In Wang Pu's shop, Du Zhongxiao and Han Qi sat opposite each other. Eating kebabs and drinking wine.

After drinking for a while, Han Qi said: "Now that the Chinese Xianggong is the prime minister, and the commander goes back to be the imperial historian, I am afraid that it will not be easy."

Du Zhongxiao said: "When Beizhou destroyed the king, I used to have a public affair with Wen Xiang. He is decisive and extremely assertive. ”

Han Qi nodded: "Yes, Xianggong Wen is assertive. It is precisely because of his assertiveness that Yushi is not easy to say. ”

Du Zhongxiao nodded silently, knowing what Han Qi meant. At this time, Wen Yanbo, because when the emperor was sick, presided over major affairs, and the major affairs of the court and China were almost decided by him, and his prestige was very heavy. In particular, he is cautious in his work, rarely leaves a handle, and no one else can blame anything. In the face of such a prime minister, it is relatively difficult to do it in the imperial history. You can't fight with Zai for a short time, and Yushi can't do it after all.

After eating a skewer of barbecue, Han Qi said: "The marshal has been away for many years, and his political and military achievements are beyond the reach of others, as long as he does things steadily, there is actually nothing." Last year, when the Western Regions were restored, the saint was very happy, and he had already said that after the Western Regions were leveled, it would be reused. It's just that Shengshang was seriously ill at the beginning of the year, and it wasn't until the first two months that he slowly got better, and it dragged on for another half a year. If not, I would have transferred you back to the capital a few months earlier. ”

After thinking about the capital, in the face of the Manchu Dynasty's civil and military affairs, all kinds of entanglements, Du Zhongxiao felt a little annoyed. has been an official in the field for a long time, the relationship between officials is simple, and there are not too many people, especially later, they are all on the ruling side, Du Zhongxiao is used to this kind of life. After entering the imperial court as a royal historian, there is obviously no such convenience. But I can't be out all the time, I always have to go to the capital to get acquainted.

Sighing, Du Zhongxiao said: "I was born in a peasant family, and my parents and relatives have no officials. Later, he became a jinshi, and he has been an official outside, and he doesn't know about the affairs of the court. When I entered Beijing this time, I thought that I would inevitably have to endure some hardships. ”

Han Qi shook his head: "Don't worry too much. Your work in opening up the river meanders and Anxi Road has always been in the heart of the emperor. It's just that the changes after that were too big, and the saints couldn't understand it for a while, and there was some resistance. In the past few years, I have seen more things, and the saint has slowly let go. With the protection of the Holy One, what will happen in the court? It is precisely because you know that you are not familiar with the government that you are the middle of the imperial history. This position, in short, is a supervisory position, and the responsibility is not heavy, and it can understand the operation of the government. In this way, you should know the goodness of the Sacred Heart. ”

The two have the experience of working together on Hequ Road, and their relationship is not comparable to others. After the handover in the past few days, I went to this small shop to drink and say some heart-to-heart words. Du Zhongxiao is no one in the officialdom, but Han Qi is experienced and can see that Du Zhongxiao's future is limitless.

Du Zhongxiao had very little contact with the emperor, and he was a little resistant to the complicated situation in the court. Today with Han Qi, he introduced the current situation in the capital, and his mood was a little better. In fact, in the court, it is actually not much different from the officialdom in other places. However, the matter became the whole country, and the court meeting was held the next day, which was much harder than being an official outside. Otherwise, the status of officials in the DPRK and China is not comparable to that of foreign officials.

After talking about the situation in the DPRK and China, Han Qi said: "Jieshuai is about to enter Beijing, can you teach me about the Hequ Road?" ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "When Taiwei came out of the capital, the court was decided, and in the past few years, the party will be destroyed, and the county will be destroyed?" ”

Han Qi nodded heavily: "Yes, it's already decided." Moreover, the two economic envoys were assigned to the party's north and south economic strategies, and the imperial court made a great determination to do this. According to the discussion at that time, the main attack was from the south of the Taiwei Di Division, and I responded from Shanhe Pass. ”

Du Zhongxiao nodded, thought for a while, and said: "Taiwei, it's really not a secret, if compared with Lingzhou in the south, Shanhe Pass can indeed only be regarded as a pick-up road." There is Lingzhou there, and there is no benefit in storming the mountains and rivers. It's not that it can't be attacked, but compared with attacking Lingzhou, the price paid is too great. In my opinion, it is better to order Yang Wenguang's main force to go south to Hezhou and attack the mountains and rivers. And with Zhao Zi's main force in Yizhou, from there westward. ”

Hearing this, Han Qi hurriedly said: "If Zhao Zi is used to attack Hexi, the railway in the north-"

Du Zhongxiao said with a smile: "Although the railway is long and there are special road guards, what role can Zhao Zi's troops play?" He was stationed on the front line of Hezhou, Yizhou, mainly to defend against the nomadic people in the north. Yang Wenguang entered Hezhou, and two or three thousand people were enough. ”

Han Qi nodded: "It makes sense to say so. Tens of thousands of troops attacking Hexi, can logistics and materials be guaranteed? ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "The railway to Xingxing Gorge, three hundred miles away from Guazhou, what is the difficulty?" The population of several counties in Hexi is not large, and the garrison of the party is actually scarce, which is a relatively weak road. As long as Zhao Zi draws out 30,000 soldiers and horses, because the food is on the enemy, as long as there is no big mistake, he can go to the city of Liangzhou in one or two months. At that time, with the help of the materials of the Zhenrong army, it was not difficult to march all the way west and join Captain Di under the city of Lingzhou. ”

Han Qi thought for a while, nodded and said, "The party item is gone, Hexi, and Hengshan is cut off, and it is difficult to hold it." ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "Not bad. In fact, now that the imperial court is strong, the party does not dare to fight with me. On the march to fight, defeat is nothing, now that the field is defeated, that is the big problem. If Lingzhou is difficult to attack, it can be surrounded but not attacked, and directly send a large army to sweep the land between Xingling. If there are only a few cities left, what will the party fight? At that time, I was afraid that there would be party generals leading the way, so I would sacrifice the city myself. ”

Han Qi said: "Listening to the meaning of the festival commander, do you think Lingzhou is not easy to attack?" ”

Du Zhongxiao nodded: "The party suffered a big loss in Hue during the First World War, how can it not attract a lesson?" In the past few years, the main energy of the party has been spent on building mountains and rivers and building Lingzhou City. Their walls were much fortified, and they tried many times with their own cannons, and it was absolutely impossible to knock them down with their cannons. Moreover, most of the cannons they have cast in the past few years have been installed in Lingzhou and Heshan Heguan, and they have spent countless efforts, how can they be so easy to fight? ”

Han Qi sighed: "The trouble now is that the minister of the DPRK and the Central Committee thinks that although Lingzhou is strengthened, what kind of artillery can it block?" As long as the imperial court transported enough cannons, it would soon collapse. Therefore, the deployment of troops is mainly based on Qin Fenglu, and the others are just containment. ”

Du Zhongxiao shook his head: "Actually, what's the use of containment?" The party's soldiers and horses, fighting with the imperial court, have no chance of winning at all. What use can they do if they transfer all the troops from Shanheguan to Lingzhou? Can't fight with our army in the field, this is their dead end. ”

In the past, the strength of the party's army was field warfare, and it was not possible to attack the city, nor was it possible to defend the city. The first battle of Hue Dudu knocked out their confidence, and now they can only retreat into the city, which is already their shortcoming. It's just that the Song army forged a cannon and relied on the fortified city to defend it, and felt that it could be defended.

If Du Zhongxiao commanded the war against the party, he would definitely send heavy troops from Zhenrong Pass, first surround Lingzhou, and then clear the periphery. If Lingzhou is not easy to break, it will directly bypass and attack Xingqing Mansion and monitor Lingzhou with part of its troops. The key point in the period was that the party army was invincible in the field, and as long as it left the city, it would be wiped out by the Song army. Now in the age of firearms, it is not a transportation artery, and it is useless to defend the city.

This time, the imperial court arranged that Di Qing of Qin Fenglu would be the main force to attack Lingzhou City. Han Qi in the north played the role of containing and countering, attracting the party's army so that they could not concentrate a large number of troops in Lingzhou. In fact, Han Qi in the north was useless, the party did not dare to come out, and he was not able to break through the Shanhe Pass in a short time. The terrain of the Xingling area between mountains and rivers made it difficult to attack from the north, and Lingzhou in the south happened to be an exit.

Han Qi once commanded the battle against the party together with Du Zhongxiao, and saw the current combat situation. Regarding the arrangement of the imperial court, I vaguely felt that there was a problem, and I couldn't say it clearly, so I could only accept it. After listening to Du Zhongxiao's speech, I finally realized that the court was wrong. The ministers of the DPRK and China, including Di Qing and other generals, were not fully aware of the impact of the changes in the Song army on the front-line battlefields, and still arranged the war according to the old customs.