On the one hand, Wu Haogu's fake army is slowly growing, and doctoral students and generalist students are also receiving the best education in this era; On the other hand, all kinds of new "experimental military forces" are also converging in Kaifeng Fucheng from all directions.

To the west of Kaifeng Prefecture, a team is marching sparsely on the road leading to Kaifeng Prefecture. This is an ordinary looking Song army, they are wearing loose red military jackets, wearing Fan Yang Li, carrying shoddy and worn weapons, and carrying large bags of luggage. There was a weak march, and many people walked a few steps to look back at the western sky with tears in their eyes.

This army is the Xinfu soldiers who were pinned on by the Great Song Dynasty.

Although Zhang Shuye, the newly appointed military officer of Jingzhao Mansion and several of his subordinates who took him to Jingzhao Mansion, tried their best to boost morale along the way, they did not hesitate to spend a lot of money to prepare good food supplies. But these more than 1,000 people still walked weakly, and they also went against every order of Uncle Zhang Ye, intentionally or unintentionally.

Leaving Guanzhong's hometown to serve as a soldier for five years is really not so pleasant for these tenant children in Lantian County. Although the Lu family in Lantian is benevolent and righteous, and there is a guarantee from the township contract, it is likely that the people in the family will not starve to death in the next five years.

It is also said that after the completion of the five-year military service, they can be exempted from conscription for life. But the big guy still can't muster his energy...... There is probably no difference between five years of military service and five years of hard labor, right? I have to be thousands of miles away from home, and I don't know if I have the life to go back to see my grandmother.

And Uncle Zhang can't do anything about everyone's low mood. In addition to leading by example, being the first to get up and watch them pack up and set off every day, and waiting for them to go to bed every day before going to bed, he has been silently observing them.

He was actually an "observer". Although he knows the soldiers, he is a civilian official after all, and there is no reason to directly lead the troops to train the troops. In fact, he is not the leading officer of these Guanzhong Mansion soldiers - the purpose of the imperial court sending him to Jingzhao Mansion to replace Ji Yi is to ask him, a civilian official who knows the soldiers, to take a good look at the new government soldiers, and then give an evaluation.

Can these soldiers be used? Can it be useful?

Although the news of the success of the pilot government soldiers in Lantian County made the important ministers of the imperial court and the official Zhao Ji very excited. But Cai Bian, who succeeded An Tao and Jiang Zhiqi in charge of the Privy Council, is also an old fox in the officialdom with rich military and political experience, of course, he knows that military reform must be cautious, and he can't all listen to those nerdy civilian officials who have never been on the battlefield.

So I found Zhang Shuye, who had been guarding the election since the dissolution of the Military Science Division, and asked him to take over Ji Yi's position.

Uncle Zhang immediately stood on the edge of the official road, looking at these government soldiers who were weak, the team was scattered, and the weapons were also carried crookedly. The brows are tightly furrowed, but the heart is relatively satisfied.

There is no other reason, these government soldiers have not been seriously trained, how can they become elites themselves?

However, before leaving Jingzhao Mansion to go east, Zhang Shuye instructed his subordinates not to hire mules and horses for these government soldiers to carry Li, and to march at a speed of 75-80 miles a day - this is fifty percent faster than the elite standard marching era of the forbidden army!

With such a "high-speed" march, not to mention those soldiers in Kaifeng Prefecture, even the Northwest Forbidden Army will also complain, if there is no certain reward, those soldiers may refuse to advance.

However, these government soldiers, who were farmers not long ago, although their morale was not high, they were still crying, and some tried to escape. But seventy or eighty miles a day still persevered, and no one offered for a reward...... This kind of hard-working style is a little stronger than the genuine forbidden army.

Now the question is just how to train them, how to boost their morale, and how to keep them from learning badly......

A general of the Zhang family, who had followed Zhang Shuye in front of the Northwest Army for many years, came up at this time and reported to Zhang Shuye: "Tiju, I'm almost done today, did you let the brothers bury the pot and cook?" ”

"75 miles is already over?" Uncle Zhang was stunned for a moment, looked up at the sky, the sunset was slanting, and the day was approaching dusk.

"I've walked 80 miles." The old general smiled, "These recruits are going faster and faster. ”

Uncle Zhang nodded: "It can indeed be experienced!" ”

The old general said: "You have to have a good official to take them to practice!" ”

Just a good officer? Uncle Zhang shook his head lightly, there must be a mechanism to motivate soldiers to fight hard! Now the forbidden army is a soldier who sells his life for money and sees money. What do the soldiers have? is also the same as the forbidden army, go into battle with bounty, can you draw a bow when you see the bounty?

……

"Your Majesty, congratulations to Your Majesty!"

Kaifeng Mansion, Qionglin Palace. After Gao Yu placed the 1,000 knights he brought in the barracks near Qionglin Palace, he immediately entered Qionglin Palace to meet Zhao Ji. As soon as they met, Gao Yu immediately congratulated Zhao Ji loudly.

"Where does the joy come from?"

Zhao Ji smiled, followed by Pan Xiao'an and Liang Shicheng. Liang Shicheng is now also favored by Zhao Ji, and is responsible for the supervision of the construction of Qionglin Palace together with Pan Xiao'an, and he is also the master of the completed part of Qionglin Palace.

"Your Majesty, the 1,000 knights brought by the minister from Cangzhou are all elite!"

"Elite?" Zhao Ji asked with a smile, "I haven't received a lot of impeachment of the Cangzhou knights...... It is said that Wu Hao Gu taught and received each other privately, and the knights were indiscriminate. ”

"It's not indiscriminate, absolutely not!" Gao Yu said, "It's all the way, who didn't say yes when they saw His Majesty's imperial knight?" ”

"Hahaha," Zhao Ji laughed loudly, "I know that Wu Haogu is reliable and trustworthy." ”

"Your Majesty."

Zhao Ji nodded, "Gao Yu, the people you brought, first tell them to rest for a day, and the afternoon after tomorrow, I will personally review them."

Pan Qing, can the palace of Mu Daogang be activated? ”

"Back to Your Majesty, it's already usable." Pan Xiao'an played.

The palace of Mu Daogang is a few three-story buildings surrounded by tall red walls, and it is not very luxurious. The only use is for Zhao Ji and the important ministers of the court and foreign missions to watch the military exercises.

The date for the military exercise has already been set, that is, from the 10th to the 13th of the first month of the third year of the founding of the Yasukuni Dynasty. For a total of four days, Zhao Ji will personally inspect the knights and observe the 100-mile weight-bearing run of the house slave warriors.

"I can't wait!" Zhao Ji said excitedly, "Gao Yu, Pan Qing, tell me, who will lead those warriors when they are selected?" ”

Pan Xiao'an and Gao Yu glanced at each other, the official family is afraid that they can't wait to start a war, right?

"Your Majesty, the minister recommends Wang Yu." Gao Yu said, "After Wang Yu was a hero, he joined the army for many generations, and followed Murong Wangwu to serve in the Military Science Department, and he was good at training troops to lead the army. ”

"Wang Yu is indeed useful." Zhao Ji nodded. Wang Yu is one of the few officers in the Kaifeng Forbidden Army system who can still be used. And the warriors in front of the palace are responsible for escorting, and when they are handed over to the generals of the Western Army, Zhao Ji is still a little uneasy.

"When Wang Yu has honed this new recruit," Zhao Ji sighed, "it's time to try his hand in the northwest." ”

Pan Xiao'an asked in a low voice: "Does Your Majesty want to use troops on Xihe Road?" ”

Zhao Ji nodded and said: "It's a pity that Huangzhou and Shanzhou are lost, and now Wu Dalang has opened a route for transporting grain from the north to the south, which can alleviate the supply in the northwest." The imperial court has thousands of elite soldiers again, and it no longer has to rely on the army to march west...... It's time to reclaim Huang and Shanzhou. ”

"Your Majesty."

Gao Yu and Pan Xiao'an sang in unison.

Zhao Ji smiled: "This matter is still being planned, don't spread it." When Wu Haogu arrives in a few days, I still want to hear his opinion. ”

"The ministers obey."

……

"The imperial court wants to use soldiers? How did Taishou know? ”

Wu Haogu was already on his way to Beijing at this time, and had already arrived in Qingchi County, where Cangzhou Prefecture was located, and also met Shi Guozhong, who knew Cangzhou affairs, at the pavilion.

Shi Guozhong told Wu Haogu the news that the imperial court could use troops in the northwest, and in the face of Wu Haogu's questioning, Shi Guozhong said again: "Wang Hou has been recalled. ”

Wang Hou is the son of Wang Shao, who opened the Xihe River in the Shenzong Dynasty, and has been fighting with his father since he was a child, taking the route of a military attaché. At the age of Yuan Fu, he sent troops to Xihe with Wang Gan, forced the landing of Qingtang Tubo, and was promoted to the governor of Huangzhou because of his merits. However, after the imperial court decided to give up Huang and Shanzhou in the third year of Yuan Fu, Wang Hou was also unlucky and was demoted to Hezhou.

And Zhao Ji's recall is undoubtedly a signal that he is ready to use troops against Xihe again!

"It seems that there is another Xihe opening...... "Wu Haogu shook his head, "Wang Zichun's game is very difficult to clean up!" ”

"What? Are you against opening the Bian Xi River? Shi Guozhong gently turned the wine glass in his hand.

Wu Haogu sighed: "It's a joke to open the Xihe River to outflank the Western Thieves...... The thieves are not afraid of us outflanking us at all. If you want to destroy the country, you have to storm Lingzhou and Xingqing Mansion, without hundreds of thousands of soldiers, how can you fight it?

If you want to use hundreds of thousands of troops to march west, you have to prepare tens of millions of stones just for military rations! Shaanxi Sixth Road has long been exhausted, how to raise it? It depends on the transfer from Baibo, hehe, the consumption on the road is too amazing.

This Western Xia is hard to destroy! ”

In Wu Haogu's view, the Northern Song Dynasty did not have the strength to destroy the Western Xia at all - to destroy the Western Xia, the combat effectiveness of the Northern Song army must greatly exceed that of the Western Xia army. In this way, the Western Xia army could be forced to shrink and abandon the field battle with fewer troops. In this way, the Song army was able to obtain supplies on the spot by plundering the grain-producing areas of Western Xia.

But at present, the Song army does not have such combat effectiveness at all. The soldiers who could only take heavy troops and slowly advance approached Xingqing Mansion step by step, and fought a decisive battle outside Xingqing Mansion City, even if they won, they would not be able to attack Xingqing Mansion Jiancheng anymore. As for the ability of the Western Xia army to defend the city, there is no doubt about it, in history, Genghis Khan conquered the Western Xia six times, and he never saw the fall of Xingqing until he died!

"Xuanzan," Shi Guozhong frowned, "these words...... Can you say it in front of the government?"

"Do your best!" Wu Hao Gu Dao, "There are so many places where you can use soldiers, why bother to fight to the death with the western thief?" The gains outweigh the losses! ”