Chapter 593: Taiwei Xu

The enterprising Zhao Chen had to face the reality that Song Jin's situation had not yet completed the "offensive and defensive transposition". At this time, the total strength of the Great Song Dynasty included more than 68,000 Shenwu front army, more than 42,000 Shenwu army, and 50,000 Shenwu rear army. Coupled with the 190,000 infantry cavalry of the commanders of the Western Army, there are about 350,000 regular forbidden troops in the country. This figure seems very shabby, because before Xing moved south, the Great Song Dynasty had the largest number of troops, reaching more than 1.2 million.

However, it is worth mentioning that the number of 1.2 million in the past also includes the van troops who are not responsible for the war in various places. Today, the Xiang army almost no longer exists, and the 350,000 troops are all combat troops. Feeding such an army is a great burden.

Take the Western Army as an example, the 190,000 Western Army spends about 1.1 million yuan in silver and more than 150,000 stone in grain every month. This is why Sichuan has been complaining about the fact that most of the taxes and public grains paid by the people of Sichuan every year are filled in to Shaanxi.

However, the situation in the south is different, and the total strength of the three armies of the Imperial Battalion Division combined is still a little worse than that of the Western Army. The southern side was a heavy land for money and grain, and after Xu Shao implemented the new policy, the financial situation improved year by year, and Hangzhou had enough strength to support a relatively large army.

After listening to the opinions of the relevant ministers, Zhao Chen adopted the suggestions of Zhe Yanzhi and He Guan, and decided to train 500,000 elite soldiers to undertake the heavy task of expelling Beiyi and recovering Heshan. The Western Army does not need to be increased at all, just imagine, in Shaanxi alone, there are nearly 200,000 elite troops, why not?

Therefore, the three main forces under the Imperial Camp Division are to be expanded. It just so happened that Song Jin reached a peace agreement on building military forces and achieved a temporary peace, and this period of time should be used to bury his head in development, especially military strength. With the emperor's approval, the governors of the eastern and western prefectures quickly came up with a plan to expand the army. The policy mainly took care of the Shenwu Rear Army under the command of He Guan and the Shenwu Army under the command of Zhao Ding.

The Shenwu rear army was stationed in Jinghu, and the focus of defense was in Xianghan, so it could not rely on Jiangxi to rush to the aid every time. The imperial court expected that the Shenwu rear army would be expanded to 90,000 people, the Shenwu front army under the command of the Zhe family would be expanded to 100,000, and the Shenwu army garrisoned by Zhao Ding would be expanded to 60,000 people. In this way, the total number of troops in the south will be maintained at about 300,000. It is enough to deal with all kinds of situations, and no matter how much, the imperial court will not be able to handle it.

In June, the Song and Jin sides began to hand over the Huainan West Road, and the Jurchens basically kept their promises during the peace talks. Don't move the population, don't deliberately destroy, of course, the government treasury money and grain, people have to sweep away all the things.

In June, under the order of Xu Wei, the leader of the Western Army, Li Shifu, a brave general of the party who returned to the Great Song Dynasty, led the army to the south. The privy envoy Xu Han first met with him, and when he learned that the Li family was trapped in a thief camp, they cared about their homeland, and they were killed in order to return to Manmen. After Li Shifu went through a lot of hardships to return to the Western Army, Xu Han, a loyal and upright old minister, was deeply moved, and he reported to Zhao Guan's family that he was loyal and righteous to return to the dynasty, and Shifu was the first person to be brave and good at fighting, loyal and unswerving, and should be entrusted with important tasks

Zhao Chen then personally met with Li Shifu, praised him for his loyalty, bestowed him knighthood, gave him gold, and renamed him "Xianzhong" to highlight his feat. Considering that the Li family has been a general for generations and is familiar with the military, Zhao Chen is ready to reuse this person. Because Li Xianzhong had already served as a pacification envoy in Western Xia, the Xia lord even wanted to marry his daughter to him. Therefore, to use Li Xianzhong, his rank can not be too low, after the division discussed, it was decided to let Li Xianzhong lead the troops to Huaixi to assist the eldest son of the privy deputy envoy Liu Yanqing, that is, the eldest brother of Liu Guangshi, the marshal of Shaanxi Huanqing, Liu Guangguo, to create the Huaixi Army, and entrusted the Huaixi Economic Strategy Division to control the position.

In late June, the commendation measures for the Western Army's recovery of all of Shaanxi were officially introduced. The imperial court was very generous, and gave five festival envoys at once, including Xihe Marshal Yao Pingzhong, Jingyuan Marshal Wang Yu, Yongxing Marshal Yang Yan, Liangxing Du Commander Xu Hong, and Shaanxi Establishment Division Staff Officer Wu Jue, Xu Hongjian Festival is more special, he is neither the marshal of the Western Army, nor is he among the chief ministers.

Let him build a festival, firstly, to consider his outstanding military achievements, and secondly, to consider the world-famous merits of his father, Xu Shao, the king of Qinghe County.

Huanqing Shuai Liu Guangshi, because he has not been able to get his hands on military merits, this counteroffensive, did not bear the combat mission, although his Lao Tzu served as a privy deputy envoy in the imperial court, but it is still far from Jianjie. Wang Yan, the pacification envoy of Liangxing, was also blocked from the door of Jianjie for the same reason.

Xu Wei, the commander-in-chief who led the Western Army to establish miraculous feats, was promoted to "Tai Lieutenant", awarded the title of "County Duke", and was given the title of "Shangzhu State", and still served as the pacification envoy of Qin Fengjingluo, the envoy of Shaanxi Province, and the deputy envoy of Sichuan and Shaanxi Xuanfu disposal.

Originally, for Xu Wei, Xu Han, the governor of Xifu, had another idea. He believes that the whole territory of Shaanxi has been recovered, and Sichuan and Shaanxi should be divided and governed, and follow the example of He Guan and Zhao Ding, and appoint Xu Wei as the Xuanfu envoy of Shaanxi, who is also in charge of both the military and the people. In addition to leading the Western Army, he should also be fully responsible for the reconstruction of Shaanxi.

This suggestion was even supported by the emperor, but Zhu Sheng had to think that it was inevitable. He did not have any opinion on Xu Wei, but believed that Shaanxi had just been recovered, and many localities still had to rely on Sichuan for help, and besides, the partition of Sichuan and Shaanxi was not conducive to the development of the western region. Xu Han's proposal was not adopted.

However, for Xu Wei's promotion this time, the imperial court did not affirm any regulations on "exempting the official affairs of the book and the department, and taking special measures to defend the border", but only said that the affairs of Sichuan and Shaanxi were temporarily presided over by Wang Shu. In this way, as the figure in second command in Sichuan and Shaanxi, Xu Wei was able to participate in decision-making and was no longer a pure military commander.

As for who will succeed the supreme governor of Sichuan and Shaanxi, the imperial court has no suitable candidate, and it is not in a hurry to do so. Anyway, Shaanxi has recovered, there is no urgent priority, and now the team of the Xuanfu Disposal Division is enough to deal with it.

In the fifth year of Song Jianwu, the two countries of Song and Jin were in a state of military truce, and there was no war from east to west. But up to Emperor Zhao Chen and down to ordinary soldiers, they all knew that the Jurchens would definitely tear up the peace treaty and make a comeback, but it was only a matter of time.

Several things happened this year.

The first is that Emperor Wanyan of the Jin Dynasty nailed a Mongolian Hehan, also known as "Khan", named Baba Child, to a wooden donkey, which was the punishment of the Jin State to punish nomadic rebels.

The second is that Yelu Dashi, who rebuilt the Liao State, commanded his army to enter Khorezm, forcing the king of the country to become a vassal, and the Khitan state of Dashi became the sole overlord of Asia.

The third thing is that Li Renxiao, the lord of Xia, sent an envoy south to Shaanxi to discuss the expansion of border trade with the Sichuan-Shaanxi Xuanfu Disposal Division, and at the same time euphemistically proposed, should you give an explanation about Li Shifu, that is, Li Xianzhong's rebellion against Xia and Song?

Xu Wei sent the eminent diplomat Ma Kuo to Western Xia again, and presented the Xia king with a rather generous gift. Ma Zichong was welcomed by the party members in the Xia capital, and after giving Li Renxiao a generous gift, he promised on behalf of the Sichuan-Shaanxi Xuanfu Disposal Department that he would expand the scale of trade at the border in a short period of time and lift the ban on some contraband leaving the country.

Previously, Wang Shu, Yi Xuan, and Li Xianzhong led the Xia army into Yan'an, originally to attack gold, but in fact, nothing was done. On the surface, it seems that no one can be offended, but after Han Chang reported the matter to Jinting, it still aroused the dissatisfaction of the Jurchen magnates.

The Xia State was a vassal of the Dajin Kingdom, although it had rarely participated in the war between the Song and Jin dynasties. But this time, the army went south to Yan'an, which can be called loyal. But why didn't you fire an arrow, didn't cut a knife, and then withdrew untouched? What does this mean? In the face of the reproach of the envoy of the Jin Emperor, Li Renxiao gave the explanation that the Western Army was strong and had besieged Yan'an at that time, and the Xia Army was also unable to return to the sky, so it withdrew.

For this kind of defense, Jin Guo was very unimpressed, and Emperor Jin sent an edict and severely reprimanded the party members. This made Li Renxiao very dissatisfied, and when he sent Wang Shu and other leading troops into Yan'an, he was determined to tear his face with the Jurchens, and now he was scolded by Emperor Jin, and he couldn't help but be angry from his heart. Ma Kuo and others immediately understood, and after returning to Qinzhou, they truthfully reported the matter to Xu Wei, saying that the party had the intention of betraying money.

August 15, Qinzhou, Shaanxi Preparation Division.

When Wu Jue passed by Xu Wei's office hall, he poked his head to take a look, knocked on the door, and said, "Tai Wei, this is no better than before, and it is not too late to deal with official business tomorrow." ”

Xu Wei raised his head and smiled: "Okay, you go back first, I'll leave in a while." ”

Wu Jue responded, and just as he was leaving, he heard Xu Wei call again: "Come back, how do you arrange it in a few days?" ”

Wu Jinqing smiled: "If it was in the past, it would be fine, and everything must be simple." This time, the army has recovered the whole of Shaanxi, and the army comrades are very interested, and they have been making a fuss a few months ago, saying that they have to celebrate each other. I thought about it, let's do it, it's not lively anyway. Tai Lieutenant, please also appreciate the light. ”

"Say some nonsense, you marry a wife for your son, this is a great joy for our Qin Fengjun, can I not come and drink this cup of wine? Alright, you go get busy. Xu Wei said with a smile. A few days later, it was Wu Jue's second son Wu Fu who married his wife, and Wu Jue's old husband was happy all day long, and he didn't know how many jokes he was made by his military comrades.

Today's autumn festival, starting after lunch, the officials of all departments do not have to be on duty and go home for reunion. Xu Wei had already gone to the street to buy fruit buns with his own soldiers, and was also preparing to go home to reunite with his wife and daughter. Taking advantage of this gap, he gave Mianzhou a reply. It's mainly about the rebuilding of the Yan Shuaiji.

Yan Yan Road used to be the leader in Shaanxi Zhulu, and many famous generals of the older generation of the Western Army worked in Yan Yangou, including Xu Wei's father Xu Zhang, Zhang Shen was still a small officer at that time. Who knew that this guy opened the precedent of surrender, and Yan Yan disappeared from the Western Army system for a time.

It is of great significance to rebuild now. After deliberation and selection, the Mianzhou side recognized Xu Hong, the former ruler of the two Xingdu, as the best candidate for Yan Yanshuai. This time, he was awarded the festival envoy by the imperial court, and became the only person who established the festival without being a marshal or a chief minister. It can be seen that the imperial court attaches great importance to him, and it is very suitable for him to be the commander of Yan Yan.

Xu Wei is now replying to the letter, which is to express his support. In fact, not long ago, after the Jin army withdrew from Shaanxi, he left Xu Hong to temporarily take charge of Yan Yan, and he had already released the message. He is not worried that people will talk about his nepotism, because Xu Hong's ability, qualifications, and military exploits are all there. As early as when Xu Wu led the troops in Shandong, he had already made a strategic envoy, but because he lacked the experience of the Western Army, he only regained his position to this day.

"Captain, buy all the fruits you need, when will you go back?" A pro-soldier asked outside.

"It's almost there, wait." As Xu Wei spoke, he had already made the payment, sealed the public, and waited for it to be sent to Mianzhou tomorrow. Then, together with his own soldiers, he walked out. Today's weather is very good, the night is definitely full moon hanging, and the family backyard pavilion put down the fruit and tea, enjoy the moon together, this is called life.

Out of the second hall, just as he bypassed the front hall and went to the street, someone behind him called: "Taiwei stays." ”

Xu Wei looked back and said in surprise: "Why haven't you returned yet?" ”

"There is an urgent matter in my hand, and I can't get out, so I have to ask the captain to show me." It was Zhang Qing, the head of the preparation department, who came.

"How urgent?" Xu Wei asked.

"It's urgent." Zhang Qing was meticulous.

When Xu Wei heard this, he turned his head to the soldier and said, "Send the things back to the house, and tell the family that I will go back later." After finishing speaking, he and Zhang Qing turned around and returned.

When he arrived in the office hall, Xu Wei sat down, rubbed his temples and said: "Criticizing the public in this hall is more tiring than fighting, and after half a day, I am dizzy."

Zhang Qing didn't have time to talk, so he stepped forward and said: "Didn't Jingyuan come to report a few days ago, saying that a businessman from the Western Regions had entered Shaanxi to ask for a meeting?" ”

Xu Wei opened his eyes and nodded, "There is such a thing, what?" "In their eyes, the merchants of the Western Regions are actually another name for the Khitan envoys. Because when Xu Shao was still in office, there were Khitan merchants who were captured by the Western Army on the border, and later learned that it was Yelu Dashi's caravan. The previous time, the other party came again and gave a gift. Although there is nothing substantial, it can barely be regarded as a connection with the Western Regions.

This time, there were merchants from the Western Regions who came, and they came down from Jingyuan, so it was not that Xu Wei was not allowed to carefully ponder whether this had any connection with the party members.

"The man has come, and is now in the city. The people below went to the preparation department to report, but my colleagues all went home for the holidays, and they had no choice but to find me. I went to your office to take a look, and said that you had just left, and then I came up. Zhang Qingdao.

"So fast? It's a good time. Xu Wei said with a smile.

"Is it arranged to stay at the pavilion, or what?" Zhang Qing asked.

Xu Wei was silent for a while, today is the autumn festival, and it is not impossible to arrange the other party to live in the pavilion first. After the festival, it's not too late to see you tomorrow and the day after tomorrow. But on second thought, this is the third time that the Khitans have set foot in Shaanxi, and they directly asked to see themselves, which may be different from the previous two times. Besides, if the visitor is a guest, or from the Jelu Dashi, don't underestimate others.

Thinking of this, he instructed: "In this way, arrange them to the pavilion, and you will go on my behalf and meet with them." How's that for the rest? ”

"It's okay, so as not to snub the distant guests."

The two agreed, Xu Wei then returned home, his wife and daughter were happy, and they were ready to buy a dinner party in the afternoon, just waiting for the sky to get dark and the moon came out, so they raised a glass to invite the bright moon, and the end of the world was at this time.

However, it was said that after Zhang Qing ordered someone to arrange for those Khitan merchants to go to the pavilion to stay, he was still busy in the preparation department for a while, and it was estimated that it was almost there. Fang just walked out of the yamen, stepped on the horse and went to the pavilion.

Qinzhou is the capital of Shaanxi at this time, and its pavilion is also relatively high, looking at it from afar, such as an official mansion, such as a temple, extremely decent. Letting the Khitan merchants live in can be regarded as a lift. Zhang Qing went to the pavilion post and showed his identity, and the post hurriedly led him to the back room.

In the Song Dynasty, the pavilion post was completely separated from the correspondence and mail, and was only used as an official guest house. It is generally large in scale and has everything in the interior. For example, this Qinzhou Pavilion, there are more than 40 rooms on the left and right, more than 100 steps wide, there are halls, living rooms, corridors, and even gardens for officials to browse when they are bored.

When Yi Cheng led Zhang Qing to arrive, those Khitan merchants were gathering in the hall to talk about something, Yi Cheng reminded him outside, and then he entered and said: "Everyone, Zhang Jiyi, the preparation division, should arrive." ”

As soon as the words came out, several people in the hall got up at the same time, and Zhang Qing then stepped in, making a four-way gesture: "Distinguished guests are coming from afar, welcome." ”

Those few returned the salute and didn't say much. After the guests and hosts sat down, Zhang Qing looked up, there were four guests in the hall, all dressed in exotic clothes, and those strange costumes made him look strange.

There is the top one, estimated to be in his early forties at most, he is dressed Zhang Qing and is not famous at all, and the hairstyle on his head is similar to that of the Dangxiang Jurchens and other northerners, but he has a two-handed, eight-character beard, which is different from other ethnic groups. Despite being dressed in cross-dress, Zhang Qing still found that he had a jade pendant hanging from his waist, which was a typical original style.

"How many are from Da Liao?" Zhang Qing asked politely.

The Khitan man in his early forties did not answer directly, but asked, "I don't know where Xu Xuanfu is?" "A not very authentic, but fluent northern Chinese accent.

"Mrs. Xu has something important to do, so he specially instructed me to come on behalf of him, and if there is anything inconsiderate, please forgive me." Zhang Qing is polite and courteous, if he changes to Yang Yan, the one-eyed tiger, he is afraid that he will have to put people on the south wall with just a few words.

The four exchanged glances, and the leader said: "I can't hide it, this time I came to Shaanxi, not to do business, but to shoulder a mission, so I must meet your chief." ”

Zhang Qing didn't say anything for a while, he had already heard some meaning from the other party's words, and he didn't mind that the other party looked down on him. But Xu Jiu sent himself, one is to receive and the other is to tempt. If I don't know anything, how will I explain when I go back?

Then he smiled and said: "This point, this official understands." It's just that I have to know the origin of a few people before I can reply to the above, right? ”

"Hmph" was loud and clear, and a cold snort sounded beside it. It seems that the Khitans are a little dissatisfied.

"Since the official is in charge, it doesn't hurt if you listen to what he says. In Xia Xiao Buling, there is an official in Shaanxi, whose surname is Ma Mingkuo, and his character is full, and I have met with him in Yanyun back then. If you call him, you will know who I am. "That eight-character Hu Zhengse.