"No," Zhao shouted.

This is a joke, there are so many things in the country, Zheng Lang is needed, Hehuang will just hand it over to Wang Shao, Zheng Lang will put the cart before the horse! Not only Zhao Ji couldn't shout, but the other ministers persuaded together. A hint of suspicion flashed in Wang Shao's eyes, but Zheng Lang said slowly: "Your Majesty, this country is Your Majesty's country, and it is the country of the people of the world, not the country of a certain scholar. Zhuge Liang is a virtuous minister through the ages, but Zhuge Liang fell ill in Wuzhang Plain, and the Shu State collapsed, which was why Zhuge Liang was too powerful and Shu relied too heavily on Zhuge Liang. The minister is not a middle-aged minister when he was the emperor, but a courtier in Xining, and he is also old. Your Majesty must not be on guard. This drought is a good opportunity for exploration. ”

Just this sentence moved many people.

"Your Majesty, run the river, attack the heart for the top, attack the city for the bottom, if the city is attacked, Wang Shao will win this trip. If you can take it, how can you hold it? It has to be heart-to-heart. Tubo is also a noble species (noble species, referring to people with a high status of respect), so the minister personally went west, which is also the way of Zhuge Liang Ping Meng. Not only to defeat Tibet, but also to operate safely. ”

The second reason is even more undeniable.

If you talk about noble species, Wang Shao is definitely inferior to Zheng Lang.

"Your Majesty, now that the national strength is gradually becoming stronger, many problems left by ancestors cannot be handed over to the descendants to solve, and the recovery of the clouds is far away, but the recovery of Western Xia must be in the plan. Over the years, the Khitan has not been very peaceful in the alliance between the two countries, as for the Western Xia, although the court has always shown friendship, but they are even more restless, repeatedly invaded the border, if weak, there are a little unscrupulous among the descendants, the Western Xia and the Khitan just came out of the British lord, the two sides attacked, the country is in danger. Hehuang is not a big problem, if you run Western Xia. and shall raise an army of nations. At that time, the commander will not only have to be proficient in military affairs. It is also necessary to be proficient in the way of national pacification. In politics and finance, victory will bring peace to the West, and defeat will especially affect the fate of the country. Your Majesty, I believe that the candidate for the head coach is none other than the minister. Kechen is also far away from side affairs. The ministers of Hehuang Power came to practice. ”

It's not a matter of pride.

Hundreds of thousands of troops must be uneasy to hand over to military generals, and they are handed over to scholars, and there are several scholars who are proficient in military affairs, and they have fought through Hehuang. Most of the courtiers classified Wang Shao into the ranks of military ministers, and it had nothing to do with scholars. Of course, Wang Shao has passed away in history, so he was handed over to Gao Zunyu and Li Xian to preside. One was a relative and the other was a eunuch, so the five-way war failed. The Song army in actual history was also the strongest western army, and it was defeated because of its lack of command. Just like Hehuang, Mu Zheng led 30,000 soldiers and horses and Ghost Zhang led 30,000 soldiers and horses.

Within ten years, not to cut the Western Xia. A battle against Western Xia, it must be Zheng Lang. If you don't accept it, you can't do it. A defeat of Western Xia is the safety of the lives of four or five hundred thousand soldiers, who dares to take responsibility!

When the three reasons were said, everyone was dumbfounded.

In fact, there are many more reasons than just these three reasons.

The first is Dong Yu, when he first arrived in the Song Dynasty, Zheng Lang said that Tubo was a good comrade and wanted to win over. Including the description of Dong Yu in the history books, although he made mistakes, the Song Dynasty also made mistakes first, and he was still a good comrade, and once sent troops to assist the Song Dynasty in attacking Xia.

Today, that's not the case.

The Song Dynasty and Tubo are a bad debt, not only the Song Dynasty is at fault, but also the Tubo is at fault, each has its own plans, and it can't be calculated.

Wang Shao used troops to fight in Hehuang, standing in the interests of Huangzhou, and Dong Yu also had a reason to send troops. But it is impossible to say how much kindness he has towards the Song Dynasty, otherwise he would not marry the princess of Western Xia, and let the ghost chapter use Jing Sili's head to show his prestige. Later, he took refuge in the Song Dynasty, first, the combat effectiveness shown by Wang Shao's army made him afraid. The second is the Western Xia, the Western Xia has not sent much troops, since the daughter is married, the two countries are allied, when the Tibetan is in danger, when the troops are sent to help, the troops are dispatched, and the first time the troops are intended to take advantage of the Song Dynasty to fight with Mu Zheng, get Xizhou City. The second time the garrison shrine valley was not moved, and he was ready to use troops when both were defeated, but he still intended to take Xihe. The third time the soldiers were used in Liugou Fort, it was a plunder, and it had nothing to do with rescue. The three use of troops in Western Xia made Dong Yu feel cold. In addition, he used troops again, and took the opportunity to take the opportunity to take the Uighurs, a subordinate of Tibet. What did Dong Yu think in his heart? Let the Song Dynasty get Hehuang, maybe it can protect itself, at least it is still a hegemon, if the Western Xia gets Hehuang, what will happen? The two sides were chosen, and Dong Yu had to reconcile with the Song Dynasty.

But in fact, Dong Yu has always been resentful, and he doesn't count with Xixia eyebrows, and even contacts Houzang to strengthen his strength. Including the so-called sending troops to assist the Song Dynasty in attacking Western Xia, don't take it seriously. It's just that this history has been tampered with for the needs of the country, just like Princess Wencheng, which made Zheng Lang confused for a while, so that Zheng Lang always thought that the Song Dynasty was unjust.

In fact, no, Li Shimin's two major mistakes in his life were not the conquest of Goryeo, one was to scatter the Hu people on the border, which directly led to the outbreak of the Anshi Rebellion, and the border was always in turmoil. The second is Princess Wencheng, Princess Wencheng is the daughter of Li Daozong, not the daughter of Li Shimin.

But even Dong Yu is not tricky, as long as he does not use soldiers to attack the Song Dynasty, it is also good.

The Song Dynasty can run Hezhou, Huangzhou is too far away, and the imperial court may not be beneficial, Zheng Lang's thinking is unacceptable, but in the Song Dynasty, he is influencing the thoughts of the Song Dynasty, and the thoughts of the Song people are also affecting him. Not only was it unprofitable, but on the contrary, he had to garrison a large army, and the imperial court had to be distracted to govern, which was inconsistent with his idea of streamlining the administration of the army. Guan Jian Dong Yu also had that adopted son, and besides, Jing Sili's head also made Zheng Lang angry.

Therefore, strategically, Zheng Lang is going to Hehuang.

Secondly, for Wang Shao, he wants to run Huangzhou, Hezhou has too few troops, if Wang Shao is allowed to run too many soldiers, the court will have to make trouble, and if he goes down by himself, he will be in charge of 100,000 soldiers, and no one will be verbose. Who would dare to say that they are not scholars?

At best, he was an abnormal doctor.

Secondly, it is for Wang Shao.

When Wang Shao came back, Zheng Lang asked him about his physical condition with great concern, and said that there was no situation, and Zheng Lang was happy. Wang Shao's disease, is to the river after the river, wearing heavy armor and soldiers in the mountains and forests to drill around, Wang Anshi stepped down, he merit and high, the doctor attacked, from the derogatory knowledge of Ezhou Hongzhou, and Di Qing, the same mood, gangrene attack, insight into the five organs, the flesh on the back is rotten, every day the pain howls. But if he goes down by himself, Wang Shao's credit declines. Let Wang Shao hide behind his back. can protect Wang Shao well.

It's been a long time. I have to be jealous of others, it doesn't matter, there is a debt, there is Xixia. No matter how carefully he uses the power in his hands and makes some arrangements, the court cannot do without him, and it is useless to impeach. Of course. The Western Xia is extinguished, why can't he go down, do you want your descendants to become the descendants of Zhang Juzheng and Huo Guang? However, as soon as the Western Xia was destroyed, the sixteen states of Youyun would not be recovered, the country's focus was on the north, and all kinds of new weapons appeared one after another, not to mention the Liao State, even if the Jurchens rose, the Song Dynasty would not be afraid. Besides, he is in the phase, and some people are jealous. Leave the phase and go home to retire. Rapids brave, who will chew the tongue? That's for pumping. The influence is here to stay.

But to recover Western Xia, can you leave Wang Shao? At least the coach of the West Road must be Wang Shao.

Zheng Lang must go down.

However, Zhao Ji still disagreed, and Zheng Lang said again: "Your Majesty, the minister has been very tired in the past few years, so you should let the minister go down to relax, try to calm down the overall situation of Hehuang at the end of the year, and then return to Beijing." ”

This sentence is divided into two meanings to listen, the first layer is not to run the river, but to distract the heart, which means to win steadily.

Secondly, this is not the case, from Hezhou up, gradually entered the Qinghai Plateau, and the war instantly decided the life and death of tens of millions of people, how to scatter the statement. But compared with the court, it has become a scattered heart, what does it mean?

The corners of Zhao Ji's mouth were a little bitter.

In the end, he said with difficulty: "If this is the case, you can go, and I will try my best to meet any conditions." ”

"There are no conditions, first let Wang Shao and Li Xian go down as soon as possible, so as not to erode the Xihe. The second minister will ask His Majesty to give the minister 50,000 soldiers, Hezhou only has more than 20,000 soldiers, the expedition of Xihe is enough, the expedition of Huangzhou, may be insufficient, and at the same time give the minister sufficient weapons and materials. The river can be calmed down as soon as possible. ”

Wu Chong said: "The national finances will be very tight. ”

"Chongqing, it's okay, if there is no side matter this year, the income will inevitably decline, and the minister estimates that it may only be 160 million."

Everyone sighed together, this is a helpless thing, although the proportion of the two taxes in the country's revenue has declined, and the cash-for-employment has created a commercial boom, but overall, because of this disaster, the income will inevitably decline seriously. In the end, how much income there is depends on whether God rewards the face or not. If the drought were stopped in time, the losses would be smaller, and if the drought continued, incomes would be sharply reduced.

What the drought is, only Zheng Lang knows in his heart, and said: "However, the amount of grain savings is huge, half of it is used for relief, and half is used to sell at a low price, and the latter can actually generate a part of the surplus, even if the drought continues, use this money to allocate some more grain from the south, and even send an edict to the safety prison, prohibit winemaking, and transfer grain to the Central Plains, and the drought can be alleviated with grain." Only part of the expenditure is the loss of labor and materials, so except for the cost of the river, the expenditure will not rise, and it is enough to allocate the remaining financial surplus to the river. The art of war is cloudy, in one go, if it is not for this morale, let Dong Yu and Mu Zheng recover their vitality, Hehuang will be revived, and the imperial court will not be able to get Hehuang, on the contrary, there will be another Li Jiqian in the west. ”

By February, the drought was getting worse.

Grain prices in various places are rising wildly, and the imperial court issued an edict that the grain price in the capital has risen by five cents per bucket of corn, wheat and rice, and the capital is the center of the country, so it does not dare to rise too much. In other parts of the north, some buckets have risen by 10 wen, and some have risen by 15 wen per bucket.

It's not that the imperial court wants to earn money for this disaster grain, but because of necessity.

Last year, the imperial court stored a large amount of grain, and when the disaster came, grain merchants in various places were forced to increase the price too much because of the grain storage figure. As the drought worsened, the price of grain in the south gradually rose, but the imperial court still sold this kind of cheap grain, so the merchants hoarded it together and did not sell it.

The drought has been stopped this year, even if it can grab next year's summer harvest, the imperial court is not afraid, but no, the drought will continue until next year, and even the autumn harvest will be seriously affected. Relying on the imperial court to store grain, it is far from enough, and once the stored grain is sold, the grain will immediately become a sky-high price. Raise the price a little moderately, so that the merchants can sell their grain to the outside world. And it is also convenient for the people, the imperial court prepares grain, only on quantity, regardless of quality, if the northern millet is sufficient, Zheng Lang may prepare all the millet, cheap. However, after the wheat was harvested, it was not possible to prepare the amount needed by the victims, so only some rice. As for the branded rice from all over the world, where will it be prepared? So there is quantity, but the quality of the grain is very poor. Ordinary people don't care what they eat, but they are rich and noble, and they still eat high-quality rice from grain merchants, including the Zheng family itself. When the price of grain is put down, the merchant will be profitable, and he will also open the grain in the warehouse for sale. Besides, they don't know how long the drought will last, and the imperial court is still preparing grain one after another, so they don't worry that the grain in their hands will eventually fall to one bucket and forty wen?

That's how agility comes in.

If we rigidly hold the idea of loving the people, the price of grain will have to be sold at cost. It's okay until this fall. After the autumn, there will be big things.

Even if you don't operate the river. There were so many grain harvests in the country, and most of the merchants hoarded them, and the imperial court could not buy back the grain with money.

That's it, Zheng Lang is still worried about the lack of food. I think of overseas again. The people and soldiers stationed overseas were very miserable, the dangers of the sea, the diseases brought by the hot weather, and the threat of some indigenous people in the area. However, there is bitterness and sweetness, there are large areas of arable land to grow grain, fruits and vegetables, in addition to maintaining the consumption of the fleet, the grain is surplused, and some soldiers and people will make wine and sell it. Later, the imperial court simply let go, sold koji, and let them openly make wine and sell it, even if it was brought back to the Central Plains. It was used to subsidize the income of these soldiers and civilians who were sent overseas in turn. Without considerable wealth, who wants to risk their lives and be stationed overseas? There won't be a lot of food in this part. But if you prepare well, you can raise hundreds of stones of grain. It's also a non-negligible amount.

Although the cost will be very high, it will have a positive significance, the country has many channels for obtaining grain, and merchants do not dare to hoard and sell grain at a profit, and they will not compete with the imperial court for grain from all parts of the south, resulting in a further increase in the cost of grain prices. Moreover, there are not only displaced people in the prefectures and counties, but the number of displaced people is less than one-third, the people along the river still have harvests, and the urban residents have nothing to do with agriculture, and more than ninety percent continue to stay behind. This is of great significance, they stay, whether it is to buy high-quality grain at high prices from merchants, or to buy cheap grain from the imperial court, these money can be collected back and transferred from the south. Otherwise, the price of food will become higher and higher, and they will be displaced in turn. The homeless people worked for relief, and the imperial court distributed food unconditionally. One is for grain sales, and the other is for unconditional distribution, how much difference will the nature be?

Besides, how many people are there in the entire disaster area? Tens of millions of dollars, although the construction is mainly based on manpower, supplemented by the cost of technical materials, increasing the number of disaster victims in the construction and reducing the cost of materials, but what kind of project requires tens of millions of labor?

It is necessary to reduce the number of displaced people, even if it is an organized migrant who is on labor relief.

In fact, Zheng Lang had already arranged it, and the rest of the ministers, Xiao Guicao, would be able to do it immediately.

Thinking of this, Zheng Lang said again: "Your Majesty, the minister has done statistics in the three divisions, although the millet is stored nearby from purchase to storage, there are labor costs and transportation costs, and each bucket reaches seventeen yuan when it is stored. Some of the wheat comes from the south, and the cost is higher, nearly 32 wen per bucket. Rice is more expensive, especially a lot of Lingnan rushed in a batch of rice, so that the cost reached 62 Wen when it was put into storage. Since the year before last, the actual cost of the two-year reserve process will increase by 20 to 2 percent, including the loss of water, the loss of rats, insects, birds and birds, the cost of management, the cost and loss of re-transportation, and the corruption of some officials. On average, the price of millet per bucket is 30 wen, wheat is 49 wen, and rice is 14 wen. However, it cannot be regarded as a surplus, first, the sale of grain accounts for only half of it, and second, although there is a small surplus, once the harvest is harvested, the grain falls, and the imperial court is also like a rice merchant, only a fair and conscientious rice merchant, who is also in danger of losing money. ”

Everyone smiled kindly, if Zheng Lang's algorithm is followed, the imperial court will earn, and a bucket of grain can earn more than fifteen wen. However, if the wind and rain are smooth, and the price of grain falls to the point where it was before, not only will it be a loss, but it will be a very serious loss. Zheng Lang said again: "Knowing that it is a risk, the imperial court is not a businessman who does business, it is people-oriented, and loves people and people." Therefore, the money from the sale of grain could not be moved, especially when the summer came, wheat was also grown in the south, and many people in the south did not like to eat it, so they bought all of them. After all, wheat is cheaper than rice. In order not to continue the drought, as long as the imperial court always maintains a large amount of grain reserves, even if the price of grain will rise, it will not rise to the peak of the emperor's time, and the people who remain behind will also have a life. ”

He turned his head again and asked Wang Shao: "Zichun, how much grain is there in Qinzhou?" ”

"Gong Zheng, there are not many, only about 60,000 stones, but there are also disasters in Qinzhou, if it weren't for the capture of several battles, it would have been impossible to maintain the military and civilian food in Qinzhou. If the imperial court increases its troops, it must also transport a batch of grain," Wang Shao said.

"Yes, anyway, the disaster in Shaanxi is serious, and there are a lot of displaced people, after you return to Qinzhou, open the granary, supply or relieve the people of Qinzhou at a low price, Qinzhou is stable, the river is stable, and the river is stable, and Huangzhou is profitable, and then organize some disaster victims to repair some boats, and the imperial court will allocate fifteen stone of grain to Qinzhou."

Allocate 150,000 stone of grain to Qinzhou, and at least 2 million stone of grain will be lost, but anyway, the right should be to help the people, and it doesn't matter.

At this time, the Kuantan Road was opened, and it was profitable. It just so happens that Danshui has a large amount of grain in reserve. Even if not. When the summer comes, there are many kinds of winter wheat in the south, and the grain can also be transported to Danshui from Kuantan Road to Chang'an City. This is the place of optimism, and there is also the place of pessimism, and then it is transported from Weishui to Chencang, and after Chencang. Weishui became very shallow, and had to be transported from the boat to Qinzhou, and then from the land to Tongweicheng, Xizhou, and Hezhou, with unimaginable losses along the way.

However, when it is used as relief for disaster victims, these labor costs cannot be calculated.

Even war, too, is full of the spirit of humanity.

Zheng Lang said again: "Your Majesty, let's talk about Jing Sili, although there was some rapid advance, which led to the defeat of Baicheng, Liu Ping was also in a hurry in the past. led to the defeat of Mikawaguchi, but Renzong was not responsible. Because the front-line soldiers are willing to fight to the death for Renzong. Speaking of the previous dynasty, Meng Ming was defeated by the Jin twice, and Qin reused it, and finally defeated the Jin State, and began to grow. Xue Ne was defeated by the Khitan twice, and went to Qinghai with cloth clothes, and the Tang Dynasty and Tubo turned defeat into victory. and the battle of Baicheng was not a loss for Jing Sili, there were several chances to win, but it was caused by Li Qi and Han Cunbao who escaped twice. Zichun, you analyze the real situation of the battle of Baicheng to Your Majesty. ”

Jing Sili made great contributions several times, and the imperial court was ready to reward him as the defense envoy of Zhongzhou, and after hearing that Jing Sili's head had become a tool for Tubo to raise the power of the Western Regions, he made an edict to defeat the enemy and not return to the official. Zhao Ji's approach somewhat chilled the hearts of the soldiers. Compared with Liu Ping, Jing Sili was killed in battle, not captured, and Liu Ping's entire army was annihilated, because Jing Sili killed the enemy bravely, and at least two-thirds of the Song army was able to flee back to Hezhou City. Zhao Zhen can seal Liu Ping and Wang Qi, and Zhao Zhen should be sealed Jing Sili.

"Oh," Wang Shao began to analyze every movement in the Battle of Baicheng, Li Qi was still hiding it, but the intelligence of the special agent battalion had already been accurately brought back to the imperial court, and compared with the two, Wang Shao was very clear about the factors of defeat on the front line. Although Jing Sili advanced lightly, although one to four or five, there were still two chances of victory, the first time was in the evening, if Li Qi withstood the rear Tubo ambush and rushed down, under the repeated impact of the Song army, the ghost chapter would be defeated. The second time Jing Sili bravely sniped back the Tibetan pursuers, if Li Ji and Han Cunbao did not escape, obeyed Jing Siyi's words, and rushed down the hillside, they would win again. In this way, Jing Sili led more than 100 Song troops, fought fiercely with tens of thousands of Tibetan troops, and the whole army was annihilated, so that most of the Song Dynasty could escape back, and its tragedy was comparable to the death of Yang Ye. Yes, at least loyalty and tenacity to the country, which cannot be ignored.

Zhao Ji said, "Let me think again." ”

Actually, it's still the human head.

The head was chased back, and Zhao Ji's anger went down, and Zheng Lang didn't make a sound again.

The meeting dispersed, Zheng Lang talked to Wang Shao for a long time, and had to euphemistically say some reasons, I didn't go down to grab credit, so as to save Wang Shao from being unhappy. Then Wang Shao and Li Xian galloped quickly towards Qinzhou.

Zheng Lang did not leave Jingshi immediately.

There are still some things that have not been properly arranged, and besides, the number of troops on the Western Expedition has been increased, and a large amount of food and weapons must be prepared. The last is the transfer of troops, this time there are 5,000 soldiers to everyone's surprise, it is the township soldiers of Hedong and Hebei.

Zheng Lang is planning for the future, Tong Guan changed to Khitan, one is facing the Khitan famous general Yelu Dashi, this person's military level may still be above Wang Shao, almost comparable to Yue Fei Banchao, it is definitely not Tong Guan's enemy, even if there is a kind of world and ten thousand enemies in his army Yang Keshi. The second is that the Khitan is a mourning soldier, and the Song army is an "unrighteous soldier". The third is that the Hedong and Hebei armies are unavailable, and they have to take the western army of the tired army to recover the sixteen states of Youyun.

Why is the Northern Army unavailable? Not to mention the forbidden army, the forbidden army is still from the vicinity of the Beijing division, and the forbidden army stationed in the capital takes turns to guard the border, and it turns to guard the west and the north. The weak is not the forbidden army, but the township soldiers, and the western army is strong because there are many heroic and warlike township soldiers and Tibetan soldiers. Although there are strong men and archers in Hebei and Hedong, who have not fought for a long time, what is the use of practicing martial arts in peacetime, and really practice the eighteen palms of the dragon? In the battle in Hebei, you can't use the Hebei troops who are familiar with the local terrain and climate, and instead use the Western Army, which is unfamiliar with Hebei, what will be the result?

Therefore, a group of Hebei Hedong Township soldiers were dispatched to familiarize them with the battle. This time, considering the cost, the draw was small, and once the battle began, more will be drawn, and all of them are soldiers around 20 years old. Then by the time the Jurchens invaded the south, some of them were not yet sixty years old. Not only themselves, but under their leadership, there will be more village soldiers who will at least understand some of the situation during the battle. The form will be reversed.

It is best to be in your lifetime, and you can see the imperial court take over the sixteen states of Youyun, so it is even more necessary to train the soldiers of Hedong Township in Hebei Province in actual combat.

Just like playing chess, Zheng Lang is not as far as Wang Shao in terms of details, but in terms of the overall situation, even if Wang Shao and Zhang Qi are together, they are not as good as Zheng Lang. He sent another edict back and prepared to transfer him to the northwest. There are also famous generals such as Liu Changzuo and Guo Cheng, who have been transferred to the northwest one after another.

Not only the soldiers, but also all the artillery made by the Ordnance Prison were sent to Qinzhou together. Although there were not many generals, it was the most powerful western expedition of the Song Dynasty. The target is the Jishi Army, Huangzhou, Xining Army, and Kuozhou! (To be continued.) )