After saying goodbye to the official family, Zhao Yang led Wang Zhongzheng and others with their royal equipment out of Xihua Gate and headed straight to the western suburbs.
At this time, outside Liangmen City, Zhong Shen led the Tianwu Fifth Army to gather a total of five battalions and a total of 2,500 forbidden troops, lined up in order, waiting to set off.
After Zhao Yang gave Feng Tianwu command of the Fifth Army, he immediately went to find Cao Yan, the governor of the palace. With his relationship with Cao Yan, plus the Privy Council members Song Xiang, Pang Ji, Wang Yiyong and others, he Zhao Yang gave the green light, and he easily mobilized a total of four command forces from Tianwu's First Army, Second Army, and Third Army, that is, four battalions with a total of 2,000 imperial guards. The lieutenant generals also responded. The number of guards under his command soared from 500 to 2500.
At the beginning of the year, the commander of the fourth battalion and his imperial guards might not have been convinced by Zhao Yang, but since Zhao Yang shouted the phrase "Who knows?", his prestige among the imperial army has also increased significantly, and there have even been rumors recently. It is said that with the permission of the officials and Zhongshu Zhengshitang, the Privy Council is drafting various laws to improve the treatment of sergeants, including but not limited to increasing the three meals a day for the imperial troops, increasing military pay, especially pensions.
There are also two pieces of gossip that are most exciting to the Imperial Guards: one is that the Privy Council may completely cancel the tattoos on the Imperial Guards' foreheads; the other is that "it is strictly prohibited to humiliate the Imperial Guards in any form" in national laws, and violators may be held accountable. Official culpability.
Simply put, the status of the Forbidden Army has been unprecedentedly improved. If you still dare to insult them as "Qiu Ba" or "Thieves with the Army" in the future, Dali Temple, the Ministry of Punishment, Kaifeng Prefecture and the various states will severely punish them in accordance with this law.
The person who contributed to this incident was undoubtedly Zhao Yang - in the whole court, this young prince was the only one who dared to go against the national custom of "advocating culture and restraining military force" and spoke out for the nearly one million forbidden troops.
It is no exaggeration to say that Zhao Yang's reputation in the eyes of the Imperial Guards in front of the 200,000 Palace in Bianjing is now as good as that of Xia Song, Fan Zhongyan, Han Qi, Pang Ji and other princes who have led troops for many years. Therefore, when Zhao Yang asks When Cao Yi transferred four battalions of the Imperial Guards, all the Imperial Guard regiments in Bianjing were competing to be transferred to Zhao Yang's command.
But in the end, it was the Tianwu First Army, the Second Army, and the Third Army that came first. Whoever gave Zhao Yangchu the military post was the battalion commander of the Tianwu Fifth Army. Everyone in the Tianwu Army regarded him as a direct relative. Why? Maybe let other legions take advantage?
Take a look at Zhongjia Erlang Zhongqian. He joined Zhao Yang as the deputy commander of the battalion that day. Now he is promoted to the deputy commander of the army. He assists Zhao Yang in commanding the Tianwu Fifth Army with a total of 2,500 forbidden troops. He has surpassed the general military position in two months. After at least ten years of research, how many people can resist being jealous?
By the way, today, the Fifth Army of the Tianwu Army has been promoted to the commander of the first battalion by Goro Zhonge of the Tane family. Saburo Zhonge is still in charge of the logistics of the entire army. As for the command of the other four battalions, they are all from the first, second, and third battalions. The three armies were mobilized. Although they may not be convinced of Zhao Yang and Zhongqian's leadership ability, Zhao Yang's reputation and certain special characteristics are enough to make them follow his lead.
In addition to the above-mentioned Tianwu Fifth Army, there are many people in the western suburbs waiting to see off Zhao Yang, and there are quite a lot of them. In addition to the Tianwu First Army commander Chen Xu and other Tianwu Army military-level, battalion-level commanders and engineers. In addition to Shen Xuan, Lu Dafang, Qian Gongfu and others from the Technical Department of the Ministry, at first there were Yuhou Cao Yi, the governor of the palace, Zhang Yaozuo, the magistrate of Kaifeng Prefecture, Wang Zhi, the magistrate of the admonishment court, Zeng Gongliang, the editor of Xiuqiju, and Yushi Chen Xu, He Tan and others.
It was not until Fan Zhongyan, the counselor and political officer, came to see him off in person. This was a big deal. Privy Envoy Song Xiang, Deputy Privy Envoy Pang Ji, and Privy Councilor Wang Yiyong also came after hearing the news.
Political enemies were extremely jealous when they met. Naturally, Song Xiang and Fan Zhongyan, the enemies, had to have a strange and strange attitude toward each other.
Song Xiang satirized Fan Zhongyan: "Fan Xianggong is the prime minister of the two houses, yet he did such a fawning act."
Fan Zhongyan hummed and said, "Isn't Mr. Song also here?... I came to see you off because Mr. Zhao was kind to me in admonishing me. Why is Mr. Song?"
Song Xiang was speechless. In fact, he heard that Fan Zhongyan came to see Zhao Yang off, so he hurried over.
From the side, Pang Ji, Wang Yiyong and others tried to reconcile the situation. After all, if the two of them were allowed to continue fighting, they would lose their face. After all, with Zhao Yang's current rank, there was really no need for them, the princes of the two houses, to come to see each other off in person, but others When they came, they didn't come, and it was inappropriate. That's why these people appeared here - Song Xiang was because of Fan Zhongyan, and Pang Ji and Wang Yiyong were because of Song Xiang.
However, what they didn't expect was that not long after, even Chen Zhizhong came to see him off. This made Song Xiang and Fan Zhongyan, old enemies, secretly sigh: It's really shameless!
In the end, except for the last prime minister Wen Yanbo and the third minister Ye Qingchen who did not show up, all the ministers of the Political Affairs Hall and the Privy Council were present, and many people came to advise the court, such as the king of the Imperial Academy who had a good relationship with Zhao Yang. Zhi, the censors Chen Xu and He Tan, and even the censors Zhang Guan and Guo Quan.
As long as they didn't have a grudge with Zhao Yang, they basically came. Some came for Zhao Yang, and some came to join in the fun for the sake of the husband of the two houses.
To be precise, these people are definitely not the only ones who want to come and join in the fun. Anyone who knows how favored Zhao Yang is, probably all want to come. They were just joining in the fun, but after thinking about it, these officials also had to think about themselves. After all, those gathered outside Liangmen waiting to see off Zhao Yang were all courtiers - that is, courtiers who were qualified to participate in the early court. They were not from this circle, then. It's better not to join in the fun.
Around six o'clock in the morning, Zhao Yang, Wang Zhongzheng and others rode a carriage through Liangmen and arrived outside the city. He was shocked to learn that Song Xiang, Fan Zhongyan and other important officials of the court were waiting outside the city to see him off. , hurriedly got off the carriage and greeted everyone.
As soon as Zhao Yang arrived, a group of people who had been surrounding Gao Ruona to talk to him immediately ran to Zhao Yang's side, making Gao Ruona feel embarrassed and annoyed.
Although he had already guessed that Fan Zhongyan, Cao Yi, Zhang Yaozuo and others were not here to see him off, he thought that at least Song Xiang and Pang Ji were here to see him off. Unexpectedly, Zhao Yang showed up. , he immediately became alone.
In shame and embarrassment, Gao Ruona didn't even bother to say goodbye to his colleagues, and got into the carriage angrily.
And here, after Zhao Yang said goodbye to the princes and officials who came to see him off, there was no figure of Gao Ruona left and right, and he asked Fan Chunren and Wen Tongdao who were going to go with him, "Where is Gao Ruona?"
"Xiangong Gao is already on the carriage." Wen Tong said with a smile.
He and Fan Chunren witnessed with their own eyes the scene where Gao Ruona got into the carriage angrily, and they were doubly amused.
Zhao Yang roughly guessed it, and while secretly laughing, he said a final farewell to his colleagues who came to see him off, and then summoned the medical doctor and ordered him to order the entire army to move out.
"Tianwu Fifth Army obeys the order. Commander Zhao has ordered the whole army to move out!"
Following the deputy commander Zhong Jian's order, the 2,500 forbidden troops of the entire army slowly headed west, followed by the logistics battalion led by Zhong Consultation, three to four hundred miscellaneous soldiers who were not part of the establishment, and more than a thousand civilians. , pulling hundreds of carts to follow slowly. The carts contained both the food and grass needed for the march, as well as the equipment of the Tianwu Fifth Army, mainly heavy armor such as infantry armor.
The location of Bianjing is called Jingji Road, and going west is Jingxi Road. Jingxi Road is divided into North Jing Road and South Jing Road. The former is based in Henan Prefecture, that is, Luoyang, and governs Henan, Yingchang, Shun Chang and other prefectures command Zheng, Hua, Meng, Cai, Ru and other prefectures. They have Xinyang troops stationed there and have more than 500,000 households under their control. The latter, on Jingnan Road, is based on Xiangyang Prefecture, that is, Xiangyang. , under the jurisdiction of Deng, Sui, Jin, Fang, Jun, Ying, Tang and other prefectures, the Guanghua Army was stationed, and there were roughly 500,000 households under its rule.
This time Zhao Yang and others went to Shaanxi. According to the route drawn up by the Privy Council, they crossed Zhengzhou to Henan, went to Henan Prefecture for a while, then headed north to Yongxing Military Road, and finally arrived at Shaanxi Fourth Road.
Due to the heavy logistical equipment, the army's travel speed was not very fast. It is estimated that the medical clinic can cover sixty miles a day, and this is still on the relatively safe Gyeonggi Road and North Beijing Road. If it were really close to the Song-Xia border, it is estimated that this speed would not be maintained. live.
With this kind of mobility, the infantry of the Song Dynasty was naturally unable to compete with the Liao and Xia cavalry, and had to be pinned down from beginning to end.
In the future, it will be much better to change the infantry to "horse infantry".
As evening approached, Zhao Yang ordered the entire army to stop and prepare to spend the night.
Since we were in a hurry and were still on Gyeonggi Road, we could omit setting up camp. We only needed to ask the soldiers from the logistics camp to lead the civilians to cut down trees nearby and light bonfires to keep warm.
However, patrols at night are still necessary. After all, Gyeonggi Road is not very stable. I remember that on the eighth day of March, Zhao Yang heard that the Privy Council had transferred ten battalions of the imperial army to Jingdong Road and Jingxi Road to guard against thieves.
This is also a characteristic of the Song Dynasty. Major disturbances such as Wang Ze's rebellion are rare, but bandits of a dozen, dozens or even hundreds of people are extremely common. Most of them are farmers who have lost their fields or just lazy scoundrels who gather together. Everywhere, they take risks and rob homes and homes. In the end, most of these people will be recruited and raised as soldiers to avoid causing chaos.
It's not that it's difficult to eradicate, it's mainly because the effort and benefit are not equal.
For dozens, dozens, or hundreds of people, one or two battalions of guards were sent to encircle and suppress them. Fighting, the rogue bandits will definitely not be able to defeat the imperial army, but they can escape and travel to other states. Therefore, we often have to run away and chase here, which lasts for a long time.
Instead of doing this, it is better to recruit and maintain the family, which saves money and worries.
Of course, a large army like Zhao Yang's Tianwu Fifth Army, which has nearly 4,000 soldiers and civilians, would not dare to provoke local bandits, so night patrols mainly focus on developing good habits.
However, there is no need for Zhao Yang to personally intervene in this matter. The seed clinic will be arranged properly. Erlang of the Zhong family, who once served as the right-hand man next to his father Zhong Shiheng, is naturally familiar with military affairs, which makes Zhao Yang very worry-free.
"By the way, why didn't you see Gao Ruona?" Zhao Yang asked Wang Zhongzhengdao.
Upon hearing Zhao Yang's inquiry, Wang Zhongzheng said with a smile: "Xiangong Gao led his followers not far away and buried pots to cook. It is said that he also brought two cooks."
Yuan Sui, that is, the guards, assistants, servants, servants, etc. who accompany officials of the Song Dynasty. The number of Yuan Sui varies according to their grade: the Prime Minister is also the Privy Envoy, the Jied Envoy is also Tong Zhongshu Menxia Ping Zhangshi, etc., which are the highest level, and the Yuan Sui is the highest level. One hundred people; followed by the prime minister, privy envoys, etc., with 70 Yuansui; then Gao Ruona, the level of political advisor, deputy privy envoys, etc., with 50 Yuansui.
Food, clothing, and salary were all borne by the court.
With Zhao Yang's current level, he is not qualified to be equipped with Yuan Sui, but Wang Zhongzheng and other ten imperial equipment follow him all day long, and he does not need him to pay their salary. In fact, they are no different from Yuan Sui.
By the way, in order to better protect Zhao Yang and command the imperial army and even the state route army when necessary, Zhao Zhen raised the rank of Wang Zhongzheng and others by a whole level before leaving. Wang Zhongzheng was therefore named Chongban in the palace, and the other kings Ming and others were all serving as officials in the east and west, but their positions were only false. Although they had salaries to pay, they had no real power. In fact, they were still sent to protect Zhao Yang.
"You actually brought a cook with you?"
When Zhao Yang heard that Gao Ruona actually brought the cook, he immediately brought Fan Chunren, Wen Tong, two civil servants, Wang Zhongzheng and others to have a meal.
Knowing Zhao Yang's intention, Gao Ruona was so angry that he blew his beard and glared, but he had no choice but to watch Zhao Yang casually command his Yuan Sui to cook. He was so angry that he only ate half a bowl of rice before going back to the carriage to rest. .
Zhao Yang and others ate quite happily. Even Fan Chunren, who thought it was not appropriate at first, was secretly happy when he saw Gao Ruonei's defeat. Who knew that when Gao Ruona was the admonisher, he not only did not speak up for justice? Fan Zhongyan complains about injustice, but instead slanders him everywhere?
At night, Zhao Yang took the Zhong brothers, Fan Chunren, and Wen Tong to inspect the temporary garrison, not only to inspect the night patrol arrangements, but also to see how the sergeants were resting.
Seeing the imperial soldiers under his command huddled up and sleeping around the bonfire, Zhao Yang asked Zhong Zhong: "Among the armaments delivered to our army by the Palace Front Division, are there no blankets or other items?"
Zhong Zhen shook his head and said, "No."
Zhao Yang frowned and said: "Remember it first, I will discuss with the Privy Council later and try to equip the Forbidden Army with blankets. ... Even in spring and autumn, the wind at night is still quite cold."
It happened that a gust of night wind blew, causing everyone to shrink their necks. Zhong Zhen took a breath and said, "Even if the Privy Council agrees, I guess the Third Division will not agree... It costs a lot of money."
Zhao Yang rubbed his hands and said: "When the Song and Liao countries expand their trading markets and import more sheep, the furs will naturally become cheaper. It won't cost much, at least not as much as what it would cost a sergeant to freeze them." medicine money.”
Everyone nodded in agreement.
At dawn the next day, the whole army buried the pots to make breakfast. When the sun just rose, the army continued to move towards Zhengzhou.
Bianjing and Zhengzhou are about 120 miles apart. It took only two full days for the army to arrive in Zhengzhou on the afternoon of the fourth day of the lunar month.
Zhao Yang originally planned to send Fan Chunren as an envoy to the city to meet with the local magistrate and ask for additional food and grass. Unexpectedly, the local magistrate and the Duke of Qi, Deyong, came to greet him in person at the age of seventy.
This made Zhao Yang feel quite flattered. When he saw Wang Deyong, he was the first to salute and greet him: "The Duke of Lao Qi came to greet him in person. Later generations were frightened."
Wang Deyong said with a hearty smile: "This is not like the young Mr. Zhao who 'punished ten remonstrances'!"
Zhao Yang was secretly surprised and asked slightly embarrassed: "Does Duke Qi know the ridiculous things I do?"
"Isn't that ridiculous? Young Mr. Zhao did what Cao Yi and I wanted to do but didn't dare to do..." Wang Deyong said with emotion, and then invited Zhao Yang into the city for a banquet, saying that he had prepared wine and food early. .
After that, he also noticed Gao Ruona, and said with his lips: "If Mr. Gao doesn't dislike it, you can go with him."
Gao Ruona was not a fool. How could he not see that Wang Deyong came specifically for Zhao Yang?
Feeling proud and arrogant, he immediately said no, and took Yuan Sui into the city to find an inn to rest.
"It's a good idea if he doesn't go." Wang Deyong didn't want to invite Gao Ruona in the first place, so he invited Zhao Yang, Fan Chunren and Wen Tingtong to his residence in the city and ordered his servants to prepare food and drinks.
After some chatting, Zhao Yang found out that Wang Deyong had exchanged letters with Cao Yi, so he knew that he was going to Shaanxi, so he had prepared wine and food to entertain him early.
As for the reason for such courtesy, it is actually similar to the good relationship with Cao Yi. It is simply that Zhao Yang is regarded as a hope to improve the status of sergeants and military attaches. After all, Zhao Yang is the only one in the court who dares to go against the trend of "advocating culture and restraining military force" Civil servants, including Fan Zhongyan, Pang Ji, Han Qi and others, did not dare to raise it as clearly as he did, let alone argue endlessly with the DPRK, China and Taiwan for this.
During the banquet, Wang Deyong couldn't help but ask Zhao Yang: "Zhao Sijian and Gao Ruona are going to Shaanxi this time to completely solve the hidden dangers of the Tibetan people in Shaanxi? Can I understand that the imperial court wants to use troops against Xixia?" ?”
Zhao Yang was stunned when he heard this, but then he thought about how Qi Duke could not understand the strategy all his life as a soldier, so he said cryptically: "For the time being, the Song Dynasty still wants to maintain peace with Xixia."
Wang Deyong understood immediately after hearing this, with a look of excitement on his face, but then he whispered: "I heard that Li Yuanhao died of illness in the second half of last year. Why is there no response from the government?"
Zhao Yang shook his head and said: "On this point, I agree with the ministers of the Privy Council. The key to the battle between Song and Xia is not Li Yuanhao or others, but whether the Song Dynasty itself is enough to fight this war. Either we don't fight or we fight." It is necessary to fight hard and destroy Xixia in one go. Otherwise, a small fight will not only gain little, but also damage the relationship between the two countries, and the gain will outweigh the losses. ... But now, we, the Song Dynasty, do not have enough force to destroy Xixia, but don't worry, Duke Qi, In five years at most, things will change.”
"Seriously?" Wang Deyong said in surprise: "Why is Zhao Sijian so sure?"
Zhao Yang shook his head and said: "This cannot be disclosed... The only thing I can say is that the Privy Council has re-drawn the strategy against Xia and gradually begun to prepare for the future crusade against Xixia. Although there will be some twists and turns, the overall strategy is not It will change.”
Wang Deyong nodded excitedly, but then he couldn't help but feel a little pessimistic, and sighed: "I don't know if I can live for another five years to witness the Song Dynasty's expedition to the Xia Dynasty and avenge my previous shame."
Zhao Yang smiled and raised his glass: "As long as Mr. Qi takes care of himself, he will definitely be able to witness it with his own eyes."
"Then I accept Zhao Si's advice." Wang Deyong laughed.
The next day, when Wang Deyong ordered the officials in the state to prepare enough food and grass for the army led by Zhao Yang, Zhao Yang said goodbye to him and led the army straight to Henan Prefecture with Gao Ruona.
