In the Tang Dynasty system, the so-called military towns were located in various important border areas. The Heavenly Soldiers Army was established in the fifth year of Kaiyuan, and it has only been a history of three years, because of the five departments of Tiele to surrender, two of which were placed in the north of Shuozhou, and they were afraid of chaos, so they were set up inside and outside Taiyuan City because of Zhang Jiazhen's request, and the number of troops was as high as 80,000 people, and the governor of the history and the ambassador of the Heavenly Army. The 80,000 people were divided into camps, some of which were stationed in the city of Taiyuan, and some of which were stationed in the northern area outside the city.

When Du Shiyi accompanied Wang Han around several camps in Taiyuan City, although he saw that it was well organized, it was not so much a barracks, but he felt that the atmosphere of the market was heavier. When he got out of Taiyuan City, galloped along the official road for a while, and finally went up to a small hill, he saw that the first military camp was being practiced in Cāo, and in the nearby farmland, when farmers were still bent over to plow, he couldn't help but ask thoughtfully: "Are these soldiers taking turns to practice and tuntian?" ”

"At present, the government military system has long existed in name only, and it is not easy to recruit 80,000 government soldiers to serve, when the Heavenly Soldier Army was first established, it was from Benzhou and Shizhou, Yizhou, Fenzhou and other neighboring states to recruit young and strong, even so it was still not enough, and a batch of levies from Hebei Province was enough. Therefore, after Zhang Xiangguo took office, Zhang Yuanjun, who took office, said that if there is no distinction between soldiers and people, something big will happen sooner or later. Speaking of this, Wang Han suddenly sighed, "Zhang Yuanjun is a little dissatisfied with many of Zhang Xiangguo's measures in the state, and he also mentioned the personnel of the DPRK and China a few times ago. Do you know that Zhang Xiangguo promoted four people, Miao Yansi and Lu Taiyi, the examiner, Jiajing, and the palace attendant, Shi Cuixun, who is the four gentlemen of Linggong, Miao, Lu, Cui, and Yuan. ”

Miao Yansi is now Zhang Jiazhen's first favorite general?

Du Shiyi secretly sighed that Miao Yanhei's son Miao Hanye would inevitably rise, but fortunately he didn't sit in the capital and wait for the election of officials, as the so-called out of sight and out of mind. Suddenly, he looked sideways at Wang Han and asked, "Brother Ziyu, isn't it because of the complexity of officialdom, so he has been hiding at home?" ”

"That's right, Du Jiulang is right" Wang Han stroked his palm, and suddenly shook the reins and rushed down to the barracks, and the voice came with the wind, "Since you are already richer than the prince, why bother looking at people's faces?" ”

Wang Han is generous and bold, although he is a scribe, but many generals of the Heavenly Soldiers are recognized, plus Jinshi and the first, the Taiyuan family, the two governors and the history are all respectful, every point is not to be underestimated. With him leading the way, two rì down, Du Shiyi went all the way, many of those generals in the Heavenly Soldiers Army were born in generations, some were transferred to military attachés by the commander Shi Brown, and there was also the name of the Lieutenant's Mansion on his body, and a few were martial arts and firsts, and he was very curious about him, and when he asked about border affairs, they opened their mouths without scruples. Still, Du Shiyi discerned the most important point.

The Tang Dynasty is not separated from the civil and military, the civil and military officials are also military positions, and the military attachés have literary qualifications, which has always been an extremely common thing. It was very common in the past for Jin Shi and the first scholar and even the Ming Jing and the first scholar to become a military attache because of their ambitions. However, now, there is no such general in the Heavenly Soldier Army, which shows that the Heavenly Soldier Army is not so important

At least Wang Han said nonchalantly: "During the period of the Queen of Heaven, the Turkic Tubo and so on were not honest, and they have been much better over the years. But because of this, those Fan Kings are simply kraft candy. shili is strong and comes to intrude, the strength is not enough, ask for the inside, ask the princess at every turn, please give wealth and silk, it is really insatiable and good in the area of the state, there has been no war for many years, and the household has always been honest, and the heavenly soldiers are located here, and the component of prevention is greater. ”

Although Wang Han did not serve in the Metropolitan Governor's Mansion, and Du Shiyi had not yet been released, that night, Sima Qin Yi of the Heavenly Soldiers still summoned the generals to entertain these two talents who were rare here. Because Du Shiyi strongly demanded simplicity, he only hunted a dozen pheasants and hares, and killed the sheep he raised, but he made the cook roast them in front of him, sprinkled only a little salt, and served them with spirits. For this kind of banquet method of drinking wine and eating meat in a big bowl, Wang Han, who is heroic, is naturally happy, and Du Shiyi also let go of eating and chewing. Only Yue Wuniang, who was far away as an entourage, was a little stunned when she looked at the full amount of meat, and then looked at the little monk beside her, looking at the wine and meat, she almost didn't have her hands together to recite Amitabha

Fortunately, the top are dealing with those two famous Lang Jun, and their entourage is rarely cared for. However, Chi Bi, who was standing beside Du Shiyi at the table, came back quietly at this time, and actually stood in front of Luo Ying first, coughing lightly and spit out a word.

"Wine and meat pass through the intestines, and the Buddha stays in his heart."

These words almost didn't make Luo Ying stare out of his eyes, but he still didn't have the courage to say that he only wanted white rice, and after licking his lips, he finally carefully tore a piece of mutton and stuffed it into his mouth, and the burnt and delicious feeling in his mouth made him stunned, and he couldn't help but taste the second and third bites. But when he completely gnawed a large piece of lamb chops, a hand suddenly stretched out next to him, which actually stopped him from continuing to eat meat with his hands full of oil. Looking sideways, he found that it was Yue Wuniang, and he was immediately stunned.

"It's the first time you've opened meat in so many years, be careful that your stomach will spoil it"

Although it was just a sentence, in Luo Ying's ears, she only felt that it was supreme immortal music, and she nodded again and again as if she was a chicken pecking rice in a hurry without thinking about it. And when Du Shiyi learned about such a thing from the mouth of Chi Bi, who came back, he suddenly couldn't cry or laugh, thinking that he was afraid that the little monk would be hungry, so he casually warned him, did he bring such a little guy to ruin. Seeing that Wang Han had already come up wildly, he instigated a few generals to dance the sword with wine, and then he looked at hahadaxiao for a while, Suo xìng copied the leg of mutton and sang and danced, he thought about it and was too lazy to be idle, and watched with great interest Wang Han's dance of leg of mutton, which is rare in the world. When he returned to the camp, he wanted to write down what he had seen and heard, but in the end he was so dizzy that he had to fall asleep.

Within three days, he went around the battalions of the Heavenly Soldier Army, although he was far from counting all the soldiers, but according to the samples obtained, Du Shiyi roughly calculated the proportion of the actual personnel who could go into battle among the entire 80,000 people in the Heavenly Soldier Army, and finally came to a conclusion that made him silent. The so-called 80,000 refers to the addition of all the troops nominally subordinate to the Heavenly Soldiers of the armies north of Bingzhou, of which 30,000 are the soldiers and horses drawn from the troops attached to Tiele. Of the remaining 50,000 soldiers, no more than 20,000 were soldiers who could go into battle. If you remove the too old and too young, and those who flee every year, the remaining numbers can be imagined, and from Wang Han's mouth, he also learned about Zhang Shuo's plan.

That is, no longer conscripting government soldiers, but recruiting Ding Nan as soldiers on favorable conditions such as exemption from conscription taxes, and attacking from generation to generation, stationed in various border defense areas, the corruption of the military system of the military defense government is a foregone conclusion, and Du Shiyi also knows that the recruitment system of strong generals is an inevitable general trend. From the government military system at the beginning of the dynasty to the current era when the commanders are all over the place and the quality is not as good as the dog, in order to inspire the people to go into battle and fight, it is necessary to come up with more substantial benefits. As long as we can avoid the pattern of strong ministers and weak lords and weak borders, at least for a long time, the border towns will not only be able to lighten the burden, but also be more conducive to the stability of the situation.

Although he was ordered to watch the wind, he didn't plan to really go through all the camps of the Heavenly Soldier Army one by one. After getting all the information he wanted, he planned to go back. Wang Han came out with a friend who was interested in the military, but after getting on the horse, he joked: "Du Jiulang, do you want me to take you to Shuozhou and Ulzhou to have a good look?" Compared with Bingzhou, where Hu and Han live together, or the number of Hu people is far better than that of Han people, there are big and small messes at every turn, do you have the guts? ”

"Brother Ziyu dares to lead the way, I dare to go"

"That's what you said," Wang Han said while sweeping his head back as an entourage, Yue Wuniang and Luo Ying, who had not shown the slightest flaw, couldn't help but admire the self-control of the two of them. When he was about to make fun of them, he suddenly saw a few horsemen galloping towards him at the camp gate. After the leader jumped off his horse in front of him, he angrily shouted to Cao Shenjun, the soldier who had sent everyone out: "There is news from Shuozhou and Ulzhou, saying that the two major Tiele subordinates, Batuogu and Tongluo, seem to be rectifying the soldiers and horses."

Seeing that the soldier Cao Shen was solemn for a while, and immediately summoned someone to talk in detail, Du Shiyi naturally knew that it was not appropriate for him to stay as an outsider at this moment, so he hurriedly pulled Wang Han to say goodbye. But on the way back, he remembered what he had seen and heard in these few years, and remembered that Wang Han had said to himself that the Tiele tribes rebelled and surrendered, and a few years ago the Turkic rebellion was a few years ago, and the five divisions of Tiele were attached, and two of them were placed in the Datong Army north of Shuozhou, as well as the area of the Hengye Army in Ulzhou.

Thinking of this, he immediately stopped his horse: "Brother Ziyu, although the Heavenly Soldiers will also send someone to report the news later, we might as well go back to the Metropolitan Governor's Mansion as soon as possible to see the situation, Tiele and the two departments have been settled in Shuozhou and Ulzhou for many years, if it is unstable, it needs to be suppressed by troops, and in the blink of an eye, the north of this annex will be ignited."

Wang Han was already thinking about the possibility of fighting, and when he heard this, he immediately responded: "Okay, then hurry up and go to the Metropolitan Governor's Mansion."

However, when Wang Han and Du Shiyi and others entered Taiyuan City and rushed outside the Dadu Governor's Mansion, Wang Han, who had always been unimpeded here, was stopped outside for the first time, and the guards in front of the door faced Wang Langjun with an angry face, and only explained with a face full of embarrassment that Zhang Yuanjun had just issued a strict order to strictly prohibit entry and exit, and no one was an exception. At such a stalemate moment, Du Shiyi was thinking about whether it was related to the news he had received in the Heavenly Soldiers Army before, when he suddenly heard the sound of a car rolling behind him, turned his head to look, and saw several horsemen escorting an ox cart and stopped in front of the door. The curtain of the car flickered, but a familiar girl poked her head out.

"What's going on"

The guard in front of the door didn't know that this was Wang Rong, who Zhang Shuo ordered to stay in the official residence at the back, and after a moment of hesitation, he explained: "Wang Niangzi, due to the emergency military situation, the king ordered the official to strictly prohibit entry and exit inside and outside, and not to report without authorization. Therefore, he did not dare to let Wang Langjun and Du Langjun enter, nor did he dare to make a report. ”

Du Shiyi didn't expect to meet Wang Rong here, in front of others, he was not good at gesticulating, so he could only think about it and bow his head slightly at him knowingly. However, I don't know if she saw it or not, but she smiled back and entered the Metropolitan Governor's Mansion. Although he once planned to ask for a meeting with the guards at the gate under the pretense that he was carrying the holy order to view the wind in the north, but remembering that Du Siwen had said that the strong dragon did not suppress the head snake, Du Shiyi Zuihou still pressed it down.

After entering the Metropolitan Governor's Mansion, Wang Rong immediately put away the calmness he had just had. Knowing from an old servant woman in the second gate that Zhang Shuo was indeed convening a subordinate official meeting in the Half Moon Hall, she thought for a moment and went straight to see Zhang Shuo's wife, Mrs. Muroyuan, and explained her going to the Flying Dragon Pavilion in the morning, as if she had unintentionally revealed: "When I went back to the Dadu Governor's Mansion, I saw that there was some dispute on the door, and a Wang Langjun was blocked at the door, and the guards reasoned, but I had seen the one next to me in Chang'an City, it was the current branch champion Lang Du Langjun, looking at the anxious shape of the dusty servant, as if he had rushed back from somewhere, I don't know what's going on. ”

Mrs. Yuan and Zhang Shuo married a couple, knowing that Wang Han was a young talent whose husband was quite important, and as for Du Shiyi's name, he had heard Zhang Shuo mention it several times, and said that Wang Han took Du Shiyi to the Heavenly Army. When Wang Rong retired, she was taken aback and thought about it for a long time, and finally ordered someone to find Zhang Shuo's henchman, so that he could report the matter of Wang Han and Du Shiyi being stopped outside the Metropolitan Governor's Mansion to Zhang Shuo.

Outside the Metropolitan Governor's Mansion, Wang Han, who was blocked at the door, kept pacing back and forth, while Du Shiyi was absent-mindedly standing there distracted. At this moment, I saw a person suddenly walking out of the Dadu Governor's Mansion, arching his hand and saying: "Wang Langjun, Du Langjun, envoy Jun invites the two of you to enter."

When Zhang Jiazhen was the governor of the first time, he liked to live in the Donghai Pavilion in the east, but Zhang said that he took office, but he did not think of Zhang Jiazhen's place, and changed these three rooms into a study, called Banyuetang. At this moment, his face was sinking like water when he was sitting on the main seat, and the two soldiers Cao Shenjun who were standing next had just said all the opinions he should say, and they were silent at this moment.

"Envoy, Wang Langjun and Du Langjun are here"

Although Zhang said that he had only been in office for a few months, and although Wang Han was respected by him, he couldn't really talk about how he got acquainted. But as soon as he entered the door, he didn't even bother to salute, so he said straight to the point: "Zhang Yuanjun, Du Jiulang and I have just returned from the camp of the Heavenly Soldiers, and before leaving, we happened to meet someone who reported that the Tiele in the area of Shuozhou and Ulzhou seemed to be unstable, and there were signs of rectifying the soldiers and horses."