Promotion and fortune in Song Dynasty

Cao Wei was taken aback by the question.

There seemed to be a gleam of light in his half-drunk eyes, and he slowly put down the empty wine cup, and admitted with a generous smile: "From my point of view, this is indeed the case."

Lu Ci heard that after he confirmed his guess, he continued to drink with all his heart, and had nothing to say, so he was not in a hurry to ask questions.

Although the Song Dynasty used military officers to guard the border, it let civil servants control the soldiers and power, and the disadvantages were inevitable.

Looking at the vast government and the public, among those literati who are busy intrigue, pondering the future, and calculating gains and losses, how many are brave and brave, and they are not afraid of death?

Back then, if there hadn't been such a 'wonder' as Kou Zhun, who had forced Zhao Heng to go to the front line, most of the courtiers, including Wang Qinruo, would have been urging the emperor to move south, so where did Tan Yuan come from? Alliance.

Although Cao Wei has a good impression of Lu Ci, he has been working hard for many years and has a deep understanding of Bianjing's officialdom.

How could Lu Sanyuan, who has always been like a fish in water in the unfathomable muddy waters and has been promoted repeatedly, and who has recently been sent out because he annoyed the officials for unknown reasons, how could it be that he is not afraid of risking his life? people?

Although Cao Wei was already half-drunk, his mind was still clear. Before he could answer, he continued to pour himself wine while not forgetting to ponder the real intention of Lu Ci's question.

After a while, he came to a clear conclusion.

——It must be that this Xinzhizhou, with his delicate mind and flexible mind, was the first to suspect the movements of foreign enemies after he saw that he was spending the envoy's money to reward the sergeants, and thus worried whether Qinzhou would be in office during the next three years. A stable situation can be maintained.

Cao Wei didn't feel annoyed at this understandable self-preservation idea after realizing it.

On the contrary, Lu Ci was able to perceive the direction of the army with a few words, which surprised him very much.

Cao Wei laughed, thinking that his heart was as bright as a mirror, he patted Lu Ci on the shoulder kindly, and assured him earnestly: "The city is guarded by the [-]-strong army trained by me, even though it is a big battle. Don’t move, but as long as the enemy’s army is less than [-], it’s not difficult to stick to the city until the reinforcements arrive. You can rest assured!”

Lu Ci smiled, but did not show a look of peace of mind as he expected: "Li Deming has been dormant since the death of his father Li Jiqian. I'm afraid I still don't have the courage to send troops to attack Song."

Cao Wei was noncommittal, but the movement of drinking stopped unconsciously.

Lu Ci continued slowly: "The one who is most likely to act like a tiger should be the monk surnamed Li who keeps jumping up and down, right?"

Cao Wei just picked up the wine cup slowly, then put it down abruptly when he heard the words, turned his head to look at Lu Ci, his eyes suddenly burst out with excitement that he had been holding back for many days: "...Chaozhong also saw it?"

Could it be because of this that Lu Sanyuan, who has always been treated like a baby by the royal father and son, was sent to this remote village, just to find out the situation for the court?

However, Lu Ci, who saw through his thoughts, shook his head decisively.

No matter whether anyone in the court saw Tubo's imminent move, but before the Tubo army actually came to the border, the court would never agree to Cao Wei's most desired request for additional troops.

The reason is just as Cao Wei reassured him just now, with this well-trained [-] defenders, as long as he is not facing an enemy army that exceeds three times the number, he wants to stick to it until the surrounding state troops send reinforcements. It is more than enough without any military strategy.

Regardless of whether it is Tubo or Dangxiang, it will not be easy to use more than [-] soldiers and horses in one go.

Even if it hasn't reached the point where the muscles and bones are broken, once more soldiers are deployed and the Song Dynasty is provoked, they will still have to face the dilemma of being attacked by the enemy and being taken advantage of by other forces.

Such a high-risk, low-return transaction, but anyone with a clear mind would not be willing to do it.

Not only is the possibility of Tubo invading the frontier extremely rare, but more importantly, for the Zhao family who won the world by virtue of their military power, compared with foreign enemies, it is their own people who need the embankment the most.

——Especially those who have the ability to follow their old ways, those generals who have hidden military skills, outstanding military exploits, and may even hold military power because of it.

Lu Ci, who is quite familiar with Zhao Heng's style, thought honestly that if Cao Wei really made this request, he might be worried that his officials, who have "ulterior motives and are suspected of supporting their own self-esteem", will be transferred back to Beijing in advance. wish.

Seeing that Lu Ci denied the hope that had just been ignited in his heart without hesitation, Cao Wei couldn't hide his disappointment.

"Too."

He sighed a few times, shook his head with a wry smile, and stopped talking in frustration.

The wind is surging, so what use is it for him, a veteran who is covered with new injuries and old injuries, to worry about it?

Only the soldiers will block it, and the water will cover it.

Lu Ci was not in a relaxed mood after confirming his speculation about his arrival through Cao Wei's reaction.

Compared with Cao Wei, who was only keen on military aircraft and took precautions early, Lu Ci, who was much better informed, obviously knew more.

So it became clearer that what was in front of him was not only a mess that had been emptied of money, but also a time bomb that could explode at any time.

Today's Zanpu in Tubo is bullying Nanlingwen, but he is just a puppet promoted by Li Lizun and Wen Buqi.After becoming Lunbu logically, Li Lizun's ambition was not satisfied, but he competed with his former ally Wen Buqi for power.

However, the prestige and power of the two are comparable, and it is not easy to completely overwhelm one of them.

It's just that when the struggle was most intense, the locust plague broke out in the Song Dynasty. This would not have affected Tubo's disaster, but because of Lu Ci's genius, it didn't take long for the outbreak in the Song Dynasty to attract the nearby Tubo, Dangxiang, Liao Waiting for a place to go.

The ravages of the locust plague instantly made no grass grow in Tubo, and the people complained endlessly. The desperate struggle between the two factions had to be interrupted by this inexplicable natural disaster.

After finally regaining some vitality, Li Lizun couldn't hold back, and started to move again at the end of last year.

It can be said that he sent people to Da Song in a whimsical way to ask for the title of Zanpu, and in exchange, he sent troops to crusade against party Xiang Li Deming for Da Song.

At that time, Zhao Heng was struggling with the prince Zhao Zhen. When they happened to discuss this matter, it was this official who wanted to pray to gods and Buddhas who went to court, so he refused without thinking.

What's more, since the death of Li Jiqian, who was the most capable of causing trouble, Li Deming has bowed his head and proclaimed himself a minister. On the surface, he has become an obedient grandson. Why bother with him?

Not to mention that this would damage Song Renai's reputation, even if the Tubo crusade was successful, after annexing such a force, it would be Tubo who would be strengthened, and it would have nothing to do with the Song Dynasty who was named.

Sure enough, Li Lizun's request was unanimously rejected by the DPRK and China on the spot.

Lu Ci was not surprised by the official's reaction, and it was difficult to judge whether the matter was right or wrong.

But since then, he has become very careful about Li Lizun's next move.

After all, after being unable to establish his own prestige by being close to the Song Dynasty and conquering the "soft persimmon" party items, Li Lizun decided that it was impossible to let it go.

——In other words, it is not impossible for Tubo to turn its guns and openly go to war against the Song Dynasty.

Furthermore, it has never been a secret that there are six thousand defenders in the city.

The court of the Song Dynasty knew it well, and it was not difficult for Tubo to investigate and understand, and it was impossible to hide the frequent small movements of the party.

Although the city wall of Qinzhou City is scarred and scarred, it is quite solid. What Cao Wei said is true, but for the enemy army who knows the number of people in the city well, how can it be possible to know that less than [-] troops are doomed to be futile? In such a situation, why not send someone out to send this person to death, and cause a lot of trouble to go back?

This confidence in Qinzhou's "safety" is based on the premise that the enemy army is stupid - this does not exist at all.

Lu Ci has always liked to think in another person's place, to judge others by himself.

At this moment, he couldn't help thinking that if it were him, he would either show no aggressive intentions at all from the beginning to the end, or commit minor offenses frequently, which would bother the defenders and be punished. Small movements and let down guard.

In the end, wait for the opportunity to make a desperate move and send at least [-] soldiers in one go until Qinzhou is quickly captured.

If you are facing a [-] army with complete siege equipment, you will not be able to support the arrival of reinforcements with only [-] defenders.

Thinking of this, Lu Ci couldn't help but feel a real headache.

Self-conscription is undoubtedly asking for death. I am afraid that before the practice can start, a hat of conspiracy will be firmly put on the head, and they will be returned to Beijing in a prison car for interrogation.

Write a letter to the prince for help, asking for more officers and troops in the town?

It doesn't work either.

Even if the crown prince is very likely to be willing, but as soon as he has completely angered the officials, he blatantly asks for troops, not to mention that it will inevitably worsen the relationship between the royal father and son, which is against his original intention of attracting firepower to take up the post.

Moreover, I am among the scholars, I am afraid that I will immediately lose the notoriety of being a cowardly mouse, greedy for life and afraid of death, relying on the friendship between teachers and students, and quietly asking for more soldiers to protect myself.

The two most effective routes were blocked in the blink of an eye, and Lu Ci, who had self-knowledge in terms of military strategy, really tasted a bit of despair for a while.

——It needs to be discussed as soon as possible.

Because both of them had a lot of preoccupations, at the end of the welcome and send-off banquet, there was nothing left but dull.

Seeing that it was almost time, Cao Wei, who was already very drunk, stood up on his own initiative, bid farewell to Lu Ci politely, and returned to the mansion.

No matter what happened afterwards, he wanted to get relief and go back to Beijing to see his relatives who had almost forgotten their faces.

For this alone, he was full of affection and gratitude for Lu Ci.

"Let's go back too."

Lu Ci came back to his senses and subconsciously looked at Di Qing.

When his eyes inevitably glanced at the shockingly empty plates on the table, he couldn't help being startled, and asked in disbelief, "Did you use up all these?"

Di Qing nodded embarrassedly.

The meals accompanied by Cao Wei were rarely used, and the patrons drank a lot, but most of the dishes were dipped a few times with chopsticks.

He knew that even if the meat and vegetables on the banquet could not be used up, they would be discarded in a while.He really didn't want to see any waste, so he opened his belly to eat, and he was already full by now.

Lu Ci, on the other hand, thought this was Di Qing's first real performance, and despite being frightened, he couldn't help but look stern.

... Fortunately, he has a lot of side jobs, otherwise, relying on the salary from the third rank alone, he really can't boast of being able to support this big orange cat who is not fat.

The author has something to say: Notes:

1. Zanpu: Zan, the meaning of majesty; Pu, a Tibetan man, this is the title of the Tubo emperors in the past dynasties

2. In history, the Tubo-Song war took place in the ninth year of Dazhong Xiangfu. However, the butterfly effect of Lu Ci happened only now.

Gusiluo's real name was Lingwen, bullying Nan. According to the Tibetan historical materials that have been passed down to the present, it can be traced that he is really a descendant of Tubo Zanpu, but when he was discovered, he had already been exiled to Gaochang State (now Turpan, Xinjiang). He is a poor and helpless ordinary boy.At the age of 12, he was discovered by a big businessman (Lv Buwei, a foreigner) and brought back to Hezhou (now northeast of Linxia, ​​Gansu), which was called "Hehuang" at that time.

Hehuang is the gathering place of various tribes of Tubo. There are a lot of people in the land, and they have been fighting, but they can't fight over who is the leader.As soon as the bullying Lingwen appeared, he was immediately used.He was elected as the supreme Zanpu by a Zongge Tubo monk named Li Lizun and Tubo chief Wen Buqi of Miaochuan (now Ledu, Qinghai).But in fact, he is an authentic puppet.

But history proves that Gu Siluo is a rare hero. He has been patient and silent for nearly 20 years, using various opportunities to defeat Li Lizun and Wen Buqi one by one, and become the real king of the plateau, Tubo Zamp among people.

Li Lizun's downfall was purely courting his own death.This Tibetan monk was not greedy enough, and he was not satisfied with being Lunbu (Tibetan Prime Minister) of Hehuang Tubo. In order to overwhelm Wen Buqi, he came up with a surreal plan.

Send people to the Song Dynasty to seek officials.

The price was to get Zanpu's title, and the cost was that he could teach Li Deming a lesson for the Song Dynasty.But his life is hard. If it was earlier or later, Song Dynasty would have agreed to him. At this time, Li Jiqian is dead and Li Yuanhao is still too young. Why would a very obedient Li Deming want to provoke him?What's more, the emperor of the Song Dynasty at that time was Zhenzong Zhao Heng, who had already entered the "Dazhong Xiangfu" year, and it was too late to worship the gods, so the fool went to war.

So Li Lizun went to war against the Song Dynasty. All he needed was a victory to increase his prestige. As for who the opponent was, he didn't care.In 1016 AD (the ninth year of Song Dazhong Xiangfu), he led 3 Tubo cavalry to attack Qinzhou, the important place in the northwest of the Song Dynasty. ("If This Is Song History [-]")

3. Zhang Yuan and Wu Hao, some of you have already come out of Baidu. They are two big traitors who couldn't even pass a scientific examination in the Song Dynasty.

When they write more about their specific deeds later, they will make specific notes.