Five Dynasties River Mountains Fengyue

However, under the command of Zhang Yongde and Zhao Kuangyin, Zhou Jun used military chariots as a battalion, defended the perimeter, and the people in the middle took turns to rest. They used bows and crossbows to prevent the Khitan from approaching, so that they could not take advantage of it.

If they fight head-on, the Khitan people are actually very afraid of the army of the Central Plains, because their armor and weapons are not as good as those of the Central Plains, and they will suffer losses when confronted head-on.

In the end, the two sides confronted each other for seven days, and each suffered injuries. After more than a hundred people were killed on both sides, the Khitans took the initiative to retreat to the north, not daring to stay any longer.

This is the largest and most severe confrontation between the two armies this year, and it will be a huge test for both sides. If the generals of the Zhou army could not hold on at that time, their attention was not concentrated, and their will was not strong enough, let the Khitan people find an opportunity within seven days. The situation in Hebei may have changed completely.

The defeat of more than 3000 people is not a trivial matter, and it is enough to change the situation in Hebei.

It was also difficult for the Khitan people, they also took turns to harass and attack, and fought non-stop for seven days. If they could not defeat the Zhou army, they would not dare to stay near Beizhou for a long time.

Young people who are over fifteen years old in Khitan will join the army. The fragile ecological environment and harsh climate on the grassland are destined to be unable to support more people. For some poor people, they must either plunder or starve to death in the winter of the grassland. There are no more options.

In the end, they were still unable to capture the Zhou army's defense line. Such a failure is doomed to many people to accept a tragic fate.

Afterwards, after finding out the location of their main force, reinforcements from surrounding states and counties kept coming. The Khitan people were very experienced, and if they didn't leave, they would be doomed.

The Zhou army has huge strength and equipment advantages, but at the beginning, they have to disperse the defense of various cities, and they are in the fog of war. They don't know where the main force of the Khitan people going south is, and where they will attack on the vast land of Hebei, so they dare not act recklessly.

Now that the Khitans are actively attacking, but they cannot win in time, the position of the main force is exposed, and the defenders in the surrounding towns can watch the wind and gather in the direction of the main force of the Khitans.

And once the Zhou army is assembled and forms a large corps, the Khitan people will be in trouble. They have rich experience in fighting the Central Plains Dynasty, and they will withdraw immediately if they fail to succeed in one blow.

Therefore, it began to stipulate the assembly area and time, and divided the troops to withdraw to the north to prevent being blocked by the Zhou army.

This trick has always worked. The Khitans dared to divide their troops because of their fast horses and more horses. The Zhou army did not dare to divide their troops. The Zhou army had cavalry, but the main force was still infantry. If a division of troops chased them, it would be easy for the Khitans to use their mobile advantages to concentrate their forces. Surround and destroy.

In the end, they could only watch them retreat northward to northern Hebei. Zhao Kuangyin followed one of the Khitan soldiers to Cangzhou at that time.

After September, the fighting in Hebei gradually began to calm down, and the Khitan completely withdrew from Hebei. According to statistics from various places, more than 300 households were robbed or killed.

This loss was greater than before, because this year the Khitans dispatched more troops and made greater moves, and there was something disturbing behind such moves.

Fortunately, the Khitans did not please the Beizhou confrontation in the end, otherwise the loss would be even greater.

According to the information provided by the informant in the north, this southward attack was presided over by Xiao Siwen, who stayed in Nanjing in Liao Kingdom, and he seemed to have other actions.

Zhao Kuangyin and Zhang Yongde immediately reported this information to the court.

......

Shi Congyun's comfortable life in the capital unknowingly reached mid-September, and the discussion of the Dianqian Division on how to make the Northern Expedition continued.

From the initial logistical support, it has slowly reached the route of advancing troops.

The maps of Hebei are different from those in the Southern Tang Dynasty, Nanping, and Wuping. People still need to spy on them. Hebei has been fighting for decades, and the maps there cannot be called bad streets. At least there are several copies in the Privy Council.

Moreover, many generals have been to Hebei and know some or most of Hebei.

The war in Hebei is very different from that in Guanzhong and the South. There is almost no danger to defend. Compared with Jianmen Pass and Tongguan, the so-called passes are not comparable at all.

There are no dangerous checkpoints, no big rivers to block, this is the overall situation of the battle in Hebei, where mobility becomes an important factor in the decisive victory.

The main points that affect the speed of the army's advance return to logistics.

Finally, after everyone discussed, Shi Congyun made a decision, thinking that if he wanted to go north, it would be best to travel by land and water, starting from Cangzhou, and heading north along the river.

And Han Tong, who built the river city wall in Hebei, put forward his professional opinion. He should go north from Cangzhou, go north after passing through the Qianning Army, and then transfer to the west near Duliukou. If you go upstream, you can reach Yijin directly by water. close.

Today, Yijin Pass is an important pass on the border between Dazhou and Liao. If you go north from Yijin Pass, you can take advantage of the waterway to ease the logistical pressure and let the fleet go directly to the front line.

Shi Congyun agreed with Han Tong's opinion very much. After returning home, he dictated it, and ordered Zhao Shijian to compose words and sentences, and wrote it as a memorial and handed it over to the officials.

In late August, when Zhao Kuangyin and Zhang Yongde from Hebei sent a memorial, Shi Congyun and Wei Renpu took a general look at it.

The memorial records in detail the tactics and habits of the Khitan people, as well as the situation in Hebei at this time, the process and success or failure of the battle between the Zhou army and the Khitan people. .

The name of Xiao Siwen, who stayed behind in Nanjing in the Liao Kingdom in the Memorial, made him feel a little familiar, and he couldn't remember it again...

Chapter 216, The Power of the Triangle

Many things in Hebei have been settled after discussions.

Because of Shi Congyun's habit of discussing, many officials participated in it, but everyone did not take it all seriously, because the discussion was too open and not so serious, which made everyone feel unreliable.

If you really want to send troops, it is impossible to swagger like this, and the officials don't want their ideas to be coerced by the officials.

Only Shi Congyun and a few prime ministers knew in their hearts that they were really planning to come to the truth, not just talking.

After that, Shi Congyun also read what happened in the court in the past few months, mostly from Zhao Shijian's notes.

The promulgation of the "Great Zhou Xingtong" is of great significance. Although it cannot solve all the problems for the time being, it at least shows that the Great Zhou has been committed to going on the right track.

However, what Shi Congyun cared more about was the government's plan to set the world's taxes equally, because it involved his commitment to the soldiers. He had promised the soldiers that if they fought with him, sooner or later, those who tilled it would have their fields.

Although money, silk, cloth, etc. have been used to reward the soldiers before, this is not a long-term solution. For farming peoples, what most soldiers desire most is still the land.

Only the fields can reassure them and benefit their children and grandchildren.

In today's world, land and wealth in most places are controlled by local military governors and warlords.

The taxation process for the local government to hand over to the central government is as follows: it is first handed over to the local government, and the local governors and garrison generals deduct their own expenses and then hand over the rest to the imperial court.

In this case, although there are military envoys supervised by the imperial court, Jiedu envoys can also use various means to falsify, massively withhold local income, and then grow themselves.

This also led to a large gap in the taxes paid to the imperial court in various places. The places that are loyal to the imperial court or where the imperial court controls them pay more, while the places where the imperial court is difficult to control pay less. In this situation, the tax revenue from all regions can come to the central government instead of being intercepted by local governors.

Of course, judging from the actions of the officials, this question is only a test. The officials gave each Jiedu envoy and governor a copy of the "Equal Field Map", and there was no actual action after that.

Because the officials must also be afraid of causing a backlash, the Great Zhou still needs to fight, the enemy is around, and these Jiedu envoys and governors are needed to serve the Great Zhou.

This kind of temptation also shows that compared with military adventures and radicalism, the officials are conservative in politics, or that the officials are eager to do something in the military, but they don't pay much attention to politics. would be a fatal flaw.

After Shi Congyun carefully read the information recorded in Zhao Shijianjuanxiu's notes, he didn't feel anything, and he couldn't even say "no one is perfect, Guo Rong has advantages and disadvantages". The natural reaction of the times.

After the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, everyone would subconsciously look down on literati, pay little attention to political construction, and attach great importance to martial arts. It is not surprising that Guo Rong did so.

On the one hand, political conservatism means that he needs to stabilize the regime to deal with wars; on the other hand, decades of experience have made him feel that military victory is greater than the sky.

Even Zhao Kuangyin is extremely similar to Guo Rong in his attitude towards literati and warriors.

Later generations often have a misunderstanding, because Zhao Kuangyin has the Taizu oath stele not to kill scholar-bureaucrats, which makes people think that Zhao Kuangyin attaches great importance to scholars, and later scholars also praise them.

But if you study Zhao Kuangyin's life carefully, you will find that he didn't kill scholars because he valued scholars. There have been too many killings in the country for decades, and it is necessary to stop the killing of scholars.

There is a big meaning of "Anyway, if you keep them, you won't be able to make any waves, so you can't kill them." This can be regarded as Lao Zhao's "strategic misjudgment".

There are many quotations that Lao Zhao despises reading, including but not limited to: A hundred corrupt officials are no match for a general; The room can’t be packed, etc. (The translated ones, the original words are interesting, Zhao Kuangyin, as the emperor on horseback, actually has a lot of very rude words in his quotations, but they are nothing compared to Liu Bang).

Another time, King Wuyue bribed his prime minister, Zhao Pu, and was discovered by Zhao Kuangyin. Zhao Pu was frightened to death, but Zhao Kuangyin said it was fine and let him keep it. He also laughed at King Wuyue for his ignorance.

In short, people who have been killed all the way from the troubled times of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, whether it is Guo Rong or Zhao Kuangyin, actually look down on cultural people.

This is determined by the era and experience they live in, and Shi Congyun knows in his heart that cultural people are sometimes really amazing.

So he was powerless to be in a high position, and he was very polite to the prime ministers of the Great Zhou, and got along well with them.

Even Fan Zhi, the stubborn old man who had a feud with him, Shi Congyun would not intentionally make trouble for him, or take revenge, in fact, it was perfectly fine with his status.

And this time the "Great Zhou Xingtong" was revised by Fan Zhi. Although the old man had a stubborn temper and gave him small shoes, at least he had some skills, but his skills were not in the world.

........

Days passed like this day by day, after returning home one afternoon, Fu Liu carefully pulled his sleeve aside, and said to him: "I went to the second sister's place during the day, and I saw the eldest sister."

Shi Congyun was taken aback, he hadn't been in charge of the Fu family for a long time, and immediately understood what the little girl meant, "You told her what I taught you."

Fu Liudian's cute little head.

"What did the Queen say?" He asked repeatedly.

Fu Liu hesitated for a while, and said in a low voice: "Elder sister looks very angry, she said that the husband... is so aggressive, and he dared to ignore her queen, and said that she was in court. I helped my husband several times, but in the end, my husband forgot his righteousness and didn't remember her kindness......

And let me see her again tomorrow. "

The sixth child spoke in a lower and lower voice, and was afraid of making him angry, so his eyes wandered over his face.

But Shi Chen laughed loudly, stretched out his hand and rubbed her little head, "Your elder sister is so incompetent and furious, let's go to eat."

Shi Congyun is an old fritter, so-called obedient and obedient, Empress Fu's words seem to be very strong and harsh, but she always only mentions her own kindness to the historian, and does not mention the situation in Hebei and the power of the Fu family's Tianxiong army.

It shows that Empress Fu also has a guilty conscience. Nine times out of ten she knew the news that the officials planned to let him serve as the recruiter for the Northern Expedition. Don't look at her tough words on the surface, but she has actually softened.

Once Shi Congyun made the Northern Expedition, the Tianxiong Army in Hebei would still be at his command. How could Empress Fu not understand, she just couldn't let go of her face and forced her to put on a tough stance, trying to force him to give in.

In fact, she was also anxious, so she asked Fu Liu to see her again the next day, eager to know the Shi family's reaction.

After having dinner with the three wives, after flirting with them for a while, she said to Liu Mei: "Don't be afraid to see your eldest sister tomorrow, she can say anything, my husband won't be angry, let alone you, you are my wife. Historians are his own people.

Just tell her, my determination remains the same, please be sure to agree to the previous conditions. This is good for both of us. After all, we are a family. As soon as the end is opened, the officials are willing to listen to me in order to defeat the Khitan people and recover the sixteen prefectures of Yanyun for their lifelong wish.

At that time, it will be too late for the queen to regret, and it will be too late to say anything.

I am rich and beautiful, and the Fu family has all the best-looking beauties on me, so there is no need to hesitate. This is a good thing for both families to get what they need. "

.......

The next day, the warm brazier in the small courtyard of King Wei's Mansion dispelled the coldness in the air, and Fu Liu's face flushed redly recounting Shi Congyun's original words.

Fu Er was so angry that his cheeks flushed, "This Shi Congyun is young, shameless, extremely arrogant, how dare he talk to the eldest sister like this, and talk to our Fu family like this, his father is King Wei, what is he! "

The glamorous Empress Fu also had an extremely ugly expression on her face. She sighed slightly, and sat down to the aggrieved second child, "He is the highest military officer in the Great Zhou Dynasty who is inspected in front of the palace."

"Then the father is still the king..." The second child was not convinced.

Empress Fu shook her head: "You were just unconvinced at the beginning, that's all, you don't understand when you say it."

Then he said helplessly: "This Shi Congyun is young, he is only twenty years old this year.

This man has never been an opponent in battle. I have seen him commanding thousands of troops in Huainan, and defeating the enemy with calm and concentration.

In just a few years, he has fought in Northern Han, Khitan, Shu, Tang, Nanping, and Wuping, and none of them were opponents.

Originally thought that his deeds in military affairs were also amazing, a rare genius once in a hundred years, but he didn't expect that he would eat people to death when he started a power struggle in the court. "

"Eldest sister, you don't want to admit defeat to a shameless person, do you?" The second child said in surprise and unwillingness.

Empress Fu glanced at the second sister, and said with a smile: "Otherwise, I will give you to Shi Congyun as a gift. He is not admitting that he is lustful and greedy for money. Sending you here may give us a step."

"Hmph, then I'd rather die!" The tall Fu Er said repeatedly with a pink neck.

Empress Fu didn't tease her either: "This Shi Congyun is very smart. He is sure of the helplessness of our Fu family. The imperial imperial army has been growing year after year. When we send troops to Hebei, the situation in Hebei will be under the control of the imperial army. We The Fu family is going to be weak again.

Instead of this, it's better to let go of your airs and ask for more benefits, rather than trying to save face here. I'm afraid that my father and brothers in the family don't understand this truth. "

The cute Fu Liu asked curiously, "Aren't you angry when you hit my sister?"

"What's the use of me being angry? It's not that I was eaten to death by your gentleman. He has a clever plan. I spoke so harshly yesterday to test him, and at the same time, I wanted to scare him.

If he is not clear-headed, he must be frightened and give in, but Shi Congyun is not an ordinary person after all, so if he can't be frightened, what can I do? "

As she said that, she stretched out her hand and pulled the petite and well-behaved sixth sister: "Our Fu family may rely on you in the future."

Sixth Sister stared at her big watery eyes, a little unbelievable, the eldest sister has always been the most honorable figure in their Fu family, she did not expect her to say such a thing.

.........

At the beginning of October, the weather turned cold and winter began. Most of the time in Daliang City, the weather was gloomy and cold, and snowflakes began to fall.

Empress Fu compromised, which was a good thing for Shi Congyun.

He immediately found Zhang Zhengtao, the two brothers Zhang Zhenghai, and Guo Tingwei, and told them about going to Hebei.

The two brothers agreed that it was Old Man Shi, and they could understand a lot of things, and they both said that they would definitely do what he said.

Guo Ting said that unlike the two brothers, Shi Congyun was relieved of him for the same reasons as he was relieved of Zhao Shijian.

Fu Liu may have no selfishness towards him, but there is still a huge Fu family behind her. No matter what, it is impossible for the sixth younger sister to completely separate from the Fu family. Even in the most extreme situation, she can't do it. .

Zhao Shijian is lonely, and the little girl can only rely on him, so he is more at ease with Zhao Shijian, and many confidential things are done by Zhao Shijian.

The same goes for Guo Tingwei. Guo Tingwei was a person who surrendered from the Southern Tang Dynasty, but he was the one who surrendered. The imperial court did not directly grant Guo Tingwei any authority.

Guo Tingwei has always been his officer, and he has both prosperity and loss, unlike Pan Mei and others, so although Guo Tingwei has only been with him for two years, Shi Congyun also trusts this man very much.

Another point may be a psychological effect. Guo Tingwei is a direct descendant of Guo Ziyi. He always feels that Guo Ziyi is so powerful that Guo Tingwei is not bad.

Guo Tingzhi immediately understood his purpose after having a secret conversation with him, and agreed immediately.

So far, the arrangement of personnel has been basically in order, and the conspiracy transaction between the historian and the Fu family can also be slowly advanced.

In fact, for Shi Congyun, there is another important meaning.

He remembered that Guo Rong, an official in history, died of illness next year, and the situation in Dazhou would undergo earth-shaking changes. Although he was not sure whether history would follow the same track now, he had to plan ahead.

If the official family is absent and the emperor is young, there are roughly two situations in which the regent is in charge of the court at that time, the empress dowager or the powerful minister.