A full moon hung in the sky, dotted with twinkling stars. The moonlight is like water, and the breeze blows like a pool of spring water.
Wang Xiaolie looked at the moon in the sky and said nothing for a while. Wang Ruohai took a sip of wine and ate the food, but he didn't know what it tasted like.
After a long time, Wang Xiaoxian said: "This dynasty has been in existence for nearly two hundred years. The Khitan cannot be destroyed in the north, and a party has appeared in the west. Even if we devote all the efforts of the whole country, we cannot pacify it. To be honest, it is a dynasty that has occupied the Central Plains and has been a country for a long time. , nothing like this.”
The chopsticks in Wang Ruohai's hand suddenly stopped. He nodded: "Defense is right."
"There are all sorts of things to say about this situation. Some say that our military is too weak, some say that the enemy is too strong, and some say that this dynasty cherishes the power of its people and does not engage in a national war with the enemy. All kinds of explanations Yes, all opinions are reasonable. In this world, there is never a lack of truth. What is lacking is whether the truth is right or not. The Central Plains are still the Central Plains, and the Han people are still Han people. Why can't we defeat the barbarians in this dynasty? After much deliberation, the only way to convince people is to honestly admit that our military is indeed not strong."
Wang Ruohai didn't speak, just sat there quietly. Holding chopsticks in hand, not holding food.
Wang Xiaolie said: "I'm afraid I didn't dare to say this sentence before. It's different now. A new Jin Kingdom was established. After a few decades of establishment, it destroyed Daliao and Kaifeng. With ten or twenty thousand people, Dare to travel thousands of miles, it's like entering an uninhabited land. As a big country, let people be so humiliated, how embarrassing it is! As a citizen of the Song Dynasty, talking about this, I am really ashamed!"
Wang Ruohai said slowly: "How do you want to defend yourself?"
Wang Xiaolie said: "There was no territory before, so it was useless to say anything. Now that we have territory and people, we should build a strong army and do this for the country! Now I own land in several states and millions of people. How can we still allow the Jin people to be so arrogant! According to my wishes, we should use five to ten years to build a strong army to drive away the barbarians from the north and restore China! Let the Han people in this world no longer be oppressed by others!"
Wang Ruohai nodded: "Of course it is good for defense to have this ambition."
Wang Xiaolie looked at Wang Ruohai and said: "No matter how good the ambition is, it is not easy to achieve. What is the difference between the army and the people? It is not that the army has swords, guns, horses, and armor, but that they are organized and disciplined. Be able to resolutely follow orders! To build a strong army, it is not enough to just recruit people into the army and issue swords and guns. It is far from enough! They must strictly observe discipline and resolutely execute orders! In this rescue of Shaanzhou, I saw that the entire battle process was full of twists and turns. The fuzhou soldiers who can be prayed for are no match for us at all, and the Khitans cannot face each other head-on. Only those real Jurchens can fight head-on! Our army has only been established for more than a year, how can it have such combat effectiveness? The logistics support is strong, and the orders are clear and clear. The formation is neat and orderly, the combat skills are proficient, and the will to fight is resolute. From officers to soldiers, they not only execute orders on the battlefield, but can also change at any time. These qualities are not found in other armies. We spent more than a year training Come out! In other words, as long as there is correct training, ordinary people can become a strong army!"
Wang Ruohai said: "In the troubled times of the late Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties, it was common for arrogant soldiers and strong generals. Being able to lead an army and not retreating in the face of a strong enemy can be regarded as a famous general. What is said about defense is not something that today's generals can do. of."
Wang Xiaolie nodded: "Yes, the current army follows the old system and is difficult to be of great use. It plunders the people without restraint, and when facing strong enemies, it flees when encountering a battle. How can this be done? So everything has to be started again, and the army can only It will be of great use!”
Wang Ruohai nodded and said nothing.
Regarding the team's system, organization, etc., Wang Ruohai didn't think it was inappropriate before. In his eyes, the military should plan strategies and the army should execute orders. After arriving in Dengzhou, I had more contact with Wang Xiaolie and saw Xinye training troops, and my thoughts changed.
The combat effectiveness of an army is directly related to its organization and execution capabilities, not just the capabilities of individual soldiers. It is not enough for the weapons to be better than others or for the soldiers to have stronger physical fitness. For example, now, the organizational and execution capabilities of the Jin Army far exceed those of the Song Army.
Wang Xiaolie said: "If you want to train troops, you need money and food. In the past year or so, in order to train more than 30,000 soldiers, I spent whatever money I had without any savings. Who else in the world is like me who leads troops?" "
There is truly no one like Wang Xiaolie in this world. Other famous generals, such as Yue Fei, Li Yanxian and others, are not greedy for money, but they will not spend all their money like Wang Xiaolie. In the past few months, Wang Xiaolie has been trying to issue banknotes to activate the economy, but as a result, he has been unable to start because he has no capital. Wang Xiaolie's current money is only enough to support the army and pay salaries to officials.
Wang Ruohai knew this very well. After listening to Wang Xiaolie's complaint, he said: "We have tens of thousands of soldiers for defense, and there are countless states. If we don't want the army and officials to be wronged, we have no choice but to be wronged ourselves."
Wang Xiaolie shook his head: "To impose punishment is not something to be wronged, but something that must be done. People say that soldiers need to eat food, how can they make the army hungry? Not to mention officials, they need to eat, and their families also need to eat. , the salary and food must be distributed. I don’t have a large family, and there are daily expenses, so don’t worry about this moment. When I talk about money, I’m not talking about myself, I’m just saying that things are difficult to do without money.”
Share the sufferings of the soldiers and not be greedy for money. Many generals in this era can do this. Those as close as Li Yanxian, those as far away as Yue Fei, and some other generals. This is China’s ancient tradition and is not surprising.
When Wang Xiaolie was training his troops, he would often compare himself to Yue Fei. How Yue Fei trained his troops in history, and what the soldiers he trained looked like, I couldn't be worse than him. Later, after staying for a long time, I gradually realized that I couldn't compare with Yue Fei. With a thousand years more experience, I should be able to practice better than him. In other words, if Yue Fei had a thousand more years of experience, he would definitely be much better than himself now.
Yue Fei, whether in historical records or novels and legends, often portrays him as a person who is loyal to the country, strict with himself, and lenient towards others. In fact, how could Yue Fei be so simple? In these troubled times, it is certainly not easy to be able to rise from a young officer to a military commander, and then from a military commander to a general. No one dares to look down upon him in this world, and his name will last forever.
People have to grow up, and Yue Fei was different when he was young and later. Later, Yue Fei became more and more calm, but when he was young, he had a hot temper and could not tolerate others in his eyes. As Yue Fei's boss, it's okay to be like-minded with him, but if you don't have a good relationship with him, it's difficult to get along with him. Yue Fei first emerged, under Zhang Suo, under the jurisdiction of Wang Yan. What happened later was that the two didn't get along and Yue Fei left Wang Yan. Later, he was subordinated to Zongze. After Zongze's death, he was subordinated to Du Chong. In the Battle of Yangzhou, Du Qitong's 60,000 Song army fought against less than a thousand Jin troops. As a result, the army collapsed, and Yue Fei was among those who collapsed.
In the early Southern Song Dynasty, the imperial court appointed the governor of Tongtai, and the law of vassal towns was slightly restored. Yue Fei was appointed as the governor of Tongtai Town. Later generations marveled at how Yue Fei, a man so loyal to his country, could be appointed as the governor. How refreshing, it was fitting that Yue Fei at that time, not the Yue Fei later, was appointed as the governor. It's just that Yue Fei was devoted to the country and had strong ability to lead troops, so he transformed this image of himself into his later image.
Wang Xiaolie and Yue Fei knew each other but did not have a close relationship. He just felt that this person did not match the person in his impression. If you get in touch too early, you may be afraid that you won't be able to handle it properly, which will lead to bad things. Regarding power, Wang Xiaolie is not as good as Zhao Gou, and he does not have Zhao Gou's status. He still has this self-awareness. Don't think that Zhao Gou is not good just because he is weak and insists on surrendering. In terms of power and control of his subordinates, Zhao Gou is still very strong. At this time, Zhao Gou was like a bereaved dog, terrified all day long. Once the Jin army retreated, they still stayed high in the temple, and no one dared to disobey. This was also their ability.
Regarding Zhao Gou's killing of Yue Fei, later generations came out with various theories. Some felt pity for Yue Fei, some felt pity for the world, some scolded Zhao Gou and Qin Hui, and of course some wanted to absolve these two people. As for the reasons for the tragedy, later generations have come up with all kinds of strange things. In fact, the matter is not complicated. It was a struggle between the war faction and the peace faction in the Southern Song Dynasty. The murder of Yue Fei was the climax.
At the beginning, Zhao Gou and Qin Hui originally wanted to kill Han Shizhong. Han Shizhong went to the palace to plead for mercy, and then killed Yue Fei instead. Why these two people? Because among the generals of the Southern Song Dynasty at that time, these two were the main fighting faction. Killing a general and letting the Jin Dynasty see the sincerity of peace was the purpose of Zhao Gou and Qin Hui. Wu Shu also said that only by killing Yue Fei can peace be achieved. After Yue Fei's death, Zhao Gou and Qin Hui carried out a large-scale purge of officials from the main war faction. It is unknown how many officials were implicated.
As for what some people say about using words to suppress force, there is no trace of it. Does the court have this idea? Of course there is. But it's not reflected in this matter. After Yue Fei's death, Zhang Jun's status rose and the power of the generals also increased. In fact, Yue Fei's subordinates were not implicated much, and of course they did not plead grievances for Yue Fei.
At this time in the Southern Song Dynasty, the army was not strong and had not formed its own will. Although they are called Yue Jiajun, Han Jiajun, Wu Jiajun, etc., they are actually the armies of the imperial court and are not very independent. Many generals have the will to defend their homeland and restore their homeland, but the entire army does not have the independent will. The main responsibility for Yue Fei's death lies with the peace faction represented by Zhao Gou and Qin Hui, and the army should also bear part of the responsibility.
Seeing that Wang Ruohai was silent, Wang Xiaolie said: "In my estimation, in the next few years, the Jin Army may not attack every year like before. Instead, they will choose a few key points to fight a few more battles with the imperial court. Generally speaking, He said that the war should calm down and not be the same as before. This is a rare opportunity. I want to use these few years to develop the place well and make money and food available. Also, recruit more troops, train diligently, and prepare for war. These things cannot be It’s easy, so I don’t have more energy and time to take care of the guerrilla zone. Therefore, the burden of punishment is very heavy!”
Wang Ruohai was stunned for a moment and said: "I thought Zhang Jun was the main one in building the guerrilla zone, and I would just provide money and food later."
Wang Xiaolie shook his head: "Zhang Jun is in charge of the army and war in the guerrilla zone, and doesn't care about anything else. But the guerrilla zone is not a war! There are other important things. The first is the enemy's situation. You must establish your own system to detect the enemy's situation. personnel, set up strongholds widely, and strive to be fully aware of every move of the enemy. This matter is under the control of Ti Xing himself, and Zhang Jun will not participate. The personnel involved in this matter are only known to Ti Xing and appointed officials, and their information cannot be leaked. Identity, not even Zhang Jun. This is not because I don’t trust Zhang Jun and the military personnel, but because the situation in enemy territory is complicated and once I participate in the war, it will be difficult to hide my identity.”
Wang Ruohai was shocked when he heard this: "Defense actually has such an idea, which is beyond my expectation!"
Wang Xiaolie said: "I have thought about this for a long time, and I just started to do it today. It is not just here, but also in Shaanxi. The so-called knowing oneself and the enemy, the people will be victorious. To know the enemy, you must put these thoughts into it. I have done this There is already a case, we will discuss it in detail later."
Wang Ruohai said: "I know. No wonder the defense attaches so much importance to this matter. I understand if you want to know the enemy's situation."
Wang Xiaolie said: "In addition, the affairs of the people in the guerrilla zone must also be managed through punishment. They are originally in the enemy's territory. Whether they can survive, whether they live well or not, and whether they need relief food and grass, Everyone should be under control. One thing to say, the officials there are not our officials, but the people are our people."
Wang Ruohai nodded. By now, I somewhat understood what Wang Xiaolie meant. It wasn't that Wang Xiaolie didn't want to occupy those states and counties, but that he couldn't occupy them due to his own strength. Since you can't occupy it, let it be given to the enemy. However, the people, military, food and other strategic resources in these places are managed by themselves. The magistrate of Caizhou was not in charge of a single state.
