Liu Ping can be said to be an outlier among officials, saying that he is a military general, but he was born as a jinshi, and he has also served as a civil servant such as supervising the imperial history and serving the imperial history, saying that he is a civil official, but he was sent to the northwest to guard Huanqing Road, and he has repeatedly made military exploits, even Li Zhang has heard of his fame.

However, Cao Wei seemed to have some different opinions about Liu Ping, and he paused and then commented on Liu Ping: "Liu Ping is extremely talented, not only has superb martial arts, but also is familiar with the art of war, and can move flexibly on the battlefield, he can indeed be called a general, but this person has one of the biggest shortcomings!" ”

"What are the drawbacks?" Zhao Zhen couldn't help but ask at this time.

"Liu Ping is too proud! Or that he was too smooth before, he was originally born in an official eunuch family, became famous as a young man, and was a civil and military all-rounder, and he almost never suffered too many setbacks, which also made him a little unsightly, and it was inevitable that he would have a heart of contempt for the enemy on the battlefield, and if he was used by the enemy, the consequences would be unimaginable! Cao Wei said very seriously at the moment.

Originally, Cao Wei had withdrawn from the army, and Liu Ping and Ren Fu were both the pillars of the army, and he would offend people a little if he pointed out the shortcomings of the two so directly, but sending troops is not child's play, especially when Zhao Zhen just took office, it is very rare to have this kind of enterprising spirit, so there must be no accidents when sending troops this time.

Li Zhang nodded in agreement when he heard this, he also ignored this point just now, Liu Pingwen can raise a jinshi, martial arts can guard one side, and even became famous for killing thieves when he was a teenager, this kind of person does have the capital of pride, but this has also become his shortcoming, the art of war is cloudy, "arrogant soldiers will be defeated", if Liu Ping leads the troops to fight, the consequences are really unpredictable.

In fact, Li Zhang only knew that Ren Fu died in the battle of Haoshuichuan, but he didn't know that Liu Ping actually died earlier than Ren Fu, and it was in Li Yuanhao's first campaign against the Great Song Dynasty, that is, the Battle of Sanchuankou, Liu Ping led his troops to rescue, but because the enemy was surrounded, he was captured in the final battle, and died unyieldingly, almost the same as Cao Wei expected.

However, Liu Ping only made the mistake of underestimating the enemy in the early stage, and later after being surrounded, he also dragged Li Yuanhao's main army with a small number of troops, and even dragged it until the snow, if Li Yuanhao retreated, Liu Ping may not die, but Li Yuanhao was determined to destroy him, and finally Liu Ping was captured, but the Great Song reinforcements in the rear finally arrived, and marched into Helan Valley, forcing Li Yuanhao to retreat, so Liu Ping's merits cannot be erased.

"If Ren Fu and Liu Ping are not suitable, then in your opinion, General Cao, who can be the chief general?" Zhao Zhen pondered for a moment at this time and then asked again, he summoned Cao Wei and the others to come in just to listen to their opinions, compared to Zhang Qi, the privy envoy, Cao Wei and these people are more familiar with the generals in the army, so Zhao Zhen is also more willing to listen to his opinions.

I saw Cao Wei ponder for a moment again at this time, and then he spoke: "Your Majesty, when it comes to the candidate for the main general, the minister thinks that Zhao Zhen, the deputy head of Yanyan Road, is the most suitable, this person is calm and resourceful, calm in trouble, and is known for his steadiness in the use of soldiers, but Li Yuanhao is extremely treacherous, likes to use tricks in soldiers, and likes to take risks, but if he meets a calm and calm general like Zhao Zhen, it will not play a big role!" ”

"Zhao Zhen?" Zhao Zhen also tried to recall this name that was similar to the pronunciation of his own name, and finally had a little impression, this person seemed to have been promoted from the small soldier's merits, and he was relatively old, but although his position was not lower than Ren Fu and Liu Ping, he was usually very low-key, and his reputation was not as big as the two, but he didn't expect Cao Wei to recommend him.

"In addition to Zhao Zhen, the main general, Lao Chen also wants to recommend a young general to be the vanguard, this person is named Zhou Mei, who used to serve as a personal guard by the emperor's side, and then put him in the army, I don't know if Your Majesty has any impression?" At this time, I saw Cao Wei speak again.

"Zhou Mei?" Zhao Zhen also felt familiar when he heard this name, and then thought about it carefully before patting his thigh and saying, "I remembered, this person once fled from the northwest, and his father saw that he was superb in martial arts, so he stayed by his side and became a guard, and later his father died, and he was put into the army, and he also made a lot of meritorious deeds, which can be regarded as winning glory for the palace." ”

"Your Majesty remembers very accurately, the old minister recommended this Zhou Mei, compared to others, Zhou Mei's qualifications in the army are actually very shallow, I have only seen him once, but it left a deep impression on the old minister, this person dares to fight tough battles, and is good at fighting tough battles, often winning more with less, defeating the strong with the weak, if he is the vanguard, he can severely frustrate the spirit of the party members and clear the way for the main army in the rear!" Cao Wei smiled again at the moment.

Zhou Mei Li Zhang has never heard of this person, in fact, Li Zhang does not know much about the generals of the Great Song Dynasty, except for a few people such as Cao Wei and Yang Liulang, the others are only known after he came to the Great Song Dynasty, especially the last time he went to the northwest, he also met a group of generals, but there was no Zhou Mei in his impression, it is estimated that the other party had just arrived in the army at that time, and he had not yet come out.

"Yes, yes, this Zhou Meizhen has also heard of it, he is indeed a rare general, he is very suitable for the vanguard, as for Zhao Zhen......" Zhao Zhen also showed a contemplative expression when he said this, and only nodded after a while, "Then according to your opinion, General Cao, I will order Zhao Zhen to serve as the chief general of this expedition to the party, if I can destroy the party in one fell swoop, I will not hesitate to reward!" ”

As soon as Zhao Zhen's words came out, the candidates for the main general and the vanguard were also decided, and Zhang Qi, the privy envoy next to him, also immediately received the order and said that the Privy Council has the right to transfer troops, and they are also responsible for the appointment and dismissal of generals, and then Xue Kui also expressed his opinion, after all, the most expensive thing in the war is money and food, and the three divisions must also cooperate.

In the end, a general plan for sending troops was also determined, not only the main generals and candidates, as well as the transfer of money, food and troops, but also the date of sending troops, it is just spring, and the time is too urgent, after all, the preliminary preparations also take several months, so Cao Wei and others suggested sending troops in the autumn and trying to end the war before the winter comes, because autumn is also the time when the party people reserve food and materials for the winter, and even if the party can't be destroyed, they can also be greatly injured in the winter due to the lack of supplies.

In the end, with Zhao Zhen's order, the entire court also began to make intense preparations for the upcoming war, Li Zhang couldn't help much, and he didn't want to leave home to go to the northwest at this time, so he took the initiative to take on a lot of Liu E's funeral, which can be regarded as sharing the pressure for Zhao Zhen and several other ministers, so that they can have more energy to put into the early preparations.

.。 m.