On the eighth day of the September 19th, it is advisable to hunt and capture. On this day, a full-scale war broke out against Dangxiang. Zhou Mei, a vanguard officer, led 5,000 elite soldiers, and advanced in multiple directions, eliminating countless tribes of Dangxiang all the way.

Behind the Pioneer Army is a 50,000 main army led by Zhao Zhen. This time the target is directly aimed at Xingzhou City, which is the old nest of the Dangxiang people. Since Li Ji moved to Xingzhou Prefecture, he has been working hard to run there. It can be said that as long as Xingzhou is still there, the Dangxiang people's foundation is still there. Even if most of their troops are lost, they may stand up again in the future.

However, this time the Song Dynasty planned to completely solve the Dangxiang, so the goal of this action was to take down Xingzhou City. Whether to kill or capture Li Yuanhao was secondary. After all, no matter how strong Li Yuanhao's ability was, it would only become a rootless fire without a foundation and would sooner or later be extinguished.

Just when the Song Dynasty's military commander pointed directly at Dangxiang, Zhao Zhen and Li Zhang, who were far away in the capital, also received the news. The reason why the news came so quickly was because the Imperial City Department used the method of Fei Ge's passing on the letter, so they brought the news of the war back to the capital within three days.

The method of using flying pigeons to transmit messages has been in ancient times. In the Tang Dynasty, the pigeons were called flying slaves. At that time, there were records of flying pigeons sending messages. However, using flying pigeons to transmit messages is not stable, especially the pigeons have to undergo special training. Some pigeons are reliable, and some pigeons may flee halfway. Of course, they may also encounter interception by raptors or human bows and arrows on the road, so the scope of this communication method is also limited.

However, the Imperial City Department has always been feeding pigeons, because the Imperial City Department is actually the intelligence department of the Song Dynasty. Originally, the Imperial City Department was mainly established by the emperor to supervise all officials. Later, it developed into an intelligence department that spreads its tentacles throughout the Song Dynasty and even extends its tentacles abroad. Sometimes some extremely important intelligence will also use the means of flying pigeons sending messages.

"The first battle was won, and Zhou Mei is indeed a man from the palace. She destroyed more than 30 Dangxiang tribes in just three days, clearing the way for the army behind. It seems that Dangxiang people are not very good." Zhao Zhen said excitedly as he looked at the information in his hand.

"Your Majesty, don't underestimate the Dangxiang people. This time we beat them by surprise. Moreover, General Zhao deliberately chose the time in September, which was to conclude that the Dangxiang people believed that this time was very close to winter, and no one would choose to risk sending troops at this time before, so he relaxed his vigilance. This is also one of the main reasons why General Zhou can achieve these results!" Li Zhang saw that Zhao Zhen looked down on the Dangxiang people a little, and immediately reminded him.

"I know, cousin, can't you make me proud?" Zhao Zhen said half-jokingly and half-seriously. In fact, he found that since he took power, Li Zhang has become much more serious and often pointed out some of his mistakes in governance. Although this is not a bad thing, Li Zhang's changes still make him unable to adapt.

Li Zhang smiled apologetically when he heard Zhao Zhen's words. In fact, he also discovered his own changes, but this cannot be entirely blamed, because now Zhao Zhen is no longer the puppet emperor without power in his hands, but is in control of a huge empire. His words and deeds are related to the welfare of countless people, so Li Zhang couldn't help but remind him often.

Zhao Zhen also understood what Li Zhang was thinking, so he didn't care too much. Then he asked Li Zhang again: "Cousin, do you think General Zhao can achieve our goal of seizing Xingzhou this time?"

"It's a bit too early to say this now. The Dangxiang people were not prepared before, so they were caught off guard. And now it's just General Zhou's vanguard fighting with the Dangxiang people. The real main army is still behind. We cannot judge their performance on the battlefield. Therefore, whether they can occupy Xingzhou depends on General Zhao Zhen's next performance." Li Zhang pondered for a moment before answering.

"My cousin is almost the same as me, but since General Zhao Zhen is recommended by Old General Cao, it must be fine. Moreover, this time I have transferred all the elite troops in the northwest to him to obey orders, and even the musket army has been handed over to him to command. If it is still impossible to achieve satisfactory results, it would be too disappointing." Zhao Zhen said softly at this time. Although he had not been in power for a long time, he had already felt a bit of emperor's aura at this time, and he also put a lot of pressure when speaking. If Zhao Zhen was here, he would probably be scared to kowtow and apologize.

However, Li Zhang was not affected at all. He only read the information twice, and then said, "I think Your Majesty doesn't have to worry too much about the war on the front line. After all, you don't need to doubt people, and you don't have to use people. Moreover, the northwest is so far from the capital, it's useless to worry about it no matter how much we worry about it. Why don't you think about what's next?"

"What's next?" Zhao Zhen looked at him with a puzzled expression when he heard Li Zhang's words.

"Yes, for example, General Zhao Zhen conquered Xingzhou like this, how should we rule next? If the war is not going well and we cannot conquer Xingzhou before the heavy snow is blocked, what should we deal with next? These are the issues that Your Majesty should consider." Li Zhang said with a smile again at this time.

"Cousin, do you think General Zhao may not be able to conquer Xingzhou?" Zhao Zhen was young after all, and had short experience in governing. At this time, he asked in a suffocating manner when he heard Li Zhang's words.

"Before you want to win, think about defeat first. And victory or defeat is a common thing for military strategists, so your Majesty should think of the consequences of failure before sending troops. Although the possibility of failure is very small in my opinion, we must make preparations if we want." Li Zhang smiled again.

"It makes sense. If it really fails, what do you think you should do?" Zhao Zhen nodded repeatedly when he heard this, and then asked again.

"Your Majesty knows the old story of Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty's campaign against Goguryeo?" Li Zhang did not answer Zhao Zhen immediately, but asked back.

"Of course I know that when Emperor Taizong of Tang conquered Goguryeo for the first time, the progress was smooth in the early stage, but unfortunately he was blocked by Anshi City. After a long attack, the morale of the Tang army was also affected, so Emperor Taizong of Tang had to withdraw his troops in the end." Zhao Zhen nodded at this time and said, history was a compulsory course for the emperor, and he even remembered that this period of history was learned with Li Zhang.

"Yes, it was originally possible that the Tang Dynasty's national strength and the weakness of Goguryeo, it was very likely that the Tang Dynasty would decide Liaodong in the battle. However, the situation on the battlefield changed rapidly, and no one knew what would happen next. Therefore, when the war situation was blocked, Emperor Taizong of Tang immediately ordered the withdrawal of troops. However, Emperor Taizong of Tang did not give up, but did something in the next few years. Does Your Majesty still remember it?" Li Zhang asked again inducement.

"I remember that Emperor Taizong of Tang adopted the strategy of harassing Goguryeo and ordered the generals Niu Jinda, Li Ji, Li Hai'an and others to take turns to harassing Goguryeo, which made Goguryeo exhausted and his national strength deteriorated day by day. Later, after Emperor Gaozong of Tang ascended the throne, he destroyed Goguryeo in one battle!" Zhao Zhen's eyes slowly lit up when he spoke, because he had already understood Li Zhang's intention.

"Yes, Goguryeo was originally a powerful country in Liaodong. Even with the national strength of the Tang Dynasty, it took nearly twenty years to destroy it. A mere Dangxiang naturally cannot be compared with Goguryeo. However, if the army is not good this time, Your Majesty does not have to be discouraged. You can treat Dangxiang as a place for training for the Song Dynasty and take turns to harass Dangxiang. Compared with our Song Dynasty, Dangxiang is just a small place, and it is mainly nomadic for living. If you fight for years, it will easily lead to their inability to obtain enough food, and their strength will become weaker and weaker. Perhaps we will not need to send troops to the Song Dynasty at that time, and Dangxiang will be destroyed by himself."

When he said this, Li Zhang deliberately paused and then said: "Of course, the above is just the worst situation. I still believe in the vision of General Cao, so if General Zhao Zhen takes down Xingzhou Prefecture in one fell swoop, then we may face two situations next."

"What two situations?" Zhao Zhen asked again in confusion when he heard this.

"The first situation is relatively worse. Although he took down Xingzhou City, Li Yuanhao escaped. Although this person was blown away by me, he was extremely tenacious and would never give up so easily. So next time he will definitely try his best to retake Xingzhou. At that time, our defenders in Xingzhou may have to face the harassment of the Dangxiang people."

"As for the second situation, it is much simpler. If General Zhao can kill or capture Li Yuanhao alive after seizing Xingzhou, there will be no troubles like the above. However, no matter which situation occurs, the court will face another problem."

"What problem?" Zhao Zhen said almost guiltyly at this time, because he had never considered what Li Zhang said before. Of course, this is related to his usual busyness. After all, he is the emperor, and his main energy is still on handling government affairs. It is impossible for Li Zhang to focus on the northwest like he did.

"It is easy to conquer, but it is difficult to govern!" Li Zhang said earnestly at this time. Xingzhou was the base camp of the Dangxiang people. Since Li Jiqian, the Dangxiang people have been operating there. Therefore, even if the Song Dynasty conquer Xingzhou, it would be a huge problem to rule this place unless everyone in Xingzhou is killed.

Zhao Zhen immediately woke up when he heard Li Zhang's words. He thought for a moment and immediately spoke: "It is indeed a problem to govern Xingzhou, but there are many officials in our Song Dynasty. If we send more officials there and then let the army station there, we should be able to stabilize the people's hearts quickly, right?"
Chapter completed!