Chapter 1 The Beginning

That Zhao Guan Jia set out westward on the fifth day of the first month. Although he was traveling along what was probably the smoothest road in ancient China, and although the route was dotted with military stations due to the Yellow River confrontation, and even though half of his accompanying troops were cavalry, it was still after the Lantern Festival that he arrived in Chang'an. There, he idly waited for news from all sides.

The Jurchen response was concentrated in the latter half of the first month, while the Western Xia made a near-desperate decision at the end of the month.

By the time the Western Xia State Chancellor, Xue Yuanli, and the Goryeo envoy, Zheng Zhichang, arrived in Chang'an, it was already mid-February. Once the Western Xia delegation arrived, they hastily presented their gifts and were quickly sidelined.

Of course, their basic personal freedom within the city was not restricted.

Xue Yuanli repeatedly requested audiences and inquired with relevant officials, only to be told that Zhao Guan Jia was out for a spring outing, or that the Emperor had gone to the Yan'an Prince's residence to see his son-in-law and daughter-in-law, or to visit some famous historical site.

To this, the Western Xia were pleasantly surprised.

The reason was simple: Zhao Song Guan Jia's leisurely manner and the relaxed atmosphere in Chang'an indicated that this action was likely a war bluff, and the imagined three-way war would not occur.

In fact, as the Western Xia continued their inquiries within the city, more and more information confirmed Xue Yuanli's conjecture.

For example, not only did the Great Song reinforcements cease their movements after entering Weinan, but even Wu Jie retreated slightly to Fangzhou after recovering Bao'an Army on the front line. Han Shizhong and Hu Yin also returned to Chang'an in turn... Seeing this, even the Jurchens seemed to be cursing and hesitating, wondering whether to withdraw from the Hezhong Prefecture area. Naturally, the Western Xia felt relieved.

Moreover, Xue Yuanli found a compelling reason to further confirm that the Zhao Song Guan Jia had no intention of starting a war at this time: after nearly three years since the death of his only heir, the young Zhao Song Emperor finally had legitimate offspring again. Everyone in Chang'an knew that Consort Wu and Consort Pan, far away in Dongjing, had successively given birth to two sons for the Zhao Song Emperor.

The prince, whose milk name was Yuanzuo, was born to Consort Wu on the third day of the second month; the prince, whose milk name was Dezuo, was born to Consort Pan on the seventh day of the second month.

In other words, the news of the birth of these two princes must have stopped the Zhao Song Emperor's steps to start a war... After all, everyone knew that this Emperor had previously given birth to a bunch of daughters, and the only son he had hadn't grown up yet. So, when entering the customs, he might not have dared to think that they would all be sons. And since he had sons, given the extremely low survival rate of infants in those days and the experience of the previous heir, there would naturally be concerns from all sides.

Wasn't this Emperor also a devout Buddhist? Wasn't he afraid of retribution?

"Is this Chang (zhang) Ling?"

On the nineteenth day of the second month, the weather was clear. Thirty-five *li* north of Chang'an, on the north bank of the Wei River, Zhao Jiu stood before two huge mounds, lost in thought. "The one on the west is the tomb of Emperor Gaozu of Han, and the one on the east is the tomb of Empress Lü?"

"Yes."

When the Emperor went out, Yuwen Xuzhong, as a Chancellor, had to stay behind to guard Chang'an. Naturally, Han Shizhong led the accompanying civil and military officials, but Han Shizhong could not possibly understand these things. It was Hu Yin, the Transportation Commissioner of the Five Routes of Guanxi, who spoke.

"What are all these buildings in the middle?" Zhao Jiu remained curious.

"They are the tombs of the meritorious officials buried with the Emperor."

"Oh?"

"From the westernmost end of the imperial cemetery, extending eastward for fourteen *li* to the Jing River, are the tombs of the meritorious officials who founded the Former Han Dynasty." Hu Yin replied slowly, his face expressionless. "Xiao He, Cao Can, Zhou Bo, Zhou Yafu, Wang Ling, Ji Xin, Zhang Er, Tian Ran, Tian Sheng, and others are all buried here..."

"Isn't there Zhang Liang?" Han Shizhong, who had been reading for a few days recently, suddenly interjected, curious.

"No." Hu Yin replied seriously. "Not only is there no Zhang Liang, but there is also no Chen Ping, no Lü clan members, and no Han Xin!"

Han Shizhong obviously didn't understand Hu Yin's sarcastic joke, and continued to ask, "Why not? Zhang Liang made such great contributions..."

"Most likely they were robbed!" Zhao Guan Jia, who was watching the situation of Chang Ling with his hands behind his back, seemed unable to bear his beloved general and in-law being teased, and immediately interjected. "What else could it be? The Green Forest and Red Eyebrows bandits don't recognize the meritorious officials of the Han Dynasty, just as the Jin army and the bandits and military rebels in Heluo in the early years of Jianyan didn't recognize the imperial tombs of our dynasty. Of course, they would rummage through them, take their pearls and jade, and scatter their bones... Only this much remains of the tombs of the buried companions stretching for more than ten *li*, which shows that most of them were still robbed and flattened."

Hu Yin nodded in agreement: "I also think so. Although there are many different accounts of Zhang Liang's tomb elsewhere, judging only from Xiao He, his tomb is undoubtedly in Chang Ling. There are also various embellishments in other places, which shows that many meritorious officials should be buried here. Only the disaster of the Red Eyebrows and Green Forest bandits, who even dug up Empress Lü's body, I am afraid that the bones of most of the meritorious officials were also scattered."

At this point, Hu Yin paused slightly, and finally revealed a mocking look: "Even Han Xin, who met such an end, actually has large tombs and sealed earth in various places, isn't it ridiculous?"

The accompanying officials, whether they were Han Shizhong, Wang De, Li Shifu, and other military officers with low levels of education, or Yue Fei, Qu Duan, Liu Qi, Yang Yizhong, Liu Yan, and other generals with some knowledge, all sighed.

"Do I have an imperial tomb?" Zhao Jiu glanced at the shapes of these people, and suddenly thought of something else besides his complicated mood.

"No..." Hu Yin replied seriously. "But the Supreme Taoist Emperor does. It was built for decades before Jingkang, in Luoyang. Because there was nothing in it, it wasn't dug up."

These words made Han Shizhong and others feel okay, but several accompanying civil officials couldn't help but feel embarrassed... Because Hu Mingzhong was almost directly telling Zhao Guan Jia to grab the Supreme Emperor's tomb. Anyway, judging from the current situation, the Supreme Taoist Emperor was most likely to die in Shaolin Temple, and maybe there would be a free pagoda as a gift.

However, Zhao Jiu thought for a while, then shook his head repeatedly, looking at the two big mounds in front of him: "Thinking about these things is too far away. Even if the imperial tombs are built into mountains, they can't resist the loss of the family business by future generations a hundred years later. What happens after death depends on what happens during life, and on the descendants, and on luck. The only thing we can control is what happens during life. As for establishing virtue, establishing words, and establishing merit, I don't expect to establish virtue or words, but it's more cost-effective to create some eternal achievements... The Lingyan Pavilion collapsed, but who can forget Emperor Taizong and the twenty-four meritorious officials? After the Later Han Dynasty was destroyed, what about Emperor Guangwu of Han and the Twenty-Eight Constellations? The same is true of the Former Han Dynasty. Xiao He's tomb is still there, and there are still cenotaphs in other places; Zhang Liang's tomb is nowhere to be found, and people are vying to build tombs everywhere; even Han Xin, who was exterminated, doesn't stop other places from popping up with his tombs and sealed earth... So, if I can restore the achievements of Emperor Gao and Emperor Tang, even if I am burned to ashes and thrown into the sea after death, would the history books dare to omit my name?"

Hu Yin still had that serious look, while Han Shizhong and other military officers nodded in agreement, showing a harmonious appearance.

Unexpectedly, Zhao Guan Jia suddenly turned back to look at the people behind him, startling the group of generals: "You don't need to nod... I'm talking about myself. As a ruler, anyone who has a concept of the world and its people in his heart must bear the filth of the world and is destined to be unable to establish virtue or words, so he can only seek merit. But it's different for ministers... Isn't it good to learn from Zhuge Wuhou in establishing virtue and personal integrity? Are the reputations of Emperor Gao of Han and Emperor Taizong of Tang better than Zhuge Wuhou's, or greater than Zhuge Wuhou's?"

"Your Majesty, Zhuge Wuhou was a Prime Minister." Han Shizhong, feeling uncomfortable with Zhao Jiu's gaze, quickly stepped forward half a step to make a joke. "Naturally, that's where the several Chancellors should go. How can we ministers learn from him? It's better to follow Your Majesty and be a Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, or Zhao Yun..."

Due to the order here, the other military officers didn't say much... They could only agree.

There was no way around it; who asked Han Shizhong to be a Prince?

Who asked him to be unparalleled in the world?

Liang Furen gave birth to dragon and phoenix twins, which was also called unparalleled in the world, because having a double in-law relationship with the imperial family was unique! Yue Pengju only established one in-law relationship.

Therefore, Qu Duan, who had been whipped by Han, was honest, and Wang De, who firmly believed that his career as a commander had been ruined by Han's words, was also honest, and Yue Fei, who had long passed the stage of admiring Guan Yu and Zhang Fei in his youth, was even more honest... There was no way around it; everyone knew what Han had come back to do this time. It was to prevent Yue Pengju from snatching the position of commander-in-chief this time. He was the target of the Yan'an Prince this time.

Zhao Jiu, dressed in plain clothes, glanced across Han Shizhong's face again, and finally smiled, then turned back again, strode forward with his hands behind his back, and the civil and military officials hurried forward, chasing after him under the protection of more imperial guards.

Zhao Jiu kept walking along the center line of the sealed earth of the two large mounds, and he kept stopping and starting, obviously looking for something... In fact, many followers also realized Zhao Guan Jia's goal, he seemed to want to find the central connecting point of the sealed earth of Emperor Gaozu of Han and Empress Lü.

But unfortunately, the two sealed earths seemed consistent, but there was still a slight difference. Empress Lü's sealed earth was indeed smaller, and at the same time, the sealed earth of Empress Lü's tomb had indeed been damaged, and the shape was somewhat incomplete. Zhao Guan Jia walked around for a circle, but he never found a perfect point of symmetry.

The civil and military officials behind him seemed to have noticed something, and they were also silent, only Han Shizhong had relaxed steps.

In the end, seeing that the sun was setting in the west and it was afternoon, Zhao Jiu finally gave up, and randomly found a building in the imperial cemetery, which was the sacrificial hall in front of the tombs of Zhou Bo and Zhou Yafu, father and son, and sat down there.

"Hu Yin."

After Zhao Jiu came to the front of the hall and sat down on a stone bench, he called out one person over Han Shizhong and spoke to him in a serious manner. "You have been in Guanxi for many years now, and you must be familiar with military affairs. I ask you, if we are to follow the previous strategy for attacking Xia discussed in Chang'an, what key points do you have to remind me of?"

Han Shizhong and the other commanders were all stunned, but they couldn't interrupt.

"I do." Hu Yin still had a serious face, and immediately cupped his hands in front of the sacrificial hall.

"Speak."

"The foundation of attacking Xia does not lie in the soldiers and horses. It didn't before, and it doesn't now, but in the logistics."

"Well said!" Zhao Jiu was pleasantly surprised.

"To ensure proper logistics, there must be a proper marching route. Looking at past progress, there are three proper routes: one slow, one medium, and one fast. The slow one is in Hexi, taking Hehuang and occupying Hexi, cutting off the arm of Western Xia; the medium one is in Hengshan, attacking cities and looting villages, making steady progress. Once successfully entering Hongzhou and Xiazhou, the gates of Western Xia will be wide open, and its vital points will be exposed; the fast one is to exit Pingxia City, follow the Hulu River, and go straight to the hinterland of Xingling, winning in one fell swoop..."

"In short, we must not go through the瀚海, right?"

"That's right!"

Hearing this, Han Shizhong was about to praise his old friend Hu Caosi for speaking pertinently, no longer in the posture of the silly boy from Nanyang.

Unexpectedly, Zhao Guan Jia just continued to urge him, not giving Han Shizhong a chance to speak: "What else?"

"There must also be cavalry!" Hu Yin continued to reply seriously. "And there must be a large number of cavalry! And the cavalry has two uses. One is that there are mountains, deserts, and large rivers in the hinterland of Western Xia. After entering the hinterland of Western Xia, the terrain is completely unfamiliar, and there must be enough cavalry scattered around to act as scouts and reconnoiter the terrain; the other is that, as everyone knows, Western Xia has many cavalry, not only the six thousand Tie Ya Zi (Iron Falcons), but also many tribal Fan cavalry. Since we are attacking the hinterland, we must guard against the Western Xia cavalry supporting them from cutting off our supplies and retreat when we are garrisoning troops under the city. To deal with this situation, there must be enough cavalry to block the Western Xia cavalry, or simply force the Western Xia to fight us in the field with cavalry."

Zhao Jiu nodded repeatedly: "Anything else?"

"Yes." Hu Yin replied calmly under the slightly nervous gaze of a group of military officers. "We must choose a commander who knows how to advance and retreat, who is more careful in calculating food and managing logistics, and who is not arrogant in victory or discouraged in defeat... Compared with this, outstanding courage and outstanding strategy are not enough."

Zhao Jiu finally clapped his hands and laughed: "We should look at each other with new eyes after three days apart. The former Hu Zhongcheng also knows about military affairs now."

"I still don't know about military affairs." Hu Yin raised his hands proudly. "These words of mine are just a summary of the conquests of Western Xia over the past hundred years... In the past hundred years, the wars of the Great Song against Xia have never stopped, and the discussions on attacking Xia have never stopped. I picked out the actions with progress over the past hundred years, found their common points, and also picked out the actions that ended in complete defeat over the past hundred years, and found their common points. Naturally, I can find some theories... But in the end, it's just empty talk on paper!"

"Being able to talk about it on paper is already good." Zhao Jiu continued to smile. "You just said commander, does that seem to imply something?"

"It does." Hu Yin suddenly raised his hand and pointed to Han Shizhong beside him, but he still didn't change his face. "Your Majesty, I was just performing the Sword Dance at Hongmen, and in my words, I was actually satirizing Your Majesty. The Yan'an Prince can be the nominal commander of the attack on Xia, but the truly vital blow cannot be entrusted to him, otherwise this battle will surely be defeated!"

Han Shizhong was dumbfounded. He was just about to explode, but when he saw Hu Mingzhong standing upright in front of him, no different from the shape of Zhu Gaozhen in Huai Shang in those years, he felt a moment of timidity in his heart, and he couldn't help but panic, and then he didn't dare to interrupt and refute.

"How so?" Zhao Guan Jia, with a curious look, asked eagerly.

"Let Your Majesty know that Han Shizhong's arrogance has always been difficult to hide, which is in his nature. He is complacent with a little credit and regards the world as nothing. It's not the first or second time. It's just that he has today's status by relying on Your Majesty's indulgence." Hu Yin didn't even look at the dumbfounded Han Shizhong, nor did he look at the many military officers below Yue Fei, but just spoke sternly to Zhao Guan Jia. "And since he saved Your Majesty at Yaoshan and became the Prince of Yan'an, his old habits have naturally relapsed. Your Majesty's entry into Guanzhong this time has also granted him a double in-law relationship and given him the commander's flag, which has made him arrogant to the point of forgetting himself..."

"I didn't..." Han Shizhong finally couldn't bear it and quickly opened his mouth to Zhao Jiu.

But as soon as he opened his mouth, after meeting Zhao Guan Jia's smile that wasn't a smile, he felt a chill in his heart and immediately stopped talking.

"How is he forgetting himself?" After looking at Han Shizhong, Zhao Jiu changed his posture on the stone bench, putting one leg on another stone bench in front of him and dusting off the ash.

"I'll just say one thing. It's clear that Your Majesty has made arrangements for this matter of Western Xia, with arrangements for soldiers and horses, commander-in-chief, and deputy commander-in-chief. As a minister, he actually wants to demand the position of commander-in-chief, which can be called treasonous!"

"I didn't!" Han Shizhong's face was pale, and he knelt down directly in front of the sacrificial hall. "I don't know..."

"Get up." Zhao Jiu immediately spoke, but the smile on his face disappeared completely.

Han Shizhong then got up, even more shocked in his heart. As for the others, Yue Fei stood with his hands tied, expressionless; Qu Duan couldn't help but smile back, but quickly looked up to the sky to control his expression; Wang De didn't know what was going on, and suddenly began to pant; as for Liu Qi, Li Shifu, Yang Yizhong and others, they just bowed their heads.

"Continue." Zhao Jiu raised his hand to signal, but gestured to Hu Yin.

"Yes." Hu Mingzhong cupped his hands again. "I think that Your Majesty's dispatch this time has been prepared, and it is obvious that he wants to use Yue Jiedu as the commander, Qu Dutong and Wang Fudutong as the deputies, to carry out the final blow. And the Prince of Yan'an clearly knows the military plan, but he still took the opportunity to dispatch cavalry back to Chang'an and asked to return to the city to see Your Majesty and seek the position of commander-in-chief, this is the first!"

As soon as these words came out, seeing Zhao Guan Jia nodding slightly, Han Shizhong's heart grew even colder, but Yue Fei and the others breathed a sigh of relief.

"And since Your Majesty had already made a decision, he has never directly announced it, apparently for the sake of the Prince of Yan'an, the number one general in the country, but he actually let his desire for profit cloud his judgment, and only regarded the face that Your Majesty gave him as indulgence, and entangled him for half a month..." Hu Yin continued to speak loudly, but then turned to Han Shizhong. "Han Liangchen, I only ask you, you have been grinding in Chang'an for half a month. If Your Majesty wanted you to be the commander, he would have announced it long ago. He has not announced it for a long time. Do you really not understand or are you pretending not to understand?! Your Majesty, this is the second thing!"

Han Shizhong opened his mouth to speak, but was just speechless, so that he gradually began to sweat.

"As for today, Your Majesty's patience is about to run out, and we can't stand it anymore. First, I used Han Xin to satirize him, then Your Majesty advised him to establish virtue, and then we wasted a long time, and he has always been here in front of the tombs of Zhou Bo and Zhou Yafu, but he has never understood..." At this point, Hu Yin couldn't bear it for the second time, and then turned to face Han Shizhong for the second time. "Prince of Yan'an, I ask you again... Do you really not know about Han Xin and the Zhou Bo family?"

Han Shizhong must have understood what was going on at this time, and his face immediately turned pale, and he was about to seek an explanation from Zhao Guan Jia.

But at the same time, Hu Mingzhong kept scolding non-stop:

"If you were in the place of an ordinary emperor, based on your arrogant shape today, it would be nonsense to directly kill you, but at today's dinner, if you were not given chopsticks directly, how would you handle yourself?"

"What have you read, what have you cultivated in what Your Majesty told you to read and cultivate virtue?!"

"From Huai Shang like this, to today still like this! Do you really think that we civil officials deliberately suppress you military officers in everything in this world? You really have no responsibility for the fact that Zhao Xiang Gong was almost shot to death by your subordinates that day? Zhu Gao was arrogant and wantonly killed surrendered generals. Who were you showing off to? Husband, silly boy, who were you saying it to?!"

"Your Majesty promised you the position of Prince at Jingo Township, has he ever gone back on his word? What kind of honor is the jade belt and flag? Your pair of children are only a few months old, and may not grow up, but he has directly promised the eldest prince to marry your eldest daughter, and Princess Yiyou to marry your eldest son... This is simply smoothing out your worries for the future, but you are still entangled here, and those who know it will naturally know that you are such a person and are used to thinking of yourself first! Those who don't know, why shouldn't they worry that you will rebel in the future?!"

"Relying on favor and being arrogant! Being arrogant and slow to superiors!" Hu Yin said to the most recent point, almost gnashing his teeth, and not only Han Shizhong, but all the other military officers present were frightened. "If Your Majesty didn't protect you, and we still have to focus on the overall situation, how could it be my turn to impeach you in this desolate wilderness? In Chang'an City, I would have thrown my hat on the ground and risked this Transportation Commissioner of the Five Routes of Guanxi to publicly kick you out! Han Liangchen!"

"Calling you!" Zhao Jiu suddenly interjected to signal.

"Yes." Han Shizhong answered in a panic, and then cupped his hands to Hu Yin with a stiff face. "Brother Hu... Cao Si!"

"If you continue like this." Hu Yin flicked his sleeves, almost hating iron for not becoming steel. "No matter how hard Your Majesty tries to protect you, it will be useless... Because Han Xin is simply seeking his own death! Zhou Bo also deserves to know the value of the prison guards! Read your books carefully!"

"Definitely, definitely, Brother Hu don't be angry." Han Shizhong quickly replied, and then turned to Zhao Jiu. "Your Majesty, don't be angry either. I was really confused."

"I'm not angry." Zhao Jiu chuckled, then stood up. "If I was really angry, would I let Hu Qing speak to you?"

Han Shizhong let out a long breath and looked back at the other commanders who had been suppressed by him, and couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed.

"Don't feel embarrassed either." Zhao Jiu, who seemed to have noticed Han Shizhong's intention, suddenly turned his head and squeezed his hand after walking out a few steps, and said easily. "With a great battle imminent, there shouldn't be conflicts between the ruler and his ministers, between the commanders, and between the civil and military officials... But it's destined that there will be these frictions. Saying them out may not be a bad thing. It's always better than going to the battlefield with resentment in your heart!"

"I definitely don't have resentment." Han Shizhong quickly stated. "Hu Cao Si's lessons today are correct. I am indeed a little unaware of how to advance and retreat..."

Zhao Jiu smiled while holding the other's hand, and then went forward. After walking a few steps, he seemed to remember something and gave a slight instruction to Yang Yizhong, who had been silent all the time: "Have dinner at Jinghe Estuary tonight. Make that dish and let Liu Yan bring the Western Xia delegation to serve them their last meal."

Yang Yizhong cupped his hands and left, but Yue Fei suddenly woke up: "May I ask Your Majesty, is there any news from the west?"

"That's right." Zhao Jiu continued to hold Han Shizhong's hands and nodded honestly. "Hu Shilang has persuaded Yelu Dashi. The Khitans are coming from Hexi under the guise of an envoy with Hu Shilang. They could have come directly to Zhuoluo City, north of Lanzhou, but Hu Shilang believes that first, Yelu Dashi has a condition, that we must take action first to attract troops, and he will urge the Khitans there to go back to report and send troops; second, he also wants to go to Xingling and other places to familiarize himself with the terrain and spy on the arrangements... So he only sent people back to report, but he himself continued to go to Xingqing Mansion with the Khitans."

Yue Fei nodded heavily, and the others immediately woke up, realizing why they came out to see Chang Ling today... Moreover, Zhao Jiu's leisure in Chang'an was also helpless, because they had to wait for the news from Yelu Dashi before they could carry out the next activity, which was forced... And Han Shizhong was even more embarrassed, because this showed that His Majesty had been tolerating him until the last moment.

Enough of the idle talk. In this way, Zhao Guan Jia used Hu Yin to severely frustrate Han Shizhong's arrogance, and decided on Yue Fei's strategy to make a crucial blow, and then went to the Jinghe Estuary more than ten *li* away with a group of civil and military officials. However, Xue Yuanli and his party in the Western Xia city couldn't help but rush a little. Fortunately, these Western Xia people, even the civil officials, were used to riding horses, and they quickly came to the Jinghe Estuary, which was forty or fifty *li* away from Chang'an City, and Zhao Guan Jia had indeed prepared a picnic here.

Of course, he had also sent chopsticks to everyone's desks, including the Prince of Yan'an, to save anyone from misunderstanding.

As for Xue Yuanli and other Western Xia envoys, they were half happy, half worried, and half surprised, and brought half expectation... They were suddenly summoned, and who knew what kind of explanation they would get? They hoped it was just to enjoy the scenery.

The Jing and Wei rivers were clearly distinguished!

"Minister Xue, please see, the Jing and Wei rivers are clearly distinguished!" After a while, under the setting sun, Xue Yuanli, who had just met Zhao Song Guan Jia for the first time, was somewhat at a loss when he was grabbed by the hands by Zhao Guan Jia, who was so enthusiastic that it seemed unreal, and then dragged directly to the river embankment.

To be honest, if the red robe and *putou* he was wearing weren't so eye-catching, he would almost think he was dreaming... Were they really just here to enjoy the scenery?

"They are indeed clearly distinguished!" Xue Yuanli tried his best to respond in standard Guanzhong Han Chinese, but he was extremely vigilant in his heart.

What did this mean? Was it implying that Great Song and Great White High State were irreconcilable?

It should be known that the upstream of the Jing River is called the White Horse River, and the end of the White Horse River is basically within the territory of the Great White High State.

Unexpectedly, Zhao Guan Jia just held Xue Yuanli's hand and looked at the Jing and Wei rivers, and then directly let go and returned to the river embankment to sit down, making Xue Yuanli feel uneasy and confused... However, this person, no matter how confused he was, was also the Zhao Song Emperor, and Xue Yuanli did not dare to neglect him, and the others did not dare to neglect him either, from Han Shizhong in the military to Hu Yin in the civil affairs, and Xue Yuanli as a foreign minister, all took their seats.

However, after sitting down, before the dishes were served and the wine was set out, Zhao Guan Jia suddenly showed a look of doubt: "Was the Jing River turbid and the Wei River clear just now?"

"Yes." Hu Yin cupped his hands in response. "The Jing River is turbid and the Wei River is clear..."

Xue Yuanli also wanted to interject, preparing to say some classics and poems.

But Zhao Jiu directly shook his head, but he no longer pretended, but just sighed: "The Jing River is turbid and the Wei River is clear, it's all Western Xia's fault!"

Everyone was dumbfounded. Not to mention the civil officials such as Hu Yin, even the generals who came from Guanzhong, such as Han Shizhong, Qu Duan, Wang De, Liu Qi, and Li Shifu, were shocked, and even Yue Fei, who had always been calm, was shocked.

"Your Majesty!" Xue Yuanli secretly cried out that something was wrong, but he still stood up tremblingly to fulfill his duties. "What does the clarity of the river have to do with our Great White High State?"

"Of course it has to do with you!" Zhao Jiu said solemnly. "The clarity of the water lies in the mud and sand in it, and how much mud and sand enters the river depends on the abundance of vegetation in the river basin... If the vegetation is abundant, it can retain the soil and prevent the soil from entering the water. If the soil in the upper reaches does not enter the water, then the river water will naturally be clear. On the contrary, the river water will naturally be turbid... The fundamental reason why the Jing River is so turbid now is that you Western Xia people are building extensively in the upper reaches, reclaiming wasteland, so that soil erosion enters the river."

These words sounded a bit reasonable... Everyone was in a daze for a while.

Zhao Guan Jia continued to say his fallacies: "And the harm of turbid water is known to everyone. There is a lot of mud and sand in the water, and there is a lot of siltation. If there is too much siltation, the riverbed will rise, and it will be easy to cause floods..."

"Your Majesty!" Xue Yuanli finally couldn't bear it anymore. "Du Fu of the Tang Dynasty had a poem, 'When will the Jing River be turbid and the Wei River clear'... The turbidity of the Jing River has been a matter of ancient times. At that time, we didn't have Great White High State yet. How can it be counted on our heads?"

"The Jing River in the Tang Dynasty must not be as turbid as it is now!" Zhao Jiu asserted. "I'm not just talking about the Jing River. Your biggest sin is actually the Yellow River!"

"The Yellow...?"

"The upper reaches of the Yellow River are controlled by you, and the Yellow River water has become increasingly turbid since Western Xia was founded. The lower reaches have been repeatedly affected by disasters, all because you have reclaimed land and built cities in the upper reaches!"

"Your Majesty!" Xue Yuanli was almost grief-stricken.

"Think carefully, even the decline of the Tang Dynasty may be related to the fact that Li Yuanhao's clan established themselves in Hetao at that time, and then built extensively." Zhao Jiu sighed even more. "It was your ancestors who built extensively, which led to a shortage of food in Guanzhong. If it weren't for the shortage of food in Guanzhong, how would the Tang Dynasty have declined? Previously, Hu Qing (Hu Yin) and Zhao Qing (Zhao Kai) told me that since the large-scale renovation of the Zheng Bai Canal during the Daguan years, Guanzhong has actually not been too short of food... But in my opinion, this kind of water conservancy project is only a temporary solution, and if Western Xia cannot be destroyed and the water and soil in the upper reaches cannot be restored, the people of Guanzhong will not have a good life in the end, and the lower reaches of the Yellow River will continue to flood!"

Hearing the word "destroy," Xue Yuanli completely lost confidence in maintaining peace, and finally knew what it meant to be called here, so he simply flicked his sleeves in his seat:

"Your Majesty! How is this different from calling a deer a horse?! The clarity of the water is actually blamed on our Great White High State?!"

"Bold!"

"Absurd!"

"Traitor!"

From the seat of the military officers opposite, many people stood up instantly.

"I am speaking from the bottom of my heart!" Zhao Jiu signaled his generals not to pretend, but he was also not blushing or short of breath, and looked as if he was frank, as if he was really speaking from the bottom of his heart. "As for Minister Xue, who is as shallow as your national lord and does not recognize the truth and justice, I am too lazy to care."

It should be said that Xue Yuanli's sentence "calling a deer a horse," which he shouted out at the risk of death, was already fulfilling the duty of a minister, but after all, he was a prime minister of a country, and he was still very elegant, so he was still doing his best:

"Why should Your Majesty be so provocative? Isn't it good to say Yan'an directly? But Your Majesty, I have said this to Chancellor Yuwen many times before, and I will say it again today. Our Great White High State really has no intention of taking Yan'an from the Jin people... Only now that the three countries are fighting, Your Majesty's move is tantamount to pushing the 200,000 strong troops of Great White High State to the Jin people's side!"

"Where did you get 200,000 strong troops?" Zhao Jiu chuckled. "There are only 6,000 Iron Falcons and only 200 Po Xi troops... But speaking of this matter, it is proper in terms of etiquette that Minister Xue has come to see me this time, and the fifty camels and one hundred good horses can be regarded as the greatest etiquette that you Western Xia people can show on the surface... I will give all these things to Commander Qu for the use of the Imperial Guard cavalry."

Hearing this, Qu Duan instinctively wanted to get up and tease the Western Xia people, but he caught a glimpse of the two biggest people in the seat besides Guan Jia, Hu Yin and Han Shizhong, looking at him at the same time, but he was stiff-faced and didn't dare to move.

"Let Your Majesty do as he pleases!" Xue Yuanli flicked his sleeves and sat back. "I only have one question now... Can you allow me to return to my country properly, report to my national lord, and fulfill my ambassadorial duties?"

"Of course you can." Zhao Jiu smiled in response. "But I haven't finished speaking yet... I also like that white parrot very much."

"It's good that Your Majesty likes it..."

"You must know that in Dongjing that day, a Fangshi (Taoist) from Shaoxing told me a story, saying that there is Chang'e in the moon, who is the wife of Hou Yi, only because she could only eat crow fried sauce noodles every day in Hou Yi's house, so she stole Hou Yi's elixir of immortality and ran to the moon." Zhao Jiu smiled at the ministers and Xue Yuanli. The ministers did not understand, so they could only smile, and Xue Yuanli's face was even colder and unchanging. "What he meant was not to coax me with some elixir of immortality,