Chapter 466: Sit-in Battle

Huang Tingjian nodded: "Zhao Liren was instructed by me to go to Tamluo Island, if I don't accompany him."

When Zhang Lei heard this, he patted his stomach thoughtfully. Zhang Shangying listened, his eyes rolled, he couldn't let go like Huang Tingjian after all, so he asked tentatively: "After Huang Xiang leaves, who will succeed?" ”

Huang Tingjian pointed at Wang Qinruo and replied: "Our party has already planned, Brother Qinruo will take my position, okay?" ”

Zhang Shangying's question just now is equivalent to telling Huang Tingjian that he Huang Tingjian can retire, but he Zhang Shangying can't leave, so he asked who his future partner is.

Wang Qinruo has been grinding ink, he seems to be grinding ink for Huang Tingjian, but Huang Tingjian finished writing, he has stopped writing, he is still turning the grinding block thoughtfully, hearing Huang Tingjian's words, he nodded lightly at Zhang Shangying without being surprised, and continued to grind the ink leisurely, the ink pool was full, but he didn't care, and continued to rotate the ink block, grinding ink with one mind.

Zhang Shangying glanced at the ink strip in Wang Qinruo's hand, and said regretfully: "This is a piece of Huizhou ink from the Tang Dynasty. ”

Huizhou incense ink in the Tang Dynasty was expensive, selling for one gold collar (one gold bar) each. Although there are still a lot of Tang Mo left behind in the Song Dynasty, it is maddening to squander like Wang Qinruo and purely use the study of ink as exercise.

There are a lot of people in the main hall, but in fact, the positions they sit in are spontaneously gathered according to the party to which they belong, the privy envoy Liu Kui is surrounded by a group of old parties, Zhang Shangying's side is the new party, and Huang Tingjian's group of people belong to the pure centrists.

Most of the old party members held books and shook their heads to recite poems and books, while the new party members played chess to play light yin, and the centrists were all literati who liked to fiddle with calligraphy and painting...... All in all, everyone is doing nothing, waiting for the other to make a decision first.

Zhang Shangying paused and replied: "Brother Qin Ruo is the left minister, which is logical, but I don't know who will succeed the Yin of Kaifeng Mansion?" ”

Liu Kui interjected: "Fan Yi's son! ”

Zhang Shangying opened his mouth wide: "Fan Ye has three sons who have been admitted to the Jinshi, this guy really knows how to raise sons, I don't know which son you are talking about?" ”

Fan Ye belonged to the old party, and the centrist faction gave up the position of Kaifeng Mansion Yin and was taken over by the old party, which shows that the two factions have colluded. ”

Liu Kui shook his head and sighed: "Since Zhao left, when has the Privy Council inquired about the affairs of Nanyang and Beiyang?" Let them toss it, I now have the same mind as His Majesty Daojun: as long as I take the money, I don't ask anything else. ”

Zhang Shangying echoed: "That's right, this year, the taxes of the Beiyang Yamen have gradually risen, Tianjin City is becoming more and more able to make money, and the Bohai people dare to sell anything now, as long as we provide gunpowder, they even sell their wives and children." ”

After a pause, Zhang Shangying asked again: "What are the actions of Qingtang?" ”

When Zhang Shangying asked this, the four envoys from Shaanxi Province who were sent to the capital had just entered the palace, and during the period when the ministers of the court closed the door, the four of them were also locked up in the palace, and they could only receive information from the outside world, but they could not transmit a word to the outside world.

The envoy sent by Liu Zhongwu, the envoy of Qin Feng's way, replied: "'Nanhe' promised to do it as scheduled, but he also said: The Tatar tribe has already offered its most beautiful flowers, and also sacrificed countless lives in the tribe, and now the Tatar tribe is a wounded old dog, and can only stand aside to help bark, but can not really do it - the news that came before came that the Tatars have crossed the Great Snow Mountain (Qilian Mountain) and have now occupied the Rouge Mountain, cutting off the connection between the Gansu Military Division and the Xiliangfu (Liangzhou Military Division). ”

The few words said by Qin Fenglu's envoy made Zhang Shangying quite emotional, and he patted his thigh and praised: "In the past, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty sent Huo to sick and Wei Qingyuan and the Huns, how did you sing that Xiongnu song - I died in Qilian Mountain, so that my six animals would not rest; Losing my Yanzhi Mountain (Rouge Mountain) makes my women colorless...... Okay, my Great Song Dynasty reappeared in the Han Dynasty today, and Huang Xiang retreated, and there are no regrets. ”

Zhang Shangying said this, which is tantamount to acquiescing to Huang Luzhi's resignation and Wang Qinruo's arrangement. After hearing this, Huang Luzhi nodded slightly, and he slowly blew on his calligraphy, wanting to speed up the drying and hardening of the ink. Coincidentally, a eunuch passed in front of the palace with a few calligraphy and paintings, and his face was happy. Huang Tingjian, who had no worries, also had a leisure, he beckoned to the eunuch, and asked kindly: "What did the official family paint again?" Expand and take a look. ”

The eunuch replied: "It's not an official, it's a painter named Zhang Zeduan......"

After a pause, the eunuch further explained: "His Majesty Daojun has summoned famous painters from all walks of life to paint today. Painters are the choice of the moment. The drawings are all moon and season charts. After Daojun saw most of the paintings, there was no word of praise - including Mi Fu Mi Maniac's paintings. However, when His Majesty Daojun saw the "Slanting Branches and Moon Seasons" painted by the newly unknown painter Zhang Zeduan, he praised it and gave Zhang Zeduan a special service. ”

At that time, only the six grades of the official residence could wear crimson robes. Daojun's reward meant that he did not follow the normal procedures for selecting and promoting officials without the permission of the Ministry of Officials, so he specially promoted Zhang Zeduan to be promoted to the sixth-rank official.

I think how difficult it was for Zhao Xing to be promoted to the sixth grade back then. And all the people here are Jinshi, they all started from the Nine Rank Officials, and they sat in their current position step by step, so Daojun's promotion of this painter is an insult to all the officials in the court, and it is a mountain that crackles their faces.

The eunuch saw that the officials in the court had a bad face, and immediately explained: "The rice madman is not convinced, and asks why His Majesty's painting is good." Daojun's reason is: the flowers and leaves of the four seasons of the moon and the morning and dusk are different, and it is extremely difficult to paint; And this person painted the moon and the season at noon in spring, and it was perfect. So the reward. ”

Zhang Shangying was silent, and Huang Tingjian smiled faintly: "Then it's up to me to refute - this is also my last official document for the prime minister." ”

Liu Kui rolled his eyes and interjected: "I will sign it." ”

Zhang Shangying's expression moved, gritted his teeth and said: "How can it be signed by Huang Xiang alone - don't show this refutation to the official, Huang Xiang, I will directly use the ruling pen to paste Huang and reject the official's appointment of Zhang Zeduan - send it to King Yan to use the seal directly." ”

At this moment, Zhang Zeduan can't be a six-grade official.

Not only that, Emperor Daojun's promotion order as he wished offended all the ministers in the court at that time, and offended the scholars of the imperial examination who were studying and advancing in the world. Since then, the later ministers of the court have continued Huang Tingjian's political views on Zhang Shangying, and have always stubbornly embarrassed Zhang Zeduan, so that Zhang Zeduan has no chance to wear a scarlet robe for life.

The dull atmosphere in the court was finally led away by Zhang Zeduan's unexpected promotion. And the Tangut people were not so lucky, and the attention of the Song army around the world gradually became focused. That day and night, Qin Feng Road, where Liu Zhongwu was located, first noticed that something was wrong, and a scout came to report: "Liu Jingluo, the Xia army is gone, there is not a single soldier on the Killing Niu Ridge, we only found the camp abandoned by the Western Xia people." ”

Liu Zhongwu touched his beard and asked thoughtfully: "How long has this been the case?" ”

The scout replied, "Just today." In the past, although the Xia army retreated step by step, their scouts were still around us, and they came to harass and spy at every opportunity, but this morning not a single Xia army scout appeared, and the brothers felt strange, so they went to look for it, but the farther and farther they looked, they found the Chinese army camp hidden in the mountain col - but even this hidden Chinese army camp, the Xia army abandoned it, they didn't even clean up the pots and pans, and it seemed that they were in a hurry. ”

Zhao Xing's battle plan with Shaanxi Fourth Road was not conveyed to the middle-level officers, and the overall strategy of Shaanxi was not clear at the level of scouts, but the senior officers knew that the seventh general of Qin Fenglu (the general of the Song Army's Qinfeng Road General Reserve) Lian Fu asked in surprise: "Could it be that there is a movement there is a movement in the Taishi?" ”

Liu Zhongwu pondered for a moment, and replied slowly: "Maybe it's the strategy of the Western Xia people to lure troops...... Come on, tomorrow double the marching distance, and double the scout search range. ”

In the past few days, Qin Fenglu has advanced five miles a day, and he has stopped for a day every five miles, until he has built his temporary camp as solid as gold, and then lazily left the original camp to move forward, and now Liu Zhongwu ordered to double the distance of the march every day, which means that he marched ten miles a day, and at this rate, it will take about one year and seven months for him to advance to Xingqing Mansion.

Although since Zhao Xing took office in Huanqing, the Xia army increased the strength of the face of Huanqing, which made it extremely difficult for the Song army of Huanqing to advance, but on this day, when they were almost aware of the movements of the Xia army at the same time as Liu Zhongwu, their almost blind trust in Zhao Xing made them not hesitate to launch a full-army assault and advance the front directly to Yinjing - on the same day, Huanqing broke through the Qingyuan army, rested for a while, and continued to advance to the Jingsai army.

At the same time, Jingyuan Lu Jing was slightly less courageous than Liu Zhongwu, and after he discovered Xia Jun's abnormality, not only did he not speed up his journey, but retracted it, and in addition, Yan Yanlu was also hesitant - as a result, the surprise attack of the Huanqing Army immediately made itself a distinct prominence.

On the third day, he rushed to the map, and while studying the situation of the armies, he stomped his feet: "Jingyuan Road is as timid as a mouse, Qin Fenglu is hesitant, except for Huanqing, everyone is meditating, but it makes Huanqing a salient - a bad thing, a bad thing." ”

Zhi Keshi watched the shape of the various armies from behind the shoulders of the seed master, sighed and said: "It's late, the Xia army wants to do it now, Huanqing Road has already perished—we have been, it's too late, to remind them." ”

After a pause, Zhi Keshi said again: "Estimate the time, Taiwei should cross Hue, maybe Taiwei's actions have alarmed the entire Western Xia, we should glue the army up, so that Xiangyou Military Division can't get out." ”

The seed master continued to stomp his feet: "It has been ascertained that the four major military divisions of Western Xia have dispatched elite troops to gather in Yaode City, facing Huanqing...... You're right, Yaode City is now a day's journey away from the Huanqing Army, maybe they have surrounded the Huanqing Army by now. ”

Zhi Keshi patted the map and urged: "Be bold, we should be bold - we know that the Tai Lieutenant is going deep alone, so we should lean on it to make Xiangyou unable to get out." ”

The seed master sighed: "Estimate the time, it's time for the Taishi to start, but the road is far away, how do we know the progress of the Taishi...... The Xia army is all cavalry, if we brazenly assault, the cavalry of the Xia army can completely attack us after the attack is over, and then return to attack the Taishi. ”

Zhi Keshi was also puzzled by the situation in front of him: "The Taishi agreed with us to arrive at Hue in ten days, and now it has been fifteen days, and it is estimated that he should start it." ”

"It's not enough, it's far from enough", the seed master shook his head frequently: "Estimate the time, the Taishi should start, but it will take at least two days for the news of Western Xia to be sent to the front line." If the Xia army suddenly retreats in two days, I will definitely lean in, but now—two days, is enough time for the Xia army to eat our intrusive army, and then withdraw from the battlefield safely. ”

The seed master was still worried, and a soldier rushed in with a panicked face, shouting in disregard of etiquette: "Planting the scriptures, the Xiangyou military secretary is coming, and the envoy actually said...... Say he intends to surrender to us? ”

The planter and Zhi Keshi glanced at each other, their faces were surprised, and the planter hurriedly said: "Please, please!" ”

According to the usual practice, it is not possible to use the word invitation to the envoys of the enemy country, but the seed master is too excited, and he can't help but use the courtesy words of officialdom. The Song soldier who reported the news did not notice the mistake, he could no longer care about it, and turned over and ran out of the tent.

After a while, a man wearing a cloak was welcomed into the tent, this Xia man was wearing the uniform of an official of the Xia State, and he didn't look like an ordinary general. ”

Came to bow his hand elegantly, this is the etiquette of the Song people - the Song people do not kneel. But the officialdom etiquette of the party should be kneeling, but the center of the teacher is agitated, and he is not investigated. He held his breath, and only heard the common name of the calm person: "General Pseudo-Xia Zuowei, Shizhou Jiedu Envoy, Imperial Attendant, and Li Mochou, who is on standby at the back gate, is specially begging for surrender from the Song Army." ”

The Western Xia people and the Song army have been holding each other for many years, and they all know what generals in Shizhou are Yan Yanlu, this Li Mochou is the distant nephew of the Li family, and he is also an important commander of the army surnamed Li. ”

Li Mochou glanced at the seed master and replied calmly: "Is the seed scripture still hiding it from me?" Your country's five-way attack on Xia is just a feint, your strange soldiers have worked - I Xiangyou Military Division has to surrender now, but I have one condition, please ask your army to save my Li life no matter what, otherwise, my Li would rather burn the city together than surrender. ”

The seed master narrowed his eyes and replied bluntly: "That's right, we have a dark chess hand, and we are attacking as a surprise move...... Estimate the time, it's already time for it to work. But the road is far away, the information is not clear, how do we know how that move is going? The world is unpredictable, how do we know the sincerity of Lord Li's surrender? ”