Ewha Annex, East Warm Pavilion.

After holding hands and exercising, Ximen Qing, who was snuggling on Wu Haogu's shoulder, suddenly asked with some worry: "Master, is this battle really not easy to win?" ”

"It's hard to say, it's hard to say! After the defeat of Renduobao's loyal soldiers, the western thieves gradually declined, and the Great Song Dynasty had elite soldiers like the Sanzhi elite. Therefore, there is almost no suspense in the dispute over the Wuding River, and it can even include the grassland between the rivers in one fell swoop. The strategy proposed by Lu Huiqing and Tong Guan to set up the Shuofang Road and the Garrison River will definitely succeed - with the five states of the Shuofang Road, whether it is to use the government to recruit and place archers and knights, they can develop a vigorous force. With them, not only the western thieves will go, but even Fuyan Pingliao will have something to rely on. However, Tao Jiefu and Zhong Fu were able to look at Longwangshu and stared at the fat of Lingzhou, wanting to finish their work.

Regardless of whether the march of hundreds of miles on the east and west roads would make the division veterans tired, they were finally broken by the western thieves who were waiting for work. Even if it is a fluke victory, what will be the benefit to the Western Army? ”

"Does the master mean that as soon as the western thief leaves, the western army will be useless?"

Wu Haogu nodded: "Isn't the most taboo thing in this dynasty to be a general?" But there is something that cannot be eliminated. The Eastern Army was a money-making tool for the generals. The Western Army relied on the utility soldiers mastered by Jiangmen as the core, plus the archers who needed to protect Jiangmen, which were clearly the embers of the Sui and Tang Dynasty Xungui soldiers. If it is not dismantled, can those civil officials and important ministers in the DPRK and China be willing? ”

Although Wu Haogu could not fight, he had been looking for a route that could build a reliable and usable army in the Northern Song Dynasty in recent years. Therefore, there is also some research in this area, and after some investigation in the northwest, it is clear that the foundation of the Western Army is actually a half-hired and half-estate-supported army.

And those generals of the Western Army are somewhat of the shadow of Guan Longxungui. Every family has a utility soldier, and most of their sons and nephews serve in the army. In fact, every general is an officer corps that can support an army at any time.

In addition, the archers of the Northwest Roads can hold the land steadily, and they have to be controlled by the Jiangmen through layers of attachment - if there is no protection from the Jiangmen, they can hold the 200 to 250 acres of land?

So the Western Army is an existence that poses a threat to the stability of the Great Song Empire! It can be maintained like the soldiers of the Sui and Tang dynasties, without relying on the huge military salaries of the imperial court.

In fact, each of the five roads along the Yongxing Military Road, which does not include the Yongxing Military Road in the rear, can mobilize 60,000 or 70,000 Han soldiers in wartime! The number on the books ranged from 300,000 to 350,000. Among them, at most half of the forbidden army that needs to be paid by the imperial court, and the rest are Han archers and Tibetan soldiers who are not paid, and although their combat effectiveness is weaker than the elite of the Northwest Forbidden Army, they are not much stronger than the forbidden armies in Kaifeng and Hebei!

Each family can rely on its own officer corps to support the archers attached to it, so as to build an army independent of the country's military system. This is much more reliable than a warlord group that relies on the relationship between soldiers and generals and has no logistical and financial support......

"Master, hearing you say this, the slave family feels more and more that the Jiehe Commercial Market will not be tolerated by the imperial court sooner or later. Doesn't our business market also have a similar utility corps? The so-called integrity is actually a general school. And we also have a knight academy that specializes in training generals, as well as 20,000 baoding, in addition, we still have money, we can recruit soldiers on a large scale at any time, there are horse farms, and there are many workshops for the production of weapons...... Compared to the Western Army, it is not weak at all! ”

Hearing this, Wu Haogu immediately frowned, and after a while, he shook his head slightly: "The generals of the Western Army have not been tolerated by the imperial court until now?" And even if it is not allowed, it is just a matter of wealth and military power. Jiehe Shang Market was set up for the purpose of cutting Liao, and now that the Liao Kingdom has not fallen, there will be no problems in Jiehe Shang City.

Besides, the Knight Academy in Jiehe Shang City is not ours, it is a military academy under the Yuntai Academy of the Imperial Court. The military academy was used to educate the samurai, and then the samurai were allowed to take the right list jinshi to become the country's military attachés, and finally these military attaches from the right list supported the new government soldiers who served five years of military service...... Wouldn't the officials have a reliable and capable army? It's better than relying on those rice buckets to stabilize the forbidden army, right? That's a piece of faith! ”

"But the lord's loyalty is not recognized by Shilin......," Ximen Qingdao said, "Except for the "Wenqu Xing" newspaper that we control, the rest of the newspapers are all against the left and right list of Jinshi. There are not many important ministers in the DPRK who support the left and right list of Jinshi, and even Mr. Ziyou is quite complaining. ”

"When Xiazhou, Youzhou, and Yanzhou let the government soldiers fight down, there will be no more whispers!" Wu Hao Gu Dao, "Because there is no more reliable way to raise and train troops than this." ”

Ximen Qing sighed, "The slave family always feels that it is not very reliable!" Master, we still have to be on guard......"

Ximen Qing just instinctively felt that it was unreliable, but Wu Haogu knew very well that the route of relying on the school to train elite officer corps was a big hole.

Because the elite officer corps is not at all something that a feudal dynasty can control! Moreover, if the officers are elite enough, don't the civilian officials look incompetent? Can the ability of civil officials who were born in the imperial examination be compared with the elite officers who have been systematically and strictly educated by the Six Arts Academy, Yuntai Academy, and Knight Academy for more than ten years? The investment in education between the two sides is not at all an order of magnitude. Moreover, the education of the imperial examination is basically divorced from reality, while the education of the Six Arts Academy, Yuntai Academy, and Knight Academy is equal to ability and political integrity, and there are a large number of practical courses.

Therefore, it is impossible for the stage of the right list of Jinshi to be limited to the military field. Even the current military attaché is not unable to serve as a civilian magistrate or governor. Moreover, after a large number of the right-ranking jinshi who were educated by the Six Arts Academy, Yuntai Academy, and Knight Academy entered the officialdom in large numbers, it was easier for them to form friends and cite each other. After all, everyone is an old classmate for more than ten years, and the relationship is naturally deeper.

In the future, I am afraid that the party struggle will start between the left and right Jinshi!

Wu Haogu smacked his lips, "Eldest sister, how do you say you should take precautions?" ”

Ximen Qing kept his voice to the lowest, "The master only has the power of dignified and upright now, and there is no dark hall, how can he do it?" ”

"Dark hall" is a black word, that is, it is not in the light, it is not known, and it specializes in doing things that are not visible. Sometimes it can also be used to preserve strength - the strength on the surface is easy to be destroyed, but the strength in the dark is not easy to completely sweep away.

Therefore, such unruly heroes as the Ximen family have dark halls.

"It's okay," Wu Haogu thought for a moment, "it's time to make a secret hall...... Eldest sister, I'll leave the Jiehe Dark Hall to you! ”

……

When night fell, the inner hall of Cai Jing's mansion was illuminated as if it were day by dozens of lit giant candles.

Visitors tonight!

The visiting ones were Tao Jiefu and Zhong Fu, who went to Beijing to report on their work. Both of them are Cai Jing's henchmen, and the first thing they did after entering Beijing was not to report to the political affairs hall, but to visit Cai Jing and Cai Xianggong. told Cai Jing the Pingxia strategy that the two of them had discussed at the Zhengzhou Pavilion.

"Take Qin Wangchuan first?"

After listening to the narrative of the two, Cai Jing's brows furrowed slightly, "Will the two roads be bad?" Why the war on the Western Front in the first place? ”

"Returning to the Prime Minister," Zhong Fu said, "the eastern front needs to arrange tuntian, transport grain and grass, and train the government soldiers, and it will always wait until March or April to send troops in a big way." The western front needs to send troops before the Yellow River thaws, so that it is most advantageous for the army to cross the river and go straight to Qinwangchuan. ”

"I see." Cai Jing nodded, "Then why did you attack Liangzhou after taking Qin Wangchuan?" ”

Zhong Fu replied: "The purpose of attacking Liangzhou is to lure the main force of the Western Thieves to follow, so that the Eastern Route Army can seize the three prefectures of Xia, You, and Yan. ”

Cai Jingxin said: What is the relationship between Zhong Fu and Tao Jiefu? How helpful is that? He didn't think about hitting Lingzhou City first?

"Is it difficult to capture the three states of Xia, You, and Yan?" Cai Jing thought about it and asked.

Tao Jiefu nodded: "Xia, You, and Yan are all strong cities. Although it was captured by the official army in the fourth year of Yuanfeng, it was repaired after being recaptured by the Western Thieves, which is completely different from the abandoned city of Yinzhou. Now the western thieves are obviously shrinking on the eastern front, and there are no large armies stationed in Yinzhou City, Shizhou City, Mida Cave, and Shibao Village. However, from the analysis of the previous Western thieves who crossed Hengshan to attack, they were still unwilling to give up the land of Wudinghe-Hengshan, and it was estimated that in the battle of Xia, You, and Yan, the officers and troops would suffer a bitter battle. ”

Cai Jing actually doesn't understand military affairs, even if he does, it is impossible to grasp the dynamics of the Northwest Army from such a long distance, so he let Zhong Fu and Tao Jiefu flicker.

"Good!" Cai Jing nodded, "Yuanfeng's defeat in the four-year battle was all because several officials and soldiers refused to cooperate and competed with each other, and they were defeated by the Western Thieves. Now the two of you can work together, which is really a blessing for the country. However, the military attachés below will inevitably have the desire to compete for merit, and the two of you still have to restrain them more to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past.

In addition, Lü Jifu and Tong Guan seem to be in collusion, and they both proposed the strategy of garrisoning troops in the river to prepare for the Khitan. Among them, Lu Jifu also put forward a proposal to set up Shuofang Road in the five states of Yin, You, Xia, Yan and Shuo, what do you two think? ”

When Tao Jiefu heard this, his face was slightly unsightly. After the establishment of Shuofang Road, his Yanyan Road is not the front line, who should command the battle against Lingzhou? Zhong Fu?

"Xia Guan thinks it's good." Zhong Fu had already figured out the joints, "I don't know who will preside over this Shuo Fang Road?" ”

Cai Jing frowned: "The official family is intended to belong to Tong Guan, but Tong Guan does not approve of going straight to Lingzhou, and it is estimated that Tong Guan will be the deputy first, focusing on the direction of the Hetao." Shuo Fang made the position of envoy may be held by Zili (Tao Jiefu). ”

Tao Jiefu breathed a sigh of relief, if he led both ways, his status would far surpass Zhong Fu. If the two armies meet in Lingzhou, he will be the undoubted commander!

When he takes Lingzhou, he will probably be able to enter the dynasty Xuanma!