I will never be Renzong

Chapter 76
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

As the bell of Daxiangguo Temple rang, the Song Dynasty ushered in the second year of Liu E's rule behind the curtain - the second year of Tiansheng.

On the first day of the first lunar month, at the Zhengdan Grand Court Meeting, Zhao Zhen came to the Daqing Hall.

There are four fully armed soldiers standing at the four corners of the main hall, called the generals who guard the hall. Envoys from various countries enter the hall to congratulate. Envoys from various prefectures entered the court to play and present local special tributes.

The court meeting lasted for nearly two hours before it ended. Many countries came to pay tribute this year, but Zhao Zhen was disappointed that the Champa Kingdom did not send envoys, and Zhao Zhen wanted to take Champa rice, but he was afraid that he would get it next year. up.

Zhao Zhen was watching the military exercise of the Xiaocai Army at a military camp in the outskirts of Kaifeng. It has to be said that under the training of several generals, the overall combat capability of the Xiaocai Army has improved, but it obviously cannot meet Zhao Zhen's requirements .

Zhao Zhen did not give instructions to the Xiaoqi Army as soon as he came up. Instead, the drills of the Xiaoqi Army were handed over to three military generals, namely Cao Wei, Zhang Kang, and Di Qing.

Zhao Zhen sat not far away and looked a little drowsy, and suddenly the shouting stopped, Zhao Zhen opened his eyes and looked at the sun.

"Mao Ze! Go and invite some generals!"

"promise!"

"The general will finally pay homage to the official!"

The three men in armor knelt on one knee and saluted Zhao Zhen.

"Get up! I just want to ask, why did you stop practicing so well?"

Zhao Zhen asked in puzzlement.

"Report to the officials! The hoofs of the horses are badly worn, and the war horses are precious to me, the Song Dynasty, so even if we are training today, it is good to be able to do it once a month!"

Cao Wei explained calmly.

Cao Wei, one of the top ten famous generals of the Northern Song Dynasty, the fourth son of Cao Bin, the famous founding general of the Northern Song Dynasty, and the fourth uncle of the Empress Cao Danshu, Shen Yong is resourceful, likes to read, and is familiar with "Three Biography of Spring and Autumn".He ran the army strictly, and the history said that he "lived very leisurely in his daily life, and when he went out as a teacher, there were many ingenious tricks, and the speed of his entry and exit was unpredictable."Since the Battle of Sandu Valley, "Megatronic has shocked the world.

In the first month of the fourth year of Tianxi (1020), Cao Wei signed a letter to the Privy Council after being worshiped by Xuanhui North Academy Envoy and Zhen Guojun Jiedu for observation.

In the same year, Prime Minister Ding Wei and others falsely accused Kou Su and caused him to be dismissed as prime minister and repeatedly demoted.Ding Wei was disgusted that Cao Wei did not rely on him, so he falsely accused him of being a member of Kou Zuo's party.Cao Wei was then changed to be the envoy of Xuanhui Nanyuan, the general manager of Huanqing Road and the pacification envoy, and also in charge of the troops and horses of Qinzhou. [
At that time, people on the frontier talked a lot and said that he was also writing grammar, and they were afraid that it would become a border problem again. Only Cao Wei reported that his grammar had disappeared, so there was nothing to worry about.

In August of the fifth year of Tianxi (1021), Cao Wei moved to the capital of Pingding.

In February of the first year of Qianxing (1022), Cao Wei was demoted to General Zuowei, Observer of Rongzhou, and Zhizhou of Laizhou.Ding Wei suspected that Cao Wei would not be ordered, so he sent his censor Han Yi, who was not attached to him, to quickly collect his army, hoping to take the opportunity to slander the two.However, Cao Wei went to his post on the same day he received the edict. There were only a dozen old and weak soldiers following him on the road, without bows and quiver bags. Ding Wei could not harm Cao Wei in the end.

In the 300 years of the Song Dynasty, Cao Wei, who was hailed as a famous general by later generations, naturally had a few brushes. Cao Wei commanded the Xiaocavalry Army, and the entire army was extremely obedient.

When Zhao Zhen discussed with Cao Yong earlier, he said that he wanted to move a Zhizhou to come over, but Cao Yong didn't care, so Zhao Zhen issued an edict to transfer Cao Wei, the left guard general of Zhilaizhou, back.When Cao Yong came to his senses, Cao Wei had already taken up his post. Cao Yong immediately went to the palace to meet Liu E, and wanted to release Cao Wei again, but Liu E obviously became suspicious of Cao Yong, who was so proud of himself, and instead of agreeing to him Instead, he reprimanded him.

Although Cao Lili and Cao Wei are both surnamed Cao, they may have been a family 500 years ago, but they are quite at odds, and it can be said that there is a deep grievance.

Before the signing of the Tanyuan Alliance, Song and Liao negotiated peace, Cao Li was the main peace faction, and Cao Wei was the main combat faction. Cao Li went to the peace talks, and was detained by Cao Wei, and the enmity was forged at that time.

Zhao Zhen came from later generations and knew that in the 167th year of the reign of the Northern Song Dynasty, the ten famous generals were Li Jilong, Cao Wei, Di Qing, Cao Bin, Pan Mei, Zhong Shidao, Zongze, Wang Shao, Guo Shouwen and Yang Ye.

Except for those who have not yet become official, by the second year of Tiansheng, only Cao Wei and Zhong Shidao were left, and Di Qing was still a little-known soldier at this time.

It is Zhao Zhen's plan to have famous generals sit in charge and train some new star generals.

"Why don't you put shoes on the horse?"

Zhao Zhen asked curiously.

"I wonder what the officials are talking about shoes?"

Cao Wei asked puzzledly.

"I have been studying history books recently. According to the "Book of Later Jin": In the third year of Tianfu in the Later Jin Dynasty (AD 938), Gao Juhui, the judge of Zhangwu Jiedu, was sent to Khotan. Looking ahead, the road ahead was full of gravel and it was very difficult to walk. Gao Jujie was in trouble.

At this time, the people of Ganzhou taught them a technique. They taught the envoys of Jin to make horseshoes with four holes.I was thinking that the cavalry of the Song Dynasty lacked horses. If the technique of shoeing horseshoes can be learned, not only can the loss of horses be reduced every year, but the number of cavalry training can also be increased. Even if the cavalry succeeded by one-third! "

Zhao Zhen thought for a while, and then he remembered that although horseshoeing existed in the Five Dynasties period, it was popularized after the Yuan Dynasty, and most of the war horses in the Song Dynasty did not stare at the horseshoe.

"Does the government want to send people to Khotan to learn the technique of shoeing horseshoes?"

Cao Wei replied.

"Khotan is so far away. I don't know what year or month I will send someone to come back. How can water far away quench my thirst for water nearby? I have been studying the problem of nailing horseshoes these days. I also drew a few sketches and have ordered the blacksmith from the Ministry of Works. We have started to build it, and we will know whether it succeeds or not in a few days. In addition, I also built a new weapon and equipment for the Cavalry Army, but it took a bit long. Let’s not mention this for now. I want to discuss it with the three of you now. It’s a matter of the formation of the Valiant Cavalry Army.”

"Di Qing! Please tell me about the formation of the Knight Cavalry Army!"

Zhao Zhen glanced at Di Qing and said.

At first Cao Wei looked down on the young military general in front of him, but after getting along these days, Di Qing's modesty and studious won Cao Wei's appreciation. Cao's family is a family of generals, but Di Qing is just a commoner. A military prodigy, let alone a poor family.

Of Cao Bin's seven sons, only Cao Wei inherited his father's legacy and became a famous general. However, no one in the third generation of the Cao family joined the military. Therefore, Cao Wei admired Di Qing very much and even considered betrothal his daughter to him. .

And Zhao Zhen was also very happy. Di Qing came from a humble background. Even after he made a fortune, he was still not tolerated by the civil society. If Di Qing could establish a relationship with the Cao family, then Di Qing's status would definitely improve.

Zhao Zhen is not worried that Di Qing's loyalty will decline, because these days, he has tried various methods to increase Di Qing's loyalty, and even wants to direct and act in an assassination game to earn loyalty. One, increase Di Qing's loyalty to [-], and see if it can trigger Ji Shi's blood, and it did happen unexpectedly, so Zhao Zhen is not worried at all that Di Qing will defect.

(End of this chapter)