The winter of the first year of Yuanyou was three points colder than the previous two years.

Not only the northern roads, which are accustomed to snow and freeze, but also the southern roads, are also blizzard.

In September, it snowed heavily in Jiangdong and Zhejiang.

In October, it continued to snow in Jiangdong and Liangzhejiang.

In November, it also snowed in Fujian and Guangdong.

On the twenty-first day of the lunar month when the New Year is getting closer and closer, Suzhou reported that Taihu Lake was frozen, and the surroundings of Dongting West Mountain were frozen, and the ice was quite thick, and the carriages and horses were unhindered, and it was said that they could go all the way to Huzhou in the south.

Xishan citrus is famous in the country, and Dongting Mountain is full of citrus orchards, which are said to have as many as 100,000 trees. In order to prevent the citrus trees from freezing to death, orange farmers have to protect the trees with dung and soil, and they also have to burn fires upwind to maintain the temperature.

A few years ago, the lake around Dongting Mountain froze, and the ice could not walk, but it could damage ships. The ships carrying the grain could not get on and the people could not evacuate, so many of the orange farmers who were growing citrus in the mountains starved to death. This year, there is no need to be so troublesome, and the grain can be transported directly to the Dongting West Mountain in the lake by cart, but the citrus trees in the mountains are mostly difficult to save in such a deep cold.

Of course, the governor of Suzhou did not mean to say any anecdotes, but wanted the imperial court to agree to open a position. In Suzhou alone, hundreds of people have frozen to death since the beginning of winter, and the number of people affected by the disaster is even more than 100 times. The disaster in the entire southern region, including some prefectures and counties in Guangdong and Guangxi, was very serious, and there were many casualties among the people.

Houses in the south are different from those in the north, the walls are not thick enough, the warmth is poor, and the roofs are not like those in the north, which can withstand thicker snow. Therefore, the impact of the same cold wave on the south is far greater than that of the north.

In order to facilitate the burning of bricks in various states, the imperial court transferred a lot of prospectors from the mines in Xuzhou and other places, looking for coal mines all over the place, hoping to replenish fuel nearby, and found more than ten coal mines in the Jianghuai area. However, since the beginning of winter, a large amount of charcoal used to burn the bricks has been diverted for other purposes. In accordance with the edict of the imperial court, all prefectures and counties sold coal and other heating supplies to the people at affordable prices, and at the same time, they also organized the victims of the disaster, whose houses were destroyed by heavy snowfall, to dig up the ground and repair their houses, and use semi-underground shacks to withstand the cold winter.

The only thing to be thankful for is that the ice and snow disasters will not affect this year's harvest, as long as the spring can come on time, there is no need to worry about next year's summer harvest, and even because of the pests in the frozen ground, replenish the water in the field, which will be of great help to next year's planting.

Thinking about the problem in this way, it can be said that it is very cold-blooded. However, at the level of the two governments, the idea of treating the people as hurts has long faded, and the real concern is only how to avoid the expansion of the scope of the disaster, and how to solve the many derivative problems caused by the disaster.

However, although this year's cold disaster has not affected the country's food security for the time being, it can be put on the issue of sending troops, so that Zaisuke has to vote against it.

"How can you send troops when it's cold?"

When Yang Ying visited Wang Hou, he was also indignant about it.

Yang Ying was a soldier of Wang Shao with Wang Sunchen and Zhao Long in the past, and later became a general under Wang Shao. It's just that his talent is not as good as Wang Sunchen, Zhao Long and Li Xin, and his luck is not as good, but he has always been close to Wang Shao's father and son, and has a friendship with Han Gang, and now he has also accumulated merit and has been promoted to the ranks of ambassadors, and with the help of Han Gang and Wang Hou, he has been assigned a good position.

Sitting in the small pavilion in the back garden of Wang Hou's house, there are three stoves around, so that Yang Ying can't feel the cold, but everyone outside is wearing thick jackets, and if he takes a few more steps in the cold wind, he can move his hands and feet cold, he really doesn't understand, why are there still people in Zaifu who want to send troops to Liao.

I don't know what to say above, I have been in the army in Kansai for many years, and Yang Ying has not been suffering from frostbite in winter. Compared with the scholars and doctors who lived in Beijing and sat with a stove in their arms, he knew better what kind of disasters the cold would cause to the soldiers.

Wang Hou shook his wine glass slightly: "It's not that you will send troops now." With a little preparation, it's spring. ”

"It's hard to prepare!" Yang Ying slammed his wine glass on the stone table: "Grain, military funds, and soldiers and horses of all departments must be transported to the position of sending troops before the war, can these things be delayed until the beginning of spring?!" ”

"Wang Pingzhang thinks it's no problem."

Yang Ying looked left and right, leaned closer and asked Wang Hou in a low voice: "What did Han say about participating in politics?" Is it really against it? ”

"Of course he was against it. Didn't Zai Fuzhong support Wang Pingzhang alone to send troops? Wang Hou saw that Yang Ying wanted to speak and stopped, and frowned, "What, what did you hear?" ”

Yang Ying whispered even more: "The post house and the yamen are all saying that in fact, the Zai Fu support the attack on the Liao State, but they are worried that the northern captives will be prepared, so they oppose the dispatch of troops one by one." But it's not normal for everyone to oppose sending troops, how can personalities like Zhang Shumi and Han Senzheng oppose sending troops? So let Wang Pingzhang come forward, so as not to be suspected by the Beiyu - Wang Pingzhang has a high status, but he doesn't take care of things much, and it is most suitable for him to come out. ”

"Nonsense." Wang Hou shook his head.

If the cold land is frozen today, the climate is far colder than a thousand years later, just look at the Yellow River every winter, the Yellow River will freeze the river, you can know how different it is from later generations. It is extremely difficult to prepare for the war, let alone send troops to the north.

Emperor Taizong's two northward advances ended in failure, and the most recent northward advance battle was also a fiasco, if Li Xin didn't have a good backer who was tall enough and thick enough, he would not have been able to turn over so quickly. Now when it comes to going north, Han Gang and Zhang Dun, who are the most knowledgeable soldiers, are also beating drums in their hearts.

Those who oppose are really opposed, and those who support are really sincere, and it is really impossible to say.

"Really, not?" Yang Ying was a little skeptical.

"That's still false, don't believe those rumors." Wang Hou said solemnly.

"Understood! Got it! Yang Ying nodded violently.

Wang Hou sighed secretly, he looked at Yang Ying's expression, he was afraid that he still thought he was duplicitous and had to hide it.

But in fact, everyone in the two prefectures really expressed opposition, and only Wang Anshi asked to send troops.

In fact, there is no doubt about this matter, most of the rumors related to the outside world can reach the ears of him, the Imperial City Division, and every one of them is completely nonsense.

Even Han Gang was very resolutely opposed to sending troops - this was what Wang Hou personally asked Han Gang face-to-face.

Han Gang advocated the rearmament of troops and horses in Hebei - the Hebei Forbidden Army also needed to be further reorganized to cooperate with the process of artillery equipping troops;

Han Gang advocated plotting against the divination people - this is what the Kansai direction has been doing;

Han Gang advocated that the east of the river should make a posture of attacking the Xijing Road of the Liao State - it would be enough to transport grain and grass from Guanzhong to Hedong and speed up the construction of the railway from Taiyuan Prefecture to Guanzhong;

Han Gang also said that as long as Yelu Yixin usurped the throne, the Great Song Dynasty would immediately cut off the annual coins given to the Liao State - the loss of millions of yuan was equivalent to the loss of at least tens of thousands of enemies who could have been bribed, which was the most ruthless knife to Yelu Yixin;

Yelu Yixin's roots in the Liao State were already deep, and if the Great Song Dynasty did nothing, the civil strife in the Liao State would not break out.

Whether to fight or not, the Great Song Dynasty has to do something, and even prepare for war - if the Liao State is really divided and the two sides attack each other, such an opportunity cannot be given up.

But Han Gang would never agree to take the initiative to send troops to Liao at this point in time.

The preparations for the decisive battle with the Liao State were not sufficient, and with the increasing national strength of the Great Song Dynasty, there was no need to seize this opportunity.

The war will not begin now, but sooner or later the beacon smoke of the northern kingdom will burn.

Ten years later, Yelu Yixin was already old, and his sons were afraid that they would have to compete for the storage position, and the Great Song Dynasty soldiers were strong and strong, which was a good time to attack Liao.

Han Gang said a lot in front of Wang Hou the day before yesterday, and he didn't approve of taking the initiative in both his words.

But the mood of the people has been triggered by the news of the imminent civil strife in the Liao State, and everywhere they are talking about how to recover their hometown and eliminate the Liao thieves.

Wang Hou has a headache when he sees the confidential documents piled up on the table in the past two days, if he hands over all the gossip he has collected, it may affect the decision of the Queen Mother - the poems and songs in Fan Lou have a few sentences that can incite people's hearts.

Wang Hou had to laugh at himself many times, don't look at his high position, but in fact, he has to be more careful than when he was in the borderland. If one is not careful, it may be a catastrophe, and even Han Gang will not be able to save himself.

Now Wang Hou has a belly of secrets, and he can't have fun drinking and chatting with old departments like Yang Ying. He also had to avoid his dealings with Han Gang, and he could only meet occasionally.

Seeing Yang Ying away, Wang Hou also called people to prepare horses, went out, turned a few times from the laneway, and arrived at the side gate of the government.

Han Gang was at home tonight, and the teacup and refreshments were set up in the small hall, waiting for Wang Hou to come to the door.

"Yukun, I've been waiting for a long time."

Wang Hou hurriedly sat down and made a difference.

Han Gang shook his head, he was rare to wait for, but there was something new. He smiled and asked Wang Hou, "Is Yang San gone?" ”

"Gone. I guess I'll come back tomorrow to visit Yukun. ”

"How does it feel?"

Wang Hou shook his head and said with a straight face: "After all, it is still not as good as Wang Jingsheng, Zhao Zijian and Cousin Ling." ”

In today's army, there are few generals who can compare with Wang Sunchen, Zhao Long and Li Xin.

"Just look at him when he was in front of the saddle and behind the horse of Xiangmin Gong." Han Gang sighed.

"The inspection of Jiangnan West Road is enough, and he doesn't dare to expect too much." Wang Hou asked, "What did Wang Pingzhang say?" ”

"Do you know that Lu Dao, the famous Lu Jifu is on the book today, if Yelu Yixin dares to be crowned by a monkey, the Emperor Song is the brother state of the Liao State, and he should set things right?!"