Zhao Jiu did not deliberately finish the game of backgammon with Liu Ziyu, which he had finally learned from his opponent. Instead, he immediately stood up and gave several orders:
Sentries were sent out to quickly explore westward along the north and south banks of Ru River;
Send officials to surrounding villages and towns to assist local officials in leading people into Ruyang;
Send messengers to the north to find Wang De and Han Shizhong, inform them of the current situation, and ask them to be careful in case they encounter a siege in the wilderness and call for reinforcements;
Then, because Yang Yizhong was not here, he sent a special edict to General Huyantong, who was in the city at this time, to take charge of the city defense, be careful, and send the imperial squad directly into the city defense;
Finally, of course, a decree was sent to summon the four ministers, Zhang Jun, the chief censor, Wang Yuan, the commander of the imperial camp, and others to come and see him.
At this time, before the ministers arrived, Zhao Guan's family called for people to help A, and asked Liu Ziyu, the military adviser beside him: "Yan Xiu, is there anything I have missed in this arrangement?"
Liu Ziyu was obviously a little dazed by the calmness and orderliness of the Zhao Guan family before. At this time, after hearing the words for a long time, he handed over his hands and responded: "The Guan family is calm and composed, with the style of an ancient famous king, and all dispatches are done properly. I really have some things to do.
surprise……"
Zhao Jiu was sitting in the corridor, asking the servant to help A, and couldn't help but laugh: "Habits become natural. After sitting on the front line for two months, even a fool will understand a little bit."
"It's just an official." Liu Ziyu hesitated for a moment, but then spoke seriously. "I think it is not necessary for an official to wear armor to avoid unnecessary complications."
Zhao Jiu was slightly startled, then immediately signaled the waiter beside him to stop temporarily, then stared at Liu Ziyu and asked, "Why is this?"
"The officials... The officials just ordered five things. I would like to take the liberty of asking the officials five questions." Liu Ziyu said seriously. "Is that okay?"
"Tell me."
"The first thing to do is... is Ruyang City strong?"
Of course solid!
Academician Xiao Lin next to him had already taken a breath, and the old problem of answering people's questions naturally came back... But for some reason, this time he just responded instinctively in his heart, but did not think deeply. Instead, he was in a trance.
"Of course it is strong." Zhao Guanjia, who still had a chain on his arm, sighed slightly and answered seriously. "Ruyang City is a famous city in the world. Although the ancient county is called Runan, this city is obviously north of Ru River, so
Called Ruyang... The Ru River comes from the north, and when it reaches the city, it goes around the south and east of the city, making the city surrounded by water on three sides and a high wall. Such a city cannot be called strong, and there are not many in the world.
It’s a serious big city.”
"That's right." Liu Ziyu nodded repeatedly. "Actually, if it weren't for that, Lieutenant Han wouldn't have asked a force of officials to come here first when the city of Caizhou was in chaos... I dare to ask again, so determined.
Why was the city so easily conquered by the Jin before?"
"Of course it's because we didn't defend at all." Zhao Jiu shook his head repeatedly. "You have forgotten that Henan Yin Sun Zhaoyuan wanted to recruit rout troops under this city, but the rout troops killed him instead."
Liu Ziyu did not comment, but remained silent.
"It has nothing to do with this." Upon seeing this, Zhao Guanjia immediately realized and changed his mind. "In the end, it was the Jingxi side that collapsed to the end and never got angry. Under the situation of a huge collapse, nothing can be done... It's not like I haven't seen it before.
The troops were routed."
"Then I would like to ask again, are the two thousand soldiers of Huyan Tongzhi and Yuqian Banzhi in the city at this time the kind of rout?"
Zhao Jiu finally laughed: "I understand. What Yanxiu wants to say is that there is not much danger in this battle, so we can just leave the military matters to Hu Yantong. I should sit quietly in the city and appease people? Just like in the past
When we were in Huaishang, as long as I sat on the city wall and controlled the others and did not interfere with the military, that would be all I could do."
"Yes, but it's more than that." Liu Ziyu rarely showed a smile, but he handed over his hand and asked again. "Officials, I have two more questions..."
Before he could say anything, there was a noise outside the courtyard. Zhao Jiu quickly pulled off the armor chain on his shoulder and stuffed it under the chessboard. Feng Yi, who had been listening for a long time, drove several servants holding armor back to the room before Zhao Guanjia could speak.
Inside.
And sure enough, a moment later, Yu Wenxuzhong, one of the four princes, was the first to appear in the courtyard.
It was unbelievable that these people were so fast. They were still on the road and did not regard Ruyang City as a serious place to stay.
For example, Zhao Guan's family naturally lived in the backyard of the government office. Generally, the front hall of the government office was the meeting hall, and the entire government office was naturally the palace; while the two princes of the East Palace occupied the county government office a street away; the two Xifu of the Privy Council
For the sake of convenience, the husband occupied a vacant house close to both places; as for the imperial camp commanders, they simply used the fine traditions of Zhao Guan's family and robbed a monk temple in the city...
"Official!"
Yu Wenxu stepped into the hospital, glanced at the still somewhat dazed Academician Xiao Lin and the new minister Liu Ziyu, and hurriedly bowed his hands. "I was summoned here, and on the way I saw dozens of straight lines suddenly coming out of the imperial camp.
, going everywhere, I dare to ask, but what happened?"
"There is one thing, but it's not really urgent."
Under the sunshine in the spring morning, the shadows of the trees in the courtyard were dancing, and Zhao Guanjia was sitting cross-legged on the porch, holding on to the chessboard, and calmly replied, "So that Mr. Yuwen knows that the Zhao Zongyin in Wuguan is the one mentioned before."
Monk, I went out to aid Fan Zhixu in Nanyang, but I was defeated on the way and lost all my troops. Now everyone has gone to Xiangyang, and Academician Lin was forced to turn back overnight. I just asked people to inform Han Shizhong and Wang De of this news.
, I’ll just call you to discuss it again.”
Yu Wenxuzhong nodded slightly, then after thinking for a moment, he sighed, obviously thinking about some of the consequences of losing Wuguan.
Er, Wang Boyan, Xu Jingheng, Zhang Jun, and Wang Yuan arrived one after another. After a while, Xianggong Lu, who had been extremely busy recently, also arrived, but it was rare for them to gather together for an informal political affairs hall meeting.
But when Mr. Lu arrived, Academician Xiao Lin put down Liu Yan's reminder under the prompting of Zhao Guanjia's eyes, and only talked about the glorious deeds of monk Zongyin, and not much else.
When all the ministers heard this, they were naturally filled with emotion.
"So, isn't the effort to annihilate this unit a waste of time?" Wang Boyan and Wang Xianggong stamped their feet as if they had suffered a great loss. "Wuguan is empty. This person can easily return to Guanzhong from there to join Wanyan Loushi.
"
"If you don't want to fight, let's stop fighting." Xu Jingheng and Mr. Xu looked relieved. "It's okay not to fight. Just let him go... the whole place is in a mess. It's time to clean up."
"That's okay!" Lu Haowen, who has been in good spirits recently and is a practical prime minister, nodded after thinking for a while. "Actually, this is fine."
Zhao Jiu opened his mouth to speak, but didn't know what to say... Because with the current attitude of these husbands, if Wanyan Yinshuke suddenly came to the city in a surprise attack, wouldn't he really be so panicked that he would abandon the city and leave?
After thinking about this, Zhao Guan's family instinctively went to see a few young ministers.
However, the performance of these people at this time was also a bit disappointing. Zhang Jun only looked at Liu Ziyu, as if he was worried but did not understand the situation, so he just wanted to get an accurate message and a reminder; while Bachelor Xiaolin was also very worried at this time.
He didn't look like he had asked for battle boldly before, and he didn't even have the deep posture of the city in the past. After saying these words, the Yutang scholar who knew the inside story became a little confused and dissociated, which made people look suspicious...
Of course, considering that a bachelor rode back and forth all night, it was hard to force anything, but he was the one who deserved the most grace at the moment.
Then I went to see Liu Ziyu. Obviously, this young official who grew up in the military camp and experienced almost the entire Jin-Liao war was obviously a little disappointed with these people... Even though he had just reminded Zhao Jiu before, as an official
, if you really want to play a role in the military, the best way is to restrain certain people from interfering in the military.
Seeing that everyone was speechless, Zhao Jiu decided to reject these people and fool them.
However, at this moment, a person who had been ignored by Zhao Guan's family suddenly said: "Guan family, I would like to take the liberty to speak. Since Wuguan has been vacant, Wan Yan Yin Shu can retreat easily, so why should he do it so easily?
Going west? If I am good at silver skills, I can naturally defeat Dengzhou and plunder Nanyang before leaving! I can even turn around and use the advantage of the cavalry to find a battle. If I can win, I will win. If I can't, it won't be too late to leave. Anyway, right?
, we can’t catch up either.”
Everyone looked up and saw that Wang Yuan was in charge of the imperial camp, and they were silent... Obviously, these people still had some trust in Wang Yuan's military judgment.
After a while, Lu Haowen's face was as dark as water, and he opened his mouth to speak, but suddenly thought of something, and turned around: "Who is Yin Shu? Isn't it Nichukh?"
Zhao Guanjia and Liu Ziyu looked at each other and secretly thought something was wrong.
"Good teaching, Mr. Lu Xianggong knows that in the past few days, I have collected the petition documents from the rebels in Caizhou, but I have taken advantage of the opportunity to ask some questions clearly..." Wang Yuan quickly reported back. "The accent of Nichuch is false. Who is here?"
It was Yin Shuke, the general of the Jin clan who captured Emperor Tianzuo and King Xi Xiamo of the Liao Kingdom alive and participated in the battle of Taiyuan!"
Lu Haowen was immediately surprised.
"It doesn't matter whether he is good at gold or silver!" Zhao Guanjia suddenly said. "Our army has tens of thousands of people stationed in the front, are we still afraid of him? As for Nanyang in Dengzhou, we can only do our best to obey fate.
... Anyway, I have sent Ban Zhi to tell Han Shizhong and Wang De about this matter. As senior generals, they can make their own judgment."
"The official has made such a proper arrangement, but I have overthought it." Wang Yuan heard something bad and quickly bowed his head in response.
"We should inform Han Shizhong and Wang De earlier." Yu Wenxuzhong, who had not spoken for a long time, suddenly said, "Because Wanyan's silver skills are extraordinary, he is good at using cavalry, and he often makes unexpected moves... The Liao Kingdom
Some people say that Emperor Tianzuo and King Xi Xiamo were captured by the Lou family of Wanyan. This is certainly true, but in fact, since the Jin people started their army, Yin Shu Ke was often a subordinate and deputy general of the Lou family. The two often fought together, so
Upon closer inspection, Emperor Tianzuo and Xia Mo were actually captured by Yin Shuke's attack. In the battle of Taiyuan, this man accompanied the Lou family to destroy the main force of the Western Army of 200,000, and his troops were considered to have considerable combat power.
I think that because of this person's past experience, since he has no worries, he may not go to Dengzhou at all. Instead, he may ride to Caizhou to see what is going on! Officials, please take precautions in advance.
!”
The other husbands and Zhang Jun all panicked.
Seeing this shape, Zhao Jiu, who was sitting cross-legged, sighed slightly, but in turn asked seriously: "Mr. Yuwen, you only know that silver skills can capture Emperor Tianzuo and King Xi Xiamo alive, and you also know that silver skills can capture Taiyuan in a battle.
Great credit, but do you know how he captured those two men alive? And how he fought the battle of Taiyuan?"
"minister……"
"I have been deeply aware of the hardships of the military in the past six months, so I often have meals and conversations with the soldiers, but I have learned a lot." Zhao Jiu said slowly. "Emperor Tianzuo and Xia Mo are exactly the same. They both have heard about silver skills.
Inciting light soldiers to attack, one abandoned the city and the other abandoned the army and fled. As a result, a small group of elite soldiers sent by Yin Shuke in advance to surround the rear easily captured them without any effort. As for the battle of Taiyuan, the reinforcements were sent to the rear.
The center forced them to move forward in multiple ways, but they were not subordinate to each other, and the progress was inconsistent, so he calmly went around Taiyuan City and exterminated them one by one... Do you understand?"
Yu Wenxu lowered his head and remained silent, but the other ministers seemed not to understand what the official meant clearly.
"It would be better for the officials to issue a gold medal to summon Han Shizhong as soon as possible and Wang De to return to the city." Lu Haowen said sincerely.
"Perhaps we can go south to Guangzhou for a while to escape." Xu Jingheng was also extremely nervous.
At this time, Zhao Guanjia was really impatient, but he took a long breath, then opened one side of the chessboard with a huff, and revealed the armor chain hidden underneath.
The courtyard was stunned and silent for a moment. For a moment, there were only swaying flowers and trees, intertwined light and shadow, and black and white chess pieces dotted on the green space.
"Do you have to say something unpleasant to me?!"
Zhao Guanjia stood up with a sigh of relief, but he walked down the corridor holding the piece of armor chain with his hands behind his back. Then he suddenly turned around and faced each other sternly. "Do you think you really know how to fight? If you knew how to fight, why would you end up in Taiyuan?"
Failed like that?! Why is there such a shame as Jingkang?! I had known that the Silver Technique was coming, and I was about to wear armor. The reason why I forced myself to do nothing was just because there are people like you making a fuss in the city! Today's
I have made it clear to you about the matter! The city defense is handled by Huyantong, so don’t interfere! If you can pretend to be deaf and dumb about these military matters, it will be a blessing to the world!"
"I am terrified and unable to serve as prime minister, so I request to resign..."
"What are you resigning for?" Zhao Jiu became more and more furious, but threw the armor chain to the ground. "The Jin people will come at any time. If you feel aggrieved at this time, you have to resign... You are aggrieved, but I am not aggrieved? Every time
During the battle, I have to coax the front and the rear. One moment I am worried that the sergeants in the front will have their pay cut off by the officers. The next moment I have to guard against your random interference in the rear. The next moment I see the generals in the front competing for credit and criticizing each other.
After a while, I have to think about whether there is any hidden meaning in what you said... Do you think I want to be an official?! I also want to resign, are you sure?!"
Lu Hao asked the following, but everyone stood silently. The only military attaché, Wang Yuan, simply knelt down.
"Okay, that's it." It was as if his anger was suddenly gone. Zhao Guan's family suddenly returned to normal, but they slightly raised their hands to face each other. "Based on Yin Shuke's past behavior, I think he is 10%
Eighty-nine is coming, but the more so, the less panic... Otherwise, this person will play into his hands. Because there are two keys to this battle. One is that you must not be frightened by this person's name and abandon the fortified city.
"The first thing is that we must not call Han Shizhong and Wang De here in a hurry to prevent us from being besieged and for reinforcements!"
Lu Haowen and others were helpless. Looking at each other, they could only suppress the uneasiness in their hearts and bow their heads.
As soon as all the ministers left, including the censor Zhang Jun and the commander of the imperial camp Wang Yuan, they had no choice but to worry about their respective identities. For a while, only Xiaolin and Liu joined the army...Xiaolin was a Yutang scholar and was a close minister, and Liu
As a result of the dispatch of the Ministry of War's official affairs department, he was recently retained by an official as a new member of the imperial family and became the counselor of the imperial army. This is also known to everyone.
"It's hard work for officials..." As soon as the people left, Liu Ziyu bowed his head and sighed, but he couldn't help but be a little careful in his words.
"It doesn't matter." Zhao Guanjia sat helplessly under the corridor, looking at the chess pieces on the ground and shaking his head. "Yan Xiu had something he didn't ask before, so why not tell him?"
"There are two more questions, but one of the officials knows it better than anyone else... I want to ask Wanyan Yinshuke about his past experience and abilities."
Zhao Jiu nodded suddenly, and then picked up the chess pieces on the ground with Feng Yi.
"However, I do have one last question." Liu Ziyu saw the official bending down to pick it up, and wanted to help. However, because Feng Yi was also there, but was not in the same row, he lowered his head to pick up the piece of armor chain, and then stood awkwardly.
On one side, continue speaking.
"It doesn't matter." Zhao Jiu stopped knowingly.
"I dare to ask the officials, do they feel in their hearts that they should fight Wanyan Yinshuke at this time, or should they not fight him?" Liu Ziyu asked carefully.
"What do you mean?" Zhao Jiu frowned slightly. "Wanyan Silver Technique can appear here. Is it my decision?"
"That's not what I meant. I'm asking about the official's attitude..." Liu Ziyu glanced at Academician Xiao Lin, who was standing on one side and looked gloomy. He hesitated a little, but still asked, "Do you feel that there is a battle to be fought and there is no end to it?"
Yan Yinshu is here, but it makes him feel better. At least he has something to do?"
Zhao Jiu was startled for a moment, but couldn't help but laugh: "Do you think I should be happy? Or I can ask you, Liu Qing, do you think it's time to fight Wanyan Yinshu at this time?"
"I don't think so." Liu Ziyu replied simply. "I have always known the true and false strength of the enemy and ourselves. Now that the industry is on an unstable footing, the army is in disarray, and the system is not established, it is really not a good time to fight..."
"But do you think that I am looking forward to the war in my heart, and after Huai succeeded in gambling his life last time, he doesn't want to settle down?" Zhao Jiu interrupted the opponent with a few chess pieces, and asked with a smile. "Is that what you mean?"
"I just said yes, the current situation is different, and I don't mean to belittle the military achievements of Huaishang." Liu Ziyu quickly explained. "The Jin people's offensive was like a tide. Previously, when the Huaishang was the time, the tide was rising. If it hadn't been for the official success in the battle of Huaishang, I'm afraid that
The sacred land of Huainan will become like Hebei, Jingdong, Jingxi, and Kansai..."
"Yes, I looked at the account books of the Ministry of Household Affairs. The east and west roads in Huainan can turn over a million pieces of silk every year. With taxes and grain, it can support an army of 100,000 people. The southeast can support another 200,000 people. Jingxiang settled down
I can raise 200,000 people down here, and Bashu can also raise 100,000 people..." Zhao Jiu suddenly started talking about some nonsense that is very popular these days.
"Unless these places are also used as vassal towns, they won't be able to raise so many." Liu Ziyu said with a smile. "I estimate that together we can raise 200,000 fighting soldiers in the end... and that's not what I want to say.
This, I want to ask the officials, since the Jin people are in decline now, why can't they settle down, establish a system, recuperate, defend first, then fight, and spend three to five years to raise an army of 200,000?
In order to revive the two rivers?"
Zhao Jiu finally shook his head: "Is this what you think of yourself, or is it what Zhang Deyuan and others mean?"
"Both." Liu Ziyu also became serious. "Zhang Xiantai felt that the official family has been hard and bumpy to this point, and he was obviously uneasy in his actions. He wanted to do something but couldn't find the way, and didn't know how to do it. However, in the past two days, I have been seeing each other day and night in front of the emperor, but
I feel that the reason why the officials are in such a posture is because they are afraid... However, unlike others who are afraid of war, the officials seem to be afraid of peace, for fear that once the war stops, they will be at a loss. Moreover, Zhang Deyuan has scruples.
Such words only exist in my heart, but I dare not say them to the officials."
Zhao Jiu sighed and stood up: "You and Zhang Deyuan are both smart people. They are both right, but neither of them is right... As far as I'm concerned, you guys are smarter than the other, but you are often limited by your vision and use all your intelligence.
Wrong place."
Liu Ziyu was stunned. This was not the first time someone said that his vision was low. The key was that the person who said his vision was low has now become a person who is 'controlled by his vision'.
"For example, you people, those who advocate peace, those who advocate war, and those who advocate defense, no matter what your stance on gold is, you always talk to me about institutional rules and regulations, and discuss family laws. It seems that as long as we stabilize and rebuild the system,
Then everything will be fine." Zhao Jiu rubbed the chess pieces in his hands and said quietly. "But in fact, from my point of view, just talking about military matters, the more properly implemented the established family laws and systems of the Song Dynasty, the more
But it can only do bad things! Because the Song Dynasty’s military system of family law was designed to protect the inside but not the outside from the beginning! With your method, the Song Dynasty will perish faster!"
When Liu Ziyu heard the words "Defend from within and from outside", he felt like he was struck by lightning. He wanted to speak, but he didn't know what to say. Next to him, Academician Xiao Lin came to his senses a little and seemed to want to say something.
However, at this point, the Zhao Guan family seemed to have opened a floodgate and could no longer stop.
He threw down the chess pieces, stood up from the corridor, looked at Liu Ziyu who was obviously a bit out of sorts, and said sincerely: "Yanxiu, Zhang Deyuan is right, I am indeed uneasy, but the reason for uneasiness is not that I don't know what to do, but that I am just right."
I know exactly what to do! You are right. I seem to be afraid of the situation after the Jin people withdraw. But the reason why I am like this is not because I like barbaric things like fighting and killing people, but because I compare to these things.
, other things are too difficult! There is only one Wang Anshi in this dynasty who tried his best to do it, and he was almost slandered as the culprit of Jingkang's shame. In fact, if I can live in peace and survive for a hundred years, how can I be willing to do it?
What about this kind of thing? But it’s not that time waits for no one. It’s not that we have to bear the expectations of many people, the shame of Jingkang, and the lives of many people in the Central Plains of Lianghe. We are determined to be a good official, determined to do something personally, and determined to change the world.
?"
Liu Ziyu and Bachelor Xiao Lin were both dumbfounded by this, and even Feng Yi next to him started to spin his eyes.
"This is why I know that Mr. Li and several other comrades are rare in the world who really want to fight against the Jin Dynasty, but I put him far in the southeast." Zhao Guanjia continued to sigh. "In fact, I really let him
There is no harm in taking over the government. Perhaps after ten or twenty years, there will eventually be a general recovery, but since I am determined to act seriously, I cannot just watch him go around in circles and waste his efforts... Yanxiu, Jinren
It’s not that strong, and I know how to go, so you don’t have to worry! And Zhang Deyuan doesn’t have to worry!”
"I am so frightened that I don't know the official ambition."
"Actually, I have been holding back these words for a long time. I have wanted to talk to someone for a long time. Since you are asking for Zhang Deyuan, I will just talk to you." Zhao Jiu suddenly smiled again. "Don't worry too much."
How could Liu Yanxiu not care?
On the other hand, how could Zhao Jiu really say everything in his heart?
The overall conservative politics of the Song Dynasty's civil servants; if the Jin people did not do their best, they would not leave a breathing space for the Song Dynasty; the overall corruption of the Song Dynasty's army; the possible crisis after the Jin people in the future; and the determination to compete with Yue Peng for credit
How could he confide his personal ambitions or ambitions to Liu Ziyu, whom he had only known for a few days?
It's just that he realized that his team was worried about the Zhao Guan family's behavior during this period, so he used his words to reassure people.
"Official!"
Just after the backyard of Caizhou Mansion became quiet again, and before even a stick of incense had been burned, suddenly Hu Yantong, the commander of the imperial camp, barged in from outside in a panic. "Guan family! The sentries have come to report that a thief has arrived!"
"Why are you panicking?" Zhao Guanjia scolded casually.