He received the order of the Privy Council, and the pacifier of Hebei Road, Ma Huaide, the governor of Xiongzhou, and asked about his military troops going south and crossing the border. As a result, the Khitan responded strongly, saying that it was the inspection of the two lost households under his rule, and asked why the Song Dynasty raided Yelu Fonu.

When the news reached the capital, two envoys Yelu Yixin and Yao Jingxing were unified and insisted that the army did not enter the Song territory. The Song Dynasty attacked them without any evidence and demanded that the Song Dynasty hand over the murderer and compensate.

In the Privy Council, Du Zhongxiao read the official documents handed over by Guoxin and shook his head with a smile: "It's really not easy to make the Khitans surrender. Now that 10,000 soldiers have been wiped out, they still refuse to admit defeat."

Fu Bi said: "The Khitan has been established for nearly two hundred years and has always been at the upper hand to the Central Plains. How can we give in? Even if the national strength is not strong now, we still think that our military strength is strong and cannot be compared with our dynasty."

Du Zhongxiao nodded and said nothing. He figured it out. In fact, the Khitan's approach was not surprising. Thinking about the history of his previous life, the Qing Dynasty had always despised the Western barbarians from Europe until the Opium War was completely defeated. It was not until they were completely defeated by strong ships and powerful cannons that they realized the reality. The same is true for the Khitan. They also entered the Central Plains. The warlords of the Central Plains once fought to recognize themselves as their son emperors, and their military strength was always strong. How could they admit that they were defeated because the Song Dynasty's military strength rose in nearly ten years? They were big countries, not small countries.

Zhang Sheng said: "It seems that if Yan Yun cannot be restored and completely defeated the Khitan, they will continue to be so tough. However, if they are like this, we have no choice. It is nothing more than a lawsuit, and we cannot raise troops."

Du Zhongxiao shook his head: "It is not convenient for us to raise troops without authorization, but the Khitans may not be able to bear it. The Khitans believed that the two losses belonged to them, so they cut off this section from then on. He ordered Xiongzhou to completely cut off the two losses of the people under his rule, and from then on, Khitan officials and troops were not allowed to cross the border."

Fu Bi said: "How can the Khitan be willing to rely on it? Northerners love silk. Most of the Khitan silk is collected from the people of the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun. A few years ago, the Taiwei defeated the Khitan in Tanglong Town, and the annual monies have been cut off. Now the price of silk in the Khitan is several times that of the original dynasty. It is not a big deal for the Khitan to lose both Xiongzhou, and it is not the case for the Khitan."

"So what if you don't do it? Are you sending troops to fight?" Du Zhongxiao didn't care. "This time, it has already shown that this dynasty is not afraid of the Khitans' striking troops. But in addition to raising troops, what other means does the Khitan have?"

Zhang Sheng and Fu Bi nodded and understood what Du Zhongxiao meant. The Khitans were able to have the upper hand against the Central Plains because they had the military strength to defeat the Central Plains. Once they lost the military advantage, what else could make the Central Plains afraid?

Du Zhongxiao said: "For this dynasty, the danger of the Khitan lies only in its strong military strength. Once the military does not gain the upper hand, it is impossible to gain benefits from this dynasty, even if you want to maintain your current state. This time, the people under the rule of life will no longer lose two times. Let's see what the Khitan will do."

Zhang Sheng said: "What can I do? This dynasty seems to have no place to seek the Khitan."

Du Zhongxiao said: "The only thing Khitan can do is to concentrate troops in Youzhou and threaten to go south."

During the interactions between the two countries, the Khitan did this not once or twice, but a habitual action. It was not until the Chanzhou Alliance that the Khitan understood that the southward invasion was not beneficial and restrained it. However, when the Song Dynasty fought against Dangxiang, the Khitan again threatened, increasing the annual monies every year.

Now, Du Zhongxiao is not afraid of the Khitan doing this. The threat of war cannot scare the Song Dynasty, and the Song Dynasty now even wants to fight with the Khitan.

In Chongzheng Palace, Zhao Zhen summoned the ministers of the two prefectures and the chief censor to discuss the battle in Xiongzhou.

After enjoying the tea soup, Zhao Zhen said: "This time, 10,000 Khitan cavalry entered the country, and Zhang Ke had already obtained military information, properly arranged it, and wiped out the Khitan soldiers. Hebei Road has not had such a great victory for many years, so it is very congratulatory."

Wen Yanbo said: "This great victory is a happy event. However, the Khitans lost many troops and horses, so they would not give up. The border pacifier Ma Huaide went to Wen Khitan to investigate his crime of sending troops across the border. However, the Khitan said that the people in that area were originally two losers, and they were also under the Khitan rule. The two Khitan envoys sent to the capital also said the same thing, and they refused to admit their mistakes."

Tian Kuang said: "Yes, the Khitan refused to admit his mistake, it was difficult."

Zhao Zhen looked at everyone and said, "The Khitan refused to admit his mistake, so what should we do?"

If we follow the trajectory of history, it would be unimaginable that the Song Dynasty would offend the generals in front of the army and compromise with the enemy. But now it is different. From Du Zhongxiao to Tanglong Town, the Song Dynasty won consecutive battles. After the army was trained, it showed that its combat power was strong. Moreover, there is enough money and food, and there is a railway to build a border, so we are not afraid of war. If we give in, no one will say this kind of weakness and concession.

Bao Zheng, the chief censor, said: "The Khitan crossed the border first, and after being defeated, he would have to make a point. If the court recognized this matter, how could he be powerful to the four barbarians? I think that if the Khitans say this, there is nothing to talk about. He took Yelu Fonu and others who crossed the border back to the capital to punish the Zhengdian. He ordered all the guards on the Khitan border to strictly guard the border. Then he would prohibit the deliberations along the border and cut off contact with the Khitan first."

Tian Kuang said: "Doesn't you go to war with the Khitan?"

Bao Zheng said: "After crossing the border, he still insisted on making a mistake. If war begins, the Khitans will start the war first."

Tian Kuang shook his head: "No, this is too much Meng Lang. Now the training of the imperial guards has not been completed halfway. If the Khitan Xing army comes, it will be difficult for Hebei Road to deal with it. You can only use the Khitan Xu and Weishe first, and wait until the training of the imperial guards is completed before deciding the victory or defeat."

Speaking of the imperial guards' reorganization, the other ministers did not dare to speak for a moment. This was the most important thing in the Privy Council recently. The progress was quite smooth, and other yamen did not dare to interrupt. Even Zhao Zhen himself did not dare to speak easily.

Seeing Zhao Zhen and several ministers looking at him, Du Zhongxiao said, "I think that national affairs should not be bound by the imperial guards' training. Even if the imperial guards do not train, they have destroyed the party base and recovered the Western Regions. Are you afraid that the Khitans will be underground? Now that the training has been completed, more than 200,000 people can be organized into more than 100,000 people after training for the New Year. With this 400,000 army as the foundation, there is more than 400,000 rules and strategies for the Khitans. If you step up a little, you can organize all the remaining 400,000 imperial guards, even if they are not enough for a while, you can still fight. At that time, how bad can the effect be achieved?"

"Work and practice?" Zhao Zhen couldn't help but ponder. "Does this make it?"

Du Zhongxiao said: "What can I do? It's just that there are fewer suitable generals and officials in the army. Middle and lower-level generals can select suitable talents from the military academy and first use fake officials to command the army. Wait for them to make military achievements and then be promoted. When they rescued Tanglong Town, most of the Yingtianxiang Army were fake officials, and they were not as big as the winner. As long as the military academy is in, there are sufficient follow-up talents and they are not afraid of war."

Zhao Zhen nodded, and after a brief thought, he understood Du Zhongxiao's meaning. The imperial guards' training has been facing a difficult problem. There are sufficient low-level generals from the military academy, but the middle- and senior generals, because they are mainly the original imperial guards, the old people hold their positions. Without war, it will be difficult for the low-level generals from the military academy to be promoted and stand out from the old people. Without eliminating the old generals, the imperial guards will be difficult to transform.
Chapter completed!