On the twenty-ninth day of the twelfth lunar month, it was snowing outside. Wu Jie was eating sheep soup cakes in the Chinese army tent in the north of Taiyuan City, while Zhao Jiuzheng was sitting expressionlessly watching Wu Jie eating sheep soup cakes.
That's how interesting things are.
This is not only that Zhao Guanjia is lamenting that everyone can bring him surprises and accidents, but more importantly, he discovered that in a complex system, a person who seems to have mastered everything can actually master very limited things...
…This feeling seems to have never changed from the autumn of the first year of Jianyan to the upcoming tenth year of Jianyan.
This has nothing to do with his prestige or his achievements, because there are always weird things at work between people. Changes in the external situation never seem to bring about any unified change.
There are always some bad effects behind good and big changes, and there always seem to be acceptable reasons and processes behind some bad things.
Just when Zhao Jiu's mind was wandering, Wu Jie had already finished three bowls of mutton soup cakes, then stood up and respectfully thanked Zhao Guan's family... This gratitude should be a very simple and sincere expression, because there is nothing better than counting the nine cold winters.
After marching in a hurry for several days, there was no need to report or think about other things. It was more comfortable to eat well and warm first.
Let's not talk about anything else. First, let people serve hot food. This is what Wu Jie, the Zhao Song official who is generally compared to Guangwu, can think of. In the past, let alone Qu Duan, any boss could think of it.
, not even Wu Jie’s old-hearted father would be so attentive.
"How did Wu Qing get here so fast?"
Zhao Jiu, who came back to his senses, raised his hand to stop the other party's salute, and entered the topic expressionlessly. At the same time, he did not forget to point his finger at the tables in front of the other party. "Take it away, and bring me a bowl of soup."
"So that the officials will know, the main thing is for Wanyan Sali to close the city and not leave." Wu Jie sat back down and responded carefully according to the officials' instructions. "So, I crossed the river from Wubao Village and lured me to Lishi, the capital of Shizhou.
After guarding the general, they found that there was a smooth road ahead, so they divided their troops into five thousand each, with the commander Guan Shigu as the governor, and went to Loufan City in Lanzhou in the north and in front of Shipenzhai in the south. Then I only led five thousand troops.
Fighting soldiers, 15,000 party auxiliary troops came over the mountain with ease... As for the rest of my subordinates, there is still a main force of 20,000 fighting soldiers, headed by the deputy capital commander Guo Hao.
The German army entered Shuozhou to press the Datong South Road, while Yelv Yujian and Hu'er Zahusi should come from Chuyunnei, Yinshan Mountain, and press the Datong North Road... In addition, the remaining rear army of the minister, Wu Lin, the governor of Shang Yuying,
The subordinates and 30,000 party auxiliary troops were in Hewai to take charge of the logistics of the transfer on the Shaanxi Road and Ningxia Road."
These were all things in the plan, but Wanyan Salihe's fear of fighting became an interesting breakthrough at this time, allowing Wu Jie to calmly pass through the undefended Jurchen defense zone to this point.
And sure enough, Zhao Jiu nodded, immediately stopped caring about the matter, and just continued to ask: "Having said that, why does it have to come so fast? Isn't it too hard?"
At this time, the mutton soup was served again. Wu Jie took advantage of the situation and bowed slightly in front of the case: "It is natural to serve the country, be loyal to the king, and serve as a minister and a general."
Unexpectedly, in the face of such a natural answer, Zhao Guan's family fell silent instead, so that the already empty big tent became quiet for a while, and the originally proper exchanges between the monarch and his ministers also stopped instantly.
At that time, only the noise and movement outside the tent were particularly clear.
And this also makes Wu Jie, who has always been on the right side, a little panic... It has been five years since Yaoshan, and now the Northern Expedition has reached Taiyuan City. The prestige of this official family is undoubtedly becoming more and more important, so that the whole world
Gradually no one is qualified to fight against him... No one thinks that the young emperor of the Jin Kingdom, Yelu Dashi, or the two remaining ruling princes of the Jin Kingdom are qualified to stand on an equal footing with this official. This is not a matter of national power, but a matter of national strength.
It means that the young emperor of the Jin Kingdom plus two ruling princes, plus a group of Jurchen households, might be able to achieve the level of this official who sticks to his word.
After a long time, Zhao Guanjia, who no one in the world was qualified to fight against, finally spoke, but he was the first to sigh: "Wu Qing, am I scary like this?"
Wu Jie was at a loss for a moment, and he didn't know how to respond. He could only scan the tent. Unfortunately, except for a few guards, not a single minister was present in the tent, nor was the newly active iron-faced guard Shao Chengzhang.
Not even Yang Yizhong was there.
It also made Wu Dutong even more nervous.
"Actually, I'm not hiding anything from you." Seeing this, Zhao Jiu became more and more exasperated, almost as if he was expressing an apology or explaining. "Since the Northern Expedition, I seem to have everything in mind, and I can do my best in everything, but inside I am increasingly anxious.
, I was afraid that I would lose the battle somewhere or that my logistics would be inadequate, which would make the world laugh... Therefore, my thoughts gradually became more complicated, and my doubts and fears began to arise... When I saw you coming so quickly today, my first reaction was actually you, Wu Jinqing.
Like Han Liangchen, Li Shaoyan, Qu Shiyin and others, they were afraid of not getting military glory, so they were desperate... This seems a bit suspicious."
Wu Jie was startled for a moment, but then he was relieved: "Isn't it unusual for an official to have such an idea? It should be noted that everyone in the world knows that this Northern Expedition will determine the situation of the world, and who doesn't want to make an immortal contribution? And I
If you wait for your subordinates, even if you don't have such thoughts, how can you survive the pushing and instigation of your subordinates?"
"Yes." Zhao Jiuzhuang thought thoughtfully. "Just like before, even though he knew he couldn't succeed, he was still forced to come over to ask for a fight by his subordinates, so I had no choice but to give him a whip so that he could fight with the Imperial Cavalry.
Some explanations.”
Wu Jie hesitated for a moment when he heard this, but after looking at the official in front of him, he still responded carefully: "It's okay if you say it to others, but Qu Dutong, I asked myself, I know the basics... He used to boast about the world.
The prodigy was almost doomed in the end, all because of the grandeur of the official family. He shouldn't have disobeyed the official family again, but there are indeed some opinions from the imperial cavalry..."
"I know." Zhao Jiu leaned sideways and held his forehead in front of him. "The imperial cavalry formed an army in a hurry and came to help. Although he is the commander of the capital and the governor, the deputy commander-in-chief Li Shifu has also made extremely high contributions.
Steady, the father and son are known to the world for their loyalty and bravery, but they are only ranked as deputy capital commander due to their age and origin... What's even more terrible is that the number of Dangxiang Qingqi under his command almost accounts for the general share of the cavalry. In other words, in terms of battlefield qualifications, Dangxiang Qingqi is also more than
The newly formed heavy cavalry was faintly better... The remaining half of the newly formed heavy cavalry was divided into two. There was also Liu Qi who led the Tubo cavalry and the Xihe army to occupy half of the country... These people,
It is of course nonsense to say that he will not listen to Qu Duan's command, but it is actually impossible to say that Qu Duan can properly persuade... And those direct relatives he relies on, such as the Zhang brothers, and people like Xia Houyuan, as long as they have the intention to perform meritorious deeds
, how can he still endure it? So, he can only bite the bullet and take a whip from me, so that he can give an explanation to his confidants."
By the way, what kind of person is Wu Da?
This man himself was probably the most tactful among the commanders, but that didn't mean that he didn't have the determination and courage, otherwise he wouldn't have just gritted his teeth that day and properly tied up Qu Duan and handed it over to Hu Yin and Wan Qixi.
Or perhaps, the reason why he seemed so smooth later on was partly because he had been ordered to kidnap his boss once, so he was reluctant to show his sharp side.
However, these are all old words. The relationship between Wu Da and Zhao Guanjia is actually very interesting... Compared with Han Shizhong, Zhang Jun, Zhang Rong, Yue Fei, and even Qu Duan, Wu Da is one of the coaches of the imperial camp, but
There has always been a lack of distinctive 'good stories' between the family and Zhao Guan's family.
That's right, those things like rebelling at night and breaking into the camp instead of leaving, whipping in public and so on.
Wu Da himself was recommended by Hu Yin to replace Qu Duan, and he quickly became a general. Then he stabilized his status with his talent and ability to deal with people. Finally, Yaoshan shined and became known to the world as a handsome minister.
...there is a lack of a personal bond with Zhao Guan's family.
In a sense, Wu Da also wanted to have a heart-to-heart relationship with the officials and establish some personal relationships. He was not just being tactful and appropriate to his colleagues.
Therefore, after the Zhao Guan family talked a lot, the commander of the imperial camp immediately realized that this was an opportunity... He believed that the other commanders must be like him and were keenly aware of the Zhao Guan family's tension before the war.
and doubts and fears, because this is indeed normal, and it is difficult to hide it from those handsome ministers and even close ministers.
But obviously, it was better to come early than to come by chance. Only he, Wu Da, encountered this opportunity that the official tried to talk to.
"So that the officials will know that Qu Dutong was whipped. I heard someone say it on the way."
His mind was spinning, and Wu Da directly connected with Zhao Guanjia's words without delay. "But according to my opinion, in fact, everyone has their own difficulties and ideas. Qu Du was always ignored by his subordinates, so why didn't he go along with the flow and test it out?
What does it mean? But what does it matter? Who doesn’t have his own little thoughts? Who dares to say that he is selfless? "
Zhao Jiu was slightly startled.
"For example, Prince Han, he has reached the pinnacle of martial arts in this dynasty. He is striving for merit at this time, just to keep his position as the number one in merit, so Hezhong Mansion made a great leap." Wu Jie seemed not to see Zhao Guan's family.
That weird look in his eyes made him talk eloquently. "It's also like Li Jiedu. He fought hard at Tieling Pass for eight years and was really frustrated. Secondly, most of his troops were from Shaanxi and Luo, and the military
Wu Piza is meant to rectify his name... It's also like Manager Ma. Manager Ma seems to have no fight and can't fight, but that's because what he wants to fight is not his own achievements, but how much points his subordinates can gain in this battle.
It can get results.”
At this point, Wu Jie saw that Zhao Guan's family had no intention of stopping him, so he continued talking: "However, these three people, as well as Qu Dutong, although they all have the desire to fight for merit and rectification, they can't meet the officials.
At home, you can stop after hearing it, restrain your thoughts, and turn to issuing orders and prohibitions. Even if you have some selfish motives, what's the problem?"
"Wu Qing." Zhao Jiu finally laughed. "You want to go around and comfort me, saying that I am just like the four of them. Although I am worried about gains and losses before the battle, I am a little anxious and suspicious, but I have not done anything wrong. That is
What's the harm in having some thoughts... right or wrong?"
"Your Majesty's warning." Wu Jie stood up and bowed his head to face each other. At this time, the soup bowl in front of him was no longer hot.
"I accept Wu Qing's kindness." Zhao Jiu shook his head and kept smiling. "But Wu Qing, I am really different from them..."
I don’t know what Wu Jie was thinking in his heart, but his face immediately showed solemnity: "I know that the difficulties of the officialdom are thousands of times more difficult than those of the officials like me... The overall situation of the world, north, south, west and east, all aspects are considered by the officials.
Among them, the ministers and others only need to pay attention to what is in front of them, so where is the same thing?"
"Logistics consumption is too fast." Zhao Jiu shook his head more and more. "There are enough armor and routine military supplies, but for food, grass, chariots and horses, and clothing materials, the imperial court is actually based on the annual consumption of 300,000 soldiers and 500,000 civilians.
I came to prepare, but there are too many variables... The civilian population consumes more than expected, and there are suddenly hundreds of thousands more refugees in Hebei, and then Yue Pengju suddenly wants to build a stronghold dozens of miles away in Daming Mansion. These
Everything requires streamlined logistics... The same goes for the Hedong side. In addition to the original number, there are only tens of thousands more people, but the consumption in front and behind has doubled, and Ma Kuo's troops are also larger than expected.
More, plus when you come here this time, there are Dangxiang people, Khitan people, and Mongolian reinforcements behind you. We also have to bring money and food. I don’t know if we can stop them from taking advantage of the situation to plunder the place.
...It’s really difficult, and I’m really worried.”
For the time being, we will not count the attrition and attrition since the war began. We will only say that the Imperial Army has 300,000 soldiers, 90,000 in Hebei, and 210,000 in Hedong. Now we also include 15,000 Khitan reinforcements and 20,000 Mongolian reinforcements. At the beginning of the Civil War, it was 500,000.
, according to Zhao Guan's family, it is probably no less than 600,000 to 700,000. In addition, there are 50,000 to 60,000 party auxiliary soldiers who consume more than civilians and less than combat soldiers...Wu Jie doesn't need to do the math, he probably knows it in his heart.
, Zhao Guanjia’s statement is probably not exaggerated in the slightest.
After all, no one has ever tried to prepare for a war of this scale... In the past, the five-way expedition to summer counted as one, but this time, the logistics collapsed. Wu Da was actually quite familiar with this matter.
At this thought, Wu Jie also became completely serious: "I dare to ask the officials, in this way, how much support does the food and grass have?"
"I can't tell you exactly how many there are at the moment, but the previous consumption was 50% more than originally expected. Once your imperial camp rear army and northern reinforcements move, it will almost double." Zhao Jiu gave a very scary,
The result is also very intuitive.
"In other words, it used to be one year, but now it is estimated to be just over half a year." Wu Jie did some calculations in his mind and almost blurted out. "It has been almost three months since the war started... Must there be a truce before the Cold Food Festival next year?"
"Almost!" Zhao Jiu said with emotion in the audience. "At that time, even if we still had troops and horses, and some money and food, we had to stop fighting to save our strength... Otherwise, if we don't need the Jurchens in the future, the Mongols and Koreans will give it to us.
Cause some big trouble. Sometimes I really don’t understand why the Jurchens and the Mongols can hold on?"
Because they are not the king's division, because they are fighting on the inside, because they carry their livestock with them and drink goat's milk. Cow's milk is fine, but can it be the same?
Wu Jie was speechless and did not say anything. Instead, he skipped it and continued to ask: "Then I dare to ask the officials... Is this why the officials want to break through Taiyuan City quickly?"
"Yes." Zhao Jiu nodded in agreement. "If we can defeat Taiyuan City quickly, we might as well take advantage of the spring day to have a decisive battle in Hebei to achieve full success."
"But there is something I have to say now that I have arrived... It's not like Taiyuan City officials have never been here before. This city looks small, but it has few flaws in the military... Especially since the Fen River is about to thaw.
"Wu Jie said sincerely, cupping his hands. "In the official family, haste makes waste."
"I know." Zhao Jiu nodded again, but suddenly changed the subject. "Jin Qing... you just talked about the selfish motives of other handsome ministers for a long time, and you half-heartedly admitted that you had selfish motives, but you never said what your selfish motives were...
…You are traveling so quickly. You must have heard some rumors that I am preparing to travel to Yaoshan and asked you to give you the general strategy for the battle in Hedong, so you can’t wait to come, right?”
Wu Jie was slightly embarrassed, but he didn't know that there was no point in covering up in front of this official.
So, after a brief pause, the man bowed his head and admitted, "I am ashamed."
"It doesn't matter." Zhao Jiu sighed again, then finally stood up and walked out with his hands behind his hands. "I do have this intention, Han Liangchen, I have more or less penetrated Li Yanxian, Wu Qing can also make appropriate preparations...
However, before that, I have a letter of agreement with Yue Pengju, and we will try to break the city together tomorrow... Therefore, you have to make two preparations, the overall preparation after the city is broken, or the overall preparation without breaking the city, because no matter which way, after passing
Tomorrow, I will leave the overall situation of this place to you. It is still like the story of Yaoshan, and you will take charge of it. I will also relax appropriately."
Wu Jie was stunned for a moment, not knowing whether to thank him, lose his composure, or be confused.
After Zhao Guanjia said this, he directly opened the curtain of the big tent, and saw that it was always bright outside. It turned out that while the monarch and his ministers were having a conversation in the tent, although the snowflakes outside the tent were not big, they kept falling one after another.
Spread, unknowingly, the nine years of Jianyan have been laid out and turned slightly white.