Looking at the tide of people outside the car window, as well as a large herd of cattle, sheep and camels, Du Zhongxiao said: "With the meandering road and the restoration of the Western Regions, the imperial court has finally not lacked horses and camels in recent years. Otherwise, it will not be easy to transport grain. ”

Li Fugui said: "Yes, now the imperial court can gather hundreds of thousands of livestock as long as it is willing. Where did you dare to think in previous years? ”

In fact, when fighting across Yanshan, it is rare to dispatch more than 100,000 troops. Leaving the Central Plains to fight abroad, the scale of the war was greatly limited. Any army of more than 100,000 is a rare major war in history. Now that there are railways and horse farms, the Song Dynasty is just wealthy.

Ma Di looked at the scene outside the car window and sighed: "The Great Song Dynasty has so many troops, so many livestock, and countless grains and grass, can the Khitan be undefeated?" Even if you use people to push, you will also pile the Khitan to death. ”

Du Zhongxiao shook his head. If the imperial court is useless, how can it be possible to pile the Khitan to death? Wuhu chaos, how many Wuhu people? It led to the sinking of the Central Plains. Not to mention that the Jurchens destroyed the Northern Song Dynasty, the Mongols destroyed the Southern Song Dynasty, and the Manchus directly destroyed the Ming Dynasty.

In the final analysis, if the court is not strong, it will become a burden for the people to resist, and finally take the entire nation into the abyss.

After getting off the train, Fu Bi and Liu Ji were already at the station to greet them. Everyone saluted and arrived at the Youzhou official office.

The official office of Youzhou is the left-behind mansion of the Khitan in the past, which is extremely magnificent. Not far away, there is also the Khitan palace, as well as many yamen, most of which are now useless. Now Youzhou is still semi-military, and the officials are uneven. Everything is slowly recovering, and it will slowly get better.

In the official hall, the guests and hosts sat down, Fu Bi said: "But I didn't expect that the First Battle of Youzhou had just ended, and the army was going north." Originally, I thought that I would have to wait for a year or two for the people here in Youzhou to recover before they could go north to Zhongjing Road. ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "There is Ma Di coming from the south, saying that it is the generals of several nearby states who want to sacrifice the city together." This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and despite all the difficulties, it is not to be missed. It is not easy to dispatch 150,000 troops this time, and Youzhou as the rear. ”

Fu Bi said: "The railway has been repaired. As long as the grain and grass are all transported from the Central Plains, there is nothing. Now Youzhou is very poor, and most of the families have no food at home. If the Central Plains doesn't bring grain, I don't know how many people will starve to death. ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "Yes, in the first battle of Youzhou, the Khitan was too ruthless in looting the place. Xianggong, how is it relieved now? ”

Fu Bi said: "Every city and town has set up porridge sheds, and try not to starve to death. The Central Plains brought grain seeds and let them plant the land. Now that the green and yellow are not available, it is the hardest time of the year. ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "I thought that in addition to the porridge shed, we should also use work for relief. It's just that the weak are shining, the old and the children are fine, and the young and middle-aged people can't eat enough, so they are wasted there. For example, building bridges and paving roads, and digging canals, you can do it first. Those who do the work, in addition to taking care of their food, can also make some money. When the people have money in their hands, there will naturally be merchants to make money. The place is lively, and many things are easy to do. ”

Fu Bi said: "The government doesn't have much money in its hands, how can it be paid?" The rich families in the area were also looted by the Khitan last year, and now they can't count on it either. As long as you survive the summer, the grain will be harvested in the field. ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "Can you let the imperial court allocate money?" In the newly occupied land, the local government should give money to help. ”

Fu Bi thought for a while and said, "What the captain said is true. It's just that now there is another big war, but I'm afraid that the court will not have any money. In the final analysis, in recent years, there have been wars every year, and the family's family resources have been almost consumed. ”

Du Zhongxiao wanted to persuade again, but after thinking about it, he still didn't say anything. This era is not as good as the later generations, things are developing slowly, and the people are not in such a hurry. As long as no one starves to death here in Youzhou this year, the people should be grateful for their kindness. For Fubi, it is enough to do this.

In fact, what is the imperial court afraid of issuing debts? With so much newly acquired land, especially Youzhou, which was originally a rich land, and it was a war throat, it would soon be able to develop. This kind of debt should be easy to make and easy to repay. In recent years, Jingxi Road in Kaifeng Mansion has really been full of rich and noble people who have made a lot of money. At this time, the industry of the whole country had developed to a certain extent, and there was not much new capital needed, and their money was gone. When you buy treasury bonds, you always have interest to receive them, and it is a matter of mutual benefit for the government and the people.

However, now that Wen Yanbo is in power, he feels a lot of pressure for the interest to be repaid in the future, and he doesn't want to issue more debts. Of course, it is also related to the level of governance of the current officials in the Song Dynasty, from top to bottom, there is a lack of talents to do these things.

After chatting for a while, Fu Bi said: "What does the Taiwei want to do when he goes north this time?" ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "Wang Kai and Jia Kui's two armies are on Hedong Road, and it will take a few days to be transferred to Youzhou. I want to set off with Liu Ji's army first, go back with Ma Di, and occupy the city first. When Wang Kai and Jia Kui's armies arrived, I went north with them. ”

Fu Bi nodded: "It's fast to do this." However, Liu Ji only has 50,000 troops, is there less troops? ”

Du Zhongxiao said with a smile: "The current Khitan, even 30,000 soldiers are difficult to muster. It's just that in the nomadic tribes, everyone is used to riding and shooting, and if you go to attack, it will be a headache. But if they come to attack, they will have no choice with 50,000 soldiers. ”

In fact, if according to the habits of the previous dynasty, with 50,000 soldiers, you can sweep the grassland. The main Khitan force has been completely wiped out, and there are not many remnants left, and 50,000 people will not be able to resist. Du Zhongxiao is still influenced by his previous life, although he knows intellectually that he can, he is still used to sending more soldiers. What's the solution? The various major wars that I knew in my previous life were hundreds of thousands of armies at every turn. Now that the Song Dynasty has such national strength, what is polite.

In fact, historically, the mobilization capacity of dynasties was limited. As long as the quality of the army is guaranteed, less than 100,000 people can cause chaos in the world. Hundreds of thousands of troops, often all kinds of personnel, not many real soldiers.

Just like this march, there are 150,000 soldiers, and there are more than 400,000 people carrying grain behind them. Counting all together, nearly 600,000 people, how many dynasties can support an army of this size?

Zhao Zi on the side said: "The Privy Council has calculated, attacking the remnants of the Khitan, sixty or seventy thousand people should be enough. This time, it is easier to have Ma Di and others dedicate the city. However, there are many family members of Yelu Hongji's palace army in Zhongjing Road. Send more troops to avoid accidents. ”

The palace army of the Khitan Emperor is mainly Huluduo, with more than 100,000 soldiers and horses. They were all clans that followed the emperor and were nomadic from place to place. These people also had slaves, and there were a lot of them. Hundreds of thousands of nomadic Huluduo are the main force of the Khitan, and the Khitan relies on subduing the surrounding ethnic groups.

Last year, Yelu Hongji led the army south, and the family slaves of Huluduo were stationed around the Dading Mansion in Zhongjing. Even if these families are one or even two out of a family, there are still a lot of people left. Although they are not an army, they can still organize when they really fight.

The purpose of the Song army in this battle was to completely eliminate the Khitan Huluduo and eliminate its political center.

Ma Di said: "I went south this time, although it was secret, but it was too long, I was afraid that the news had leaked out." In order to prevent accidents, it is better to go north early. The current Dading Mansion will send at most 10,000 or 20,000 troops, and there will be no way to do more. If there were 50,000 Song troops, the Khitan would have no way at all. What the lieutenant said was that it was better to send the vanguard first and occupy a few states with me. ”