In Xizhou City, inside Xihe Jinglue Mansion.
In Zhixizhou, Zhang Yue, the strategic envoy of Xihe Road and the general manager of the military and horse capital, and Cai Yanqing, the transshipment envoy of Qinfeng Road, sat on the left and right.
Next, most of the officials from Xihe Road, big and small, have arrived, except Wen Jifu, Wang Hou, Gao Zunyu, Miao Shuo, etc.
After losing Tabaicheng, the Song army lost consecutive battles. Hezhou City, which was originally designated as the state capital, was besieged. Wen Jifu, the governor of Hezhou, was now besieged in the city and did not know whether he was alive or dead.
Wang Hou retreated to Xiangzi City.
Gao Zunyu and Miao Shuo were in Dingxicheng, preparing for Xixia's attack.
The people currently staying in Xizhou City are Lu Shengqing, the general judge of Xizhou, Xing Shu, the military judge of Xizhou, Su Che, the secretary of Xizhou, You Shixiong, the professor of Xizhou Prefectural Studies, and Tuo Yi, the academic assistant of Xizhou Prefecture.
At present, Zhang Kai, the judge of the Tongyuan Army and the Department of Economics and Strategy, and Xu Xi, the judge of the Tongyuan Army and the driver of the Department of Economics and Strategy, are also in charge.
There are also newly appointed magistrates of Lintao County, Cai Jing, Minzhou magistrate Shen Kuo, and Minzhou military officer Cai Bian.
The civil servants on Xihe Road were mainly appointed by Zhang Yue, except for Zhong Shidao, who was a civil servant who became a military general. As for You Shixiong, professor of state studies, he has 800 Tibetan students selected from the nobles of various Tibetan tribes on Xihe Road.
These eight hundred students can be both civilized and military, similar to the existence of the proton army.
Therefore, You Shixiong can also be regarded as a military commander.
In addition, there are Wang Junwan, the original military commander of Xihe Road, the first army commander, and Zhang Shouyue, the commander of Xihe Road. Among them, Zhang Yue's old acquaintance in Guangrui Army, Zhang Sai, the other party is now also among the palace councilors. among the list.
After everyone took their seats, they discussed the matter of marching into the army.
In the past, Wang Shao came to arrange the plans before the formation. Zhang Yue was mainly responsible for cheering the soldiers and coordinating logistics. Now that the coach has changed, Wang Junwan, Zhang Shouyue and other generals are unsure.
Among civil servants, there are very few people who can worship a general as a scholar. How many Wang Shao could there be in the entire Song Dynasty? Others who can reach the level of Zhao Kuo and Ma Di can all laugh.
It's okay to come up with ideas on weekdays, but once you go into battle, it becomes just an idea on paper.
So when Zhang Yue dismissed Wang Shao, the other party dared to shout, "Without me, Wang Shao, how many days can you, Zhang Yue, manage?"
Wang Shao had the confidence to say this. It could even be said that this was not a threat, but a statement of facts.
But Zhang Yue now had to dismiss Wang Shao. In order to replace Wang Shao, he had already prepared for the rainy day and brought in three cobblers, Zhang Kai, Shen Kuo, and Xu Xi. But could they replace Wang Shao?
Zhang Yue himself was unsure. The civil servants in Xizhou were all direct descendants of him, but the same could not be said for Wang Junwan, Zhang Shouyue and other generals. They might not be so supportive of him.
"Now that Hezhou is surrounded by Mu Zheng and Gui Zhang's army, our army must consider how to relieve the siege..." Xing Shu knew that Wen Jifu was the son of Wen Xianggong and the brother-in-law of Zhang Yue, the strategic envoy. It must be saved.
At this time, Xing Shu suggested that this could be a favor.
After Xing Shu finished speaking, he saw that the faces of the generals present were all ugly, and no one even made a sound.
Seeing that the generals were silent, Zhang Yue asked Zhang Shouyue, the most senior general: "How does the old general think the siege of Hezhou should be solved?"
"Relieve the siege?" Zhang Shouyue's expression jumped, as if there was something difficult to understand.
Zhang Shouyue said to Zhang Yue: "The well-educated commander knows that this is an isolated city in Hezhou, and there is only one scholar who knows the state by education. How can five or six hundred defenders be able to defend it until today?"
Zhang Yue said: "What the old general means is that this is a trap."
Zhang Shouyue said: "I think this is probably the case. The thieves are now besieging Hezhou. They know that our army's reinforcements will arrive, so they must set up an ambush for me. This thief and bandit Guizhang is a man who knows the army. In order to capture Tabaicheng, he first The three tribes of Zhao Changshao, who were lured to join our army, gathered their troops in the Western Mountains, attacked and killed our wood-mining soldiers in Hezhou, and settled the soldiers and civilians. General Jing sent seven envoys, Zhang Pu, to negotiate, but they were all killed by him and resisted with arrogant words. General Shujing.”
"General Jing couldn't bear it. He led his army to attack the ambush and was defeated. In this way, Tabaicheng was lost. Now Gui Zhang is besieging Hezhou City, just to imitate the old trick!"
Only after Zhang Yue heard this did he know the reason why Jing Sili set foot in Baicheng.
Lu Shengqing on the side said: "Gui Zhang knew that the soldiers and horses were no match for our army, so he tricked the enemy to win by chance. I don't think it's a big deal. As long as our army arrives, the enemy will be defeated by the enemy."
Zhang Shouyue said: "How can it be so easy? Now that there is no news from Hezhou, our army hastily marched in without knowing the situation of the people and the situation of the people. What should we do if we are ambushed again?"
"Also, the rebel army's morale is strong after a new victory, while our army's morale is depressed after a new defeat. The two armies are fighting again. What are the chances of victory?"
Zhang Shouyue is a veteran who has been on the battlefield for a long time. As soon as he finished speaking, the generals on the side nodded in agreement.
Lu Shengqing, Xing Shu and the others continued to argue with Zhang Shooyue, and both sides became a little angry.
Lu Shengqing sarcastically said: "General Zhang still remembers the first time we attacked Hezhou. There was no news at that time. At that time, everyone in the court said that you stayed to avoid trouble when you saw thieves. If you don't depose, you are not enough to control the general."
"Now we are attacking Hezhou, but you refuse to come out. Could it be that the old general is greedy for life and afraid of death?"
Zhang Shouyue was furious when he heard this and looked at Lu Shengqing with sharp eyes. Lu Shengqing also had courage and was not afraid at all.
A general on the side said directly: "It's hard to tell what General Zhang is doing with these civil servants. They don't know the military. Where is Deputy Commander Wang? Let's ask him to take charge of the military affairs!"
As soon as these words came out, the civil servants all looked ugly. They wondered whether they really didn't know about Wang Shao's dismissal from office or they pretended not to know.
Or the other party said that deliberately to disgust them.
Lu Shengqing scolded: "Wang Shao has been demoted, so are you demoted?"
"That's enough," Zhang Yue stood up to stop the civil and military dispute. He said to Lu Shengqing, "Lu Tongpian still won't apologize to the old general!"
"Old General Zhang is offended!"
Lu Shengqing smiled when he heard this, bowed his hands to Zhang Shouyue and then returned to his seat.
Zhang Shouyue cupped his fists at Zhang Yue and said, "Thank you, Marshal. I am a rough man, but after fighting for a lifetime, there is no reason to be afraid of death. It's just that the outcome must be clearly explained. As for military discussions, we just discuss matters as they happen. Lu Tong I can't bear the word "offended". If you don't like to hear it, I'll just stop talking about it."
After speaking, Zhang Shouyue stepped aside.
There is no doubt that Zhang Yue's personal intention was to save Hezhou City, regain Hezhou, and finally surrender Mu Zheng.
Therefore, Lu Shengqing, Xing Shu and others thought about what they wanted, so they strongly advocated sending troops to Hezhou to show their role as their close relatives.
Does Zhang Shouyue, who opposes it, just not appreciate praise?
Zhang Yue felt that this was not the case. Although Zhang Shouyue was unwilling to fight, it was undeniable that what he said had its truth.
Zhang Yue said: "I understand what the old general said. Wanting to fight and being able to fight are two different things, and they must not be confused. In military discussions, everyone must express their opinions to prevent the general from being stubborn."
Zhang Yue looked at Zhang Yue when he said this.
Zhang Kai has been thinking about it for a long time. Everyone knows that he is always cautious and always waits for others to finish talking before he comes forward.
This act of being the last to speak is quite typical of a general.
Zhang Kai said: "I think what General Zhang said is reasonable. Guizhang and Mu Zheng may have deliberately left Hezhou unattacked and set up an ambush for me."
After Zhang Kai said to Lu Shengqing, Xing Shu smiled on his face, but in his heart he was cursing which side Zhang Kai was on.
Zhang Kai said: "The lower officials think that the way to use troops is to surprise them and attack what they are holding. This is what the ancients called criticizing the strong and destroying the weak, and thinking that the situation and situation are forbidden, and then they think they can solve it."
Wang Junwan asked: "What about Yizhang Zhijun's wise opinion?"
Zhang Kai said: "Gui Zhang, Mu Zheng wants us to relieve the siege of Hezhou, so we won't do it directly. We will wipe out the enemy's troops in the outer perimeter first, so that the besieged tribes will have no external aid to hold on. Finally, we will break up at the bottom of the city with a drum." Win or lose!”
After Zhang Kai said this, everyone nodded.
Gui Zhang, isn't Mu Zheng going to surround the area for reinforcements? Then I won't rush to your city and attack your soldiers who are surrounding you for reinforcements.
At this point, Zhang Kai asked Zhang Shouyue: "I wonder if General Zhang thinks this strategy of mine is feasible?"
Zhang Shouyue was silent for a long time and said the word "ke".
Seeing that Zhang Shouyue agreed to Zhang Kai's plan, Zhang Yue happily walked between the two of them and said, "That's it, it's settled. I'll help you two from now on."
Zhang Shouyue took a step back and said: "Serving the country, I dare not say anything about it."
…
The generals discussed the advance plan, and everyone agreed with the plan of breaking through the outer perimeter first and then decisively defeating Hezhou City. Zhang Shouyue and other generals no longer hesitated and offered suggestions one after another.
Just when Zhang Yue felt that something could be done, word came outside that the gold medal messenger had arrived.
Zhang Yue frowned when he heard this and thought, what does the official mean by issuing an imperial edict to him at this time?
At this moment, the plan to send troops has been roughly discussed. What are the officials doing?
Zhang Yue knew that it was probably up to no good, but at this moment he had no choice but to accept the order. He couldn't kill the emperor's gold medal envoy. That would be no different from treason.
A moment later, Zhang Yue came to receive the imperial edict from the Commander-in-Chief of Jinlue. As expected, the imperial edict ordered him to immediately stop advancing and wait for the emperor's next instructions.
Zhang Yue secretly thought in his heart, the officials are really confused!
At this moment, he was holding the imperial edict in his hand and could not utter a single word.
Although gold medals were being handed out at this time, the system was still not formed.
It was first seen in historical records in the 10th year of Xining, when the Song Dynasty used troops against Annan. The emperor issued an imperial order to know the military situation of the Song army every day, so he ordered people to use gold medals to send the text to the Privy Council quickly, and he was not allowed to enter the shop.
It was not officially established as a system until the sixth year of Yuanfeng.
At that time, the communication between the front line and the center was slow and fast, and the fastest was by horse. Ma Di's speed at that time was three hundred miles.
However, from Kaifeng to Annan in the northwest, the speed of horse delivery is still slow, so there is a gold medal delivery.
The gold medal is delivered five hundred miles a day.
The main significance of Gold Medal Delivery lies in the speed of transmitting messages, and it is only an initial creation, and it does not have the urgent meaning that it will become a system in later generations.
However, the frustration in Zhang Yue's heart now was the same as it would have been seventy years later.
Troops were about to be sent out, and the officials suddenly issued an imperial edict to do this to him. It's like a person drawing a bow with full strength, but you are not allowed to shoot an arrow.
Having said that, this is really the family style of the old Zhao family that always controls the emperor from the middle.
At this moment, Cai Yanqing, Zhang Kai, Zhang Shouyue and other generals were looking at Zhang Yue, waiting for his decision on this matter.
(End of chapter)
