After leaving the palace and returning to the Imperial History Tower, several officials gathered together to discuss matters. After talking about daily affairs, Guo Shenxi hesitated for a moment and said: "Zhongcheng, today's ministers are discussing that Captain Di, who attacked the party, is advancing slowly, which delays the military aircraft. Zhongcheng is a person who has led the army and fought in battle, and he knows a lot about this, why didn't he say a word? Yushitai is no better than other yamen, and if there is something in the court, it will inevitably admonish! ”

Looking at the other officials, they all looked dissatisfied with themselves, Du Zhongxiao said: "Do you think that I have concerns and obviously have opinions about Captain Di, but I don't bring them up?" ”

The rest of the imperial officials nodded together, obviously all of them thinking so.

Du Zhongxiao shook his head: "No, as the middle of the imperial history, what else can I be afraid of when I speak!" I don't speak, the generals in front are most afraid of being persecuted by the imperial court, and if they are pressed, they are prone to mistakes and omissions. The so-called employment is not suspicious, and there is no need for suspicious people, as long as Captain Di has not been removed from the front line, do not force him. After dividing the troops with Liu, there were still more than 200,000 people under Captain Di, and the party was unable to deal with it. Slow is slow, always winning. ”

Shi Liangqian said: "More than 200,000 troops, how much grain and grass does it cost a day? The front-line army is slow, and it will take countless money and food to fill it! ”

Du Zhongxiao smiled: "Now you know how much money and food are spent?" Ten years back, as long as the front-line army can win, which official will think that they have spent too much money and food? Now that the old and the new are alternating in the army, many things are complicated and not as simple as thought. There is always time for the army to adapt to this new change. If you push too quickly, you will be prone to accidents. ”

After being silent for a while, Guo Shenxi said: "Zhongcheng thinks that what will happen if he is forced to do so?" ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "In the past, the commander of the army covered the sky with one hand, and all military affairs were decided with one word. Under the new military system, there are many more subordinate officers, and the deputy is still the supervisor of the army, how can the commander of the army be willing? In Captain Di's army, he used a lot of his old subordinates, how could these people all accept the new military system. I estimate that under the management of Captain Di, I am only afraid that the new military system will be in name only. In this way, it is not easy to command more than 200,000 soldiers. Not to mention, it is still the case that it has already been assigned to the subordinate officer. ”

Several imperial historians were speechless. Du Zhongxiao said that they could imagine it, but they couldn't think of what the situation was. Although when he was a magistrate, he also led soldiers, but it was through military generals to lead the army, and they didn't know what it was like in the army.

In fact, it is not only personnel relations, but also a large amount of money and food involved in the army, and this is the most important thing. In the past, the Song army was very lenient about the economic problems of military generals, as long as it was not too excessive, it didn't matter. Di Qing came out of the old army, and he was very familiar with this, and when he fought in the past, he was also used to giving some captures and so on as a reward. Under the new military system, there are special officers who plan and allocate grain and grass, which are self-contained. It is more difficult and much less than before for the commander to make money. Coupled with the fact that the seizure had to be returned to the public, and all kinds of restrictions, the old commander-in-chief was bound to be dissatisfied.

All these conditions add up, that is, if Di Qing does not thoroughly implement the new military system, it will make the army very complicated. It's so complicated that the coach has to be careful and can't fight with all his might. At this time, if the imperial court forced Di Qing to move forward quickly, there might be problems.

When Liu Ji's good news came back, the court officials were boiling. Liu Ji broke through the Xishou Supervision Military Division and quickly swept through the surrounding party camps, encountering almost no decent resistance. And Di Qing, who was going to Weizhou, was only halfway there, and he was still dozens of miles away from Weizhou. This made the courtiers in Beijing extremely dissatisfied, and they played one after another today, asking the court to order Di Qing to speed up. In particular, several imperial historians were fierce in their rhetoric. And Du Zhongxiao, who is the middle of the imperial history, didn't say a word, so they couldn't see it.

Several officials left, and Du Zhongxiao sat down and sighed after arriving at the case. Letting Di Qing go to the Zhenrong army as the commander is the last attempt of the imperial court to the old generals in the army. It was when the external environment was at its best, the Khitan was not threatened, there were railways that could support the army, and 300,000 pairs of party items were the army that destroyed the country. As long as you don't die, how can you force the party to death.

However, there is another way, and Di Qing's efficiency is too low. But what's the solution? Most of the old generals of the former forbidden army were in Di Qing's army. If you change yourself to be the commander-in-chief, you must change a large number of generals in the unified army, otherwise there is no way to lead the troops. But these old men in the army are really not so easy to replace. The new military system has added a large number of officers, where are there so many new officers?

The low-level generals are okay, but the middle-level generals are the most difficult. The new military system is only three or four years old, and it can only train grassroots generals, and middle-level generals must use a large number of old people. Together, they were the biggest obstacle to reform.

Therefore, Du Zhongxiao's opinion is not to force Di Qing on the front line, what to do, he knows in his heart. Han Qi has already come, and Liu Ji led the troops to win, and his psychological pressure must be very great.

The difference in strength is too big, Du Zhongxiao doesn't believe that Di Qing will fail, this possibility is almost none. What we need to see is how effective the army is in combat, how well it manages the battlefield, and whether it is strictly disciplined. Di Qing's slowness is largely for these.

That's the price, the price of reform. This price appeared on the battlefield of the party, and the key battle against the Khitan was the luck of the Song army.

I asked the master bookkeeper, and there was nothing important today. Du Zhongxiao changed into civilian clothes and prepared to go home. At this time, the soldier came in and reported: "Zhongcheng, the new Yezhou governor Wang Anshi, is asking to see you outside the door." ”

Du Zhongxiao was stunned for a moment, and then remembered that his recommendation was approved, and the imperial court appointed Wang Anshi as the governor of Yezhou. He has already resigned, and it is these days that he will go out of the city to take office. I came to the Imperial Observatory to meet myself because I recommended it, and this is a business matter.

ordered the soldiers to invite Wang Anshi in, and Du Zhongxiao went to the living room. Not long after, Wang Anshi came in with the soldiers and bowed to Du Zhongxiao.

Du Zhongxiao hurriedly sat down and said to Wang Anshi: "Discussing the war in the northwest today, I forgot for a while, you are going to take office in the northwest." ”

Wang Anshi said: "I have already resigned, and I have also met Xianggong Wen, and I will leave in a few days." Zhongcheng recommends, and I should thank you. ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "You went to Yezhou, but it was a heavy burden, what is there to thank?" If you go to Yezhou, if you do it well, you will definitely reuse it when you return to the dynasty. Now that the world's railways are gradually connected, it is a critical time to open factories in various places. The iron supervisor always had experience to follow in the past, and it was not so difficult to manage. There are many private factories in Yexian County, which has never happened before. If you manage it well, you can refer to it elsewhere. ”

Wang Anshi said: "I have learned a little about Yezhou these days, and it is really complicated as Zhongcheng said. I heard that in Yezhou City, people with a fortune of 100,000 yuan abound, and the goods sold in a year are tens of millions of yuan. This time, the world's unified money is more conducive to their business, and many families are getting bigger. The last time Zhongcheng went to find out the case, those officials are still there, and they haven't been investigated. ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "Money is a good thing, but it is also the source of trouble. When you get there, if you can do a good job of making money and maintaining local law and order, you will be the most capable minister in the world. Yezhou is undoubtedly the most profitable place in the world now, and as long as the means are appropriate, it will definitely be able to collect a lot of taxes. But how to collect it, not only to make the imperial court powerful, but also to make the factory run well, but there are universities asking. ”

Wang Anshi arched his hand: "I'm not familiar with these affairs, and I'm about to ask Zhongcheng." ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "It's all new things in the world, how can I ask for advice?" It's not early, so let's go out and find a restaurant and talk about it in detail. After all, I set up the iron prison, and it is naturally good to be able to bring benefits to the world. ”

Wang Anshi naturally agreed. Together with Du Zhongxiao, he walked out of the Yushitai and headed towards the state bridge. I came to the Yushitai to meet Du Zhongxiao because of the official business I recommended, so it's good to come. As for speaking, Yushitai is naturally not as convenient as a restaurant.