Chapter 0693 Zhu Neng's thoughts are a little crazy (6000 word chapter!)
Kou Ji glanced at Zhu Neng and said, "You and I have no grievances, but we have a deep friendship. How could I harm you?"
When Zhu Neng heard this, he stared, as if he was flying fiercely, and approached Kou Ji, shouting: "Then why are you talking nonsense to the officials and asking me to be a pioneer?"
Kou Ji looked at Zhu Neng in astonishment, "Wouldn't it be better for you to be the vanguard?"
Zhu Neng puffed his beard angrily and said with a glare: "In the big tent just now, there was one person for each other. Go and ask them to see who is willing to be the vanguard. No one is willing.
They all know that Xingqing Mansion is a tough guy. Whoever opens his mouth first will have his teeth broken first, so no one is trying to grab him.
You actually shouldered the burden of such a hard job for me.
Aren’t you harming me?”
Kou Ji glanced at Zhu Neng and said: "If you want to take on a big responsibility, how can you just fight in smooth battles? Only by occasionally fighting hard battles can you show your ability and let the officials see your talents."
Zhu Neng hummed and said: "There are so many people in the tent. Are there people who are more talented than me, Zhu Neng? Why don't you see them show off their talents?"
Kou Ji curled his lips and said: "Those who are incompetent among them are naturally unwilling to go out and show off. Those who are capable do not go out to show off because it is useless to show off."
Zhu Neng was stunned and stared at Kou Ji suspiciously: "What do you mean by this?"
Kou Ji said calmly: "If a person who is incompetent takes the initiative to be a vanguard general, he is seeking death. If a person who is capable takes the initiative to be a vanguard general, there is not much benefit."
"What are the benefits?!"
Zhu Neng raised his eyebrows, grabbed Kou Ji, and said hurriedly: "Tell me carefully, what are the benefits?"
Kou Ji looked at Zhu Neng and said, "Is the position of deputy privy envoy considered a benefit?"
Zhu Neng's eyes widened in astonishment and he said in astonishment: "You mean... Privy Councilor?"
Kou Ji emphasized his tone and repeated: "It's the Deputy Privy Envoy!"
Zhu Neng licked the corner of his mouth and whispered: "We don't even dare to think about it."
Kou Ji rolled his eyes and cursed in a low voice: "Come on..."
Zhu Neng chuckled and didn't say anything back. He urged Kou Ji: "Tell me quickly what secrets there are."
Kou Ji said frankly: "The position of deputy privy envoy has been vacant for a long time. There was no suitable candidate before, but it is different now. I, the Song Dynasty, successively conquered Yanyun and Xixia, and many generals emerged.
Once Xixia is conquered, many lords will probably emerge in the future.
With so many generals emerging, they naturally need someone to guide them.
The position of deputy privy envoy can no longer be vacant.
The officials have previously dealt with the Gao family and suppressed other generals, which shows that the officials do not want to see the people in the generals continue to cause trouble in the government and the opposition.
Therefore, when officials choose deputy privy envoys, they will definitely not choose from generals.
It is very likely that the officials will choose among the newly promoted lords like you.
Let you become another force in the court to check and balance the generals.
Those who are qualified to serve as deputy privy envoys were all in the Chinese army's tent just now.
Among them, Guo Yi and Liu Qi do not have enough status and can be excluded.
Wang Kai's qualifications are too young and can be eliminated.
Liu Heng was born as a hawk and was not suitable for the position of deputy privy envoy.
The only ones left are you and Zhong Shiheng.
Zhong Shiheng has been in charge of Qingjian City for a long time and has made great achievements in both civil and military affairs.
If the officials call him to return to the court, and if he agrees, the officials will definitely let him serve as deputy privy envoy.
Although you have a lot of martial arts skills, you don't have much martial arts skills.
If you want to defeat Zhong Shiheng, you should show your loyalty and talents to the officials."
Zhu Neng thought about it: "You want me to show my talents to the officials?"
Kou Ji slowly shook his head and said: "No... it's loyalty!"
Zhu Neng was stunned.
Kou Ji whispered: "Zhong Shiheng has been sitting in Qingjian City for more than ten years. Today's Qingjian City is just like the prefecture during the founding of the Song Dynasty. Zhong Shiheng has the ability to turn Qingjian City into a town.
The meaning of vassal.
Even if he is just trying to protect himself, the officials will look at him with scrutiny.
Both the government and the public will doubt his loyalty.
Although you are not as good as Zhong Shiheng in terms of culture and governance, you are more loyal than Zhong Shiheng. So if there is a choice between you and Zhong Shiheng, the official family will definitely choose you.
It is one thing for civil and military ministers in the court to be capable, but it is another thing to be loyal.
Sometimes, loyalty is more important than ability."
After Kou Ji's analysis, Zhu Neng also understood the truth behind it. He nodded and said: "That's true... Most of the people who can appear in front of the official family have already passed the test in terms of their talents.
There is no need for officials to care too much about talents.
Officials care more about who is more loyal and who is more obedient."
Kou Ji nodded slowly.
Zhu Neng also worked as an errand in the imperial city. He had witnessed many things in the palace and knew what the official family needed most.
He didn't dare to think about the deputy privy minister before, so he didn't think about it.
Now that Kou Ji analyzed it for him in detail, he naturally saw the clue clearly.
Zhu Neng said with emotion: "I didn't expect that I, Zhu, would become a general or a general. Deputy Privy Envoy, I didn't dare to think about it before."
Kou Ji then sighed and said: "I never thought you could serve as deputy privy envoy before. After all, you came from my grandfather's family. It is impossible for you to enter the center before our grandfather and grandson completely lose power.
But I didn't expect it to be so unpredictable.
You were actually the one who made the greatest contribution in this war against Xixia.
If you have merit, the officials will naturally reward you.
It's just that you are already the Duke of the country, and moving up to a higher level of title is already the limit.
Don't even think about it once you're waiting for me.
Nowadays, my grandfather is the only first-class Duke in the government and the public. It is impossible for the officials to promote you to the first-class Duke to be on par with my grandfather.
Therefore, most of your merits can only be compensated by your official position.
If the officials don't want the generals to enter the center, then your hope of entering the center will be greatly increased."
Zhu Neng heard Kou Ji's words and curled his lips and said: "Now that Xingqing Mansion has not been captured, it is not certain who has the greatest credit."
Kou Ji rolled his eyes and said: "The officials are the commanders in charge of the siege of Xingqing Mansion. No matter who captures Xingqing Mansion, the greatest contribution must be given to the officials.
Do you guys have the guts to take credit from the officials?"
Zhu Neng was stunned and said with twitching lips: "The officials are trying to take credit from us?"
Kou Ji glanced at Zhu Neng and said, "Don't officials need credit? Officials also need to help their ancestors look good."
"But this is too..."
"What's the matter? What's the use of Li Deming's head? If you take Li Deming's head, the officials will make an exception and make you a first-class public servant. You will be immediately recalled to Bianjing City. From now on, you will do nothing but eat and wait for death.
Can't do it.
Zhong Shiheng is unwilling to take the initiative to ask Ying to serve as a vanguard general. Do you think he is afraid of the Xixia people in Xingqing Mansion?
Although there are many Xixia people in Xingqing Mansion, we have more troops outside Xingqing Mansion.
To put it bluntly, the number of people in Xingqing Mansion at the moment may not be as large as our soldiers and civilians.
We have an absolute advantage in military strength, and it will be a matter of time before we capture Xingqing Mansion.
Even if Zhong Shiheng serves as a vanguard general and takes the lead in attacking Xingqing Mansion and suffers one or two defeats, he will definitely take down Xingqing Mansion.
If he took the lead in conquering Xingqing Mansion and the officials raised his title to a higher level, they would definitely call him back to the court.
Part of the reason why he refused to serve as a vanguard general was that he couldn't let go of his family property in Qingjian City.
Even a saint cannot give up the family property that he has worked hard for more than ten years to give up easily, let alone one that is of great value to the world.
Another part of the reason is that he doesn't want to go back to Bianjing and become an idler."
After Zhu Neng listened to Kou Ji's words, he said blankly: "According to your opinion, Xingqing Mansion can't fight?"
Kou Ji said calmly: "We led so many soldiers and horses to Xingqing Mansion, how could we not fight?"
Zhu Neng smiled bitterly and said: "But whoever wins the first prize will become an idler."
Kou Ji stared.
Zhu Neng seemed to have thought of something and hurriedly said: "If you give the greatest credit to the officials, there will be no need for it."
Kou Ji nodded slowly.
Zhu Neng clucked his lips and said: "But attacking Xingqing Mansion is a hard job. I'm afraid the vanguard troops will lose a lot, and they may return without success."
Kou Ji glanced at Zhu Neng and said, "We still have a lot of grenades, cannonballs, and crossbows left. You can dispatch some more catapults, prepare some stone bombs, and fire bombs. Then throw them all in at once. Maybe it will have a miraculous effect."
Zhu Neng stared at Kou Ji blankly, "Vanguard soldiers and horses, can we still fight like this?"
Kou Ji spread his hands and said: "I just learned..."
Zhu Neng said in astonishment: "Who did you learn it from?"
Kou Ji said frankly: "Emperor Yelu Longxu of Liao..."
Actually it doesn’t count.
Kou Ji heard a lot of similar combat methods in later generations.
It's just that Kou Ji couldn't bring up the examples of later generations, so he could only blame the Liao Emperor.
Anyway, this is what the Liao Emperor did at Tongtai Pass.
When Zhu Neng goes to check, he can also find out about immigration.
Zhu Neng said with a surprised look on his face: "Emperor Yelu Longxu of Liao taught you how to fight?"
"Um!"
Kou Ji nodded slowly.
Zhu Neng pursed his lips and said without coming: "Is it a dream?"
Kou Ji glanced at Zhu Neng.
Zhu Neng pondered and said: "Tell me, we have more than 700,000 soldiers and horses besieging Xingqing Mansion now, and there are also many civilians. In total, there are almost one million people.
Is it possible to rush to build 100,000 catapults?
Do you think Li Deming can handle one hundred thousand catapults, plus artillery and grenades?"
Kou Ji was stunned when he heard Zhu Neng's words.
Really stunned.
If one hundred thousand catapults fired volleys at Xingqing Mansion, they would probably be able to cover all enemies within range.
Can the Xixia soldiers and horses in the city resist?
Kou Ji stared at Zhu Neng and asked, "How did you think of it?"
Zhu Neng laughed softly and said: "Before, in Shazhou, we tried ten thousand Hundred Tigers to launch a volley, so now that you mentioned using catapults to bombard Xingqing Mansion, I think we can build more to try."
Kou Ji had never thought of using 100,000 catapults to bombard Xingqing Mansion.
Kou Ji has never heard of anyone using a catapult as the main combat weapon against the enemy, let alone using a catapult to determine the outcome of a battlefield.
It's not that catapults are very difficult to build.
In fact, catapults, siege chisels and other ordnance are not difficult to manufacture.
When the army goes out, it never takes these things with it, but only some auxiliary soldiers who do carpentry work.
Ordnance such as catapults and siege chisels were all made by cutting down trees near the battlefield after arriving on the battlefield.
The army did this during the march to reduce the burden of baggage.
But it also proves from the side that catapults and siege chisels are not particularly high-tech ordnance that is particularly difficult to make.
Kou Ji looked at Zhu Neng and said: "A catapult is easy to make, but I have never heard of or seen a war in which a catapult was the main weapon..."
Zhu Neng seemed to see Kou Ji's doubts and explained: "The threat of catapults on the battlefield is very huge. The reason why it is not widely used is because it consumes a lot of manpower.
A large catapult requires eight people to push it, four people to pull the rope, and two people to load the stone.
After careful calculation, a large catapult requires fourteen troops.
Ten thousand means 140,000.
More importantly, once a catapult formation is established, more soldiers and horses are needed to protect it around to ensure that the established catapult formation is not destroyed by the enemy.
Ordinary battles are fought between thirty to twenty thousand soldiers and horses, and there is no need for catapult formations at all.
In a battle involving hundreds of thousands of soldiers and horses, catapult formations can be used, but you also know that in a battle involving hundreds of thousands of soldiers and horses, soldiers and horses will rarely be hoarded in one place.
After most of the troops were dispatched, they were divided into three groups.
Therefore, even if a catapult array is used, the largest number is only a few thousand, and rarely exceeds tens of thousands.
The most important thing is that once the catapult array is formed and poses a great threat to the enemy, the enemy will send soldiers and horses such as dead soldiers to rush into the array and burn the catapults.
Catapults are easy to build and easy to destroy.
Therefore, catapult formations are rarely seen on the battlefield.
Because you put so much effort into building the catapult array, it may be burned down in a flash."
After listening to Zhu Neng's analysis, Kou Ji took over the conversation and said: "Moreover, it takes time to set up a catapult formation. Often hundreds of thousands of soldiers and horses fight, and a large amount of money and food are consumed every day.
If a city can be stormed by force, then there is no need to spend time building a catapult array?"
Zhu Neng nodded slowly.
Kou Ji thought about it: "I can't guarantee one hundred thousand, but if you build around 20,000, I can talk to the officials and ask them to order Zhong Shiheng and Liu Heng's troops to cooperate with you."
Zhu Neng thought about it and said: "If we only attack Xingqing Mansion, 20,000 catapults, combined with artillery and grenades, would be enough."
"Without further ado, you take people to get the catapult, and I'll go talk to the officials."
"good……"
After the two made a plan, they left the tent.
Zhu Neng took his men to build a catapult, while Kou Ji went to find Zhao Zhen.
When Kou Ji walked to the door of Zhao Zhen's tent, he heard movement inside. When he went in, he saw that Wang Kai and three others were bidding farewell to Zhao Zhen.
They are going to attack Huaizhou.
Although Huaizhou is next to Xingqing Mansion, it is still some distance away. The three of them wanted to attack Huaizhou before the war in Xingqing Mansion started.
It was a long-established strategy for Wang Kai and the others to attack Huaizhou.
So when the three of them asked to resign, Zhao Zhen did not refuse.
Zhao Zhen gave each of them a bowl of farewell wine and personally escorted them out of the tent.
The three men took a troop of soldiers and horses and rushed to Huaizhou in the snow.
After Zhao Zhen returned to the tent again, he asked Kou Ji to sit down.
After Kou Ji sat down, he told Zhao Zhen about Zhu Neng's plan to build a catapult.
Zhao Zhen is similar to Kou Ji, he doesn't know much about military affairs.
After Kou Ji told Zhao Zhen about Zhu Neng's plan to build a catapult, Zhao Zhen sent Chen Lin to secretly summon Gao Chugong.
Gao Chugong has been in hiding mode since Zhao Zhen arrived in Xiazhou, hiding from everyone's sight.
The main reason is that after Zhao Zhen arrived in Xiazhou, he brought many people with him.
As people have many eyes and mixed minds, it is inevitable that there will be some people who are not discerning and have no sense of taste and will challenge Gao Chugong's identity.
So Kou Ji asked Gao Chugong to hide and make plans from behind.
Gao Chugong was summoned and appeared in the Chinese army's tent wearing a black robe.
After seeing Zhao Zhen, he saluted respectfully. If it were not for the restraint of etiquette, he would have almost bowed to the ground.
After Zhao Zhen asked him to get up, he kept moving.
Zhao Zhen and Kou Ji felt very uncomfortable when they heard this, and they couldn't laugh or cry in their hearts.
If we had known today, why did we do it in the first place?
I remember back then, when Gao Chugong was in the court, arrogant and arrogant, not giving face to anyone, even if Zhao Zhen asked him to go out on errands, he had to agree to his conditions.
What about now?
She looks like a slave.
Facts have proved that the bitch is hypocritical.
If you give him some colors, he can open a dyeing workshop.
If you give him a good beating, he will be more well-behaved than anyone else.
Gao Chugong's flattering words kept pouring out of his mouth. Zhao Zhen felt a headache, rubbed his eyebrows, and interrupted him, "Okay, I see your loyalty. I also see your contribution."
Keep it in your heart. When you return to Bianjing City, I will give you generous gifts to your children and grandchildren."
"The common people would like to thank the officials for their kindness..."
A respectful salute from above.
Zhao Zhen ordered Chen Lin to take a stool and place it behind Gao Guogong, saying, "I have something to ask you. Sit down and talk."
Gao Chugong bowed again, "Thank you so much for the seat. The officials are considerate of the elderly people. It's really..."
Hearing that Gao Chugong was about to flatter him again, Kou Ji finally couldn't help it anymore.
"Okay..."
Gao Chugong looked at Kou Ji with a serious face, as if he was ready to ask Kou Ji why he wanted to stop him from telling the truth. Could it be that he felt that what he said was wrong.
When Kou Ji saw Gao Chugong's gaze, he curled his lips and said, "Too much is not enough... If you don't want the officials to hate you, just keep your mouth shut. You will answer whatever the officials ask."
Gao Chugong snorted and expressed his dissatisfaction, but did not reply. Instead, he listened to Kou Ji's words and sat on the stool, waiting for Zhao Zhen to ask questions.
Zhao Zhen let out a long breath, looked at Kou Ji, and signaled Kou Ji to tell the matter to Gao Jingjing.
Zhao Zhen didn't want to talk to Gao Chugong, fearing that Gao Chugong would climb up again and say a lot of things that would make his scalp numb.
There are people who flatter him.
But most of them care about face and always flatter him a word or two at the right time.
He had never seen someone as shameless as Gao Chugong, who slapped him fiercely.
So when Gong flattered him fiercely from a high place, he felt very uncomfortable.
At Zhao Zhen's instruction, Kou Ji simply told Gao Chugong what Zhu Neng was thinking.
After Gao Chugong listened, his face straightened slightly and he said: "Gao Chugong's proposal to build one hundred thousand catapults is a bit unrealistic. Not to mention that the troops required for one hundred thousand catapults are already beyond our capabilities.
scope of responsibility.
Just the stone materials needed for one hundred thousand catapults cannot be gathered in three to five days.
The time required to build the catapult and search for stones has already exceeded ten days.
In ten days, we were able to storm Xingqing Mansion more than twenty times. We had even taken Xingqing Mansion, so there was no need to waste time on catapults.
Moreover, the catapult has a limited range.
Even if we build a hundred thousand catapults, the stones thrown out can only cover the city wall of Xingqing Mansion and a hundred feet behind the city wall. The catapults cannot reach places farther away.
If the enemy hides a large army in the city and only sends a small number of soldiers and horses to defend the city with heavy shields, the catapults will have very limited results."
After listening to Gao Chugong's words, Zhao Zhen pondered: "Isn't there any benefit at all?"
Gao Chugong responded decisively: "Of course there are advantages. If we have enough catapults to throw stones into the city, the enemy will not be able to show up in a short time. Our soldiers and horses can use this to easily climb the city wall.
Although the catapult can suppress the enemy, it may also cause damage to our soldiers and horses.
But as long as we control the timing of throwing stones and ascending the city, the casualties will not be too great."
Zhao Zhen pondered for a while and said: "According to your opinion, it is not advisable to build catapults on a large scale?"
Gao Chugong shook his head and said: "That's not true. With our current military strength, if we build 10,000 to 20,000 catapults to suppress a city wall in Xingqing Mansion, we will break through the city wall faster."
Speaking of this, Gao Gao Gongxu drew a square and said: "Send troops and horses in a posture to attack the other three sides, forcing the soldiers on the other three sides not to dare to move.
Then use catapults to attack the remaining side to put pressure on the enemy.
If the enemy cannot withstand the pressure and dispatches other elite troops to help, then the defense of the other three walls will definitely be weakened.
At that time, the other three sides can take advantage of the situation and attack.
If the enemy does not mobilize other elite troops to help, then the direction in which the catapult is attacking is very likely to be breached."
Zhao Zhen and Kou Ji looked at each other.
Gao Chugong said that 10,000 to 20,000 catapults would be helpful in the war, and Kou Ji allowed Zhu to make 20,000 catapults. It can be said that they coincided with each other.
Kou Ji did not tell Gao Chugong what he said to Zhu Neng, so Gao Chugong did not know about it.
Zhao Zhen didn't give any clues, but said with some regret: "Aren't you 100% sure of breaking through Xingqing Mansion?"
Gao Chugong hesitated and said: "The soldiers in our hands are far stronger than Xixia. It will be a matter of time to break through Xingqing Mansion. But it is a bit impossible to capture Xingqing Mansion in one fell swoop.
There are 300,000 Xixia soldiers and horses in the city. Our soldiers have been surrounding them for a day and a half. There has been no commotion or rebellion among them so far. This shows that the Xixia soldiers and horses in the city are determined to fight us to the end.
They dare to risk their lives, so it will not be easy for us to capture them."
Zhao Zhen sighed and said, "Is there no way to take over Xingqing Mansion in one fell swoop?"
Gao Chugong hesitated for a moment and looked at Kou Ji.
Kou Ji felt Gao Chugong's gaze and was slightly stunned.
Gao Zhanggong said: "If Kou Jinglue can produce ten times more firearms than Qu Yechuan fought, he can take Xingqing Mansion in one fell swoop."