When the officials saw Zhang Yue's letter, they felt a little at ease.
Zhang Yuezao knew that this was how Xining analyzed the situation in Khitan when he came to Beijing in the sixth year of his stay, and now he has even more solidified his judgment with intelligence analysis.
He originally had the intention to adjust the rules and get better at Jiaozhi, but now that's all.
However, before Jiaozhi was established as a general, Wu Chong promoted Guo Kui. However, Wang Anshi did not like Guo Kui, so he instead recommended Wang Shao to the officials, who was now demoted to the prefecture.
Wang Anshi strongly recommended Wang Shao in front of the emperor, saying that Wang Shao got half of Xihe's merits and Zhang Yue got the other half. Later, although Wang Shao committed crimes, he was just able to make meritorious deeds.
After hearing this, the officials felt that Wang Shao was not qualified enough to lead the army, so they made Guo Kui, the Hedong military envoy, the commander-in-chief, and Wang Shao was his deputy. They sent the two men to fight against Jiaozhi.
Wu Chong objected, saying that Guo Kui and Wang Shao had an old grudge when they were in the northwest, and how should they cooperate.
After hearing this, the officials dismissed Wang Shao's intention to join the army and only let Guo Kui lead the army alone.
Guo Kui planned to use 100,000 soldiers south of the Yangtze River and more than 400,000 civilians. When Wang Shao heard about it, he said that he was incompetent, which angered Guo Kui.
Although the officials did not appoint Wang Shao, they thought of his military skills and pardoned his crime.
At this time, Li Xian's commander-in-chief Zhang Kai's proposal for the use of troops on Xihe Road was submitted to the officials for review. The officials were overjoyed after reading Zhang Kai's proposals and immediately added Zhang Kai to the Longtuge Pavilion.
In order to prepare for the Liao Kingdom's southward march, the officials had to accept Zhang Yue's suggestion to prepare for war in Hebei.
Han Jiang was sent to Taiyuan Prefecture, Wen Yanbo was sent to Daming Prefecture, Zhang Yue was stationed in Zhending Prefecture, and Zhang Zhi was stationed in Daizhou. Han Qi's nephew Han Zhengyan knew that Xiangzhou was a confidant or old minister, and guarded these key places in Hebei.
In fact, from the early Song Dynasty, Zhao Kuangyin and others were all originally from Hebei, and the leadership team that conquered the world in the Song Dynasty all came from the Hebei military group.
Even Guo Wei and Chai Rong are both from Hebei.
Therefore, the emperors of the Song Dynasty were very guarded against the generals of Hebei, but in order to resist the Khitan, they had to rely on them.
After the Chanyuan Alliance, Hebei's elite soldiers, who were the best in the world, were deliberately left idle by the imperial court and weakened into useless materials. They have long lost their original momentum of conquering the world.
Despite this, the Beizhou Mutiny could shock everyone in the imperial court into a cold sweat.
Yes, the power of the Khitan nation is not as good as before, but the troops and horses of the four armies of Hebei are even more useless, and there are not even a few horses left.
Now, in the officialdom, Wang Anshi has to bring order to the country and reorganize the situation in Hebei. At the same time, he has to regain ground in negotiations with the Khitans.
From the perspective of defense in Hebei, there are three roads leading directly to Bianjing, one is from the east of Taihang Mountain to the south, and the other two are Hebei East Road and Hebei West Road. From a historical point of view, the people guarding these three roads happened to be the Tang Dynasty.
The three towns of Heshuo were a huge headache for the imperial court in the last years.
Zhang Yue stationed the Xuanfu Division in Zhending Prefecture. This was the route of the Hebei West Road Transfer Envoy, and it was also where Zhending Prefecture managed the appeasement road. At the same time, it was adjacent to Dingzhou on the right, which would be Zhongshan Prefecture in the future, and Heshuo in the past.
Chengde Jiedushi of the three towns was located, and he led Daizhou in Hedong on the left, blocking the Liao Kingdom's path south from the southern foot of Taihang Mountain.
The north of Zhending Mansion is opposite Weizhou on the Xijing Road of the Liao Kingdom, and it is only a few hundred miles away from Datong Mansion in Xijing where Emperor Yelu Hongji of the Liao Kingdom lived.
Placed here is the Liao Kingdom's most elite 300,000-strong tent room army.
Brothers Cai Jing and Cai Bian have advised Zhang Yue: You now command both Hedong and Hebei troops, but you will station the Xuanfu envoy in Bianjing to face the heavy troops of the Liao State. If Song and Liao go to war, it will be really difficult.
Dingfu is the place where the front line cannot be on the front line.
Cai Bian suggested that it would be better to retreat to Daming Prefecture. Before the Chanyuan Alliance, the Song Dynasty blocked the Liao at all levels, setting up the main formation at Tanghe, the middle formation at Xingzhou, and the rear formation at Daming Prefecture.
Therefore, it is more appropriate for Zhang Yue to be based in Xingzhou or Damingfu.
However, Zhang Yue refused.
You only consider these things, but you don't understand the official's thoughts.
Aren't the officials unwilling to fight with the Liao Kingdom? Well, I, Zhang Yue, will put on a posture for you as a Xuanfu envoy to guard the country.
If the Liao cavalry goes south and hits the Yellow River, you don't need to find someone to settle the score with the officials, because I, Zhang Yue, must have sent me my tribute first.
Otherwise, the Emperor's heart cannot be at ease.
Zhang Yue said to the officials that the foundation of the world lies in Hebei, and the foundation of Hebei lies in Zhending. The population and military resources of Zhending Prefecture are very important, which is enough to prevent the Khitan soldiers from going south and becoming the gateway to the country.
Zhang Yue himself went to the front line to guard the door, which was also a disguised form of forcing your officials to make a decision. Finally, he imitated Jiang Wei and cursed, "I am willing to fight to the death, so why did your majesty surrender first?"
Defense includes linear defense and depth echelon defense.
Zhang Yue deployed all the elite troops from Hebei on the outer lines, Zhending and Dingzhou.
Why? Because Zhending, Dingzhou (Zhongshan), and Hejian are all populous counties in Hebei, and they cannot be given up easily. Taking Zhending Prefecture as an example, there are more than 83,000 households and a population of 410,000.
Although Zhang Yue judged that the Liao Kingdom would not engage in a major war and would at most engage in border friction, he still had to prepare for war as if the Liao Kingdom was overwhelming and heading south.
Once Yelu Hongji had a seizure and led the Liao cavalry southward, Zhang retreated to the cage city because of unfavorable results in the cross-country battle.
Zhongshan, Zhending Prefecture, Bianjing City, and Taiyuan City, which were the shame of Jingkang in history, were destroyed, but they were still holding on. These two prefectures were populous counties. They were not only self-sufficient, but once the Liao Dynasty invaded, they would also cut off their return route and attack behind them.
Of course this is just in case.
Zhang Yue took charge of Zhending, and at the same time issued orders to mobilize troops and generals, purge soldiers and horses in Hebei and Hedong, and repair city defenses. In short, all the scripts were followed for the war with the Liao Kingdom.
All transshipment and strategic envoys in Hebei and Hedong are actively preparing for war.
Sometimes Zhang Yue would take his entourage to the border of Song and Liao to see the situation.
Lu Gongru of Zhizhending Prefecture often advised Zhang Yue to be careful, because the Liao army often invaded the border, so this move was quite risky.
But Zhang Yue refused to listen. Instead, he often took Lu Gongru with him to patrol the border. Lu Gongru was Lu Gongzhu's biological brother and an in-law of the Zhang family. Because of this relationship, the two got along very well.
Zhang Yuexun looked at the people in Zhending Mansion who had started spring plowing. Most of the people's fields here were wheat, but there were rivers in Zhending Mansion, and the government also encouraged the people to plant rice.
Under the spring light, Zhang Yue and Lu Gongru smiled when they saw the common people farming comfortably by the river with bare legs.
Lu Gongru said with emotion: "The people of Hebei have lived in peace and quiet for seventy years. They really can't bear to let the war destroy this tranquility."
Zhang Yue could hear the deep feelings in Lu Gongru's words. He was the father-in-law of Zhending Mansion, so he had the feeling of loving the people like a son.
But such feelings are often viewed as weakness and fear of war.
Zhang Yue was a little embarrassed, so he didn't answer. At this moment, he suddenly saw a cavalry galloping in the distance.
This is the border between Song and Liao, and Zhang Yue's left and right cavalry were on guard when they saw it.
"They are soldiers and horses from Daizhou!"
Everyone was relieved after hearing this, and Zhang Yue smiled when he saw one of the cavalry in front.
But when he saw the leader of the other party's cavalry, he raised his whip and waved desperately to himself: "Third uncle, third uncle, it's me, Ah Xi!"
After saying that, the other party jumped off the horse and came straight to him.
Suddenly, Zhang Yue seemed to see the scene where the other person ran towards him every time he came home from school more than ten years ago.