A few days later, news was received that Mingsha City had been destroyed, and Weizhou had been gained and lost.
At the same time, Xixia sent envoys to negotiate peace, and the Lord of Liao sent people to mediate the dispute between Song and Xia.
After hearing this, everyone couldn't help but worry about the imperial court's strategy for war and defense in the future.
None of the generals in Huanzhou clearly understood the imperial court's intentions. Even Xu Xi, Lu Dazhong and others were hesitant and could not tell what the imperial court's next move would be.
Zhang Gen, on the other hand, advised Han Zhen and Cai Yanqing: "The newly-established Pingxia City and Lingping City of Huaide Army in the imperial court, one guarding Huluchuan and the other guarding Shuichuan, echoed Xi'an Prefecture occupying Tiandu Mountain, cutting off Dangxiang's southward passage.
.As for Lanzhou, Xixia is like a thorn in the back."
"These three places are also the source of money and food for Dangxiang's troops. As long as they stick to these three places, Xixia's strength will definitely become weaker day by day. Therefore, if Dangxiang cannot take these three places, there will be no talk of peace between Song and Xia, even if Liao mediates
It's useless. We don't have to attack him, he will attack me himself."
After Zhang Gen spoke to Han Zhen and Cai Yanqing, both of them smiled and nodded.
"Zhaoyuan is really insightful and hit the nail on the head."
Cai Yanqing said this, Han Zhen nodded, and Zhang Gen couldn't help but feel happy after hearing this. Although these people praise me because of my father, I also have extraordinary talents and knowledge.
Zhang Gen said: "I have a ruthless request from my subordinates. Most of the soldiers and horses on Huanqing Road are weak. After capturing Weizhou this time, we rescued Mingsha City. Everyone was afraid of the enemy and refused to advance. Instead, we were ambushed by the Western bandits."
"I sincerely believe that we should organize and train our troops first, eliminate the weak and keep the strong for future use."
After Zhang Gen finished speaking, he saw Han Zhen frowning almost invisible.
Cai Yanqing also stopped talking. Zhang Gen's behavior was purely a common problem among newcomers in the officialdom, and he went too far when he was complacent.
Is this what you, Zhang Gen, are talking about?
According to Han Zhen's narrow-minded and one-sided nature, he must have wanted the other party to look good.
but……
Han Zhen said: "Although it is a bit hasty, it is still a successful method."
"You must have money and food to train your troops. You can discuss this matter with Commander Zhao Cao."
Han Zhen said this just to give Zhang Gen face, and Zhang Gen couldn't wait to say: "I recommend Zhao Long! This person is qualified."
Han Zhen felt a little embarrassed.
Seeing that Han Zhen was silent, Zhang Gen knew that he had said something wrong, so he immediately apologized and stepped aside.
After the meeting, Zhang Gen felt a little depressed.
He could see that Han Zhen was indeed as difficult to get along with as rumored, and it was quite difficult to work around him.
He couldn't understand why Zhang Yue insisted on sending him to train under Han Zhen.
He was riding a horse in the city and saw a tavern where the aroma of boiled sheep's heads filled his nostrils.
Zhang Gen immediately dismounted his horse, tied it outside the door, and entered alone.
Several waiters in the store were chopping mutton and mutton bones in the hall.
Zhang Gen ignored all this and sat down, ordered a dime of wine, and started eating a bowl of mutton. After a while, a group of more than ten tough soldiers entered.
When several military men saw that Zhang Gen was occupying a table alone and there were no other empty seats in the store, the leading military man immediately made a gesture towards Zhang Gen with his mouth.
The subordinates understood and immediately walked to Zhang Gen's desk, stepped on the bench next to his desk and said, "Brother, please move your legs and make room. Today's expenses will be charged to our account."
But seeing Zhang Gen raise the corners of his mouth, he ignored the other party's request.
The soldier was furious, but the leading soldier stopped him. The other man saw Zhang Gen's extraordinary bearing, and immediately wiped the boot prints on the bench with his riding crop, sat down next to Zhang Gen, cupped his hands and said, "The last general Yao Gu,
I don’t know this Gao’s name!”
The other customers in the store were all stunned when they heard this. Who in the entire northwest does not know the reputation of General Yao?
This is comparable to that of farmers.
Ordinary people would have left long ago and said it would be rude, but the other party nodded and said: "Yao Gu? Your respected father is Yao Wuzhi (Yao Si), and your respected brother is Yao Yifu (Yao Xiong)?"
Yao Gu was a little angry when he heard that the other party was unmoved by the reputation of his father and brother. Seeing that the other party was dressed in an informal manner, he tried again without force.
"Yes, your accent sounds like someone from Bianjing. I wonder where you are on business?"
"Go to the Privy Council!" Zhang Genyan said.
Yao Gu's expression changed when he heard this, and so did the marching army. Han Zhen, the privy envoy on the march, was not someone to be trifled with. As soon as he arrived at Huanqing Road, he punished several soldiers who had previously attacked Weizhou and aided Mingsha in the name of "inadequate support."
A slow-moving general.
"Excuse me, I'm going to leave!"
"Wait a minute, since we met by chance, it's fate. Brother Yao sat down and talked."
Unlike his father and brother, Yao Gu had a low reputation and a low official position. Otherwise, he would have seen Zhang Gen in court today.
After Yao Gu sat down, Zhang Gen drank with him and asked, "The Yao family has always been a famous general. What should I do if I want to train an elite army in the northwest?"
Yao Gu's expression changed. Why did these words sound so harsh to his ears?
"What is your surname?"
Zhang Gen smiled, immediately picked up his chopsticks, dipped them in the wine, and wrote a few words on the table.
Yao Gu immediately changed his color and wanted to get up to pay homage, but Zhang Gen held his hand and said, "General Yao told me."
When Yao Gu learned Zhang Gen's identity, he was shocked and his mind was spinning.
The Zhong family, the Yao family, and the Zhe family are the three great generals in the northwest. The Zhe family was born in Xianbei, but the Zhong family's Zhongshi Tao and Zhong'e have been appreciated by Zhang Yue and the Emperor over the years, and they have risen through the ranks.
Yao Gu realized that this was an excellent opportunity. He was afraid that the yamen would not work hard, and he was afraid that the yamen would not want to make contributions. We would just catch it.
Yao Gu said: "I wonder if the court is asking about the soldiers of the imperial court or the private Qubu?"
"Tell me everything!"
Yao Gu was very clear. Yao Gu finally said: "To train the army, the most important thing is to have money and food. I heard that when Prime Minister Zhang was in charge of Xihe Road, the soldiers and horses would train every three days, or even every day."
, but our Huanqing Road soldiers and horses can’t even be said to practice every five days, nor even every ten days.”
"Why not practice every five days?"
If it had been anyone else, Yao Gu would have dared not say it, but now he knew everything and said it with all honesty: "Huanqing Road has been short of pay these years, and the soldiers have not had enough to eat, so how can they have the energy to practice? What's more, in order to make a living, they have to do everything everywhere.
, if you want to train troops, you will ruin their livelihood."
Zhang Gen thought to himself, no wonder, this time to rescue Mingsha City, many soldiers and horses took three days to travel, but it took only five days. Even walking is so difficult, how can we talk about fighting.
Zhang Gen listened to Yao Gu's words and said, "I understand."
After saying this, Zhang Gen returned to the hospital.
At this time, a letter from the Bianjing family arrived.
Zhang Gen read it and it turned out to be Zhang Yue's letter.
Zhang Gen had his own ideas. First of all, he was not interested in his father's method of "forming camps and fighting stupid battles". This was because Xixia soldiers and horses were good at running back and forth and fighting mobile warfare, and they came and went like the wind.
If you only defend the city and lead Xixia to take the initiative to attack, it is undoubtedly a method of waiting for the rabbit to come.
The most important thing is to build a strong army.
Zhang Gen went back to his room and read Zhang Yue's letter, and the news of Zhang Yue's letter to Huanzhou was immediately reported to Han Zhen by someone who was interested.
Zhang Yue discussed his military experience with Zhang Gen in his letters.
Zhang Yue told him that he liked to put his own practice into practice, and he hated those Confucian officials who copied the art of war. In his eyes, there were many books on war, but none of them were as good as actually fighting.
Zhang Yue once said that since ancient times, when competing in the world, just talents from one county are enough.
The reason is simply "practice". As long as you can accumulate small victories, you will eventually achieve a big victory.
The masters of hundreds of battles and the most famous generals in the world are nothing special.
Why is it that a victorious army can often fight patiently and wait for a turnaround when the situation is unfavorable, while a army that has suffered repeated defeats has great momentum at the beginning, but surrenders when the battle situation becomes slightly unfavorable?
This is because the victorious warriors have fought many times, and to what extent they have fought, they know where to persist and can succeed. The victorious warriors, on the other hand, often remember the experience of failure and completely collapse once they encounter disadvantages.
The more you win, the easier it is to win, and the snowball will get bigger and bigger. The more you lose, the easier it is to lose, and it is easier to give up halfway.
The same is true when doing things. Many people always give up at inexplicable places, even though they are only one step away from success.
Winners sometimes feel that they win too easily, but in fact it is often the opponent who fails too quickly. This is all because those people have not practiced enough and have too little successful experience.
So there is no need to mythologise those victors.
Before they succeeded, they were ordinary people, and the same was true for soldiers and horses. They had the same problems that an army should have, but after they succeeded, they reached a higher level.
The defeated generals are not without merit, and they may not even be inferior to the victors before they fail.
Zhang Gen read Zhang Yue's letter, thought about it all night, and immediately wrote back to Zhang Yue.
The next day, Han Zhen summoned Zhang Gen into the camp and told him with a gentle face: "I am also the military envoy of Huanqing Road, and I should also supervise the training of soldiers and horses on this road, so I entrusted it to the signing hospital."
Zhang Gen was overjoyed when he heard this, but in fact, Han Zhen was not happy.
Zhang Gen was a member of his shogunate. He should be doing some shogunate affairs and organizing the war and defense against Xixia. Why did he go down there to train troops instead?
You must know that his term as a privy minister is only one year. Once Han Zhen is transferred and his troops are trained, who will get the credit?
Also, if you want to train your own troops, have you already thought about leaving me in the future?
Zhang Gen said: "I have informed the commander-in-chief that many soldiers and horses on Huanqing Road are not good at fighting. I will train a group of soldiers and horses. I will follow this example and extend it to all the soldiers and horses on the road. Wouldn't it be better?"
Han Zhen was unhappy after hearing this and said: "It's okay, I don't want my envoy to force you to do military affairs in the hospital. If you go to the local area to train troops, I will transfer any generals you want. First, I will allocate you two thousand soldiers and station them in Pizhou."
.”
Han Zhen asked Zhang Gen not to station in Huanzhou and Qingzhou, a strategic location on Huanqing Road, just to distract and alienate him, and to prevent the other party from reporting all the affairs of the Privy Council to Zhang Yue.
Zhang Gen looked at Han Zhen's expression and felt somewhat understanding.
However, he didn't care. Although he was famous in the shogunate and was high-ranking, he was not down-to-earth. He had to obey Han Zhen's orders in everything.
Han Zhen was a headstrong person, so he expected that he would not have much room to display his abilities.
On the contrary, when I arrived at the place and had troops and financial resources, I didn't just carry out the orders as soon as I had the power.
Although two thousand soldiers and horses are not many, if you practice them well, you will be impressed by them in the future.
Zhang Gen immediately asked Han Zhen for Zhao Long and Yao Gu, and asked Zhao Long to take the original team and Yao Gu to Pizhou with his confidants Qu Bu.
Han Zhen thought Zhang Gen was just a kid playing house and didn't care too much.
As for whether Zhang Gen would actually train a victorious elite army in the future, no one on the entire Huanqing Road took it seriously.