Returning to the Imperial History Terrace, Du Zhongxiao summoned Guo Shenxi, Liang Qian and other imperial history officials to his official hall and said to them: "In the past few days, Captain Di has left Tiandu Mountain and is in Mingsha County. DPRK and Chinese officials, it is strange that their advance is slow and their fighters are delayed, and some of you have also been impeached in the previous chapter. Now in an extraordinary time, the generals and commanders are afraid that the rear will be discussed and arouse suspicion. If one is not good, something unexpected will happen. If you want to discuss, wait until after the war, and if there is no possibility of changing people in the imperial court, don't argue endlessly. These days, don't get into a chapter on the matter. ”

Wu Zhongfu: "Is Zhongcheng trying to interfere with our last chapter?" The Imperial History Chapter does not require the consent of the officials. ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "If the officials are at fault, or if there is a deviation in the administration of the imperial court, you can go to the chapter, and I have no right to ask." But how much do you know about the front? What is the purpose of impeachment? The last chapter is useless, so stop and don't go on it first! Don't let the court waste your energy for this matter, because you go to the chapter. ”

Guo Shenxi said: "Zhongcheng, but some officials think that we are in the way?" ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "Of course not. If other officials interfere in the affairs of the Imperial Historical Tower, how can I sit idly by! Now the situation at the front is complicated, and there is no need to say more. When fighting, you should be calm and do not make the generals on the front line anxious. ”

Seeing Du Zhongxiao's resolute attitude, it was difficult for other officials to say anything. After all, Du Zhongxiao has been a border commander for a long time, has a brilliant record, and understands the war much better. These imperial histories are not familiar with military affairs, and many times they are also in the clouds.

After instructing several officials, Du Zhongxiao saw that it was already afternoon, so he changed into civilian clothes and prepared to go home. At this moment, a soldier came in and said to Du Zhongxiao: "Zhongcheng, Ouyang Neihan and Wang Neihan have asked a few officials to go to Fanlou to drink and play tricks. Send the little one, and if Zhongcheng is free, go together. ”

Du Zhongxiao has been back to the capital for nearly half a year, and he has drunk a few times with Ouyang Xiu and others, and when he goes home, he agrees to come down. After dealing with the case in the imperial gate for a while, I saw that it was almost evening, and then I went out of the imperial history platform and went to Fan Lou.

The first time Du Zhongxiao came here, the little guy knew who he was according to the official uniform. I've been here a few times, and the little guys and others here have long remembered it clearly. As soon as he saw it, a little guy greeted him and said, "Zhongcheng is here." A few ministers have already arrived, sitting and waiting inside! ”

After speaking, he led Du Zhongxiao to a small pavilion in the backyard.

Seeing Du Zhongxiao come in, several officials who had already arrived hurriedly got up and bowed.

After seeing the ceremony, let Du Zhongxiao sit on the top, Ouyang Xiu said: "The sky is gloomy today, and they all say that there will be heavy snow at night. When there was nothing to do, we went out for a drink. Not long after Zhongcheng came to the capital, he had nothing to do at home alone, so he called together. ”

Du Zhongxiao thanked him, and the little guy served wine and drank a glass of wine with everyone.

Today, in addition to Ouyang Xiu and Wang Qi, there are also Fan Zhen of the Zhiyuan and Liu Chang of the Zhizhi Yuan. Except for Liu Changdu, who is not familiar with Zhongxiao, the rest are acquaintances.

Liu Chang is a Jinshi in the sixth year of Qingli, because Wang Yaochen, a bachelor of Hanlin, is the arranger, and Liu Chang is Wang Yaochen's cousin, so he was demoted from the champion to the second place. At this time, together with Jia An, the champion of the year, he was in the court. Except for Du Zhongxiao, all of the people present are Jinshi Gaodi.

After drinking a few glasses of wine, Fan Zhen said: "Since the party sent troops three months ago, to today, it can be out of Tiandu Mountain. I think that when Cheng was in Hequ Road in the middle of the year, he marched fast and invincible in every battle. The courtiers couldn't help but discuss in private, if this battle was Zhongcheng as the commander, it would never be like this. ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "Every battle has different situations, and it cannot be generalized. Captain Han led his troops to attack Hexi, and it didn't go well. ”

Ouyang Xiu said: "Hexi said that it was Captain Han who led the troops, but in fact, Zhao Zi was on the side, as long as he obeyed." When Zhao Zi was in Suizhou, he trained a new army under Zhongcheng, which is comparable to others. ”

Liu Chang said: "It's really like this. Everything is afraid of comparison, and when you compare, you will know where the gap is. Di Wei Pingnong Zhigao's rebellion, in the eyes of the imperial court, is already a rare good general. But Zhongcheng was on the meandering road, defeated the Khitan and the party in a row, expanded the land for thousands of miles, and Di Taiwei was far behind. Moreover, the army that Zhongcheng won was all trained by himself, how can there be such a good general in the world! ”

Du Zhongxiao shook his head with a smile: "Sheren, I'm most afraid of saying such things now." The front line is led by Captain Di, so you have to believe him. Even if there is a small setback in the middle, we must believe that Captain Di can overcome it. We must believe that victory will be won, but it will take a little longer. ”

Wang Jue said: "Speaking of which, when Zhongcheng was on Hequ Road, the battle was too smooth, and the court was used to victory. Now that the attack was slower, the courtiers were full of complaints. Thinking that more than ten years ago, if the party could be destroyed, no one dared to think of this kind of thing. ”

Fan Zhen said: "Yes, at that time, defeat after defeat was really confusing. Where is it now, just the army on the front line is a little slower, and the courtiers are talking about it. Looking at Wen Xianggong and others, after that time, they became much calmer. ”

Ouyang Xiu said: "It's not all like that. Now is the time for the two Khitan emperors to fight, and if the party is destroyed early, they can also intervene in Khitan affairs in time. missed this opportunity, and must wait until there is a real grasp of it before you can take back Yanyun. ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "That's true. Without Khitan, why not wait for an extra year. But having said that, the slow progress of Captain Di's army this time is also related to the poor training of the forbidden army in front. Captain Di has been a veteran for many years, if there is no special reason, how could he be so cautious and fall far behind Captain Han on the West Road. Seeing that after he attacked Weizhou, he immediately returned to the middle army, and he was still a little worried. ”

Ouyang Xiu said: "I haven't seen what the army led by Zhongcheng looks like, but looking at the forbidden army in the capital, it is very good during the drill, and it is far from being comparable to before." With such a large army, the front line should be swift and invincible. ”

Fan Zhen said: "I have been to Hequ Road and have seen the army of Hequ Road at that time. Although it is just a superficial view, to be honest, you can still see a clear difference. In the army of Hequ Road, the generals are relatively kind, and the soldiers below have a murderous aura. On the contrary, the forbidden army in the capital is murderous, and the soldiers below have no momentum. I don't know what the use of this is at the front, anyway, when I think about it, it should be different. ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "I have been back in Beijing for half a year, and I have also seen the appearance of the forbidden army in Beijing, and I have also been to the military academy to see it, and the difference is still not small." The first is command, although the forbidden army in the capital has also taught a lot of knowledge, but the generals don't care about learning, and only a few people really learn it. When I was fighting on the Hequ Road, I always reported the military situation from below, and the staff officers drew up various plans, and the commander only set the general outline. Unlike the generals in the capital, the most important duty of the commander is to command the front, and if the staff officer draws up the plan, they don't know how to do it. Another military system, the Hequlu Army, the most important thing is specialization. In the military, there are people who are specifically responsible for everything, and there are generals in charge of affairs, and there are non-commissioned officers who do things. The forbidden army in the capital is entrusted to the commander-in-chief, and the commander-in-chief seeks his own cronies to handle the affairs of the army. These two items are different, and the impact on the front line is greater. ”

In fact, the training of the forbidden army in the capital can't be changed, and it still can't let go of the absolute power of the former commander. As in the case of the meandering road, the military affairs were professionalized and officials were appointed, and most of the military power of the commanders was taken away. Then the staff officer draws up the plan and analyzes the military situation, and the commander can be replaced by anyone. The absolute control of the army by the commander-in-chief was thus lost, which was unacceptable to the former generals of the forbidden army. In addition, some generals in the forbidden army, the ancestral knowledge of commanding the army, is worthless, and of course the resistance encountered is great.

The army led by Di Qing is a freak who concentrates all kinds of problems of the forbidden army in the capital and the miscellaneous tanning of the military system reform. When you get to the front, of course, all kinds of maladaptation will happen. Whether or not he can find problems in this battle and make the court make up its mind to reform, Du Zhongxiao can not say well.

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