The Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun are the places where the Song Dynasty has been dreaming of for three hundred years. They are a natural barrier between the Central Plains and ethnic minorities. If they can control it, it will make it difficult for nomadic people to move south.

Yanyun Sixteen Prefectures is a place where the two Song dreamed of for three hundred years. It is a natural barrier between the Central Plains and ethnic minorities. If you can control it, it will make it difficult for nomads to go south. However, such an important strategic location was ceded to a foreign race by Shi Jingtang. This move not only ruined Shi Jingtang, who was the founding king of the Later Jin Dynasty, but also opened up the portal of the Central Plains, allowing the two Song dynasties to wander between suffering.

Since the ceased of the Sixteen Prefectures in Yanyun, the Central Plains dynasty has not given up on the desire to recover, but in the end it has put in vain. So Northern Song really has no ability to recover the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun?

Song Taizu Zhao Kuangyin first planned to use force to recover the lost land, and led his army north twice, all of which were repelled by Liao , and the Song army suffered heavy losses. It was during these two battles that Zhao Kuangyin realized the gap between the Song army and the Liao army. He believed that it was impossible to recover the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun with the current strength of the Song Dynasty, so he took a different approach and planned to redeem the lost land with money. This idea is a fantasy. The Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun are very important to the Song Dynasty and the Liao Kingdom, so Song Taizu's acquisition plan is destined to fail.

After Song Taizu died, his younger brother Zhao Guangyi succeeded to the throne, that is, Song Taizong . Emperor Taizong of Song inherited the mantle of Emperor Taizong of Song. During his reign, Chen Hongjin and King of Wu Yue Qian Chu of Wu surrendered to the land in the third year of Taiping Xingguo (978). Later, he personally conquered Taiyuan and destroyed the Northern Han Dynasty, ending the split and separatist situation of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms. He then took advantage of the victory to attack Liao and tried to capture the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun. However, due to the supervision system of the Song army and the strength of the Liao army, he was eventually defeated. Zhao Guangyi himself was also injured and even had to escape in a donkey cart, and was also given the title of "Gaoliang River Car God". In the third year of Yongxi (986), Zhao Guangyi sent troops again to the Northern Expedition and was defeated by Liao again. The two defeats also made Emperor Taizong of Song understand the gap between Song and Liao. If he wanted to recover the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun, he could only wait for the Liao Kingdom to decline or improve the combat effectiveness of the Song army. At present, he could only adopt a defensive move against Liao.

After Emperor Taizong of Song passed away, the emperors of the Northern Song Dynasty seemed to have lost their enterprising spirit, especially after Song Zhenzong of Song signed the "Tanyuan Alliance" with Liao, the Northern Song Dynasty was even more happy to spend money to buy peace, and it was even more impossible to take back the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun.

In fact, the Song Dynasty was unable to recapture the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun not only because the Song Dynasty's military strength was weak, but also because the Liao Dynasty's administrative system was complete. The Liao Kingdom imitated the Central Plains dynasty and established three provinces and six ministries in the central government, which is incomparable to other nomadic regimes in history. Therefore, the Song Dynasty had no institutional advantage over Liao Dynasty , and it also lost the horse-raising land in the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun. Without cavalry, it was naturally difficult to recover the lost land.