Chapter 23 5. Neighbors in the north are not easy to mess with

Zhao Jiong was in a good mood, because Zhao Tingmei, Zhao Dezhao, and Zhao Defang, who were potential threats to the succession to the throne, either committed suicide or died of illness.His mood also infected several ministers in the court. Prime Ministers Song Qi, Li Fang and others suggested that he go to Mount Tai to enshrine Zen.Zhao Jiong was also itchy in his heart, but he didn't reply immediately.Li Fang saw that although the emperor did not agree, he did not refuse, so he made intensive preparations for the enshrinement of Mount Tai. Fengchan Taishan originated from Dongyi people's worship of natural mountains and rivers in the primitive society, and it is a primitive ritual of worshiping heaven.

Fengchan is a national ceremony held by ancient emperors on Mount Tai to worship heaven and earth.Building earth as an altar on Mount Tai in Dongyue is called "Feng" to worship the sky, and it is called "Feng" to repay the merits of the sky; on the hills under Mount Tai, such as Liangfu Mountain, Yunyun Mountain, and Tingting Mountain, it is called "Zen" to repay the earth. achievement. Why were the ancient emperors keen on enshrining Zen in Mount Tai?Because the ancients believed that among the mountains, Mount Tai was the highest and closest to the sky, and the emperors of the world should go there to worship the sky, expressing their orders from the sky.Mount Tai Fengchan is not only a national ceremony for the ancient emperors to sacrifice to heaven and earth, but also an opportunity for the emperor to show the prosperity of the country and the peace of the world, and then show off his great achievements.This is the reason why ancient Chinese emperors were keen on enshrining Zen in Mount Tai.

Qin Shihuang was the first feudal emperor to enshrine Zen in Mount Tai. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was the feudal emperor who enshrined Zen in Mount Tai five times successively. Although Tang Taizong Li Shimin was wise and powerful, he never went to Mount Tai to enshrine Zen. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty proposed that three conditions should be met when going to Mount Tai to enshrine Zen: unifying the world; Mount Tai was enshrined in Zen, and the inner palace concubines, civil and military officials all followed. There were thousands of people in the Fengchan team. All states and counties along the way would receive them, and friendly neighbors would come to congratulate them. The consumption of people, money, and materials was astronomical.

Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty did not enshrine Zen all his life. The purpose was to save people's power. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was never tired of enshrining Zen, which cost a lot of manpower, material and financial resources. Not only the common people complained, but even the historian Sima Qian also had opinions. There is a story circulating in Tai'an, Shandong: One year, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty heard that Grandma Taishan had appeared.On the way, there were suddenly more beggars begging along the way near Mount Tai. No matter who it was, no matter how much money they had, they could not give alms to the top of the mountain.Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty thought, I am the king of a country, and I have countless gold and silver, how can I not leave the top of the mountain?He asked people to load twenty carts full of copper coins from Jinan County, one for each beggar, and gave them alms along the way. Unexpectedly, more and more beggars gathered, and the twenty carts of copper coins were gone before reaching the mountainside.Unwilling to be reconciled, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty ordered another 20 carts of copper coins from Tai'an Mansion to continue to give alms, but the money was gone again, and beggars still flocked to him, and he was called to pull money again, telling the bank that the bank was empty.Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty looked up, but he was still far away from the top of the mountain, so he had to say to the beggar: "I have no money today, you all go back!" Cigarettes are lingering above, forming fourteen large characters:

One person prays for gods to spend thousands of dollars, but everyone is like grass and wastes their homes. When the smoke dissipated, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was stunned. He looked around and saw money on the top of the grass where he had given away the money just now, money on the petals, and money hanging on the branches. This legend is a well-intentioned criticism of Emperor Wudi of the Han Dynasty Feng Chan. He was a smart man, and he knew that he was extravagant.He immediately ended the Zen ceremony, returned to Chang'an, re-drafted the edict, reduced taxes, developed production, and the Western Han Dynasty began to become rich again.

When several ministers were busy preparing for the Zen ceremony, the Qianyuan Hall and the Wenming Hall in the palace suddenly caught fire for no reason. In fact, it was not for no reason, but the cause of the fire was not found out. Zhao Jiong thought it was a celestial warning. Immediately dismiss Feng Chan's motion. Zhao Jiong has been the emperor for ten years, but there is still a vacancy in the middle palace, and there is a lack of a foreman in the harem.Concubine Li is both virtuous and beautiful, and has been in the palace for several years without any mistakes. Zhao Jiong officially named Concubine Li as queen.It is a big event for the emperor to seal the empress, and all civil and military officials rarely have to congratulate him.

Zhao Jiong is a person who likes to be arty. After he became queen, he felt even better. In the spring of the following year, he summoned the ministers of civil and military affairs to admire the flowers in the imperial garden, and said to everyone: "The spring breeze brings warmth, and all things are alive. There is nothing wrong with the world. The country is peaceful and the people are safe. I wish Have fun with the people, facing the peaceful and prosperous times, everyone can write poems and prose to express their feelings!" This kind of thing has happened countless times, and the officials all know what the emperor wants most, so everyone racked their brains and searched their brains to dig out those beautiful words, match them, and piece them together to become a song of praise. Poems, words, and Fu were sent to the emperor's imperial case.Although it is said that the literary talent was not very good in a hurry, but the boastful words were used to the extreme.When Zhao Jiong saw these good articles that eulogized virtues, his heart was full of joy, and he commented and praised these poems and essays.Seeing that the ministers had successfully handed over their duties, the emperor was also happy, and they parted happily.

Zhao Jiong's eldest son, Zhao Yuanzuo, was born to the first concubine Li. He was very smart since he was a child, and he looked very much like his father, which made him very fond of Zhao Jiong.After Yuan Zuo grew up, he read a lot of books and was good at riding and archery. He once went to Taiyuan and Youzhou with Zhao Jiong. In the pre-military meetings, Yuan Zuo often had some unique opinions. These made Zhao Jiong like this son even more. After returning to the court, he paid homage to the inspector Taifu, was promoted to be a Taiwei, and was promoted to the King of Chu. He ordered the Ministry of Industry to specially build a magnificent and magnificent Chu Palace and gave it to Yuanzuo to show his love for him.

Although Zhao Yuanzuo is a prince, he is somewhat different from Zhao Jiong in character. He has a sense of justice and compassion, especially when Zhao Jiong persecuted Qin Wang Zhao Tingmei. During Zhao Tingmei's serious illness, Yuan Zuo repeatedly begged his father to pardon his uncle Zhao Tingmei and recall him to Beijing for treatment. Zhao Jiong not only refused Yuan Zuo's request, but scolded him severely, saying that he was full and had nothing to do , I don’t understand the good intentions of being a father.After Zhao Tingmei died in Fangzhou, Yuan Zuo was extremely dissatisfied with what his father had done, and became sick with grief and indignation at his uncle's death, to the point of madness.The left and right servants, no matter who they were, would punish them with knives and sticks if they made a slight mistake, so that the left and right servants were in danger and no one dared to approach him.Zhao Jiong ordered the imperial physician to diagnose and treat Yuanzuo, and also gave amnesty to the world, hoping that God would bless Yuanzuo's illness to recover as soon as possible. However, Yuanzuo's condition did not improve much.

On the Double Ninth Festival in the second year of Yongxi (985), Zhao Jiong called several sons to hold a family banquet in the palace garden. Because Yuanzuo's illness was not fully recovered, Yuanzuo was not invited to the banquet.After the banquet, Chen Wang Zhao Yuanyou passed by the gate of Chu Wangfu and went in to visit his sick brother. When Yuan Zuo learned that his father had not invited him to a family banquet, he thought that his father had abandoned him and drank alone at home. When the servants around saw him drunk, they were all terrified, fearing that he would go crazy and beat people, so they stood still. Not daring to approach him from a distance, unexpectedly, after Yuan Zuo put down his wine glass, he went to bed quietly, showing no signs of losing his temper and punishing others.The left and right servants didn't get angry when they saw that he was full of wine and food, and went to sleep quietly. Although it was a bit strange, no one thought about it, packed everything up, and went to sleep separately.

Yuan Zuo was not actually drunk, he was lying on the bed just pretending to sleep, after a while, after everyone fell asleep, he got up quietly, set a fire in the dormitory, first lit the mosquito net, and the fire immediately spread to the surroundings. It spread and broke through the roof of the house in an instant, thick smoke was everywhere, and the flames shot into the sky. Yuan Zuo stood in the fire clapping his hands and laughing loudly, shouting hoarsely: "Burn! Die! Die cleanly, what is there to see in this filthy world?" ?” The people of Chu Palace were awakened by the thick smoke in their sleep. Everyone ran out in a panic and found that the fire was burning from Yuanzuo's bedroom. The servants rushed in desperately to rescue Yuanzuo and his family members from the fire. Because the fire was so intense that it was impossible to extinguish it, a magnificent Chu Palace was instantly reduced to scorched earth. The fire in Chu Palace burned half the sky red and caused a sensation in Bianliang.Zhao Jiong inquired about the cause of the fire, and learned that Yuan Zuo set the fire on purpose. He was so angry that he immediately sent a censor to arrest Yuan Zuo, and issued an edict to depose him as a commoner, send him out of the capital, and demote him to Junzhou. Song Qi led all the officials to go to the table to intercede for Yuanzuo, asking the emperor to think that he was ill and stay in the capital. Zhao Jiong refused and ordered Yuan Zuo to leave Beijing immediately without staying.After repeated pleas by Song Qi and others, Zhao Jiong issued an edict to recall Yuan Zuo. At this time, Yuan Zuo and his party had already reached Huangshan, Anhui. After Yuan Zuo was ordered to return to Beijing, he was imprisoned in Nangong. He seemed to be indifferent to the fact that he was deposed as a commoner and expelled from the capital, and then he was recalled to Beijing and imprisoned in Nangong. He didn't take it seriously at all. Eat, sleep when you should, go crazy when you should go crazy, and live a carefree life that doesn't care about world affairs. Some people said that Yuan Zuo was indeed suffering from madness and there was no cure; others said that Yuan Zuo was pretending to be crazy to express his dissatisfaction with his father and his rejection of the throne.Which is right and which is wrong, there is no conclusion. In the incident where Yuan Zuo set fire to the Chu Palace, there was a special person, he was Chen Wang Zhao Yuanyou. After the family banquet, he went to the Chu Palace to visit Yuan Zuo and told Yuan Zuo about his father's family banquet.As for what he said that caused Yuan Zuo to be so angry that he set fire to the Chu Palace in a fit of anger, this is a mystery.And when Zhao Jiong learned that the fire in Chu Palace was Yuan Zuo's masterpiece, he deposed Yuan Zuo as a commoner without even thinking about it. Is there any other reason for this? Did Yuan You say something to Zhao Jiong?It's still a mystery, it's unclear, and the way is unknown.The later fact was that in July of the third year of Yongxi's reign (986), Yuanyou changed his name to Yuanxi, was named Kaifeng governor and servant, and became the quasi-crown prince, replacing Yuanzuo's seat. In the third year of Yongxi (986), six years after the Song army defeated Yanmenguan, He Huaipu, the guard of Xiongzhou, made a request to the imperial court to send troops to take You and Ji from the north and recover the sixteen prefectures of Yanyun. He Huaipu is the elder brother of Empress He, the original wife of Taizu Zhao Kuangyin. He served as a commander, and his son He Lingtu served as the guard of Xiongzhou.This person is boastful and likes to talk about state affairs, why did he present such a memorial at this time?It turned out that there was a problem within the Liao Kingdom at this time. Liao is a branch of the Xianbei nationality, who originally lived near the Yellow River. They claimed to be descendants of the Shennong family and formed a tribe called Khitan.In the early years of Zhuliang in the Five Dynasties, Yelu Abaoji, the leader of the Khitan, annexed all the tribes, proclaimed himself emperor, and established the Liao Kingdom. The Liao people called Yelu Abaoji the Taizu. After Abaoji's death, his son Yelu Deguang succeeded to the throne and helped the Later Jin Dynasty destroy the Later Tang Dynasty. Shi Jingtang handed over the sixteen prefectures of Yanyun to the Liao State. He was extremely obedient, but Yelu Deguang still felt that it was not enough. He himself thought about being an emperor, so he raised his troops to overthrow the Later Jin Dynasty and changed the name of the country to Liao. Although Yelu Deguang wanted to be emperor himself, he didn't know how to take care of himself. When fighting, he not only plundered, but also took the lead in the front line. , No blessing to enjoy, so let go.The Liao people called Yelude Guangtaizong. After Yelu Deguang's death, his nephew Wu wanted to succeed him and changed his name to Ruan.Yeluruan was murdered by his courtiers after only five years in power.The Liao people called Yelu Ruan Sejong. Yelu Deguang's son Wulu succeeded to the throne and changed his name to Jing.Yelvjing was a drunkard, addicted to alcohol, liked hunting, and ignored government affairs. The servants were very disappointed with him and conspired to kill him. The Liao people called Yelvjing Mu Zong. Wuyu's son Yeluxian succeeded to the throne, that is Liao Jingzong.Jingzong appointed Xiao Shouxing as Minister, and appointed Xiao Shouxing's daughter Yanyan as queen.Yan Yan has extraordinary skills, and also has a good command of strategy. After sitting on the throne of the queen, she saw that her husband was a sick, weak and incompetent mediocre monarch, so she intervened in the state affairs.Jingzong was already ill, and he didn't have much interest in state affairs. When he saw the empress meddling in state affairs, he simply let it go and entrusted all matters of the court to Yanyan for adjudication. After a long time, people in the country only knew that there was Empress Xiao, but they didn't know that there was Jingzong. people. Liao Jingzong Yeluxian died of illness, and his son Yelulongxu succeeded to the throne. Yelu Longxu was still a child and didn't understand anything. In fact, the political power of the Liao Kingdom was controlled by Yanyan, who was known as the Empress Dowager Xiao in history.Empress Dowager Xiao restored the title of Great Khitan. Empress Dowager Xiao used Han De as a political order, as well as a privy envoy and a general guard.Yelubo Guzhe was in charge of the affairs of the various states in Shanxi, and Yeluxiu was the commander of the southward march.The order is strict and powerful, and the power shakes Shuomo. It was at this time that He Huaipu made a statement to the court. He believed that the Khitan Lord was young, the Empress Dowager Xiao was in power, orphans and widowed mothers, and there was an opportunity to take advantage of it. Zhao Jiong was very happy at first, and had always been brooding over the defeat of Gaoliang River. After receiving the memorial from He Huaipu, he thought it was time to clean up his neighbor in the north. Regardless of some people's advice, he decided to divide his troops into three northern expeditions: The East Route Army was deployed by Cao Bin as the camp capital of Youzhou Road, Cui Yanjin was the deputy, Mi Xin was deployed as the Northwest Road Capital, and Du Yangui was the deputy. Send troops to Feihu; the West Route Army is deployed by Pan Mei for the three prefectures of Yun, Ying, and Shuo, and Yang Ye as the deputy, sends troops to Yanmen Pass to conquer the Liao Kingdom to take You and Ji. Zhao Jiong sits guarding the capital and commands remotely.It was the third year of Yongxi (986), so this expedition was called "Yongxi Northern Expedition" in history. The front of the mountain and the back of the mountain were customary names for the sixteen prefectures of Yanyun at that time. The seven prefectures of Tan, Shun, Ji, You, Zhuo, Mo, and Ying located in the southeast of the northern foot of Taihang Mountain were called "before the mountain". Confucianism, Gui, Wu, Xin, Yun, Shuo, Huan, Ying, and Wei Jiuzhou in the northwest of Taihang Mountains are "behind the mountain". When the army was about to set off, Zhao Jiong specifically told Cao Bin that the West Route Army led by Pan Mei could take Yunzhou first. Knowing that the soldiers of the Song army are coming to attack, they must go to rescue Fan Yang, and have no time to take care of the rear. At that time, lead the troops to charge forward, and hope to succeed immediately. Zhao Jiong's plan was well calculated: let the East Route Army walk slowly at every step to attract the attention of the Khitan Army, so as to contain the Khitan troops. The army marched eastward, forming a pincer attack on Youzhou, and captured Youzhou in World War I. At the beginning of the Northern Expedition, the progress of the war seemed to be developing according to the plan, and some victories were achieved. Tian Zhongjin, the army of the middle route, led his troops out of Feihu County to the south, defeated the Khitan soldiers, captured the Khitan commander alive, and recruited Dapeng Yi from the southwest. The Khitan guards of Feihu and Lingqiu saw that the Song army was powerful and knew they were invincible, so they raised white flags one after another. , Kaesong surrendered to the Song army. Pan Mei of the West Route Army led troops from Xijingguan, fought against the Khitan soldiers at the foot of Huanzhou city, and defeated the Khitan soldiers. Ying, Yun and other states are invincible, with frequent success stories. The East Route Army led by Cao Bin did not show any weakness. He seemed to have forgotten the emperor's intention to slow down the East Route Army before departure, so he unknowingly accelerated the march, and dispatched the vanguard Li Jilong to capture Gu'an and Xincheng one after another, and took advantage of the momentum to capture left Zhuozhou. The good news ahead spread to Bianliang, and all the officials congratulated the emperor.Only Wu Shengjun Jiedu envoy Zhao Pu held a different opinion. He believed that since the Song army conquered You and Ji, the common people's land was barren in order to transport military supplies to the front.In this Northern Expedition, the imperial court used pearls to catapult sparrows, and to attack mice for mice, and the gains outweighed the losses.It's autumn, the inland is sleepy first, and the frontier court is cool early.Khitan soldiers are strong and horses are fat, our army has become a tired army.Therefore, he stated on the table: "I estimate that your Majesty must have listened to the villain's advice during the Northern Expedition. The person who proposed the Northern Expedition is deceiving the emperor. If the Northern Expedition succeeds, he will receive credit. If the Northern Expedition fails, it will cause the country to waste money and people. I don't know who came up with the idea? The minister is already a dying man, so he risked his life to go to the table, begging His Majesty to order the teacher quickly, and stop fighting this battle. The person who came up with the idea is a treacherous minister, and he must be punished according to the law. The ancients still have According to the remonstrance of the corpse, the minister is not dead, but he dare not speak out for the sake of personal safety." Zhao Jiong did not accept Zhao Pu's opinion, but he still personally wrote back a letter to Zhao Pu, saying that the selection of generals by Xingshi was just ordering Cao Bin and others to station Yuxiong and Ba in order to spread the word and wait for a month or two. Time, after pacifying the back of the mountain, join forces with Pan Mei, Tian Zhongjin, etc., and then go straight to Youzhou, drive the enemy together, and recover the old rivers and mountains. This is my idea.After the generals left the army, they did not obey the king's order, and went their own way. Each of the driving forces attacked the counties and captured the counties and counties of the Liao Kingdom. , being taken advantage of by the enemy, if this happens, the responsibility lies with the general in front.As for the frontier defense, he was already prepared and told Zhao Pu not to worry. Sometimes, the development of things is often so coincidental, what you worry about will happen, and what you are afraid of will come.What Zhao Pu worried about in the above table was that the Song army's battle line was too long, and the supply of food and grass in the rear was difficult. Once the Liao soldiers cut off the food road, the Song army would be chaotic without fighting. While Zhao Jiong was still indulging in the joy of winning the battle ahead, Cao Bin sent back an urgent report saying that after the East Road Army conquered Zhuozhou, the Liao soldiers cut off the food road, so they had to abandon Zhuozhou and retreat to Xiongzhou. After Zhao Jiong got the report, he knew that the general situation was not good, so he immediately sent an emissary to send an edict, ordering Cao Bin not to advance rashly, and led his troops to Baigou River to join Mi Xin's troops, waiting for Pan Mei to conquer the states behind the mountain, and then to join Tian Re-enter the east and gather forces to attack Youzhou. Cao Bin complied with the order, stationed in Xiongzhou, and never dared to move again. Although the East Route Army guarded Xiongzhou and did not attack, it played a role in restraining the Liao soldiers in Youzhou. They were worried that Cao Bin's troops would be dispatched at any time, so Not daring to divide troops to fight against the Song Dynasty's Central Route Army and West Route Army, gave these two routes a chance to drive straight in. In this situation, Pan Mei's West Route Army captured all the territory behind the mountain, and Tongtian Zhongjin's Central Route Army joined forces and went eastward to attack Youzhou. The soldiers under Cao Bin felt itchy again, thinking that the imperial court ordered the three armies to go out, and the central army was the main force with the most troops, but now they are standing still in Xiongzhou. Cao Bin is forced to enter the army so as not to fall behind.Cao Bin was hesitant at first, but couldn't stand everyone's repeated persuasion, and even threw the emperor's imperial decree into the sky, ordered the soldiers to prepare food and grass, and then went straight to Zhuozhou. The Khitan general Yeluxiu felt that his troops were too few, so he didn't dare to advance rashly, and he didn't want to start a direct confrontation with the Song army. He just led his elite troops to attack the Song army's grain convoy and cut off the Song army's food supply. Dao, and sent people to fly to the court, requesting to send troops to come to support. Empress Dowager Xiao was originally the husband of a middle-aged woman, but upon receiving brother Yeluxiu's request for help, she actually led the army in person and brought the young master to the expedition. Brother Yeluxiu learned that Khitan reinforcements were coming soon, so he led his troops straight to Zhuozhou, and happened to meet Cao Bin's soldiers on the way.The two armies set up their own camps. After Brother Yeluxiu settled down in the camp, he ordered the brigade to rest in the camp, and sent a small team to challenge in front of the Song army's camp. out, or retreat.The purpose is to make you feel uneasy. At night, Brother Yeluxiu ordered a small number of Khitan soldiers to lie in ambush in the surrounding valleys, blowing whistles, or beating drums and horns. When the Song army came out, there was no Liao soldier. Again one after another.The purpose is to make Song Jun restless. Brother Yeluxiu is indeed a master of soldiers, and this kind of harassment strategy is also very effective. The Song soldiers are full of grass and trees. Unfortunately, the weather was not beautiful. It was May weather at that time, and the temperature was no less than the scorching heat. The soldiers marched under the scorching sun, their mouths were dry, and there were no wells along the way.After tossing and tossing all the way, by the time they arrived in Zhuozhou, people were exhausted, and the food and grass they brought were almost exhausted. As soon as Cao Bin led the exhausted army to Zhuozhou, Yeluxiu led the Qi soldiers and rushed to Zhuozhou.Cao Bin ordered the army and horses from all walks of life to stand ready.Just at this time, Tan Ma came to report that Liao Lord Longxu and Empress Dowager Xiao led a brigade from Tuoluokou to reinforce Brother Yeluxiu, and the vanguard was only a few dozen miles away from Zhuozhou. The soldiers of the Song camp were shocked when they heard that Empress Dowager Xiao had come to reinforce them.Cao Bin and Mi Xin knew that they were not opponents, so they hurriedly ordered to withdraw their troops.It's a pity that Cao Bin, who is known as a good general, retreated without any order. As soon as the army was motivated, he lost his position before the battle was fought, and the army retreated southward like a swarm. Brother Yeluxiu was a famous general in the Liao Kingdom, and he was proficient in the tactics of warfare. Seeing that the Song army was retreating and confused, he knew that the Song army's army was moved.This is a good opportunity to kill the enemy. He led his elite troops to chase all the way, and finally caught up with the Song army at Qigou Pass. After catching up, the Song army rushed all the way.Although the troops led by Brother Yeluxiu were small in number, they were elite troops, and their morale was high with the addition of recharging their energy.This ebbs and flows, the Song army was defeated, and the army fled in a panic.Although Cao Bin yelled loudly, it was useless at all, because his voice could only be heard by a few people around him in the chaos. In order to chase the soldiers, he ordered the soldiers to stop by the river to rest and bury the pot for cooking. Just as the stove was burning, there was another killing sound. It turned out that Brother Yeluxiu led his troops to catch up again.Cao Bin didn't dare to fight any more, endured hunger, and led his troops across Henan to flee. At the halfway point, the Liao soldiers attacked in a large scale, and the Song army became frightened. Cutting vegetables is generally hacking and hacking, and those who are halfway across the boat are either shot by arrows or fall into the water by slipping.Poor Song army, some were killed, some were drowned, corpses littered the bank, and piles of corpses piled up in the river, blocking the river, turning the river into a river of blood. Cao Bin and Mi Xin were defeated three times in three battles, and almost their entire army was wiped out. Empress Dowager Xiao's mother and son led the troops to Shahe to join Brother Yeluxiu, seeing that Brother Yeluxiu had won a complete victory, she was very happy.Brother Xiu asked to take advantage of the victory to chase south and fight until the north of the Yellow River before returning to the army. Empress Dowager Xiao said: "It's so hot in midsummer that it's inconvenient to march and fight. Master Song just violated the taboo of military strategists, so he suffered a disastrous defeat. How can our army repeat the same mistakes? We'd better stop when we see a good situation, and wait until the autumn is high and the horses are fat before marching." Empress Dowager Xiao is really extraordinary. Although she is a woman, her understanding of the art of war is by no means inferior to that of a general who has experienced many battles. The emperor of Zhao Song, Zhao Jiong, always wanted to clean up his neighbor in the north, complete the unfinished business of Taizu, and prove that he was stronger than Taizu. Among the ministers, except Zhao Pu who can keep a clear head, the rest are all deadbeats, just blindly catering to the emperor's wishes, and none of them speak with their brains.They didn't like this neighbor in the north, thinking that sending troops to go could make this neighbor surrender to Song Dynasty. Facts have proved that the neighbor in the north is a ruthless character and not easy to mess with. Can a very happy emperor meet a bunch of flattering and flattering courtiers, can he have a good result?