Wang Pu stood at the door, stretched his neck to look at the crowded crowd in front of him, and shook his head again and again: "These people really don't know how to write dead characters, and they dare to sell weapons to the party!" After the yamen tried, he was about to be beheaded. Speaking of coming to Shengzhou for two or three years, I haven't killed a few people. ”

After speaking, he looked at Jin San's shop next to him. The imperial court occupied Gaochang, and Jin San was not as arrogant as before, and his attitude was much better these days. These Hu businessmen, who do not have the laws of the imperial court in their hearts, are even more good at doing this kind of thing. It's a pity that this strict investigation did not involve Hu Shang, which surprised Wang Pu.

At this moment, Du Zhongxiao, Fu Bi, and Zhang Sheng walked to the front of the store and said, "Master, are there any vacant seats inside?" ”

Wang Pu hurriedly saluted: "The festival commander is here, of course there is a seat!" Hurry up inside please! ”

As Wang Pu entered the store, he arrived at a small pavilion on the second floor, and the three of them sat down, Du Zhongxiao said: "It's summer now, you should eat something light." Master, what light dishes do you have in your store right now? ”

Wang Pudao: "Recently, there are good big carps in the Yellow River, you can have one. There are also lotus root slices and vegetables, which are also excellent. ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "That's it, pick a few refreshing and delicious dishes, and then make a corner of wine." ”

Wang Pu agreed to go and went to the kitchen to order. After the Western Regions belonged to the imperial court, there were many more merchants in Shengzhou, and business has been good recently.

A few people drank tea, and Du Zhongxiao said: "A few days ago, Captain Di was sent out of Beijing by the privy envoy and served as the envoy of Qin Fenglu. In addition, I also heard that Captain Han was coming to Hequ Road to take charge of Hequ and the Western Regions. Although there are separate roads in the Western Regions, the armies of the two places belong to one economic envoy. ”

Zhang Sheng said: "Captain Han came to Hequ, what about the section handsome?" ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "My whereabouts are still unclear, it is likely that I have returned to Beijing." It has been more than three years since I went north to save Tanglong Town. Even if it is calculated from the establishment of the river meandering road, it has been three years, and it is naturally time to leave office. ”

Fu Bi said: "Hequ Road was beaten down by the festival marshal, and it has developed to this day, is it inappropriate to leave suddenly?" Like the marshal, in fact, he can be re-elected, and wait until everything is stable. Leaving now, I'm afraid that the surrounding party and Khitan will make trouble. ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "What can happen?" The two Khitan emperors fought against each other for three years, but before they could come up with a result, they were about to be divided into two countries. As for the party items, when Taiwei Di served as Qin Fenglu's strategic envoy, didn't he make it clear that he wanted to attack them? ”

Fu Bi nodded, thought for a while, and said, "The imperial court seems to have this meaning. After passing through Qinfeng Road, Di Taiwei must have wanted to attack Lingzhou from the Zhenrong army. When Han Taiwei came to Hequ Road, he wanted to attack mountains and rivers from Hezhou, or attack Shazhou from Yizhou. ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "We are in the field, and we don't know much about the affairs of the imperial court, but I think that's it. In recent years, what the party has been most afraid of is attacking mountains and rivers, which has been built very steadily, and it is not easy to attack it because of the geographical advantages. If you really want to attack the party, it is best to attack Shazhou from Yizhou. We have a railway to Yizhou, but the party's troops in Shazhou are very weak and relatively easy to fight. ”

While talking, Wang Pu and the little servant served wine and food and set a table. Wang Pu poured wine for the three of them, and then took his leave.

Du Zhongxiao raised his glass and said, "After three years on Hequ Road, it's time for me to leave here." Today's meal is to invite the two of you to talk about some gossip, and you may not have a chance in the future. Most of the affairs of the river meandering road will be handed over to you after I am gone. ”

Fu Bi and Zhang Sheng hurriedly said that they didn't dare, and raised their glasses to drink with Du Zhongxiao.

Putting down the wine glass and eating a few bites of food, Du Zhongxiao put down his chopsticks and said: "Take the river meandering road by yourself, and then take the Western Regions, these two places are not easy to develop." Although I have put a lot of effort into it, it has not changed much. Since the camp on Jingxi Road, the use of slender men as the camp field army, this is the case. Later, the whole army was reorganized and trained, and there were many people who did not want to be soldiers anymore, and there were quite a few people in the battalion field. In the past two years, there has been no momentum in the first few years, and it is not easy for the Yingtian Xiangjun to recruit people. If you want to develop these two places, you have to take ten years. ”

Fu Bi said: "That's true. No matter what you do now, the hardest thing is the lack of people. Many things were planned, but in the end, they had to be arranged backwards because of a lack of people. In the mainland, many factories have been opened in recent years, and people are employed everywhere, but no one is sent to the frontier. ”

Now the industry of the Song Dynasty is associated with the iron prison. One is in the Central Plains with Baitingjian as the center, forming a triangle with the two capitals, and it is the largest industrial center in the world at this time. The railway between the three places has been double-tracked, the transport capacity has been greatly increased, and the industry is still developing rapidly. Hedong Road is centered on Xiangzhou, with the help of Baima Ferry, and the capital is integrated into one, and the auxiliary shot is Shaanxi and Hebei. Jingdong Road is centered on Laiwujian, with Zizhou and Qizhou as manufacturing bases. In addition, there is Xuzhou in the south of Jingdong Road, with Li Guojian as the center, and the auxiliary shooting of two Huai.

With the development of industry and the absorption of a large number of people, Jingdong Road and Jingxi Road have no idle people at all, and they are unable to support the northward expansion. The people of Lianghuai and Zhejiang would rather go to the two lakes than come north. The large area of land that Du Zhongxiao knocked down could only be deserted there for a short time, and no one came to develop it. If it weren't for the trade routes of the Western Regions and the effect of isolating the nomads, the imperial court's interest in this place would have decreased a lot.

There is no way around it, and industrial development will inevitably absorb a large number of people and create new markets. China is not the Europe of history, and the internal market is large enough that it will take a long time to meet only domestic demand. From now on, the Song Dynasty did not have much need for external expansion, and the only real enemies were the Khitan and the party. These two countries are not because of their economic value, but because of the significance of the unification of the world.

Drinking wine, the three of them discussed the recent changes, and they were all a little helpless. Without people, nothing can be talked about, and the reality now is that there is a shortage of people. The prisoners of war of the party were released as good people, and Du Zhongxiao, the prisoner of war of the Black Khan, originally wanted to be put back, but because of the war in the Black Khan, no one cared about them in the country, so they could only be used as labor in the Western Regions.

The Black Khan was defeated, the Song army occupied Khotan, and as soon as Du Zhongxiao left, the Black Khan went to war. The younger brother Bogra Khan Muhammad, taking advantage of the weakness of his elder brother Aslan Khan Suleiman, took the initiative to attack him, and now the result is unknown. If the rulers of the Black Khan had changed, they would have been able to improve relations with the Song dynasty and open up trade routes from there to Persia. The trade route from Shule to India was under the rule of Western Black Khan, and there was no conflict in the first place.

With the change of court officials, Du Zhongxiao must be leaving Hequ Road. The three of them have worked together for more than a year, there is no conflict, and they can talk slowly after drinking. Fu Bi was born in a famous family and had a good relationship with many officials in the DPRK and China. Zhang Sheng is from the northwest, relying on his military qualifications and military exploits to be promoted, and he is relatively familiar with the northwest. The focus of the three talks is on the party.

Zhang Sheng said: "The news I got is that the party and the state are getting older, and the relationship with the state minister is not good, and the party may be in chaos in the past two years." When Captain Di arrived at Qinfeng Road and actively trained his soldiers and horses, he was likely to have the opportunity to attack the party. ”

Fu Bi said: "Now there is absolutely no problem for the Zhenrong army to concentrate hundreds of thousands of troops, so why wait for the party to be in civil strife." As long as the imperial court makes up its mind, advances from the north to the south, and sends another general from Yizhou to attack Shazhou, how can the party be able to resist it! ”

Zhang Sheng said: "I heard people say that in the past two or three years, the party's energy has been spent on building mountains and rivers and strengthening Lingzhou. The city wall of Lingzhou has been re-strengthened, and artillery is arranged on it, which is not easy to capture. Now our artillery, if it is used to siege the city, still looks a little worse. ”

Fu Bi said: "But it can still be used to suppress the head of the city." Back then, how the festival commander broke Beizhou, he could break Lingzhou. Although the party also has artillery, it is not as sophisticated as ours. Gunpowder is insufficient, power is not enough, how to fight before the battle? Besides, if you can't besiege Lingzhou for a long time, how long can it be strong? ”

When the railway arrived at the Zhenrong army, the supplies in the rear could be continuously sent, and the Song army had the ability to fight for a long time. In terms of national strength, it is impossible to defeat the party, as long as the court is willing to pay a sufficient price.

Du Zhongxiao said: "It can be seen from the battle of the Western Regions that the field combat capability of our army should be invincible all around. Captain Di is a famous general in the world at this time, as long as he is cautious, the party will definitely not be able to resist the enemy. It is said that after a long-term siege, the party only has 350,000 soldiers and horses in several counties in Hexi, and they are guarding thousands of miles. As long as one of the generals sets out from Yizhou and attacks Guasha Erzhou, he can reach the city of Lingzhou in a month or two. When it comes to that entry, can the party still rely on a Lingzhou city to block the army of the imperial court? ”

In the past, the Song Dynasty was most afraid of the party, and it was the Hengshan area. It is densely populated, the population is large, the people are belligerent, and it is the most important source of troops for the party. Now it is different, in the face of the Song army using guns, the Hengshan Party Xiang Army has no advantage. The Song army did not attack the Hengshan area only because it was inconvenient and difficult to transport. As long as the other areas of the party were occupied, the Hengshan party had no chance.

Fu Bi said: "If the marshal leads the army to attack the party, how will it be arranged?" ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "Naturally, it is mainly based on attacking Lingzhou from the Zhenrong army, supplemented by the northern soldiers in the mountains and rivers, and it is strange that Yizhou is advancing westward. The Zhenrong army is about 600 miles to Lingzhou, there is a valley avenue, and there is no shortage of water and grass. At least 300,000 troops attacked, all the way north. If the party dares to send troops to meet the attack, then it will be defeated in the field. If you don't dare, then you will be in charge of Lingzhou and fight a decisive battle with the party. If the war is unfavorable, then first make every effort to repair the railway to Mingsha, and transport more heavy artillery from the Central Plains to the city of Lingzhou. Although Lingzhou has artillery, how is it an opponent of heavy artillery? At that time, Lingzhou was in the palm of his hand. ”

In this era, the Song army was the only army with all firearms, invincible in the field, where it was necessary to deal with the enemy. As long as you attack the enemy, you will be saved, and you can destroy the enemy's living force in a strategic duel. Du Zhongxiao's party strategy was to aim at Lingzhou, which had no important land in the south, and decide the outcome in one battle.

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