After Lan Yuanzhen left, he waited for another twenty days, and in July, Han Qi stepped down as a privy envoy and arrived in Shengzhou.

Welcoming Han Qi into the Shuai's Mansion, Du Zhongxiao said: "In this place of Hequ, in July, the weather will be cold. The delay in the arrival of the captain made me not know what to do. Now that there is calm inside and out, it is the best time. ”

Han Qi said with a smile: "The current Privy Council is different from the previous one, I have to wait until the new Privy Council can leave." ”

Du Zhongxiao asked, "I wonder who the new privy envoy is?" It's not good to know about the military. ”

Han Qi shook his head: "Jia Chang is the prime minister. He has been in Hebei for many years, and he has participated a lot in the training of the forbidden army there, and he is not a person who does not know the military. ”

Du Zhongxiao nodded silently and did not speak. Jia Changchao specializes in scriptures, and is appreciated for lecturing to the current emperor, but he does not have Han Qi's ability in actual government affairs. His entry into the court was important, obviously because of the emperor's relationship.

After entering the Shuaifu, Han Qi looked left and right, and said: "When the war with the party was in the past, Shengzhou was not as prosperous as it is now. For more than three years, the commander has commanded all the way, with countless military achievements, and the local development is unbelievable. ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "This is a trade artery, and naturally commerce can develop. With money, it's all good. ”

Han Qi nodded again and again: "Yes, Shengzhou has been really different in recent years, and the cattle and sheep used by the Beijing division every year come from here." ”

After speaking, Du Zhongxiao introduced Han Qi to the officials of Hequ Road and Shengzhou. Fu Bi and Han Qi once presided over the Qingli New Deal together and had a deep friendship. It's just that the personalities are different, and there are not many private interactions. See each other again now, especially affectionate.

The handover of positions cannot be completed in one day, Du Zhongxiao saw that it was not early, and said to Han Qi: "I prepared a wine feast in the rear office to pick up the wind and wash the dust for the Taiwei and his party." In the next few days, after handing over the affairs, I will say goodbye. ”

Han Qi said: "The festival commander doesn't need to leave in a hurry, there are still many places to ask for advice on northwest affairs." There is nothing in the imperial history of the DPRK and the central government for a few more days, and I have no marshals to teach, but I am afraid that I will miss the major events in the northwest. ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "Taiwei was in charge of the Privy Council before, and when he came to serve in the northwest, he must have a big plan, what are the difficulties?" ”

Han Qi said: "Jieshuai has been in the northwest for more than three years, he has beaten down a river meandering road, and restored the Western Regions, and there is no one in the world who understands the northwest better than you." The marshal should be able to see that Taiwei Di is handsome on Qin Feng Road, and I am coming to Hequ Road and Anxi Road, and the imperial court is interested in the party. Although the imperial court has preliminary discussions on how to fight the party, the general strategy has not yet been decided. Only the marshal can explain this matter clearly, how can he let it go? ”

Du Zhongxiao shook his head with a smile, not even daring. The two had a friendship with the party war when they commanded together, and they had a special friendship over the years. Strictly speaking, after the victory of the party, Han Qi entered the capital as a privy envoy, and the whole army was reorganized, in fact, Han Qi was included, Du Zhongxiao was outside, and the two cooperated with each other to get started. However, Du Zhongxiao personally does not like to form a party with officials, and his private friendship is not deep.

When they arrived at the back office, they had prepared a wine feast and everyone sat down.

Du Zhongxiao raised his wine glass and said to everyone: "I have been in charge of Hequ Road, and it has been more than three years until today. The good and bad things have already passed, and there is no need to talk about them. Now that the imperial court has decided, I will enter the capital as an official, and the river meandering road will be handed over to the deputy envoy Fu Bi. In addition, he sent Han Taiwei to Hequ Road and served as a strategic envoy to Hequ Road and Anxi Road. Today, Captain Han is here, let's have a drink. ”

Everyone drank wine, and Han Qi said: "More than three years ago, when Du Jieshuai came to save Tanglong Town, I was the envoy of Hedong Road, and together I commanded the war against the party and won a great victory. Come to Hequ Road again today and work with all of you. ”

They inquired together and drank another glass of wine.

After three rounds of drinking, the topic slowly relaxed, and everyone spoke separately. Du Zhongxiao, together with Han Qi, Fu Bi, Zhang Sheng, and Bao Zheng, discussed the current situation on the party side. The two privy envoys were placed in the north and south of the party item, making it clear that they were going to do something against the party, and there was no taboo.

Fu Bi said: "To start a war against the party, if you look at it geographically, the most convenient place is Shanhe Pass. Not far from there is Hezhou, which is reached by railway, and Shanheguan is nearly ten miles wide. Of course, the party also knows that there is danger, and it has been continuously strengthened in the past few years, and it is not easy to break through. ”

Bao Zheng said: "Not only that, in recent years, the party has blocked Helan Mountain and forbade the people to go out of the mountain. Although Hezhou is very close to the party, there is no trade and no personnel to and fro. Obviously, the party attaches the most importance to the mountains and rivers. ”

Han Qi nodded: "Yes, the Hequ Road has been reported many times, and the enemy in Shanhe Pass is extremely tightly guarded. Moreover, to join the party from there, you have to cross dozens of miles of mountains and valleys, and it is easy to be attacked, so you must be very cautious. However, to wage war against the party, Hezhou must have no shortage of people. ”

Zhang Sheng said: "That's nature. Otherwise, the party knew that the imperial court did not send troops in that direction, and it would inevitably send people to other places. Because the railway arrived in Yanzhou, the party had no way to transfer Hengshan soldiers and horses, and now his manpower is insufficient. ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "With the railway, the situation in Shaanxi is actually different from before, and the offensive and defensive trends are different. The places that really matter, the places where the train arrives, are none other than Zhenrongguan and Yanzhou. To attack from Yanzhou, it is necessary to cross Hengshan, and the transportation is inconvenient, so it is not suitable for large-scale attacks. The place that really posed the greatest threat to the party was the Zhenrong army, which was also the reason why the imperial court sent Captain Di to Qinfeng Road. ”

Han Qi said: "According to Jieshuai, how about going south from Shanhe Pass?" ”

Du Zhongxiao shook his head: "In the past few years, I have a good understanding of the situation in the party's mountains and rivers. They had suffered a loss since the first battle of Hue Du, and knew that they could quickly reach Xingqing Province, so they sent a large army to garrison there. Moreover, the armies were separated, the cities responded, and the main soldiers and auxiliary troops were added, and there were more than 100,000 soldiers and horses. In order to break through the Shanhe Pass, it is necessary to send a large army to desperately seize the pass from the hands of the party members. In the end, compared to Lingzhou in the south, some are not worth it. ”

Han Qi nodded: "According to Jie Shuai, it is better to attack the north from the Zhenrong army?" ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "Soldiers are impermanent, and now it seems like this." However, when it really starts, you have to deal with it flexibly. ”

Han Qi said: "Yes, soldiers are impermanent, and where will it be the same as you think when you really fight." To tell the truth, this time I came to Hequ Road, and the court and China were very noisy before leaving. Many ministers believed that if they were to arrange the situation as they were present, the war would inevitably come as they wanted. Especially last year, when the commander Ping Xiyu brought tens of thousands of soldiers and horses without danger or danger, and almost without a major war, he opened up thousands of miles of rivers and mountains. They thought that the war would be the same as that of the marshal, just so plain, send troops and horses over, and win. ”

Du Zhongxiao couldn't help but shake his head when he heard this: "In the first battle of the Western Regions, it is true that the opponent is too weak and has not gone through a big battle. But it's not that easy, you can win with your eyes closed. As soon as the war starts, where there is urgency and where it is slow, there are countless trade-offs, where it is so easy. ”

Fu Bi and Zhang Sheng shook their heads together. Zhang Sheng is with Zhang Qi and has been supervising the battle on the front line, so he naturally knows that the battle in the Western Regions is not big, but the road is too far, and all the troops have run away. Fu Bi has always been with Du Zhongxiao, disagreeing many times, and being educated by the facts. Both of them were transferred to Hequ Road halfway, and they were not familiar with the firearms army, and they needed a familiar process.

Bao Zheng said: "Now that there is a railway, you can reach it within a few days of thousands of miles, which is different from before. With the national strength of the imperial court, the party is thousands of miles away. As long as the generals in the front follow the steps and do not command in disorder, it should be the proper meaning to destroy the party. ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "Don't command randomly, these four words are easy to say, but difficult to do." There are a thousand and ten thousand ways to succeed in things, just find the right one. But the same way to do things, it is possible to do things in this place at this time, but it may not be possible to change places and change times. The generals who lead the troops must understand that the time and place are right, and they must not be confused. But every time you fail, don't you have this kind of derangement? ”

If you look at history, you can understand that since the Qin Dynasty, there have been many cases of wartime indiscriminate command. How many battles have there been when the real battle has overwhelmed the other side? In particular, all kinds of art of war are ever-changing, exist in one mind, and there are all kinds of things on the battlefield. The commanders of wars, for various reasons, are often very haphazard. Many of them are confident in the strength of their troops, thinking that they can win the war by sending any general.

In this extraordinary period, firearms have just replaced cold weapons, and the Song army has a huge advantage in weapons. As long as there is no commotion, the party can be easily extinguished. But most of the military achievements in the past few years are the army of Hequ Road, and for other armies, it is difficult to say.

War is a system engineering, the army is a whole, from the generals and soldiers to the system, the Song army is actually still a mess.

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