…

“Let’s wait.”

As soon as Cai Shen said this, everyone looked at Cai Shen.

Zhao Ji, Wang Fu, Tong Guan and others who agreed to send troops to recapture Yan Yun were all frowning, and they secretly blamed Cai Shen for standing up at this critical moment, so that the already decided recapture of Yan Yun might have a variable.

Zheng Juzhong, Li Bangyan and others who opposed sending troops to recover Yan Yun all looked at Cai Jian with some hope that Cai Jian could change Zhao Ji, who had made up his mind and stop sending troops north to recover Yan Yun.

However--

Zheng Juzhong, Li Bangyan and others were so happy.

Cai still expressed his attitude straight to the point: "I agree to send troops to recover Yan Yun..."

After hearing what Cai still said, while Zheng Juzhong, Li Bangyan and others were disappointed, Zhao Ji, Wang Fu, Tong Guan and others relieved their just-kicked hearts.

Cai continued: "However, I feel it is necessary to remind the officials that the Western Army has lost tens of thousands of dollars to suppress Fang La this time, and now it has been withdrawn from the northwest for rest."

Speaking of this, Cai still looked at Tong Guan and said, "Master, how long will it take for the Western Army to gather again?"

Tong Guan glanced at Cai Jian, then remained silent for a while before looking at Zhao Ji, and said, "At least half a year."

"So long?" Zhao Ji said in surprise.

Zhao Ji didn't know that the Western Army was really hurt by this suppression of Fang La. Among them, Tong Guan's Shengjie Army suffered the most casualties. Moreover, both the Western Army and the Shengjie Army were poached a lot by Cai Shen.

In this way, it would be impossible for the Western Army to restore its previous combat power without a year or two, especially in this period of shortage of money and food.

In addition, the time of going back and forth, the time of gathering, and the time of transferring the army from the northwest to Daming Prefecture.

Tong Guan said that after half a year, he had already given a big discount.

It can be imagined that even if the Western Army really assembled in Daming Prefecture within half a year, the Western Army that gathered would definitely be the Western Army with greatly reduced combat power.

However, even if the Western Army, which had greatly reduced its price, would be difficult to assemble again in less than half a year.

Zhao Ji didn't know about these things, but how could Tong Guan, who had been involved in military affairs for a long time, not know about them?

Tong Guan knew, can Cai, who is also in charge of the army, not know?

Moreover, not only Tong Guan and Cai still knew, but Gao Qiu, Tan Zhen and others could also know about it.

Therefore, this matter cannot be hidden.

Tong Guan explained to Zhao Ji in a deep voice why it took half a year for the Western Army to gather together again.

After hearing this, Zhao Ji frowned and said, "Can the Jurchens wait for us for another half a year?"

This is obvious.

The key is that Zhao Song has delayed the Jurchens for more than half a year, and it is impossible to say that it will be delayed for another half a year.

Zheng Juzhong took the opportunity to speak out: "In this way, don't consider regaining Yan Yun anymore."

Li Bangyan also said: "This may be God's will, so will the matter of sending troops to recover Yan Yun be temporarily suspended and wait and see?"

Cai still can't let Zheng Juzhong and Li Bangyan ruin his good things. He said: "Don't worry, I have a way to get the best of both worlds."

Zhao Ji quickly asked, "What is the best way to achieve both worlds?"

Cai still said: "The Jinwu Army can go north at any time, and it only takes half a month to reach the Hebei front. Therefore, I can lead the Jinwu Army to send troops to Hebei first, and then gather the troops from Hebei while waiting for the fighter opportunity. At the same time, Taishi Tong can slowly gather the Western Army and wait for the Western Army to prepare before sending troops. In this way, we have fulfilled the agreement with the Jurchens, and there is no need to make major mistakes due to excessive urgency. Wouldn't it be the best of both worlds?"

When Zhao Ji heard this, his eyes lit up and said, "This plan is good."

Unexpectedly, Tong Guan said, "This plan is inappropriate."

Before Cai could still ask questions, Zhao Ji couldn't help but say, "Where is the inappropriate place?"

If someone else proposed such a plan, Tong Guan would never have stood up so eagerly to stop it.

But Cai still proposed this plan, and Tong Guan must stop it immediately.

Why do you think?

A southern expedition to Fang La had already allowed Tong Guan to see through Cai Shen thoroughly.

In Tong Guan's view, Cai is still an ambitious guy who is both capable and courageous.

If he did what Cai Jian said, Tong Guan dared to say that the recapture of Yan Yun would have nothing to do with him.

By then, no matter whether Tong Guan is willing or not, he will have to retire early.

But Tong Guan couldn't tell Zhao Ji about this reason.

Tong Guan could only say: "This is a national war, which may be a national war with hundreds of thousands of troops participating in the war. Just the 40,000 to 50,000 troops of the Jinwu Army, attacking a city may not be enough. How can it be defeated? This may become a tactic of adding fuel to it."

Cai still heard this and said, "I just led troops to Hebei to patrol the border, and did not say that I would go to the battle. Moreover, although the Jinwu Army was not enough, there were also the Hebei imperial guards, so I could also recruit some township warriors as auxiliary troops."

This is what Tong Guan is most afraid of. He dares not let Cai Shen grow stronger. If Cai Shen really wants to continue to grow stronger, then he will be replaced by Cai Shen.

Tong Guan said: "After the army comes out, whether to fight or not, is it your final decision? It is a national war, not a joke."

Tong Guan said again: "Besides, Hebei is not as good as Hedong, there is no danger there. If you want to fight there, you must have more troops."

The military defense system in the north of the Song Dynasty was mainly composed of two defense zones, Hebei and Hedong.

Hedong (that is, Shanxi in later generations), the mountains and rivers are everywhere, with many dangers, easy to defend but difficult to attack.

Hebei is a vast plain, endless.

Therefore, the Hebei defense zone was the top priority of the Northern Song Dynasty's northern defense.

The Song Dynasty had four important military cities in Hebei, namely four routes of pacification:

1. Gaoyangguan Road, the capital is located in Hejian Prefecture (Hejian, Hebei in later generations);

2. Dingzhou Prefecture Road, the capital is located in Zhongshan Prefecture (later Dingzhou, Hebei);

3. Zhending Mansion Road, where the capital is located (later generations of Zhengding, Hebei);

4. Damingfu Road, the capital is located in Damingfu, Beijing (later Hebei Daming).

The three garrisons of Gaoyang Pass, Dingzhou, and Zhending, as well as the garrisons of Hedong Road, Taiyuan Prefecture, Daizhou and other places form a north-south vertical deep defense system.

The troops stationed in Damingfu Road were distributed along the east and west of the Yellow River, defending horizontally, forming the second line of defense in the north of the Song Dynasty.

If we want to fight a national war, these areas in Hebei must send troops to strengthen their defense. Otherwise, once the front line is defeated, the enemy may well advance and destroy Zhao Song in one fell swoop.

Therefore, Tong Guan said that Cai Shen’s troops were not strong enough to go to Hebei, and it was not aimless.

But Cai still had to fight for going to Hebei - Yan land was near the sea, and there was a Tianjin Port in later generations. If Cai could still capture Yan land, he could contact his base in Taiwan through sea, and then get support from Taiwan from manpower, money and food.

Therefore, Cai still insisted on taking Jinwu army to Hebei without saying anything.

Tong Guanze said that he would not let Cai go to Hebei no matter what.

The two argued endlessly, and neither of them was willing to give in.

Zhao Ji believed that what the two said made sense and it was difficult to choose.

In this way, it will be difficult to achieve a result in this matter for a while.

but--

Although there are still debates on how to send troops, the issue of sending troops has finally been decided.

As a result, everyone began to discuss who would go back with Jin Zhi to submit the covenant.

For this reason, Zhao Ji asked someone to find Zhao Liangsi.

When Zhao Liangsi heard that the court was preparing to launch troops to recover Yanjing, he was very happy and came to see Zhao Ji and others, and then said to Tong Guan in public: "The Grand Tutor personally led the army to fight, and Yanjing will definitely be recovered."

Tong Guan was very happy about Zhao Liangsi's words. He said: "Your Majesty summoned you this time to ask you who is suitable to go to the Jurchens to set a joint time with the Jurchens to destroy Liao?"

Zhao Liangsi thought for a while and said, "Don't bother the two masters in one matter. According to Weichen, let Ma Xuanzan leave."

When Ma Kuo was on his mission to the Jin Dynasty last year, Yang Pu, the adviser of Wanyan Aguda, said to Wanyan Aguda: "Emperor, I think that one of the important reasons why the Khitan could grow and grow in the past was that it obtained the Yanyun Han territory and the Han people. Today, once we promise to cut Yanyun back to the Song Dynasty, not only will our country's national power be slightly reduced, but our country's borders will also retreat to the north of the Five Passes. If we destroy the Khitan in the future and have all the land, how dare the Song Dynasty not contribute to us money? If we want to expand our territory south, how can the Song Dynasty resist me? Therefore, I think there is no need to cross the sea to speak well with the Song Dynasty. When we step down the Khitan and occupy Yan territory and become neighbors with the Song Dynasty, we will use our troops to suppress the border and negotiate with it. What's wrong with it?"

Everyone felt that what Yang Pu said was a little reasonable, but Wanyan Zonghan disagreed. He said: "The Song Dynasty faces the borders everywhere. If there is no military force, how can it be established? How can it be so powerful? Do not underestimate the Song Dynasty. Our country is not rich now, so you should not be rashly aware of the Song Dynasty. As for expanding its territory in the south, you should take it step by step and don't be impatient."

The people of the Jin Kingdom argued endlessly.

Later, Wanyan Zonghan suggested to Wanyan Aguda that in the name of hunting, he asked horses to expand and shoot a few arrows to see how his archery skills, a martial arts Jinshi, were like this, so that he could see the military strength of the Song Dynasty.

During the hunting journey, Wanyan Zonghan took down a powerful horned bow he wore and handed it to Ma Kuo. He said in an orderly tone: "I'm sorry, please drive the horse and open the bow, so that I can see the people of the Song Dynasty's bow shooting methods."

Ma Kuo silently took the bow and rode his horse forward. Suddenly, he made a series of standard bow-pulling shooting actions, responding freely from front to back and left to right, and advancing and retreating skillfully.

Seeing this, Wanyan Zonghan remained silent.

The next day, Wanyan Agu said to Ma Kuo with a smile: "I heard that you are very good at drawing bows. Can you demonstrate it for me?"

Ma Kuo listened to the words, picked up a bow and arrow and used all his strength, and shot with no effort, and shot continuously.

Wanyan Aguda praised: "You are so good at shooting. Do the archers of the Song Dynasty have the same methods as you?"

Ma Kuo smiled modestly and said, "Thank you for your praise from the emperor. In fact, my archery skills are not good, I am not as weak as the imperial guards in our capital. They all have their own strengths, and there are many magical archers among them. There are also archers in the imperial guards, all of whom are powerful martial arts. I am just a small teacher, far inferior to them."

After Wanyan Agu inquired, he pondered for a long time.

After breakfast, everyone rode their horses to the hunting ground. Wanyan Aguda and Ma Kuo walked with each other, and Wanyan Zonghan and other Jin generals followed closely behind.

Wanyan Aguda took off his bow and arrow and handed it to Ma Kuo, saying, "When you see the beast running, you can shoot." - Wanyan Aguda wanted to personally test Ma Kuo's ability to ride a horse and shoot and kill live creatures.
To be continued...