Prime Minister

Chapter 775 Entering Minzhou

If Zhang Shen evaded it, it would be fine to change someone else, just listen to it.But Zhang Yue is very serious and patient.

Zhang Yue has always insisted on not easily oppressing the other party just because the other party's official position is lower than his own.What's more, in terms of qualifications, the other party is much higher than himself, so Zhang Yue showed full respect.

Zhang Shen said: "Before, in order to fight Xizhou and Hezhou, [-]% of Qinfeng Road's elite soldiers had dispatched Xihe Road. Now Qinfeng Road has soldiers and horses, and there are less than [-] regular soldiers stationed in one place. I sent another [-] soldiers before. There are no more soldiers and horses on hand."

Zhang Yue said in his heart, you send me [-] soldiers and horses to lead troops to rescue, if it doesn't work, [-] will do?

But on the surface, Zhang Yue said: "Jing Lue is right."

Seeing that Zhang Yue didn't come, Zhang Shen forced him to send troops to rescue Xihe, thinking that the other party was very knowledgeable about current affairs.

Zhang Shen said: "Now the prince's pure army is trapped in Minzhou, Jing Sili, Wang Hou lost his army and lost his land, and Gao Zunyu is sticking to Dingxi City. This is the disadvantage of the current situation, but from the overall situation, I think this time the defeat is successful. good!"

Seeing Zhang Shen staring at him, Zhang Yue said: "What do you mean by Jinglue? How can it be a good thing to be trapped on three roads and lose your teacher and land?"

Zhang Shen laughed and said, "Zhang Longtu, you and I don't have to pretend to be confused."

"If Wang Zichun doesn't come to this point today, how can you go back to Xihe? I'm afraid you have been invited to another county by Wang Xianggong!"

Zhang Yue listened to this and thought, what you said is the truth.But he pretended to be angry and said: "What are you talking about? Our army has suffered a defeat, and it is still unknown whether I can turn the tide."

Zhang Shen smiled and said: "Zhang Longtu, haven't you come back? To be honest, I have already seen that Wang Zichun is indeed a general, but even if he keeps winning, he will never win Xihe. Once the court's money and food are not enough , then how did these places be captured, and how to send them back.”

"Only Zhang Longtu and you came to Xihe to clean up the situation. Even if you were defeated in the front, wouldn't it be gratifying for you to be in charge of Xihe again? To be honest, it was rumored that you returned to Xihe to reopen the scriptures." The matter of the Lue Mansion is not only for the subordinates, any officials on the Xihe Qinfeng Road who are not happy about it, feel that the crisis can be turned into safety."

Zhang Yue smiled and said: "Mr. Zhang, what you said makes me feel ashamed. Between Qinfeng Road and Xihe Road, shoulders are shoulder to shoulder, but the lips are dead and the teeth are cold. You and I are each on our own. As a minister of the imperial court, at this critical time, when life and death are at stake, we must work together to tide over the difficulties together!"

Zhang Shen said with a smile: "What Long Tu said is very true. Now that the officials fully support you in recovering Xihe, Zhang must also consider the overall situation and cooperate with all his strength."

Zhang Yue asked: "Mr. Zhang, if you have anything to say, you can just say it, as long as I can help you."

Zhang Shen said: "Long Tu is telling the truth, the third division ordered Cai Yun to co-ordinate the department to save money and goods. I transferred a lot last year..."

Zhang Yue interrupted and asked, "How much shortfall is there?"

Zhang Shen said: "About 80 million guan, can Wu Shu say a word to Longtu? In the name of supporting Xihe Road, allow some time."

Zhang Yue said: "This matter... I can't decide for Lao Taishan on this matter, but for the shortfall of 80 million guan, I can borrow 50 guan from you first, and you will settle the account first, and then pay it back to me later. "

Zhang Shen was overjoyed and said, "Thank you Long Tu, the money will be returned within three months."

Zhang Yue understood it, no wonder Zhang Shen was eager to come back by himself, it would be good if Wang Shao didn't make trouble, maybe he would go to Wang Anshi to sue Zhang Shen, it seemed that he would help him cover it up.

After the two finished talking, they set off from Luting and returned to Qinzhou City.

The wealth of Qinzhou City is far better than that of the desolate Xihe states.When the city officials, generals and wealthy merchants knew about Zhang Yue's arrival, they all went to visit and congratulate him.

But Zhang Yue didn't meet them all, he just focused on meeting with a few big grain merchants in Qinzhou, and asked him to prepare the grain and send it to the front line of Xihe.

As for Zhang Shen's thank-you dinner for Zhang Yue, Zhang Yue also postponed it.

It is too annoying to be welcomed and sent in the officialdom, the more calm Zhang can be, the quieter he is. Fortunately, his official position is high enough now, even if he refuses, he is not afraid of offending others, but makes people feel clean and reserved.

After the dinner was canceled, Zhang Yue and Zhang Shen studied the current situation in Xihe together. Now Dong Zhan sent his general Qing Yijie Guizhang to lead tens of thousands of troops to attack Hezhou. Jing Sili and Wang Hou led the defeated army to occupy the key points Where to stay.

However, Wang Shao's army was circling in the mountains of Minzhou, and now it was caught in the vast ocean of the Qingtang-Tang-Tang people's war.

Meanwhile, Xishou Baotai, Zhuo Luo and Nan of Xixia had been besieging Dingxi City where Gao Zunyu was guarding for a month.

Gao Zunyu sent letters to the capital for emergency every day, saying that the situation was very critical.

And many Fan tribes in Xihe also made grass on the wall, swaying left and right. The soldiers and horses of the Song Army were ambushed from time to time, and the grain roads were cut off from time to time.

The Fan tribe was even so rampant that they colluded with Mu Zheng and attacked Xizhou where Cai Yanqing was stationed, intending to take it down in one fell swoop, but fortunately Cai Yanqing saw through it.

Even Xizhou, which has been in business for many years, was almost in danger, and the situation of the Song Army in other cities and villages can be imagined.

From Zhang Shen's mouth, Zhang Yue knew the predicament that Minzhou, Huizhou, and Hezhou were under attack respectively, so how to break the situation?
Zhang Yue heard from the emperor before that many ministers in the court suggested to give up Minzhou.

It is said that there are many mountains and forests in Minzhou, and there are troublesome people in the poor mountains and rivers. It is of little value to lay down. On the contrary, defending this state will involve a lot of troops from the imperial court.

So let Wang Shao retreat first, abandon Minzhou, and keep Hezhou and Huizhou.

But Zhang Yue believed that Minzhou could not be abandoned, because although Minzhou was barren, it was connected to Taozhou, Jiezhou, Tongyuan Army, Jiezhou, and Qinzhou.Once Minzhou was abandoned and the Song army lost this important transportation route, it was necessary to send more troops to strengthen the defense of the states connected to Minzhou.

Therefore, Zhang Yue still insisted on keeping Minzhou. In addition to the above considerations, there is another point that Minzhou is also the main route from Zhangyan to Sichuan.

Xixia has green salt, and Shaanxi has Jieyan, so there is no salt shortage in the northwest, but Sichuan and Sichuan are short of salt.

As long as Zhang salt can be sold to Sichuan and Shu, then this is a continuous stream of payment, and this income can greatly reduce the cost of the Song Dynasty's rule in Xihe.

So Zhang Yue discussed with Li Shen all night, and decided to send troops to attack Minzhou first to relieve worries.

Of course, whether Jing Sili and Gao Zunyu can hold on is also a question.

According to Zhang Yue's knowledge of Gao Zunyu, this person is cautious by nature (cowardly and afraid of death), and generally would not put himself to death. For his words, Zhang Yue felt that he would listen to him with a [-]% discount.

Moreover, this person has a history of falsely reporting the enemy's situation in the past. Before he knew that he had lost the news of Tabaicheng, Gao Zunyu had to leave Zhang Shen with 1 people to defend Huizhou. Elite, so there should be no major hindrance.

As for Jing Sili and Wang Hou, it is difficult.

However, it takes more than ten days to send troops from Qinzhou to Hezhou. On the contrary, it only takes a few days to send troops to Minzhou.

After regaining Minzhou, you can go north to save Hezhou.

Therefore Zhang Yue and Zhang Shen negotiated that Zhang Shen recruited another 5000 people in Qinzhou, and then Zhang Yue transferred 1 soldiers and horses from Qinfeng Road, plus the Japanese troops from Bianjing to Minzhou to suppress the enemy.

After discussing these overnight, Zhang Yue and Zhang Shen jointly drafted a memorial to explain the matter to the emperor.

Zhang Yue has the right to make decisions on the fly. Regarding such military operations, he can claim that he does not need to ask for instructions on everything.But making an impromptu decision doesn't mean that you don't have to report to the emperor, it's like not taking the emperor seriously.

Zhang Yue wrote in his memorandum that to put down the Xihe Rebellion, one must build a strategic position in order to make contributions.Minzhou is backed by the Qinling Mountains, and it is also a passage connecting Sichuan and Sichuan. Once our army rejects this place, we will look in all directions, and the roads are well-connected.

After writing these, the sky is clear.

Today, elite soldiers will be dispatched from all over Qinfeng Road to Qinzhou, and the vanguard will enter Minzhou in a few days. Zhang Yue simply didn't sleep, so he rode a horse to inspect Qinzhou City.

The war in Xihe has lasted for three years, and soldiers, horses, money and food have to pass through Qinzhou City to go to the front line, so Qinzhou is far more prosperous than before.

It is better to have a curfew in the city, but outside the city, the grass market is open all night. Many teahouses and restaurants are still open. The most conspicuous are dozens of brothels with colorful buildings. These seem to be built overnight. generally.

Is this still Qinzhou City three years ago?
Many soldiers on Xihe Road chose to buy houses and fields in Qinzhou, and the generals either brought people from their hometowns to live in Qinzhou, or settled several concubines in Qinzhou city.

But the people in Qinzhou were also suffering. Many people in the trenches outside the city ate moldy food and drank dirty water. When they saw Zhang Yue, a man in fresh clothes and angry horses, they flocked to ask for money.

Although these people were dispersed by the entourage, Zhang Yue still couldn't bear it.

Recovering Qingtang will allow the people to live a better life, but if Qingtang can't be recovered, the court will continue to suppress it like this. Isn't the life of the people even more miserable?

Then, as Fu Bi said, it is right not to talk about military affairs for 20 years.

Zhang Yue rode his horse around the city and returned to the shogunate, and said to several staff members: "Don't wait, let's set off for Minzhou today!"

Hearing what Zhang Yue said, Cai Jing and the others were taken aback.

Both Zhang Yi and Shen Kuo urged Zhang Yue not to take risks lightly.Zhang Yue said: "It's okay, I have three cavalry commanders accompanying me, the general tribes dare not embarrass me, even assassins dare not harm me."

Several people couldn't stop after some persuasion. Zhang Yue talked to Zhang Shen. Zhang Shen also opposed it, but Zhang Yue couldn't wait to lead more than 1000 cavalry into Minzhou first, and Zhang Shen and other 1 troops After being transferred, he entered Minzhou.

Although the cavalry led by Zhang Yue was no more than a thousand, they would recruit the Fan tribes who were close to the Song Dynasty when they passed by, and they would recruit the Fan tribes to send troops with salt money.

This area is mostly cooked, so it is very cooperative.

Two or three days after going deep into Minzhou, Zhang Yue has recruited many soldiers.

After having soldiers and horses, Zhang Yue sent people to the rebellious Fan tribe to appease them and told them to let go of the past, but they must choose the best and strong members of the clan to join the Song army. As for the stubborn Fan tribe, Zhang Yue immediately sent troops to attack.

And when Zhang Yue arrived at Dangchangzhai where Wang Shao was, he had recruited tens of thousands of Fan tribes and attacked three disobedient Fan tribes.

(End of this chapter)