"Zen master, Zen master?" Zhou Ping shouted twice, and Zhishan came back to his senses, with an embarrassed smile on his face: "Jun Cheng forgive me, the old man has just lost his mind!" ”

Only then did Zhou Ping notice that Zhishan had lost a lot of weight at this time, and there were two deep grooves at the corners of his mouth, looking very sad, and he couldn't help asking: "Zen Master, what have you been busy with for more than half a year?" Why do you look so old? ”

Zhishan sighed: "Anyway, you are not an outsider, it doesn't hurt to talk to you, Tong Xiang went south, and I was busy with the alliance with the Jin people under Zhao Lianghei Zhao Bachelor to attack the Liao State." ”

"I see!" Zhou Ping said with a smile: "It is a great merit for a Zen master to go back and forth on the waves and subdue the barbarians!" I will come back from the future and bring some supplements, and I will let people wrap them up with the Zen master and bring them back to recuperate! ”

"What a barbarian!" Zhishan smiled bitterly: "It's okay to say that the Jin people have a grudge against the Khitans for the destruction of the country and the family, and they have destroyed the tombs and palaces of the ancestors of the Khitan dynasties, and the alliance is very strong, but the details of some states and counties are still a little weak, but it takes more effort to break down." It's above our Great Song Dynasty-" Speaking of this, Zhishan couldn't help but sigh and shut up, obviously he had something unspeakable in his heart, but it was not good for Zhou Ping to say it.

"But you have a dislike with that Bachelor Zhao? Things are not going well? Zhou Ping asked in a low voice.

"Not really!" Zhishan shook his head and said: "Bachelor Zhao knows a lot about Yandi, Liaodong, Jinren, and Khitan, and he is diligent in royal affairs, although he is not a pure minister, but he is indeed loyal to my Great Song Dynasty!" ”

"Why is that?" Zhou Ping asked.

but the best does not answer. He just sighed, lowered his head and said no more.

Hearing this, Zhou Ping had already guessed five or six points, and the one who could make Zhishan complain and couldn't say it was naturally the Xuanhe Heavenly Son who had no qualitative character. For this heroic monk who is bent on state affairs, even if the Son of Heaven is not in a thousand ways, he cannot complain and accuse. This kind of thing you can call historical limitations, but no matter how heroic you are, you didn't dare to take a step beyond the thunder pool in that era.

Zhou Ping waved his hand to let the servants serving on the side retreat, and said in a low voice: "But there are many times about the alliance with the Jin people? ”

Zhishan was stunned. Apparently he was stunned by Zhou Ping's words. But soon he also recovered, and sighed: "With Juncheng's cleverness, it is not difficult to guess." Yes, exactly. After the Fangla Rebellion. Tong Shuai led the troops south. The people who advocated the invasion of Liao are gone, and the voices of those who oppose the invasion of Liao are louder, and this matter has eased down again? ”

"Won't it?" Zhou Ping frowned and asked, "Xianggong Wang's levy of Liao money has not slowed down. The world is in turmoil, why has this military dispatch been slowed down again? ”

"Hey, Juncheng, you don't know that Wang Jiangming, it doesn't matter if you don't succeed in Liaocheng, it matters if the money is in your pocket first. He kept collecting money, but the matter of using soldiers was slowed down. If they want to send troops to attack Liao, how can the bow and arrow clubs, militias, and forbidden armies along the border of Hebei not count the numbers, make up for the shortfalls, select and assign competent generals, and affirm that military discipline is strictly drilled? It has been a few years since the alliance with the Jin people, but Hebei still looks peaceful, is this the appearance of sending troops to attack Liao? If you can restore Yanyun with money, do you need to wait until now? ”

Seeing the outbreak of Zhishan, Zhou Ping could only sigh secretly, this Northern Song Dynasty did not understand that people could see that the king of the upper echelons who was the king of Liao, the king of Ming, restored Yanyun was fake, and it was true to make money and take power to consolidate favors. It's just that these people who understand are not in the position to speak, and even if they say it in the seat, Zhao Ji can't listen to it. This Xuanhe Son of Heaven was later arrested and sent to the northern city to sit in the well and watch the sky, but he also suffered by himself, there was nothing to complain about, but he suffered from the thousands of Li people in the Central Plains who suffered from the chaos, they were really sitting at home, and the disaster came from the sky.

Zhishan sighed a few times and said: "It seems that we can only hope that Tong Shuai will pacify Fang La as soon as possible, and return to Tokyo to prepare for the invasion of Liao, he has also been in charge of the army in the northwest for more than ten years, and he should not be as nonsense as Wang Jiangming!" ”

"I don't think so!" Zhou Ping slandered, judging from his impression of his short contact with Tong Guan, this notorious eunuch in later generations had a certain strategy, but he was extremely scheming, and his main mind was not to win the battle but to play political struggle in the court. It's okay to deal with a grass coward like Fang La, but I'm afraid that I will have to suffer a lot when I encounter the Liao army and the Jin soldiers. Of course, he naturally wouldn't say this kind of thing in front of the supreme good, but just nodded and said that it was a blessing.

"By the way, Juncheng, what are your plans for the thieves on Jingxi Road?" Zhishan asked suddenly.

"Oh!" Zhou Ping said with a smile: "I plan to train the archers and township soldiers in each state first, and then make up for the shortage of the forbidden army stationed there, and then deal with those grass robbers!" ”

"It turns out that Juncheng already has a calculation in his chest!" Zhishan nodded, but the expression on his face was faint. Seeing this, Zhou Ping couldn't help but chuckle in his heart, and asked in a low voice: "Zen master, could it be that I am doing this, what's wrong?" ”

"It's good to catch thieves and train the township soldiers to protect themselves first!" Zhishan said this, and the meaning changed: "But you can't generalize!" Speaking of this, he saw the puzzled look on Zhou Ping's face, and said with a smile: "Juncheng, you are also from a humble background, you should know what the attitude of the people in the township towards the archers and township soldiers is, right?" ”

Zhou Ping's face changed slightly when he heard this, and he said in a low voice: "What the Zen master said is good, but I didn't think about it properly!" "It turns out that in the ancient Chinese countryside before the monetization of taxes, the peasants were actually most afraid of not taxes but labor, because taxes were all taxes in kind, which could be dealt with by cutting down on food and clothing or borrowing from relatives and neighbors, but labor was different, generally speaking, labor in ancient China was very unpaid, and because labor was often not in the hometown, with the ancient traffic conditions, once out of 10 people could come back alive. In addition, those who go out to undertake labor are often the pillars of the family, and once they miss the farming work, the family will only starve to death if there is no harvest. For example, after Wang Anshi of the Northern Song Dynasty implemented the armor protection law, the peasants in many places cut off the thumb of their right hand in order to avoid being an archer (without a thumb, they could not shoot a bow and arrow), and the people at that time called it "Fu Shou", in order to avoid bearing labor as a blessing, which shows the disgust of the peasants in the Northern Song Dynasty to the government's errand service. If, in accordance with Zhou Ping's method, the training of archers and township soldiers in various townships and towns was intensified, the result would inevitably be counterproductive, and a large number of poor peasants who could barely survive would go bankrupt and plunge into the mountains and forests to become a source of new bandits.

"So what? Please teach me! Zhou Ping asked in a low voice.

"According to the poor monks, most of the bandits were forced by hunger and cold to flee into the mountains and forests to survive. If you directly send troops to conscript, it will cost the court money and money, and poison the people, which is counterproductive. It is better to ask the imperial court to exempt the levy money levied by the states and counties, pardon the people in the mountains and forests, and then crusade against those stubborn people, so as not to punish them without teaching and disagreeing with the will of the saints! ”

"What the Zen master said is very true!" Zhou Ping nodded: "But this matter is very important, my official position is low, and I can only tell the Prime Minister and ask him to go to the court!" ”

"Hmm!" Zhishan nodded and sighed: "It is up to people to plan things, and it is up to heaven to make things happen." We are courtiers, and we can only do our best! ”

When Zhou Ping heard this, he knew that what Zhishan was talking about was not about bandits, but about forming an alliance with the Jin people to conquer Liao, and said in a low voice: "My Great Song Dynasty Son of Heaven has the protection of a hundred gods, and as I can see, the head of the thief Fang La is a matter of ten months, and when Tong Shuai returns to Beijing, he will naturally have a way to promote the matter of cutting Liao!" ”

"I hope so!" Zhishan nodded, and the brow that had been tightly locked slackened slightly.

April of the third year of Xuanhe. Shezhou asked Zhengshan.

The rugged mountain road is like a thin snake, winding through the valley, appearing and disappearing. It is said that it is a mountain road, but in fact it is just a beast path connected by many steep slopes, streams, and stone beams, and it is not so much for two-legged people as it is for four-legged hares, elk, and other wild animals.

A group of people walked on the path, and from a distance, it seemed that it was just a merchant who often appeared in the Wenzheng Mountain to buy animal skins, herbs, and other mountain goods, but if you look closer, you will find an abnormality. Although the people inside were all dressed as merchants, they were all extremely strong men, and the weapons they carried were even more sophisticated, which was by no means comparable to the whistle sticks and short knives carried by ordinary travelers for self-defense. What's more, the donkeys in the caravan carried not mountain goods or salt and cloth used to exchange mountain goods, but armor, dry food, arrows, and various military baggage.

Han Shizhong stood at the front of the line, a piece of linen cloth was tightly attached to him, looking a little small, like most riders who lived on horseback all year round, his legs were a little loopy. At this time, he panted and brandished his sword, cutting the thatch and shrubs that covered the road and clearing a road. He did this for two purposes, one was to open the way for the teams behind him; Second, this can also startle the long insects lurking in the weeds, so as not to cause unnecessary trouble. He is already thirty-three years old this year, and he is already a middle-aged man in ancient times, although he has been burly since he was a child, brave and brave, and has also experienced more than ten years in the Western Army, and has made a lot of military exploits, but he has not been promoted by his boss at this time, and he has not even mixed with the lowest military attache at this time, just a head of armor. After Tong Guan got the news that Fang La's lair helped Yuandong, he left the beauty of the surprise attack on the thief's lair to his henchman Xin Xingzong, and Xin Xingzong selected a group of elites from his command and let the generals lead the army, while Han Shizhong, who was famous for his bravery, took the position of the bannerman.

Han Shizhong had a meeting and was about to put down the road to take a breath, when suddenly there was a strange sound in his ears, as if someone was snoring on the side of the road. An innate instinct stopped him in his tracks. (To be continued......)