After leaving the court, Li Zhang returned to the Privy Council and entered his yamen. At this time, the new house had not yet been built, and Kiyiji was crammed into a small courtyard, stuffed to the brim. There are soldiers guarding the door, and idlers are not allowed to enter.

After entering the yamen, the officials and soldiers on the road all saluted Li Zhang. Li Zhang nodded slightly and entered his official hall.

Entering the official hall, Li Zhang sighed slightly and sat down behind the case. Bai Jingxuan, the chief bookkeeper, came in and saluted Li Zhang: "Captain, the officers and generals transferred from Hequ Road have arrived, and they have settled down in the room on the west side, which looks a little crowded." How to do it in the future, please ask the captain to instruct. ”

Li Zhang nodded: "Got it." You go down first, and I'll go over and have a look later." ”

Bai Jingxuan went out, Li Zhang looked at the official document on the table, and felt that his head was big for a while. Although he has been in charge of the army for many years, he is not like now, many official documents are confused every day, I don't know what it means, and I don't know what I should do. The main bookkeeper was specially transferred from the Hequ Road Shuaisi, and he was an old official there, who was appointed as an official to help Li Zhang. Every day, Bai Jingxuan's official documents will be classified and placed on Li Zhang's case.

Forcibly calming his mind, Li Zhang read the official documents on the case again, but most of them still didn't know what to do. Standing up, Li Zhang paced back and forth in the room. For a while, he really wanted to tell Bai Jingxuan that not only put the official document here, but also write his opinion, as long as Li Zhang drew yes or no on it. In the past, when the army was in command, it was like this in the army, and where there were a few official documents, it was necessary to deal with them by themselves.

But it's different now, Li Zhang sighed. The current Privy Council, especially the Ji Yi Division, many things are official documents, and the generals in charge are not familiar with it, okay? Moreover, the old officials under the affairs committee will be heavily held accountable once the emperor knows about it. Not to mention, Zhao Zhen arranged for Li Zhang to be in charge of the Jiyi Division, which was originally to grasp the military situation in the world, how can he do it if he can't do it?

Out of the official hall, Li Zhang went to a row of rooms next to him. A group of generals saluted with crossed hands and welcomed Li Zhang in.

Entering the room, Li Zhang first saw a huge map half-spread on the table, if I was not mistaken, it should be around Datong Mansion.

Pointing to the map, he said, "This is the area of Datong Mansion?" Although there were maps before, they were not so detailed, so you put your mind to it. ”

Shi Wei forked his hand: "Taiwei sees it well, this is the map of the area around Datong Mansion." When we were on Hequ Road, it was the Datong Mansion of the Khitan on the opposite side, and most of our thoughts were there. When this map was on the river meandering road, Du Taiwei ordered it to be drawn, and it has been completed for most of the time so far. ”

"Is it that hard?" As he spoke, Li Zhang stepped forward, opened the huge map, and looked at it carefully.

Unlike previous maps, which were mainly indicative in nature, this one is drawn to scale and marked with abbreviated contour lines. Throughout the surroundings of Datong Province, the terrain is very detailed. In particular, the slightly larger settlements are marked, as well as various roads and passes. Li Zhang has been in the army for many years, and it can be seen at a glance that with this map, it is much easier to arrange something.

After reading it, Li Zhang nodded: "Yes, it took a lot of effort to draw the map in such detail." ”

Shi Wei said: "When Taiwei Du was here, he was strict with these things. Not only do we have to make the map as accurate as possible, but we also need to know how many Khitan garrisons there are, how much grain and grass can be provided in the surrounding areas, how many people can be gathered, and so on. When it comes to wartime, staff officers can make plans according to the situation for the commander's reference. ”

Li Zhang was taken aback: "How do you do these things?" I'm afraid that the Khitan officials won't know so clearly. ”

Shi Wei said: "Then we have to find a way." We were on the winding roads of the river, in all kinds of caravans, in the mountains hunters, often with our people. They just inquire about the news, and do nothing else, collecting little by little. ”

Li Zhang said: "Isn't that just a fine work?" If you are caught by the Khitans, you will definitely not be spared! ”

Shi Wei shook his head: "Tai Wei, it can't be said to be a fine work." They did do business and hunting, and these things were only heard in passing. Taiwei once said that we people must abide by the law and discipline in doing things, and we must not attract attention. ”

Li Zhang looked at Shi Wei and then at the others, feeling strange in his heart. As the commander of the Ji Yi Division, what he seems to be doing is really a bit mysterious. Gathering intelligence is a technical task, and it is not easy to be precise and not attract the attention of the enemy.

Together with Shi Wei, watching the generals from Hequ Road arrange items, Li Zhang had a general understanding of what he was going to do. Hequlu was only a local commander, and the main targets at the beginning were Dangxiang and Khitan. After the party was destroyed, most of the energy was on the Khitan. Of course, the steppes north of Yinshan are also their reconnaissance range, and there is also intelligence about Tatars.

The Privy Council's whims are not, and the scope is broader. Now the main target is the Khitan, no longer just Datong Mansion, which is the focus of Hequ Road, but also Youzhou across Hebei Road. The rest of the surrounding countries, such as Tibet, the Karakhanid, Dali, Jiaozhi, Japan, etc., should have special attention. However, when the Yamen was first built, there was a shortage of manpower, and now it can only focus on the Khitan, and the rest can only start preparations.

Looking at the intelligence content of the river meandering road, Li Zhang roughly understood what Ji Yi was doing, and felt that his head was big. Intelligence is already very complicated, in addition to military geography, there are also court politics, personnel changes, and all kinds of content. How many people do you need to figure it all out?

Shi Wei said: "In addition to our own people, the most important thing is to collect intelligence. For example, when someone goes to the Khitan, he must understand what he has seen and heard, and record them one by one. Especially in Dacaoyuan, north of Yinshan, we have few people, and most of them collect intelligence from merchants. Whenever a caravan comes back from the steppe, we will inevitably send someone to contact them and find out what they have seen along the way—"

Li Zhang said: "Why bother, if someone comes back, wouldn't it be good for them to report what they have seen and heard?" ”

Shi Wei shook his head again and again: "Captain, you can't do this." These businessmen are very treacherous, let them report on their own, and often pick out some unimportant things, or even make up some stories, most of them can't be trusted. We send people to just talk on the street and gossip, but we can get more information. Send a few more people to be able to understand the approximation. When passing through the Western Regions, most of the places further west relied on this method to inquire from merchants. It's just that everything was first built, and it is not yet detailed. ”

Li Zhang looked at Shi Wei and couldn't help but be stunned for a while. How much effort does it take to do this? Before the Privy Council, even the appointment and dismissal of officials in the north and south of the Khitan were not clear, and many princes and princes did not even know their names, where could they be so careful?

The Privy Council's Ji Yi Division was established on the basis of the intelligence agency of Hequ Road, and no one knew what it was like except for a few officials of Hequ Road. Now that the officials of Hequ Road have come, Li Zhangjue is extremely complicated.

Hequ Road only faces the Khitan and the grassland, so many people, for several years, most of them are just the beginning. In the imperial court, there are so many countries around, how much effort does it take to do this?

Li Zhang walked around the house and listened to Shi Wei's speech, and his face became more and more ugly. This position is much more complicated than I thought, but it is not when I used to be in charge of the army.

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