The officials felt a little at ease after seeing Zhang Yue's letter.
Zhang Yuezao knew that this was how Xining analyzed the situation in Khitan when he came to Beijing in the sixth year of his stay. Now, his intelligence analysis has further confirmed his judgment.
He originally had the intention to adjust the rules and get better at Jiaozhi, but now that's all.
However, before Jiaozhi was established as a general, Wu Chong promoted Guo Kui. However, Wang Anshi did not like Guo Kui and instead recommended Wang Shao to the officials, who was now demoted to the state.
Wang Anshi strongly recommended Wang Shao in front of the emperor, saying that Wang Shao got half of Xihe's merits and Zhang Yue got the other half. Later, although Wang Shao committed crimes, he could just do meritorious service.
The officials were moved after hearing this, but they felt that Wang Shao was not qualified enough to lead the army, so they made Guo Kui, the Hedong military envoy, the commander-in-chief. Wang Shao was his deputy, and the two men went to Jiaozhi.
Wu Chong objected, saying that Guo Kui and Wang Shao had an old grudge when they were in the northwest, and how should they cooperate.
After hearing this, the officials gave up Wang Shao's intention to join the army and only let Guo Kui lead the army.
Guo Kuiping planned to use 100,000 troops south of the Yangtze River and more than 400,000 civilians. When Wang Shao heard about it, he said that he was incompetent, which angered Guo Kui.
Although the officials did not appoint Wang Shao, they thought of his military skills and pardoned his crime.
At this time, Li Xian's superior general Zhang Kai submitted his suggestions for the use of troops on Xihe Road to the officials. The officials were overjoyed after reading Zhang Kai's proposal, and immediately added Zhang Kai to Zhilong Tuge.
In order to prepare for the Liao Kingdom to move south, the officials had to accept Zhang Yue's suggestion to organize troops in Hebei to prepare for war.
Han Jiang was sent to Taiyuan Prefecture, Wen Yanbo was sent to Daming Prefecture, Zhang Yue was stationed in Zhending Prefecture, and Zhang Zhi was stationed in Daizhou. Han Qi's nephew Han Zhengyan knew Xiangzhou and these were his confidants or old ministers, and guarded these key places in Hebei.
In fact, from the early Song Dynasty, Zhao Kuangyin and others were all originally from Hebei, and the leadership team that conquered the world in the Song Dynasty could be said to come from the Hebei military group.
Even Guo Wei and Chai Rong are both from Hebei.
Therefore, the emperors of the Song Dynasty were very guarded against the generals of Hebei, but in order to resist the Khitan, they had to rely on them.
After the Chanyuan Alliance, Hebei's elite soldiers, who were the best in the world, were deliberately left idle by the imperial court and weakened into useless materials. They had long lost their original momentum of conquering the world.
Despite this, the Beizhou Mutiny could shock the entire court into a cold sweat.
Yes, the power of the Khitan nation is not as good as before, but the troops and horses of the four armies of Hebei are even more useless, and there are not even a few horses left.
Now in the officialdom, Wang Anshi has to bring order to the country and reorganize the situation in Hebei. At the same time, he has to regain ground in negotiations with the Khitan.
From the perspective of defense in Hebei, there are three roads leading directly to Bianjing, one is from the east of Taihang Mountain to the south, and the other two are Hebei East Road and Hebei West Road. From a historical point of view, the people guarding these three roads happened to be the Tang Dynasty. The three towns of Heshuo were a huge headache for the imperial court in the last years.
Zhang Yue stationed the Xuanfu Division in Zhending Prefecture, which was the location of the transfer envoy of Hebei West Road. It was also where Zhending Prefecture managed and appeased the road. At the same time, it was adjacent to Dingzhou on the right, which would be Zhongshan Prefecture in the future and Heshuo in the past. The Chengde Jiedushi of the three towns was located, and he led Daizhou in Hedong on the left, blocking the Liao's path south from the southern foot of Taihang Mountain.
The north of Zhending Mansion is opposite Weizhou on the Xijing Road of the Liao Kingdom, and it is only a few hundred miles away from Datong Mansion in Xijing where Emperor Yelu Hongji of the Liao Kingdom lived.
Placed here is the Liao Kingdom's most elite 300,000-strong tent room army.
Brothers Cai Jing and Cai Bian have advised Zhang Yue: You now command both Hedong and Hebei troops, but you will station the Xuanfu envoy in Bianjing to face the heavy troops of the Liao State. If Song and Liao go to war, it will really be a disaster. Dingfu is the place where the front line cannot be on the front line.
Cai Bian suggested that it would be better to retreat to Daming Mansion. Before the Chanyuan Alliance, the Song Dynasty blocked the Liao at all levels, setting up the main formation at Tanghe, the middle formation at Xingzhou, and the rear formation at Damingfu.
Therefore, it is more appropriate for Zhang Yue to be based in Xingzhou or Damingfu.
But Zhang Yue refused.
You only consider these things, but you don't understand the official's thoughts.
Aren’t the officials unwilling to fight with the Liao Kingdom? Well, I, Zhang Yue, will put on a posture for you as a Xuanfu envoy to guard the country.
If the Liao cavalry goes south and hits the Yellow River, you don't need to find someone to settle the score with the officials, because I, Zhang Yue, must have sent me my tribute first.
Otherwise, the emperor's heart cannot be at ease.
Zhang Yue told the official Shang Shuzhong that the foundation of the world lies in Hebei, and the foundation of Hebei lies in Zhending. The population and military resources of Zhending Prefecture are very high, which is enough to prevent the Khitan soldiers from going south and become the gateway to the country.
Zhang Yue himself has gone to the front line to guard the door, and he is also forcing you to make up his mind in disguise. Finally, imitate Jiang Wei and curse, "I'm going to fight to the death, so why did your Majesty surrender first?"
Defense includes linear defense and depth echelon defense.
Zhang Yue deployed all the elite troops from Hebei on the outer lines, Zhending and Dingzhou.
Why? Because Zhending, Dingzhou (Zhongshan), and Hejian are all populous counties in Hebei, they cannot be given up easily. Taking Zhending Mansion as an example, there are more than 83,000 households and a population of 410,000.
Although Zhang Yue judged that the Liao Kingdom would not engage in a major war, but would at most engage in border friction. But we still have to prepare for war as if the Liao Kingdom is overwhelming the country and heading south.
Once Yelu Hongji had a seizure and led the Liao cavalry southward, Zhang retreated to Cage City because of unfavorable results in the cross-country battle.
Zhongshan, Zhending Prefecture, Bianjing City, and Taiyuan City, which were the shame of Jingkang in history, were destroyed, but they still held on. These two prefectures are counties with large populations. Not only are they self-sufficient, but once the Liao invades, they will also cut off their return route and attack behind them.
Of course this is just in case.
Zhang Yue took charge of Zhending, and at the same time issued orders to mobilize troops and generals, purge soldiers and horses in Hebei and Hedong, and repair city defenses. In short, all the scripts were followed for the war with the Liao Kingdom.
All transshipment and strategic envoys in Hebei and Hedong are actively preparing for war.
Sometimes Zhang Yue would take his entourage to the border of Song and Liao to see the situation.
Lu Gongru of Zhizhending Prefecture often advised Zhang Yue to be careful, because the Liao army often invaded the border, so this move was quite risky.
But Zhang Yue refused to listen. Instead, he often took Lu Gongru with him to patrol the border. Lu Gongru is the biological brother of Lu Gongzhu and an in-law of the Zhang family. Because of this relationship, the two get along very well.
Zhang Yuexun looked at the people in Zhending Mansion who had started spring plowing. Most of the people's fields here are wheat, but there are rivers in Zhending Mansion, and the government also encourages people to plant rice.
Under the spring light, Zhang Yue and Lu Gongru smiled when they saw the common people farming comfortably on the riverside with bare legs.
Lu Gongru said with emotion: "The people of Hebei have lived in peace and quiet for seventy years. They really can't bear to let the war destroy this tranquility."
Zhang Yue could hear the deep feelings in Lu Gongru's words. He was the father-in-law of Zhending Mansion, so he had the feeling of loving the people like a son.
But such feelings are often viewed as weakness and fear of war.
Zhang Yue was a little embarrassed, so he didn't answer. At this moment, he suddenly saw a cavalry galloping in the distance.
This is the border between Song and Liao, and Zhang Yue's left and right cavalry were on guard when they saw it.
"They are soldiers and horses from Daizhou!"
Everyone was relieved after hearing this, and Zhang Yue smiled when he saw one of the cavalry in front.
But when he saw the leader of the opposing cavalry, he raised his riding whip and waved desperately to himself: "Third uncle, third uncle, it's me, Ah Xi!"
After saying that, the other party jumped off the horse and came straight to him.
Suddenly, Zhang Yue seemed to see the scene where the other person ran towards him every time he came home from school more than ten years ago.
