Chapter 441 Xiushu is relieved

Wen Tianxiang is worthy of being a champion, with tens of millions of articles in his belly, looking at the more and more Xiangyang soldiers gathered around, he continued: "Ladies and gentlemen, in recent years, you must have deeply understood that in the Xiangyang army, and even in the entire Great Song Army, the situation of withholding military rations and bullying soldiers for no reason is becoming more and more rare? This series of phenomena shows that our army's military discipline has been fundamentally well rectified, and only by administering the army strictly can we win all battles, and that officers and men at all levels should be rewarded and rewarded with clear rewards and punishments for their military exploits, and only then can officers and men kill the enemy with all their might. Back then, the Yuejia army of our dynasty was called by the Jin people as 'shaking the mountain and shaking the Yuejia army.' The reason for this must be known to everyone, such a strong army is bound to reappear in the Xianchun Dynasty, and in the near future, the Mongols will definitely say, 'Shaking the mountains is easy, shaking the Great Song army is also difficult.' This is what His Majesty the Emperor requires of our army, and he hopes that our Xiangyang Military Region will be the first to do this. You ......"

Speaking of this, Wen Tianxiang paused for a moment, then suddenly raised his voice and asked, "Heroes of the Great Song Dynasty, can you do it?" ”

"Yes." At first, only a few messy voices sounded, but soon a loud voice gathered from the castle tower: "Yes! We will. ”

"Okay, the lower officials should tell the emperor." Wen Tianxiang finally said, "Heroes, the next official will leave." I hope to hear everyone's heroic deeds often in Lin'an. ”

In the afternoon of the same day, Wen Tianxiang, accompanied by a reporter from the only newspaper in Xiangyang City, visited the entire Xiangyang City, had a warm conversation with the gentry and people in the city, and exchanged views on the current situation in Xiangyang City and the determination of the imperial court to resist Mongolia.

At the same time, Shi Yanzhi and Li Beiyang held secret talks in the conference hall of the Marshal's Mansion on the current military situation in Xiangfan and several major generals of the Xiangyang Military Region. After that, Lu Wenhuan asked: "Master Shi, now the Mongols are bombarding the east of Xiangyang City in turn, and the stone throwing machines of our dynasty are slightly behind in terms of number and attack distance, I don't know if Your Majesty has any instructions, when can you use the artifact?" ”

Shi Yanzhi smiled and said: "Lord Lu, don't worry, Your Majesty said that it will take some time for the use of the artifact, first, it will take at least 100,000 people to gather in the Mongolian East Road army outside Xiangyang City, and second, it will depend on the number of artillery shells in our dynasty, therefore, Your Majesty expects that it will be between March and April next year." ”

Lu Wende said: "That is to say, it will take a few months." ”

Shi Yanzhi replied: "Yes, judging from the tactics of Ashu, the strategy of the Mongols is exactly the same as the encirclement and counter-encirclement that Your Majesty said, so as long as the reinforcements of our dynasty gradually increase, the Mongols will inevitably increase their military strength in Xiangyang." As for the situation at the east gate, our army had to grit its teeth and hold on, and as soon as the Mongolian army destroyed it, our army repaired it. Besides, there is a limit to the number of times the stone thrower can be thrown, and the Mongols will eventually stop. As long as our army can't hold out, the Mongols will definitely not be able to bear it, and this time to the south, since Kublai Khan has made up his mind, he will never just besiege and not attack. They are waiting for the moment, waiting for reinforcements from our army, hehe, soon. ”

"Master Shi, Mongolian Liu Cheng is building a shipyard in the area of Wanzhang Mountain, does our army need to break it?" Lu Wenhuan then asked.

"No, since the Mongols are making a big show and not hiding it at all, they just hope that our army will take the initiative to go out of the city, and Your Majesty has a word, so that the Mongols can bet as much as possible on Xiangyang City."

"Yes, sir."

"Master Shi." Lu Wende hesitated for a while before asking, "You and I have been friends for several years, and I don't know if I should mention something?" ”

"Master Lu, what's the matter? Please speak. ”

"Lord Shi, the reform of the provincial system of our dynasty has been completed, and the imperial court has notified Wen Huan to serve as the first governor of Hubei Province after the restructuring.

"What, Lord Lu, let General Lu Wenhuan take the position of governor, are you still afraid of humiliation? General Wenhuan, what do you say? ”

Lu Wende hurriedly said: "My lord, it's not an insult. Master Shi, you and I are not outsiders, and now Master Li is also here, so Lu will tell the truth. Two adults, my Lu family has the favor of the first emperor, and I have to be the favor of the imperial master, so I have been guarding Xiangyang. In the past ten years, Lu has indeed had selfish intentions, so that more than half of the main generals of the Xiangyang Military Region are from my Lu family, and this is undoubtedly my Lu family's private army. His Majesty is wise and martial, regardless of Lu's faults, and even more Feng Wenhuan is the governor of Hubei Province, but Lu feels deeply inappropriate, after the incident of the field, Lu often reflects on the past, and thinks that he has two major mistakes, one is the matter of Liu Cheng back then, and the other is the matter of this field. No matter what happens, I can't regret it, Your Majesty's imperial grace is immense, and my Lu family should be broken to pieces to repay the emperor's kindness, but please retract Your Majesty's appointment to Wen Huan. Please, please, two. ”

Shi Yanzhi and Li Beiyang glanced at each other, thought for a moment and said: "Lord Lu, I will tell Your Majesty about this matter, and before Your Majesty reconsiders, General Wen Huan will temporarily exercise the power of the governor of Hubei Province." ”

Lu Wende nodded and said, "This is natural. ”

The next day, Wen Tianxiang and others crossed the bridge on the Han River and went to Fancheng for inspection.

Although it was only two days, the arrival of the Qincha brought great confidence to the soldiers and people of Xiangfan, and the shadow of the artillery attack of the Mongol army for several days gradually disappeared.

The day after Wen Tianxiang and the others left, the only newspaper in Xiangyang City worked overtime to publish a special issue for this purpose, which was distributed free of charge in Xiangfan and Xiangfan cities. This special issue published the entire itinerary of the Qincha Daren Wen Tianxiang in Xiangfan, the determination of the imperial court to resist Mongolia, and the hope of the Wen people that all the Xiangfan soldiers and civilians would unite to win this arduous and protracted defense war. At the same time, Wen Tianxiang also took advantage of this newspaper to preach that the government would resolutely crack down on illegal businessmen who raised prices and took advantage of the opportunity to make profits, and guaranteed that there would be no shortage of basic living materials in Xiangfan and Xiangfan.

One afternoon a few days later, I summoned Wen Tianxiang and the other three in the war room of the Funing Palace, accompanied by the Taishi Jia Nidao and the Military Affairs Yuan Lu Xiufu.

"Your Majesty, Ministers."

"No courtesy, the three Aiqing have worked hard."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

After a brief etiquette, Wen Tianxiang reported to me on the trip to Xiangyang.

"The Mongols' approach is undoubtedly to force our DPRK to send reinforcements, so that they can take the opportunity to surround the point and send reinforcements." After listening to the debriefing, I started by saying.

"Your Majesty." Wen Tianxiang said, "From all indications, the Mongols are not in a hurry to attack the city, but are only bluffing, attacking with long-range weapons such as catapults, and at the same time gradually advancing their positions and adopting a step-by-step approach to reduce the encirclement." ”

"Well, in fact, Kublai Khan's techniques and tactics are correct, and it is also advisable for the Mongols to improve the stone thrower, but they would never have thought that there are still firearms in the world."

Lu Xiufu said: "Your Majesty, although firearms have their advantages, the minister feels that the most important thing is that Your Majesty can perceive the opportunity and anticipate the enemy in advance, which is the biggest advantage that our dynasty has." ”

I smiled and said, "Junshi, the recruits in each military region have been put in place, is there a vacancy for the generals who will lead the troops?" ”

"Your Majesty, for ordinary generals, the common practice of all military regions is to promote the original veterans, but there is a lack of high-level generals."

"Well, the so-called thousands of troops are easy to obtain, but one will be hard to find. By the way, Junshi, this year's imperial examination has ended, I specially summoned Zhang Zhensun, the champion of this department, although this person is a scholar, but he is also quite interested in marching and arranging, I have asked for his opinion, and plan to let him serve in the Military Affairs Academy, maybe in the future he will be a Confucian general, just like Yin Yinglei and Zan Wanshou. ”

Zhang Zhensun, a native of Shunde, Guangdong, according to the course of history, will be hand-picked as the champion in the seventh year of Xianchun three years later, he is upright and loyal, and then passes through Guangzhou, Guangzhou was conquered by the Mongolian army, Zhang Zhensun was defeated and captured, and he was brave and righteous.

After my arrival, Zhang Zhensun's imperial examination was advanced by one session.

Lu Xiufu said: "Okay, the minister will arrange this matter." Lu Xiufu himself was born in the imperial examination, so he naturally has no exclusion from scholars joining the army.

"Because of the war, the martial arts hall test of Jinke was postponed to the beginning of December, and I hope that this martial arts will also be fruitful. There are also the cadets of the military university, who will also be one of the main sources of generals in our DPRK army. ”

"Your Majesty." Jia Rudao suddenly said, "The minister went to the ministry on a business trip yesterday, and I heard from the officials of the ministry that after Marshal Yue's descendants learned that His Majesty worshiped Yue Temple, several young people came to the ministry to report a few days ago. ”

"Really? Yue Fei's descendants are scattered all over the place, not just the descendants of which branch? Xiao Qi, you will go to the Ministry of Officials in a while and transfer the information of these people. ”

"Yes, official."

"Okay, let's talk about the governor of Hubei Province, what do you think?"

Wen Tianxiang said: "Your Majesty, in Sichuan, Hubei, Anhui, and Jiangsu, because of the war, the governors of each province are concurrently served by the envoys of the local military districts. ”

"Master, what is your opinion?"

Jia Rudao smiled: "Your Majesty, what Lord Lu said about Liu Cheng is the fault of the minister, and the minister is guilty. His Majesty can tell Lu Wende that His Majesty trusts the Lu family very much and does not have any suspicion, and let Lu Wenhuan serve as the governor because of the war. ”

Shi Yanzhi said: "Your Majesty, the words of the Taishi are reasonable, support the army but not self-respect, and the minister seconded it." ”

Lu Wende's meaning is very obvious, for fear that the Lu family will be too powerful and cause suspicion in the royal family and the imperial court. I thought for a while and said, "Then according to the words of the Grand Master, I will personally repair a book to ease his heart." ”