Wang Fu thought for a moment and said: "Although the Hebei camp claims to have 200,000 troops, the good and the bad are uneven, so we have to select the elite from the Beijing army and the Xijing camp to enrich it. He paused, hesitated for a moment, and said: "The Hebei camp is not strict with the deployment of Liu Yanqing's royal subordinates, and the army is undisciplined, and there have been many cases between the soldiers of the camp and the local government in recent years. If His Majesty intends to pass through Youyan, he should choose another good general to replace Liu Yanqing to lead the army. ”

Zhao You's face was shrouded in a dark cloud, and his brows tightened, Liu Yanqing was the most loyal to the imperial court among the commanders of the three major camps, and he was also the most incompetent. In addition, he had long intended to weaken the hereditary forces of the three major camps of Hedong, Hebei, and Xijing. Compared with the Yang family and the Zhe family in Hedong, the Cao family and the Pan family in Xijing, the ancestors of Liu Yanqing, who were deployed in the camp capital of Hebei, were not relatives of the emperor, and their ancestor Bao Liu moved east a hundred years ago because of the suppression of the big clans in Guanzhong by the Xia State.

Zhao You pursed his lips tightly, and while thinking about it, he gently knocked on the table, and Li Bangyan, the deputy privy envoy, saw this, and said: "Whether it is the Khitan southern invasion or the northern expedition of the king's division, the Hebei camp will bear the brunt. ”

"Oh?" Zhao You raised his eyebrows slightly, raised his eyelids and glanced at Li Bangyan, and said in a deep voice, "In Li Qing's opinion, who should go to replace Liu Yanqing?" ”

Li Bangyan was furious by Zhao You's eyes, and he still had the courage to say: "Hebei Xingying is the northern barrier of the Beijing Division, and the main place to rush. The total number of troops in the camp is 200,000, which is already the largest number of troops among the three major camps, and if the elite is selected and enriched, it will definitely increase its strength greatly, and it can even match the forbidden army of the Beijing Division. As the saying goes, 'sharpening the knife hates the disadvantage, and the knife hurts people.' The minister thought that in this way, the Hebei camp would have to be commanded by the generals who were most loyal to His Majesty and trusted by His Majesty. I thought it was ......"

Li Bangyan spoke a little slurred, which made Zhao You feel slightly unhappy, and shouted in a deep voice: "Who does Li Qing want to recommend?" Although he trusted the few henchmen and important ministers present, whenever he talked about matters related to the country, such as the establishment of the prince and military power, he instinctively added a layer of precaution.

After eating this drink, Li Bangyan fell to his knees and said on the ground: "The minister is brave and recommends the commander of the infantry army of the guards to make Tong Guan the commander of the Hebei camp, and His Royal Highness the Prince Wei Wang will accompany the supervising army and reward the troops." ”

"Huh?" Zhao You was slightly taken aback, Li Bangyan's recommendation of Tong Guan out of Zhenhebei was something he expected, and the recommendation of the crown prince Zhao Ke to supervise the army was unexpected by him, thinking of the day before yesterday, the prince Zhao Ke asked him to marry the daughter of Zhu Bernard, the envoy of the Wukang Army, but he did not directly agree, but said that he should consider the things to consider, "It seems that in order to envelop the Jiangmen Cao family, I gave Cao Di's daughter to Qi'er, but Ke'er couldn't sit still." Zhao You secretly thought, "But when did this Li Bangyan make friends with the prince?" ”

The crown prince Zhao Ke was born to the late Empress Li. Empress Li is respectful and thrifty, when Zhao Youshang was in the East Palace, Li has been canonized as the crown prince and concubine, the husband and wife are in love, when Li died of illness, he once entrusted Zhao Youding with tears to treat his only son Zhao Ke. Because of this, although Zhao You does not like his eldest son Zhao Ke, he has not replaced him from the crown prince for so many years.

"This kid who is afraid to do everything actually knows how to make friends with important ministers, and even asked himself to supervise Hebei. It seems that I really like Qi'er too much, which makes him unhappy. Well, Empress Xian, Ke'er is our child after all, so I'll give him another chance. Ke'er has always been good at recruiting scholars, if he can subdue the proud soldiers and fierce generals of the Hebei camp, after a hundred years, the Great Song Dynasty will be handed over to him, but he can rest assured. ”

Zhao Youshang was still thinking about it, and Zhao Zhifu, the governor of the political affairs, bowed down and said: "Li Shumi is thoughtful, and the minister seconded the proposal. Liu Yanqing has served as the capital of Hebei for many years, and a rash change of commander will definitely make the morale of the army fluctuate. The prestige of the prince is grand, and the world calls him virtuous, if he goes to Hebei to raise the army, he should be able to stabilize the army. ”

Since this dynasty, there are only one or two eunuchs out of the town, Li Bangyan recommended Tong Guan out of the town of Hebei, it was an opportunity he had been looking forward to for a long time, seeing that Zhao Zhifu, the governor of the council, also seconded the proposal, and the emperor was still a little hesitant, and immediately knelt on the ground and said: "The minister also seconded the proposal." Slaves and maids are not talented, and they are willing to do their best for our emperor and die. ”

At this time, the three important ministers present had agreed to replace Liu Yanqing with Tong Guan as the capital of Hebei, and the crown prince Wei Wang was the supervisor of the army on behalf of the heavenly patrol of Hebei and rewarded the three armies, and the matter involved the replacement of the Hebei marshal and the prince out of Beijing, and the other three important ministers did not speak. Li Bangyan was still kneeling on the ground, Cai Jing had a gloomy face, Tong Guan restrained the excitement in his heart, Zhao Zhifu suppressed his heavy breathing, Shen Yun seemed to stand calmly, and Wang Fu waited for the decision of the official Zhao You with a loyal face.

Zhao You thought for a moment, nodded, and said to Tong Guan: "This time I went to Hebei, in addition to rectifying the soldiers and horses, I must also carefully watch the reality of Nanjing Road in Liao, and know the situation of the mountains and rivers, the deployment of troops, and the hearts and minds of the people, so as to prepare for the use of soldiers Youyan in the future." After a little Youyan is the last wish of the ancestors, Emperor Wuzong once had an edict, those who recover Youyan, do not hesitate to reward the prince, Daofu, I have high hopes with you. This trip is not trivial, and if you have any requirements, let me say it now. "It was agreed to Li Bangyan's proposal, and it was decided to replace Liu Yanqing with Tong Guan as the deployment of the camp capital of Hebei.

Tong Guan immediately kowtowed to the leader to thank him, and said: "There is nothing else, but Liu Yanqing's cronies have been deployed all over the camp in Hebei for more than ten years. Weichen went alone, only afraid that the soldiers would not be satisfied, please give Weichen the sword to Ming military law, and then allow Weichen to select 5,000 elites in the Beijing Forbidden Army, and form a new army to accompany him. ”

Although Tong Guan is a eunuch, his appearance is powerful and powerful, and he has a slight beard on his face, and he is kneeling on the ground at the moment, looking like he is working hard for the king, which makes Zhao You quite satisfied, and nodded and said: "Daofu has this intention, I am relieved, so I will allow you to invite you to select 5,000 elites from the front of the Jingshi Palace, the guards and the Sanya Forbidden Army to go to Hebei together." He took out a sword hanging next to the imperial case, stood up and handed it to Tong Guandao, "This is the imperial sword that Emperor Taizu gave to Cao Zhongwu Gong to control the generals back then. ”

Tong Guan was overjoyed and thanked him verbally again. And the civil officials next to him, even Cai Jing's brows were slightly frowned, and he chose the elite of the three ya, and it was good to say that the sword of the Son of Heaven was the authority of the king, and Emperor Taizu gave Cao Bin this sword because the country had not been in place for a long time, and most of the generals of the Southern Expedition had great merit in opening up the territory and expanding the territory. Now that the country has been peaceful for a long time, although the Hebei generals have some disturbing local actions, but the degree of unruliness is far from being comparable with the five generations of old generals at the beginning of the founding of the country. Moreover, Tong Guan is a eunuch, how can he compare with Cao Bin, the loyal and martial prince who is loyal to the festival of death and enjoys the Taimiao.

The words and deeds of the official family are exaggerated and well known to the ministers, so although the ministers were dissatisfied, they did not speak, leaving only Tong Guan to express his loyalty with gratitude, but Zhao You said again: "This time, the prince King Wei and Daofu went to Hebei to supervise the army. The prince is not as complete as me in both civil and military affairs, he has lived in the deep palace for a long time, he only likes to read some sage scriptures, he can't withstand major events and can't change, and he suddenly became a supervisor, I'm afraid that he is inexperienced, you should pay more attention. There are some skeletal people around him, and occasionally there are no words, you have to tolerate one or two. ”

Tong Guan immediately kowtowed and said, "Weichen knows." "Zhao You's actual meaning is that although the crown prince is serving as a prisoner, he still can't let him get too involved in military power. It involves military power, even if Tong Guan has a conflict with the prince because of this, he will support Tong Guan. Although what the official said was vague, Tong Guan, who was by the side of the official family all the year round, naturally understood it.

The national policy of rectifying Hebei in order to prepare for the passage of Youyan was decided, and Vice Minister Zhao Zhifu said: "If Your Majesty has the ambition of Fortune and Youyan, then the matter of building a big ship to go to sea and Huaiyuan must be put on hold for the time being, otherwise, the country's financial endowment is limited, and it is difficult to take care of the money and food." ”

Cai Jing and Tong Guan originally advocated building ships and going to sea, but at this moment, Tong Guan got the heavy responsibility of commanding the 200,000 troops in Hebei, and it was better than being a messenger in name only, so they no longer insisted on the original proposal, but were a little worried that the shipbuilding and going to sea would delay his great achievement of passing through Youyan. And Cai Jing didn't object for some reason.

"Hmm." Zhao You pondered for a moment, then changed the topic and said, "Recently, Taixue took the big exam, and I took the title of 'Passing the Four Seas and Huaiyuan Country', but I got a rather innovative strategy, you may wish to take a look." After speaking, with a wave of his hand, Tong Guan, who was born as a palm print eunuch, immediately stepped forward obediently, respectfully invited a policy on Zhao Youyu's case with both hands, and then handed it to Prime Minister Cai Jing with both hands.

The big examination of Taixue Shangshe is a major event for the country to select talents and appoint officials, and many rising stars of civil officials have entered their careers from this way. This big examination also involves the dispute in the court about the shipbuilding and going to sea, and all the ministers here, therefore, even if they are high-ranking and powerful such as Prime Minister Cai Jing and Governor Zhao Zhifu, they are all very careful about this, Zhao Xingde's policy is taken by the official family as the first, these six people have carefully read it several times below, and they have figured out the pros and cons of this several times. At this moment, in front of the official family, everyone has their own calculations, and they are just pretending to watch.

"Your Majesty, the old minister thinks that this policy is not vulgar, the intention is profound, the plan is far-reaching, and the consideration is detailed. It's just that," Zhao Zhifu said slowly, "the sea route is slim, the sea country is far away, other products, trade routes, customs, and the same words, if you want to be effective, you have to have decades of work." In today's situation, it will be a few years or ten years, and our dynasty and Liao will have a battle of Jinglu Youyan, and then we will open up the sea frontier, but I am afraid that it will be difficult to take care of it. ”