When the sun was a little hot in the afternoon, the Zhao family, Xianggong Lu, and President Wang led everyone to leave the Luoyang Old Palace and return to the military camp outside the city.

Maybe it was because they had just sacrificed the last man, Wang Boyan, who had a pommel, horse, bow and sword to accompany him, so the atmosphere was a little dull. However, the group slowly walked along the stream, and when they were halfway there, considering Lu Xianggong's age, it was

We stopped directly at a roadside hut and took a short rest.

This hut probably used to sell tea, but now it is already empty. There are tables, chairs, and everything else there, and the owner obviously left in a hurry. As for Zhao Guan's family, Lu Xianggong, and Wang Jiedu, who had already entered the house, there were already the imperial guards who took it directly.

Something was hurriedly wiped and arranged in order for everyone to sit down properly. Then they went directly to the stove at the side and back, took firewood, and boiled some hot water.

Of course, there are no more people in the middle school room, so if you want to sit, there are no extra chairs, but you have to stand, but you might be able to get some hot water.

As everyone sat down, they naturally wanted to talk about the war, especially since Xianggong Lu came from the south and was not very clear about the many military arrangements in the north. He had been traveling continuously these days and had never been able to sit down and talk about the current situation.

"According to military reports, Han Shizhong should have crossed the river." Lu Yihao sighed, stroking his knees. "The left army of his imperial camp are all elite. After joining forces with Li Yanxian, there should be at least 60,000 to 70,000 people. I don't know if they can fight.

And go down to Hezhong Mansion?"

Since Xianggong Lu spoke, at least half of the people around him looked at each other in confusion... Although Xianggong Lu was courageous and decisive, and had always been good at pommel, horse, bow and sword, he was still far behind the professionals in military matters.

Even the Zhao Guan family heard this incorrectly.

"Ms. Lu is overthinking." Seeing that no one around him dared to respond, Zhao Jiu immediately laughed and responded. "Hezhong Prefecture has a big city like Hedong City. As long as the defense is tight and everyone works together, the number of soldiers in the city is really inferior.

Han and Li can also defend the city for a month or two until the cannons are fired on the city."

Lu Yihao nodded slightly.

At this moment, President Wang Yanwang couldn't bear it anymore, but he suddenly interrupted: "The official family, Mr. Han, there is actually quite a discussion in Guanxi about Prince Han..."

Zhao Jiu didn't say anything, but Lu Yihao instinctively twitched his beard and raised his eyebrows: "What's the discussion?"

Wang Yan hesitated for a moment, then gritted his teeth and said: "It's not that the official is talking about his colleagues without permission, but that there have been impeachments in Kansai for a long time. Even the official has heard about it in Kansai in the past... They all said that after the war in Yaoshan

, Prince Han had to be granted the title of Prince of the Prefecture, and he gradually started to slack off. During the Pingxia War, the officials used Yue Fei to defeat Wu Jie, but he did not have much merit. He seemed to feel that his merits were too high to be granted the title. The officials were deliberately

If you don’t want to use him anymore, you will become even more miserable. You will be complacent and perfunctory in military affairs, and you will be afraid of the current situation. You will wander in the forest, even think about retreating for safety, and start writing and writing..."

Lu Yihao didn't hear well and turned to face Zhao Jiu.

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"It's all just pretending." Zhao Jiu responded with a deadpan expression. "He has many secret letters in private. He regards the Northern Expedition as his lifelong wish, speaks sincerely, and even wrote a poem to express his ambition..."

"Your Majesty." Lu Yihao suddenly became solemn. "Every matter in the world must be handled by the one who has the upper hand."

Zhao Jiuqian laughed, but looked back at his surroundings.

Yang and Liu understood, and with a casual gesture, all the people standing retreated, which saved trouble.

"Han Shizhong did behave like this." Zhao Jiu confessed when he saw that only his confidants were left. "His usual fault is not only after Yaoshan, but also before Yaoshan, he slacked off when he returned to Kansai. It's just Yaoshan.

It’s just more obvious every time after summer.”

"Then why not withdraw this person?" Lu Yihao frowned. "And entrust a military force to him."

"Because it is Han Shizhong who is slacking off, not the left army of the imperial camp." Zhao Jiu tried his best to smile. "Han Liangchen has many shortcomings, but there are always two redeeming features. One is that he is loyal and brave to the world. No matter how difficult the military affairs are, he will not

He will not refuse and be perfunctory; secondly, he is very strict in running the army. Even if he is slack and has many faults, it will not prevent him from being very strict in controlling his subordinates. The left army of the imperial camp under his command is strictly disciplined, and all the soldiers dare to fight and can fight... Therefore,

It is enough to encourage them to be brave when faced with battle... The so-called courage of my waist, my people and my troops are worthy of the name."

Lu Yihao sighed after hearing this, and seemed to have remembered something, but he was still a little worried after all: "If the commander is so slack, can it really not affect the combat effectiveness of his troops?"

"Now that we have talked about it today." Seeing this, Zhao Jiu paused for a moment, but continued. "I might as well give Lu Xianggong a closer look... In August, Lu Xianggong and I left Nanjing and returned to Tokyo. Along the way,

I once responded to all the commander-in-chiefs, and then praised a few people and demoted a few people...Do you still remember, Mr. Xianggong?"

"I remember that officials praised Yue, Wang, and Li, but reprimanded Wu and Erzhang." Lu Yihao blurted out, and then thought thoughtfully. "Didn't you mention Han, Qu?"

"Yes, sir, do you know why?" Zhao Jiu asked immediately.

"Didn't you just come here randomly?" Lu Yihao suddenly laughed. "There are criticisms and praises, so naturally there should be neither criticisms nor praises."

"Having said that, I really don't know how to praise or criticize." Zhao Jiu finally told the truth. "Han Shizhong's army is strong and will be defeated, and Qu Duan's is a handsome figure that is rare among all military officers from him on.

Duan himself is both civil and military, Liu Qi is the only Confucian general among the generals who has withstood the test of war, and Li Shifu, who comes from a loyal and brave family, is Zhang Zhongfu, and the Zhang Zhongyan brothers are also rare brave generals with political talents... But the Imperial Cavalry Army is indeed

The shortcomings of our entire army cannot be changed by manpower, but we have to invest huge efforts and countless military resources into it."

Lu Yihao was startled for a moment, and then he came to his senses: "Yes... the imperial cavalry army was hastily assembled, and most of them relied on the Fan cavalry... Even if the generals are excellent, how can they form an army in three years and be on par with the Jurchen cavalry?

But since we are going to fight the Jurchens to the death, we must have a sufficient number of cavalry and excellent equipment."

"Same reason." Zhao Jiu looked up at the grass hut above his head and narrowed his eyes slightly. "Here at the Imperial Camp Zuo Army, no matter how lazy Han Shizhong himself is, his troops still have the old foundation gained from the deadly battle at Yanling.

He is rich in experience and has sufficient military supplies. He himself has been in the army for decades. He knows the importance of military affairs and does not dare to mess around in the army. In addition, I can directly override him to mention Wang Sheng and Jieyuan so that the army can train.

, promotions and transfers cannot cause trouble, only then can the imperial camp Zuojun still be relied upon by the country... If he is really messing around in the army, how can I tolerate him? "

"Having said that, it's better to rely on a strong army and a strong general." Wang Yan reluctantly added another sentence.

"It's difficult." Zhao Jiu withdrew his gaze and shook his head. "The current system of generals leading troops is dictated by the current situation. If these people do not rebel, do not attack each other, and are willing to obey orders to fight against the Jin Dynasty, it is a rare good thing. How can it be done?

It’s too much to ask for... Yue Fei and the Imperial Army are considered to be strong military commanders, so I gave him the real responsibility."

The few people around were thoughtful... Yue Fei was a veritable official, which meant that Han Shizhong was not. In fact, considering that Zhao Guan's family came in person, it seemed like the officials were leading Xianggong Lu along the way.

President Wang personally supervised the army.

And this can be regarded as a combination of soft and hard tactics. He gave President Wang a hard blow. Don't keep hinting at Zhao Guan's family. If something happens, he can go out and take charge of the Eight-Character Army... I really don't know why I left the army.

Ah? Are you not satisfied with your current position?

but……

"How are Wu Jinqing and the imperial army?" Lu Yihao suddenly asked again. "If Han Liangchen is a false commander, is Wu Jinqing a real commander?"

"Wu Jie is one of the few people who can be as upright and talented as Yue Fei. It is even more obvious than Han Shizhong. The imperial army is not bad... but neither he nor the imperial army can escape.

The old problems of the Western Army..." Zhao Jiu answered frankly. "He can only be considered a half-real commander, just like Han Shizhong. I have to watch and hammer him, otherwise all kinds of tricks will come out."

"Where's Zhang Rong?"

"Of course Zhang Rong is not far behind the Yuying navy. Zhang Rong is also a rare candidate for me to appoint as a new member. But the navy is just a specialist after all... It may still be useful to control the Yellow River and attack Damingfu... But when it comes to the decisive battle,

Even if I want to use him, I’m afraid I won’t be able to use him.”

"There is no need to mention Zhang Jun, Li Yanxian, Ma Kuo, Wang De, and Li Qiong." Lu Xianggong sighed slightly. "Zhang Jun is like Han Shizhong, but his men and his subordinates are worse. Li Yanxian is like Qu Duan, but he is not.

It is slightly better than Quduan, but its troops are too rough, so we can only wait and see the effect. Ma Kuo is also used exclusively by Taihang, and Wang De and Li Qiong are directly under the official family."

At this point, just when Wang Yan was about to say something, Lu Yihao thought for a moment and came to an interesting conclusion:

"In this way, this situation of generals and the system of this dynasty are somewhat in line with the emperor's wishes... As the saying goes, 'the one who can general but does not control the king will win'... The officials entrusted Yue Fei with the responsibility, and then personally visited the frontline governor

We should take care of these defective generals in various departments, learn from their strong points to make up for their shortcomings, make overall arrangements, and then delegate power at the right time without interfering with specific commands... right?"

Zhao Jiu couldn't laugh or cry, and it was hard to say yes or no.

Fortunately, although there were not many close ministers left around, there were some such as Fan Zongyin and Ren Baozhong, who immediately took over the words and began to flatter him.

Then, because the commander-in-chief was no longer involved, most people were able to interrupt. For a while, people like Yang Yizhong, Liu Yan, Yu Yunwen, and Mei Yue also took advantage of the situation and started talking.

The topic also shifted from the gains and losses of Hezhong Prefecture to Taiyuan, the reinforcements of Longde Prefecture, and the response of the Jin Army.

Moreover, as the withdrawal order was lifted and more people gathered around, it was further extended to whether Eastern Mongolia would participate in the war, whether Goryeo would participate in the war, and which side the two would take in the war, which would have a real decisive impact on the war situation.

?

As well as Yangqu City, the capital of Taiyuan Prefecture, how long will it take to win Yuancheng, the capital of Daming Prefecture?

These are serious but interesting topics.

For example, although the Northern Expedition has officially begun, in fact there is not even a message... Although Prime Minister Zhang reportedly made one, he did not dare to send it out after the controversy came out... So the Song Army was more like a surprise attack

.

In particular, the Song Army set up dense military stations along the Yellow River after the Yaoshan War to ensure that information transmission could be as smooth as possible in this era and to ensure the mobility of troop dispatch. This would obviously give the Song Army a further first-mover advantage.

In fact, many of the accompanying officials and Banzhi officers believed that the Jurchens' main force in Hedong was probably unaware of the Song Army's comprehensive Northern Expedition until now.

The reason is very simple. The third prince died in Qinghe, north of Daming Mansion, and there are three possible ways to transmit the message from Daming Mansion to Hezhong Mansion:

The first way is to walk 900 miles to Yanjing, and then Yanjing will forward the message to Zhending Prefecture, which is 500 miles away. Zhending Prefecture will send a message to Longde Prefecture and Taiyuan Prefecture at the same time, and wait until they arrive in Taiyuan Prefecture or Longde Prefecture.

Defu will then pass the message to Hezhongfu through Zhiguanxing or Fenshui Channel.

The distance between the two latter roads is almost the same. If you take Taiyuan, you will first take the 350-mile mountain passage, and then the 700-mile open passage. If you take Longde Prefecture, you will take the 600-mile main road, and then the 300-mile Taihang passage.

The whole journey is 2,340 miles, half of which is in the densely mountainous Hedong area.

The second possible way is that Daming Prefecture, while reporting to Yanjing, can directly send the news of the third prince's death to Taiyuan via Zhending Prefecture or Longde Prefecture, and then send it to Hezhong Prefecture from Taiyuan.

Doing this can directly save about a thousand miles of distance and more than one-third of the time.

If this is the case, Taiyuan or Longde Prefecture should already know the news at this time, but Hezhong Prefecture may not.

There is also a third way of transmission, which is the most direct and simple one. While Gaojingshan is reporting to Yanjing, the message is sent directly to Longde Prefecture. Longde Prefecture notifies Taiyuan on one side and Hezhong Prefecture on the other.

Each of the three possibilities exists, but many people think it is the first one, because Gao Jingshan is the East Route Army, Taiyuan's Wanyanba Lisu is the West Route Army, and the Third Prince is a king who takes charge of the front line.

There was no reason for him to pass the news of sudden death privately to Ba Lisu in a different system. Instead, he should report it to Yanjing quickly.

Regarding this, although Zhao Jiu was very eager in his heart and thought it was the first type, he still did not express an opinion like Lu Xianggong and President Wang. It was not that the front line would give feedback in a few days, but that he, as a
To be continued...