Then came the officials from Zizhou Road, Lizhou Road and Kuizhou Road.
In the memorials of these four routes, the White Lotus Sect was mentioned invariably, saying that there were White Lotus Sect bandits operating, and a large group of ignorant people were gathered in the four routes, suspected of doing evil things.
However, local officials have not yet grasped their specific actions, but because there are so many people involved, a considerable number of local soldiers and officials may be involved.
Therefore, the purpose of the Fourth Army's report this time was to ask the imperial army to go to suppress the area. In addition, they also wanted to ask the imperial court to select important ministers to take charge.
The court also attached great importance to their petition. After all, the four roads of Yizhou Road, Zizhou Road, Lizhou Road and Kuizhou Road were too important.
You must know that these four roads together form the complete land of Bashu, and their combined taxes account for 20% of the country's total.
Among them, Yizhou Road is the most important. Of course, it should be called Chengdu Prefecture now and is directly under the jurisdiction of the central government.
The reason why Chengdu Prefecture is so important is because it has vast plains, dense population, fertile land, and developed natural economy.
Of course, the economic aspect is not the most important. What is more important is that this is the center of the Fourth Road. The imperial court has set up a large amount of material reserves here. In addition, there is also a weapons workshop set up here, which stores a large amount of ordnance.
In addition, the terrain of these four roads is complex, closed and dangerous, and located in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, which is extremely conducive to military fortification and has always been a strategic location that military strategists have fought for.
Once there is chaos here, it will not only greatly affect the court's tax collection.
What is even more dangerous is that once the bandits are allowed to take advantage of the situation and defend according to the natural dangers, they will then rely on the huge wealth income, continuous military supply and abundant food savings here.
Then it will be really difficult to attack from the outside to quell the rebellion. That's why there is a saying that Shu will be in chaos before the world is in chaos, and Shu will be in control after the world is in order.
Therefore, everyone in the court basically had no objections to the dispatch of the imperial army.
But as a result, many of the original militant factions began to waver about the possible war with Xixia in the northwest.
Therefore, at the court meeting, there were a lot of voices supporting peace talks with Xixia and making concessions at the expense of increasing the annual currency.
Li Hao, who was attending the court meeting, frowned when he heard this. However, based on the unstable situation in Bashu, he considered that if he really wanted to suppress bandits in Bashu.
Considering the terrain there, it would probably take a lot of time to eliminate the banditry.
Under such circumstances, it would be difficult for the Song Dynasty to concentrate all its efforts on war with Xixia, so Li Hao did not refute it at the court meeting.
Zhao Zhen, on his side, was obviously a little shaken, but he did not make a decision on the spot. Instead, he first discussed the candidates to lead the troops to Bashu, as well as the important ministers in the court who could sit in charge.
But this time, there is really a problem with the selection of candidates.
The British Duke had enough prestige last time. After seeing him come forward, no one else came forward again.
There is no such person this time, and because this time we are facing rebel bandits, not Xixia's elite soldiers.
Therefore, many bullies and those who were afraid of the strong also stood up. As a result, there were indeed slightly more people who stood up, and everyone refused to give in. Zhao Zhen was unable to make a decision for a while.
There were also problems with the choice of important ministers. Originally, it would have been best to let Han Qi go.
After all, Han Qi had previously served as the pacifier of the Yi and Li groups, and was familiar with the situation in Bashu.
But now that he is the current prime minister, it is naturally impossible for him to leave Bianjing and go on local inspections.
Among the remaining courtiers, Zhao Zhen had no better candidate for a while, so the court meeting ended in the debate among the courtiers.
Of course, the situation was urgent, so Zhao Zhen had no intention of shelving it. Instead, he summoned Han Qi and Ouyang Xiu to Chui Gong Hall.
We plan to reduce the scale of the discussion and finalize the candidates as soon as possible.
After entering the Chui Gong Hall, Zhao Zhen asked directly without any courtesy, "Two Qings, do you have any ideas about the candidates sent to Shu this time?"
At this time, Han Qi had already made plans in his mind. After hearing the question,
, and immediately said: "I really have a candidate here that I would like to recommend. Zhao Bian, the direct bachelor of Longtuge and the transfer envoy of Hebei Province, had previously served as the transfer envoy of Zizhou Road and Yizhou.
He knows the Shu region very well and has a reputation for it. If he goes there, it will be smoother. "
Zhao Zhen was also impressed with this person and knew his abilities, but after all, he lacked prestige, so he was a little worried that he would not be able to control the situation.
So he said: "I also know Zhao Pian. He does not shy away from power, is an upright official, and simple in administration. He indeed has the talent to govern the world.
[In view of the general environment,
But after all, he has never entered the center, so does he lack prestige? "
The meaning of these words is very clear. Zhao Zhen has already made plans this time and wants to send someone from the Political Affairs Hall or the Privy Council.
And Ouyang Xiu and Han Qi were inseparable, so naturally there were only a few political advisors and deputy privy envoys left as targets.
Seeing this situation, Han Qi no longer wanted to recommend him. Instead, he followed Zhao Zhen's thinking and thought about which of these people would be more suitable.
But Ouyang Xiu spoke up for Zhao Pian at this time: "Actually, the main root cause of the chaos in Shu is the Bailian rebellious party, not the problems of local officials.
When Zhao Pian was in office in Shu, he dealt with this kind of bandits, which changed the atmosphere of Shu. During his subsequent term of office, there were no similar problems in Shu.
It can be seen that Zhao Pian has some experience in handling such matters. If he is allowed to return to Shu this time, he will definitely get twice the result with half the effort. "
After listening to Ouyang Xiu's words, Zhao Zhen was shaken.
Seeing this situation, Ouyang Xiu took advantage of the situation and pursued him: "Actually, if we want to calm down the chaos in Shu as soon as possible this time, we will definitely need mutual cooperation between the military and the government.
Among them, the role of the army will probably be even greater. If the person chosen to be in charge cannot cooperate well with the person leading the army, I am afraid it will be a bit troublesome to accomplish this matter. "
After hearing this, Zhao Zhen thought about the deputies and councilors, and felt that it was indeed difficult for these people to get along with military generals.
So apart from the prestige of the official position, Zhao Pian is indeed a good candidate.
At this point, Ouyang Xiu can be considered to have achieved his goal, and he has also repaid Zhao Bian's love for him when he served as the censor in the palace.
Now that the candidate to lead the political affairs has been roughly determined, the next step is to decide who should lead the army.
But when it came to this, Ouyang Xiu and Han Qi were both a little silent. After all, the Zhao family was always a little sensitive when it came to military control.
However, seeing Zhao Zhen's gaze, Ouyang Xiu, as the Privy Councilor, had to speak.
So he could only say: "Actually, the rebellion in Shu did not manifest itself after all, and most of the people seduced by the White Lotus Sect were ordinary people.
Even if they are involved in the army, the Xiang army stationed in Shu is not very powerful. As long as they can ensure that Chengdu Prefecture is not lost and the bandits are not allowed to get the military supplies there, even if they have many people, they are still a mob.
On the contrary, the terrain of Shu is complicated and it is easy to defeat them, but it will take a long time to really clear them out.
Therefore, I feel that the number of soldiers and horses that need to be dispatched this time does not need to be too many, but we must ensure that the troops and horses are elite. "
What Ouyang Xiu said made sense, but in fact it had little effect. Even because the number of troops to lead did not need to be too large, it also expanded the selection of people who could lead the army.
After finishing speaking, Ouyang Xiu waited for Zhao Zhen to speak, and then tried to narrow down the scope for him, but Zhao Zhen still had to decide on the specific candidates.
But what Ouyang Xiu didn't expect was that Han Qi suddenly echoed: "What Grand Prime Minister Ouyang said is right. The more important thing about entering Shu this time is the quality of the troops, not the number of troops.
And since the military and government must cooperate, the title of the leader should not be too different from that of the person in charge. "
This is true. They must have the same job titles to coordinate with each other. Otherwise, one person must be forcing the other to do things.
It's okay if the decision is made properly, but if the decision is made incorrectly, the trouble will be big.
And if you choose Zhao Bian, he has a rank of third grade, so it is best to find the leading general within this range.
However, considering that the imperial court has always valued civility over military affairs, it would be most appropriate for this military leader to have an official rank one level higher than that of Zhao Bian.
Of course, it doesn't have to be like this. Even if some people have lower official positions, it may not be inappropriate to lead the army.
After seeing Zhao Zhen lost in thought, Han Qi then said: "Another point is that those who go to Shu this time will inevitably need to take over the defense of Shu.
Only in this way can the local garrison be mobilized and cleaned up. In this way, the loyalty of the leader becomes very important. "
Hearing this, Zhao Zhen had a flash of inspiration in his mind, as if he was thinking of someone.
Ouyang Xiu on the other side also felt strange at this time. He always felt that Han Qi's words meant something, but he didn't figure it out for a while.
But Zhao Zhen said at this time: "Let's talk about this matter today, and we will talk about the rest tomorrow."
Then Ouyang Xiu and Han Qi left the palace together. On the way out of the palace, Ouyang Xiu asked, "It seems that the Grand Prime Minister has chosen someone to lead the army. I don't know who he is."
Han Qi smiled at this time and said: "I don't have any candidates, I just expressed some thoughts.
It's you. The Privy Council is in charge of military affairs. You should know these things better than me. If there is someone to elect, it should be you. "
Ouyang Xiu replied: "That being said, I have only been in the Privy Council for only a year, and I am still not familiar with some things.
On the contrary, you have been in charge of the Privy Council for many years, so you should know better than me. How about you help me and give me a hint. "
Ouyang Xiu said this politely, but Han Qi did not answer it. Instead, he laughed and said a few words to Ouyang Xiu before they separated.
At this time, Zhao Zhen in the palace seemed to have decided something, so he ordered someone to send a message and summon Li Hao to the palace to see him.
At this time, Li Hao was still busy in the gunpowder manufacturing yard of Weiyu Nan Workshop. Since Li Hao told the craftsmen the ratio of mononitrate, disulfide and three charcoals.
After some testing by them, the power of the gunpowder explosion was indeed much stronger. Li Hao asked him to come over for acceptance today.
But really looking at it, although in the eyes of the craftsmen, this power was terrifying, Li Hao still felt a little disappointed. He always felt that this power did not seem to be as powerful as imagined.
It's just that gunpowder production was beyond Li Hao's knowledge. After all, Li Hao was not a chemist in modern times, so this knowledge was still a bit expensive.
So the next step was to rely on craftsmen to improve technology, and Li Hao himself turned to the research and development of firearms.
And these two now have two finished products. One is the finished mine that Li Hao made suggestions and was implemented by craftsmen.
Of course, after seeing the finished product, Li Hao felt that the thing in front of him was called a mine, which might be a bit forced.
Because apart from being buried underground, this thing has absolutely nothing to do with landmines. Instead, it is more like an explosive bag that requires pulling the fuse far away and then detonating it with an open flame.
However, after loading enough black powder, the explosive power can be seen.
The other thing is the musket that Li Hao wanted to make. Originally, Li Hao thought that although the technology of the Song Dynasty was not good, as long as he was willing to put in the effort, he should be able to chisel a few gun barrels by hand.
Once it is available, it will not be too late to improve the technology and increase production, but the reality is somewhat different from what Li Hao expected.
Because of the strength of the material, the thickness of the barrel must reach a certain point to withstand the impact of the gunpowder explosion.
So after blowing up several gun barrels, the craftsmen successfully made it and showed it to Li Hao. Rather than calling it a gun, Li Hao preferred to call it a cannon.
But compared to normal artillery, its muzzle is too small, and the weight of this thing is obviously not something that one person can move.
In addition, there is no accuracy. Anyway, after the bullet comes out of the chamber, it can only guarantee the general direction, but the actual landing point really depends on luck.
To sum up, this strange thing is really of no practical use.
, a pure waste of material.
So Li Hao could only give up the idea of making a gun, turned around and asked the craftsmen to continue enlarging the muzzle and gun body, and directly started developing cannons. This was probably simpler.
Although there are not many results, and it is temporarily unable to be mass-produced and used in actual combat, this is a big step after all.
Therefore, Li Hao was also generous and gave rewards to all the craftsmen who had made meritorious service. Of course, he used the money of the Salt and Iron Department.
Then it is estimated that everyone will continue to work hard, and Li Hao plans to return to the Yantiesi Yamen.
Then on the way back, he met Zhu Neiguan who came to find him.
After seeing Li Hao's carriage, Zhu Neiguan quickly had someone stop the carriage.
After feeling the car stop, Li Hao lifted the curtain and looked outside to see what happened.
Then he saw Zhu Neiguan. Just as he was about to say hello, he saw Zhu Neiguan hurriedly said: "Master Li, you have made it easy for me to find you. Follow me and enter the palace quickly. The officials will summon you."
After hearing this, Li Hao wanted to ask what the summons was for, but he hadn't asked yet.
Zhu Neiguan was probably really anxious, and was already turning the car around at this time.
When the U-turn was completed, he hurriedly led the way without any intention of answering.
Seeing that Li Hao could not rest assured unless he asked clearly, so he asked the guards outside for a horse and rode directly to Zhu Neiguan's car.
He said, "Why are the officials looking for me today? Why are you so anxious?"
After hearing this, Zhu Neiguan opened the curtain and complained: "Can I not be anxious? The officials are still waiting in the palace!"
As a result, I ran to the Salt and Iron Division and found that you were not there. Then I found out that you were out of the city, so I hurriedly chased you here. Now I don't know if the officials are waiting in a hurry. "
After complaining, he also replied to Li Hao: "As for what the officials want to do with you, I don't know.
However, today the officials discussed with the two great ministers who should be sent to Shu, probably because of this matter. "
After hearing this, Li Hao had some bad premonitions in his heart.
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