Zheng Lang is preparing for natural disasters, and the Battle of Hehuang continues.

Wang Shao swept the mountains south of Dingxi Prefecture, beheaded 700 people, surrendered all the troops one by one, and captured Baicheng. In order to support Mu Zheng, the Qiang people planned to ambush the troops in Nanshan, Xizhou, and the victory could cut off the return route of the Song army, and the defeat could protect the city of Mozong. Wang Shao led his troops to move the Mozong Xiongguan, and the Qiang people scattered with a bang. Although there were few soldiers, the snake was beaten to seven inches. A series of military operations made Mu Zheng panic all day. After a long time, he came back to his senses, so he recruited troops in three ways.

Attacking Baicheng all the way, it can't really let the Song army form a siege momentum, and Baicheng is on the west side of Hezhou, which is a lone army, and gathers a large army to go to the crusade. He also asked Zhuqiang to gather 30,000 people in Dunba City and prepare to attack Kangle Village. Once Kangle Village is breached, it is equivalent to cutting off the connection between the Song army of Xiangzi City and Xizhou, and its significance is not trivial. There is also a way to attack Linjiang Village.

The strategic plan was good, but his command ability was limited, he did not adjust it well, and he did not do a good job of secrecy measures, so that Wang Shao knew that he personally led the army to Tabaicheng, fought with the Tubo people, and beheaded more than 3,000 people, and the rest fled. This is the Tubo people are extremely fierce, if they were replaced by the Tangut people, they would have no courage to fight if they were killed. Continue to build the White City, this time Mu Zheng no longer had the courage to harass, seeing that the White City was getting taller and taller day by day, and gradually had the power to protect himself, Wang Shao returned to Xizhou.

At this time, Zhang Shouyue fought again in Dumba City.

Forced by Cai Yanqing, Zhang Shouyue had to draw out 3,000 men and horses to kill Xizhou. But Zheng Lang pondered, and estimated that Zhang Shouyue had heard the news of Wang Shao's victory, so he had the courage to lead the army west. Zheng Lang is not to blame.

Wang Shao's series of military actions made Su Zhe think that Xue Rengui was resurrected, although it was over, it was not much inferior to Xue Rengui, at least it reached the level of one-third of Huo Qugui's disease. Such a famous general. In the entire history of the Song Dynasty, there were only more than ten people. It is impossible to expect everyone to have Wang Shao's courage and military talent. Although Zhang Shouyue is not as good as that. can also be regarded as a famous general. Wang Shao's safety news came out. Cai Yanqing didn't know what to do. Whether to let Zhang Shouyue withdraw, or let Zhang Shouyue continue to move westward to support Wang Shao.

Again, there is one more thing that happens. Liang Yi of Western Xia heard that the Mu expedition attacked Hezhou. It is believed that there are few along the border, and the people and horses are gathered to cross the Yellow River, and they are stationed in the Luzichuan on the south side of Tiandu Mountain, and they are about to meet the Tubo people in Mabitshan and the Niche Valley. Claimed aid to Mu Zheng. Hearing that Wang Shao defeated Mu Zheng and took Hezhou, before the news of the vicious battle in Xiangzi City came out, Liang Yi was scared in his heart and retreated his troops.

When the news reached Cai Yanqing's ears, he was definitely inferior to Wang Shao militarily, but he knew that Western Xia would also not have the courage to attack Gangu Tongwei Second Fort. Zhang Shouyue's return didn't have much effect, so Zhang Shouyue was very embarrassed to stay in Xizhou City.

The court will not know about the controversy over him, but knowing it will definitely leave some bad things for the court bosses. I happened to hear that Wang Shao had another big victory in Baicheng, and his courage was a little stronger. I want to make a difference. Besides him, the imperial court used troops in the northwest. also guarded against the Khitan invasion, so Yong transferred Yang Wenguang to Hebei. Yang Wenguang saw the news of the great victory in the newspaper in Hebei, and he couldn't hold back, and he offered a battle plan, I am old, and I also want to leave my name in the annals of history, but what to do in Hebei. Only when the imperial court uses the Khitan can make meritorious contributions. Under the same excitement of Xiao Note in history, he was evil with Jiaozhi, but this time it was gone. Jiaozhi has always been dishonest and has used time to forgive the mountain, but Zheng Lang has also repeatedly warned southern officials not to make trouble. So that the imperial court concentrated its strength and hit it with its fists in one place.

Zhang Shouyue is this kind of mentality, just Zhuqiang obeyed the call of Mu Zheng, 30,000 soldiers and horses gathered in Dunba City, Zhang Shouyue led 3,000 subordinates, regardless of one to ten, crossed the Tao River by copying the trail, first fought head-on with the most brave armor, beat its sharp spirit, and then waved the flag, the left and right ambushes swarmed out, and 30,000 Qiang soldiers were defeated again. Many had no choice but to surrender too late. He took the grain from his cellar as military rations, and also took the timber from his tent to support the construction of Kangle Village, and at the same time recruited 1,500 archers.

Without two months of effort, Mu Zheng three people, defeat its two roads, only Linjiang Zhai that road people and horses did not solve, Zhao Wang Shao divided troops to rescue, Wang Shao said: "Today to build a recreation city, thieves want to contain, so attack Linjiang, if the army dropped out of the past, then the hidden plan can be done, it is better to commission Linjiang and attack not seek, in case there is a defeat, wait for the recreation city to finish, it is not too late to return to the army." ”

There was controversy in the imperial court.

Zheng Lang sneered and said, "Ladies and gentlemen, if Wang Shao goes south, he will kill a lot of people. ”

Wang Shao has won many victories, but the ministers of the court said that the Tibetan people are ignorant and ignorant, and Wang Shao has killed too many people, which is against the peace of heaven.

War is the most cruel, either you kill me, or I kill you. actually said that it was against the peace of heaven.

Zheng Lang has a lot of things, and in the year of the catastrophe next year, there will be a lot of food and grass prepared, and he should be able to tide over the difficulties smoothly, but this catastrophe is a good opportunity to do a lot of things that he has not been able to do before. Careful planning is underway for this matter. Hearing this kind of idiotic statement, I didn't bother to be wordy, but this idiot said that there were many people who actually echoed the ministers.

Zhao Yile.

Zheng Lang said: "Although Wang Shao has more than 20,000 soldiers in his hands, he can only use thousands of people to garrison and repair various villages. Now that Hezhou is besieged, and Zhuzhai Fort is to be repaired, can there be troops drawn to Linjiang Village? ”

This is not Mozong City, but the south of Guwei City, it is still in the south of Mozong City, the southernmost direction of Minzhou, more than ten miles south of the later generations of Michang, nearly three hundred miles away from Mozong City, and seven or eight hundred miles away from Xiangzi City.

Moreover, there are no real avenues in many areas, and it is rugged and difficult to travel, and Wang Shao has such a small number of troops in his hands, and there is no way to look sideways.

After Zheng Lang explained, everyone was silent together.

Time flies, and by July, the entire Song Dynasty has already smelled a trace of unusual atmosphere in the air. Last year's locust plague in Hebei was dealt with by various measures by the imperial court, and the threat was eliminated invisibly. But since last year, there has been little rain in the whole north, and in some places there is no snow to be seen. But before July arrived, the crops could barely be generated, and the imperial court provided timely relief, so that the common people would not even have seeds. By the beginning of July, the autumn harvest can barely be harvested a little.

At the end of April, the Huashan landslide, Wen Yanbo wrote that the reform damaged the national system, collected the people's grievances, and led to the Huayue landslide. On this issue, Gao Taotao and Zheng Lang had a secret discussion, no matter what, Zhao Shu is Zhao Xu's father. Emperor Xian. The use is nothing more than the four important ministers. Fu Bi, Han Qi, Zeng Gongliang, Wen Yanbo, as for Ouyang Xiu, he can't be counted, he has never been the prime minister. Therefore, when the imperial court deals with the four important ministers, it must also take appropriate care of the first emperor in Yonghouling. Otherwise, it will make future generations think that the emperor is unfilial.

At least the current Zheng Lang reform has caused less acute contradictions than in history, and Gao Taotao also wants to build a harmonious society and a harmonious court. Then persuaded Zheng Lang bitterly. Zheng Lang no longer said that he would resign as prime minister. No matter who gave it, he could only deal with a few substitute ghosts, and he couldn't pursue it. And the person he is looking for is also very ingenious, Zhang Maoze, once it is dealt with publicly, when Zhao Zhen goes crazy, he shouts that Zhang Mao is rebelling against the Empress Dowager Cao, and it will implicate the Empress Dowager Cao, so that the old surname will have a lot of misunderstandings about the Empress Dowager Cao. Besides, what can be done, it's not a demotion to an official.

It's really a good brain. Zheng Lang also sighed deeply after being speechless.

Wen Yanbo was silent for a long time, and suddenly went to the book. Some people agreed, but Zhao Ji was annoyed, although the income of the imperial court increased, it was mostly an open source move, or it was a throttling, all kinds of thrift, which made the court have money to repay debts, military operations and all kinds of good government, in fact, not only did not harsh the people, on the contrary, it has been benefiting the people in recent years. Therefore, the edict demoted Wen Yanbo to Yangzhou. Yangzhou is a good place, and there is no abuse of Wen Yanbo, but the main thing is to make Wen Yanbo quiet. Far away from the capital, it will probably not be wordy anymore.

But since this time, it has been expected that there will be a poor harvest in the north this year, but no one cares about the grain reserves that Zheng Lang has prepared in the past two years. In addition to the normal storage of grain, nearly 70 million stone of grain were additionally prepared in various warehouses. Can you still be afraid?

However, in July, the rain does not fall in the north, this north does not refer to Hebei, but includes Hebei Hedong, Shaanxi, Jingjing, and Huainan Road, and at the end of July, the locusts on the Khitan side flew to the east of Hebei River, which is what makes people angry. Locusts were born on the Khitan side, but they came to the Song Realm to "eat", and they have been like this for two years, are they angry or not?

But this year's locusts are much larger than last year's, and the black pressure obscures the sky. The Liao country was happy, Youzhou Nanjing marched to Yelu Hongji, and the locusts in the two counties of Liaonanjing and Laishui flew into the Song Dynasty, and the rest were eaten by bees. Your Majesty, don't worry, the problem of locusts is not big, and it will harm the Song people. But the monarchs and ministers of the Song Dynasty finally became worried. Since then, a two-year-long drought has officially struck, ranking among the top 10 in history. Due to the threat of drought, in the entire history of the Northern Song Dynasty, there were only 113 public prayers for rain by the emperor's edict, only 0.8 times a year, but Xining reached four times in six years, ten times in seven years, and five times in eight years.

Not including the secret prayer, the secret prayer is to avoid leaving the people with the image of worshipping the false name, the public prayer for rain is mostly to let the Taishi analyze the rain situation, it is estimated that the rain will fall before the public prayer for rain, the secret prayer is not actually afraid of worshipping the false name, but the fear that every prayer will not rain, which will damage the authority of the emperor. Not only Zhao Ji, but also Han Qi and other important ministers, worshiped the grave many times, and remembered the drought and agriculture. Therefore, Zheng Lang did not beat many ministers to death with a stick, even if Wen Yanbo reached this point, there is also a desirable side. After arriving in Yangzhou, he had many political achievements, especially the preparation of grain, and made great contributions to the imperial court. This is the real court dispute.

Businessmen, pursue profits.

The changes in the north, the grain merchants in the southeast were immediately keenly aware of the changes, the Khitan locusts in front of them were desperately flying towards the Song Dynasty, and the grain prices in the back rose in response.

Food prices are bound to rise.

How many people in the whole north, nearly 7 million households and 40 million people in the six roads, need nearly 100 million stone of grain a year, and if there is a drought in two years, the grain harvest may be less than half of the original, then at least more than 100 million stone of grain will be lacking.

But no one expected that the drought would reach that level.

For the temporary autumn harvest, Zheng Lang didn't want to raise the price of grain, which not only affected the preparation of grain for the autumn harvest, but also made it not easy to handle it in the future. Therefore, an edict was issued, and 20 million stone grain was released and sent to various states and counties to be sold at a reasonable price.

When all the profiteers heard this, they were dumbfounded, 20 million stone grains, what a huge number? With a cart, you have to prepare 4 million carts to pull it away, and after the edict, you have no choice but to adjust the price of grain again.

However, a few merchants wanted to gamble and began to hoard Juqi. This question does not matter, the second edict was issued, except for the grain money for the sale of 2,000 Shiping grain, and the imperial court allocated another 10 million yuan to purchase grain on Liangjingjiang South West Road and transport it to Danshui. At the same time, the edict of the people in the drought-stricken areas of Shaanxi Province came to Danshui to eat, and the cost of transporting grain to Danshui was not high, but the cost of transportation to Shaanxi did not know how to become geometric, not only reducing the cost, but also a large number of people arrived. The imperial court allocated another two million. Xingxiu Dan waterway. The road from Danshui to Chang'an for more than 300 miles will be opened, widened, and leveled, so that it will become Yangguan Avenue. In addition, a large number of disaster-stricken people flocked to Danshui, which alleviated the pressure on grain in Shaanxi.

Three edicts. When the drought came, the price of grain rose by less than 10 cents per bucket, which is simply a miracle. Then the fourth edict was issued, and the imperial court allocated three million. Let the shipping department in various places to requisition livestock forage, and sell it to the people of the nearby states and counties at a reasonable price, each horse, ox, donkey, mule, and luo, and the imperial court will first subsidize the consistent money to help the people continue to raise livestock, and after the drought, if they can protect those who do not slaughter, they will be rewarded with consistent money. This is a remarkable act of good governance, and the number of large livestock in the north has increased rapidly in recent years, with at least five million large animals. Coupled with the manipulation of some officials, the court had to pay fifteen million dollars. So that after the drought, these large livestock can be safely saved.

Many ministers are against it, it's too wasteful.

They don't know how hard it will be to keep it, because after two years of drought, much of the ground is dry and cracked, and there is not enough money for two of them. This is for the benefit of the people who can quickly resume production in the whole country after the drought. Zheng Lang didn't explain much, only said: "Take it from the people, use it for the people, I don't know how long the drought will last, the north is the center of the country, but because the harvest is not as good as the south, it is gradually falling behind, the right is to maintain the core of the country, do good governance." Otherwise, once the drought continues, the people will have a food shortage, and it will be more difficult to raise livestock, and they will inevitably slaughter livestock on a large scale. It's in a hurry, at most eat hundreds of catties and dozens of catties of meat, but after the disaster, a horse costs more than a dozen yuan, and a cow also has to cost three or four yuan. ”

Fu Bi sighed: "Xingzhi, good governance is good governance, the country's money will be more tight, how many years can it be repaid?" ”

"Take your time, Jingdong Road can probably repay it today, and the debt is getting less and less."

There are also those who oppose it, although they are kind to the people, the waste is indeed too serious. However, as these measures were implemented, the drought worsened day by day, but not a single citizen felt panicked. It would be the greatest miracle that no one had thought of yet......

The great drought came, and so did the Battle of Hezhou.

First of all, the imperial court received a report from the front line, saying that Wang Shao led the army from the Lugu Mountain, and dismounted and walked from one day to seven or eight times, that is, the march was less than ten hours a day, because the road was difficult to walk, and he had to dismount at seven or eight o'clock and lead the horse to climb the mountain and cross the mountains. Zhao Ji didn't know where Lugu Mountain was, so he was worried and asked Zheng Lang, who gave a detailed explanation.

Exposed Mountain is at the junction of Xizhou, Hezhou and Taozhou, the mountain is tall and reckless, the highest peak is close to 4,000 meters, higher than Taibai Mountain, and it is located in the northwest, the snow must not melt all year round, and the mountain peak is full of snow. There are also many places with permafrost climates. Therefore, the local people say that the Exposed Mountain is three feet three higher than the sky. Not to mention the cold and difficulty breathing, there are several difficulties, the first is that there is no decent road here, the second is on the Exposed Mountain, many areas are very cold, and then the Exposed Mountain, go to Taozhou, the weather becomes hot again, which will have a great impact on the temperature contrast of the soldiers.

Why, for the sons of the blind felt.

The three sons broke up, and the third Dong Yu was still alive and stayed in Huangzhou. The second child went to his father's Zun Ge City for many years, and died more than ten years ago, and his son Sa Ding could not stand on his own, and the departments were not satisfied, and basically withdrew from the stage of Hehuang.

Dong Yu is still the biggest force now, his son Lin died younger, Dong Yu let Huangzhou Yong Ali Gu as his adopted son, why choose this person as his adopted son, there are two reasons, Dong Yu has three wives, one is the Khitan princess Ling Jiemo, this princess doesn't matter. and his mother's cousin, Qiao, in the southwest of Hezhou. The other is the Xinmu clan, the Xinmu clan is quite prestigious in Tibet, and the relationship with Henan Guna, Longkui and Zhuqiang is very friendly. Qiao's is Dong Yu's love, and Xinmu's is a formal political relationship. In addition, there is a Khotanese concubine, who looks very beautiful, so that Dong Yu put away the account, before the concubine married Dong Yu, with two drag oil bottles, one is called Ali Bone, one is called Southern Jiangsu Party Zheng, when she grows up, not only Ali Gu is brave and good at fighting, but also Southern Jiangsu Party Zheng is also brave and good at fighting, and the general of the Southern Jiangsu Party is also wise and brave.

Therefore, Dong Yu is ready to hand over the future Huangzhou foundation to Ali Gu for management.

However, if there is no blood relationship, not many people may admit it. This has nothing to do for the time being, Zheng Lang talked about blind felt again. Compared with the other two people, Ding is thin, and the vein of Blind Felt is very large, with six sons, Mu Zheng, Dong Gu, Jie Wu Yanzheng, Blind Wu Qi, Ba Felt Jiao, and Ba Felt Mo. Most followed Mu Zheng. There are also some brothers scattered in the area of Hemintao. Ba Felt Kok was running Taozhou at this time.

Wang Shao's plan was to destroy his henchmen first. Otherwise, the front besieged Hezhou, and the Bayu Corner was in Taozhou, and the Song Dynasty could counterattack Xizhou, Guweicheng, Minzhou and Qinzhou in the Song Dynasty, dragging the Song army back. Or you can support you at any time. Even if the felt corner does not move, if Mu Zheng fails, he can retreat to Taozhou and force again. The two brothers can retreat to the depths of Tibet's abdomen to escape, and they can make a comeback in the future. What I am most afraid of is that the brothers will not retreat to Qinghai, but go south to Sichuan, and form a line with the local Tibetan and Qiang people, then the whole Sichuan will be in chaos. It is possible that it will evolve into the second Yellow Nest of the Song Dynasty. This is not impossible, some time ago Tubo attacked Linjiang Village, that is, Ba Felt Horn envoy.

Therefore, if you want to destroy the wood sign, you must destroy the felt horn.

The explanation was clear, and Zheng Lang also sighed slightly.

The length of this military operation did not exceed two thousand miles. But the difficulty can be said to be almost comparable to that of the Red Army climbing snowy mountains and crossing grasslands. There are many places with a tundra climate, and Cui Wei's vast mountains and snowfields. There are many places where the mountains and forests are dense and almost impassable, and there are also places where there are flat grass valleys and large gorges, which are very difficult for people to imagine.

Zhao Ji also muttered: "Exposed Mountain, Exposed Mountain." ”

But Wang Shao's military action has a lot of intentions, because the southeast of Xiangzi City to the south of Shannan tribes were wiped out, and the forts were also built, throwing away the Khitan does not count, only the Song army is good at attacking the city, and the Tubo and Western Xia people are not good at attacking the city, and the rear is worry-free, so he led the army to rush to the exposed mountain.

After Mu Zheng heard this, he was very anxious, Taozhou not only has his younger brother Ba Yujiao, but also the fourth brother Blind Wu Qi, and Taozhou is also his important arm.

After Wang Shao heard this, he was overjoyed, after all, Hezhou City was tall, and the losses of forcibly attacking it would be very heavy, so he lured it out, just right, immediately divided his troops into two ways, continued to climb the exposed mountain all the way, turned around all the way, and Jing Sili's army attacked from the north to the south, Mu Zheng was defeated again, and in a hurry, he was defeated very badly, and he didn't know where to flee. At first, Jie Biao saw the army coming north, and it was the Mu Zheng army, but he didn't have time to take precautions, and he didn't know it until he was under the city gate in front of him, and the Song army on Jingyuan Road attacked Hezhou from Xiangzi City, forcing each other inside and out, Jie Biao had to open the city gate and surrender to the Song Dynasty.

Jing Sili surrendered, and Wang Shao rushed to the south again, and this time Wang Shao was not very satisfied, because Mu Zheng escaped again. Moreover, when he arrived in Hezhou, the terrain became more and more complicated, and the scouts did not know where Mu Zheng had fled. Helplessly, depressed crossed the explicit mountain.

There are almost no roads in the open mountain, Ba Yu Jiao didn't care at all in Taozhou, the Song army suddenly appeared, Taozhou City was not guarded at all, Ba Yu Jiao ordered to prepare to defend the city, but the soldiers could not gather, what to use to defend the city. Seeing that his subordinates were in a mess, some people were timid, and they were so frightened that they cried, this battle could not be fought, and Ba Felt Kok surrendered to Kaecheng. Wang Shao's attack did not stop, and then to Ma Lianchuan, the blind Wu Qi was also caught off guard and had to descend. The army waved his finger again, dialed it, and then opened the Taoshan Road, the leader of Minzhou saw that the Song army was menacing, and he was invincible, and took the initiative to hand over Minzhou City for meritorious service. When Wang Shao was building the forts in Hezhou, it was this person who obeyed the orders of Mu Zheng and Ba Yujiao to attack the villages of Taoshan in Linjiang of the Song Dynasty in Minzhou. This time, everyone became a good grandson together, not only surrendered, but when they hit here, the Song army had no food, and the two obediently offered barley ten thousand stones, five hundred cattle, and two thousand sheep for the Song Dynasty soldiers to eat. Wang Shao wrote, Zhao Ji saw the drought coming, asked for money everywhere, did not think that it was a military gift, but the war trophies of the Song Dynasty, Wang Anshi persuaded and said: "Attack and take, obey and have, existing, it is not appropriate to accept its sacrifice empty, as a compensation for its price, but so I comfort the new attachment." ”

It doesn't necessarily work.

It was a battle, because the speed of the march was fast, the roads were isolated, and Wang Shao's troops were very small, and he went deep into the desperate domain, and he had not heard from him for a long time, which led to rumors that Wang Shao's entire army was annihilated. It wasn't until Minzhou was taken that the good news spread to the capital. But the pace of the battle has not stopped, the Qinglong clan of Taozhou is still not convinced, Wang Shao divided the troops again, let the brave general Zhang Yu go to the Xuanluo River (Gansu and Qinghai junction), break the Qinglong clan, this trip and beheaded more than 3,000 people, and obtained tens of thousands of cattle, sheep and horses. Seeing that the Song army was so fierce, Diezhou Qin ordered the expedition, and Guo Weiguo, the great leader of Taozhou, came to the Song army one after another, and sacrificed the city to obey the order.

God-like battles.

There are only a few thousand lone soldiers, facing tens of thousands of enemies, marching for 54 days, traveling nearly 2,000 miles, breaking through the strong enemy, recovering the five states of He, Min, Tao, Stack, and Tang, if you go to the previous Xizhou, and the Tongyuan army, a year's battle, a total of six states and one army! Make the Song realm west of the Yellow River, south to Bashu, north to Gaolan, connect Qingtang Marba Mountain, increase by 3,000 miles, capture tens of thousands of people in the disobedient Tibetan tribe, and appease more than 300,000 accounts of the large and small Tibetan tribes.

Zhao Ji was overjoyed, since the defeat of the Song Dynasty in the Gaoliang River, the loss of the guard, has not appeared for a long time such a hearty victory, even if Zheng Lang and Wang Shao also won a great victory in Jingyuan Road before, but did not open up the territory, Wang Shao was awarded the Duanming Palace Bachelor and Longtu Pavilion Bachelor Zuo Counseling Doctor, Zhang Yu was the Xuanzhou Observation Envoy Zhitongyuan Army Quan Xihe Road Chief, Gao Zunyu was the Minzhou Assassin History, Zhiminzhou, the introduction of the deputy envoy Zhang Shouyue Zhitong Yuanjun, and Li Xian of the Imperial Pharmacy Institute sent money to the whole army for the Yaojun regimental training envoy, Wang Junwan was the Imperial City Envoy, Yingzhou Assassin History, and gave 500 silk horses; Walking horses to bear, six houses to make Li Yuankai for the protocol to send money, Dali Temple Cheng Ji moved two officials. Wait a minute.

Still can't express the joy in Zhao Shao's heart, and wants to give Wang Shao a festival.

Hearing this, everyone was dumbfounded. (To be continued.) )