Do you know: I am Yuan Wenshao

Chapter 320 Civil strife in Hehuang
"Eunuch Wu, according to the covenant with Xixia, both sides are not allowed to send more troops to the border. Now the spies only say that Xixia has a tendency to increase troops, but they haven't done so yet. Once we take the lead in increasing troops, won't we give Xixia an excuse?"

Although Sun Qi was dissatisfied, he still endured it.

Although people like Eunuch Wu have little ability, they still have the ability to do bad things.

The most important thing is that Sun Qi doesn't think Xixia can really attack Lingzhou City.

Although the border garrison is now reduced, due to the importance of Lingzhou City, the garrison in Lingzhou City has not been reduced.

In addition to the two county towns that Xixia gave up, the defense of Lingzhou City has actually increased.

If Xixia really wanted to launch troops against Lingzhou City, how could it possibly give the two county towns near Lingzhou City to Dazhou?

Sun Qi always felt that Xixia's so-called covenant had some plot in it.

The border garrison has been reduced, and the defense capability is no longer what it used to be. In addition, the defense of Lingzhou City and the two nearby counties has to be strengthened, and the remaining cities have even fewer garrison troops.

He was very worried that Xixia's handing over of the two county towns was because he had calculated that Da Zhou would attach great importance to Lingzhou City, which would force Da Zhou to tilt its limited troops towards Lingzhou City.

Now Xixia is making a gesture of increasing its troops. If he deploys troops from other cities, the defense will be even weaker.

What should Xixia do if they attack other cities?
"Having said that, if Lingzhou City is lost, can the public bear the responsibility?" Eunuch Wu asked.

Eunuch Wu was the newly appointed eunuch to supervise the army after Zhao Zongquan ascended the throne.

He had heard in the palace that the eunuch overseeing the army was a bad job.

The eunuchs who supervise the army are more like emperors at the border, so the border generals will naturally want to curry favor with him.

However, when he came to the northwest border, he found that was not the case at all.

The northwest is bitterly cold and the conditions are poor.

The most important thing is that Sun Qi was only superficially polite to him and didn't give him any money at all.

He hinted at Sun Qi in different ways, but Sun Qi didn't seem to understand.

Eunuch Wu also knew that with Sun Qi's status, even if he secretly slandered him, it would be difficult to sway him.

Therefore, he could only endure it. Since you, Sun Qi, won't give it, and there are so many generals and colonels on the border, I can always ask for it from others, right?

But after some testing, he found that most generals were the same as Sun Qi.

It's not that there aren't people who want to take advantage of others, but people like that have very ordinary status and can't bring him much benefit at all.

If this benefit is compared with when he was in the palace, it is certainly not small, but it is far from his ideal.

Eunuch Wu felt something was strange, so he secretly asked someone to investigate and found out that it was not only him, but also his predecessor.

The reason for this is because Sun Qi secretly confessed.

They say that cutting off someone's financial path is like killing one's parents.

For eunuchs, without their lifeblood, they are mentally abnormal. Only power and money can make them feel satisfied.

This is also the reason why except for a few famous eunuchs who have positive reviews in history, the rest of the eunuchs who are famous in history have nothing good to say.

Eunuch Wu was already quite old and had not been taken seriously in the palace before. In addition, the late emperor was frugal and could not afford to be greedy for much money.

King Yan rebelled and many maids and eunuchs died in the palace. Because of his age when he entered the palace, he was sent by Zhao Zongquan to supervise the army in the northwest.

He originally thought that by supervising the army in the northwest this time, he would be able to earn enough money for his retirement, but it turned out that Sun Qi was so ignorant that he naturally hated Sun Qi.

It's not like Eunuch Wu has never found excuses for Sun Qi. According to his understanding of the military, it's very common in the military to take free money.

Even the Western Suburbs Camp, which boasts an army of 400,000, is right under the eyes of the officials, and there is still a phenomenon of empty pay.

When the officials restructured the western suburbs camp, they discovered that the 400,000-strong army was actually only a little over 300,000 strong.

Eunuch Wu learned some gossip in the palace at that time. It seems that because the official had just ascended the throne and did not want to cause a big disturbance, he did not have an attack. He just ordered people to recruit troops again to make up for the gap.

There must be something like this in Bianjingdu and on the border.

As a result, he checked and found that there was no such phenomenon at all on the northwest border.

Since there was no way to catch Sun Qi, Eunuch Wu had nothing to do with him. But the hatred was buried, so whenever Sun Qi said anything, he always liked to contradict Sun Qi.

Sun Qi saw that Eunuch Wu was not getting enough, so he looked at the middle-aged man on the lower left and said, "Inspector Yang, what do you think?"

The founding of the Zhou Dynasty established the system of sending eunuchs to supervise the army, but because there were many cases of eunuchs having exclusive power in history, they were not reassured.

Therefore, another civilian official was sent as a supervisory envoy to act as a check and balance.

Inspector Yang's full name is Yang Rui. According to regulations, if the inspector, the commander, and the supervisor have the same opinion, they can directly implement it.

Yang Rui saw Sun Qi and Eunuch Wu looking at him and cursed in his heart.

Unlike Eunuch Wu, he had already served as a supervisor during the Renzong period.

According to regulations, the supervisory officer serves a term of three years. When his term expires this year, he will be able to leave this bitter and cold place in the northwest.

Yang Rui naturally didn't want to cause trouble. No matter who he helped at this time, he would offend the other person.

Although he was not afraid, he was worried that the two of them would cause him trouble.

After a moment of silence, Yang Rui said: "Both Ding Guo Gong and Wu Eunuch's concerns are reasonable. I think we can choose a compromise. No matter what Xixia's purpose is, as Ding Guo Gong said, the troops that have withdrawn now are Right at the rear, even if Xixia wanted to attack Lingzhou City, there would still be time to send reinforcements.

Just in case, you can also order someone to tell the guard to be careful. At the same time, the situation here will be reported to the officials, who will make a decision. "

Although Yang Rui was talking about a compromise, in fact he was completely biased towards Sun Qi.

No matter how we deal with it, the news here must be reported to the officials.

What Eunuch Wu wants is to send more troops to Lingzhou City, and he will also report their response plan during the memorial.

At that time, he can report it to the officials and show his role in it.

Although he was unwilling to do so, he couldn't object to Yang Rui helping Sun Qi.

"In that case, let's follow what Inspector Yang said. However, if there is anything wrong in Lingzhou, the responsibility lies with Duke Ding and Inspector Yang."

Eunuch Wu finished speaking coldly and walked away directly.

"General, Eunuch Wu has gone too far."

"That's right, he's just a eunuch, so he doesn't know anything about the art of war."

Seeing Eunuch Wu being so arrogant, the generals in the account were filled with indignation.

"shut up!"

Sun Qi said with a gloomy face: "Eunuch Wu is a supervisor sent by the government. He represents the government. How can you slander him? Since the situation is unclear now, let's make a note of it for now. If he does it again, he will be punished together!"

There are some things you can curse in your heart, but you cannot say them out loud.

Sun Qi was also very disgusted with Eunuch Wu, but there was nothing he could do about it.

Regardless of whether it is the supervisory army or the supervisory envoy, they can file a complaint against him.

But he could not sue the supervisory army or the supervisory envoy.

To put it bluntly, these two were sent by the officials to supervise him.

If he files a complaint, the officials may think that he is excluding dissidents and has other motives.

Therefore, even if you are extremely dissatisfied, you can only endure it.

"They are all rough people. I hope Inspector Yang will not be as knowledgeable as them." Sun Qi said to Yang Rui, cupping his hands.

Yang Rui hurriedly returned the salute and said: "I'm sorry, Sir, I got water in my ears when I was taking a shower a few days ago, and my ears sometimes don't work. What did the generals say just now?" Sun Qi naturally knew what Yang Rui was doing. He was pretending on purpose, and he didn't continue the topic. Instead, he discussed with him how to report it to the officials.

The two discussed it for a while, reached a consensus, and asked the clerk to write a memorial, signed it together, and ordered it to be sent to Bianjing as soon as possible.

After Eunuch Wu left the camp, he left the army directly and returned to his home. Then he wrote a memorial in person and sent it to Bianjing.

……

But it was said that Li Xingze received a letter from Feng Rushan and ordered his people to make a move to send more troops to Lingzhou City, so he sent a letter back to Feng Rushan.

After Feng Rushan received the letter, he felt much relieved.

Lingzhou City is very important to the Great Zhou Dynasty. If Xixia has a tendency to increase its troops, it will attract Sun Qi's attention.

Next, it depends on whether Kelsang Norbu can succeed.

Although his plan is very good, as the saying goes, everything depends on people, but it depends on God.

Before success, any changes may occur.

But what he worried about did not happen. Three days later, he received the news that Kelsang Norbu, relying on Xixia's two thousand troops and people who supported him, had put Solangdajie under house arrest and forced him to Jie wrote the edict of succession.

Solangdajie was seriously ill and was put under house arrest by Kelsang Norbu. After writing the edict, he died not long after.

Kelsang Norbu did have some abilities. After taking control of Solangdajie, he also took control of Mubatu and those supporters, and blocked the news.

But even so, the news still leaked.

After Mavis learned about it, he used Kelsang Norbu's regicide as an excuse to call on all tribes to join him in going to the capital to quell the rebellion.

As the second largest tribe in Hehuang and Tubo, Mavis naturally had some small tribes who sought refuge with him.

Even if Kelsang Norbu had an edict to pass the throne, there were not many tribes supporting him.

Knowing that Mavis had gathered an army of 80,000 men, Kelsang Norbu became anxious and quickly asked Feng Guang for help.

He now had 40,000 troops, only half of Mavis' number.

In addition, news of his regicide and rebellion spread. Even though he tried hard to defend himself, the morale of the army was still a bit unstable. There was no match for Mavis.

After Feng Rushan learned the news, he asked Feng Guang to reply to Kelsang Norbu and asked Kelsang Norbu to hold on for a few days while he was mobilizing troops.

Then he sent people back to Beijing to mobilize troops.

He did not bring troops and horses at first because the large number of troops and horses mobilized could not be concealed from the Tibetan side.

Now that Tubo is in chaos, he has no intention of paying attention to others, and the news of troop deployment can be concealed for a few days.

After receiving the letter, Kelsang Norbu was very happy. Although he could not deal with Mavis, he could still defend for a few days.

Mavis led an army of more than 80,000 people, surrounded the capital, and launched a direct attack.

It's not like Gesang Norb didn't think about negotiating with Mavis to stall for time, but Mavis directly killed the people he sent and didn't talk nonsense to him at all.

The reason for this is that Mavis has received the news that Kelsang Norbu has Xixia support behind him.

Another reason is that he has already contacted a general in the city who supports Mubatu.

After Kelsang Norbu placed Mubatu and his supporters under house arrest, he began to persuade him to surrender.

After all, these generals have soldiers. Although he can disrupt those soldiers and horses, he will have little fighting power in a short time.

Now that Mavis has led his troops to attack, he has no time to slowly integrate.

However, Kelsang Norbu was not stupid and was not at ease with those people. Therefore, he did not let those people defend the city and only sent his own confidants to defend the city.

What Mavis has to do is to quickly attack the city and put pressure on Gesang Norbu.

As long as the pressure is enough and Kelsang Norbu feels that he can no longer defend the city, he will naturally let those people defend the city.

At that time, we will be able to cooperate internally and externally to defeat the city.

……

The turmoil in Hehuang could not be hidden from Sun Qi. At this time, Sun Qi also realized that Xixia's target was Hehuang.

But when he proposed to send more troops to the border between Dazhou and Hehuang, he was opposed by Eunuch Wu and Yang Rui.

It's normal for Eunuch Wu to object. He just wanted to go against Sun Qi.

Yang Rui, on the other hand, was worried that Xixia would attack Lingzhou after adding more troops.

At this time, the difference between generals and civil servants can be reflected.

Sun Qi knew the importance of Hehuang. Once Xixia annexed Hehuang, at least two to three hundred thousand troops could be added.

In addition, the garrisons on the border of Xixia and Hehuang can also be liberated.

If this is true, Xixia will have hundreds of thousands of idle troops, which will put greater pressure on Zhou Dynasty.

However, Yang Rui couldn't see the long term. He only knew that Lingzhou City was very important and the officials also valued it.

In his opinion, the land of Hehuang was not originally owned by the Zhou Dynasty, and Xixia just took it.

What's more, Xixia may not be able to eat it. Let Xixia and Hehuang Tubo fight and consume Xixia's strength, which will also be good for Dazhou.

But Lingzhou City is the territory of the Great Zhou Dynasty and must not be lost.

Yang Rui and Wu Eunuch-gong both sent troops to the direction of Hehuang to increase their troops. Sun Qi had no choice but to order people to rush 800 miles to report to the officials and let the officials make a decision.

……

While Sun Qi's urgent report was still on the way, Zhao Zongquan had already received news that He Huang had changed.

A few days ago, Sun Qi and Yang Rui jointly submitted a report. Regarding Xixia's movements, Zhao Zongquan felt that there was no problem with their arrangement, so he replied to them and asked them to do things easily.

A few days after replying, I received news that He Huang had changed.

At the beginning, Yuan Wenshao and Zhao Ceying mentioned that if they wanted to regain the sixteen states of Yanyun, they must first destroy Xixia. If they wanted to destroy Xixia, they must first capture Hehuang.

Although Zhao Zongquan did not completely agree with these remarks, he also realized the importance of He Huang.

In his view, Xixia was poor, with a small land area and a small population.

It's like a piece of chicken ribs. Instead of wasting all that time to attack Xixia, it would be better to send troops to recover the sixteen states of Yanyun.

But if Xixia occupied Hehuang, it would have hundreds of thousands more troops. If he wanted to send troops then, he would need to leave more troops to defend Xixia.

Realizing the importance of Hehuang, Zhao Zongquan sent many spies to Hehuang to keep an eye on Hehuang's movements.

Now there is civil strife in Hehuang in Xixia. Although Xixia has not sent troops yet, it has to guard against it.

Zhao Zongquan pondered for a long time and decided not to move the troops on the northwest border.

Because Yang Rui's worries are also what he worries about.

Lingzhou is related to Zhou's way of obtaining war horses, so there can be no mistakes.

So Zhao Zongquan ordered people to summon Yuan Wenshao.

Yuan Wenshao was very surprised to receive the summons from Zhao Zongquan, but he did not dare to delay. He returned home from the military camp, put on his official uniform and went to the palace.

"Your Majesty, Yuan Wenshao, comes to see you!" Yuan Wenshao saluted.

"No courtesy!" Zhao Zongquan waved his hand and said: "Yuan Aiqing, I have received news that there is civil strife in Hehuang and Tubo. I am worried that Xixia will take the opportunity to plot in Hehuang."

(End of this chapter)