After Qiao Zong met Zhang Yue, Cai Jing took him to a place and met Mu Zheng's wife and children. When the Song army attacked Hezhou for the first time, Mu Zheng's wife and children fell into the hands of the Song people.
However, Zhang Yue has always taken good care of them and hired a Chinese teacher to teach Mu Zheng's son Chinese.
Cai Jing told Qiao Zong that Zhang Longtu's promise to Mu Zheng remained unchanged. As long as he was willing to surrender, his treatment would remain the same as before.
As Cai Jing spoke, he also spoke a few words to Mu Zheng's son very familiarly. Qiao Zong could see that Mu Zheng's son was very close to Cai Jing.
Cai Jing handed Qiao Zong a Chinese letter newly copied by Mu Zheng's son.
Qiao Zong looked at the Chinese name of Peacock Flying Southeast.
Qiao Zong didn't know that this was a Yuefu poem.
Before Qiao Zong left Hezhou City, he saw a steady stream of Song Dynasty troops arriving from the west on the ramp, with countless red flags and horse hooves trampling through the white snow, as if fire was burning on the frost.
It can be seen that the marching soldiers are all tough and brave men, and they are definitely elite soldiers.
Qiao Zong deliberately delayed the time to chat with Cai Jing, Xu Xi, Su Zhe and other soldiers who were seeing him off, also because he wanted to see the appearance of the Song army.
Cai Jing looked unhappy and urged him repeatedly, but Qiao Zong just delayed.
At this time, the Song Army's baggage carriages transporting grain, grass and horse materials dared to arrive from the west. The honest-looking civilian horsemen pushed the carts and transported the carriages filled with bags of grain and grass to the Hezhou Army.
Qiao Zong saw so many soldiers, horses and countless grains being mobilized to Hezhou City, and couldn't help but ask: "Is this coming from Xizhou or Qinzhou?"
Cai Jing smiled but did not answer.
Qiao Zong thought to himself, so many elite soldiers and so much food and fodder are not something that a small tribe in a land of hundreds of miles can deploy, but the strength that only a country of thousands of miles can have.
Not to mention Guizhang, even Dong Fei is beyond his reach.
It is indeed unwise for a small country to compete with a large country.
Qiao Zong wanted to say something, but he still sighed, and he immediately rode away with his entourage. He didn't walk very fast and looked back three times. When he rode all the way to the mountain pass, Qiao Zong finally looked back at the Hezhou City towering among the mountains and rivers.
But the troops and supplies of the Song Army were still entering the city, and there was no end to them.
"No matter how brave you are, so what? Our people are fighting more and more, and your people are fighting less and less."
"As long as you don't accept it, we will keep beating until you accept it!"
"Even if the fight lasts for several years, decades, or even a hundred years, as long as we Song people are alive, we will fight to the end!"
Qiao Zong looked at this scene, remembered what Zhang Yue said before, and finally understood what he meant.
After Qiao Zong returned to Tabaicheng, he reported the news of Zhang Yue's refusal to negotiate to Gui Zhang and Mu Zheng.
The leaders of the Tibetan tribe below were all furious, thinking that Zhang Yue was arrogant, and claimed that as long as he came to attack Baicheng, they would make it impossible for the Song army to come back.
However, after Qiao Zong relayed Zhang Yue's original words, these Tibetan leaders all fell silent.
Guizhang smiled and didn't care, while Mu Zheng's expression became more and more serious. What he was most worried about finally happened.
The Song Dynasty is a big country. He could provoke you before because the Song Dynasty did not really regard you as an opponent. Once the Song Dynasty takes you seriously and confirms that you are his enemy, then the next step is to fight to the death.
Guizhang saw Mu Zheng's expression and asked, "Look at this, the Song army is definitely going to attack Baicheng. Should we retreat to Anhua City first?"
Anhua City?
Mu Zheng was unhappy after hearing this and retreated to Anhua City. He had completely lost Xizhou and Hezhou. There was no fundamental place in these two states. In the future, he had to listen to Dong Felt. In this way, he would completely change from a vassal of the Song Dynasty to a vassal of the Song Dynasty. He became a vassal of Dong Fei and even Gui Zhang.
But who is Guizhang? He is not from the Qingtang noble family. In other words, he comes from a poor family.
How could Mu Zheng succumb to Guizhang?
Mu Zheng immediately refused and said: "If you want to fight, then fight here at the foot of Tabaicheng. I won't go anywhere but here!"
Guizhang laughed and said, "That's up to you. If you want to fight, I will fight with you to the end!"
After Mu Zheng returned to his account, Qiao Zong went to Mu Zheng alone and told him that his wife and children were taken care of very well by Zhang Yue. He also told him that the emperor of the Song Dynasty had promised to leave Mu Zheng alone.
Mu Zheng looked at the Chinese text that Qiao Zong handed over to his son. The peacock flying southeast was quite meaningful. Thinking of his wife and children who had fallen into the hands of the Song Dynasty, even a hard-hearted man like Mu Zheng let out a long sigh.
Qiao Zong looked at Mu Zheng silent for a long time and then said: "I treat Song like this, but Song always treats me well."
After a pause, Mu Zheng said: "But I, Mu Zheng, are not attacking the Song Dynasty for my own wealth, but for the tribe that has followed me for many years. Unless the Song people are willing to withdraw from Xizhou and Hezhou, I, Mu Zheng, will never surrender to the Song Dynasty."
Qiao Zong left with emotion after hearing this, and the scene of Qiao Zong entering Mu Zheng's tent was seen by Gui Zhang's detailed work, and then he reported it to Gui Zhang.
In the city of Hezhou, there were mountains of food and supplies.
After Gao Zunyu defeated the Xia army at the foot of Dingxi City, he relieved the Song army's worries. Cai Yanqing, the transport envoy of Qinfeng Road, and Zhang Shen, the strategic envoy of Qinfeng Road, rushed to Hezhou City with a large number of baggage and troops.
With this batch of reinforcements, the Song army gained a lot of confidence to pacify the entire Hezhou.
Zhang Yue knew that he was not good at using troops, so he learned Zeng Guofan's secrets of using troops to build a stronghold and fight in vain.
Don’t covet big wins, but seek to accumulate small wins.
There is no saying that failure is the mother of success. The so-called success is a small success that finally turns into a success.
When used on the battlefield, small victories one after another will eventually accumulate into big victories, small victories will accumulate into big victories, and quantitative changes will eventually lead to qualitative changes.
Therefore, no matter how Guizhang tried to seduce and show weakness, or how he invited peace and pretended to be defeated, Zhang Yue ignored him. If he didn't have enough troops, he would defend the city, and if he didn't have enough food, he wouldn't attack.
With my unlimited manpower and material resources, I can overcome your recklessness and cleverness.
The enemy of a big country against a small country depends on the word "power". As long as the word "power" is with me, don't worry. Hit you a little today, knock you a little tomorrow, grind you slowly, and keep accumulating small wins as a psychological advantage. The longer the time goes on, the greater my advantage will be.
Never make any rash moves and wait until the situation changes before finishing the battle in one go.
So as the army gathered, the generals kept asking Zhang Yue for a decisive battle. The generals believed that the time had come, but Zhang Yue ignored them.
Taking advantage of Mu Zheng, Guizhang also gathered his troops under Tabai City, waiting for him to send troops from Hezhou City for a decisive battle.
Zhang Yue continued to let Zhang Kai cultivate the way of masters, and Wang Junwan continued to sweep across the entire Hezhou. The Tibetan tribes who had followed Mu Zheng in rebellion were continued to be pacified.
For the Tibetan tribe that had been pacified, Zhang Yue also increased the conditions. From the original withdrawal of strong men to join the Song army, to the need to hand over protons and provide military rations and horse materials, the conditions were increased step by step.
Tribes that have already paid before will grit their teeth and continue to obey the Song Dynasty's requirements due to the cost of their previous investment.
The unwilling tribes would refuse to delay or even resist, and Zhang Yue's treatment was simple. Anyone who resisted would be regarded as dissatisfied, and the only thing waiting for them was the iron cavalry of the Song Army.
It was not until February of the sixth year of Xining.
Spring has gradually begun to bloom in Hezhou, and two-thirds of the tribes in Hezhou have completely surrendered to the Song Dynasty.
As for Guizhang and Mu Zheng, the situation in Tabaicheng was even more difficult, and it became increasingly difficult to collect military supplies and soldiers on the spot. However, Zhang Yue continued to station troops and supplies in Hezhou City calmly.
Guizhang and Mu Zheng didn't know when the Song army would send troops from Hezhou City. They were all tempered by Zhang Yue's slowness. However, it was the officials who were more anxious than Gui Zhang and Mu Zheng.
In fact, not only Mu Zheng, Guizhang and the official family can't bear it anymore.
In Bianjing City.
The official frowned when he looked at the location of Hezhou on the northwest map.
On the side were Wang Anshi, Wu Chong, Wen Yanbo, Feng Jing, and officials from the three divisions, all standing around the official family.
"Your Majesty, tens of thousands of troops have gathered in Hezhou City. It costs countless people to eat and chew horses every day. Furthermore, transporting grain from Qinzhou to Hezhou is such a long way, and the manpower and material resources consumed are not sustainable for a long time. "
The official frowned. Although he had just given Zhang Yue 15 million yuan before, he still couldn't bear him spending it like this.
Now Zhang Yue must either withdraw his troops or immediately send troops to attack Baicheng. Otherwise, before Mu Zheng and Gui Zhang collapse, the finances of the entire Qin Feng Transport Department will collapse first.
Before, the officials couldn't help but issue an edict asking Zhang Yue about when he would march into the army without permission. However, Zhang Yue wrote a lot of words in the memorial. The words were not enough to levy ghost Zhang's embarrassment, but it was still manageable. Why rush.
All in all, Zhang Yue's answer was full of nonsense, which can be summed up in two words: "no rush".
This made the official, who was as anxious as an ant on a hot pot, almost vomit blood.
"Your Majesty, it is already the beginning of spring, but mobilizing so many manpower and material resources on Qinfeng Road to transport grain and grass to the front line will inevitably delay this year's spring plowing. Once spring plowing is delayed, I am afraid there will be a big famine on Qinfeng Road after autumn... By then Millions of hungry people...the entire Qinfeng Road, and even the entire northwest will be in chaos, Your Majesty!"
"Now the soldiers and horses of Xihe Road are stationed in Hezhou. They can't advance but can't retreat, and they can't retreat... Even if they really win this battle, Qin Fenglu will still be disabled."
Wu Chong said: "Your Majesty, this is a war to destroy the country. How can it be a child's play? Thousands of pounds of heavy burdens are placed here. The lives of millions of civilians and soldiers depend on it. No matter how cautious you are, you can't be too cautious."
"As Zhang Yue said before, we are struggling now, but Gui Zhang and Mu Zheng are also struggling, aren't they? Isn't their situation more difficult than mine?"
"Now it depends on who loses his composure first. Your Majesty, please think twice."
After listening to Wu Chong's words, the official finally said: "Immediately inform Wang Zhongzheng to go to Hezhou and ask him to take the camera to urge Zhang Yue to advance the army!"
Wang Zhongzheng, who was in Qinzhou, received an official order.
Wang Zhongzheng, who was originally ordered to be the zouma keeper, stopped when he reached Qinzhou City. Because the officials had withdrawn their orders and granted Zhang Yue the power of discretion, he changed his position to Qin Feng's Jinglue Division.
But now he was transferred back to the Xihe Economic Affairs Bureau and took over the job. He was urged by officials to go to Hezhou City to see what Zhang Yue was up to.
This made Wang Zhongzheng unable to help but have one head and two heads.
Wang Zhongzheng looked up to the sky and sighed, this is not a good job.
But now Wang Zhongzheng had no choice but to bite the bullet and go to Hezhou.
(End of chapter)
