Chapter 361 Strategic Deployment, Retaking Yanyun

"In the international exchanges of later generations, the comprehensive national strength of a country is measured not only by its GDP, but also by its food output. This is what the great man said, "If you have food in your hands, you will not panic in your heart."

"Food, as the lifeblood of a country, cannot be controlled by others. This is a bloody lesson, such as Ireland, Argentina, Brazil, and Ukraine."

"These are major grain-producing areas in our later generations, but their domestic agriculture has been manipulated by foreign countries, and most of the grain they produce is used for export. Instead, it has led to food shortages and economic recession in the country. This is because their lifeline is controlled by others. end."

"We understand these principles because of the lessons of blood and tears. We know that it is uncomfortable to be hungry, so we work hard to develop agriculture. It is thanks to the efforts of a large number of agricultural researchers like Mr. Yuan that we can keep our jobs."

"It is a pity that Xixia and Liao have not understood these principles. A large amount of national expenditures are used for military expenditures. And as defense expenditures increase, the more they need to support business to maintain the development of their military industry."

"According to my investigation, their domestic agricultural and animal husbandry population has dropped significantly. Most of the businessmen in Xixia are second-rate traders in the Western Regions, and the Liao Kingdom is also more interested in handicrafts and resource export industries."

"Compared with working hard to farm, go to the Northeast to dig wild ginseng, catch some wild animals and sell their furs to the Song Dynasty, or engage in trade on the border, the benefits are far greater than farming."

"This situation has lasted for seven or eight years. The economy and agriculture of the entire Xixia and Liao Kingdoms are heavily dependent on the Song Dynasty. We exchanged grain for copper mines from them, then cast them into copper coins and bought them from them. Other resources.”

"It's really ironic to say that I used to laugh at Emperor Mood for printing money to harvest leeks from all over the world. Now the Song Dynasty has turned into a money printing machine to harvest leeks from all over the world, but it is undeniable that this feeling is really damn good."

In the meeting room of the Political Council, Zhao Jun was talking eloquently with a smile on his face when discussing the issue of the Western Xia Liao Kingdom suddenly sending troops to its allies in the Song Dynasty.

In the past, some people actually didn't understand why they wanted to sell the complete gunpowder formula to the Liao Kingdom, and why they supported the Song Dynasty merchants to buy sulfur from Japan and then transfer it to the Liao Kingdom.

But they don't think about it. Xixia and Liao have all vigorously developed firearms. What will happen to the people's livelihood in the country? What about economic and agricultural development? The example of Big Brother Furry Bear is just before us. Is such a simple truth still difficult for people to understand?

Not only food and economy, once the Song Dynasty really starts to take action, completely sealing off the borders and cutting off mutual trade, then maritime trade will also end, and the raw materials for gunpowder will be interrupted in an instant. Just think about the ending of the little devils during World War II, industrial raw materials What is the consequence of being cut off?

So Zhao Jun made a big move early, a move that could strangle the throats of Xixia and Liao.

"Think about it carefully. I remember Han Long said that in history, we were at war with Xixia, cutting off their mutual trade, and almost causing Xixia to collapse. Could it be that you thought of this at that time?"

Fan Zhongyan opened his eyes wide.

"Um."

Zhao Jun nodded and said: "After the founding of the Song Dynasty, there were only two large-scale conflicts with the Liao Kingdom, but they were unable to cancel the mutual trade because of their defeat. Moreover, the Liao Kingdom has a large market, even if the mutual trade is cancelled, it can be self-sufficient to a certain extent. , of course you can’t imagine this.”

"Later, although the Song-Xia war raged for several years and the mutual trade was cancelled, the country of Xixia was in chaos. But what was embarrassing was that the Song Dynasty lost the war again and lost the war to other people. This forced Xixia to survive. , which makes people even more speechless.”

"So I simply followed my plan, knowing that Xixia and Liao would still be destroyed in the future, so I launched a wave of economic and political war to make Liao and Xixia fall into our trap and unable to extricate themselves."

At this point, he suddenly laughed, looked around and said, "You still don't know that at this time, the Han people in Yanyun are all trying to recognize their ancestors and return to their clan."

"Is this still happening?"

Yan Shu was surprised and said: "Didn't you say that all the Han people in Yanyun hated the Song Dynasty?"

"Then was then, and the present is now."

Zhao Jun pointed to Goryeo on the map and said: "In later generations, Goryeo was divided into two. The north was called North Korea and the south was called South Korea. At the end of the twentieth century, Emperor Mold became the only overlord in the world. Under his suppression and support, North Korea and South Korea South Korea took different paths. North Korea was relatively poor, but South Korea was very wealthy, and finally entered the ranks of developed countries. After that, a large number of North Koreans fled to South Korea, but few South Koreans fled to North Korea. Go, do you know why?"

"You can think about it with your toes. Life in South Korea must be better."

Everyone smiled, it was self-evident.

"Yes."

Zhao Jun nodded: "After the same nation is separated, there will naturally be a desire for comparison. In the past, the Song Dynasty was very strict with taxes and miscellaneous taxes. The Han people in the Liao Kingdom definitely did not want to come back and become the targets of oppression by the Han people in the Song Dynasty. But now that the Song Dynasty has developed well, the Song Dynasty When the Han people in the territory became rich, the Han people in the Liao Kingdom naturally wanted to come back. "

"Everyone is seeking profit."

Li Di sighed.

"This is normal, and we cannot accuse them of impure motives. After all, those who are unconditionally patriotic are people with lofty ideals. There are only a few people who are willing to sacrifice their lives and blood to fight for the country. Most people still do not have that consciousness."

Zhao Jun smiled and said: "Perhaps if we were in that position, seeing that the taxes in the Song Dynasty are low and the people's lives are good, we would want to come back, right?"

"Well, since they want to go home, as compatriots, we must naturally welcome them."

Li Di quickly adjusted his mentality and said with a smile.

This political rhetoric immediately caused a knowing smile to appear on everyone's face.

Although everyone knows that the Yanyun Han people want to come back because of their own interests, everyone still has to find a high-sounding excuse.

Isn't it the best reason to return to the motherland as a Han Chinese?

"Well, well, I have also given a detailed analysis of this matter, and everyone has also discussed it. Now we have generally understood what the Xixia people and Liao people want to do."

Zhao Jun said: "They want to attack our allies and take the initiative to provoke war, so that we can join the war. If we leave, we will inevitably attack their homeland or go to fight on the territory of their allies, thus exposing weaknesses and giving them opportunities. Take advantage of this opportunity.”

"Well."

Everyone nodded slightly in agreement. This was something everyone in the Constitutional Yuan recognized.

As the highest decision-making body of the Song Dynasty, who can sit here who is not an elite who has worked his way up from the bottom of the officialdom?

Neither political wisdom nor means will be missing.

What's more, they have now opened the full map and put a complete map of surrounding countries in front of them.

In this way, through various thinking, the situation of Liao Kingdom and Xixia was quickly judged.

So when switching to the enemy's perspective, this strategy of attacking in the east, attacking in the west, diverting the tiger from the mountain, and luring the snake out of its cave is already the optimal solution.

The Liao Kingdom and Xixia introduced the main forces of the Song Dynasty into Qingtang and Goryeo, leaving only two options.

One is that the Song Dynasty sent troops to the hinterland of Liao and Xia, and they fought defensive wars. The second type is naturally that the Song Dynasty will continue to stagnate, only supporting its allies and not sending troops.

"Does that mean that as long as we don't take the initiative to attack Xixia and Liao, they can't do anything to us?"

Yan Shu asked.

"That's true, but didn't I say it? Since they dare to provoke, they have to leave a piece of meat."

Zhao Jun held down the map and said: "Over Xixia, I am interested in Qingtang, Zhuoluo and Nan. Even if Li Yuanhao is lucky, I will let Han Qi mainly focus on conquering these two places. Liao Kingdom will not do that. So lucky, I have to go to his homeland."

"Yanyun Sixteen States?"

Everyone's eyes lit up.

"Um."

Zhao Jun gestured on the map and said: "I plan to transport part of the navy to Goryeo to help Goryeo resist the Liao Kingdom. The other part will attack from the Bohai Bay and cooperate with the army to attack Yanyun with lightning. The Liao Kingdom must pay a heavy price. ”

"Is that so?"

Cai Qi frowned and said: "Didn't Han Long say before that the Song Dynasty will annex Korea, Japan and surrounding countries in the future and become a pole in East Asia? Then why not take advantage of this opportunity?"

"But I also said that this is a very long-term plan. My generation probably can't do it. It may take the next generation, or even the next generation."

Zhao Jun waved his hand and said: "So in the current situation, the Song Dynasty still needs these allies. It's not that I want to be a moral benchmark. Originally, national interests come first, and politicians need to use shameless means to plunder. After all, the vast land of China is not dependent on etiquette. Integrity is earned by fighting with real swords and guns.”

"But at the same time, we must also understand that the West can rely on force through bloody plunder, and it is the suppression of primitive society by feudal society. It is also a feudal society, and the Western colonists during the Ming Dynasty had nothing to do with the Ming Dynasty. Even in the At the end of Ming Dynasty, he was beaten by one of our pirates."

"Under such circumstances, what we have to consider is that the Song Dynasty is currently in the primary stage of the first industrial revolution and has not even completed the first industrial revolution. With its current capabilities, it is impossible to defeat the Liao Kingdom. Countries such as , Xixia, Goryeo, and Japan were unable to occupy such a large amount of land through colonial plunder.”

"The territory of Mongolia was large enough, but in the end they were forced to divide into four khanates, and uprisings continued. It didn't take long for each khanate to be overthrown one after another. It was the same with us. Only Goguryeo was destroyed in the Tang Dynasty, but in the end they Today's Goryeo was formed, and the country enveloped the entire Korean Peninsula. "

"So it is not enough for civilization to rely solely on conquest. It also requires strong force and cultural penetration. Only by allowing the people and people of East Asian countries to identify with our ideas and culture can we turn them into our subjects after conquering their countries. ”

"Otherwise, it will be like the Liao Kingdom attacking Goryeo a few years ago. Even if they captured their capital, their king and ministers led the people to fight guerrillas outside, but they were still able to push back the Liao Kingdom and eventually restore the country."

"In the final analysis, it is not as simple as some people think to completely integrate a nation and a culture."

"Once nationalism awakens, it is a very scary thing. Japan enslaved North Korea for more than thirty years before World War II and tried to destroy North Korea culturally, linguistically, and ideologically. But did it succeed in the end?"

"What we are doing is, to put it bluntly, destroying other people's countries and destroying other people's races. We are destroying so-called ethnic groups from other countries, such as Koreans, Mongolians, Jurchens, Bohai, Khitan, Dangxiang, Tubo, etc. Wait and become part of the Chinese nation.”

"And while there is no concept of nationalism in this era, we can influence other ethnic groups and make these ethnic groups be tolerated and assimilated by us. In the end, we will slowly let them identify with us and become us."

"Instead of being hostile to us and resisting, just like the whole world fought for independence after World War II, both sides ended up in a deadlock."

"Now."

"You know why I am so eager to sell Confucian books abroad."

Zhao Jun looked around and smiled as if he had succeeded in his conspiracy.

Chinese culture is broad and profound.

The most powerful one is tolerance.

During the Tang Dynasty, foreigners were proud to be citizens of the Tang Dynasty.

Many Goguryeo and Japanese people came to Datang, hoping to obtain a household registration in Datang.

Even in the Song Dynasty, which was looked down upon by later generations, the Japanese came up with a "breeding" plan in order to obtain Han ancestry.

This shows how strong the assimilation ability of Confucian culture is.

Everyone immediately understood.

Many people who didn't understand some of Zhao Jun's operations suddenly understood.

"It turns out that Han Long was playing a big game of chess from beginning to end."

"Thinking about it this way, the East Asia One-pole Strategy is indeed a grand and long-term plan."

"Hanlong's far-sightedness is beyond our imagination."

Everyone immediately praised him.

Because they think Zhao Jun's plan is quite reliable if they think about it carefully.

In the past, I was more confused and confused. Could the Song Dynasty really have such a vast territory?

Now it seems that this is not impossible.

"Okay, let's get down to business."

Zhao Jun tapped the table lightly and said: "As I said, since Liao and Xixia took the initiative to send territory, there is no reason for us not to take it. This is my plan. The troops are divided into two groups, one to aid Goryeo, and the other to Besieging Yanyun, what are your opinions?"

Everyone looked at Fan Zhongyan. When it came to fighting here, he was more experienced.

"I have no objection. With the current national strength of the Song Dynasty, it is not difficult to achieve this, even if we start a war with Liao and Xixia at the same time."

Fan Zhongyan nodded slightly and said: "Besides, since Hanlong is the one who proposed the strategic mission, we should trust him unconditionally, and then we have to make tactical plans to recapture Yanyun."

"In that case, Lao Fan, why don't you and Di Qing go on a trip?"

Zhao Jun said: "Whether you can take back the Sixteenth Prefecture of Yanyun depends on your ability. Don't let me and the officials down."

"Um."

Fan Zhongyan nodded and did not refuse.

Han Qi is enough to deal with a small Xixia.

But for the Liao Kingdom, we still have to rely on him.

After all, the national strength of the Liao Kingdom is still different from that of Xixia, and it needs a backbone.

So Zhao Jun decided to let him take action.

In other words, no one else can actually do this.

First, he did not have enough prestige in the army to achieve the effect that Fan Zhongyan had in convincing everyone unconditionally.

Secondly, although Fan Zhongyan may not be particularly strong in actual ability, his judgment is not bad, and he is at least an upper-middle-level commander.

In addition, with Di Qing charging into the battle, the right time and place, and the right people, if Lao Fan can't handle it, he might as well find a piece of tofu and kill himself.