The rise of the prince

Chapter 869
The first year of Zhangwu passed quickly, and it is destined that there will be no big storms in this year to be remembered by future generations.

But in the invisible interior, this year is a link between the past and the future, a year of great importance.

Li Xingzhou's New Deal has finally been implemented in the south. If there is one, there will be another. Everything is difficult at the beginning, but as long as there is a beginning, the future will be easy.

The second is that the handover of power has also begun, and the emperor has begun to let him review the memorials and take charge of the government affairs.

Excessive power is most afraid of unsmoothness. If it is not smooth, it will easily cause disasters and lead to turmoil in the court.

Years later, the festive atmosphere had not yet passed, the court resumed its work, and Li Xingzhou gradually took over the government.

After the Shangyuan Festival on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, the emperor simply issued an edict. He was unwell and old, and did not have so much energy to preside over the court, so he ordered the emperor's grandson to supervise the country and preside over major affairs in the court.

At the same time, the East Palace was vacated and used by the emperor's grandson.

Li Xingzhou also placed a few maidservants and attendants in the East Palace, and sometimes if he was busy with affairs, he would temporarily stay in the East Palace.

Once things become a routine, it is easy to settle down, and gradually everyone gets used to it.

In the second year of Zhangwu, Li Xingzhou only did one important thing besides his usual state affairs, and that was to go to the riverside to supervise the manufacture of new warships.

And good news came from the north, under the operation of Yang Hongzhao, the Mongols were forced to escape for a month.

Yang Hongzhao took the opportunity to pick up Jingguo officials in Shangjing, transported away all the gold and silver goods in Shangjing, and sold them two thousand Suifa guns and a lot of gunpowder and bullets to help them train soldiers.

He also deliberately confessed that this newly trained army can only be led by the king of Qi, Pu Chayi, and it was instantly confirmed that Pu Chayi belonged to them, making it impossible for Pu Chayi, who was already on the cusp of the storm, to say anything.

However, with the support of the Musketeers, when the Mongols went south for the second time, Shangjing was temporarily held, and the two sides were in a stalemate from February to early April.

The Mongols gave up the siege and began to plunder the surrounding land, and the western part of the Kingdom of Jin was almost completely looted.

Instead, they encountered resistance from Wanyan Zongbi's tribe in the eastern part of the Kingdom of Jin. The two sides fought a battle, and each suffered injuries. The Mongols had to retreat to the grassland and choose an opportunity to go south again.

However, the harassment and looting of small groups of troops has not stopped.

For this reason, Yang Hongzhao also said in the memorandum that he felt that if the Mongols became enemies, it would be difficult to deal with them. Their combat style is to gather and annihilate them if they can fight. Fight, fail, then retreat with horsepower.

Moreover, almost everyone in the Mongols has horses, and the most elite cavalry even has two or three horses per person.

Such agility and agility will make them extremely difficult to deal with, and it is difficult to have a chance to gather and annihilate them. Once they are alert and determined not to fight, just fleeing will make the armies of the southern countries helpless.

Going deep into the grassland to pursue them requires taking great risks.

However, Yang Hongzhao also put forward his suggestion in the memorial if war with Mongolia is to be launched.

Very simple, only four words, such as "Wei Qing's story".

Li Xingzhou immediately understood Yang Hongzhao's idea.

Many people know of Wei Qing's illustrious military exploits, but people rarely mention Wei Qing's method of dealing with the Huns, but war is cruel.

Even if Wei Qing can go deep into the desert and has a good strategic vision, it is unrealistic to fight a war of annihilation on the vast grassland, not to mention that the Xiongnu have many cavalry, and it is difficult to encircle and annihilate.

However, Wei Qing understood his own advantages. As long as he fought head-on, the cavalry of the Han army could completely defeat the Xiongnu.

Hun soldiers can run away, but their tribes, their settlements, and their families cannot.

Therefore, every time Wei Qing directly attacked the settlements of the Huns, he looted men, women, children, horses, cattle and sheep back to the territory of the Han Dynasty, burned all the things that could not be taken away, killed all the people who could not be taken away, and threw the carcasses of the livestock into the water source. .

To put it bluntly, it is to strengthen the wall and clear the field, and attack continuously.

Tactically, we should strengthen the wall and clear the field. Strategically, we should not think about completing all our efforts in one battle, but attack continuously and uninterruptedly.

Li Xingzhou admired Yang Hongzhao's vision and wrote back to praise him.

As for Xia Guo, he had already sensed Jing Guo's intentions, coupled with the previous flickering, the two main armies of the Shun Army on the left side and the Shenwu Army on the right side continued to move south.

In the north, Jebe's army gave up raiding and attacking the border of Xia Kingdom, and began to return north.

After the threat from the north was lifted, the Northern Army began to move closer to Tanglong Town.

In order to avoid the tragedy of Tanglong Town being raided, Li Xingzhou and the ministers of the Privy Council decided to let Zhe Weizhong, the prefect of the prefecture, and Yang Ye, the prefect of Taiyuan and the military commander of the Sanjiao, add troops to Tanglong Town to consolidate the defense.

As a bridgehead for crossing the Yellow River, Tanglong Town has a very important geographical location and cannot be lost.

In this way, everyone has their own actions at the border, but the overall situation is peaceful.

Until July of the second year of Zhangwu, another autumn harvest season, the palace had already built six steamships and delivered them to the new army, naming them "Zhangwu" class.

The naming is still selected from Tiangang.

This is already a very high efficiency. After all, Li Xingzhou expected a maximum of twelve ships and a minimum of eight ships. Now it has only passed seven and six ships have been completed. The guarantee of eight ships is definitely no problem.

At the same time, starting from July, all roads in the northwest, states and counties began to raise food and grass for the army and repair roads.

By April of the third year of Zhangwu, the road repairs were completed, the army had enough food and grass, and fourteen Zhangwu-class gunboats had been built and delivered to the troops.

The Yellow River thawed and the waterways became unimpeded. The emperor announced to the world that two years ago, the Xia State detained the Chinese envoy, had an affair with the Jin State, and stopped the Jing State caravan.

The courtiers came forward one after another, demanding to crusade against Xia Guo, so as to convince the world.

The envoys of Dali, Goryeo, Jin Guo and other countries also wrote a letter stating whether Xia Guo was wrong, and asked Jing Guo to be the master for them.

So the emperor, Longyan, was furious, and stated the ugliness of Xia Guo, and then announced that at the invitation of courtiers, people and other countries in the world, Jing Guo would send troops to attack Wudao Xia Guo.

With a big wave of Li Xingzhou's hand, the army that had been sharpening their knives for a long time led the northern expedition.

Jia Liu Ji deployed for the west camp, appeased the ambassador, led the three infantry divisions of the new army, and the right wing of the Shenwu army, and allowed him to dispatch Qinfeng Road, Yongxing Road, Jingxi South Road, Lizhou Road, and Chengdu Fu Road. , Tongchuan Road soldiers and horses.

Depart from Tokyo, pass through Luoyang in Xijing, pass through Tongguan, enter the Guanzhong Plain, and then go north to attack the southern line of Xiaguo.

The deputy envoy of the Privy Council, Di Zhi, deployed for the camp in the north, recruited envoys in the northwest, led the two divisions of the New Army Navy, and the left wing of the Shenwu Army, and allowed him to dispatch Huainan East Road, Huainan West Road, Jingxinan Road, Jingxibei Road, Soldiers and horsemen from all walks of Jingdong East Road and Jingdong East Road set out along the Yellow River, crossed Zhengzhou, went northward from Hezhongfu along Jiangzhou, Cizhou, and Shizhou, and went straight into the enemy's hinterland, attacking the important place under the Yin Mountain, Wucihai City and its surroundings.

Li Xingzhou, the grandson of the emperor, is the general marshal of the world's soldiers and horses. He led three divisions of the new army and the left wing of the Lingjie Army. Go west.

As soon as the war broke out, the whole country was busy.

Jingguo's army totaled 18 this time, gathered in the northwest, and the world was shaken. While preparing for the war, Xiaguo complained one after another, but it did not shake Jingguo's determination to send troops at all.

By mid-March, Xia Guo also understood that this battle was inevitable
(End of this chapter)