Chapter 40 second quarter
The date for the departure of the army is already on the fingers of the fingers. Although there have been various legends and speculations about Liu Kai's new mission, the official appointment has not been announced.
Liu Kai himself became a little anxious.Doesn't the official's promise to him not count?He thought that the reason why the new appointment was delayed again and again must be obstructed by someone, and he speculated that the obstructive person might be Gao Lian.Gao Qiu is a villain who must take revenge.Last year, Gao Qiu was appointed as the third division of Kaifu Yitong. Liu Qi neither attended his celebration banquet nor sent gifts. Gao Qiu hated it in his heart. Never let it go.Liu Qi's guess was right, but he hadn't thought that the reason why Gao Qiu could prevent him from going to the front line was in exchange for building up and recruiting an army for Tong Guan. This was another deal.The officialdom is originally a shopping mall, everything has to be discussed, the price is discussed, and there are comings and goings.What's more, Tong Guan himself doesn't like Liu Kai.Liu Kai always speaks on the side of cultivating the teacher's way. Once he gets to the front line, wouldn't he ask himself to do things to get in the way!Due to Tong Guan's insistence, the officials had no choice but to renege on their promises and lose weight this time.
Liu Kai's inability to go to the front line is still a small personal matter.
Due to the development of the current situation in the past three months, due to the contact and mutual influence between him and Zhao Long and Ma Kuo, especially because he saw that Tong Guan, Wang Fu and others were doing things that were not in the right place... all these constituted a crisis for him. Impression: The future of the war is not optimistic.Compared with when he went to Weizhou to pass the decree before the Spring Festival, his mood and views have undergone obvious changes. He was so energetic and confident at that time.And now, his vision of victory seemed remote and a little elusive.Liu Kai, who used to be the main combat faction and is still the main combat faction, is currently caught in a great ideological contradiction-in theory, this battle should be fought, but in fact he is not optimistic.
Contrary to Liu Kai's view, both Liu Kai and Ma Kuo clearly felt that a plague that could be called "Victory Disease" was spreading in every corner of Tokyo City these days, and it was likely to sweep the whole city .When people talked about this war, they were all elated, and firmly believed that the surrender of Liao and the recovery of Yanyun were not only possible, but also inevitable, and they were not even about to happen but were happening or had already happened.
In the streets and alleys of Tokyo, such conversations can be heard everywhere:
"I heard that the old manager and strategist led an army across the boundary river, and went straight to the Liao army's camp. It's so fast!"
The imagination of Tokyoites is really fast!A few days ago there were people who doubted the transfer of the Western Army, but today it is conclusively confirmed that the troops of the old strategists have crossed the boundary river.
But unexpectedly, he received a strong, yet contemptuous reply:
"Zan!"
In the Five Dynasties, there was a man named Ma Zan who liked to tell people about outdated news.This Ma Zan himself has been dead for more than a hundred years, but his name is preserved in the spoken language of Tokyo people, and is used to refer to all old news and old people who like to spread such "old news".
"Zan" was stunned for a moment, he thought his news was very fresh.
"The good news came last night. Mr. Xiaozhong's strategist sent his troops straight to the city of Yanjing and fought fiercely. As we speak for a while, the army seems to have regained Yanjing." Liaozhi is a special military term, and he can understand it without any hesitation. Using this military term without blushing shows that he is an expert in this field, "Isn't your brother just daydreaming if you still say that the river is not bounded by the river?"
To be denounced as "chan", to be denounced as "daydreaming", was a violent attack on his intellect.Attacks on the intellectual side are especially intolerable among the general population.Some people don't think that they are filial sons, virtuous grandchildren, and gentlemen, but no one is willing to consider themselves an idiot.When they are attacked in this way, they always jump up like a spring to defend themselves.
"There is a wide and wide Baigou River outside the city of Yanjing," he immediately objected, "Mr. Xiao Chong doesn't have two wings, how can he fly across it in one night?"
"Your brother is so ignorant?" The military expert suddenly appeared in the posture of an authoritative geography, and educated this difficult "Zan". The moat is called Lugou. My late father went to Daliao to celebrate with Tong Taishi (Tong Guan’s status has risen these days, and people no longer call him "Nao Xiang" or "Eunuch"). In Zhengdan, it took more than ten times to cross the reed ditch back and forth. Since it is called a ditch, how wide can it be?
"Lugou and Baigou are both ditches, so why are they so different in difficulty?"
"This ditch is not that ditch." The interlocutor couldn't help getting angry, "There are so many ditches in the world! There are big ditch, small ditch, open ditch, dark ditch, gutter ditch, sun ditch, mud ditch, water ditch, etc. Ditch, mountain ditch, river ditch... How can we generalize? Besides, no one has said that Baigou is difficult to cross, didn't the army cross the boundary river Baigou in the blink of an eye?"
"Even if Mr. Xiaozhong can cross Baigou and Lugou, the grand master still stays in the capital. One of my aunts and cousins has recently been recruited into the army. He comes in and out with fresh clothes and angry horses. He is so mighty. Last night my family A farewell farewell for him, he said that he would not go north with the grand master until the moon is out!" "Zan" is indeed difficult to influence, and the problem of "ditch" has just been solved, and this new problem is raised to argue. "The grand master is still in the capital and hasn't set off to the front line. How can Mr. Xiao Zhong, the manager, take his lead and enter the city first?"
It is not a matter of lack of knowledge but of lack of common sense.The authoritative laughed pitifully, obviously laughing at him for being too naive.
"Tong Taishi really went there, but it's not just a show! The steamed buns are hot, and whoever gets them will eat them first. Mr. Xiaozhong is not a fool. Could it be that he holds the steamed buns and waits for others to rush to eat them?" ? You are so honest.” After some education, he immediately realized that this last word was going to cause a severe reaction—everyone knew that “honest” is synonymous with “fool”, so he hurriedly said Rubbing the sleeves of his robe, he said in an intimate tone to ease the harshness, "The news that Mr. Xiaozhong's manager entered Yanjing City last night, I got it from Eunuch Liang's door. It is absolutely true. I just tell you You bro, don’t spread it to the outside world, once you get to the bottom of it and say that I have leaked military secrets, you can’t afford to walk away!”
The authoritative statement was so affirmative, with both factual basis and theoretical analysis, and the news was still obtained from a very well-known source, which finally made the stubborn stone nod.In fact, "Zan" is just "Zan" a little bit, he is by no means an idiot, nor is he an imbecile.Once he came to his senses, he immediately ran and told everyone he met, regardless of Zhang Shuwei, about the recovery of Yanjing City, and the hot news of the capture of Emperor Tianzuo and Empress Tianzuo alive.He also said that this news has a lot of background. After hearing it, you have to spread it to the outside world, so as not to investigate the root cause and make me feel overwhelmed.His purpose of doing this is obviously to get rid of himself and let others sit on the throne of "Zan".
The great honor is as great as the great shame, and there seems to be only one place and one seat for both.If someone takes the right seat, others will lose the opportunity to pay attention.Therefore, this old man got rid of the throne of "Zan" by himself, and he was not at ease enough in his heart. He had to find a scapegoat and put him on this honor seat, so that he could feel at ease.Anyone who has used this "golden cicada's escape" strategy to pass on to others the disaster that has or may have fallen on his own head must have a deep understanding of this.
The Tokyo people marched at such a rapid speed that they broke into Yanjing City overnight and captured Emperor Tianzuo alive.This appetizing road news is constantly circulating on the streets of Tokyo, sometimes shocking the authorities.One day, Kaifeng Yin Shengzhang went to visit Wang Dazai at night and asked him to confirm whether the news that the Emperor Liao had arrived had been circulated for a day.
During that day, Wang Fu had heard the same news from five or six places, and he himself became confused, and sent people to the Zhengshitang several times to wait for the good news.
All rumors, those that are particularly in line with the subjective wishes of the authorities, or happen to be the opposite of it, are especially easy to spread.
Everyone holds the same mentality and regards victory as walking to the gate to pick up a wallet that was accidentally left on the ground by someone. If you haven’t picked it up right now, you will find it later. .Businessmen who are good at planning and planning have purchased and monopolized a large number of firecrackers, fireworks, silk flowers, lanterns and other consumable materials for celebrating victory, and are preparing to make a fortune.Officials who believe that their official fortunes are prosperous expect the day when the good news will come, the emperor's envoy will fall, and the rain and dew will be wet, and they will definitely be promoted to the third rank.The citizens who are optimistic about everything can't help being elated when they think that in that happy day, everyone can have another month of carnival and watch some unprecedented new programs.
Everyone is unwilling to be a "Zan", everyone must go ahead of time and facts, and grab the news of victory as soon as possible.From a certain point of view, Tokyo people belong to a fragile nation. They lack resistance to gossip, rumors, germs, viruses, and any armed and unarmed attacks. If they have not been tempered by real wars More calm, more resolute words.
In the days when the victorious plague swept across the city, few people could survive the infection, unless the real soldiers such as Liu Qi and Ma Kuo who had been trained in war were immune.Both Liu Kai and Ma Kuo are the main combatants. Since they are the main battlers, they hope to win and believe in its possibility.But victory must come from a series of preparations for it, and it must be based on facts, not blind optimism, rash estimates, or hypocritical rhetoric, grandstanding.
Liu Qi and Ma Kuo, relying on the intuition of the soldiers and the information they have obtained recently, deduced that the coming war would be a fierce and tense battle.This fierce battle was made more difficult by the authorities' various absurd measures.It is definitely not an easy military game, a flashy "reining in the border".Victory is won by the hands of the soldiers, and threats, empty talk, or two articles cannot replace it.They also hated the civil servants of the Economic Fufang and the staff of the Xuanfu Department (unfortunately Ma Kuo himself will soon become their colleagues) just like they hated the "rats from Tokyo" when they were in the Western Army.Civil servants and aides made all kinds of optimistic predictions about the war situation on the spur of the moment, made a lot of discussions, wrote tens of thousands of words, and created public opinion everywhere. This was their housekeeping skill. At a loss, bewildered, showing extreme pessimism and disappointment.Without these empty theories, without writing a few bureaucratic articles, how can they make a living, get rich, and get promoted to high officials?Empty talk was originally a characteristic of Song Dynasty politics.However, the imperial court formulated national policies based on these empty theories, and intentionally or unconsciously caused many people to underestimate the enemy, making our army in arrogance and the enemy in a state of mourning. Before the battle, negative factors that are not conducive to combat are brewed. , which is very harmful.
The more prevalent the plague was, the more worried Ma Kuo and Liu Qi became.In addition to the above-mentioned reasons, what made them worry was a letter from Ma Zheng from the front line recently.
Since the army arrived at the front line, there have been frequent exchanges of messengers between the capital and Xiongzhou.Before and after Ma Kuo got married, he had asked someone to forward several letters from his family, but it was only now that Ma Zheng had the time to write a detailed reply.Needless to say, this letter is not only a reply to his son, but also to let Zhao Long and Liu Qi understand the situation ahead as much as possible.
Ma Zheng's letter can be traced back to his activities in Weizhou and Qinzhou at the beginning, and later he was ordered by Zhongshizhong to Huaining Mansion to bring the Shengjie Army to the front line.Coincidentally, on the first day of March, on the eve of his daughter-in-law's wedding, he happened to take this team passing by the capital and camped outside the Chenzhou gate for the night.Of course he didn't know at the time that the wedding was just around the corner, and even if he knew, he couldn't come to the city.Because the officers and soldiers of this army have such a strong desire to go to the city to take a stroll, if he hadn't set an example and strictly guarded his post, it would have restricted their free movement.He sighed and said; he had led soldiers in the Western Army for half his life, and he had never encountered such an unruly army.This is a bad omen.Due to the absence of the officiant at the wedding, Zhao Long and Liu Qi were too tired, for which he expressed his apology and thanks.
When he talked about the Xiongzhou front, what caught the eye was the "confrontation" between the Xuanfu Division and the High Command.Personnel from the Xuanfu Department came here to find trouble in an endless stream, but being a teacher is not easy to mess with. A lot of lawsuits are filed every day, and people's energy is wasted in these places, which is really lamentable.
His son told him the news from Liu Ziyu, saying that Wang Lin and Jia Ping were going to sue him, but he just laughed it off.He said that these two are now the red horns in the Xuanfu Department, and Xiongzhou City was disturbed by them.When they saw him, they stared and raised their eyebrows, wishing to put him to death.He was at ease and had no fear of them.
Then he touched on the subject, on the current enemy situation.At present, the army is only deployed on the front line of Xiongzhou, and there are only small troops stationed in Baigou on the front line for patrolling, and there has been no formal contact with the Liao army across the river.However, according to the Tanma News, from Bazhou to Baigou, the Liao army gathered, ready to fight, and a big fight seemed inevitable.
He analyzed the political and military situation in Liao, and said: In winter, after Emperor Tianzuo entered and exited Zhongjing, he fled to Yinjia Mountain west of Yunzhou.The Jin army successively dispatched rapid troops to block his way out from the east, south, and north directions, trying to round him up.The area to the west is all barren sandy land. If he can't make up his mind to escape there, he will never escape the fate of being captured in the end.
In the first ten days of March, the Fan Han ministers in Yanjing appointed the emperor's uncle Qin and Jin King Yeluchun as Tianxi Emperor (Yeluchun is usually called the King of Yan).At present, King Yan is suffering from illness, and all important military and state affairs are taken care of by Empress Xiao.Li Chuwen, the nephew of Li Yan, the former privy envoy, was promoted to prime minister and assisted in government affairs because of his support.Yanjing's material resources and manpower are quite abundant, it can be said that it has concentrated the essence of Canliao, and it must not be underestimated.Especially in the military, there are 40,000 to 50,000 Xi troops under the direct command of Xiao Qian, the brother of Empress Xiao, who is known as the king of the Fourth Army, and Hanlin Chengzhi Yelu Dashi (Liao people call Hanlin Lin Ya, and generally call him Dashi Lin Ya). Sixty or seventy thousand Khitan troops, together they number no less than one hundred thousand.Xi and Khitan also had conflicts in the past, but now they are quite united under the attack of Song and Jin, and they are ready to take advantage of the city to fight to the death.
The trapped beasts are still fighting, not to mention the more than 100,000 troops that are still considered complete, their strength must not be underestimated.Yelu Dashi is currently in charge of military deployment on the front line of Baigou. He has a high prestige. It is said that he has some civil and military talents. In the future, he will be a strong enemy in the decisive battle.
In addition to the above-mentioned Xi and Khitan armies, there were also the Bohai Navy and the Han Army, collectively referred to as the Fourth Army.A few years ago, Gao Yongchang, a native of Bohai, rebelled against the Liao Dynasty, and was later flattened by the Jin people. Now the Bohai people have belonged to the Jin Dynasty.What is worth noting in the Han army is a tough army called the "Ever-Victorious Army", with a strength of about 7,000 people. The Han army was placed on the front line to confront our army, and they had been dispersed as a reserve, which aroused their dissatisfaction.Legend has it that they really wanted to communicate with the court, but He Shen didn't know how to deal with them.
He finally said: The situation is changing all the time. When Emperor Tianzuo escaped from Zhongjing, the Liao court had no leader, and there was indeed a tendency of collapse for a while.It's a pity that I was too slow in responding. I always blamed that I didn't prepare in advance, and there was no army to adjust at the border, so I missed the opportunity.At present, their political power has been re-established, and they are going to deal with my attack with all their strength. It is bound to take a fierce battle to see the outcome.
He believes that since the imperial court has appointed Zhong Shidao as the capital to control, it should be given full power in the military, fully let go, and let him take care of the overall situation.Only with the six bridles in hand, can you manipulate them freely, and you can be sure of victory.Xuan Fusi must not hold back.The eunuchs supervised the army in the Tang Dynasty, Guo and Li could not achieve great success, and Yin Jian is not far away.It's all up to the officials.Uncle Xin is very close to Tianyan, if there is a chance, why not play the song and listen to the official ruling.
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