北宋与辽、夏长期对峙,并曾爆发战争,北宋的沿边守臣担负着守卫国土,防御前线的重任,为了解敌情,掌握辽、夏动态,他们除利用正式外交文书外,更注重通过派遣间谍、招诱沿边蕃部、发动沿边居民等多种渠道积极搜集和刺探境外信息,为北宋政府提供了长期、稳定的有关辽、夏动向的各类情报。 Northern Song Dynasty and Liao and Xia Dynasties long-term confrontation, and the outbreak of the war, the Northern Song Dynasty border government minister shoulder the charge of defending the territory, defensive front, in order to understand the enemy situation, grasp the Liao and Xia dynamic, in addition to their use of official diplomatic instruments, pay more attention to by dispatching Espionage, spying on the border and the outskirts of the country and mobilizing local residents and other sources to actively collect and spy on foreign information provided the government of the Northern Song Dynasty with long-term and stable intelligence about the movements of Liao and Xia.