Su Dongpo's right mansion is not too far from Daxiangguo Temple, after accompanying Zhao Ji to eat Dongpo meat, Wu Haogu said goodbye to the official family of Weifu private visit outside the gate of Daxiangguo Temple, and went directly to Su Dongpo's mansion.

He is a disciple of Su Dongpo, and it is naturally very casual to enter and exit the teacher's mansion, and after entering the mansion, he went to the study. After saying hello, he said to Su Dongpo: "Teacher, the student just had dinner with the official family, and I heard the official family talk about the river and the Huangkai side. ”

"It's been passed on for a long time, and everyone knew about it when Wang Hou was recalled." Su Dongpo glanced at his students, "Chongdao, you must be in favor of the river and the Huangkaibian, right?" ”

The little force that Zhao Ji has at hand is actually related to Wu Haogu, and it is not an exaggeration to say that Wu Haogu set up for him. Therefore, Su Dongpo took it for granted that Wu Haogu must be in favor of marching to the river and Huang.

"The river and the Huangkai side are thankless! Originally, Wang Shao proposed this strategy in order to outflank the western thief and make it vulnerable to the enemy. But what about the actual results? How much has the imperial court invested in Hehuang over the years? The thief is not as safe as Mount Tai? Wu Haogu shook his head slightly.

The matter of Hehuang Kaibian was praised very high in later generations, as if it was a proof of how strong the Song army's combat effectiveness was. However, after really understanding the situation, Wu Haogu already knew that the matter of Hehuang Kaibian was actually a pit. The communication line from the Guanzhong Plain to Hehuang in the west is 2,000 miles long, and most of the roads along the way are rugged mountain roads, and there are many Tubo and Qiang tribes who live there, and often rob the transportation lines of the Song army. If you want to maintain a military presence in Hehuang, you have to put up with a delivery rate of less than 10%. Even if 20,000 troops were stationed in Hehuang, the consumption was very staggering.

Moreover, the communication line connecting the river and Huang is under the threat of the Western Xia soldiers! If the Western Xia sent troops from the Hexi Corridor to threaten Lanzhou, they could easily mobilize the main force of the Western Army to advance westward - the westward advance of the main force of the Western Army was not equivalent to a decisive battle between the two sides, but a strategic mobilization and attrition. Even if there is no fighting, tens of thousands of the main forces of the Western Army will march hundreds or thousands of miles, which will greatly deplete the reserves of the Western Army.

If the river and Huang are abandoned, then Lanzhou will become the westernmost stronghold of the Song army. Due to the dangerous terrain of Lanzhou City itself, the city defense is strong, and it is unlikely to be captured by the Western Xia army. Therefore, even if the Western Xia army surrounded Lanzhou, the Western army did not have to advance westward. It is completely possible to take an offensive on the eastern front and attack Xiazhou, a large stronghold of Western Xia on the banks of the Wuding River.

Therefore, from a strategic point of view, the occupation of the two states of Hehe and Huang was not beneficial to the Song Dynasty. The abandonment of the two states of Hehe and Huang was more favorable to the Song Dynasty militarily. However, the battles of the river and the Huang have been repeated repeatedly, and now they have become a political indicator. It seems that only by recovering Hehe and Huang Erzhou can it be proved that Zhao Ji's "martial arts" are no less than those of the two first emperors.

Wu Haogu sighed: "If you just seize the two states of He, Huang and Zhou, it will be enough. I'm afraid that I will have Long, and I will look at the summer. ”

"Chongdao, do you think the Western Thief can be pacified? Can the Land of Lingxia be restored? Su Dongpo looked at Wu Haogu and asked.

"I think it's difficult...... Wu Haogu said meaningfully, "In the eyes of the students, the party is small and tight, and the Khitan is big and loose. Millions of party members are crowded on such a small territory, how can they be destroyed without dispatching hundreds of thousands of troops? And there is no one in the northwest who can join forces with the imperial court to deal with the party! The Tibetans had long since weakened, and the Western Uighurs were also vulnerable, and were threatened by the Black Khan Uighurs of the Tianfang Sect, and the Han Chinese in Western Xia were also firmly suppressed by the party. This is not the same thing as the hidden dangers in Daliao!

And the most important thing is that the transshipment in the northwest is too inconvenient. If troops are used in Yanyun and Liaodong, and maritime merchants are organized in Youjiehe Shang City, there will be no problems in transshipment. A sea ship loaded with three or four thousand stones is not considered a huge ship, and a hundred such sea boats can transport three or four hundred thousand stones at a time. Maritime merchants such as the Wu family in Haizhou and the Ji family in Pingjiang, who can't mobilize hundreds of sea boats? ”

Wu Haogu, who has been a master of the city for a few years, now really knows the strength of the maritime merchants of the Song Dynasty, and there are many merchants with hundreds or thousands of sea ships! Historically, the Southern Song Dynasty court could even move 200,000 soldiers and civilians to ships to form a dynasty. With such maritime capacity, the Song Dynasty could have expanded entirely by sea.

And in the Northwest and Western Xia, it is obviously not a cost-effective approach - expansion of this kind of thing also has to talk about costs and benefits! Although it doesn't have to be quick to make money, you can't do it at any cost!

And in terms of the combat effectiveness of the Song army, it can't be defeated by brute force......

Su Dongpo's face changed, and when things were talking, why did he go to Yanyun in the Northern Expedition again? He frowned and said, "Chongdao, do you really think that I have the strength to swallow Yan Pingliao?" ”

"Now Goryeo and Jurchen are about to fight, as long as they are victorious, the catastrophe of Liao will come." Wu Haogu said, "When the time comes, we can't help it...... Whether it is aiding Liao or cutting Liao, in short, you can't stay out of the matter. ”

Su Dongpo bowed his head silently, of course he knew that after the Jurchen-Goryeo war, the situation in the entire north would change greatly. And the stable days of the Great Song Dynasty will also be gone forever...... If there is something going on in the north, then it is best for the northwest to remain stable, and now the head of the Western Xia State is respectful of Confucianism and Buddha, and acts moderately. If the Great Song Dynasty does not take the initiative to provoke, the northwest should be able to stabilize for many years, and the people's strength in Shaanxi can recover a little.

However, the determination of the official family to use troops in the northwest seems to be very great, but I am afraid that they will not listen to the persuasion of others!

The master and apprentice were talking to each other, and a sound of footsteps hurried to the door of the study. Su Dongpo frowned, he was talking about private matters with Wu Haogu, even if his family listened to it, it would not be good.

There was a knock on the door twice, and Wu Haogu went up and opened the door. Outside the door was Su Dongpo's son Su Guo. Su Guo hurriedly said to the two people in the study: "My lord, Da Lang, Uncle Li Wen has arrived, and he is outside the door now." ”

"It's finally here, I thought it could be earlier, but I didn't expect it to be delayed until Chinese New Year's Eve." Su Dongpo urged Su Guo repeatedly, "Come on, don't you go and invite Uncle Wen in!" ”

Uncle Li Wen is Li Qingzhao and his father Li Gefei, and his knowledge of Jingzhao Mansion has also achieved meritorious success, not long ago Zhao Ji issued an edict to let him return to Beijing to be a bachelor of Hanlin and a capital to undertake the decree - this is a great use, and the next step may be able to Xuan Ma.

And the next year is the imperial examination, Hanlin bachelor and Du Chengzhi is the first choice of the examiner, Su Dongpo's son Su Guo and grandson Su Fu have passed the first examination of the Guozijian, and they will go to the Ministry of Rites after the New Year. If the examiner is Su Dongpo's disciple, then the probability of the two of them going high school is very high.

However, Su Dongpo would not talk about the imperial examination with his disciples, he was very confident in the knowledge of his children and grandchildren, and he didn't need to go through the back door for them...... Even if you really want to go through the back door, you don't need to say it!

……

After some greetings, Su Dongpo, Li Gefei and Wu Haogu sat down in the study again. After Li Gefei said a few words about the recent situation in Jingzhao Mansion, Su Dongpo asked him: "Uncle Wen, how is the harvest in Jingzhao Mansion this year?" Has the treasury reserves been restored somewhat? ”

"What kind of harvest can Jingzhao Mansion have? Treasury reserves have only been restored a little. Li Gefei shook his head and said, "But the Western Army is still eager to fight!" ”

"Eager to fight? Why is that? Su Dongpo asked incomprehensibly.

"Isn't it because of this imperial military and Xinfu soldiers?" Li Gefei explained to Su Dongpo, "The generals of the Western Army don't want them if they don't make some contributions."

By the way, I also saw Wang Chudao when I went to report to Zhongshu today. He still focused on recovering the two states of Hehe and Huang. ”

Su Dongpo shook his head, "He naturally wants to be the main one...... The hard work of two generations of his family has been spent in Hehuang, how can he give up so easily? Dalang, what do you think? ”

"Is Wang Chudao a true soldier?" Wu Haogu asked rhetorically.

Su Dongpo and Li Gefei glanced at each other and nodded at the same time.

Su Dongpo said: "This gentleman was originally a scholarly family, but he threw his pen from Rong, and he was up and down in the Northwest Army for half his life, and he is indeed a soldier." ”

Li Gefei also said: "It's a pity that there was no right list of Jinshi back then, otherwise he and Chong Shiheng would probably be among the rulers."

If such a man is allowed to be a martial artist, and an official who has been trained on the front line becomes a ruler, our dynasty will not always be at a loss in military affairs. ”

Wu Haogu thought for a while: "The official family is anxious to see him, it is estimated that he will enter the right place more and more, and I will enter the palace tomorrow to see if I can meet this duke." ”

"What do you want to do?" Su Dongpo looked at his disciple.

Wu Haogu smiled: "If the king really knows the soldiers, why not invite him to preside over the martial arts performance in front of the emperor?" ”

"Just presiding over the martial arts?" Su Dongpo asked again.

Wu Haogu smiled and nodded: "It's not just about hosting martial arts, there are a few questions I want to ask." ”

……

Wang Hou is already a veteran in his early fifties this year, because he didn't need to study when he was young, he couldn't pass the Jinshi exam and changed to martial arts, and then followed his father Wang Shao to make contributions in the northwest. It's a pity that Wang Shao didn't live long, he died of illness at the age of 52, and he had a bad temper, he always liked to complain in his later years, which offended many people, so he didn't want to - fortunately, he was a Jinshi and the first, a serious civil official, otherwise it is difficult to say whether he could die well.

Because of his father's depression, Wang Hou was not very ambitious. He has been in Rongma in the northwest for half his life, and the current martial officer is only the deputy envoy of the East Cabinet Gate, which is a little smaller than the envoy of the supply and reserve treasury of Wu Haogu.

Just when he thought that he was going to follow in his father's footsteps and die depressed, the Great Song Dynasty actually produced an unprecedented saint monarch who knew the soldiers!

It is indeed unprecedented...... Judging from Wang Hou's experience in the three dynasties of Shenzong, Zhezong and today's official family, and his experience in the army for 30 years. The three policies of "Imperial Knight", "House Slave Warrior" and "Compulsory Soldier" implemented by Zhao Ji, an official today, are all done by a true soldier who knows the soldiers.

On the way to Beijing, he also went to Mu Daogang to take a look. Those knights looked very elite, and they could definitely go to the northwest to fight the Tibetan and Qiang tribes. And the strong men gathered from all over the world also looked quite like the same thing.