In order to save their own things, the people naturally don't want the Liao Kingdom to come back. "I have decided, there is no need to say anything." Zhao Xing said firmly.
The reason why Zeng Gongliang had this idea was that he always wanted to maintain the defensive position.
But Zhao Xing did not intend to keep defending. When the Central Plains rebellion was quelled and he would cultivate for a while, he would launch the Northern Expedition again and would not give the Liao Kingdom a time to breathe.
When Zeng Gongliang saw this, he was not easy to persuade him again.
"Duke of England."
Zhao Xing looked at the Duke of England and asked, "How many troops do you think you need to defend?"
"Reply to Your Majesty, I think you need at least two. 150,000." The British Duke replied.
"I give you 300,000 yuan, and be sure to stabilize the north for me!" Zhao Xing said. "Don't worry, your Majesty has an army of 300,000. I dare not say that the north is foolproof, but it is still okay to stay for one or two years." The British Duke said confidently.
"I feel relieved if the British public is so confident."
Zhao Xing smiled slightly and said, "You two dear friends have worked hard, I..."
"Your Majesty, there is an urgent report coming from the northwest!"
At this moment, Zhang Feng walked in and said with a bow.
Zhao Xing's face darkened when he heard this. Could it be that Xixia sent troops?
Without Zhao Xing's order, Sanshui stepped forward to receive the urgent report and delivered it to Zhao Xing.
Zhao Xing hurriedly opened and looked.
"Okay!"
When Zhao Xing saw the content in the emergency report, he was stunned at first, showing an incredible look. He was stunned for a long time, came back to his senses, shouted loudly, and looked full of joy. "Dare you ask Your Majesty, what happened in the northwest, which makes Your Majesty so happy?" Zeng Gongliang said in confusion.
Zhao Xing took a deep breath, calmed himself down, and said, "Gu Tingye led his troops to raid the capital of Xixia and robbed the Empress of Xixia. And he accidentally learned about it, and the Emperor of Xixia died suddenly!"
"Gu Tingye captured the Empress Xixia and the Crown Prince. The news was learned from the Empress Xixia. Gu Tingye urgently said that the Empress Xixia seemed to have known the news in advance." Zhao Xing said.
"So it was the Emperor Xixia who was murdered by the Empress of Xixia?"
Although Zeng Gongliang felt it was a bit ridiculous, the news he knew was limited at this time and he had no way to tell the truth or the false. "Your Majesty, if the Emperor of Xixia died suddenly, Gu Du Commander must not kidnap the Prince of Xixia!" Zeng Gongliang suddenly thought of Zhao Xing's previous saying that Gu Tingye gave the Empress and Prince of Xixia to the Queen of Xixia and the Prince of Xixia to the previous one. After arresting, he said anxiously: "The Emperor of Xixia is not old, and his prince is even younger. If he succeeds to the throne and fights for power and profit within, he will inevitably cause chaos. But if he is abducted and the Emperor of Xixia has no other descendants, Xixia might have done so. Select people from the royal family to succeed to the throne."
"Gu Tingye said in an urgent report that after he learned the news, although he could not confirm, he did not dare to take the Prince of Xixia away. Therefore, he let the Prince of Xixia go and only brought back the Queen of Xixia." Zhao Xing said.
Zeng Gongliang praised him after hearing this: "It is admirable that Commander Gu made such a decision in a hurry. He brought back the Empress of Xixia, which is a wonderful move!"
"Although The prince of Xixia is young, but if the Queen of Xixia ruled behind the curtain, the situation could be stabilized quickly. If the prince of Xixia is left behind and the Queen of Xixia is taken away, the prince of Xixia will inevitably become a puppet."
"Haha."
" Zhao Xing laughed, and suddenly a flash of inspiration flashed in his mind, saying, "Zeng Aiqing, what do you think you are sending troops to destroy Xixia at this time when you take advantage of the civil strife in Xixia?"
"Your Majesty, no!" Zeng Gongliang said anxiously: "Although this Northern Expedition has suffered little loss and has achieved great results. However, the food and grass consumption is very large, and now there is a rebellion in the Central Plains. The best strategy is to quell the rebellion as soon as possible. . Although Xixia was in civil turmoil, its strength was not greatly lost. It is unlikely to gain something when sending troops at this time."
"I don't think so!"
Zhao Xing pondered: "Xixia The emperor died suddenly, without the Queen of Xixia, it would be difficult to unify the opinions in a short time. The border defenders will inevitably be in panic. "
"Even Zeng Aiqing said that it is not appropriate to send troops at this time, so Xixia would be even more unpredictable. .”
"There is only 300,000 soldiers and horses in the north to defend and more than 200,000 soldiers and horses. I brought these soldiers and horses back to Bianjing with great fanfare, but secretly went to the northwest and launched a surprise attack. It is difficult for Xixia to defend." Zhao Xing said.
The more he thought about it, the more he felt that he could give it a try. Xixia was not as big as Liao Kingdom and the area was not large.
When Xixia was not prepared, if it captured the territory of Xixia, it might be able to destroy Xixia in one fell swoop.
"Your Majesty, don't forget that there is a Dong Wen in Hehuang. Although he has a grudge against Xixia, he still understands the principle of losing his lips and cold teeth. If he sends troops to intervene, it will be difficult to gain a advantage."< br>
(This chapter ends)