Great Song Super Scholar

Chapter 597
Fan Ning's eyes lit up, and he walked out of the big tent quickly. Outside the tent was indeed Han Qi wearing a blue cotton uniform. Han Qi resigned because of the Liao army cavalry raiding Hebei and plundering tens of thousands of people. Of course, this was not his resignation. The main reason for the aspect, the fundamental reason, is that the Empress Dowager Cao refused to hand over power. Han Qi's repeated persuasion was ineffective, and he resigned angrily. Zhao Xu wanted to keep him, but the Empress Dowager Cao directly approved his resignation and was changed to Hebei Xuanfu Envoy and Zhizhending Mansion. .

Now that Fan Ning has taken over his position as Hebei Xuanfu Envoy, Han Qi has also changed his sentence to know the Daming Mansion. He came to work with Fan Ning and then went south to the Daming Mansion.

Han Qi still likes Fan Ning very much. When Zhang Yaozuo was so powerful, Fan Ning was one of Han Qi's few confidantes. It was Fan Ning's proposal to let Zhao Zhongzhen enter the palace that changed the situation and made Zhang Yaozuo fail.

Although Han Qi had some conflicts with Fan Ning in running the Southern Continent, it was just a matter of political differences between the two parties, not personal conflicts. Especially this time, Fan Ning persuaded the Empress Dowager Cao to give up military and financial power, which really pleased Han Qi.

When Han Qi saw Fan Ning, he laughed and said, "Xiao Xianggong Fan has finally become a pillar of talent!"

Fan Ning pretended to be angry and said: "I have made so much money overseas for the imperial court, am I still a pillar of talent?"

"That's right! How can the boy who makes money not be a pillar of talent?"

The two laughed, and Fan Ning hurriedly invited Han Qi into the tent, and then motioned for several craftsmen to leave first.

Han Qi sat down and said: "I received the emperor's letter, and I agree with your idea of ​​fighting a long-term war. It is a good idea to use our strengths to attack the weaknesses of the Liao Kingdom. Then what are you going to do first? "

Fan Ning said slowly: "My first step is to strengthen the walls and clear the country. Even if the cavalry of the Liao army penetrated five hundred miles into the Song Dynasty, they would never want to plunder the population and food."

Han Qi pondered for a while and said: "This time the Liao army attacked Dingzhou and penetrated hundreds of miles into the territory of the Song Dynasty. They were coordinated by [-] cavalry and [-] infantry. The infantry was responsible for attacking the city, and the cavalry was responsible for plundering everywhere. Soon the first snow will come, and next spring, they will come back, their mixed tactics of foot and horse are very effective, how are you going to deal with it?"

Fan Ning got up and came to the map. He pointed to the many small counties on the border and said: "Since we want to defend, there is no need to grab the beard and eyebrows. Just defend the strong city, abandon the small counties, let the people retreat south, and minimize the number of people in the north of Hebei. population.

Last year, the imperial court sold overseas islands and held a large amount of land. I heard that the second round of island and land sales has started again. It is estimated that a lot of land will be obtained. These lands are just used to house the people who have been evacuated from Hebei. However, at least 50 people must be evacuated from Hebei. Those who are willing to go overseas can go overseas; "

Han Qi nodded, "The role of these small counties is also to prevent the cavalry of the Liao Kingdom from going south. If you remove them, it will be easier for the cavalry of the Liao Army to drive straight in. Xiao Fan, you will be under a lot of pressure!"

Fan Ning smiled and said: "The long-distance drive is just a show. It is okay to apply pressure, but it has no real effect. Besides, we also have ways to deal with them. They can kill them freely. I want to see how they come back? "

Han Qi didn't ask further, he asked with a smile: "Tell me about your trump card! Will your navy stay at Laizhou Port all the time?"

Fan Ning said indifferently: "To be precise, I have already dispatched troops. The [-] troops are deployed right under the eyes of the Liao Kingdom. I don't know if the Liao Kingdom has discovered it."

Fan Ning pointed at the mouth of the Yalu River, "There are several large islands nearby. The navy I sent has already occupied them. They will greatly restrain the troops of the Liao Kingdom."

Of course, Fan Ning would not put the navy in Laizhou. The navy is his trump card, and of course it should be put where it is most useful.

The Song Army Navy currently occupies three large islands in Liaodong, two of which are located in the sea outside the mouth of the Yalu River. One is called Jingliao Island and the other is called Pingdao. Jingliao Island is now the largest island in North Korea. There are more than [-] square kilometers, and cities can be built on the island and the population can be relocated.

And Pingdao was the famous Pidao in the late Ming Dynasty. Its area is about half of Jingliao Island.

Jingliao Island and Heping Island at the mouth of the Yalu River belonged to Koryo. The Song army occupied it, but the Liao Kingdom didn't realize it for a while, but the third island was different.

There is an island hanging overseas in Liaodong Bay, with an area of ​​about ten square kilometers. It is the largest island in Liaodong Bay. It is only ten miles away from the Liaoxi Corridor. The Tang and Song courts called this island Peach Blossom Island, and the Liao Kingdom called it It is Juehua Island, which is under the jurisdiction of Xingcheng County.

This island is very important to the Liao Kingdom, not because of its important strategic location, but because there is Juehua Temple, the royal temple of the Liao Kingdom, on the island, where Yelu Hongji, who believes in Buddhism, worships incense.

In addition to Juehua Temple, there are more than a dozen monasteries on the island. In the early morning of this day, dozens of huge lucky boats suddenly appeared on the sea east of Juehua Island. The big bell rang, but Juehua Island had no army stationed except for a dozen monasteries. The monks watched helplessly as large ships entered and docked at the northern harbor, and groups of Song soldiers disembarked from the ships.

In just one morning, [-] Song troops entered Juehua Island, and a large amount of food and supplies were unloaded from the ship. At the same time, more than a thousand monks were gathered to give lectures. A rough-looking general of the Song army shouted: " I am the governor of Laizhou, Miao Shunli, from now on, Peach Blossom Island has belonged to the Song Dynasty, and you are monks from the Liao Kingdom, so you are not suitable to live on the island, I will send you back to the land, continue to become monks or return to vulgarity, it is up to you.”

When they heard that the Song army would not kill them, the monks were all relieved, but when they thought of losing the monastery, they felt very sad, and they all bowed their heads in silence.

Miao Shunli didn't have the heart to sympathize with them, so he immediately asked them to pack their belongings and leave the island early tomorrow morning.

The monastery on the island became the Song army's barracks. Miao Shunli led his generals to patrol around. He saw that there were many monks' houses, tens of thousands of stones of grain in the warehouses, countless cloths, and magnificent halls with carved beams and painted buildings. It was extremely extravagant, so he said to everyone: "I have heard for a long time that Emperor Liao emptied the national treasury for worshiping the Buddha. I saw it today, and it is true. This is only one of the thirteen royal temples. It is so extravagant. It is said that the Liao Kingdom is powerful, and I think so." If you are strong on the outside and dry in the middle, you are not far from perishing."

All the generals agreed, and at this moment a commander said: "Since Peach Blossom Island is suspended overseas, how can its food and supplies be transported? I feel that there must be ships, and we don't know yet."

Miao Shunli suddenly felt reasonable, and immediately asked the abbot, Abbot Wenhui, to find him. He sternly shouted, "Can the old monk speak Chinese?"

Abbot Wenhui put his palms together and said, "The old monk is originally a Han Chinese in Yanzhou, why can't he speak Chinese?"

A general next to him shouted angrily: "Since you are Han, why do you serve the Khitan bandit chieftain?"

"Amitabha, the poor monk only serves the Buddha, not the king of the Liao Kingdom."

Miao Shunli waved his hand and asked again: "Let me ask you, how do you communicate with Lu?"

The abbot didn't hide anything, and said frankly: "There are more than [-] cargo ships in Xingcheng County, which are responsible for transporting supplies to our island."

Miao Shunli was vigilant, he didn't know there was a ship in Xingcheng County, so he hurriedly asked, "How big is the ship?"

"About five hundred shi!"

"Is there a garrison in Xingcheng County?"

"Yes! It's near the county government office, and there are about 1000 people there."

Abbot Wenhui knew everything, and found another map for Miao Shunli. Miao Shunli was overjoyed and sent the abbot to rest.

In a meditation room, Miao Shunli discussed countermeasures with the generals, and Miao Shunli said to the crowd: "We must fight, but how to fight will be effective. Everyone talk about it."

Commander Zhang Yandao: "The humble officer thinks that we must first find out the location of the ship, control the ship and then launch an attack on the garrison, so that there is nothing wrong with it."

Another general also said: "The county government and the barracks are located on the Hulu Peninsula. We can land from the south, go around to the enemy's rear, and sneak attack at night. We will definitely wipe out the enemy."

Everyone said something to each other, and a bold and complete battle plan was gradually formed.

After the Ming Dynasty, the north entered the Little Ice Age, and the Bohai Sea would be covered with thick ice in winter, but now it is the Northern Song Dynasty, and the climate is relatively warm. In winter, only the northern coast of the Bohai Sea freezes, and the sea between Juehua Island and the land does not freeze. Even in some severe winters, there will only be a thin layer of ice, making it difficult for people and horses to move.

Although it has entered winter and snow has begun to fall on the land, there is still no floating ice on the sea. Under the cover of night, the ships of the Song army sailed into the harbor in the south of Huludao silently.

(End of this chapter)