armyinform Chapter 1104 Both Capable and Capable
Chapter 1104 Both Capable and Capable
Chapter 1104 Both Capable and Capable
Han Zhen opened his office, but as soon as the imperial edict came, he left the capital.
Han Zhen was lustful and kept many concubines in his mansion. When they knew he was leaving today, they were reluctant to let him go and cried for a long time.
It makes the other party very impatient.
After Han Zhen left, the concubines in the mansion were all wondering how many concubines Han Zhen would take in when he went to Shaanxi this time.
Before leaving, Han Zhen went to the Government Affairs Hall to find Zhang Yue.
Zhang Yue had just resolved Yuan Jiang's attack on Zhang Zhi and returned to the government hall. He saw Han Zhen coming to visit him and asked, "Why are you here, Yu Ru?"
Han Zhen said, "Prime Minister, it won't take long for me. I want to ask you how many people you want."
Zhang Yue thought that if the emperor suddenly expressed his intention to use someone, it was an extension of the will of power. The emperor didn't care about Zhang Zhi's matter at the moment because it was a way to get his subordinates to contribute.
Zhang Yue feels the same way towards Han Zhen.
If you want to entrust Han Zhen with an important task, you must stand up and support him, otherwise the people below will easily become disobedient to him.
You, Han Zhen, have to control six armies, and the officials under you have complicated factions, backgrounds, and interests.
If you want to coordinate all parties in a short period of time, you must get support from above.
The emperor also understood this logic, so he gave Han Zhen the position of co-director of the Privy Council before he left the capital.
In the Privy Council, the Deputy Privy Councilor, the Associate Privy Councilor, and the Secretary of the Privy Council are all deputy positions and are equal.
However, the status of the three is still headed by the Deputy Privy Councilor.
Therefore, Han Zhen is already in a position of power, but whether he can put it into practice still depends on how the battle in the northwest goes.
When Han Jiang presided over the battle to attack Luowu City in the third year of Xining, he was granted the title of Zhongshu Menxia Pingzhangshi, but after the defeat in this battle, he was demoted to the local area. It was not until several years later that he returned to the court to serve as prime minister.
Zhang Yue said: "Yu Ru, please tell me what you want to say. I will do whatever I can for you! If I can't do it, I will discuss it with you. But you must leave the capital before noon!"
"Since the Prime Minister values me so much, I won't be polite," Han Zhen pointed to the side and said, "I wonder if Xu Xi, the inspector of the military office of the Central Secretariat, can be transferred to me?"
Xu Xi was stunned when he heard this, and Zhang Yue asked, "How is Dezhan?"
Xu Xi asked reservedly, "I wonder what assignment Han Zhishu has given me?"
Han Zhen said: "Sign the documents to carry out the affairs of the Privy Council."
Xu Xi stepped aside and said nothing.
Han Zhen said: "The second one is Dali Temple Secretary Jing Siyi."
Jing Siyi is Jing Sili's younger brother.
Jingtai defended the western border for the country, defeated Li Yuanhao, and finally died of illness. Jingtai had three sons. The eldest son Jing Sizhong died for the country in Sichuan, and the second son Jing Sili died in the battle of Guizhang in Xihe.
The Jing family can be described as a family of loyal heroes.
Zhang Yue agreed.
After talking about these two people, Han Zhen nominated several more people, such as Lu Dazhong, his nephew Han Zhongwen, and his relative Wu Andu, to join the shogunate, and Zhang Yue agreed to all of them.
When hiring people in the shogunate, they needed both capable and talented people as well as confidants, and they also wanted their own sons, nephews, and relatives to come in to gain some qualifications and gild their reputation.
As long as you can get things done, the higher-ups generally won't mind. Besides, Han Zhongwen and Wu Andu are also Zhang Yue's relatives.
Finally, Han Zhen said with a smile: "The other person is the Prime Minister's Dalangjun!"
Zhang Yue thought to himself that he had brought Cai Jing and Cai Bian into the government in order to reassure Wang Anshi and to take advantage of the power of the other party. Now Han Zhen was also using the same trick.
Zhang Yuezheng didn't want Zhang Gen to be the storyteller in Chongzheng Hall. At such a young age, he admired the emperor's face and wanted to get promoted easily.
Although I have taken this path.
Wang Anshi looked down on him for this, saying that he was greedy for the gentle countryside and refused to serve outside. At that time, Zhang Yue didn't understand what was wrong with having a wife and children and a warm bed.
Now... hehe.
Zhang Yue nodded to Han Zhen and said, "I agree to that, too."
Han Zhen laughed and stood up and said, "Thank you, Prime Minister. The final reward is one million strings of salt notes. I will take out the reward and go to take office."
"it is good!"
Zhang Yue watched Han Zhen leave and said to Xu Xi, "Tell the room and take up your post tomorrow!"
Xu Xi said to Zhang Yue, "Prime Minister, what about Zhang Jinglüe?"
Zhang Yue said: "If you can save him, then save him. If you can't save him... then... then... you should just cut it off yourself!"
Zhang Yue couldn't say the next words, he closed his eyes and thought that it would have been better if he had not let Axi be the general.
Xu Xi said: "Prime Minister, the Dangxiang are arrogant and conceited. With a victory in Fuyan Road, they regard our Song Dynasty as nothing. If we can save Mingsha City, the situation of attack and defense will be easy from now on."
Zhang Yue asked, "Are you sure?"
Xu Xi said: "I am grateful to the Prime Minister for his cultivation. I am willing to give it my all."
……
Under Mingsha City, yellow sand and dust covered the sky.
Zhang Zhi, You Shixiong and other generals were watching the enemy at the north gate. They were all horrified when they saw the formation of the Western Xia army.
You Shixiong said: "There are hundreds of thousands of soldiers and horses!"
"How can Western Xia have so many soldiers and horses?" A general objected because he was worried that the morale of the army would be shaken.
You Shixiong said: "Why not? The territory of the Tanguts is four or five thousand miles wide. On weekdays, the people live scattered in the desert and mountains. There are no soldiers to guard the camps. If they shout, they can gather together. There are hundreds of thousands of people."
After hearing what You Shixiong said, all the generals shook their heads.
Zhang Zhi sighed, "Although Xixia has many soldiers, we in Shaanxi can only fight against Xixia with one household, four times the number of Xia people, and we can also support them with the financial resources of the whole world. Why is it so difficult to defeat them?"
You Shixiong said: "However, no matter how many soldiers and horses the Western bandits have, Mingsha City is surrounded by deserts. There is no stone or wood, so it is difficult to build siege equipment. We can defend the city. The Western bandits may not be able to attack."
Zhang Zhi said: "How can we just resist and defend? We should go out of the city to attack the enemy and weaken their power!"
All the generals were moved when they heard this.
You Shixiong said: "That's right. The Tanguts are like dogs. If you whip them unexpectedly, they will lose their energy and cannot hurt anyone. But if you hesitate and let them charge wildly, their teeth and claws will be sharp and they will do anything they want."
"Their vanguard must be elite troops, so we can quickly engage them. Once we defeat them, their rear guard will be heavily armed and will not dare to advance easily, so we can delay for a few more days."
Zhang Zhi agreed immediately and ordered General Wang Shan to lead 2,000 cavalry out of the city to attack!
But we saw that the 5,000 iron kites of the Western Xia vanguard were crossing the river.
Just as You Shixiong said, Western Xia had always had elite troops at the front, and the Iron Harriers could cross the river as easily as walking on flat ground.
Zhang went straight up to the watchtower and waved the yellow flag. Wang Shan then led two thousand cavalrymen to attack.
Wang Shan was the son of Wang Junwan.
Wang Junwan had a feud with Zhang Yue because he joined Wang Shao. Later, Wang Junwan himself was not honest in his official duties and allowed his subordinates to do business privately, which offended Zhang Yue. Therefore, Wang Junwan was demoted to Qinfeng and his property was confiscated.
Wang Junwan died of anger.
Zhang Yue regretted deeply when he learned of Wang Junwan's death. After being persuaded by Wang Hou, he immediately reported Wang Junwan's merits to the emperor, restored his title, and implicated his son Wang Shanben. Finally, Zhang Yue restored his official position and appointed him as a general in Xihe Road.
Later, Wang Shan made great contributions in the battle to capture Huangzhou. Zhang Yu reported to the court and promoted him to the position of Xihe Road Governor.
Wang Shan led two thousand cavalry out of the city, and with three hundred selected cavalry as his left and right, he personally attacked the strong formation set up by the Iron Harriers at Linhe.
Zhang Zhi saw that the Western Xia Iron Harriers were indeed elite soldiers. Even though they crossed the river in a hurry, they had set up a strong formation. Wang Shan remained unshakable after two consecutive clashes.
Zhang Zhi was about to wave the flag to order Wang Shan to return, but Wang Shan launched a third attack.
Zhang Zhi saw that many Song cavalrymen had died on the way to the battle. These people had accompanied him through life and death, and he felt a pang in his heart when he saw this.
But Wang Shan's third conflict finally shook the rock-solid Xixia army formation, and the Xixia's elite Iron Harriers also collapsed. Wang Shan personally killed a Xixia general and returned with his head.
Zhang Zhi went down to the city in person to pick up Wang Shan, but he saw Wang Shan standing on his horse in a heroic manner, carrying the head and golden helmet of the Western Xia general on a spear as he entered the city.
The Song army in the city cheered like crazy and cheers broke out everywhere.
While they were talking, the Xixia King arrived with the Qiaolou soldiers.
Zhang Zhi and other generals went up to the tower to look at what was happening. Under the protection of the "Sixth Guard of the Imperial Garden" of the Western Xia Imperial Guard, a young man of about fifteen or sixteen years old wearing silver armor and a felt hat rode up the earthen slope overlooking the river, holding a whip and pointing at Mingsha City in the distance.
Further away were the mighty armies of Western Xia. Beneath the sky were endless troops, like huge waves rolling over yellow sand, filling the air with dust and leaving no grass growing wherever they passed.
……
The troops of Jingyuan Road were stationed in Hulu River. Shen Kuo, Zhong Shidao, Liu Changzuo, Zhong Zhen, and Shaanxi Transport Judge Fan Chuncui accommodated the soldiers here.
Although Zhang Zhi was the rear guard, the troops in Jingyuan Road did not suffer heavy losses, but they had lost all their weapons and armor. The only two thousand men left who were strong enough to fight again, including the ones Shen Kuo brought with him, were only 20,000.
As the governor, Shen Kuo has done a good job in Jingyuan Road in recent years.
Although he was suppressed by Wang Zhongzheng, Shen Kuo proved that a talented person can shine wherever he goes.
Shen Kuo led his troops to Jingyuan, bought a lot of wine with the money from the court, and then called the children of the border people to practice riding and archery, and rewarded the winners with wine and food. Shen Kuo also personally toasted the winners, and the border people were very excited.
Shen Kuo selected the best men from among them to serve as the vanguard, so the elite troops of Jingzhou were better than those of other prefectures.
During the attack on Xia along the Jingyuan Road, Shen Kuo transported food and fodder, encouraged the laborers, severely punished harsh officials, and took advantage of Wang Zhongzheng's trip north to mobilize the remaining civilian labor to build Pingxia City without the protection of the army.
Shen Kuo was an all-rounder in all aspects, whether it was commanding the army, managing government, raising grain, pacifying the people, or transporting goods.
No matter how capable Shen Kuo was, the officials of Hejingyuan Road would still make up stories about him being henpecked. Of course, in addition to being henpecked, there was another thing about Shen Kuo that made the officials of Jingyuan Road despise him, and that was his indecisiveness.
Facing the hundreds of thousands of Western Xia troops under Mingsha City, Shen Kuo had less than 20,000 remaining soldiers, and tens of thousands of soldiers without any weapons or horses would be dead if they went to rescue.
Shen Kuo anxiously convened a military meeting to discuss countermeasures.
Shen Kuo said to his generals: "Since we cannot conquer them, but we have to rescue them, there is only one solution now, and that is to negotiate peace with Xixia!"
Everyone was shocked to hear Shen Kuo say this. Negotiate peace with Xixia? Can you, Shen Kuo, represent the court?
Shen Kuo said: "This is the only strategy we have now. If we can get the soldiers back and return some of the land, that would be fine."
Master Zhong said, "This strategy is absolutely unacceptable. Although our army lost a large number of troops in Fuyan Road during this expedition to Xia, we also gained something. If we negotiate peace at this time, all our efforts will be wasted."
"The imperial court will never agree to this, so please think twice!"
Shen Kuo said: "What should we do? This is the only way to achieve the best of both worlds. It can save Zhang Jinglüe and not harm our troops in Jingyuan Road!"
ps: It has been recommended, so I will update it to get more excited.
(End of this chapter)