Chapter 282

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Upon learning that Zhao Yu truly intended to ally with Jin to destroy Liao, Xiao Delidi and Han Fang were stunned, and immediately sought advice from Xiao Puxian.

In the beginning, when Yelu Yanxi ascended the throne, he inherited a Liao state that had already declined from the reign of the equally incompetent Liao Daozong, Yelu Hongji—though the situation was still far from as dire as it is now.

At that time, Liao still had Xi Xia as an ally.

Yet even so, Liao could not defeat the Zhao Song dynasty.

In the end, Liao barely preserved its realm and ancestral institutions by surrendering three Khitan princesses and a vast number of women (including Yelu Yanxi's literary consort Xiao Sese and her unborn daughter Yelu Yuliyan, as well as Yelu Yanxi's aunt Xiao Puxian), returning all annual tributes, and ceding the Eleven Prefectures of Yan and Yun back to the Zhao Song dynasty.

Today, Liao has lost the Eleven Prefectures of Yan and Yun and millions in annual tributes to the Zhao Song dynasty, been ravaged for nearly a decade by the foolish Yelu Yanxi, and seen the Jurchens rise in rebellion in the north, seizing vast territories in the northeast—including Dongjing, one of Liao's Four Capitals—while uprisings and rebellions erupt everywhere within Liao's borders; Liao's situation is more than ten times worse than it was ten years ago.

In contrast, the Zhao Song dynasty has now eliminated and absorbed Xi Xia—the very power that once most constrained it—and has also absorbed the Qingtang region and the Eleven Prefectures of Yan and Yun; crucially, thanks to Zhao Yu's successful reforms, the Zhao Song dynasty has grown richer and stronger.

With this shift in power, the Zhao Song dynasty alone could destroy Liao.

Moreover, the Zhao Song dynasty has a powerful ally in Jin?

If Song and Jin truly form an alliance—with the goal of annihilating Liao—then Liao will have not the slightest chance of survival.

The situation is so obvious that even a fool could see it: Liao must spare no effort to persuade Zhao Yu to abandon his plan to destroy Liao, and ideally convince him to support Liao in crushing Jin—otherwise, Liao is finished. And neither Xiao Delidi nor Han Fang are fools; they are Liao's senior ministers and rising talents. They know full well that Liao's fate hangs by a thread; one misstep, and it will be utter ruin.

But the problem is, how easy is it to persuade Zhao Yu to abandon destroying Liao?

Indeed.

Since the Treaty of Chanzhou, Song and Liao have only experienced one major conflict ten years ago, after which peace was swiftly restored, and trade between them even reached unprecedented heights.

But the Khitans well knew that before the Treaty of Chanzhou, both Liao and Song had sought to eliminate each other and achieve unification, resolving their greatest existential threat.

The Treaty of Chanzhou arose because the Liao Empress Dowager and Emperor Yelu Longxu personally led a massive army southward, smashing through defenses all the way to the northern bank of the Yellow River at Chanzhou, their blades pointed directly at the Zhao Song capital, Kaifeng. At that time, Liao's power was at its peak; the Empress Dowager was brilliant and far-sighted, aiming to sweep through the Central Plains and incorporate the Zhao Song dynasty into Liao's territory, finally ending the north-south standoff.

Yet although the Zhao Song dynasty suffered repeated defeats in early battles, it held firm at Chanzhou. Emperor Zhenzong, urged by staunch war-partisans like Kou Zhun, personally led the campaign, greatly boosting Song army morale. More crucially, the Liao vanguard general Xiao Dali was killed by a Song bed-crossbow shot beneath Chanzhou's walls—a shock that shattered Liao's momentum and made the Empress Dowager realize that conquering Song was no easy task: though Song troops were poor in open battle, they excelled at defending cities; Chanzhou's fortifications were strong, Liao forces could not break through, and their supply lines were too long, vulnerable to being cut at any moment.

Meanwhile, the Zhao Song dynasty, though facing the peril of Chanzhou, also understood the formidable strength of Liao cavalry; if they insisted on war, even if they repelled Liao, they would suffer catastrophic losses themselves—especially since the peace faction's voice was strong within court.

Thus both sides fell into a stalemate: Liao's ambition to conquer Song was blocked, and Song lacked the strength to launch a northern campaign to reclaim Yan and Yun.

Ultimately, faced with the reality that neither side wished to continue fighting, the Treaty of Chanzhou was born—Liao abandoned its goal of destroying Song, and Song exchanged annual tributes for peace; this was, in essence, a compromise between equals, not true reconciliation.

Afterward, although Liao ceased direct warfare with the Zhao Song dynasty, it continuously bled Song dry through Xi Xia, steadily draining Song's national strength and ensuring Song endured hardship for over a century.

With covert Liao support in horses, weapons, and strategic intelligence, Xi Xia waged endless trench warfare along the northwestern frontier against the Zhao Song dynasty.

In major battles like Haishuichuan and Dingchuanzhai, Song armies routinely lost tens of thousands of troops, with corpses littering the battlefield every year along the border. The cost of compensating fallen soldiers alone consumed thirty percent of the Zhao Song treasury annually, not to mention the continuous taxation imposed to replenish manpower—layer upon layer of exploitation left the common people utterly crushed.

Xi Xia's cavalry, like a persistent wound, frequently bypassed Song defenses to launch raids on wealthy prefectures such as Qin and Wei. They seized grain, livestock, and people; burned farmland and villages. During that single raid in Kangding's first year, the fertile lands of the Guanzhong Plain turned to ash, leaving hundreds of thousands homeless; the Zhao Song court spent an amount equivalent to half the nation's annual salt tax revenue to resettle refugees and rebuild defenses.

Worse still, to guard against Xi Xia invasions, Zhao Song was forced to station 400,000 troops permanently in the northwest; the cost of transporting military pay and grain was staggering—Shaanxi Road's military expenditures alone accounted for over half of the entire national budget, brutally slowing economic development in the Central Plains.

Liao watched as Zhao Song and Xi Xia exhausted each other; whenever Xi Xia suffered setbacks, Liao would pressure Zhao Song under the guise of "mediation," forcing it to cede territory and increase "annual gifts" to Xi Xia—effectively channeling Zhao Song's wealth through Xi Xia into Liao's coffers.

For over a century, Zhao Song had been slowly carved apart by Liao using Xi Xia as a dull blade—never fatal, yet bleeding endlessly, its national strength gradually eroded, so much so that even Wang Anshi's reforms could not plug the massive hole created by the northwest wars.

The Khitans understood this perfectly.

Now, recalling how frantic Zhao Song's emperors and ministers had been over border wars, their current desperation is starkly mirrored—those very tactics once used against Zhao Song are now turning back on Liao with even greater ferocity.

Ten years ago, during that battle, Zhao Song had actually been on the verge of destroying Liao.

But at the final moment, Xi Xia intercepted that fatal blow for Liao.

That allowed Liao to cling to life for another decade.

Now, times have changed; the old balance is shattered, and there is no second Xi Xia to shield Liao.

Xiao Delidi and Han Fang know full well: the Treaty of Chanzhou was born of parity; Zhao Yu agreed to peace with Yelu Yanxi only because he was focused on eliminating Xi Xia and did not wish to open another front. Now, with Song strong and Liao weak, Zhao Yu has eliminated all his rear threats—if he wishes to tear up the treaty, they have no leverage left to bargain with.

Crucially, everyone understands one truth: if Zhao Song does not seize this divine opportunity now to destroy Liao, when will it ever do so? Wait until Liao recovers and returns with renewed strength?

That is clearly a fantasy.

Liao, plagued by internal strife and external threats, is already a guttering candle in a storm, ready to be snuffed out at any moment.

Meanwhile, the Zhao Song dynasty shines like the midday sun—its army strong, its horses plentiful, its morale high—the perfect moment to fulfill the centuries-old dream of its emperors and unify all under heaven.

Once Liao regains its breath, or once Jin rises beyond control, Zhao Song's ambition to dominate will become immeasurably harder.

History's wheel never stops; opportunities vanish in an instant. For Zhao Yu, a ruler of grand vision and ambition, he clearly will not let such an opportunity slip away.

Faced with this situation, Xiao Delidi and Han Fang have no solution—they can only hope for Xiao Puxian, who understands Zhao Yu intimately.

Xiao Puxian did not hide anything from Xiao Delidi and Han Fang; she spoke bluntly: "I have three strategies—upper, middle, and lower."

Xiao Delidi hurriedly pleaded: "Your Majesty, save our great Liao!"