I didn't have time to think about the reasons for Fan Wenhu's change, and then said: "Let me talk about the Lin'an War Zone. The establishment of the Lin'an War Zone has two purposes. One is to assist the Royal Guards in defending our Song Dynasty headquarters (the capital), and the other is to serve as a mobile The troops may support other frontline theaters at any time or be used for other purposes. You have just heard my description of the establishment of the Imperial Guard Army. By the way, I would like to tell you that I will personally serve as the commander of the Northern Expedition, and the Imperial Guard Army will naturally accompany it. The Lin'an War Zone's I plan to set the establishment at about 40,000 people, consisting of three armies, of which 20,000 people are from the Forbidden Army, and the other 20,000 people are also recruited from the civilian population. Its organizational structure will follow the original military structure of our country, that is, It is the layout of Xiang, Army, Battalion and Capital. As for the candidate for the coach of the Lin'an Theater, I currently do not have a suitable candidate. If you think there is a suitable candidate, you can recommend it."
Everyone knows that the position of coach of the Royal Forest Army will be taken by one of my confidants, so no one is envious and dare not have any ideas. However, as for the candidate for the coach of the Lin'an Theater, everyone has their own plans, hoping to use their relatives and friends. , after all, this can be regarded as the boss of the capital garrison. His status is so high that it seems to be higher than that of the commanders in other theaters.
But no one wanted to be the first person to stand out, so the venue became silent for a while. Of course, I also knew that in the last years of the Song Dynasty, there were no famous generals to choose from.
When Li Beiyang saw no one talking, he stood up first and said: "I suggest that veteran Cao Shixiong be appointed as the commander-in-chief of the Lin'an War Zone."
Cao Shixiong was a general during Lizong's period. He was as famous as Xiang Shibi and had an upright temperament. After Jia Sidao gained power, he immediately acted arrogantly and slandered Lizong about Cao Shixiong and Cao Shixiong who were "rude" to him in the military camp. Xiang Shibi claimed that he had embezzled money and stolen official money in the army. As a result, both of them were exiled. Later, Xiang Shibi left with injustice, while Cao Shixiong returned to Lizong in the fourth year of Jingding (4th year of Emperor Jingding's reign) with the intervention of Queen Mother Xie Daoqing. Lin'an, Bu Yi is at home.
"Well, everyone, continue,"
Lu Xiufu said: "Your Majesty, although Cao Shixiong is a famous general in our dynasty, he is already old and I am afraid that his physical strength will not be enough. I propose that Yin Yinglei, a Jinshi in the second year of Jiaxi (1238), take over his post."
"Yin Ying Lei, who is he?" I had no impression of this person at all. I searched for Zhao Yu's memory in my mind, but came up empty.
"Your Majesty, this Yin Yinglei is from Jinghai. He later moved to Changshu. In the second year of Baoyou (1254), he was appointed as the governor of Hezhou. When he took office, the Mongolian soldiers invaded. Yin Yinglei ordered Qiu Yue to set up an envoy along the river. The chariot soldiers broke into Hezhou and defeated the Mongolian soldiers. Because of their weird character, informality, and bad philosophy, they were not liked by the late emperor. They were dismissed from office and are now living at home."
"Well, it can also be counted as a candidate. Dear friends, you can talk about the candidate in your mind. I have always maintained that you can speak freely during the meeting, but after the meeting, once a resolution is formed, it needs to be implemented unconditionally. ,"
"The veteran recommended Wang Anjie, the son of Lord Wang Jian, to take up this position," said Zhao Kui, a veteran who attended the meeting as the Duke of Lu.
I know that Wang Jian was a general under Meng Gong, famous for commanding the battle of Diaoyu City (now part of Chongqing).
In February of the first year of Kaiqing (1259), Mongolian Khan Mengge personally led his army to besiege Diaoyu City. Under the leadership of Wang Jian, from February to May, the Song army repeatedly repelled the Mongolian siege troops. In June, they repelled the Mongolian army that captured Ma Junzhai in the outer city. The Mongolian vanguard general Wang Dechen was wounded and died. In July, Meng Ge personally supervised the battle, was also wounded and died in the army. Meng Ge Khan was everywhere. In Europe and Asia, soldiers were like gods. Europeans called it "God's whip", but in the end he died in the hands of Wang Jian. After Meng Ge died, the Mongolian army withdrew. Wang Jian was promoted to the rank of guard because of his outstanding service. He was under the control of the Military Division, but was later marginalized by Jia Sidao, and died of depression.
This period of history is described in Jin Yong's writings as Yang Guo's merits.
The Defense of Diaoyu City was one of the famous defensive battles in the history of Chinese wars. The Ancient War Museum of the Military Museum of the Chinese People’s Revolution also specially made a sand table model of the ancient battlefield of Diaoyu City to demonstrate its important position in the history of ancient Chinese wars.
Zhao Kui continued: "Everyone in our court knows about Wang Jian's bravery. His son, Wang Anjie, followed his father for a long time and made great achievements in guarding Hezhou. Now at home, Ding's father is worried."
These three people seemed to have some grudges against Jia Sidao. I turned my attention to Jia Sidao and said, "Master, look at this."
"But it's up to Your Majesty to make the decision," Jia Sidao said calmly.
I don’t understand what Jia Sidao is thinking. He seems to be indifferent to the candidate for the commander-in-chief of the Lin’an Theater. This is completely different from his attitude at the military reform meeting. On the candidate for the commander-in-chief of the Lin’an Theater, Jia Sidao and his party collectively voted to abstain.
ticket.
I nodded and said: "Jun Shi, recruit these three people into the palace immediately. I will examine them one by one."
Lu Xiufu replied: "Yes, Your Majesty, I accept the decree."
"My dear friends, if you have other suitable candidates, you can also report them to me before the formal appointment of the theater commander is made." There are only these three candidates, and I feel that they are a bit missing.
"Yes, I obey the order,"
"Okay, here is the last war zone, the Guangnan War Zone," I paused, took a sip of tea to moisten my throat and said, "The Guangnan War Zone is located in the south of our dynasty, bordering the Annan vassal state to the south and the former Dali to the west.
Since Mongolia captured the land of Dali, the military value of Guangnan has become prominent. Therefore, we plan to establish the Guangnan War Zone. The purpose, as I have said before, is to prevent the Mongols from returning from their original location.
The land of Dali invaded our country. In turn, it can also be said that it was our army during the Northern Expedition, and it also shocked the southern vassal states. Everyone remembers the Nong Zhigao Rebellion. For the Guangnan War Zone, I plan to follow
The strength of the two armies is about 20,000. Like the Lin'an War Zone, the war zone's organizational system follows the original military system of our country. Half of its troops come from the Forbidden Army and are generally recruited locally."
Lu Xiufu calculated in his mind and said: "That's not right, Your Majesty, the Forbidden Army has a total of more than 70,000 troops, and the Forbidden Army absorbed by these three armies is only about 35,000, and there are still more than half of the Forbidden Army who have nowhere to go."
I smiled and said: "Junshi, you are right. There are many old, weak, sick and disabled people in the Forbidden Army. We can take this opportunity to remove their military status, return to their hometowns to farm, or live as they please. Let me explain, this is not only
It is aimed at the imperial army. Each war zone also needs to eliminate unqualified soldiers to prepare for the reform of our military recruitment system,"
"Yes, Your Majesty the Holy Ming,"
"Next, let's discuss the candidate for the head coach of the Guangnan Theater Zone,"
This time, Jia Sidao was the rare one to take the lead and said: "Your Majesty, I have recommended Fan Wenhu, our deputy commander in front of the palace, to take up this post. Deputy Commander Fan has been in the army for many years, has experienced hundreds of battles, and has been managing the Imperial Army all year round, so
I believe that Master Fan is the best candidate to be the commander-in-chief of the Guangnan War Zone, which is thousands of miles away."
"Well, I will give priority to the recommendations of my teachers and ministers. Everyone, are there any other candidates?"
"Your Majesty, I also believe that Fan Wenhu is suitable for this position," Fan Wenhuan, Minister of War, also agreed.
Intuition tells me that Jia Sidao and his party must have carefully considered their bid for the position of commander-in-chief of the Guangnan Theater.
Before this, everyone was guessing who would be the commander-in-chief of these three armies. Everyone agreed that the commander-in-chief of the Royal Forest Army would be someone close to me. Most people guessed it was Lu Xiufu, and almost no one guessed it would be the Queen Mother. His younger brother Xie Daolin, as for the candidate to be the commander-in-chief of the Lin'an War Zone, the most popular guess is that Fan Wenhu will be appointed. The reason is that Fan Wenhu himself has the highest military rank in the Forbidden Army. Some people also speculate that Jia Sidao will serve as the commander-in-chief. According to the law of balance, the imperial power and the prime minister Everyone is happy that Quan is in his own right. As for the Guangnan War Zone, not many people seem to be interested. After all, it is too far away.
Jia Sidao abandoned the Lin'an War Zone and turned to the Guangnan War Zone, which was in line with the art of war and concentrated his strength on attacking weak points.
It's just that the Guangnan War Zone is very far away from Lin'an. Is Fan Wenhu willing?
I thought about it and asked, "Fan Aiqing, what do you think?"
Fan Wenhu said hurriedly: "I obey your Majesty's arrangements, and I am willing to defend the territory for your Majesty."
"Well, if you have this ambition, I will consider it carefully."
"Thank you, Your Majesty,"
I continued to ask: "Do you have any other recommendations?"
When discussing the coach of the Lin'an Theater, Jia Sidao and his party were silent. When it was the turn to recommend the coach of the Guangnan Theater, only Jia Sidao and his party made the suggestion, and the others seemed to cooperate tacitly.
It seems that there are indeed too few generals who can serve as commander-in-chief. I sighed secretly. Young people such as Ouyang Jianqing and Xia Qing are still young. Even Lu Xiufu, Wen Tianxiang and others are not able to serve as feudal officials for the time being. Officialdom The way to win is not just about ability, but also about overall strength. Although Fan Wenhu always lost battles in history, his resources and connections in the court were sufficient. Of course, this was based on the power of one party. Yes, it is said that a skinny camel is bigger than a horse. In the struggle for imperial power, although Jia Sidao was at a disadvantage, his power was so intricate that I could not take it back easily.
In the later period of Emperor Lizong of the Song Dynasty, Jia Sidao worked hard in the court for more than ten years. He could be said to have all the power in the court. However, Emperor Lizong of the Song Dynasty paid little attention to the affairs of the court, which invisibly created a feeling for people that Jia Sidao was the head of the Song Dynasty. Even the top leaders of northern Mongolia thought so. Therefore, in the decision-making of the Mongols, the "annihilation" of Jia Sidao was the top priority. They unanimously believed that without Jia Sidao, the Song Dynasty would definitely be in chaos. group.
After Hao Jing returned, he re-examined the Song Dynasty court. Judging from the Song Dynasty intelligence obtained by Mongolia, Hao Jing subconsciously felt that the new emperor of the Song Dynasty was the more terrifying person. However, after all, Hao Jing did not compete with me. The new emperor had dealt with it, so it was only at the stage of speculation and could not change Mongolia's established national policy towards the Song Dynasty.
Historically, Kublai Khan had a very high opinion of Jia Sidao. In "History of the Yuan Dynasty", Kublai Khan once said something like this, "It was said: 'There is only one scholar Jia Zhizhi who guards the city. You A hundred thousand people cannot win, and killing people for several months cannot be extricated. This is your crime.'" This passage is one of Kublai Khan's evaluations of Jia Sidao, which means that there is only one person named Jia in the enemy's city. Commander, you led hundreds of thousands of people and were unable to defeat us. You fought for several months and still failed to capture this city. What a sin you have committed.
Lu Xiufu carefully replied: "Your Majesty, not yet."
If you look at the recommended list, the commander of the Royal Forest Army belongs to the imperial power faction, the commander of the Guangnan theater belongs to the prime minister faction, and the Lin'an theater commander belongs to the middle faction. This is in line with the law of balance.
Seeing that everyone became silent again, I said: "In this case, according to what I said before, if you have suitable candidates, you can submit it to me."
There were only three nominations for the coach of the Lin'an theater, which I already thought was too few. I didn't expect that there were even fewer nominations for the coach of the Guangnan theater, with only one person.