Wen Tianxiang was worthy of being the number one scholar, and he had thousands of articles in his belly. Looking at the more and more Xiangyang soldiers gathered around him, he continued: "Fellow soldiers, in recent years, you must have realized that in the Xiangyang army, even In the entire Song Dynasty army, it is becoming increasingly rare to withhold military rations and bully soldiers for no reason. This series of phenomena shows that the military discipline of our army has been fundamentally improved. Only by strictly managing the army can we fight for hundreds of battles. Victory, officers and soldiers at all levels should get the rewards they deserve based on their military exploits. Only when rewards and punishments are clear can soldiers kill the enemy with all their strength. Thinking back to those days, the Yue Family Army of our dynasty was called by the Jin people, "It is easy to shake the mountains, but it is difficult to shake the Yue Family Army." The reason must be known to everyone. Such a powerful force will definitely reappear in the Xianchun Dynasty. In the near future, the Mongols will definitely say, 'It is easy to shake a mountain, but it is difficult to shake the Song army.' This is what His Majesty the Emperor said to me. The request of the military, and I hope that our Xiangyang Military Region will do this first, you,,,,,,"
Having said this, Wen Tianxiang paused for a moment, and suddenly raised his voice and asked: "Heroes of the Song Dynasty, can you do it?"
"Yes," there were only a few messy voices at the beginning, but soon a huge voice gathered on the tower: "Yes, we must be able,"
"Okay, I will tell you to the emperor," Wen Tianxiang finally said, "Dear heroes, I will take my leave. I hope that I can often hear about your heroic deeds in Lin'an."
In the afternoon of that day, Wen Tianxiang, accompanied by a reporter from the only newspaper company in Xiangyang City, visited the entire Xiangyang City, talked enthusiastically with the gentry and common people in the city, and exchanged information one by one on the current situation in Xiangyang City and the court's determination to fight against the Mongols. Wen Tianxiang encouraged Everyone united to defend their homeland and answered one by one the basic life issues that the people were concerned about.
At the same time, Shi Yanzhi and Li Beiyang held secret talks with several major generals of the Xiangyang Military Region on the current military situation in Xiangfan in the council hall of the Commander's Mansion. During the talks, Shi Yanzhi conveyed various matters of the Military Affairs Council After the instructions, Lu Wenhuan asked: "Master Shi, the Mongols are now taking turns bombarding the east of Xiangyang City. Our trebuchets are slightly behind in terms of number and attack range. I wonder if your majesty has any instructions as to when the artifact can be used? "
Shi Yanzhi smiled and said: "Don't be anxious, Mr. Lu. Your Majesty said that the use of the artifact will take some time. First, it will have to wait until the Mongolian East Road army outside Xiangyang City gathers at least 100,000 people. Second, it will have to wait until I cannonballs towards you. The quantity, therefore, His Majesty estimates, will be approximately between March and April next year,”
Lu Wende said: "That means we have to wait a few months."
Shi Yanzhi replied: "Yes, judging from A Shu's tactics, the Mongols' strategy is exactly the same as the encirclement and counter-encirclement mentioned by Your Majesty. Therefore, as long as our reinforcements gradually increase, the Mongols are bound to increase their As for the military strength in Xiangyang, as for the situation at the east gate, our army can only bite the bullet and hold on. Once the Mongolian army destroys it, our army will repair it. Besides, the number of trebuchets is also limited, and the Mongols will eventually stop. Come on, as long as our army can't hold out, the Mongols will definitely be unable to bear it. Now that Kublai Khan has made up his mind to go south this time, he will never just besiege but not attack. They are waiting for the opportunity, waiting Our army’s reinforcements, haha, are coming soon,”
"Master Shi, Mongolian Liu Zheng is building a shipyard in the Wanzhang Mountain area. Do our troops need to destroy it?" Lu Wenhuan then asked.
"No, since the Mongols are so grand and unconcealed, they just hope that our troops will take the initiative to leave the city. Your Majesty has said that the Mongols should make a bigger bet in Xiangyang City, the better."
"Yes, my lord,"
"Master Shi," Lu Wende hesitated for a while before asking, "You and I have known each other for several years, but there is something I don't know whether to mention or not."
"Master Lu, what's the matter? Please tell me,"
"Master Shi, the provincial restructuring of our dynasty has been completed. The imperial court has notified Wen Huan to serve as the first governor of Hubei Province after the restructuring. Lu feels inappropriate about this matter, and please speak to His Majesty when you return,"
"Why, Mr. Lu, are you still afraid of humiliation by letting General Lu Wenhuan take the post of provincial governor? General Wenhuan, what do you think?"
Lu Wende hurriedly said: "My lord, this is not an insult. Sir Shi, you and I are not outsiders. Mr. Li is here now. Lv will tell the truth. My lords, I, the Lu family, have received the favor of the late emperor, and I have to be the grand master of the court." He has been guarding Xiangyang for more than ten years. In the past ten years, Lu has indeed had selfish motives, making more than half of the main generals in the Xiangyang Military Region members of our Lu family. This is undoubtedly the private army of our Lu family. Your Majesty Wise and powerful, regardless of Lv's fault, he appointed Wenhuan as the governor of Hubei Province. However, Lv felt deeply wrong. After the incident, Lv often reflected on the past and believed that he had made two major mistakes. One was that Liu The second thing is the whole affair. No matter what happened, I regret it beyond words. Your Majesty’s favor is so great that our Lu family should be shattered into pieces in order to repay the favor. But please take back your kindness to Wen Huanzhi. Appointment, please, please both of you,"
Shi Yanzhi and Li Beiyang looked at each other, thought for a moment and then said: "Master Lu, we will definitely inform your Majesty about this matter. Before your Majesty's reconsideration, General Wen Huan will temporarily exercise the power of the governor of Hubei Province."
Lu Wende nodded and said, "This is natural."
The next day, Wen Tianxiang and others passed the ferry bridge on the Han River and went to Fancheng for inspection.
Although it only lasted two days, the arrival of the imperial envoy brought great confidence to the soldiers and people of Xiangfan, and the shadow of the Mongolian army's shelling in recent days gradually disappeared.
The day after Wen Tianxiang and others left, the only newspaper office in Xiangyang City worked overtime and published a special issue for this purpose, which was distributed for free in Xiangfan and Xiangfan. This special issue published the entire itinerary of Imperial Envoy Wen Tianxiang in Xiangfan. With the determination of the imperial court to fight against Mongolia, and Mr. Wen's hope that all Xiangfan soldiers and civilians would unite to win this arduous and protracted defense war, Wen Tianxiang also used this to report specifically to the government about unscrupulous businessmen who were driving up prices and taking advantage of the opportunity. We will take a resolute crackdown and ensure that there will be no shortage of basic living supplies in Xiangfan and Xiangfan.
One afternoon a few days later, I summoned Wen Tianxiang and three others in the war room of Funing Hall, accompanied by Grand Master Jia Sidao and Military Affairs Councilor Lu Xiufu.
"I will see your Majesty,"
"No courtesy, thank you for your hard work, three dear ladies,"
"Thank you, Your Majesty,"
After a brief courtesy, Wen Tianxiang reported to me the experience of this trip to Xiangyang.
"What the Mongols are doing is undoubtedly forcing our country to send reinforcements, so that they can seize the opportunity to gather reinforcements," I said first after listening to the report.
"Your Majesty," Wen Tianxiang said, "from various indications, the Mongols are not in a hurry to attack the city, but are just bluffing, attacking with long-range weapons such as trebuchets, and at the same time gradually advancing their positions, adopting a step-by-step approach. , narrow the encirclement,”
"Well, in fact Kublai Khan's techniques and tactics are correct, and it is also advisable for the Mongols to vigorously improve the trebuchet. However, they would never have thought that there are still benefits of firearms in the world,"
Lu Xiufu said: "Your Majesty, although firearms have their advantages, I feel that the most important thing is that your Majesty can discern opportunities and predict the enemy in advance. This is the greatest advantage our government has."
I smiled and said, "Junshi, the new recruits from each military region have been put in place. Are there any vacancies for the generals leading the troops?"
"Your Majesty, for ordinary generals, the common practice in all military regions is to promote existing veterans, but there is a shortage of senior generals."
"Well, it is said that a thousand armies are easy to get, but a general is hard to find. By the way, Junshi, this year's imperial examination has ended. I specially summoned Zhang Zhensun, the number one scholar in this examination. Although this person is a scholar, he is not familiar with marching formations. He is very interested. I have sought his opinion and plan to let him serve in the Military Academy. Maybe he will become a Confucian general in the future, just like Yin Ying Lei and Zan Wanshou."
Zhang Zhensun, a native of Shunde, Guangdong, according to the historical process, would be selected as the number one scholar in the seventh year of Xianchun three years later. He was an upright and loyal man. He later visited Guangzhou, which was captured by the Mongolian army. Zhang Zhensun was defeated and captured. , died heroically.
After I arrived, Zhang Zhensun's imperial examination was advanced one term.
Lu Xiufu said: "Well, I will arrange this matter." Lu Xiufu himself also came from the imperial examination, so he naturally had no objection to scholars joining the army.
"Due to the war, Jinke's martial arts examination was postponed to early December. I hope this martial arts examination will also be fruitful. There are also students from the Military University. They will also be one of the main sources of lieutenant generals in our army. one,"
"Your Majesty," Jia Sidao said suddenly, "I went to the Ministry of Civil Affairs yesterday for official business. I heard from the officials of the Ministry of Civil Affairs that after the descendants of Marshal Yue learned that Your Majesty worshiped Yue Temple, several young people came to the Ministry of Civil Affairs a few days ago. check in,"
"Really? Yue Fei's descendants are scattered all over the place, not just the descendants of any one branch. Xiao Qi, you will go to the Ministry of Personnel later and bring over the information of these people."
"Yes, official family,"
"Okay, let's talk about the governor of Hubei Province. What do you think?"
Wen Tianxiang said: "Your Majesty, in Sichuan, Hubei, Anhui, and Jiangsu, due to the war, the governors of each province are concurrently served by the local military region's institutional envoys. General Lu Wenhuan is both civil and military, and I think there is nothing wrong with him taking this position. place,"
"Master, what do you think?"
Jia Sidao smiled sarcastically: "Your Majesty, what Mr. Lu said about Liu Zheng is my fault. I am guilty. I believe that during war, the country should be the most important thing. The Lu family is deeply rooted in Xiangfan. Although it supports The soldiers have no self-respect. Your Majesty can tell Lu Wende that your Majesty has great trust in the Lu family and has no suspicion at all. The reason why Lu Wenhuan was appointed governor was because of the war. After careful consideration, the Government Affairs Council decided that the war is over. Later, it will adjust itself.”
Shi Yan said: "Your Majesty, the Grand Master's words are reasonable. He supports the troops but does not respect himself. I agree with you."
Lu Wende's meaning was very obvious. I was afraid that the Lu family's excessive power would arouse the suspicion of the royal family and the court. I thought about it and said, "Then I will follow the instructions of the grand master and write a letter myself to make him feel at ease."