Five Dynasties River Mountains Fengyue

Chapter 173 Winning people's hearts and placing cronies

Officials need to go to the Ministry of Officials to claim the printed documents, and then go to Taicang to get the ceremonial utensils, official uniforms, ceremonial armor and salary supplies.

In addition, generals have to register and record with the Privy Council. In short, it is a very complicated set of procedures. Although in the past few decades, it is still completely in accordance with the specifications and procedures of the Tang Dynasty.

However, since the end of Tang Dynasty, many things are not complete, so many places are just a formality, not so complicated.

More people came to visit and give gifts, and they went to Shi Congyun's house and Shi Yanchao's house.

Father Shi Yanchao naturally thanked the guests behind closed doors and ignored them at all. Firstly, he was too arrogant, and secondly, he looked down on those who came through the back door to make connections.

Shi Congyun was completely reversed, everything was collected, but it was impossible to keep people down to eat, at most, he drank some tea, which was extremely bitter clear tea, which was completely different from the tea of ​​this era, and many people drank it like Like medicine, he walked away with a bitter face.

In fact, it was simply that Shi Congyun couldn't drink, and when he went to other people's places, he was interpreted as he was chasing customers, and they all commented in private that he was too stingy, and he didn't even care about food when he went to give gifts.

Shi Congyun felt very wronged. He didn't mean to chase away the guests, but it was true that he didn't want to take care of the meal.

After the handover was done, Shi Congyun finally took some time off. The first thing he did was to celebrate after the victory and invite everyone to dinner.

The characteristic of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms is that there are no loyal ministers. This is like being an employee. You know from the moment you join the company that this company will go bankrupt in five or six years, and it will go bankrupt in about ten years. back road.

And making friends is vast, and hugging each other is an important means of staying behind.

When Zhao Kuangyin usurped the country, there were three "loyal ministers" in the whole country. Only Fan Zhi and Wang Zhu yelled at Zhao Kuangyin.

The only one who resisted was Han Tong, who was killed.Wang Fuzhi of the Qing Dynasty thought that Han Tong was not loyal to Guo Rong, but just at odds with Zhao Kuangyin's group. Shi Congyun also agreed with this statement, especially after he came into contact with Han Tong.

The remaining two Jiedu envoys raised troops, Li Chongjin was forced to rebel, he wanted to surrender from the beginning, and asked to go to Beijing to meet Zhao Kuangyin, but Zhao Kuangyin refused.

Li Yun is not even a loyal minister. He has already slapped Guo Rong on his nose. The most likely reason is that if the Guo family falls, he should be the emperor if he wants to be emperor. Senior qualifications.

This is the state of Zhou, maintaining a country on the surface, but in fact, the military generals are relatively close in private, and they are also close to each other, and the officials have no time to stop it, and they can't stop it.

The state of Zhou now only has land in four provinces, which is a relatively large separatist regime, and it still needs generals to fight, so I dare not offend.

In fact, most people don’t have too much expectation for the long-term future of Great Zhou. Zhou Guo’s ability to cooperate now is not only due to the strong ability of the officials, but also thanks to the fact that several prime ministers are capable people, and the generals in the family also have the ability of Li Chongjin. people.

So in the long run, Shi Congyun is also afraid, the future is unknown, if he does not make many friends, he will not feel safe if he wins over capable people
Shi Congyun first invited many friends from the army to drink and eat at home. This time, there were a lot of people, including more than 100 generals of the Imperial Army, Zhao Kuangyin from the Zhao family, and his boss Zhang Yongde.

Shi Congyun was also very happy. He was surrounded by everyone and got drunk, and finally fell asleep lying on the stone lion at the gate of the courtyard. Fortunately, three women took care of him.

Afterwards, he invited a group of dozens of civil servants, including Luqiu Zhongqing and Lu Duoxun, and he knew the personalities of these people very well.

Military generals like to be unrestrained and yelling; civil servants like to be elegant and forceful, so it's better to invite them separately to prevent them from fighting.

As for Wang Pu and Wei Renpu, he also sent invitations, but he didn't have much hope. They are both prime ministers at the moment, and they are real prime ministers, which are different from those who pretend to be names like him.

These two people had the closest relationship with him. Wei Renpu was a privy envoy, and he often had official contacts, needless to say, and Wang Pu had met several times on the Huainan battlefield.

But Wang Pu and Wei Renpu, who Shi Congyun didn't expect, are here!
He hurriedly asked Zhao Shijian to change him into a formal dress, and went out to greet him respectfully. Before leaving, he even asked Zhao Shijian about the etiquette, and greeted the two of them thoughtfully.

Most generals don't care about this, but the two prime ministers may not care, so he strives to be thoughtful, and do the etiquette first.

Many civil servants present were also very excited to see the two prime ministers coming. At the same time, they also lamented Shi Congyun's power that even the two prime ministers from the court could be invited here.

Wei Renpu was probably grateful for Shi Congyun's support for him when he was prime minister before, and Wang Pu came to ask for advice on poetry, and he thought Shi Congyun was a master in this field.

Shi Congyun almost spat out a mouthful of old blood, he knows shitty poetry!
Wang Pu was very happy. It turned out that he had written a new poem and came to ask for advice.

He said he was asking for advice, but Shi Congyun knew in his heart that it was not about asking for advice, but because there were so many people here to show off and seek praise, and it was meant to show off.

"Jujube flowers can become fruit even when they are small, but mulberry leaves are soft and silky. It is ridiculous that peonies are as big as buckets, and they are empty branches when nothing is done."

Shi Congyun actually half understood what he heard, but he didn't applaud blindly. He knew that cultural people would disdain such direct and tasteless applause.

He pretended to be thinking about it, and then praised with emotion: "Wang Xiang's poems are really far-reaching, ingenious, and the meaning conveyed is sincere and simple. After listening to it, a certain person's eyes light up, and he has a lot of feelings. He feels that he has learned a lot of principles of life." .”

"Thanks for the award, for the award, Deputy Commander Shi." Wang Pu said modestly, with a smile on his face.

I don’t understand poetry, but as a teacher, I can do it well. Shi Congyun used the method he used to teach students to appreciate ancient poetry. There will be.

With him taking the lead, everyone started to come out to comment one after another, most of them were praises, Wang Pu is the prime minister, even if the writing is poor, they still have to give face.

Moreover, being able to speak to the prime minister is a rare opportunity for most officials, so a banquet was dissolved amidst the joy of all the guests and hosts.

The next thing is the promotion and rewards of grassroots soldiers.

The guards are mainly in charge of their fathers Shi Yanchao, Wang Shenqi, and Gao Huaide. Shi Yanchao is the deputy commander of the Ma Infantry, Wang Shenqi is the commander of the Guards and Infantry, Gao Huaide is the commander of the Guards and Ma Jun, and the leader is Li Chongjin. At this time in Huainan.

The Dianqian Division is mainly composed of Zhang Yongde, Shi Congyun and Zhao Kuangyin.

Zhang Yongde is the top leader, Shi Congyun is the second leader, and Zhao Kuangyin is the fourth leader. Two positions are temporarily vacant, waiting for appointment.

At the end of the break, on the day of the official admission, Shi Congyun met Zhang Yongde and Zhao Kuangyin in the official office outside the north gate of Daliang Inner City, and they met and chatted for a while.

Both Zhang Yongde and Zhao Kuangyin expressed their admiration for him unabashedly, the battle in Huainan was so beautifully fought.

Afterwards, everyone was busy with their own affairs. Shi Congyun naturally had a group of his own people who wanted to be promoted. These people followed him to fight Gaoping, Shu, and Zhengyang in the Southern Tang Dynasty.

Some of these people are now among his personal soldiers, some are in the team of messengers around him, and some are still in the Crane Control Army.

The middle and low-level officers in the army are very important, because the generals cannot directly contact each soldier. These low-level officers lead them, take care of the recruits, teach them how to fight, and share the joys and sorrows with the soldiers every day. The support of middle and low-level officers is the key to being able to control a force.

In the past, with Li Gu's help, he asked his father Shi Yanchao to be in charge of rectifying the Forbidden Army. At that time, he placed many cronies in the front of the palace to control the Crane Army.

This is also one of the important reasons why he fought so smoothly later.

But now it is obviously not enough. He wants to arrange a large number of cronies and personal soldiers in the first, second, third, and fourth compartments of the control crane, the left and right compartments of the iron cavalry, and the left and right compartments of the Yulang Army to serve as mid- and low-level officers. Soldier.

In this way, no matter what happens, not to mention the entire army, most of the army will definitely support him.

What is the era of the Five Dynasties? There is a famous saying of the Five Dynasties generals who said very clearly, "The emperor would rather have a kind? He who has a strong army and a strong horse is the ear."

Of course he can't be the emperor now, but the stronger the soldiers and horses in his hands, the better he can guarantee his safety.

After expanding again, Dianqiansi is equivalent to increasing the strength of three chambers. In the future, the strength will definitely exceed 10 people and become the main force of the Forbidden Army.

The Guard Division is famous for its elite cavalry of Longjie and elite infantry of Tiger Jie, but the number will definitely be outnumbered.

Shi Congyun thought about it all afternoon in the government office, and made a list of more than 100 people. For more, he still needs to discuss with Wang Zhong, Shao Ji, Dong Zunhui, Luo Yanhuan, Shen Zhiyi, Si Chao, Li Chuyun, etc., and ask them clearly. .

It’s just that how to add it gave him a bit of a headache. After all, he didn’t check everything. It was Zhang Yongde who finally asked Zhang Yongde to nod in agreement.

If he adds a dozen or dozens of people, given his prestige and achievements, and Zhang Yongde admires him so much, he will definitely nod in agreement.

But if hundreds of mid-level and lower-level officers are promoted at once, no one will agree.

Shi Congyun was in a dilemma, and when he was racking his brains to find a solution, the time unknowingly arrived in the afternoon, and it was time to get off work.

Shi Congyun had no airs, and after bidding farewell to the other officers in the government office, he prepared to leave on horseback. He is now a famous man with a high prestige in the army, and everyone respects him very much and treats him very politely.

This is easy to understand. A decisive battle with more than 10 people is not as simple and easy as many people have seen in romance novels.

The current population is not like the skyrocketing population after the Ming and Qing dynasties, resulting in sufficient soldiers, hundreds of thousands of troops at every turn, and millions of troops.

In the Northern Song Dynasty, the God of Chariots fought the Liao Kingdom with the power of the whole country, and the troops were only 10,000+; in the Battle of Guandu, one of the three major battles of the Three Kingdoms, in the decisive battle that determined the fate of the North, Yuan Shao had a force of over 70 troops, and Cao Cao had only a few thousand in the early days. At the peak, it was only about 20 to [-], not Yuan Shao's [-] and Cao Cao's [-] in the novel.

The battle of Yiling decided the fate of Shu and Wu. The main force of the whole country of Shu was more than [-] but less than [-]. After the defeat in the first battle, they were no longer qualified to compete for the world.

Therefore, this kind of general battle with a main force of more than 10 people can determine the fate of a country most of the time.

Southern Tang lost the battle of Huainan and lost half of the country at once. Countries that were originally as powerful as Zhou State had no possibility of competing with Zhou State. They either survived or were slowly wiped out.

In short, those who can win such a strategic decisive battle will all go down in history, and they are handsome talents of an era, because they change or determine the destiny of a country.

Just like in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, except for the monarchs of the Three Kingdoms, only Zhuge Liang and Lu Xun were biographical alone. Zhuge Liang was the actual ruler of the Shu Kingdom, while Lu Xun was the prime minister and won the crucial strategic decisive battle between Wu and Shu.

So with Shi Congyun's current achievements, even if he can't be passed on to him alone in the future, he will definitely be famous in history, and it is not surprising that he is famous.

Just as he was about to leave, Zhang Yongde also came out and asked him with a smile, "General Shi, how about going to have a drink together."

Shi Congyun was stunned for a moment, and didn't think much about it. He was Zhang Yongde's deputy. Of course, the two of them had to keep in touch with each other so that they could work together in the future, so he nodded in agreement.

Zhang Yongde asked his two soldiers to go back first, and went to Daliang's restaurant with Shi Congyun.

When the food and drink were served, the two of them talked while drinking, and they talked about the past events on the Huainan battlefield.

At the end, Zhang Yongde also drank a few glasses, his face was a little red, and when he was a little drunk, he said a little depressed: "General Shi, in fact, I know that in terms of military exploits and skills, even a horse can't catch up with you.

You were so clever in Huainan that you beat up Tang's army and ran away with their heads in their arms, and scared the head of the Southern Tang Dynasty to kneel down to the officials and beg for mercy, so I felt happy in my heart!I also admire your skills.

You are supposed to sit in this spot check, and the soldiers in the army feel the same way. I also heard the comments from the people below, but the officials let someone take this position because of the entrustment of the immortal king. I feel really guilty in my heart.

A capable person like you feels bad because I don't get important things. "

Shi Congyun didn't expect Zhang Yongde to say that, but he knew how much he valued Zhao Kuangyin.

To put it bluntly, Zhang Yongde may not be as capable as people like Li Chongjin, Zhao Kuangyin, and Shi Yanchao, but he is straightforward, has no opinion, and subconsciously shows kindness to people.

He recommended Zhao Kuangyin repeatedly because he felt capable; Li Chongjin didn't agree with him, so he directly sued Li Chongjin for treason;

Zhang Yongde is an emotional person. He didn't understand what Guo Rong asked him to do. His father is already the actual head of the guard department. Forbidden Army, that's okay!
That's why Zhang Yongde was asked to check it out, but Zhang Yongde looked at this issue with a completely emotional attitude, irrational and politically ignorant, so he felt guilty.

Shi Congyun thought of a story, a little story he saw while watching a documentary.

During the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea, there were more than a dozen volunteer soldiers under a chief who had dozens of times the enemy besieged on a mountaintop and held on.

All the soldiers under him begged him with tears, saying they would go to rescue him.He just gritted his teeth and refused to allow anyone to come to the rescue, and watched as a dozen soldiers either died in battle or were forced to jump off the cliff.Because he knew that the enemy just wanted to surround the spot and wait for them to rescue him.

When the chief was old, he couldn't stop crying when he talked about this incident, and his heart ached.As a battlefield commander, he is competent.

For generals, rational and necessary qualities, and emotional generals will never be good generals.

It's okay to lead dozens or hundreds of soldiers. Once you are in the position of Shi Congyun and Zhang Yongde, you will behave emotionally and act emotionally, which will often lead to disaster.

Zhang Yongde is obviously an emotional person. Such a person is good at making friends, and he is also good as a fierce general who charges into battle.

But now that he is the Commander-in-Chief of the Palace and one of the two most senior military generals in the Zhou Dynasty, he is in trouble.

He looked at the problem with emotion, so that his eyes were blinded by his sensibility, and he didn't understand why Guo Rong asked him to be the inspector in front of the palace.

Shi Congyun sat across from him, thinking about a lot of things, but they all flashed in his mind. In fact, it was only for a while. He answered: "It's all my own fault. Don't blame the officials."

"What's the matter, besides Zhao Kuangyin, are there any men who are not good at women?" Zhang Yongde didn't care, but still shook his head, his face was full of shame.

Emotional people are the easiest to be used, not to mention that Shi Congyun opposite Zhang Yongde is not a good bird.

Shi Congyun was keenly aware of Zhang Yongde's guilt. As an old fritter, he immediately understood that the opportunity was rare.

So he poured a glass of wine, pretended not to care, and said, "Zhang Dianshuai and I fought together in Huainan, so there is no need for so many points.

A certain is your deputy, we still handle the matter of the front office, what's the difference, for me, rich and beautiful women are enough.

However, during the Huainan War, a certain man had more than [-] soldiers at most, and many of them made meritorious service. He served as security for them at that time. They shed blood and worked hard for the country. They should not be treated badly. I hope the commander in chief will give them a promotion. , it's convenient. "

Zhang Yongde nodded, and then seemed to think of something, "By the way, you commanded the entire Huainan battle, and General Shi must be more familiar with it. Why don't you just leave this matter to you, and just add a seal at the end. In this way, if you don’t have the authority to check everything, you can feel more at ease.”

"No, no, no, what the Commander-in-Chief says, you are the one appointed by the officials to inspect it, so you should do this." Shi Congyun hastily declined.

"Hahaha, what's the matter, this matter was originally decided by us in front of the palace, you come to draw up the list, and a certain signature and seal are also done together.

Besides, people in the various armies are not that familiar with it, and it is inconvenient to do it. As for someone in the outside world, they will never tell it. "

"Success!" Shi Congyun smiled happily, "Since the commander-in-chief has already talked about this, I can't refuse. What else can we say about our friendship? Come, come, drink and drink."

After returning home that day, Shi Congyun immediately asked Luqiu Zhongqing to contact Wang Zhong, Shao Ji, Dong Zunhui, Luo Yanhuan, Si Chao, Li Chuyun and others, and said that they would go out of the city to go for a walk together, organize an outing, and go to the Yellow River. amusement.

In fact, he took this opportunity to ask for a list.

(End of this chapter)