"Why is the country so weak?"

The next day in the palace, the queen mother said that she could not adapt to the fact that even the capital of Japan had been burned down in just a few months.

"Not to say that it is a big country in Haidong, with a radius of thousands of miles and a population of tens of millions? Why did you even lose the capital? Isn't the Liao army going to attack the city? ”

"Queen Mother." "Heiankyo, the capital of the Japanese people, did not have a city wall, and it is said that the Japanese only built a long wall and a few walled forts on the periphery. ”

After receiving Zhang's explanation, the Empress Dowager vaguely remembered that the last time she talked about the war in Japan, she had heard the Privy Council report information about the Japanese state, including the defense of its capital.

"Be prepared for danger in times of peace, and if you have time to name and be safe, it is better to repair the city wall first, so that you can be safe."

"Queen Mother Shengming."

The ministers saluted the Queen Mother together.

Not all cities in the country have walls. Most cities in the south do not have them, even including many state towns, and only important buildings in the city such as official offices are protected by walls. There is only one fence where the walls should have been built. Some are wooden stakes, but more are wicker, mainly because they can survive by cuttings, and when they grow into big trees, they are a good line of defense.

But the capital does not have walls, and that is the fault of the Japanese themselves. The vital city does not build the city walls, which is to open the door to thieves. If it weren't for Japan's seawater as an external defense, I don't know how many times it would have perished.

"But even if there were no walls, with the size of the Japanese people and the size of the population, they should not have been defeated so quickly. Aren't their swords brilliant? Wasakes are also expensive to sell in the Kyoshi. ”

"The Queen Mother Mingjian." Zhang Dian saluted with a wat, "The send-off of the militaristic state is not in the sword, the bow and crossbow, the armor, the Japanese are far inferior to China and the Northern Captives." ”

Immediately after the Great Song Dynasty, the Liao people can now equip the main cavalry in the country with a large number of iron armor, although they are basically breastplates that protect the chest and abdomen, as well as an iron helmet, but it is enough to make the gap in strength between the Liao army and the Japanese army that is already vastly different, and it is difficult to reverse it in addition to the time and location. After all, on the side of people, the Khitans who concentrate on looting will never give the Japanese a chance to show themselves.

"And temple calculations, formations, and training are all the keys to determining victory or defeat." Zhang Dian continued, "This is not what the Japanese people are good at. In addition to the Emperor and Song Dynasty, which country can stop the Khitan Iron Cavalry now? ”

Han Gang also came out and said: "The Khitan iron horse comes and goes like the wind, how can ordinary foot soldiers restrain it?" Our Emperor Song forbidden army spent the lives and blood and sweat of many soldiers in exchange for the experience of dealing with the Khitan iron cavalry. Even if the commander is wounded by the enemy, his corporal will continue to form a formation to resist the enemy army under the command of their respective generals. That's the experience. And the Japanese people have no way of knowing this, even if there are one or two generals and ministers with outstanding vision, they can't command a group of ignorant soldiers and generals. ”

What Han Gang said, the Queen Mother could listen to it even more: "Participating in politics is true, my Emperor Song Forbidden Army is indeed beyond the reach of the Japanese people. It's just that I also know that the elite soldiers in the country are all in the north, and the Liao people can destroy Japan in the middle of the month after crossing the sea. What if the Liao people crossed the sea and bypassed Hebei and landed from Huaidong and Jiangnan? ”

This aspect of the problem has been talked about by the imperial court for a long time. But the situation was not so urgent at that time, and Japan's rapid defeat exceeded everyone's expectations.

"Your Majesty, don't worry. Japan's rapid defeat was the result of its isolation from the rest of the country. The Japanese people called the emperor behind closed doors, and with the abyssal sea as a defense, they thought they could sit back and relax. But when the evil enemy comes to the door, there is no way to deal with it, except to surrender, but to die. ”

"According to the opinion of participating in politics, how should we deal with it?"

"One is to strengthen the sailors and build sea ships."

"That's how it should be."

Nodding to the Queen Mother, this was what the Privy Council had proposed in the past.

Japan and Goryeo are both far away from the Great Song Dynasty, and both offensive and defensive need an elite sailor who can fight at sea.

"The second is the garrison of Tamna Island. It is necessary to strengthen the strength of the army and speed up the construction of the fortified fortifications on the island. At the same time, the fugitive Japanese were recruited on Tamna Island. ”

Participating in the strategy of dealing with the Japanese, when Han Gang answered the Queen Mother's question, he did not look like the governor of the Eastern Mansion, but like a person from the Western Mansion.

Zhang Dian watched from the sidelines and shook his head secretly. Han Gang's voice in military affairs is too heavy, and it is difficult for him to match him.

If he becomes the prime minister in the future, most of the Xifu will become a miscellaneous subordinate of the political affairs hall. Plus there is also the queen mother who obeys Han Gangyan-

"As you say in politics."

Behind the screen, came the voice of the Queen Mother, who promised crisply.

"The third is to build a masonry wall in case of thieves."

The most important reason for the lack of city walls in southern cities is that there is too much rain, and the walls built of loess are easily soaked and damaged.

But immediately two voices of opposition rang out:

"It's not going to work."

"I'm afraid that there will be something terrible."

Zhang Dian and Zhang Qi opened their mouths one after the other.

"The imperial court suddenly issued an edict to build the city wall, can you know how chaotic the hearts of the people in Jiangnan will be?!" Zhang Dian asked.

Zhang Qi also said: "The Liao people crossed the sea to come, it is still speculation. However, the people's strength was exhausted to build the city wall, and the ministers were afraid that the worries of the family and the country would not be on the outside but on the inside. ”

Han Gang shook his head: "Han Gang doesn't know how to renovate the Kaifeng City Wall?" I don't know why it caused civil unrest? ”

"Kaifeng?!"

"If the Liao thief crosses the sea, it will only be the first thief to encounter the coastal military states!"

"Nowadays, the price of coal is cheap and large, so the price of bricks has been greatly reduced, which can be used to renovate the walls of the capital, and can also set up forts around the city to defend against the enemy. From then on, the Jingshi could not be afraid of foreign enemies. ”

"Good words." Zhang Qi said, "But what does this have to do with guarding against pirates? ”

"The green bricks used in the renovation of the capital can be handed over to craftsmen from various states and counties in the south to fire, and then gathered in Beijing."

"What does it mean to participate in politics is that when the walls of Kaifeng Mansion are repaired, those craftsmen and brick kilns can continue to be used to build the walls of the coastal military states?"

"Exactly." Han Gang said, "Although the Liao people captured the capital of the Wa Kingdom quickly, it would take several years to pacify the country. After two or three years, the construction of the Jingshi city wall was completed, and the coastal military states did not worry about the difficulty of firing the wall bricks. At that time, the news that there might be thieves crossing the sea must have been circulating among the local people for a long time, and the measures of the imperial court would not disturb the people. Moreover, in the event that the Liao people could not stabilize Japan, they could save this expense, so as not to spend unjustly money. ”

Han Gang's opinion has a lot to discuss, but the two things of strengthening Kaifeng's city defense and avoiding spending unjust money are actually political correctness, and there will be nothing wrong with saying it.

What Han Gang actually needed was to test the structure and style of the fort, and instead of experimenting on the border, it was better to experiment in the capital, a place where artillery would never be used to kill the enemy, even if there was a problem, it could still have enough deterrence.

"Your Majesty!" Wang Anshi, who was standing silently on the side, suddenly shouted and asked, "The minister doesn't know about the affairs of the Japanese country, when will he discuss it?!" ”

"Pingzhang?!"

Wang Anshi was angry, which surprised the Queen Mother.

When Zhang Dian heard this, he was also stunned. It is true that there is too much time delayed, and I am afraid that the issue after the imperial examination will be postponed until tomorrow.

Before the urgent report from the Japanese side arrived in the capital, the first thing scheduled for the Chongzheng Hall today was originally the imperial examination. The second issue is the military, that is, the issue of the southwestern Zhuyi.

On the side of the couch, you will not allow others to snore.

Emperor Taizu's words are the guidelines for action.

And the Southwest Yi has always been disrespectful, rebelling and surrendering, which makes the court gradually impatient.

So that the Western Army can maintain its combat effectiveness and use the southwest as a whetstone.

Zhang expected his proposal to be unopposed. This is not only his own opinion, but also his consensus with Han Gang, Guo Kui and other marshal ministers.

can attack and defend with the elite of the Liao army, and among the 600,000 forbidden troops, only the Western Army can.

After the targets directly faced by the Western Army are destroyed, even if some of them can be transferred to Hedong, or to Ningxia in the north and to the Western Regions in the west, the remaining military strength is still huge.

It is impossible to let them go to the Western Regions, and to maintain the strength of the Western Army, they can only be a little closer to the country - such as Southwest Yi, and later Dali.

3,000 Western troops can capture the Western Regions, and 10,000 or 20,000 Western troops want to defeat the southwest Yi in the mountains, which is not so difficult. But the first hurdle in front of the forbidden army is the problem of roads.

To march around Chengdu Fulu is to go around in circles in the mountains, and some people will inevitably use this as an excuse to deny this strategy.

How to overwhelm them and persuade the Queen Mother is what Zhang Dian wants to do today, but he was disturbed by yesterday's new news.

Wang Anshi shouted in the hall and asked, "The most precious thing in the world is people." Zhou Gong eats three times and feeds, what is it? Soul winning, too. The Wa State is a small state. The imperial examination is a major event of the country. Now that the provincial test is imminent, 5,000 tribute students have gathered in Beijing. His Majesty doesn't care about the provincial test, and he doesn't think that hundreds of wise people will be included in the court this year, but he is worried about the small state thousands of miles away, why not? ”

I almost forgot. Han Gang muttered to himself secretly.

He didn't really care much about the Jinshi examination in this subject.

Among the candidates of this year's year, few Kansai scholars stood out. Especially the Gongsheng who was born in Longxi, basically they are accompanied by reading and accompanying exams, and many of them are waiting to take several exams and get the qualification for special performances. Qi is the same under the sect.

Han Gang has no regional prejudices, and there are quite a few fresh graduates from other places who have visited Han Gang's door.

It's a pity that today's imperial examination is not the Tang Dynasty, if you can do the volume of Zaifu Ya, so that the current dynasty Zaifu is satisfied with the poems and texts presented, then most likely you can get the title of Jinshi.

But today, the imperial examinations are becoming more and more formalized. Obfuscation, transcription, and locking the courtyard are all means of favoritism against the examiner.

In the existing way, Jinshi has been as fair and just as possible - that is not even the limitations of the times, and after a thousand years, there are many similar tricks. After all, they can't cross the last hurdle, and even if they are in a high position and power, no courtier dares to openly undermine the fairness and impartiality of the election.

It was Han Gang who entered Beijing to take the exam that year, and he had already become Wang Anshi's son-in-law, and the examiners were all followers of the New Party, and he was a new generation that even the Son of Heaven valued, but he also racked his brains for the sake of a list of Jinshi.

So he didn't plan to stretch out his hand for any scholar at all, he was more concerned about Huang Shang's system exam later.

However, Wang Anshi is angry now, and Han Gang, who has just talked the most, has to stand up.

"Pingzhang, please calm your anger. Fang Cai discussed, not in the Japanese people, but in the Liao State. If the northern captives are allowed to wreak havoc, China will not be able to put a quiet desk even though it is too big. ”