Zhe Yanzhi was the son of Zhe Keshi and the nephew of Zhe Keqiu. He was the son of the general Zhe family of Fuzhou. During the Jingkang period, he served as the deputy envoy of Xuanfu in Hebei and Hedong. He saved Taiyuan and fought many bloody battles with the Jin army. Later, he failed to defend the Yellow River and was demoted many times. It was reactivated a few months ago.
Wang Xiaolie had fought with Zhe Keqiu before, and he didn't have a good impression of the generals of the Zhe family. Zheyan comes to Luoyang, as long as there is no shortage of etiquette.
The next day, in the backyard of the Henan government office, Wang Xiaolian prepared a banquet for Zhe Yanzhi.
The sun was scorching in the sky, and even the ground was hot before noon. Zheyan arrived at the Henan government office, and was followed by Chen Qiudao, and they went to the back together.
The wine stall is located in the pavilion near the water in the back office. The lotus flowers nearby were in full bloom, and several red fish were swimming under the lotus leaves.
Chen Yuyi, Wang Ruohai, Niu Gao, and Wang Yan had already arrived. When they saw Zhe Yanzhi arriving, they all stepped forward to greet him. After the ceremony, everyone took their seats.
Wang Ruohai said: "Xuanfu still has some things to do. I'll come over in a while. Don't blame me."
Zhe Yanzhi said hurriedly: "Xuanfu is busy with affairs, let's just wait. It's cool in this pavilion, so it's a good time to take a rest."
With Wang Xiaolie's current status, coming here so early would be too much of a compliment to Zhe Yanzhi. It's normal to ask him to wait.
A few people were drinking tea and talking about trivial matters. Recently, Lu Yihao left Beijing to take charge of the military affairs in Jiang, Huai, Jing, and Zhejiang provinces, and opened a governor's mansion in Zhenjiang. In fact, together with Zhang Jun in Shaanxi, they defended the front line against the Jin Dynasty. In the middle is Wang Xiaolie, who is not under the control of these two people.
Whether in Shaanxi or Jianghuai, the Song army still did not have the strength to attack. Even if Shaanxi is regarded as a wasteland in the eyes of the Jin army, Zhang Jun's current military strength is not enough to win Guanzhong. Sa Lihe's troops were less than 10,000, and even with the surrender, Zhang Jun was not able to deal with them.
Zheyan questioned: "Now the officials of the imperial court estimate that the Jin army may move south from Taiyuan Prefecture this autumn. I heard that Xuanfu's troops in Hedong are only more than 40,000 people. I wonder if they can guard against the Jin army?"
Wang Ruohai said: "Before Du Cheng came to Luoyang, Secretary Wang and I inspected the Hedong front line with Xuanfu. On the left, our army occupied Lengquan Pass, and on the right, Longde Mansion also defended the surrounding dangerous positions. The Jin army came. It won’t take any advantage.”
Zheyan questioned: "Back then, I guarded Hedong and knew that the terrain there was dangerous. As long as the defense is effective, the Jin army is not terrible."
Wang Ruohai smiled and said nothing.
When Zhe Yanzhi was guarding Hedong, he had a lot of troops, but they often collapsed at the first touch. There is really nothing to say.
While chatting, Wang Xiaolie came over. Zhe Yanzhi and everyone else stood up in a hurry to salute.
Wang Xiaolie returned the gift and asked everyone to take their seats. The soldiers served tea and stepped aside.
Taking a sip of tea, Wang Xiaolie said to Zheyan: "You came to Luoyang, and I happened to be in Longde Mansion. I didn't greet you, so I was really slow to wait. Don't blame me."
Zheyan questioned: "Xuanfu is so polite, how can I dare to do so? I came in a hurry this time, and I feel really ashamed to disturb Xuanfu from inspecting the front lines."
Wang Xiaolie said: "We have prepared a small banquet today, so I will apologize to the capital. It's getting late, so I ordered people to serve food and wine."
Cui Qing on the side received the order and directed the soldiers to serve food and drinks.
It was Wang Xiaolie's custom not to use female prostitutes at any official banquet. Not only Wang Xiaolie was like this, but all the officials under his rule were like this. The official prostitutes that existed widely in various places in the Song Dynasty did not exist under Wang Xiaolie's rule.
When the food and wine were served, Wang Xiaolie invited him to drink. After three rounds of drinking, everyone got drunk and started to talk more and more.
Zheyan questioned: "The last time Xuanfu won a series of great victories, I heard that it was because the army had a sharp weapon called an artillery piece. When a cannon is fired, everything in its path will be reduced to powder. The power is really amazing. Especially when attacking a city. , with just a few shots, any city wall will fall down."
Wang Xiaolie said with a smile: "I've said it. Our army does have artillery, which is very powerful, but not to that extent. The artillery did play a big role in the last consecutive victory. If there were no artillery, There will inevitably be continuous fierce battles, and there will be many casualties."
Zheyan questioned: "The imperial court was very happy to hear this. I was specially ordered to come to Xijing to see the power of artillery. If it is really a weapon in the army, the imperial court hopes that Xuanfu will send a few to the bank. It is best to have a few more Craftsmen, the imperial court still copied them and distributed them to all armies."
Wang Xiaolie said: "This is a trivial matter, so what's the difficulty? Counselor Wang, prepare it and ask Du Cheng to take a look when you have time. If Du Cheng is satisfied, just pull a few doors into the row. This thing is very heavy. , after arriving in Xiangyang, we can arrange a special ship."
Orihiko said hurriedly: "The craftsman who made the artillery——"
Wang Xiaolian asked: "How many people does the court want?"
After hearing this, Zheyanzhi couldn't help but feel happy. I really didn't expect Wang Xiaolie to be so easy to talk to. I originally thought that since Wang Xiaolie had been hiding the artillery for so many years and had not presented it to the court, he would treat it as a treasure. Unexpectedly, when he arrived, Wang Xiaolie not only agreed to offer cannons, but also happily offered craftsmen.
He said hurriedly: "It would be best if there are all kinds of craftsmen who can make cannons. When we get there, they can make cannons immediately."
Wang Xiaolie said: "This matter is not difficult. However, these craftsmen receive generous salaries here, so the court must be willing to pay them."
Zheyanzhi smiled and said: "What's the point! As long as it is truly useful, why would the imperial court care about giving them more money?"
Wang Xiaolie said to Chen Qiu: "Counsellor, go and see how many craftsmen are needed and how much they cost per month now. Then ask Du Cheng how much the court is willing to give them when they get to work. If the money is suitable, ask Just ask how many people are willing to do it."
Chen Qiudao raised his hands and said yes.
Orihiko couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief. During these days in Luoyang, due to Wang Xiaolie's absence, others resisted his requests. I originally thought that this matter would not go smoothly after Wang Xiaolie returned to Luoyang, but I didn't expect that Wang Xiaolie would not obstruct it at all.
After giving instructions to Chen Qiudao, Wang Xiaolie questioned Zheyan: "Du Cheng is also a veteran in the military and is very familiar with military affairs. To be honest, artillery is indeed of great use on the battlefield. Especially, artillery Compared with the range of the crossbow, the range of the two armies is much longer than that of the crossbow. When the two armies are arrayed, it is like using bows and arrows to shoot at the base of the formation. With artillery, the distance between the army formations is further. Also, one cannon can penetrate more than a dozen people . Just like before, we formed a military formation and attacked slowly. Before reaching the enemy's formation, they were all killed by the artillery. After the army was equipped with artillery, I have been trying to figure out how to fight for several years, but I still have no clue. After the imperial court had artillery, Pay attention to these things as well.”
Zheyan questioned: "What's so difficult about this? The troops leading the troops are all veteran generals, so they naturally have their own ideas!"
Wang Xiaolie smiled and said to Wang Ruohai: "What you are saying is that none of us here, including Secretary Wang, is a veteran. How to use artillery is of course a mess! If you are used to fighting, Of course I have an idea!"
