Promotion and fortune in Song Dynasty

Crossing Liupan Mountain from Weizhou and walking for [-] miles, you will find the old city of Shuiluo located in Zhuanglang County, Tianshui. The date of its construction is unknown.

Similar to Qingjian City, Zhuanglang County is surrounded by mountains: Liupan Mountain on the northeast side, Guanshan Mountain on the southeast side, and a big river on the east side, and there is a small stream passing by it to the right. It is an out-and-out natural danger.

The Four Routes of Shaanxi made Zheng Jian's mind fall on Shuiluo City.

If we can expand the old city of Shuiluo, lobby the surrounding villages, and absorb the Qiang and Tibetans as soldiers, wouldn't we be able to obtain a strategically important area that is easy to defend and difficult to attack, and increase the number of troops by tens of thousands?

Without the precedent of Qingjian City, Zheng Jian would have to hesitate for a while: the results have proved that even the fledgling Zhong Shiheng can overcome the dry water problem that has plagued Qingjian City for hundreds of years.

Then when it was his turn to send someone into battle, how could it be worse than Zhong Shiheng's success?

Zheng Jian, as a civil servant, was honored by the imperial court this time, and was appointed as the commander-in-chief of the Four Routes, so he felt very honored.

Since the day he left Beijing, he had made up his mind to make contributions, to be loyal to the Holy One, and to add glory to the family.

However, what makes him regret is that the battle on the western front has always been stalemate, while the eastern front has shined brilliantly with Di Qing and others. He is the only one who is sandwiched between the two sides, and the supposedly crucial Jingyuan Road has fallen into obscurity. .

Every time a general on the Eastern Front receives an award from the capital, it arouses Zheng Jian's inner desire for fame.

And Chong Shiheng's success in building Qingjian City has undoubtedly given him great inspiration and confidence-this road borders Xifan and Xia Kingdom, if he can build a military stronghold that is not inferior to Qingjian City at the key point, he It is the light on the face.

It's just that when he first disclosed this intention to Wang Shao who knew Weizhou, Wang Shao objected without thinking.

Zheng Jian was unhappy, but Wang Shao had been stationed in Weizhou for more than half a year, and was in charge of the affairs of Weizhou, so he was very familiar with the situation in this theater.

Even the prefect of Weizhou sternly opposed it, just based on his proposal to the court in his capacity as a road strategist... One can imagine that after the Holy Majesty asked Wang Shao for his opinion, it would be difficult to achieve it.

Just when Zheng Jian was restless because of Wang Shao, the block in the way, the sudden rebellion in Guanzhong brought a turning point to the situation.

After learning that Wang Shao had left his post without authorization, Zheng Jian quickly wrote to the court: He blamed Wang Shao for stationing in the crucial Weizhou, but he did not obtain the emperor's order, let alone ask his superior for instructions, that is, the crime of leaving his post without authorization The second is to propose to the imperial court to expand the old city of Shuiluo, and the third is to strongly recommend Liu Hu and Dong Shilian, two officials who are close to him, who are civil and military.

When the soldiers sent to deliver the letter arrived in Bianjing, Zheng Jian received an imperial order to send Wang Shao to quell the rebellion in Guanzhong.

He couldn't help but secretly cursed Wang Shao for being lucky, knowing that if he wanted to inflict serious damage on Wang Shao, it might be difficult to achieve.

With this quick and powerful pacification, even if he was to be blamed for leaving his post without authorization, his precise judgment of fighter jets should not be ignored.

Even if merits and demerits are balanced, Wang Shao will most likely be able to escape this catastrophe.

But Zheng Jian was not discouraged: Even if Wang Shao could not do anything in the end, at least he could stop the other party who was in the way, and the matter of sending troops from Weizhou to build Shuiluo City would most likely fall into the hands of Liu Hu and Dong Shilian.

As for whether the imperial court will agree to his proposal to expand Shuiluo City, Zheng Jian has no doubts—with Qingjian City as an exciting jewel in front of him, how could Shuiluo City, which is similar to it, not approve it? ?

It has to be said that Zheng Jian really caught the thoughts of the court officials who had worked with him for many years, and even His Majesty.

Part of the credit must also be attributed to the beautiful vision outlined in his memorial.

In the memorandum, Zheng Jian first pointed out that on the west side of Ershui, which surrounds the old city of Shuiluo, there are hundreds of miles of fertile fields, and there are more than a dozen tribes of Xifan and Qiang people, who do not belong to each other, nor have they surrendered to Zhesiluo .

And the envoys he sent earlier have successfully persuaded several chieftains that they are all willing to donate their hostages and submit to the imperial court—as long as the imperial court is willing to replace their officials and send Song people to build a city here.

In this way, wouldn't it be possible to have tens of thousands of foreign students as soldiers for nothing without the need for royal stipends, or even without providing horses and other precious materials?

Not to mention that the construction of the city of Shuiluo will not only benefit the surrounding families, but also help the Song soldiers to stay away or defend in the future!

After all, Zheng Jian had already gone one step ahead and persuaded several chiefs. This solid evidence, coupled with the impassioned words, successfully got the courtiers, including the officials, to nod their heads.

There are foreigners who take the initiative to surrender and surrender, which is a testament to the majesty and grace of the Heavenly Family, and it can even fade away the adverse effects of the recent earthquake.

All they need to do is to promise some trivial official positions and build another city.

Amid all the fanatical praises, only Kou Zhun and Wang Zeng remained calm.

Kou Zhun was noncommittal about this proposal after all.

If Shuiluo City is really as easy to repair as Zheng Jian said, why has no one mentioned it?

It's just that he knows better that he hasn't been an official at the border for many years, and he knows nothing about the local war situation, and Zheng Jian, who is the chief of the road, is doing his best to push it. There is no evidence.

Wang Zeng also held similar thoughts.

Seeing that the officials were still in high spirits, they hastily approved Zheng Jian's documents, and everything was carried out quickly...

Wang Zeng waited patiently for a few days, and finally when he was discussing the affairs of the day, he seemed to mention Lu Ci's name unintentionally.

This simple sentence really reminded Zhao Zhen.

Only then did Zhao Zhen realize that he forgot to ask the little master for his opinion!

The location of Shuiluo City is sensitive, it is located at the intersection of Qinfeng Road and Jingyuan Road, if it is about the specific ownership, I am afraid that everyone has their own opinions, and it will take a lot of debate.

And Qinzhou is the state where Qinfeng Road was founded, and Lu Ci had worked here for more than three years, so he should be very familiar with the details of this area.

His opinion deserves careful consideration.

Zhao Zhen couldn't help feeling a little guilty, but he quickly persuaded himself: the young master will not hesitate to use his official position as a guarantee, and he will also vigorously promote Zhong Shiheng's construction of Qingjian City. Stronghold strategy.

From this point of view, the little master should also agree with this matter.

Moreover, soldiers are expensive and fast, and by the time the messengers come and go to Yanzhou, they have already missed the best time for the construction that Zheng Jian said, so it is okay to ask later.

When Lu Ci learned of this, the approved edict had arrived in Weizhou a few days earlier, and Liu and Dong, who were eager to try, had already raced against the clock to prepare for the construction of the fortification.

Di Qing was going to set off tonight, return to Qingjian City to reorganize the thoroughly repaired army, and continue the Northern Expedition.

After Lu Ci received the letter, he immediately sent someone to stop him from the city gate and bring him back to discuss and judge the matter together.

After hearing this, Di Qing couldn't help being taken aback, and blurted out: "This is not right!"

The situation of Shuiluo City and Qingjian City are similar at first glance, but they are completely different in essence.

To put it bluntly, Shuiluo City had to be repaired, but it picked the worst timing.

The Song-Tibetan alliance and Xia Liao saw each other, and the battle line was stretched too wide.

Because Yanzhou's momentum has always been sharp, Xia's soldiers have been defeated repeatedly, and they have successively attacked more than a dozen Xiazhai and two cities, successfully forcing the Khitan to increase troops in the Xia area, and finally restrained Di Qing's rampage.

And in this way, the Lord of Liao also took off his last disguise, and let the army openly wear Liao soldiers' costumes to fight against them.

Now that Khitan has joined the battle openly, the superficial superiority in military strength is gone. In the case that the east and west lines are already tight enough, the sensitive but still calm Shuiluo will only increase. Stronghold, Xia Liao will definitely not sit idly by.

Whether it is Xia Liao's obstruction of the expansion of Shuiluo City, or the attack on the new city, it is bound to disturb the current situation and bring unnecessary variables.

Di Qing is still very distrustful of the military vision and coping skills of the officer who will choose the road that was built at such a bad time: Although Liu Hu, who is in charge of the army in Weizhou, is a general, he has not yet established a bright eye in the battlefield. Merit, strength is uncertain; when Wang Shao was still in Guanzhong, once Xia Liao sent troops to Jingyuan and Qinfenglu, would Zheng Jian have sufficient preparations to counterattack or respond?

If Zheng Jian is unable to deal with it, his morale will be destroyed, the enemy's strength will be greatly increased, and the east and west fronts will be forced to divide troops for reinforcements.

Moreover, Zheng Jian still downplayed the huge losses that would be caused by the construction of the city.

The residences outside Liupan Mountain are all living people, and they have never paid grain and tax to Xia and Song Dynasties. It is conceivable that after the real consolation, the Holy One must also be lenient in taxes to stabilize people's hearts.

As a result, the local treasury, which was struggling with food supply due to the sudden increase in the garrison of the Song Dynasty, will inevitably be declared exhausted due to the sudden huge expenditure, and the tax millet allocated to other counties in a hurry can only be used for a while. What is needed is by no means a long-term solution.

The sudden chaos in Guanzhong is enough to prove that the people are getting poorer and weaker. Even if the city does not need to support the Fan soldiers after the city is built, the Song army has to be supplied and transported. It is not only hard work, but also afraid of robbers. Bing's beauty?

Lu Ci nodded, and sighed, "You still forgot about the other side of Sisi."

The new alliance between Song and Fan was not strong at all. Now it is only thanks to the common hatred for Li Yuanhao and the prospect of dividing up the benefits in the future that it can be so harmonious.

At a time when the war on the Western Front is over and the alliance still needs to be stable, to rashly accept the Xifan tribes who refuse to accept the rule of Zong Siluo is not the same as blatantly poaching the corners of the allies and creating unnecessary suspicions?

The expansion of Shuiluo City must also be limited by the terrain, and the scale is at most no more than thousands of troops.If you rely on the support of foreign soldiers outside, you will increase the risk of turning against customers.

And when Shuiluo was really in trouble, Qin and Wei prefectures still needed to send troops to rescue them-the mountains and mountains along the way would not only make it difficult for the Xia army to attack the village, but it would also be difficult for the Song army to reinforce them, which was really useless.

Di Qing said angrily: "I don't know if this person really doesn't know, or he is eager for quick success and did it on purpose!"

If it was the former, it would be short-sighted, only focusing on the influence of Shuiluo's local area, which can be said to be uncoordinated.

If it's the latter, it's really selfish and reckless to cause such a thing at such a critical juncture!

I'm afraid it's both.

Lu Ci replied in his heart, but his face was as calm as water, and he even smiled to comfort Di Qing: "Qinzhou has Xiwen now, and once Guanzhong is calmed down, Wang Weizhou will also return to his throne. At that time, you will have your own countermeasures. You don't have to worry too much, just concentrate on fighting That's it."

Having said that, Lu Ci had a faint premonition that a storm was coming.

Not for anything else, but for the timing——The transmission of information in various places is really too slow.

The little emperor's edict has been issued, and most of the fortifications have already been opened. Whether it is Liu Hu and others who are eager to make contributions, or Zheng Jian, who advocates this matter vigorously and does not hesitate to talk about advantages but not disadvantages, they are all determined to achieve this. .

As the head coach of Linlu, even if he managed to spare some energy, he could at best express his opinion when the Holy Majesty was inquiring, but he had no right to directly interfere with it anyway.

Those who were really capable of resisting were the timely return of Wang Shao, the magistrate of Weizhou, or Fan Zhongyan, the magistrate of Qinzhou who belonged to Qinfeng Road, who took advantage of the fact that Shuiluo City was located at the junction of the two roads to delay.

The most embarrassing thing for Lu Ci is whether it should be said, whether it should be blogged or not.

If he directly stated his true thoughts, the little emperor would be willing to accept it, but the result was nothing more than an urgent recall of the edict ordering to stop the construction of Luoshui.

But if the Luoshui Co-worker has already started, if the hope of the people who have been waiting for this is lost, then I am afraid that they will turn their faces ruthlessly and stir up public anger for no reason.

However, if the order is changed from day to day, and it is contradicted, it will also greatly damage the prestige of the court.

What if he was ambiguous and allowed Shuiluo City to succeed?

If Fan Zhongyan and Wang Shao had blocked him in time, his gentle response would not be able to support the two friends who had the same opinion as him, and put them in an embarrassing situation.

Moreover, the two factions are fighting each other, and the continued tug-of-war is very likely to make the regional war situation chaotic for a while, so that Xia Guo can take advantage of it.

Di Qing didn't know the various considerations in Lu Ci's mind, but he had always been extremely convinced of his lover.

Hearing this, he nodded honestly, and really didn't want to comment on it anymore.

When the thoughts calmed down, the strong reluctance that had been lingering in the first place spread again.

He murmured: "Grandpa."

Lu Ci looked at him with a smile: "Yes."

Di Qing pursed her lips, not daring to look any further, and said in a low voice as she walked towards the outsider, "Then... I'll go first."

Knowing that he couldn't see it, Lu Ci nodded lightly and replied with a smile, "Go early and come back early."

Di Qing's hearing is excellent, even though he was quite a distance away, he still heard these words clearly.

It was obviously a simple sentence, but the corners of his lips raised unconsciously, and the bitterness in his heart was instantly overwhelmed by more sweetness.

He has to work harder!

With all the intrigues and undercurrents in the court, his city is still too immature, and there is almost nothing he can do.

But with the grandfather here, he will definitely watch it steadily and make no mistakes.

And waited on the battlefield——

Di Qing got on his horse neatly and looked ahead, his eyes full of fighting spirit.

——It was his world.