Zhang Gen was very interested in military books and tactics, and often read books such as "General Martial Arts".
There is a study room in Zhang's Mansion, which Zhang Yue used to store maps of Xixia, Shaanxi, and the Qing and Tang Dynasties, as well as Zhang Yue's diary of conquering the Qing and Tang Dynasties when he was the military envoy of Xihe Road, as well as some experience in deploying troops and formations.
experience.
Zhang Yue once said to Zhang Gen that there are two classes of generals. The first class is born generals, which depend on luck and talent. The other class is scholars like him, who learn war in war and record their experiences.
By constantly summarizing experience and lessons, you can be a late bloomer.
Zhang Yue did not allow anyone to enter this study, but who kind of person Zhang Gen was, Zhang Yue did not want anyone to see him. He was curious and insisted on taking a look.
After reading it, Zhang Gen felt that he had discovered a new world.
Unsurprisingly, he was caught by Zhang Yue. Then Zhang Yue sneered twice, holding a bamboo board, and asked Zhang Gen what he had read, and then began to take a test. Zhang Gen answered one by one, which was said to be fluent. He saw
Looking at the expression on Zhang Yue's face, the more he heard what happened, the more dumbfounded he became, and he couldn't help but feel secretly proud in his heart.
Then Zhang Yue said to Qi Niang who came to 'rescue' her, that the great thing will be saved.
After saying that, he left.
Zhang Gen asked Shi Qi’s mother and father what they meant by this.
Seventeenth Mother said proudly: "Your father said that smart children don't need to be taught."
Zhang Gen said happily: "Doesn't that mean I'm smarter than dad?"
The Seventeenth Mother smiled and said: "Maybe, but smart people often know a little bit, and they are easy to understand only a little, and they are unwilling to go deep into their knowledge. But your father may not be able to do it right at the beginning, but he can persevere."
"This temperament that makes you stronger every time you are frustrated is far more important than your intelligence."
Zhang Gen was enlightened after hearing this.
Zhang Gen learned about the route from Qingzhou to Weizhou through chatting with Zhao Long. Zhang Gen immediately drew a map of this route from memory overnight, and mapped the route through cities, passes, hills, rivers, and even
Even forts and villages are marked one by one.
After showing it to Zhao Long the next day, Zhao Long admired Zhang Gen so much that he was astonished.
In order to know the map of the march, except for the generals who can know it, their ordinary generals only know the rough map, and there is no such detailed map as Zhang Gen.
Then Zhang Gen asked Zhao Long, if the Western thieves knew that the Song army had such a grain transport team, where should they ambush it?
This Zhao Long is very brave in fighting, but not very precise in this.
Zhao Long was ashamed and confessed the truth to Zhang Gen.
Zhang Gen was surprised when he heard that a general like Zhao Long didn't know this. No wonder his father once said that most of the people in this world are grass-roots teams. If you really want to learn, it's not as difficult as you think. But if you think it's that easy, just learn.
But when it comes, it becomes easy to see again.
Zhang Gen discussed with Zhao Long and concluded that there were dangers in three places on the map. They were either too far away from the Song army's stronghold, there were valleys where troops could hide, or the terrain was open and Xixia cavalry could reach them in one fell swoop.
After hearing Zhang Gen's summary, Zhao Long remembered that the Song army had indeed been attacked by party members or affiliated tribes many times in the three places and said: "What the signer said is absolutely true. These three places are indeed dangerous."
Zhao Long thought to himself, what is born knowing, this is it.
Zhang Gen thought to himself that it would be more useful to draw maps in his father's study. This man didn't know the details, so he just happened to trick him into using them for his own use.
He smiled casually and said: "It's nothing. Everything will be done if you are prepared, and if you are not prepared, it will be ruined. As long as you can think about everything in advance, you will not be afraid even if Li Yuanhao comes back to life."
The two of them immediately agreed to carefully guard against these three places.
One section of the road was between Qingzhou and Huanzhou. They found out that hundreds of Xixia cavalry were attacking in front of them.
The civilians in the team were all panic-stricken when they saw this, but Zhang Gen saw this and galloped forward and said: "I had expected this, so I took shelter in the village ahead!"
There is a village just in front of the official road.
Because they were at the forefront of the battle with the party, the villages were built like forts.
Walls, suspension bridges and trenches were built around the village with rammed loess. Zhang Gen and Zhao Long gave the order and led the civilian mules and horses to escort the grain carts into the village before the party's cavalry arrived.
The villagers in the village were half-farming and half-military, and the soldiers and horses of the food protection team and the civilian service were not afraid for a while.
When the party's cavalry arrived, they were helpless in the face of the well-armed village and were about to withdraw.
Unexpectedly, as soon as the suspension bridge at the entrance of the village fell, Zhao Long came out with dozens of infantrymen with guns drawn and bows on his back to fight.
Dang Xiang did not want to be entangled and immediately retreated. Zhao Long rushed forward and shot several of Dang Xiang's cavalry before returning to the village and was greeted by everyone's cheers.
Half an hour later, the smoke on the beacon tower was extinguished.
A large army arrived outside the village, and the person who came was none other than Yu Chong, the military envoy of Huanqing Road.
He was shocked when he learned that the party had attacked the grain road. If the grain was lost, Weizhou would not be able to be defended even if it was captured.
Therefore, he personally led more than a thousand cavalry from Huanzhou to come to the rescue. When he saw the party retreating and the grain team retreating into the village, he was overjoyed.
Immediately he thought that the Dangxiang cavalry dared to go deep into Huanzhou and harass Qingzhou, which was extremely rampant. What if they were to be attacked from both sides when sending troops to Weizhou?
He wanted to find a place to vent his anger.
Yu Chong had a ferocious look on his face, and when the guards on the left and right saw this, they all knew that someone was going to be in trouble.
Generals and soldiers are full of murderous intent, which is the result of years of accumulation of power. Civil servants who lead troops are rarely elegant and elegant, and more often do not understand any reason or emotion.
The military commanders and civil officials were trying to reason with each other, and there was no need for their lives.
Yu Chong entered the village on horseback. Zhao Long, a general who did not change his composure in the face of tens of thousands of Xixia troops, was already trembling when he saw Yu Chong.
Yu Chong saw two people waiting by the suspension bridge. One of them was Zhao Long, which he knew, and the other one he didn't know. He saw Zhao Long's attitude first and knew that the other person was afraid of him, so he didn't take it seriously, while the other person looked carelessly.
He stood with his back straight, and the anger in his heart suddenly became even more intense. He thought about how to give him a "power".
After hearing Zhang Gen announce his name and official position, Yu Chong took the initiative to jump off his horse and said with a smile on his face: "So he is a good nephew!"
Yu Chong, Xiong Ben, and Li Chengzhi were both generals of the New Party. Yu Chong defeated Maozhou, and Xiong Ben defeated Yuzhou and Luzhou. Both of them used their military merits as Zhongshu Jianzheng.
Li Chengzhi was a person whom even Wang Anshi thought highly of.
Li Chengzhi and Xiong Ben opposed Zhang Yue's reform of the military service, but in the end they retreated and fell.
Zhang Yue is like Wang Anshi. It's okay for you to offend him on weekdays, but when it comes to political opposition, he will use all kinds of methods to get you to leave.
His performance in rescuing Mingsha City this time gave Zhang Yue a big negative mark. How could he not know it?
Seeing Yu Chong's change of appearance, all his followers were surprised, even Zhao Long was a little surprised.
Zhang Gen didn't think anything of it, it had been like this ever since he became sensible.
The wind, frost, rain and snow of heaven and earth, the heat and coldness of human relationships, did not touch him at all.
"This time when the party troops attacked, my nephew responded calmly and saved tens of thousands of troops' food and grass. I should go to the emperor to ask for credit for my nephew!" Yu Chong said.
Zhang Gen said: "Reporting the history and strategy, this is all the work of Zhao Zijian, and he just happens to be in the army."
Zhao Long was secretly grateful when he heard this.
Yu Chong smiled slightly and said: "My good nephew set off from Qingzhou yesterday. If there is no accident, he should arrive at Yuanjiazhuang two hours early today."
"If my prediction is correct, my nephew should be worried that there will be an attack by party soldiers and horses on this section of the road, so he rested the animals in advance. After the people and horses recharged their strength, they quickly passed through here. If they encountered enemies, they could also take shelter at Yuanjiazhuang. As for Zhao Long
How can these people, who are fighting against the Han people and only follow military orders, expect to achieve this?"
Zhang Gen was filled with admiration after hearing this: "The strategy is so brilliant, it's as if you saw it with your own eyes!"
Yu Chong did not feel proud at all, but instead complained: "I can see my nephew today. If I didn't save Mingsha before, Xiang's soldiers and horses have already appeared in Huanqing and Huanqing."
"There are detailed Dangxiang operations everywhere in the states here. Once the army leaves Weizhou, Dangxiang will cut off our retreat, and tens of thousands of troops will die in the sea."
Zhang Gen replied: "That's why Prime Minister Han Zhishu sent me here to understand the military situation."
When Yu Chong saw Zhang Genyan and Zhang Yue, his heart trembled.
…
Immediately, Yu Chong left troops and horses to protect Zhao Long and escort the grain and grass.
The vanguard on Huanqing Road has arrived in Weizhou. Yu Chong was worried that the party would attack the rear route, so he planned to stay until today before setting off again. When he saw the grain and grass being attacked, he came to the rescue in person.
Yu Chong and Zhang Gen rode into Huanzhou City.
When Yu Chong saw that Zhang Gen's bodyguard was actually the personal bodyguard of the transshipment envoy Zhao Zhan, he cursed in his heart. This person had previously opposed the rescue of Mingsha City, and his attitude was even more fierce than his own.
As a result, Zhang Gen knew how to flatter him when he met him.
After returning to Xingyuan, Yu Chong insisted that Zhang Gen perform meritorious service. Seeing that Zhang Gen could not push him, he ordered Zhao Long to be ranked first.
Yu Chong said with a smile: "Thousand-mile horses often exist, but bole does not always exist. The wise nephew is really Zhao Long's bole!"
"But this man conquered the Qing Tang Dynasty in the past and made great achievements with the prime minister. Later, he was demoted because he followed the prince. Do you know this as a good nephew?"
Facing Yu Chong's temptation, Zhang Gen said: "I don't know, but the classics also say that Bole comes first, and then there is a thousand-mile horse. To promote talents for the country, why ask anything else?"
Yu Chong agreed with a smile, and immediately treated Zhang Gen to a sumptuous meal and wine.
During the banquet, Yu Chong, the eminent military envoy, actually took the cup himself and poured wine for Zhang Gen.
After the meal, Zhang Gen told Yu Chong along the way that he wanted to rescue the imperial court from the siege of Mingsha, and gave Yu Chong a copy of the latest residence he had brought to see.
Although Yu Chong was an official envoy, the manuscripts he had in hand were all from two months ago. When he saw that Zhang Gen had brought this, he was eager to learn about the current trends of the imperial court, and he was immediately overjoyed.
Yu Chong knew that military affairs were extremely risky. This time he sent troops to attack Weizhou. No one dared to guarantee that General Liang Yongneng of Xixia would definitely send troops to attack Huanqing Road.
Yu Chong still had a troubled look on his face.
After the meal, Yu Chong presented Zhang Gen with a thousand guan, saying that he was giving the money to the minister to run errands in the local area. In reality, the Privy Council had its own source of money for the minister, so Yu Chong gave Zhang Gen money in the name of letting him spend it on his own.
Yu Chong was still worried that Zhang Gen would not accept it, but the other party smiled and said, "I dare not refuse the gift given by the elder."
Seeing that Zhang Gen accepted it generously without any hesitation, Yu Chong breathed a sigh of relief and immediately determined his intention to send troops to Weizhou.
The next day, Yu Chong led the Chinese army and baggage out of the fortress, leaving only more than 10,000 men to guard Huanzhou. He also transferred Zhao Long to Zhang Gen's command, and added a thousand elite soldiers to serve.
Yu Chong gave Zhang Gen and Zhang Gong two fine horses from Hexi, complete with brocade saddles and servants.
Zhang Gen saw Yu Chong's methods of winning over people and felt that power was a good thing.
At this time, Yu Chongde reported that Shen Kuo, Liu Changzuo, Zhong Shidao, Li Xian, and Wang Hou led the 70,000 troops on Xihe Road and Jingyuan Road who had regrouped and sent troops from Huluchuan Dazhai. They had already clashed with Xixia soldiers and horses.
Won two battles and wiped out more than a thousand enemies.
Even in Weizhou, good news came. Zhongjie, who was in charge of the Huanqing Road, conquered the two Xixia villages and surrounded the city of Weizhou.
At this time, twenty-two days had passed since Zhang Zhi entered Mingsha City.