Five Dynasties River Mountains Fengyue

Chapter 266 Preparation
In the first year of Zhangwu, on the first day of the dynasty, the little emperor was led by the queen mother to receive congratulations from all the officials in the main hall of the Chuigong Palace.

Shi Congyun, dressed in military uniform, stood at the head of the officials, and said a passage of congratulations, which Zhou Xian wrote for him.

This also marks the beginning of a new era, the Zhangwu Year.

The first thing that happened at the beginning of the year, Shi Congyun was completely busy with the expansion of the Shenhuo Army. His thinking on this army is obvious. The firearms army built with craftsmen as the backbone is responsible for assisting each army during the war, and does not fight independently.

This is limited by the times, there is no industrialization, and the productivity can't keep up at all. Like Feng Jisheng and the others, it is not bad to produce one or two cannons of several hundred catties a month, and their power is limited.

Therefore, the Shenji Army is doomed to be impossible to become the main force of the war, at least for the moment, and it is mainly used as an auxiliary for the various armies.

Regarding the application of this new kind of artillery that is powerful, but has a short range and low accuracy, Shi Congyun thought of a new usage, and he also asked Shao Ji to bring people over to cooperate with the people of the Shenhuo Army to practice.

However, there are only three such guns at the moment, and the follow-up is still stepping up. Shi Congyun's order to Feng Jisheng is to let him build more than ten guns before the start of the expedition to Shu.

On the other hand, the foreign missions with thousands of people in the capital also cost a lot of money, and Shi Congyun was embarrassed to rush them away, after all, they came to give money.

This will undoubtedly increase the difficulty of Honglu Temple's work. The judges of Honglu Temple came to Shi Congyun several times to cry about being poor. To put it bluntly, Shi Congyun gritted his teeth and asked Sansi to call him some more. There was no way, he was really poor. It’s hard to get a little bit, and we have to prepare for sending troops, so it’s a little bit to save a little bit.

At the same time, Shi Congyun asked the Privy Council to draft an order, secretly ordering Li Chuyun and Li Hanchao, who were in Hunan and Hubei, to return to Beijing for discussion.

On the Lantern Festival on the 15th of the first lunar month, Daliang, which has been peaceful for eight years, is more lively than in previous years. Although this kind of excitement is not comparable to Shi Congyun's memory, at least there are fireworks and a human flavor.

On the sixteenth day, Shi Congyun hurried into the palace to discuss matters with Li Gu and others.

"The army is almost ready and can send troops in February. The problem is that there is no suitable reason to send troops to Shu." In the Privy Council, Wei Renpu was telling him.

Shi Congyun drank the tea brought by the servant and thought about things. Everyone was used to his weird way of drinking. Every time he came, he would specially prepare this kind of bitter tea for him.

"Isn't the excuse from last time okay?" Shi Congyun asked. When the Shu Kingdom was attacked last time, it was the Privy Council who found a few refugees from nowhere and insisted that they came from the river to expose the Shu Kingdom. The emperor's persecution of the people in the four prefectures of Qin and Feng.

Later, for the "common people's sake", the officials rescued the people of the four prefectures from the fire and water for the sake of the common people in the world, so there was Shi Congyun's battle against Shu.

Reasons and excuses for fighting are the least important, but they are also indispensable. Naked aggression and aggression with a reason still have a great impact on people's hearts and morale.

So Shi Congyun thought about finding a few "fellow villagers" from Shu to sue him?

Wang Pu next to him interjected: "This trick is not impossible, but it is too difficult to convince people. It would be best if there is something else, but if it doesn't work, let it be. As long as the military affairs are not neglected, the rest is not so important. "

"Wang Xiang is right. In the final analysis, it is still a matter of military affairs, and military offensives are the most important thing. It is really impossible to let the Imperial Academy issue a proclamation." Shi Congyun concluded.

Everyone also talked about the arrangements for this battle, such as logistical supplies, the number of troops to be dispatched and deployment.

"This time I plan to send out two armies." Shi Congyun held a teacup and said while pacing. Everyone sat around listening to him.

"Take Tongguan all the way, cross the Qinling Mountains to the south, and go all the way from Jiangling up the Yangtze River. The two roads will meet in Chengdu. If one road is blocked, you can rely on another road. This is the basic marching route.

It is planned to send a total of 3 troops, [-] people along the way, advancing by land and water, and marching westward through Jiangling.

There are 2 people all the way, going south from Guanzhong, mainly by land. "Shi Congyun pointed to the huge Tujing (map) hanging in front of him and explained to everyone. His arrangement was intentional. There is the Yangtze River in the south, and the logistical pressure is small, so more troops can be deployed.

There are mountain roads in the north, logistics are difficult, and it is difficult to deploy a large army, so too many people are useless and will drag down the logistics.

"The part up Jiangling is not easy to go, and there is also a natural danger like Jianmen Pass in the north, where one man guards the gate and ten thousand men cannot open it." Fan Zhi said.

"This is unavoidable. The land of Shu is surrounded by mountains, and the road of Shu is difficult. It is difficult to go up to the blue sky. These two places are the avenues to enter Shu. The purpose of sending troops from two roads is to distract their attention and make them look south from head to tail. Divide troops north and south."

"Ke Shu has 10,000+ forbidden troops." Fan Zhi spoke again.

Shi Congyun didn't care about it: "From a historical point of view, the road to Shu is difficult to reach the blue sky. If you don't attack it, you will be done, and if you attack it, you will be able to break it."

Fan Zhi was speechless for a moment.

Shi Congyun went on to emphasize, "Another principle is not to kill them all, not to disturb the people, not to loot the people's things, not to dig the people's graves, not to cut down the people's trees, not to drive the people of Shu to a dead end.

On this point, the Privy Council must issue a decree to the officers and soldiers of the army, and some will restrain them, and negotiate to come up with a reliable supervising army. "

He said the last point very seriously, because Shi Congyun, who has read a lot of history, knows Shu very well.

Although it is said that the road to Shu is as difficult as going to the blue sky, those who wanted to fight Sichuan in history basically only needed to fight to get in.

Moreover, the world is in chaos, and everyone wants to go to Shu to become king and hegemony.

Those who are familiar with the history of Shu should understand that it is almost impossible to trace the so-called Sichuan people from their blood, because the history of Sichuan is the history of batches of outsiders taking over. ·

The distant state of Qin occupied Bashu, and then Qin and Han sent criminals and exiles to Bashu.By the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Liu Yan, Liu Zhang, Liu Bei, etc. were all outsiders who led troops into Shu to become kings and hegemons;

Up to now, Meng Chang's Houshu, and the former Shu before Houshu, were all led by warlords from the north, and they became kings and hegemony after entering Shu.Now many generals, important ministers and even the king of the Shu Kingdom are from Shanxi and Hebei.

It is similar to when Liu Bei of Hebei entered Shu and became king.

This is a very contradictory matter. On the one hand, it is said that the road to Shu is so difficult, and on the other hand, anyone who wants to fight can just send troops, and there is nothing that cannot be defeated.

When Zhao Kuangyin sent troops to destroy Shu, tens of thousands of Song troops wiped out 10,000+ Shu soldiers in just a few months, leaving behind the good story of "14 people were all disarmed, and none of them was a man".

Throughout history, the overall combat performance of Shu soldiers has been stable and relatively mediocre.

The highlight moment was from the establishment of New China to the founding of New China. It was the most glorious time in the history of the Sichuan Army. It must be distinguished during that period. The performance of the Sichuan Army under the Kuomintang during that period was still very hip.

This is not unrelated to its special geographical environment. As a person in the 21st century, Shi Congyun still believes in blood, saying that he really read books into a latrine.

The concept of Sichuan people cannot be traced back from the bloodline, not to mention that in every dynasty and generation, warlords brought a large number of people to Sichuan Ganshan King, and later Huguang filled Sichuan and so on.

Sichuan people in the sense of blood, I am afraid that the so-called pure Sichuan people have long since disappeared, but no matter where people are, as long as they go to Sichuan, they will become authentic Sichuan people.

The cultural core of Sichuan can be summed up in two words "easy and comfortable", which is shaped by the unique geographical environment, the land of abundance, thousands of miles of fertile fields, surrounded by mountains, protected by natural barriers.

This is easy to understand. Surrounded by high mountains and mountains, the middle is comfortable and comfortable, and there are thousands of miles of fertile fields. No one wants to go out when they come.

Today's Hou Shu used to be a general of the Later Tang Dynasty. Most of the soldiers brought to Shu were the generals and soldiers of the Later Tang Conquest to the North and the South. You must know that the Later Tang was a war from the South to the North. They punched the Khitan, kicked the Houliang, and pressed the Shu land to the ground. Friction, it's only been a few decades, why is the combat power so stretched?
After decades of An Yi, no one has the desire to work hard anymore.

There is not much difference in the person itself. It is not that if you add the title of Shu soldier to him, he will become weaker. He still has one nose and two eyes. The problem lies in the environment.

Therefore, Shi Congyun particularly emphasized military discipline. Shu soldiers were not good at fighting, because they were used to the comfort of Shu, protected by mountains, and not closely connected with the outside world.

But if the soldiers are indulged and the Shu people are driven to a desperate situation, then who has a pair of arms and strength, and who is afraid of whom?
Therefore, the highlight of the Sichuan Army in history was when they were forced to die on the road. Then whoever is not a person, whoever is afraid of a life for a life, will not die if he is ruthless.

Shi Congyun thought about it from the very beginning, the most difficult thing was to invade Shu, but how to appease the people, stabilize the situation, and collect money after entering Shu.

The most important point is not to push the people of Shu into a hurry.

He repeatedly emphasized this point when discussing this matter with everyone in the Privy Council, and at the same time, he also convened the generals in the Qin Palace to repeatedly emphasize this matter.

On the one hand, the land of Shu shaped the people living in that land. They can compromise and tolerate outsiders, but once they are forced to jump and take up guns, whoever is afraid of whom.

On the other hand, Shi Congyun's expectation for the battle to seize Shu is to be fast, and the sooner the better.

There are still many Jiedu envoys staring at the north, and the emptiness of the internal treasury makes him sleepless all the time. There are Southern Han, Southern Tang, Wuyue in the south, Northern Han and Liao in the north, and the Jingnan Army in the northwest. Party members, Guiyi Army, etc., can't waste too much time.

While the army was sharpening their knives, Shi Congyun was also arranging internal affairs.

For this expedition, he must also arrange affairs in the court.

At the beginning, he didn't decide whether to go in person, but he thought of the Northern Song Dynasty taking Shu in history.

The army of tens of thousands defeated the Shu soldiers in a few months. The 10,000+ Shu army did not play a role at all. However, the army of the Northern Song Dynasty continued the style of the Five Dynasties very well, and looting became common in Shu. Food, money, women, everything that could be robbed.

As a result, there was a sudden chaos, and many soldiers and civilians rebelled. Even some generals in the Song army could not understand their colleagues as joining the rebel army, and it took two years to put down the chaos.

After a few months of war and two years of peace, Shi Congyun didn't want to see this kind of situation. After thinking about it, he decided that it was better to go by himself. Except for him to go in person, I'm afraid no one can restrain these arrogant soldiers. Will.

After finally deciding to go in person, the DPRK and China must make arrangements.

Li Gu can watch over the government for him, as the third judge, Zuo Pushe, and Shi Congyun will add peace to him, so he can completely control the situation.

On the other side of the Privy Council, Luqiu Zhongqing is the deputy envoy of the Privy Council.

But Shi Congyun had other arrangements. He asked the privy envoy Wei Renpushi, the prime minister Wang Pu, and Fan Zhi to be the army staff to advise him and go out with him.

This is also a normal operation. For example, the official Zheng Gaoping brought Wei Renpu and Li Gu, and Zheng Huainan also brought Li Gu and Wang Pu as staff.

Shi Congyun's move not only allowed Wei Renpu, Wang Pu, and Fan Zhi to advise him, but also transferred them away from the capital and put them next to him. In this way, Luqiu Zhongqing and Li Gu actually controlled the civil and military power and controlled the court for him.

However, there is actually one person who cannot be bypassed, that is Empress Fu who is the regent. Once he leaves Beijing, Empress Fu's power will further increase and she needs to be wooed.

In January, before the severe winter had completely dissipated, Shi Congyun dealt with political affairs with the prime ministers in the side hall of the Chuigong Hall.

Because there were few things to do, several prime ministers left early, and the memorial was waiting for the queen mother to stamp the seal. Shi Congyun waited at the side. After a while, he noticed the talisman and looked over.

So he picked up a pen and wrote on the paper in front of him: Li Yun, the envoy of Zhaoyi Army in Liaozhou, Fu Yanqing, the envoy of Tianxiong Army in Weizhou, Guo Chong, the envoy of Chengde in Zhenzhou, Yuan Yan, the envoy of Baoyi in Shanzhou, Yang Tingzhang, envoy of Jianxiong Festival in Jinzhou.

After he finished writing, Empress Fu came over to take a look curiously, and then took a heavy breath.

Shi Congyun didn't speak, just raised his hand and crossed out "Weizhou Tianxiong Army Jiedu Envoy Fu Yanqing".

"Queen Mother, I really didn't trust the Fu family in the past. After all, Weizhou is an important city and holds a large army, but now we are a family, and Queen Mother Fu is still in the capital. Why don't I believe it?"

Empress Fu knelt down on the low table beside him: "If you write it specifically for me, then it's not that you don't believe your father, it's that you don't believe me."

She was very smart, and broke through the history of Xiao Jiujiu in Yun's heart with one word, which surprised him, and even thick-skinned to cover up: "What did the queen mother say, I am a dignified and loyal minister of Zhou, how can I not believe in the regent queen mother?"

Empress Fu probably got along with him for a long time, and knew his temperament, so she ignored his nonsense, "King Qin has a lot of tricks, but don't think about it. When the official family was away, the father and brother's army didn't dare to go south, so they just abandoned it." I.

I am a helpless little girl now, what else can I do besides relying on you?Zong Xun is only seven years old, the Minister of the Central Committee, you took away all those who are worried, and which one is not your arm, the leaders in the capital are all your loyal servants, what else can I do except let you manipulate me?
If you want to go to war, you can go. I listen to Luqiu Zhongqing and Li Gu about the affairs of the court. "

Shi Congyun stopped pretending, and said with some emotion, "You are really the smartest woman I have ever seen."

Then he got up and handed the paper to her: "I'm not in court, you have to be on guard against these four people, if there is any change, try to keep them steady, since the two of us have been working together, we have always complemented each other like ducks in water, and I hope we can have a happy cooperation this time. "

Empress Fu took it and read it softly: "Li Yun, the envoy of the Zhaoyi Army, Guo Chong, the envoy of Chengde, Yuan Yan, the envoy of Baoyi, Yang Tingzhang, the envoy of Jianxiong"

(End of this chapter)