"Sir, judging from the current situation, Modlen's operation has been quite successful. It's just that Pingliang Mansion..." Wang Wenyan hesitated, "Only in Jingzhou and Zhenyuan counties in the southeast corner. After a while, it’s a bit different from the original idea.”
"It changes with the situation, it changes with the times." Feng Ziying waved her hand, "Since Guyuan Army is willing to serve me, then freeing up Modlen can solve the problem of Qingyang Mansion as soon as possible. I don't have so much time. ."
"Your Excellency is going to Xi'an?" Wang Wenyan understood immediately upon hearing this, "Is the court dissatisfied?"
"Well, Lu Chuan can't sit still anymore. Baishui, Hancheng, Chengcheng, and Linyang were all lost before I entered Shaanxi. But now the rebels have entered Jin, and Tongzhou and Chaoyi have also been lost. , it seems that Pucheng cannot be saved. In addition, Yichuan's rebel army took advantage of the chaos and captured Jinsuoguan. Tongguan is in danger, and Lu Chuan is on pins and needles. Maybe Tongguan has fallen by this time..."
Feng Ziying smiled bitterly, "It is said that Lu Chuan is a bit mean and arrogant, but he is not incompetent. However, for the situation in Xi'an Mansion, he is afraid that he cannot escape the blame and has also dragged Xu Liangyan into it. No wonder Xu Liangyan's letter is full of resentment."
"But if Pingliang Mansion relies solely on the Guyuan Army, it may be difficult to achieve the results we want." Wang Wenyan raised the key to the problem.
Modlen and Qiu Zixiong basically acted in accordance with Feng Ziying's requirements in Yan'an and Qingyang, uprooting wealthy families in various states and counties, so Feng Ziying didn't even mind that these "rebellious troops" captured the county, as long as they could collect enough food and property goods to meet demand for the next six months to a year, and everything else can be put aside.
But now Modlen has only visited the southeast corner of Pingliang Prefecture, the two prefectures and counties of Zhenyuan and Jingzhou, not to mention Guyuan Prefecture in the north-central part. That is where the Guyuan Army is stationed, and it is not good for the Guyuan Army. There is no problem in gathering together 20,000 to 30,000 people, but if Zhuanglang, Longde, Huating, Pingliang, Chongxin, and Lingtai counties in the central and southern part of the country are all spared, then the purpose of Pingliang Prefecture has basically not been achieved.
Although the population of these counties is not large, there are still 100,000 or 200,000 people in total. Once the rebellion re-ignites in these places, it will be quite troublesome.
This problem also makes Feng Ziying find it difficult. If several counties do not have enough food, even if the Guyuan army is pacified, another uprising will inevitably occur. In the end, it will take a lot of trouble to get it back.
"Well, it seems that we have to wait for Modlen and the others to stay in the southern area of Qingyang for a while, and they can also sweep up the Lingtai. But if they go further west, they may encounter the Guyuan Army." Feng Ziying thought for a while, "If it doesn't work, I have to talk to Guyuan Army."
Wang Wenyan took the opportunity to suggest: "Sir, in fact, I think Guyuan Town can be operated well."
"Huh?" Feng Ziying raised her eyes in surprise and glanced at Wang Wenyan, "Wenyan, what does this mean?"
"Guyuan Town is the least valued border town among the three sides and four towns. Although there are still nearly 60,000 troops in name, everyone knows that the elite have been taken away by your father, and the rest are old and weak soldiers, but there are still more old and weak soldiers. Food and wages cost a lot of money, so the imperial court has been intending to disband, which also makes a group of people in Guyuan Town have a strong sense of crisis, otherwise they would not take the initiative to seek help from adults. "
Wang Wenyan explained: "At present, Guyuan Town still does not have a general soldier, or even an acting general soldier. I guess the court does not want to set up a general soldier anymore, and wants to wait for the right time to directly withdraw Guyuan Town and remove the soldiers from Guyuan Town. Part of it will be abolished, and the rest will be merged into the three towns of Gansu, Ningxia and Yulin. If a general army is established now, it will be difficult to arrange it in the future."
Feng Ziying thought about it carefully and felt that Wang Wenyan's view was quite reasonable.
The chief soldiers of the second town of Ningxia and Gansu are Xiao Ruxun and Qi Bingzhong, but the chief soldier of Guyuan Town has long been vacant and there is no deputy. Moreover, there are only two deputy chief soldiers. According to the convention, the deputy chief soldier of Guyuan should be Three, one deputy general soldier for assisting defense and two deputy general soldiers for separate defense, but now there is only one deputy general soldier for assisting defense and one deputy general soldier for separate defense.
"Well, what you said makes sense, but just now you said you should operate it carefully, what do you mean?" Feng Ziying asked again.
"Sir, Shaanxi needs to be stabilized without a strong army. However, Yulin Town is too important and the court keeps a close eye on it. Even if Mr. He and Mr. He are familiar with each other, they cannot be mobilized at will. Gansu Town Tai
Far away, water far away cannot quench the thirst of the near. Because of the rebellion in Ningxia Town, the court has always been uneasy, and the Taolu invasion close to the Big and Small Songshan Mountains did not dare to move lightly. Only Guyuan Town, located inland, actually It was used as a reserve team for the three towns of Gansu, Ningxia and Yulin, but now with the decline of the four northwest towns, Guyuan is declining the fastest, and the court does not pay attention to it..."
Wang Wen's speech became slower and slower, "Because of the lack of attention from the imperial court, the people in Guyuan Town are probably confused now. If you show me kindness, maybe they will be willing to use you."
Feng Ziying shook her head, "What's the use of having it all for me? I can't afford the 60,000-strong army, and it's still an old, weak and disabled army. If I were to be the Minister of War, I would first have to eliminate Guyuan's army."
"It is definitely impossible to retain an army of 60,000. Since your Excellency is the Minister of War, you can give some suggestions first and let them screen again among the 60,000 troops, and select 20,000 to 30,000 who are barely usable, and arm and train them. Wang Wenyan further suggested: "Zhou Chuansong, deputy commander-in-chief of the auxiliary defense, is old. He probably has no other thoughts now. He only wants to prevent trouble during his temporary responsibility so that he can successfully enter the official position. However, the deputy auxiliary defense commander Zhou Chuansong Commander-in-Chief Song Zhicheng still has some bold ideas and wants to do something, and the one who volunteered this time is Song Zhicheng."
"Do you want Song Zhicheng to do these things first?" Feng Ziying pondered for a while, but did not make a conclusion.
It would be a little overstepping if I interfered.
Guyuan Town is not a guard, but a frontier army. Although it has the power to coordinate and arrange, this kind of direct intervention in its internal arrangements is not in line with the convention. Once someone reports, the censor will definitely ask, although it will not cause any harm. What a consequence, but certainly inappropriate.
"As for Zhou Chuansong, sir, you might as well have a talk with him. This person is not the kind of person who has a strong desire for power, and we also know that he will soon become an official. He just wants to be safe, but he doesn't want the soldiers below to poke his spine. He is always worried. Being dismissed while he was in office would be a big stain on his career, so if he had such an opportunity, he would definitely be happy to hand over power, and this does not mean handing over power. It would mean that he and Song Zhicheng would each be responsible for one, and he would be responsible for staying behind. , and Song Zhicheng led the selected troops to pacify Pingliang, the best of both worlds."
Wang Wenyan's suggestion moved Feng Ziying.
Temporarily retaining Guyuan Town will allow you to win the recognition and support of Guyuan Town and let Song Zhicheng take the lead and make some achievements. Then you can also report to the Ministry of War and the court and strive to retain Guyuan Town, even if it is reduced and reduced, but As long as this border town is preserved, there will be opportunities in the future.
And when Song Zhicheng has this opportunity, he will definitely be grateful to himself. It is natural for him to win over him, especially since he is also the governor of Shaanxi and the right minister of the Ministry of War. No matter from which aspect, he should be embraced by the deputy commander-in-chief of the branch. It's my thick legs.
"I will think about this matter and see how we can make it more perfect." Feng Ziying thought for a while, "Can Zheng Chongjian and others be asked to assist Guyuan Town in reducing and retraining the army?"
"No, Mr. Zheng and the others were ordered by the Ministry of War to train the guards. Unless there is a special request from the Ministry of War, outsiders are not allowed to intervene in the training of the border troops. They can only train themselves internally." Wang Wenyan shook his head repeatedly.
Feng Ziying also felt that this was indeed the case. It would be good to be able to capture Song Zhicheng and the others from Guyuan Town. If he pushed too hard, it would easily attract the attention of the superiors.
"Well, Pingliang and Qingyang are no longer in trouble, and the only thing left is Qiu Zixiong's side." Wang Wenyan rubbed his temples, "Qiu Zixiong is fighting more and more smoothly now, and the number of rebels who come to join him is increasing. However, he felt that it was too much. The situation in Yanchuan and Yanchang was a bit complicated. He also wrote to ask about the situation. I wrote him a special letter and asked him to go at his own pace and not to be led by Wang Zuogui and Miao Renmei. Rhythm, after Yanchuan is solved, Wang Zuogui and Miao Renmei will be more respectful."
"But the news they passed is indeed questionable. Wang Zuogui and Miao Renmei tried to provoke Qiu Zixiong and the others to attack Yanchang City. Yanchang itself is not of much value. What's the trick here?" Feng Ziying was also curious.
"Yanchang is more closely connected with Yichuan, Luochuan and Yanzhou. Although it is not far from Yanchuan, it is actually different. Yanchuan is more connected with Qingjian. Now we The information available does not reveal the relationship between Wang Zuogui and Miao.
Renmei has some conspiracy, but as the old saying goes, when things go wrong, there must be monsters. Wang Zuogui and Miao Renmei are not good friends. They tried their best to invite Qiu Zixiong to Yanchang instead of Yanchuan. Moreover, they avoided Yixiang City when they went to Yanchang. , there must be something strange in such unreasonable things, it depends on how Qiu Zixiong deals with it. We can't interfere that much. At most, we can provide him with some peripheral information, and he has to rely on him to investigate and deal with it. "
What Wang Wenyan said makes sense. It's impossible to ask the rear to inquire and make decisions for you in everything. Moreover, Qiu Zixiong's strength is growing day by day, and he can withstand some setbacks. On the contrary, it is a kind of training and tempering.
Feng Ziying finally made up his mind and left it to Qiu Zixiong to deal with it himself. He believed that even if there were any small changes, it would not change the general trend of my advantage.
