Start with detective Li Yuanfang

Chapter 837 Cai Jing: We must make good use of Zhao Ji's role in helping the enemy!One person can be a teacher of millions!
Under the dark night.

Zhe Keshi and Zhong Shidao rode their horses and galloped, followed by the elite cavalry of the Western Army.

The name Zhe Keshi may be unfamiliar to those who don't know much about the generals of the Northern Song Dynasty, but when it comes to the old lady She in the general of the Yang family, it is well-known.

Old Madam She is not surnamed She, she is actually a soldier of the Zhe family, and also an ancestor of Zhe Keshi. From the Five Dynasties, the Zhe family has been a family of military generals, and later stationed in the northwest border until the end of the Northern Song Dynasty. Zhekeshi is one of the more prominent representatives.

Zhang Shunmin, a poet of the Northern Song Dynasty, once wrote in "Wan Zhe Jing Lue": "Why can't Huoshi savages sleep, and only worry about losing the Great Wall to defend against the enemy?" One sentence can better describe the power of this general: "For more than forty years, he has been in the army every day. He must defeat every battle. He has repeatedly made extraordinary achievements. He is kind and powerful, and no general will be on his right."

Today's Zhe Keshi is in her fifties, her temples have turned gray, her eyes are still focused and majestic.

In comparison, Zhong Shidao, who rode side by side with him, has a greater reputation.

In the original book of Water Margin, Lu Zhishen often talked about the "old Zhong Jinglue Gong", which is Zhong Shidao. In fact, he should be called Zhong Shiji now, and was later given the name by Song Huizong in history.

This person is also a descendant of the general family. Starting from his grandfather Zhong Shiheng, the Zhong family has served in the army for many generations, resisting Xixia, and became the famous "General Zhong". The Yang family that shined brightly will be much stronger.

In the first year of Jingkang, Jin soldiers went south, and Zhong Shidao was appointed as the envoy of Hebei Province in Gyeonggi to fight against Jin.

However, with Song Huizong and Song Qinzong, the top-quality father and son, Bianjing would be sent away anyway. Even if Zhong Shidao was alive, he might be pissed to death, and even suffered the insult that life would be worse than death. It would be better to die of illness.

At this time, Master Zhong was also in high spirits, his eyes flickering, thinking about the secret edict he had received before, and when he had a short break in the middle, he opened his mouth and said in a low voice: "To seize the Daming Mansion by force and to detain Cai Daizhi, this law will ruin Hebei forever." The hearts of the people, it is absolutely impossible to let the smoke of war everywhere!"

Zhe Keshi's slightly hoarse voice sounded, also straightforward, without any hesitation: "He Xiang doesn't know the soldiers, let alone sympathize with the Western Army. We just refuse to execute it!"

The two old generals looked at each other, and they both saw the tacit understanding and worry in each other's eyes.

The Western Army is indeed the most elite army in the Song Dynasty, but first of all they are also human beings, and they need to rest. In the past few years, the Western Army has almost been at war. First they fought with Xixia, and later the Liao Kingdom also came to intervene. , almost confronting the enemy with their backs, the Three Kingdoms fought in a melee, which messed up the situation.

Coupled with the fact that logistical supplies are sometimes available, if it is not one of the characteristics of the fortress, which is self-sufficient farmland, if it is all transported from the rear, the Western Army must have been defeated during the period when the imperial court moved the capital.

Now that the war in the western region is finally over, the Western Xia has completely retreated, and even the Hengshan area has been abandoned, but they also did not occupy that area. On the contrary, the local Qiang people suddenly united together, and they captured many. Fortress.

This was unlucky enough. As a result, the previous gold medal order almost made the Western Army scream.

Officials ordered that the Western Army was dispatched to the south to wipe out the traitors and defend the capital.

The key to this order is not that there is going to be another war, but that it is going to the south.

When Di Qing led the army to fight against Nong Zhigao, very few people were directly killed by the enemy on the battlefield. Hundreds of thousands of soldiers died in Guangxi because they were not acclimatized to the environment and most of them died of illness.

Compared with the Imperial Army and the Northern Army, the one most afraid of the southern environment must be the Western Army, because there are a large number of foreign generals and soldiers in it, and even Zhe Keshi is a member of the party.

Let them eat sand on the bitter cold loess highlands, but they can stand it, and transfer them to the humid and hot south to guard, isn't it fatal?
After Zhe Keshi and Zhong Shidao managed to appease the generals of the Western Army, a letter from the Prime Minister He Zhizhong came, asking the Western Army to eliminate the thieves in Hebei and arrest the officials who colluded with the thieves.

Although he didn't say it directly, many of the meanings in it are clearly implied. Cai Jing, the prefect of the Daming Mansion, is one of the officials who colluded with the thieves. Cai Jing was escorted back to Beijing.

Zhe Keshi and Zhong Shidao thought at first that He Zhizhong might be crazy.

Not to mention that Cai Jing is a great official in the frontier, who knows the Daming Mansion, guards in Beijing, and acts as an agent for the defense of Hebei. It is said that his contribution to resisting the Liao army's southward march is well-known in history. If the Daming Mansion falls, the north will be over. He was wantonly ravaged by the iron cavalry of the Liao army.

Now that the Liao people have retreated, they want to attack Cai Jing, and they are not hesitating to execute Gao Qiu on trumped-up charges. As the prime minister, He Zhizhong, how can he make the same mistakes again and again.
But both of them are veterans, and they are from a family of military generals. They have been influenced by their ears and eyes since childhood, and they are not reckless warriors who do not understand officialdom. It's a matter for people to handle.

But if it wasn't He Zhizhong's intention, the only one who can make a prime minister take the blame is...

So after the discussion, they only took it as He Zhizhong's idea, and then refused to implement it.

After this matter was settled, Zhe Keshi said again: "Go to Daming Mansion, and after we wipe out Tian Hu's bandit army, I can contact the township army that subdued Yan Yun."

Zhong Shidao shook his head slightly, not optimistic: "We have found out the situation of this township army. From its establishment to its formation, it was all supported by the people. There was no food supply from the imperial court, and no rewards from the imperial court..."

Zhe Keshi continued: "The only Gao Lian who has been kind to him directly has been taken to prison, right?"

As he said that, he sighed: "But we have no other choice now, the Western Army Air Force has the reputation of being the strongest, and just now we have dealt with the thieves, but we feel a bit powerless. "

"The township army is still in the name of the imperial court after all. If they are forced to turn against them, it is not clear whether they can win. Even if they barely win, what will the Liao people do if they go south again? What about the rebels everywhere?"

"My Song Dynasty's Jiangshan Sheji can't stand such a toss!"

Zhong Shidao fell silent.

In the past, their battle-tested army, who wiped out the thieves in the district, would be like destroying the dead and sweeping the ground.

But when they recaptured the Zhending Mansion just now, hundreds of them were damaged in battle. After the war, Liu Fa and Liu Zhongwu, both famous generals of the Western Army, were left behind to appease the soldiers.

The Western Army has a strong fighting capacity, but it is exhausted in all other aspects, and it is always hindered. To this day, as Zhe Keshi said, it is beyond its capabilities!

Realizing this, Zhong Shidao said: "The attitude of the township army lies in the head coach Lin Chong!"

"The soldiers under my command also obey the general's orders, and the imperial court's orders are conveyed to us, and then we arrange them. This is still under the condition of giving rewards and gifts..."

"Now the township army must listen to the chief coach. This man is also from a family of warriors. He should have a heart to serve the country with fists and fists. He is no more rebellious than Tian Hu and other rebels. He must be appeased!"

Zhe Keshi smiled wryly and said: "Peace and reward, I wait for the generals in the town, what right do I have to promise lightly?"

"All we can do is to show the strength of the Western Army and deter it!"

"As long as Lin Chong doesn't take that step, there's still room for redemption. If he can't just push back, then the general situation is over!"

The two old generals took advantage of the rest of the march to exchange opinions again, and continued to march towards the Daming Mansion, preparing to appear on the possibly precarious battlefield in the best condition.

Soon, however, they discovered that it was unnecessary.

Because judging from the Tian Hu army who threw away their helmets and armor and fled in all directions, the war was obviously over.

And even in the dark night, Zhang Qing and Sun Li still led the troops to chase the deserters, trying to minimize the harm to the village after these soldiers fled. When they found the Western Army, they first approached them cautiously, and after passing Cai Jing's letter, they observed for a while, and then acted as if no one else was there. Keep hunting.

Going forward, Xie Zhen and Xie Bao were responsible for detaining the soldiers who surrendered. There were ordinary soldiers, the so-called tiger and leopard battalion selected by Tian Hu, and Sun An and Tian Hu, the king of Jin, who had come to the rescue.

It's just that when Zhe Keshi and Zhong Shidao arrived, most of the soldiers had been taken into the Daming Mansion, and outside the mansion there were mainly corpses everywhere.

For the Western Army, this scene is very familiar. What is not familiar is that each soldier held a torch and walked quietly on the blood-stained ground, tidying up the corpses, and did not fight for the spoils at all.

Seeing this orderly picture of the aftermath, the two old generals were intimidated.

Such military discipline!Such military discipline!
This is the country army?
……

"It's still necessary for Cai Zhifu to return. As soon as you appear, that Tian Hu is as mournful as a concubine, and he doesn't even have the strength to escape!"

"Where is this, this battle depends entirely on the power of the generals!"

At this time, inside the yamen of the Daming Mansion, Cai Jing and Suo Chao, Xu Ning, and Luan Tingyu were sitting opposite each other, exchanging business ideas, without any sleepiness.

Cai Jing was not at all surprised that the township army could win, but he was a little surprised that the victory was so straightforward after winning more with less.

"This is an army that can't fight against the wind. Today, I understand my brother's worries..."

Suo Chao further faced up to the gap between the enemy and ourselves.

The township army has been trained so far, and even they don't know how strong they are. So when they saw Tian Hu's army fighting to the death, and the number of them was several times that of their own, they thought it would be a tough battle. One battalion, the enemy collapsed.

On the one hand, the township army is indeed tyrannical, on the other hand, Tian Hu's army is a bandit army after all, and can only fight with the wind, and if it is slightly frustrated, its morale will immediately fluctuate.

The Township Corps had also gone through this stage. When Li Yan attacked Yanjing, he was worried about a similar situation, so he took Jizhou first, pushed the Liao army to the edge of the cliff, and used artillery to seize Yanjing in one fell swoop. , It can be said that it has maximized its strengths and avoided its weaknesses.

Suo Chao only now has a deep understanding, and suddenly said: "The Western Army has also arrived in Hebei. I don't know if the strongest army in the Song Dynasty competes with our township army, how will it win or lose?"

Xu Ning's eyes flickered, while Luan Tingyu became excited: "I think we can win! No, our army has recharged its batteries, and the Western Army has been fighting for a long time, and it will definitely win!"

He couldn't help being unhappy, the Western Army was the strongest army of the Song court, and it was also the last military support.

If the Western Army loses to the Xiang Army, one can imagine what will happen next!

In the past, they might have been a little apprehensive against the prestigious Western Army, but this victory has greatly boosted their confidence and morale, and they are already eager to try.

bring it on!Let's compete and see who is the strongest army among the Han Chinese!Who should be the head of the Han people, the supreme under heaven!
Cai Jing felt the impetus, and he was actually very excited, but when he thought of the strategic situation of that person, he suppressed it again. After thinking carefully about the sense of distance between himself and the general of the township army, he finally decided to speak: " The three generals are calm, just like what the old man said to Tian Hu, how can the court army kill each other?"

The three generals of Suo Chao were stunned: "What is the intention of Prefect Cai?"

Cai Jingdao: "In the whole world, there are people who can be a million divisions. Lin Yiyong, head coach Lin, founded the township army, recovered Yanyun, and left his name in history. It is undoubtedly one of them. The great rebellion against 'Zuo Ming' has thousands of troops and horses, and entered the battle Capturing the king is also one of them, and above the Great Song Dynasty, there is also a person who disregards the ancestors and the country, acts against the law, and destroys the city wall.

Speaking of this, Cai Jing smiled and said: "A direct conflict with the Western Army will inevitably cause a lot of damage. With that person, why not make a small plan to let the Western Army die by itself?"

(End of this chapter)