【3rd Update】

"Han Qing is going to Taiyuan Mansion. The politics of the state and the soldiers of Hedong are entrusted to the Qing family. With the Qing family here, I can sit back and relax. In case of an emergency military situation, the Qing family can act cheaply. ”

"For His Majesty's worries, the minister's position is also. Chenoka is hereby ordered. ”

In the Chongzheng Palace, Han Gang and Zhao Ji exchanged nonsense that had little practical meaning.

The speculation finally became a reality, and Han Gang couldn't help but think about the struggle for power and profit. But then again, Han Gang doesn't need to be modest, he sits in Taiyuan Mansion and has nothing to blame.

At present, neither Zhao Ji nor the ministers of the two prefectures believe that the Liao people will attack Hedong and run into the walled fort defense line with Yanmen and bottle-shaped [Jinping-type Pass] Erzhai as the main body.

Fifteen military villages of various sizes lined up along the border, such as Xicheng, Hugu, Yanmen, Tuyuan, Dashi, Ruyue, Magu, and Bottle, as well as hundreds of beacons and fortresses supporting them, firmly guarded Daizhou, the protruding part of the Xijing Road of the Liao State, from the west, north, and east directions.

However, the geographical location of Hedong Road is the most critical, suppressing Western Xia to the west, aiding Hebei to the east, and containing the Liao army to the north.

Lu Huiqing's gaze swirled around Han Gang.

Before, Lu Huiqing was ordered to come forward to negotiate with Han Gang - otherwise Han Gang refused the edict and followed his father-in-law's example, the matter would make people cry and laugh, and it was necessary to communicate in advance - I thought it would take a lot of words, but he actually took the envoy to Hedong very happily.

With Han Gang's temperament, he has always preferred to bend rather than bend. Even if this time the fate of the country had to obey each other, there was not even a single counterattack afterwards, unless this was in line with Han Gang's original intention, it would definitely not make sense.

Lu Huiqing didn't expect Han Gang to be so talkative, but after calming down and thinking about it carefully, he found a lot of reasons why Han Gang wanted to go to Hedong, that is, it was inconvenient to inquire in detail in person to determine whether his guess was right or wrong.

Han Gang bowed up again, and after half a year, he would leave the capital again and take over the edict of going to Taiyuan and serving as a marshal all the way.

Taiyuan Mansion is a sub-prefecture, in terms of establishment, higher than the state, military, prison, second only to Kaifeng, Henan, Daimyo, Guide and other metropolitan governors. And Hedong Road is in the more than 20 years of pacification and envoy roads, and the sequence is also very high. Even if the prime minister and the ruling party go out, sitting in this position cannot be regarded as a lenient treatment.

However, going abroad is going abroad, and leaving the political, economic, and cultural core of the world is not a willing choice for any important minister in any case. Because the time of return is likely to be far away.

Han Gang is only one step away from the two mansions, but the issue of age and seniority has never crossed that hurdle. He went out to serve as an official, so there was not so much reluctance, but in the eyes of the Zaifu, it was an eyesore who finally left.

Only Wang Qi was full of complaints about Han Gang's departure, not that he liked Han Gang, but that Lu Huiqing would have no one to control.

According to the usual practice, when the governor of a state takes office, he has to go through a procedure of resignation at the meeting. And all the way to the minister, but also in front of the Son of Heaven to ask the right questions, to confirm that they can be suitable for the post before they can take office, in the past there are also cases of asking the right questions to make the Son of Heaven too satisfied, and stay in the court to take up important positions.

But Han Gang didn't have that much trouble.

His ability does not need to be questioned, and letting him go to Taiyuan is to solve the urgent task. After Zhao Ji discussed the matter in the Chongzheng Palace, he left him alone just to hear how he would deal with the problems of the Liao State and Western Xia after he arrived in Hedong.......

"Until the Western Xia is settled, China cannot afford to be distracted and make enemies of the Khitan."

Han Gang's straightforward comment made Zhao Ji immediately hang up his face, but instead he smiled bitterly. If what Han Gang said was wrong, there was no need to let him go to Taiyuan.

"Han Qing's words are very true." Zhao Ji sighed and nodded.

Guo Kui is training soldiers in Hebei, and it is difficult to say how many achievements he can have in the end.

A wise man has a hundred years of foresight, and a fool can only see what is in front of him. Guo Kui is not a wise man, but he is by no means a fool, he is at least a smart man, and he will set up a good step for himself before doing things.

After Guo Kui arrived in Hebei, he put on a book within two days, criticizing the local forbidden army, the box army, and the armor protection for insufficient training, which could not be reviewed, and there were only empty armor. And after the news of the defeat in Lingzhou was secretly conveyed to all walks of life, the transcript handed over by Guo Kui yesterday was much improved, claiming that if the training could not be strengthened, there would be no soldiers available in Hebei in an emergency-none of them could come in handy!

This report made Zhao Ji fall into a panic, even the deacons looked sad, and no one thought of saying anything to comfort the Son of Heaven.

If what Guo Kui said is true, then the situation of the Hebei Army is indeed worrying. If Guo Kui's words are exaggerated, it also proves that he lacks enough confidence to resist the Liao, otherwise why should he find a way out for himself.

Guo Kui's recital also gave Han Gang's speech a little more confidence: "China has enough ability to fight three local wars at the same time, and when Chen participated in the Southern Expedition a few years ago, there were wars in Hengshan and the southwest, and the last one was an easy victory. But two full-scale wars were launched at the same time, and the power of the Great Song Dynasty was still a little worse."

Partial and comprehensive, Zhao Xu felt that Han Gang's words were a bit fresh, but if he thought about it, it was very appropriate.

As the name suggests, the so-called local war is a war that can be solved by using troops, finances and taxes along the way, and at most using a part of the elite, and even if it fails, the loss to the country will not be too great. And a full-scale war, at least a few people must be mobilized, and the imperial court can only afford to fight a war with several years of finance and taxation as the principal.

When the official army and Jiaozhi were in full swing, the imperial court sent troops to Hengshan and Nanxiyi at the same time, and although the court and China were nervous at that time, they did not have the nervousness of facing the great enemy and trembling. But now, when the battle situation in Pingxia is not smooth, the actions of the Liao State have kept Zhao Ji and many courtiers and people awake at night.

"If the Liao people invade the border, Han Qing is planning to ......" Zhao Ji thought about it, and felt that the word appeasement was not appropriate, so he chose a compliment, "Lie down and taste the guts?" ”

Han Gang shook his head: "The security of the border is not begged, but fought for." If Emperor Zhenzong did not personally conquer Lanzhou, but visited Shuzhong and Jinling, how could there be an alliance between Lanzhou? ”

"The alliance of the abyss is nothing but the alliance under the city." Zhao Ji muttered.

Today's Emperor of the Great Song Dynasty is thinking about the old humiliation. Let him be the lord of the world, and be related to the despised barbarians, such an alliance is definitely part of the shame. The king of China, even if he can't be the Khan of the sky, he can't be the nephew or nephew of the mother of the Tartar country.

Seeing that Zhao Ji was a little uncomfortable when he heard the alliance of the Yuanyuan, Han Gang was unceremoniously, "At least it is better than patrolling the south." In the seventy years of the Yuanyuan Alliance, the silver silk returned by the imperial court was less than 30 million taels, and when converted into money, it was only 60 million taels. …… The current battle of Pingxia has already cost more than 10 million yuan, and if it continues to fight, until the Western Xia can no longer support it, plus the reward after the war, and the pension for the deceased, it will take at least twice as much as this. ”

"If victory can be assured, there is no problem with such a large investment, but military affairs are always accompanied by risks, and once you lose, you will lose all your money."

Han Gang said this, and Zhao Ji was silent.

"Destroy the country once and for all. If you can't do it, then take a step back, stick to the border, and let the thieves work in vain. If you can't do it, then use silver silk to buy peace, at least it is stronger than the thief army entering the country, destroying the cities and villages in the country, and depleting the national strength. Is it true that a false name is true? ”

In the past, Han Gang would have looked down on the Yuanyuan Alliance, but now he has taken a step closer to recognize the reality. It's okay to give money, as long as it doesn't become a habit of paying bills.

If you can spend money to buy Liao's ignorance of Western Xia, it doesn't matter if the New Year's coin is doubled, anyway, once the Western Xia is destroyed, the Liao State will become the next target in a few years, and the millions of New Year's coins can be relied on if you find an excuse.

It's a pity that Yelu Yixin won't be so stupid, the bait will be eaten, and the hook will be straight back.

"The New Year's coin is a strategy to delay the army, and use money to buy ten years of time to gather ten years of lessons in order to plan for the future. It's just that after the alliance was concluded, the country became accustomed to comfort, which is a pity. If you can fight the troops, even if you can't watch the soldiers in Linhuang Mansion, there will be no rebellion of Yuan Hao. ”

"It's come to this, and there's nothing to be done." Zhao Ji's heavy sigh did not look like a king with all nations

In the next time, Han Gang made a brief report to Zhao Ji about how to resist the Liao people after arriving in Hedong in the Chongzheng Palace.

This is probably the only thing Zhao Ji is worried about, that is, Han Gang is too hard, which stimulates the Liao people to give up everything and take the initiative to go south. But what Han Gang said before made Zhao Ji feel a little relieved. At least it won't be worse than Guo Kui.

After receiving the dispatch of the Taiyuan prefect, Han Gang recruited three more disciples as rafters, Huang Shang was also one of them, plus more than a dozen staff members, and the team out of the town of Hedong was completed.

At the same time, thousands of miles away in the city of Xiazhou, a controversy was in full swing.

Xu Xi, who had just received a secret edict from Zhao Ji, was extremely tough: "Yanzhou must not be abandoned!" ”

"Yanzhou can't hold it." There was a thick exhaustion in the voice of the planter.

"Lieutenant." Xu Xi is not afraid to let people hear the malice in his words, "If you can't keep it, it doesn't mean that others can't keep it." And are you unable to keep it or don't want to keep it? ”

The seed sinks like water. Li Xian had already run away, and went directly to Shoumida Cave. He was the most unlucky, so he could only stay and guard Xiazhou, listening to Xu Xi's harassment every day.

"Fifth uncle." When the seed man strode out of the main tent, the seed builder who was guarding the door asked at the seed man, "Xu Dezhan still wants to guard Yanzhou?" ”

"Of course." He didn't want to talk about it for now, and strode into his hole.

"How did Xu Xi mobilize the troops stationed in Yanzhou? The generals of Yan Yanlu, no one will listen to him. ”

"If he hadn't found enough help in the army, he wouldn't have chosen this time to attack."

“…… It can't be Jingying, right? ”

"Who else but those guys?"

"Can't you arrange something for them to do?"

"Stopping them from making meritorious contributions?" He shook his head, "This is a feud against each other!" ”

Chong Jianzhong jumped up, "I'm going to write to Han Yukun." ”

"Don't forget," Chong Fu reminded, "Lu Huiqing and Xu Xi have an in-law!" ”