Promotion and fortune in Song Dynasty

Although the expedition on the Eastern Front is progressing smoothly, for some reason, Di Qing has been feeling a little restless lately.

I often wake up in the tent in the middle of the night, and the night is quiet, but I feel flustered.

Before this inexplicable sense of strangeness disappeared completely, just to be on the safe side, Di Qing simply stopped the pace of continuing the Northern Expedition. While ordering the construction of a stronghold on the spot for repairs, he carefully sorted out the complicated information on the road, trying to find out what caused his emotional distress. determined reason.

If it was still the time when Di Qing was in charge of the Eastern Army, he would have been accused of delaying the military plan if he stopped marching for no reason and built a stronghold for repairs.

However, in the past half a year, although his advances have been fast and slow, he has always been able to achieve the best results. The excellent performance has been fully recognized and convinced by the entire army.

Because of this, when he suddenly made this decision, the entire army obeyed, and there was not even half a doubt when it was implemented.

And Di Qing sorted it out in private, which really made him feel a little strange.

——This road going north is too smooth.

Although the war on the western front was at a stalemate, after the Xia army put all the main forces on, it inevitably led to a emptiness of defense on the eastern front.

However, according to Liao Kingdom's consistent style of muddying the pond for profit, when supporting Xia Kingdom in defending the eastern border, they would not be stingy and send only [-] cavalry from Xiao Zong Yuna.

Especially after Xiao Zongyu's trilogy was attacked by him and Xu Huaide back and forth and completely destroyed, more soldiers should come in to fill in the increasingly torn gap.

With Lord Liao's arrogance and Lord Xia's cunning, how could he just swallow a mouthful of uselessness and let him sing triumphant songs in a peaceful way, advancing all the way?

Di Qing frowned.

Could it be that he exposed his flaws and made him carelessly underestimate the enemy, and when this lone army penetrated deep into the enemy's belly, he could use the net that he had laid beforehand to catch them all in one go?

Or do you want to guide them to underestimate the enemy so that they can use tricks such as false surrender later?

Or...

Thousands of thoughts flashed through Di Qing's mind very quickly, and each of them seemed quite possible.

After all, their opponents are extremely despicable and shameless villains who can even beat up their sons, cheat every battle, and do everything possible to disturb their army's morale.

It is really hard to predict what kind of despicable means they will use.

Thinking about this, Di Qing made a final decision: temporarily shelve the plan to go further north and attack more stockades, but set up camp here to repair and closely investigate the movements of the approaching Xia army.

On the tenth day after he issued this order, the urgent letter from Beijing and Zhongzhong brought a piece of bad news that knocked him out of his wits.

——The capital was shaken, a palace collapsed, Lu Canzheng was injured in resuscitation, and was resting in bed in the palace.

When Di Qing was caught off guard by the news that his lover was 'injured', he felt palpitations and shortness of breath, and almost didn't bring it up, his eyes went black.

The mysterious fluster that made him restless day and night was fulfilled here!

If he hadn't been sane, he really wanted to grab the innocent messenger in front of him and throw out a hundred or eighty questions.

How did it hurt?Where is the injury?How is the injury?

Even though Di Qing was still able to restrain himself on the surface, he must be worried in his heart because he didn't know that this promising upstart in front of him had a close relationship with the equally valuable politician in Beijing.

After Di Qing breathed a sigh of relief, he hurriedly said: "Di Ling is in charge, don't worry. When I left the capital, I heard that Lu Canzheng's injuries are not life-threatening. The injuries are mostly skin and flesh, but only superficial to the heart."

Di Qing reluctantly twitched the corners of his mouth, nodded and thanked the concerned person, and after watching him leave, he didn't feel much relief from this answer.

In that short letter, it was clearly pointed out that "rest in bed" means that although life is safe, the injury is definitely not serious, otherwise how could he not be able to walk?

Just imagining the scene of Lu Ci being injured and in great pain... Di Qing felt as if someone was tightly grasping his heart, throbbing with pain.

Originally thought that the grandfather was in the prosperous and comfortable Bianjing, and it should be safest.Unexpectedly, natural disasters and man-made disasters happened from time to time, and even the grandfather could not escape.

Di Qing closed her eyes and sat in front of the case in silence for a long time before she really settled down and began to write the letter with trembling hands.

However, his fingers trembled and the nib of the pen was shaken endlessly, and the handwriting that fell on the paper was so messy that he couldn't recognize it, let alone others.

Di Qing destroyed three pieces of paper in a row, couldn't help but let out a long breath, concentrated his energy, and then restrained the trembling all over his body, and quickly wrote down questions one after another.

I don't know how long it took, but he finished the letter with great difficulty. With so much on his mind, he carefully branded the wax on it and put it aside.

Just prepare to wait patiently for a few days, so that it will be sent out with the military newspaper.

After everything was done, Di Qing was able to distract himself and think about the other impacts this sudden earthquake could bring.

——Should we retreat?

After Di Qing was keenly aware of this, he couldn't help but frowned.

At this critical moment, any slight wavering or retreat will mean that all previous efforts will be wasted and morale will be destroyed.

The western front is stiff but not collapsed, what is inseparable is the eastern front's step by step to frighten Xia people's hearts, so that Li Yuanhao dare not easily deploy troops to help; and every time the eastern front captures a stronghold, the western front will completely contain it The main force of the Xia army has been captured, and there is no time for Donggu's hard work.

——No, absolutely impossible.

As soon as this worry arose, Di Qing quickly dispelled it.

Even a blunt person like him can see a crucial point, how could his grandpa, who is a hundred times smarter than him, not be able to see it?

And with Gongzu's usual style, even if he was injured, he would never allow this absurd thing to happen, he must try to stop it.

With strong confidence in Lu Ci who was sitting in the rear, Di Qing miraculously calmed down a lot.

It wasn't until a month later that he got another urgent letter from Jingzhong Express, and he was in a mess again.

The letter stated that General Cao Wei had received a new transfer order and would take Fan Yong's place as the head coach of the Western Front, and he would take up his post today.

As for the former coach Fan Yong, who had been unable to achieve results for a long time, he had to return to Beijing to personally report the battle situation instead of exchanging duties with General Cao Wei.

The Eastern Front coach who became vacant after Cao Wei's departure will inevitably send another senior member of the Beijing Central Committee to take over.

Di Qing glanced across the front, subconsciously only searching for the most concerned content.

When the short sentence that Lu Ci had recovered was caught at the end, the boulder that had been hanging all this time finally fell gently.

— fortunately.

Di Qing just felt all kinds of joy welling up in his heart, and his eyes returned to the beginning of the letter. After rereading the sudden change in the appointment of generals, he couldn't help becoming nervous.

He knew very well that the imperial court's use of troops was not good, not only because of the use of literature to control the military, but also because of the predicament that the soldiers did not know their generals and the generals did not know their soldiers.

The reason for frequently changing border generals is obviously that the founding emperor Zhao Kuangyin, who was born as a general, followed his example and sent troops to fight against the imperial power in order to guard against the military attache's power.

This also means that even a general who is good at arranging troops and full of strategic strategies is commanding an army that he has never met before and is only temporarily transferred to his command, and rushing into battle to kill the enemy... the difficulty is great , as one can imagine.

I am afraid that only Cao Wei, a seasoned natural general with experience, can be an exception.

Di Qing had been personally taught by Cao Wei, and he was full of admiration for this warrior who had traveled to the border states during his military career, and wherever he went, he was able to leave a distinctive mark on the trilogy most efficiently.

He had no doubts that General Cao Wei, who had fought a coordinated battle with Zong Siluo, could easily take over the army that had been under Fan Yong's command for more than half a year, and even reborn him from Nirvana, showing his true strength.

But how could the wealthy civil servant sent by the court to ban Fan Yong and take over Cao Wei's position as the east line coach be able to control General Cao Wei's trilogy!

What I am most afraid of is not that the opponent is weak and incompetent, but that he acts recklessly: those civil officials who do not understand the art of war but despise military officers are eager to completely control the army, and they do not hesitate to disrupt all the arrangements of the previous commander and arbitrarily transfer generals in order to place their confidantes Behavior has been common in the past.

But if the new coach who succeeded Cao Wei did this, it would be tantamount to tearing apart a well-arranged tight line of defense-and once it collapsed, the consequences would be disastrous!

Di Qing felt shuddering.

He racked his brains and began to think, besides Fan Yong, which other respected and respected veterans in the court would be most likely to be elected?

The names that came to mind after that all made him deeply uneasy.

But at this very moment, no matter how much he hated his own people for being soft-spoken and felt anxious, there was nothing he could do.

Only while suppressing anxiety and waiting for news about the new coach candidate, he ordered the army to move out and continue to advance north.

But this time, he no longer pursued the high speed of the military: every time he captured a fortress, he had to carry out simple repairs, build new damaged parts, and repair them for at least two or three days before continuing to the hinterland of the Xia Kingdom, in case there were frauds ahead. , was suddenly attacked by the Liaoxia ambush.

When the "respected old minister" Lu Ci finally persuaded the reluctant little emperor, he took the confession of appointing him as an economic and strategic appeasement envoy, and rushed day and night to arrive in Yanzhou at the fastest speed...

Di Qing had already led the thousands of Eastern troops to the area of ​​Kuanzhou, which was [-] li away.

Lu Ci didn't expect the little raccoon slave to run so fast and so far, and he had no impression of Kuanzhou, a remote place name that had long been deserted.

He simply summoned Zhong Shiheng, who had been appointed as a prisoner by Di Qing before, and asked him directly about Qingjianchuan's situation.

After hearing Lu Ci's straightforward question, Zhong Shiheng couldn't help being slightly taken aback.

How strange is the question of non-existence? Even if it is a local in Yanzhou, there are many people who know nothing about Kuanzhou, which was established by the previous dynasty and has rapidly declined, let alone foreign officials who have just arrived?

It's just that he has seen too many senior officials who want to save face and would rather pretend to understand than ask questions. Now that Lu Ci is openly asking him questions in public, he can't tell for a while. Whether the other party really didn't know, or deliberately tested him.

But Lu Ci waited for a while, but didn't hear Zhong Shiheng's answer, so he couldn't help giving a soft "hmm", raising his eyebrows to urge him.

Zhong Shiheng quickly came back to his senses, collected his scattered thoughts, and answered Lu Ci's question in a serious manner.

Although he was ordered to garrison here for only half a year, he has done enough homework and knows everything about the surroundings hundreds of miles away.

When Lu Ci asked about the big and small forts near Yanzhou, Zhong Shiheng always answered fluently, and he didn't forget to add a little personal analysis.

Zhong Shiheng also had his eye on the Kuanzhou area where Di Qing went straight to.

Any general with a certain strategic vision can easily see that the defense of the abandoned city of Kuanzhou is the key to the safety of the entire Yanzhou.

The area around Yanzhou is sparsely populated, and the defenders are sparsely distributed. To resist the invasion of the Xia people who are staring at each other, they rely most on the fortresses with mutual horns.

As for the abandoned city of Kuanzhou, the defense can be consolidated to the right, the grain road in the east of the river can be connected to the left, and Xiaguoyin and Xiazhou are close to the north.

Hearing Zhong Shiheng's hype, Lu Ci couldn't help but smile slightly, and said: "Kuanzhou is located in a confidential place, but it has been abandoned for a long time. There must be extremely fatal flaws, which makes Xia Guo 'disdain' to fight for it."

"That's right!" Zhong Shiheng grinned and replied crisply: "There is no water in the dry city, but there is a river outside the city."

It is impossible for a city that relies entirely on external water to become a military barrier: once the water flow outside the city is controlled by the enemy, the people in the city can only sit and wait for death. How can we talk about countermeasures?

What's more, in Kuanzhou, a place where military strategists must fight, even if they want to build a city, they have to build it while fighting. It is a difficult job that ordinary people can't handle.

Lu Ci smiled.

——What he saw in Zhong Shiheng's eyes was clearly full of eagerness to try.