Out of Weizhou City, Zheng Lang suddenly said: "Go to Jingzhou." ”

There is more than enough time, and he passed on Di Qing to discuss with the seed master Heng, they are the strongest generals in the whole Shaanxi. Sometimes Zheng Lang thinks about it and feels very happy.

As the saying goes, three stinkers, like Zhuge Liang, the three of them are not three simple stinkers, Di Qing is brave and invincible, the master Heng is a wise general, and he is very familiar with the economy and people's livelihood. At least Zheng Lang felt that the three of them were a miniature version of the Three Masters of the Western Han Dynasty.

Di Qing will play the role of Han Xin, Seed Master Heng will play the role of Zhang Liang, and he will play the role of Xiao He.

But can it play this role?

It is necessary to use the future wars to testify.

However, after Zheng Lang left the city, he was still not very relieved, he had talents under him, but Yuan Hao had more talents.

Thinking of Zhang Fangping, there was another person, Zhao Xun, so it was rumored that Zhao Xun went to Zhenrong Army to discuss matters, and then went to Jingzhou in person.

During this time, Zheng Lang's scope of activities was mainly in the Zhenrong Army, the Deshun Army and Weizhou City, and Jingyuan Erzhou had not been to it once. I heard that Zhang Fangping did well in Jingzhou, and he fought fiercely with the Qiang people, and many Qiang tribes were convinced.

Overall, in terms of ethnic relations, the current Jingyuan Road is the best, the old race deals with the Qiang people, has a set of experience, Di Qing does not despise the Qiang people, he has visited many times in Weizhou, and the Qiang people do not feel bad about themselves. To be worse, Teng Zongliang in Yuanzhou is slightly worse. Teng Zongliang is not a mediocre official, otherwise Fan Zhongyan would not value him so much. It can also be done.

If it weren't for the war, these few civil and military generals would quickly bring Jingyuan Road into the stage of great governance.

That's impossible.

When he arrived in Jingzhou City, Zhang Fangping was not there, and like Zheng Lang, he went to the countryside to inspect.

Under the leadership of the officials, Zhang Fangping was found in a village.

Seeing Zheng Lang coming, Zhang Fangping had some joy on his face, and walked over and asked, "Xingzhi, is there a war ahead?" ”

Zheng Lang's face was very exciting, and he said, "Brother Andao, do you really know how to associate it?" ”

"Otherwise, with me in Jingzhou, what else are you worried about? Everything is in the ascendant in Weizhou, you suddenly came to Jingzhou, not to prepare for war, why bother? ”

This is a very shrewd person.

has a literary and military talent, and his reading is the same as Zheng Lang's, and he never forgets it.

Because of Gu Fang's self-appreciation, among the officials of the Zhao Zhen Dynasty, he has always been underestimated and not reused. The political theory is not attached to the later Wang Anshi, nor is it attached to Fan Zhongyan, Ouyang Xiu and others. His political proposition also opposes the immutability of the ancient law, accusing him of adhering to the path of profit and success, and following the old rules, but his reform must be people-oriented, in line with the golden mean, and the arduousness and difficulty of reform must not be underestimated, and it must be gradual and orderly.

Doesn't that sound familiar?

It is very similar to Zheng Lang's political views.

In fact, this is the originator of moderates, including Su Dongpo and others, who are deeply influenced by it.

So Zheng Lang has always attached great importance to Zhang Fangping.

In addition to his political views, he also wrote many far-sighted twists and turns on the use of troops.

But Zhang Fangping's use of troops in the battle was bad, and Sima Guang impeached Zhang Fangping because of Zhang Fangping's timidity in Qinfeng Road. This memora is a product of party struggle, and exaggerating Zhang Fangping's cowardice is not untargeted. Zhang Fangping is capable, and Zheng Lang overestimates Zhang Fangping's talent in military affairs. Of course, it was Zhang Fangping's leader to govern the people and appease the Qiang people. is that Zhang Fangping is overestimated by Zheng Lang, and his military talent is stronger than Yin Zhu and Teng Zongliang, Wang Yan and Fan Yong.

Zheng Lang said: "An Dao, I'll take you to Zhenrong Army to discuss matters." ”

"Okay."

Take Zhang Fangping to the Zhenrong Army.

Seed Master Heng and Zhao Xun had already arrived, saluted each other and sat down, Zheng Lang said: "Everyone, according to the scout's report, the Western Xia people are ready to send troops to invade the two states of Linfu. ”

"Is the message accurate?" The old breed asked.

"Exactly," Di Qing replied in a deep voice.

Wang Yong and the others brought, they were originally the people in the Western Xia, and later followed Wang Deyong to join the army, with Xingling and other state capitals did not enter the Western Xia, the two and their families never returned. Let them draw the mountains, rivers and river fortresses in the territory of Western Xia with drawings, and they don't have that ability. However, they are familiar with the folk customs, customs and languages in Western Xia.

So Zheng Lang formulated a plan and asked them to sneak into Western Xia with some gold tools. Then disguised as two small merchants, the business could not be big, and when they encountered the harshness of the officials, they pretended to be cowardly and let them extort. They can be blackmailed, and they can't take the initiative to bribe. Even if you take the initiative to bribe, the amount should not be large.

It's a small businessman, how much can he extort. But after blackmailing, the officials felt a little guilty in their hearts, and the Xixia people were also human beings, and their hearts were flesh and blood. Gradually became familiar with some low-level officials, soldiers and tribes.

But because it is a small businessman, the number of shots is small, and it is not noticeable.

In short, it comes down to two words, low-key.

They are not required to be able to find out high-level secrets, but the merchants are more familiar with some low-level officials, and they can hear some rumors. With enough news of this, you can bring back the news you need.

There is still a risk, the Song Dynasty is arresting the spies of the Tanguts everywhere, and the Tangut is also strictly investigating the spies of the Song Dynasty.

Therefore, important information is not heard, and there is no need for them to come back to inform them.

I went for a long time, and I only brought back this piece of information.

It doesn't seem to be as bullish as the old monk, but it's better in the long run and safety.

The expression in the eyes of the old man is still very suspicious, compared to the Western Xia people, the Song Dynasty is too backward in intelligence. Don't talk about what happened in Western Xia, even what happened on the border, the news is very slow. However, this situation is changing, since Zheng Lang came to Jingyuan Road, he selected a group of elite cavalry as ranger scouts, all over the border. After Fan Zhongyan heard this, he also adopted this method. Whether Pang Ji has adopted it in Yanyun Road or not, I don't know if it is far away.

It refers to the border, but not to the territory of Western Xia.

Looking at the old man's skeptical eyes, Zheng Lang said: "This is a move I arranged when I left the capital, and General Di cooperated. The source is absolutely accurate. ”

Unlike other scouts, Wang Yong's family members are all in the capital, so there is no need to worry about them betraying, and the two are scattered, one betrayal, and the two will not be discovered by the Tanguts at the same time.

After confirming that the news was accurate, Zheng Lang continued: "Everyone, what do you think is the best plan?" ”

Zhang Fangping asked: "Xingzhi, what are you going to do?" ”

At this time, Zhang Fangping did not know the cruelty of the war, and his thinking was relatively radical.

"I want to fight back."

"Attacking the Western Xia military village in the north?" Zhang Fangping asked.

Fan Zhongyan did something similar, Pang Ji did something similar, step by step to move the village forward, the Western Xia did not come to attack, from time to time to make some counterattacks, gnawed down some strongholds of the Western Xia people, and captured the people in the Western Xia back to the rear for resettlement.

This effect is not great, and it does not even hurt the hair of the Tangut people.

Zheng Lang shook his head, staring at Lao Chong and Di Qing with his eyes, Zhao Xun and Zhang Fangping came, Zheng Lang asked them to fill in the gaps, he valued Zhang Fangping's military ability too much, but Zheng Lang was cautious of his surname, and he was also afraid that Wenchen would talk on paper, which was the reason why Zhang Fangping was placed in Jingzhou in the rear.

But in any case, Zhang Fangping will do a little better than Teng Zongliang.

The old seed was pondering, and Zheng Lang looked at Di Qing again.

Di Qing said: "Zheng Xianggong, Guan Jian Yuanhao invaded Lin Mansion this time, how many troops he brought with him, and whether he himself had a personal expedition, we don't know. If you don't know, it's hard to arrange the next step. ”

This is confidential information, and it is not something that Wang Yong and the others can hear.

Zheng Lang showed a hint of approval in his eyes, it was not a conservative statement, he would be defeated if he was brave and rash, and the enemy was so powerful.

Lao Chong said: "It's better to send someone to inform the two states of Linfu first, so that they can prepare for defense." ”

"Okay." Zheng Lang called for a light horse and asked him to take the letter to the second state of Linfu.

Lao Chong said again: "Although the Fuzhou Zhejia has less than 10,000 troops, but the Zhejia army is very strong, Yuan Hao wants to invade the two of Linfu, he must personally lead the army, and the number of troops he brings will not be small, but I can't guess how many troops he leads." ”

Zheng Lang sighed and said, "The Western Xia army is getting stronger and stronger. Taking our dynasty as an example, at the beginning of the founding of the country, the reason why it swept all directions was because of Taizu's command ability and the reason why soldiers were heroes in a hundred battles. Western Xia is quite similar to the beginning of the founding of our dynasty, although it lost the war with Tibet, but it was very lucky, and it always survived difficulties. If you don't want to weaken by all means, then there is only one way to defeat and make his hundred battles a tired army. Just like Emperor Taizong, after the bitter battle of the Han Dynasty, he went to conquer the Khitan, and the soldiers were exhausted and their morale was not high, so they were defeated in a battle. But that'......"

Zheng Lang shook his head.

It's impossible.

In that case, the Song Dynasty must launch a protracted attack, and with the ability of the Song Dynasty soldiers, how many soldiers must die in order to achieve this goal. Zhao Zhen is unlikely to approve such a proposal.

He continued: "So I want to take this opportunity and launch an attack. ”

But how to attack, Lao Chong and Di Qing fell into hard thinking at the same time.

If you want to get a victory that can be on the table, you can't fight a little on the border, you must go deep into the enemy's territory, with the speed of the Song Dynasty army, even if Yuan Hao takes away many main forces, there are still a large number of troops left in the territory of Western Xia, the attack is successful, how to come back? It will inevitably be blocked by most of the Western Xia. A small victory, a big defeat again.

Zheng Lang said: "Soon, the imperial court will send a batch of new weapons. ”

"What weapon?" Di Qing asked.

Zheng Lang drew the kind of chopping knife, chopping axe and hook sickle, and said: "General Di, take a look, we can make a batch of Jingyuan Road ourselves first, and let some soldiers do a training." ”

Several people came around to watch, but Zhao Xun didn't understand it yet, and asked, "How do you use it?" ”

Zheng Lang explained slightly.

How to hook the sickle, how to sharpen. The knife and axe have a special ring, which can be set on a short handle for combat, and can be put on a long handle for chopping horses.

The three kinds of weapons are purely weapons, and they are not very powerful, and some settings will become cumbersome, but they will be more effective against cavalry than the current cold weapons of various standards in the Song Dynasty.

Several people discussed for a while, and Zheng Lang said again: "There is also a kind of gunpowder, don't say bring it, you can see how to maximize its power." ”

Before Zheng Lang, there were already many gunpowder weapons, as well as tiger squat cannons that specialized in firing fireballs and gunpowder, to be precise, it was not a real cannon of the Qi family army in the Ming Dynasty, but a kind of stone thrower, also called tiger squat cannon, which can throw fireballs and gunpowder, and can also throw stones and black bricks.

It was also improved on the original trebuchet, and the gun carriage could be rotated, which was called the Whirlwind Cannon.

But it is cumbersome, and the practical surname on the battlefield is not large. In particular, the seven-tip cannon can throw a stone projectile of ten catties to a distance of fifty steps, but it needs to be done by two hundred people at the same time, which is really troublesome.

However, the thrown stone projectiles improve the explosive pack, and the powerful explosive pack will make up for the bulkiness of the Tiger Squat Cannon.

It is mostly used to defend the city.

The Tangut people also had it, and even invented a small trebuchet, which was thrown on the back of a camel, also called a whirlwind cannon, and deliberately established an army for it, called the Poxi Army.

The history books are full of praises.

In fact, the technology of the Western Xia trebuchet was far less powerful than that of the Song army, and the combat effectiveness of the Poxi army was not as powerful as recorded in the history books. When fighting the Song Dynasty army, the Poxi army played a limited role. It is possible that this army was superior to the active caste and could scare the Uighurs to the west.

Therefore, when the two sides fight, the power of the stone thrower is rarely considered.

It still works, if in special circumstances, such as the Song army gets the accurate route of the Tangut people, there is a canyon on the road, and there are mountains on both sides, from the mountain to fire black bricks, gunpowder, rockets and arrows and crossbows with tiger squatting cannons, it will achieve a brilliant victory.

It is only a theory, and the Song Dynasty has only succeeded once in history.

First of all, it is impossible to know the exact route of the Tanguts, even if the scouts know that the Tanguts are mostly cavalry and have no time to arrange. Besides, where to find this kind of terrain, I found that the Tangut scouts are not vegetarians, how to set up an ambush?

As for the use of gunpowder as a mine, it is even more impossible.

Not to mention the cumbersome fuze technology, that is, the fuze technology is developed and cannot be remotely controlled, and whoever is sent to light the fuze will not let you light it calmly. Let you ignite it calmly, you must bury it in advance, how do you know that the Tangut people will definitely pass through here?

Therefore, even if the gunpowder becomes very powerful, it can only be used to defend the city.

After discussing weapons for a while, and then talking about how to attack, the few of them were silent together. The old man sighed and said, "The main thing is that there are few cavalry. ”

There are only a few thousand cavalry in the entire Jingyuan Road, could it be that with these thousands of cavalry, they went deep into the enemy's territory, won a great victory, and calmly retreated?

Zhang Fangping said: "Xingzhi, don't worry, if Yuan Hao's army reaches the territory of Linfu, we can send troops and plunder the enemy's border, although it will not hurt the fundamentals, it will more or less share the pressure of Fulin Erzhou." Time is in me, once a large number of weapons arrive, Xingzhi's Shiyi can increase the income of Jingyuan Road, and there is money to reward, and the combat enthusiasm of our soldiers will increase. No matter how strictly the soldiers are trained, after a year of integration, our army will be well-trained and its combat effectiveness will also be enhanced. Waiting for an opportunistic act will also increase the likelihood of victory. Unless the enemy does not care about the life and death of the people in the country, he divides his troops into two places, one to attack Fulin and the other to attack our Jingyuan. If the troops are weakened, not only the government can win. In my territory, in the face of a small number of enemies, I can also plan to annihilate the enemy and win a great victory. But unlikely, Yuan Hao is not a fool. ”

As he spoke, he let out a long sigh.

In the rear, I had many wonderful ideas, but when I got to the front, I couldn't think of anything in the face of all kinds of practical difficulties.

Zheng Lang was a little disappointed, Zhang Fangping This is the mainstream thought, and many Song Dynasty officials also said so, drag it out slowly, and consume them. I also say that consumption, but it is not delay, it is consumption, and we must take action to play a role in consumption.

Develop?

The Song Dynasty has developed for so many years, although the internal governance has done well, but there are so many shortcomings, how can it develop into a powerful country with full civil and military prosperity?

Will the enemy sit back and watch you develop?

What a familiar tone!

After coming to the Song Dynasty, as his thinking matured and he came into contact with high-level officials, he felt more and more that the Song Dynasty was like a copy of another dynasty.

But the old seed's eyes lit up and he said, "You mean to introduce the enemy into my territory?" ”

"I mean what if." Zhang Fangping said.

Di Qing also smiled bitterly: "The enemy is not coming from all over the country, only thirty or forty thousand troops, deep into my territory, I am also sure to defeat this army." However, if the enemy attacks Fulin, he will not divide his troops to our Jingyuan. ”

In the Song Realm, he could use the power of the current Jingyuan Road to defeat the thirty or forty thousand horses of Western Xia, but deep into the enemy realm, Di Qing pondered, and he was also not sure!

The old man bowed his head and pondered, and said, "I have a plan. ”

"Say," Zheng Lang said happily.

This is exactly the reason why he asked Zhao Zhen to let the old breed come to Jingyuan Road, go to the battlefield to lead the troops to fight, the old breed doesn't know if it will work, but this person has a crooked belly, and he can come up with many clever strategies when he is critical. As long as he can figure it out, Di Qing will lead the army to execute, and there will be a big victory!