As a close minister of Zhao Ji, Tong Guan naturally knew that he was troubled by the affairs of Liao Kingdom recently.
Since the founding of the Song Dynasty, the Liao Kingdom in the north has always been a huge threat, especially when it occupied large areas of cities and land such as the Yanyun Sixteenth Prefecture, it was like a sharp knife against the key points of the Song Dynasty, making Every official of the Zhao family can always feel that the terrible threat is around them.
However, the powerful military power of the Liao Kingdom made the Song Dynasty court helpless against them. Especially since the Northern Expeditions of Taizong and Zhenzong ended in failure, the power of the central and central factions in the DPRK completely controlled the right to speak, and would rather attack the Liao every year. The country sent a large sum of money, but refused to mention the war.
Until Zhao Ji succeeded to the throne today, the situation finally changed - as the Liao Kingdom has been stationed in the Central Plains for a long time, various shortcomings unique to the Han court have also arisen in the Liao Kingdom, such as the dominance of powerful ministers, such as the depletion of armaments... When these After the news was brought back to the court by the Song people's informants, some people in the court naturally started to make moves. In fact, even Tong Guan himself thought that one day he would launch an expedition to the north, recapture the Yanyun Sixteen Prefectures, and achieve unparalleled achievements.
But as soon as this trend came into the limelight, it was ruthlessly suppressed by the power of the DPRK and China. They even denounced the person who proposed this idea as a traitor who brought harm to the country and the people. Although the talk of the Northern Expedition was temporarily suppressed, Zhao Ji was encouraged by the main combatants around him such as Tong Guan to have the idea of the Northern Expedition, and he even secretly began to lay out related strategies.
It was only because of the general opposition from the courtiers that Zhao Ji couldn't fully reveal it. Feeling depressed, he unconsciously wanted to find someone outside the court to ask. But even he himself didn't expect that he would throw such an important issue in front of a young man like Sun Tu who had not yet obtained an official position.
Sun Tu's face was also full of surprise, but his mind turned quickly and he weighed the relevant benefits. Although his knowledge of the history of the Song Dynasty is really limited, he still understands some major events in the late Northern Song Dynasty, and he also knows that the Northern Song Dynasty fell because of the wrong move of joining the Jin Dynasty to destroy the Liao Dynasty. But from the emperor's words, he had already heard some thoughts. In this way, a choice was placed in front of him -
Is he trying to persuade Zhao Ji not to go to the Northern Expedition for the sake of the overall situation, or is he trying to follow the trend and follow the conclusion he wants to hear? In just a moment, Sun Tu had already made a plan in his mind. He was of low status now and could influence important affairs of the court, so of course he had to choose the words that were most beneficial to him.
"Your Majesty, although I have not read many books, I also know that the homeland of the Central Plains has always been the homeland of our Han people. Now that it has been stolen by the Liao Kingdom for many years, I feel really unwilling. Moreover, this is what Taizu Taizong has always hoped for since the founding of the country. What we have done, it is natural for future generations like me to do it.
"As for how to conduct the Northern Expedition, my humble opinion is that there are only two aspects. Internally, we should strengthen our military strength and enrich our grain reserves. Once the time is right, we can advance our troops northward and recapture the Sixteenth Prefecture of Yanyun. Externally, we should think of weakening our army. The national power of the Liao State, for example, is connected with some of its subordinate countries, and if they cooperate internally and externally, they can conquer the Central Plains in one battle!"
As soon as these words came out, both Zhao Ji and Tong Guan looked surprised. Although Sun Tu's words were exactly what they wanted, they wouldn't be too surprised. After all, as a warrior, it was reasonable for him to advocate the Northern Expedition. But what surprised them was that this young man actually had similar ideas to theirs on how to conduct the Northern Expedition - how could they not be similar? Sun Tu originally said this with reference to the historical process.
Zhao Ji gave Tong Guan a strange look. He even wondered if the other party had told the young man in front of him the top secrets of the imperial court. Tong Guan noticed this and immediately said: "The sage clearly knows that I have never mentioned such a big matter to the people around me. Although Sun Tu is brave and brave, he has not yet become an official. I will never mention such a matter. Consult with him."
Zhao Ji nodded briefly, agreeing with this statement, which made him more and more interested in Sun Tu: "Sun Tu, how could you have such an idea?"
Sun Tu had already thought of his words at this time and immediately replied: "Your Majesty, I only came up with this idea after listening to someone's analysis of the current situation. When I was in Yuncheng County, I had some friendship with a veteran, and he I have analyzed the advantages and disadvantages between the Song Dynasty and the Liao Kingdom with me, and proposed this strategy, but now I am just picking on others' wisdom."
"Oh? Who is this veteran? Is he still in Yuncheng County now?" After hearing this explanation, Zhao Ji finally accepted it, otherwise he would not be able to believe that a young man could have such insight.
"His name is Wen Tianxiang, and he passed away two years ago." Sun Tu casually took out a historical name and said: "However, his statement is quite agreeable to me, so he will practice martial arts hard in order to one day I can serve the country." After a pause, in order to make his words more true, Sun Tu planned to add more details: "And the veteran often sang a song called Man Jiang Hong, which also made me feel excited. "
"Oh? He still has lyrics? Let's sing and listen." Zhao Ji is a literary emperor after all. Hearing this, he immediately became interested and asked quickly.
Sun Tu immediately sang Yue Fei's "Man Jiang Hong": "Full of rage, leaning on the railing, the misty rain rests..." Until the second half of the song, he quickly corrected the Jingkang shame, Yu Weixue, which was about to reveal its flaws. It became: "The shame of Chanyuan has not yet been snowed, and the hatred of the ministers, when will it be destroyed..." As for whether there is any problem with the rhythm of this, he can't understand it.
In fact, the word "Manjianghong" is not considered a good one in Song poetry, but the momentum of his loyalty to the emperor and the country in killing enemies for the country is full. Even Zhao Ji was excited when he heard it. After a while, he applauded: "Good words, a true husband." What he did! If this person is still around, I will definitely put him to good use!"
Sun Tu muttered in his heart, Yue Fei should be here now, but he should be a few years younger than himself, so you can really use him. There was regret on his face: "It's a pity that the veteran passed away three years ago and was unable to see His Majesty's face."
"It's indeed a pity." Zhao Ji sighed, and then looked at Sun Tu solemnly: "Sun Tu, I hope you can inherit this veteran's legacy and serve the court well. Naturally, I will not treat you badly."
"I thank Your Majesty for your kindness, and I will repay Your Majesty with my body and bones!" Sun Tu hurriedly knelt down to express his gratitude again. He knew very well that with the emperor's words, his official position was completely secured, and it was no longer difficult to get a job.
Tong Guan was also happy in his heart. Sun Tu's performance today was perfect. As a recommender, his face was naturally glowing. He could even be considered successful in recommending people. This made him look at Sun Tu even more. With some satisfaction and praise, this child is indeed of great use.
Zhao Ji asked Sun Tuping to stand up again, and then turned his attention back to the shooting competition over there. It's just that the performance of the next few people was really not eye-catching, especially after comparing with Sun Tu, it seemed even more lackluster. This made the emperor no longer interested in staying here, so after waiting for a while, he drove away.
Naturally, everyone dropped everything and sent the emperor off respectfully. At the same time, many people looked at Sun Tu secretly from time to time with envious or even jealous eyes. Everyone saw what happened when he was called by Zhao Ji for a long time just now. Long Yu was really jealous. What made everyone even more jealous was that the emperor actually came here only to observe his performance, and he didn't look closely at the other people's shooting tests for long.
Feeling the slightly hostile gazes of others, Sun Tu smiled bitterly in his heart. To be honest, today's encounter was indeed beyond his expectation, but it was also quite dangerous. Whether it was the display of martial arts or the subsequent answers, if anything went wrong, his future might be ruined. But Tong Guan arranged such an incident without any warning at all. This can only be said that Tong Guan is still testing his own abilities. It also shows that the other party does not really regard him as a trusted person.
But no matter what, the result is always good.
After today, Sun Tu will truly rise to the top of the imperial court and become a military attaché in the Song Dynasty!