Du Zhongxiao walked out of the festival hall and ordered the sacrifice to be removed.

At the end of May, Du Zhongxiao changed from the Chongxin Military Festival to the Heng Navy Festival, and Enshu was in power, which is often said to be a footnote. At the beginning of the founding of the country, the status of the Jiedu envoy was not high, and it was changed to the position above the free cavalry and the regular attendant, and then changed to the bachelor of Hanlin. The festival degree makes no official quality, and it is above the Hanlin bachelor, which means that it is higher than the third-grade official. With footnotes, depending on the government, it is only under the prime minister and the privy envoy, and is generally brought by the governor when he is in office. The Henghai Festival is higher than the Chongxin Festival, and with a footnote, Du Zhongxiao was promoted to an official again.

Civilian to military positions, to be replaced by observers, bachelors to be made to festivals, the last time Du Zhongxiao was promoted once, in order to reward military merits. He was promoted again in a few months, which was a reward for his active cooperation with the reform of the military system. If you can't be promoted, your official position will be compensated.

The festival degree envoy awarded the festival door flag, dragon and tiger flag, festival, spear, leopard tail, closed in the festival hall next to the official party, the twenty-sixth worship. This section is the White Tiger Hall where Gao Yu framed Lin Chong and strayed into the Water Margin story. Because the festival hall is generally located in the west of Shuaifu, the white tiger is the west, also known as the white tiger festival hall.

Out of the festival hall, Du Zhongxiao returned to the official office and casually flipped through some official documents. After a while, Zhao Zi came to see him.

Ordering to sit down, Du Zhongxiao said, "In the past few months, how do you know about Blackwater City?" ”

Zhao Zi said: "Back to the scriptures, Heishui City is near the left side of Juyanhai, there is a small city, and it is very strong. The water and soil there are abundant and beautiful, and the party can't help but move the Han people in the Hexi area to reclaim there, which is very prosperous. Heishui City is the main road to the north of Hexi County, and can go to the Western Regions, which is originally a place for merchants to disperse. After the party occupied, the trade route was cut off, and now it is only a land reclamation and grazing. There are more than 1,000 garrisons in the city, and there are about 3,000 or 4,000 households in the surrounding area. ”

After speaking, Zhao Zi stretched his neck and whispered: "Jing Liu, do you really want to attack Blackwater City?" Now the time is not right to train troops everywhere. ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "The whole army of Hequ Road is in Shengzhou and Shazhou, you are all elite soldiers there, what are you afraid of!" With more than 5,000 soldiers and horses, can't beat the Blackwater City garrisoned by a thousand people? When he got Heishui City, he cut off the party's access to Mobei, one of them. Another is that the counties of Hexi are not in the hands of the imperial court, and the transportation of the countries in the Western Regions is cut off. After defeating Blackwater City, it will lead to the Western Regions. ”

Zhao Zi nodded and said, "Since following Jingluo to Hequ Road, one battle after another." I don't want to be so fond of war. ”

Du Zhongxiao said with a smile: "What a civil official, I have changed my military position." You don't have to guess, this battle is not just what I want to fight, but the court also wants to fight. The party has already sent envoys to Beijing to discuss peace with the ministers. The previous big defeat, this time the peace was not as good as it was during the Qingli period. The coin is cancelled, the party is called a minister, and the emperor is the emperor, which is the minimum condition. In order to see if the party members are really deferential, they want to sacrifice Blackwater City. ”

Zhao Zi said: "Something else is good to say, how can the party members of Heishui City be willing?" As soon as this city is dedicated, the Zhenyan Supervisor Military Division will be gone. The land is thousands of miles wide, and the products are innumerable, how can the party members be willing! ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "Zhao Jiqian rebelled against the Song Dynasty to take Xiazhou, and then took Xingzhou and Lingzhou, is the court willing?" It can't be helped. If the party does not contribute, then take it yourself. Let them understand that there are benefits to sacrificing the city themselves, and if it is captured, there is nothing. Blackwater City is lonely in the desert, it can't support many people, and it is difficult to transport grain and grass there, so the imperial court has brought it to Liwei, which is a good place. ”

After the First World War of Hue, the Song Dynasty closed the mutual market with the Dangxiang border and cut off trade contacts. After holding out for several months, the party sent envoys to Beijing to ask for peace. They can't fight it, they can't stand the cut off trade, and they can only be vassals.

Han Qi is in charge of the Privy Council, how can he let go of the party. Although the whole army is now being reorganized, the force to deal with the party is still sufficient. After discussing with Du Zhongxiao, in addition to paying tribute, he also had to dedicate a city to show his sincerity in order to reopen the mutual market. This requirement is not excessive, not to mention that the party items were originally separated from the rebellion of the Song Dynasty, and the core Xingzhou and Lingzhou were originally under the rule of the Song Dynasty. Don't Xingling two states, it's big enough to have Blackwater City.

When the two Khitan emperors were fighting, it was not good to stimulate them, and the main direction of Du Zhongxiao's river meandering road was to the west. Taking Blackwater City opens the door to the Western Regions. For Du Zhongxiao, whether the party items in Blackwater City are given or not must be in their own hands.

The Western Regions lead to the Central Plains, and there are three lines: southern, central and northern. The southern route passed through the Qingtang Dynasty, passed through the Tubo region, and entered the Central Plains after arriving in Qinzhou. After the northern and central lines were all cut off by the party, this is now the only route from the Western Regions to the Central Plains. The middle line passes through the Hexi region, which is densely populated and cannot be taken from the party now. The northern route bypasses the desert, passes through grasslands and oases, and enters the Western Regions. The only node that has been broken now is Blackwater City.

In Du Zhongxiao's memory, the railway passage from the Central Plains to the Western Regions entered the Hexi Corridor after passing through Lanzhou. In this era, due to the limitations of technical conditions, this line is not easy to walk. From Fengxiang to Lanzhou, there are too many mountains along the way, the technology is difficult, and there is a lack of economic benefits. And take the northern route, as long as you avoid the desert area, the road is much easier to repair. At this time, the land is vast and sparsely populated, the north as a whole is not overdeveloped, and the precipitation conditions are good. Many of the deserts of later generations were not formed at this time. As long as you choose a good route, you can avoid quicksand and go straight for thousands of miles.

With the railway, how can you not build it to the Western Regions. As long as the railway gets there, it will be much easier to recreate the style of the Han and Tang dynasties.

After the First Battle of Hue, Du Zhongxiao ordered Zhao Zi to collect information on Blackwater City. Party discussions and twists and turns can only exert military pressure.

After carefully asking about the situation in Blackwater City, Du Zhongxiao said to Zhao Zi: "Blackwater City is about a thousand miles away from your department, mainly muskets, with some light artillery, and two thousand people rushing for thousands of miles, can you do it?" Don't worry, you have everything you need to carry livestock, horses and camels, I will give you as much as you want! ”

Zhao Zi thought for a while and said: "Marching along the north of Wolf Mountain, there are water springs all the way, as long as there are enough pack animals and there is no shortage of grain and grass, this matter is not difficult." ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "Okay, this time you go back, while preparing, while hurrying to clear your department within hundreds of miles of the Fan Division." South of Wolf Mountain, without the permission of the imperial court, those who dare to herd horses are all rebellious! In the land west of the river, the party can only be in the city in the south. ”

Zhao Zi promised. Du Zhongxiao said this several times, although the troops were insufficient to break through the party's series of cities, but the other nomadic tribes had to stand in line. In the vast grasslands and deserts, it is necessary to expel the forces of the party members and seize their hinterland.

The Yellow River bends here in large ways, dividing several regions. The north is naturally Hebei, the place surrounded by the Yellow River is Henan, the west is Hexi, and the east is Hedong, and the name of Hedong Road comes from this. Xingqing Mansion is sandwiched between rivers and mountains, which refers to the east of Helan Mountain and the west of the Yellow River. Du Zhongxiao's current purpose is to seize the land west of the river except for the southern corridor and the Xingling Plain.

This area is extremely vast, but due to historical and geographical reasons, it is sparsely populated. Within a radius of thousands of miles, after the elimination of the White Horse Prison Division, there will be a maximum of one or two thousand accounts. They either surrendered, or the Song army captured the prisoners and sent them to the side of Hequ Road. The aim was to wipe out the party's hinterland and turn his territory into several contiguous strips in preparation for the final victory.

Du Zhongxiao said: "Now except for your department, everyone else is organizing the new army. The generals were transferred, the soldiers were dismissed, and all the recruits came. The only one who can fight directly is your department, and you will spend more time in the future. I have reported to the imperial court that Yang Wenguang is stationed in Shazhou and deployed for the eastern part of Hequ Road. After this battle, you will be stationed in Hezhou and deployed for the western part of Hexi Road. To the north is the Khitan's collapsed Lingjiedu envoy, no matter what the attitude of the Tatar Ministry is, we can't provoke it now. The only thing that can be opened up is the Western Regions. When there were 30,000 troops, we laid down the territory of the river meandering road. Now with an army of more than 100,000 people, he can't defend this place. At the very least, it is necessary to make the tributary road for the countries of the Western Regions to enter Beijing unblocked, and it can no longer be blocked. ”

Zhao Zi arched his hand and said: "The subordinates understand that they will live up to the trust of the marshal!" ”