The struggle of the reborn prince

In the Northern Song Dynasty, it was Zhao Kuangyin who launched the Chenqiao Mutiny and the Yellow Robe was added to establish the country, so he had a clear understanding of the danger of generals and soldiers taking power.Coupled with the historical experience that the country was controlled by generals during the Five Dynasties, he attached great importance to the restrictions on warriors after the founding of the country, established the national policy of building the country with Confucianism, emphasizing literature and suppressing military affairs, and made an oath monument: preferential treatment for literati and officials, not killing ministers and writing letters speaker.

Therefore, the officials in the Song Dynasty mainly came from the scholar class who entered the imperial examination. Through this method, a large number of literary students joined the ranks of the ruling class and realized the pursuit of academic excellence. After a hundred years of strengthening, as Cai Xiang said: In today's world, employ people at a high rate with words.The minister is also a scholar; the minister who is close to the servant is also a scholar; the secretary of money and valley is also a scholar;The literati are also; the transfer envoys of the world are also the literati;

These scholar-bureaucrats combined with the imperial power to jointly maintain the political operation of the country, so the scholar-bureaucrats can embody the highest Confucian ideal of "governing the country and the world" more than ever before. It can be said that the scholars of the Song Dynasty supported the sky. It also created the legend of "Song is a paradise for scholars" in history.

But it is precisely because the fate of the scholars is also closely related to the fate of the royal family, so they are more loyal to the royal family, actively write letters, judge history, participate in politics, and have a strong sense of ownership, even when their careers are frustrated and frustrated. , still did not give up the sense of social responsibility of "taking the world as one's own responsibility", and continued to pay attention to state affairs and people's conditions.This is the ideological manifestation of the literati class's desire to be loyal to the emperor and serve the country aroused by the environment of the times. It reflects a mentality of the literati after they took power.

Although seemingly harmonious.However, the struggle between imperial power and Xiangquan has never disappeared in a hundred years, and the expansion of imperial power will inevitably suppress the scholar group represented by Xiangquan.Scholars group.The expansion of the prime minister's power naturally restricted the imperial power and caused dissatisfaction among the royal family.Suppression of power.The two powers staggered forward in this kind of struggle and compromise to achieve a delicate balance, and Taizu's oath of "not killing scholar-bureaucrats and those who wrote letters" was the link to maintain this balance. No matter how ruthless it is, it will not hurt the opponent's life...

"In the Shenzong Dynasty, the old and the new parties were fighting each other. It was just a battle of loyalty and ideas, but the new party concocted the 'Wutai Poetry Case' and put the old party's Suzhou students in prison, which opened a precedent for literary inquisition; on the contrary, after Yuanyou changed. The old The party was in power, retaliated with an eye, and organized the "Che Gai Ting Poetry Case", exiled the new party Cai Que to Lingnan, where he was demoted to death, but the first emperor still followed his oath and dared not execute him!" Yang Shi said.

"In the previous dynasty, the court guidelines were in chaos. The Supreme Emperor collected flowers and stone outlines, and his student Deng Su presented poems to remonstrate. The prime minister Cai Jing said to the late emperor: If you don't kill Deng Su, I am afraid that false rumors will cause chaos in the world. But the late emperor said that he was still an important minister. Cancel Deng Su's student status and put it back in the field. It can be seen that the late emperor still remembers the Taizu oath stele. This time you, Chen Dong, led Kaifeng soldiers and civilians to demonstrate in front of the imperial palace, and wrote a letter to say something. Prime Minister Li Bangyan thought you're trying to change. No way If it wasn't for the prince's plan, it would have failed. You have set a bad example of beheading the speaker in this dynasty. Although you escaped death this time, the Beijing Central Committee followed your letter Dozens of soldiers and civilians were beheaded in the street!" Zhou Xingji sighed.

"In the Renzong Dynasty, the Liao Kingdom violated the boundary, and a transit envoy who escaped from the battle was impeached. The court decided to punish him severely. Emperor Renzong also wanted to kill him as an example, but he was dissuaded by the courtiers with the Taizu oath. Everyone knows his crime and should be executed. , but still persuaded the emperor to spare him the death penalty, because he didn't want to make an example of beheading the scholar-bureaucrats. This time you subdued the palace and forced the palace to punish the traitors. Set a precedent." Yang Shi said angrily.

"Mr. Guishan, Wang Fu and his ilk bring harm to the country and the people, and killing them is a matter of pleasing the hearts of the world. Isn't it wrong?" Chen Dong said, obviously still defending his actions.

"Shaoyang, do you know that if there is one, there must be another. This sword can kill traitors and loyal ministers. If Li Gangru fails to send aid, even if he escapes from the battlefield, he will not be able to escape from this sword!" Yang Shi frowned and said.

"Master Li is loyal to the country, and the world can learn from it, how can he kill him?" Chen Dong said hastily.

"Shouldn't the defeated general be beheaded? Isn't it because you asked to kill Tong Guan because he was a defeated general who ran away? Tong Guan killed, of course Li Gang can also be killed!" Yang Shi said with a cold snort.

"Ah..." Chen Dong burst into cold sweat after hearing this, and said in surprise, he just wanted to eradicate traitors for the country, but he didn't expect to implicate the scholars and princes all over the world with his impulsive actions. Your lord, damn it!" He bowed his head and saluted.

"This matter is my fault. I know that you are a bloody person and shouldn't send you back to Beijing at this time. The matter has come to this point, and there is no point in regretting it. However, Shaoyang still has to remember this lesson, and he must not be arrogant anymore! "Zhao Tong said with a smile, he knows that the progress of a country needs the promotion of these passionate young people, but it is not enough to rely on their blood, and it is a pity to lose their lives in vain. It is a pity for these future talents.

"This subordinate understands, and nothing like this will happen again!" Chen Dong looked at the prince's indifferent expression and said, and suddenly understood in his heart that the prince's methods and the powerful soldiers behind him were enough to sweep away the Imperial Army of the Song Dynasty and ascend to the throne. His mind and courage are sure to be able to govern the country well, but he resisted it. It seems that not only did he not want to get the notoriety of killing the king, but also he did not want to set a precedent for this kind of bloody politics in the Song Dynasty , Break the situation of the peaceful transfer of supreme power in the Song Dynasty for more than a hundred years.

"My lord, regardless of whether we win or lose this time, the lord will be caught in a battle in the court again, and our power in Beijing is weak, so the situation is dangerous!" Yang Shi said worriedly.

"So before dispatching troops, I hope that sir will write a letter to impeach me, so that even if there is any accident, you will not be involved!" Zhao Tong said with a smile, and the two finally regarded themselves as a family.

"Where did the lord say that we are speculators facing Qin Muchu, we are willing to advance and retreat with the lord!" Yang Shi said angrily, as if the lord had insulted their personality.

"I am willing to advance and retreat with the prince!" Chen Dong and Zhou Xingji stood up and saluted.

"I can trust the character of the few of you, but this time the troops are sent out, as the master said, the ominous and unpredictable. In case the king encounters an accident, the master and others need to do their best to protect the loyal army. This is the last hope of our Great Song Dynasty. The king Please!" Zhao Tong hurriedly returned the courtesy.

"We will live up to the lord's entrustment. Tomorrow we will go to Zhao Jun's envoy!" The three of them saluted in unison. At this time, they also understood what Zhao Tun meant by letting Zhao Ren be blamed. Soldiers also leave a way out for themselves...

In the following days, while reorganizing the army, Zhao Tang arranged matters after the expedition.On June [-]th, sacrifices were sacrificed to sacrifice flags, and the three armies were rewarded. Zhao Tuo led the army and sent troops from Hezhou to rescue Taiyuan.

This expedition employs 15 soldiers, with Zhao Shi as the vanguard envoy, leading a total of 8000 dragon generals and lion generals of the Zhongyong Army as the front army; [-] cavalry from the Hezhou prefect Yeli command office and the Hezhou tribal army as the left army; Chuan commanded Lingzhou, Xiazhou, and other state armies and tribal armies with [-] cavalry as the right army; both Yeli and Zhengchuan had served as commanders of the Xixia Road, commanded tens of thousands of troops, and had rich actual combat experience, enough to serve as the right army. All the way.

Zhao Tun leads the Chinese army himself, but his team is also the most complicated, consisting of a brigade of Zhongyong army wolf generals and 4 Fan Han archers, under the command of Zhou Dajun under the command of Youzhou soldiers and horses, and most of them are infantry.The rear army is under the command of Zhao Zhi, leading [-] volunteers to the rear.Xu Hong, the prefect of Lingzhou, was the transshipment envoy, responsible for escorting the grain and grass, and Wang Jin, the prefect of Xiazhou, joined the army as the recorder and was in charge of rewards and punishments for the army.

Zhao Hui led the front army to set off one day before the main army. The main army marched from Tumaochuan and Quyechuan in two ways. Two days later, they converged at Liangu, three days later entered Linzhou and stayed in Xintai, and five days later the main army arrived at Jingqiang village. .At this time, the former army had entered Lanzhou, fought against the Jin army in Hehe County, defeated the defenders in the first battle, beheaded [-] soldiers and made their first contribution, and was marching towards Yifang, the prefecture of Lanzhou.

This time, Zhao Tuo did not choose Song's usual tactic of splitting and attacking together. Instead, he concentrated his troops on the way forward. This has no technical content. It is the most clumsy style of play, but it is also the most difficult to crack.Tens of thousands of troops huddled together, looking at each other head to tail, step by step, like a huge stone roller crushing everything in front of him into powder, to put it simply, bullying the few by relying on the number of people.

In fact, Zhao Tuo had no choice but to choose this tactic. The army came from many sides, and there was no time for further training. It would be a problem to cooperate with each other in battle. Therefore, Zhao Tuo divided his troops according to the region. They came from the same place, or even adjacent areas. The tribes are more familiar with each other, which can reduce the friction among them, and send the "regular troops" such as the state army and the garrison army to Zhengchuan and Yeli to command.

On the other hand, Zhao Tang organized many Fan Han archers into the Chinese army, not only because they were brave, but also because they were basically based on the command unit. Although there were few people, there were many things to do, and they had a big temper. The boss can bluff them and command them to move.

It is easy to command a large army all the way, and it is difficult for the enemy to see the flaws, avoiding the danger of being broken by the Jin army one by one. Even if they are attacked, the armies are not far away and can quickly rescue.This formation is also troublesome to the enemy. Either you retreat early before the arrival of the army, or you can only concentrate heavily on defense or fight decisively. There is no other way, and this is what the Jin army does not want to see.

"My lord, is there someone asking to see you?" Zhao Tang had just settled in the stockade, and came in to report when he saw his joy.

"Who is it?!" Zhao Tong asked suspiciously when he saw the strange smile on Xi's face... (to be continued...)