Promotion and fortune in Song Dynasty

After Teng Zongliang's persuasion, Lu Ci, who was already excited, made up his mind to write a book immediately, send someone to send it overnight, and then wait for the good news.

Seeing that he followed the advice, Teng Zong couldn't help pursing his lips and snickering.

He thought to himself, don't look at Brother Ci's knowledge of everything, and his ability to figure out people's hearts, but his understanding of the people around him is far from enough.

——From the moment Cidi decided to write a letter, it was a certainty.

Although Zhudi is not good at words, everyone can see how much he respects Cidi in his heart.

Leaving aside, going to the border to attend important military affairs was originally the wish of Brother Zhu, who has always had great ambitions.

Just because of the huge temptation represented by the two points of "Brother Lu hopes for my help" and "I can be used by Brother Lu", it is absolutely impossible for Zhu Shuo to say a word of refusal.

Lu Ci didn't know what Teng Zongliang was thinking, and after writing the letter to Zhu Shuo, he went to Wang Shao's house again.

In his view, the importance of Weizhou to the Northwest Defense Line is self-evident.Although General Cao Wei, a veteran who can be called invincible in many battles, is personally guarding, but the terrain has always been easy to attack and difficult to defend, which is coveted by Li Yuanhao, and there is no room for mistakes.

How rare Wang Shao's outstanding talent is, I, who has been assisted by him in the past two years, is undoubtedly the most clear.If something goes wrong, it will not only be a waste of his heart to give up this precious help, but also a great loss for Song Ting, who has few talents in this area.

That being the case, in order to ensure the safety of the other party, he simply sent a team of soldiers to mobilize good horses in the army along the way, just to escort Wang Shao to Weizhou as soon as possible.

Hearing Lu Ci's decision, Wang Shao, who had packed everything up and was about to leave early tomorrow morning, was completely speechless in shock.

When the magistrates were transferred by edict, they all came and went quietly on their own, and even the carriages and horses had to be paid for by themselves, and they were not allowed to use the supplies of the post station lightly, let alone such a big battle?

"I would like to thank Lu Jiedu for his kindness, but this, this is absolutely unacceptable."

Wang Shao was overwhelmed by the flattery, and hurriedly declined, saying that the straight way was not in line with the rules.

However, Lu Ci made up his mind and insisted: "It's a very good time, and you need to treat it very well. You don't have to worry about others saying, after I send you out of the city, I will explain the reason for this move to the officials carefully."

It seemed to be easy to say, but Wang Shao was transferred from Beijing not long ago, so he was well aware of the turbulent undercurrents, so how can he not see that behind this promise is a heavy and palpable sincerity?

Wang Shao was deeply moved, he hesitated to speak for a while, and simply gave a deep bow, generously accepting the kindness.

Teng Zongliang watched this scene sourly from the sidelines, and after accompanying Lu Ci to leave Wang Shao's house, he said quietly: "What a passionate man!"

Lu Ci didn't know what he was thinking about, and he didn't respond when he heard the words. It took a while to recall, and he said to Teng Zongliang, who was squinting at him, dumbfounded: "You have been watching for a long time, but you don't see any opinions, so you want to say this now? "

Teng Zongliang raised his eyebrows.

If he hadn't been too overreaching, he would have felt that Cidi was a flirtatious, rain-soaked... like!

Thinking about it again, Teng Zongliang couldn't help curling his lips when he realized that he had only been "stained with rain and dew" for a long time.

He changed the topic and said: "Since Brother Ci intends to call Brother Zhu here, why not invite Brother Liu together? Otherwise, once Brother Liu learns that Brother Ci treats one more than another, it will take another while in Beijing. Mother and Lu Lang fly together, there will be no peace."

It is conceivable that if Liu Qi knew that Zhu Shuo was the only one who was invited, but he was left aside, he would be so angry that he would be so angry that he would make a fuss.

The corner of Lu Ci's mouth twitched, and he said without hesitation: "If you really let him come, it will be called never having peace."

The place is far away from the rumors, and because Bianjing, where Liu Qi made the most noise, is quite far away, the "rumors" can't affect much, so Lu Ci just turned a blind eye to it—after all, he waited for his full salary to be transferred back to his post. In Beijing, those rumors that were once raging should have calmed down long ago, and there were not many disturbances.

But if Liu Qi, who has a strong desire to create and always likes to make fun of him, comes to him, then within three days, the poignant love between 'Liu Niangzi' and 'Lu Langjun' will spread throughout the city. The streets are gone.

Teng Zongliang thought about it carefully, and said with a suppressed smile: "It's really like this."

The reason why Lu Ci didn't want to get Liu Qi involved, besides the half-joking reason, was actually a more important reason: with Zhu, who had buried his head in the case files all day long, had no intention of socializing around, and was full of concerns about national affairs. In comparison, Liu Qi, who is excellent in Ci and Fu, can be said to be at home in Qinggui's museum.

Relying on his ability to write lyrics and compose music freely, and mainly around his best friend Lu Sanyuan, who is famous all over the world, he writes some funny and funny words, and none of them fall into the gaudy lamenting the hurt of prostitutes. He didn't have much real power, but quickly became the most popular invitation object in each museum.

Whenever there is an elegant gathering, banquet or poetry meeting, no matter whether you are acquainted with Liu Qi or not, you must post a post to try to invite people to come.

If Liu Qi could write one or two poems willingly, it would be even more honorable.

The two were talking, but in the eyes of all the officials in Bianjing Chaotang, another one went crazy.

Zhang Kang, who had just won the championship three years ago in the scientific examination, followed in the footsteps of his brother Zhang Kui and won the second-class Jinshi and the first place, was destined to have a bright future, and went to the officialdom more than ten times Jia offered the strategy of attacking and defending in the northwest, and also expressed his willingness to lead the way, and actively asked to abandon literature and join the military.

If it's just for publicity, then after one or two rounds, once the officials express their willingness to seriously consider their strategy, they will accept it as soon as they see it, so as not to go too far.

But Zhang Kang's more than ten times of evacuation made it difficult for all officials to understand, and they also knew that he was really determined.

After the dynasty was over, Zhao Zhen supported one chin with one hand, tilted his head, and stared at the thick stack of papers, quite worried.

——What happened to this court?

The most prominent military officers are Zhang Qi and Yang Chongxun.However, these two people have big bellies and haven't touched bows and horses for many years. They only rely on being former ministers who served the late emperor and were quite favored.

As long as it is mentioned that they are actually going to fight on the battlefield, the two people will immediately turn pale with fright, and look like they are avoiding them.

Even if they made others ridicule, they would not let go of their mouths at all because they cherished their lives so much. At worst, they would just be shy bastards and avoid the limelight.

If it wasn't for Cao Wei's supporting scene, the little emperor would have lost his appetite just by looking at the two people's useless looks.

However, Cao Wei was getting old, especially after his mother died of illness and was forced to seize love, he was looking forward to returning to Beijing to live with his family for a long time, discounting his son repeatedly, just hoping not to be a soldier in the battlefield.

But there is currently no one available among the generals, even though he is full of guilt, there is nothing he can do!

On the contrary, among the civil servants, first there was a young master who loved to go to the dangerous border, then Wang Shao, who was high-spirited and voluntarily volunteered, and now there was a tall and sturdy Jinshi Zhang Kang who was clamoring to abandon his pen and join the army. , One by one, they went forward one after another, full of enthusiasm... This, shouldn't they turn around?

Zhao Zhen was simply puzzled.

Fortunately, during the half a year of Lu Ci's class with him, Zhao Zhen was no longer a closed palace prince who only listened to sage books, but at most learned some emperor's mind.He knew that although there was no difference in the official ranks, the ancestral precepts at the beginning of the founding of the Song Dynasty were there, and the future of military generals was no better than that of civil servants.

Even though he felt sorry and helpless about this, he knew not to touch it lightly.

So in the face of Zhang Kang, who seemed to have been beaten with iron, and insisted on drilling into the flames of war, because he cherished the other party's talent and future, he didn't want to let others get what he wanted.

Ten years of studying hard in the cold window, finally getting the title on the gold list, and winning the second-class bright future, how can he rush forward like a reckless man when he gets angry?

Zhao Zhen frowned, and decided to temporarily suppress this person so that Zhang Kang could calm down.

Unexpectedly, Zhang Kang waited for a few days without replying to the letter, thinking that he hadn't heard from heaven, and that he had already disappeared, so he was so excited that he wrote a few more letters.

After a visit to the meeting hall of Zhongshu Province, even if Zhao Zhen deliberately suppressed it for so many days, he couldn't hide it anymore.

Kou Zhun couldn't help being amused when he saw the memorial, so he specially asked the officials to ask a few words.

When Zhao Zhen heard that it was Zhang Kang again, he couldn't help but wave his hands and said, "If he handed over the paper again, let his elder brother teach him a good lesson with family law."

But Kou Zhun said: "He is bold, courageous, and quite good at military strategy. Now that the court is in short supply of generals, he tirelessly presents his strategy to control the enemy. Why don't the officials fulfill his wish?"

Zhao Zhen faltered and hesitated, not good at stating the reason.

Kou Zhun stared at the official's family for a while, then understood, and said with a slight smile: "The official's family is sympathetic to the ministers, and it is a blessing for the ministers; but the ministers eat the king's salary, and they should put state affairs first. In addition, this person has a good reputation. It would be a good thing for him to be transferred to a military position if he has real abilities."

Although military positions are not more expensive than civil positions, they have the advantage of being promoted quickly in times of war.Right now, the wolf son of Xixia is full of ambition and is on the rise again, and the war is about to break out.If Zhang Kang is really as capable as his strategy in Shangchen, and can seize this opportunity, he will surely be able to soar, and he will not have to wait for the cycle of research and development like civil servants, but will have to go up at least ten years.

Moreover, as far as Kou Zhun knows, Zhang Kang's temperament is completely different from that of his brother Zhang Kui: Although he is the younger brother among brothers, Zhang Kang is not only tall and burly, but also has a rough temperament, which is quite a bit of chivalry. Uninhibited, it runs counter to the elegance and simplicity advocated by Shilin.

Going on step by step, being squeezed out secretly, maybe you will stay in obscurity like this, so it's better to fight hard.

Presumably Zhang Kang was able to make up his mind to go to Shushu repeatedly, and he also weighed the pros and cons of it.

Zhao Zhen didn't know much about temperament.

After hearing what Kou Zhun said, he pursed his lips, and after a long silence, he nodded slightly.

Kou Zhun had already guessed that the soft-hearted little emperor would be moved. Seeing this, he smiled and said, "If the officials are still not at ease, they can send him to Lu Qiaotong. Didn't Lu Qiaotong just recommend a right-hand man to go there?" Weizhou is alone in charge, is there a shortage of people around? Sending Zhang Kang, firstly, Qiaotong can personally test whether he has real skills; secondly, it can solve the problem of Qiaotong's lack of people; The presence of the superior Shangguan also prevents Zhang Kang, who has generously joined the army, from being greedy for his hard work. Kill three birds with one stone, just right."

These words are right, right into Zhao Zhen's heart.

He nodded with a smile and said, "What Mr. Xiang said is deeply in my heart!"

——So it was decided.

The author has something to say: Note: About Zhang Kang, this person is excerpted from "Born in the Song Dynasty: The Story of the Northern Song Dynasty Shilin Jiangtan", some of which have already been mentioned in the previous notes.

Although the backgrounds of Zhang Kui and Zhang Kang are insignificant, the two brothers are up to the challenge and won the imperial examination successively.Zhang Kang was a Jinshi in the second year of Tianxi (1018), when he was only 20 years old.

The younger brother is fat, the elder brother is thin and thin, and their temperaments are even more different from each other. "Kui Qing is cautious, extravagant and indulgent." Zhang Kui".It roughly means that the elder brother is cautious and serious, and works seriously; the younger brother has a rough temperament and does not stick to trivial matters.Apparently, Zhang Kang belonged to the type of person who liked fame and fame and was bold and uninhibited, which was different from most literati at that time who admired elegance and interest.

Just like Jinshi who became an official in the era, Zhang Kang first served in the local area, served as a judge of the Guang'an Army (now Guang'an, Sichuan), and an official in Yingtianfu (now Shangqiu, Henan).During Ying Tianfu's tenure, he had the achievements of benefiting the people by controlling rivers and canals and eliminating floods, which was still recalled until the Southern Song Dynasty.In the later period of Song Renzong Tiansheng (about 1030), he was transferred to the general judge of the Zhenrong Army (now Guyuan, Ningxia), and his status was second only to the chief.Since Emperor Taizong of the Song Dynasty, Xixia has risen, and since then, the flames in the northwest have continued. It was not until the death of its chief Li Jiqian that the relationship between them eased.Zhenrong Army is an important town on the front line against Xia, and its defense responsibilities are very heavy.After Zhang Kang took office, Zhao Deming, the leader of Xixia, died, and his son Yuan Hao succeeded him.At that time, the situation seemed to be stable, but Zhang Kang, who knew a lot about military strategy, realized the hidden murderous intent through intelligence, so Emperor Shangshu issued an early warning, and offered the Northwest offensive and defensive strategies to the court more than ten times in a row.Song Renzong deliberately used his strategy, but unfortunately, Zhang Kang was suspended from his job to watch the funeral because of his mother's death.

Not long after, the Liao Dynasty gathered troops in Youzhou (now Beijing), and Song Ting had to pay attention to the defense of Hebei after learning about it.Because of Zhang Kang's previous performance, he was immediately deprived of love, but he was transferred from the original seventh-rank Tuntian member Wailang to Rujing envoy, that is, he was transferred to a military post of the same rank, and transferred to the Ansu Army on the front line against Liao (now Xuzhou, Hebei) Water) served as the chief officer, and the time was around December of the first year of Jinghu (1034).Before taking office, in addition to expressing his willingness to lead the way to the emperor, he also analyzed the situation and believed that Khitan was just a bluff.

The above experience shows that Zhang Kang was no longer a mediocre person when he first debuted as a local civil servant.Later, when he had the opportunity to contact the Northwest Frontier Defense, his characteristics of boldness, courage, and fame prompted him to actively serve the country, plan ahead and issue early warnings, and took the trouble to express his "offensive and defensive strategies", so he received the attention of the court.As a result, he resolutely embarked on the road of abandoning literature and pursuing martial arts. At least there is no record of his refusal or shirk from the literature.

It is not easy for Zhang Kang to join the army.

Under the official system of the Song Dynasty, not all those with the title of military officer were involved in military affairs. Many people who were in charge of warehouses, supervising taxation, serving documents, toilets and palaces, and even serving the medical profession belonged to the military career series.For example, eunuchs are all promoted according to the order of military officers.However, Zhang Kang not only went to the Hebei front line to serve as a local official like his predecessors Liu Kai and Chen Yaozi, but also served as a military leader in the Northwest and Xia battlefields for a long time, either guarding one side or commanding operations.It can be said that he is a military general who has truly experienced the flames of war.

In the first year of Baoyuan (1038), Yuan Hao proclaimed himself emperor, and the relationship between Song and Xia broke down.Around this time, Zhang Kang was transferred to the northwest, where he was under the jurisdiction of Bingma Qian of Jingyuan Road, and concurrently served as the magistrate of Weizhou (now Pingliang, Gansu).Weizhou is an important town in the west, and Jingyuan Road is one of the four defense areas on the front line of Shaanxi. The north faces the center of Xixia. , the worry of the world is also."When the war had not yet broken out, those in power obviously took a fancy to Zhang Kang's talent and courage, so they gave him such an important task.

That's where heroes come in.Zhang Kang, who is both resourceful and courageous, is in the right place, so he flexes his muscles.After the war against Xia, Zhang Kang repeatedly proposed solutions to the reasons for the Song Army’s defeat on the battlefield, such as suggesting to concentrate troops and command power, reduce the exchange of commanders and troops, strengthen communication guarantees, improve training quality, and avoid blind attacks, etc. etc. Some of the suggestions were adopted.From the Song Dynasty documents handed down from generation to generation, we can read many of Zhang Kang's military memorials. His views can be said to be knowledgeable, pragmatic, and most of them hit the key points.However, the good strategy of concentrating troops and commanding power was shelved because it was related to the traditional restricted area of ​​the Song Dynasty's decentralized imperial generals.

Zhang Kang is not only good at talking about troops on paper, what is rare is that he is also brave and good at using troops.In the first year of Qingli (1041), the Xixia Army captured Fengzhou (now between the northwest of Fugu County, Shaanxi Province and Jungar Banner, Inner Mongolia), an important border area of ​​the Song Dynasty, resulting in Linzhou (north of Shenmu County, Shaanxi Province today) and Fuzhou (now Shaanxi Province). The contact between Fugu) was interrupted, and the soldiers and civilians of each other could only stay in the isolated city.Back then, this area belonged to Hedong Road, not Shaanxi Road.The local area was originally short of water, but after the siege, the shortage of drinking water became even more scarce to the point of "a tael of gold, a cup of easy water".When the news reached the capital, the ruling minister was very worried. The result of the discussion in the court was to consider abandoning the two cities and retreating to the Baode Army (now Baode, Shanxi) on the east bank of the Yellow River to avoid being dragged down.In such a critical situation, Zhang Kang was appointed to take up the post and acted as Qian's supervisor, and was quickly sent to the front line to find out the truth.He arrived at the city of Fuzhou alone with superhuman courage. Because there were Xixia rangers around from time to time, the guards couldn't believe who was coming, and they were put into the city gate after showing the amulet.After Zhang Kang inspected it, he resolutely took on the defensive duty.He changed his predecessor's passive defense method, seized the favorable opportunity when the enemy army was slack, sent people out of the city to cut firewood, collect streams of water, build peripheral fortresses, control water sources, strengthen troop training and mobilize morale.They also took advantage of the night to send out surprise soldiers to regain the fortress Liulibao, thereby consolidating the city defense of Fuzhou.

Zhang Kang then took the initiative to use troops, trying to open up the connection with Linzhou City in the west.Around the beginning of the next year, Zhang Kang personally led [-] soldiers to transport supplies to reinforce Linzhou. On the way back, he was surrounded by tens of thousands of Xia troops. He encouraged the soldiers with the principle of "putting them to death and reviving them": You are already in a dead situation, go forward and fight There is still hope of survival, and retreating or fleeing will only result in massacres.At this moment, a strong wind suddenly blew up. He tactfully took advantage of the wind and led his courageous subordinates to charge. Not only did he defeat his opponent, but he also captured thousands of horses.Soon, Zhang Kang set up a trap in a place called Tumaochuan, and ambushed thousands of crossbowmen on the high ground around the river.At that time, in order to supplement the troops on the northwest battlefield, the imperial court recruited a group of scoundrels from inside and outside Kaifeng, and organized them into the "Wansheng Army".However, due to insufficient training and low quality, these soldiers became famous for their timidity when they came to the front line.Taking advantage of the enemy's underestimation of Wan Sheng's army, Zhang Kang ordered the elite Tiger Wing Army to pretend to be Wan Sheng's army, and then led them to confront Xia's army.At the beginning of the battle, the heedless Dangxiang army launched an attack, but unexpectedly encountered a strong opponent and was unable to attack repeatedly.Just as the two sides were in a stalemate, the Song army's archers in ambush launched a fierce attack from the flank and rear, and then defeated the party members and won a major victory of beheading more than [-] ranks.After the two battles, Zhang Kang lost no time in repairing five forts in important areas, and finally opened up the passage between Lin and Fuzhou.

Through Zhang Kang's series of military operations, he suppressed Dangxiang's offensive, boosted the morale of the Song army, and greatly improved the defense situation in the Lin and Fu areas. This was also one of the few victories in the Northern Song Dynasty's Yuxia War at that time.No wonder people in the Yuan Dynasty praised this when they compiled "History of the Song Dynasty": Zhang Kang started as a Confucian scholar, but he was proficient in strategy and dared to use troops.Documentary records about Xixia also admit the fact that Zhang Kang was defeated twice in a row.

In the vast Loess Plateau, it is difficult for the Song Army, which is dominated by infantry, to deal with the mobile and flexible Dangxiang cavalry.Through actual combat experience, Zhang Kang fully realized the important role of the fortress system in deterring cavalry, so he attached great importance to building fortresses.However, Zhang Kang continued to implement the plan to build the fortress, but encountered resistance from individual superiors.In the fourth year of Qingli, Zhang Kang was promoted to serve as deputy capital deployment, peace envoy along the border of Hedong and magistrate of Daizhou (now Daixian County, Shanxi), responsible for the defense of the central and north of Hedong.He actively advocated the expansion of the fort in the border area of ​​Lin, Fu and Xixia.At this time, the "Qingli New Deal" died not long ago, and Fan Zhongyan, who was in charge of it, left the court. In June, he went to Hedong as an imperial envoy of the Xuanfu envoy of Hedong and Shaanxi.Fan Zhongyan had long fought against Xixia in the northwest and was rich in military experience, so he supported Zhang Kang's plan and asked Song Renzong to issue an edict to make Zhang Kang responsible for completing the plan.However, Ming Hao, the magistrate of Bingzhou (now Taiyuan, Shanxi) and the comforter of Hedong Economic Strategy, disagreed.According to the official rules at the time, Ming Hao was the highest military commander in the Hedong area and Zhang Kang's immediate boss.Therefore, Minghao repeatedly issued official documents to suspend repairs.The stubborn Zhang Kang didn't buy it, saying that he was not afraid of offending the chief when he was ordered to act.He sealed up every ultimatum he sent without reading it, and urged his subordinates to rush to work day and night.After all the construction was completed, Zhang Kang unsealed the official documents and made an apology at the same time.In this way, the defense of the Hedong front line was greatly enhanced, and the garrison could be reduced by [-] troops each year. When Han Qi went to the Hedong in the future, he saw these fortresses and praised Zhang Kang's long-distance strategy.However, although Zhang Kang was not punished, he offended Ming Hao.

As a competent general, Zhang Kang has other things worthy of praise.He was strict in controlling the army, and he left a good reputation in the places where he led the troops.He is good at using the expertise of spies, especially praised by Song people.In the works of the famous literati Su Zhe, the vivid story of Zhang Kang Yongjian is also preserved.It is said that when Zhang Kang was guarding Gaoyang Pass (in the east of Gaoyang County, Hebei Province today), in order to grasp the movement of the Liao army, he did not hesitate to spend a lot of money to recruit spies.One day, a person came to see him and asked him to dismiss his attendants before telling him something important.Zhang Kang abused him first, and then sent away his followers.The visitor said to Zhang Kang: You make money like dung, but you don't use people, so you might as well use me.Zhang Kang scolded him indiscriminately again, pretending not to understand, so he had to tell the inside story.It turned out that the man's niece was not only beautiful in appearance, but also good at singing and dancing. She had been favored by the king since she was plundered by the Khitan people.Recently, his niece sent people to buy things in the territory of the dynasty, and he wanted to take this opportunity to learn about the movements of the Khitan people.Zhang Kang attached great importance to this relationship, and not only rewarded a lot of money, but also gave the spy his favorite "Purple Bamboo Whip".Since then, every move of the Liao army can be grasped in time.Indeed, in order to collect important information, one should be willing to spend money.However, these practices of Zhang Kang may not be understood by civil officials, especially those with ulterior motives (so bad luck later)