On August 21, the Taohe Pacification Division was established, with Wang Shao as the consul general.

Finally, the true purpose of Wang Anshi's reform and the core content of all previous decrees have finally revealed its true colors! Why are you changing the law in such a hurry? Why don't you do enough preliminary work such as "official governance" first? There is an answer - war! Wars with Tibet, Western Xia, and Liao!

On the surface, this question can be summed up by another word, "rich countries and strong soldiers", but think about it: Are rich countries and strong soldiers unified? Not at all, or even the opposite!

History has proven a very interesting phenomenon countless times: the poorer the country, the stronger the fighting power. Once the country is rich and the people are rich, the combat effectiveness plummets... There are many examples, such as the destruction of the Roman Empire by the barbarians, the chaos of the Western Jin Dynasty, and the destruction of the Song, Liao, and Jin...

Therefore, this "rich country and strong army" is just a slogan that is easy to publicize. The real purpose of Wang Anshi's reform is only one, that is, to quickly raise military spending! There is nothing else to serve this purpose...

A careful study of the causes and consequences of the reform will reveal a fact: Song Shenzong and Wang Anshi must have loved their country fiercely and took the revitalization of China as their own responsibility. Especially Song Shenzong, he wanted to make the country rich and strong, defeat the Western Xia, recover Yanyun, subjugate the Liao State, and restore the glory of the Han and Tang Dynasties. This is a great ambition that surpasses the lifelong achievements of Zhao Kuangyin, Taizu of the Song Dynasty, and Zhao Guangyi, Taizong.

It's just that the process of achieving the steps is by no means full of benevolence and morality in the traditional sense as people usually think, and the path they have chosen to revitalize is very dangerous and a quick fix. And this is a terrible double-edged sword, from beginning to end, if you want to succeed, you can't go wrong in every step!

At this time, the Liang Empress and Liang Yibury sisters and brothers of the Western Xia Dynasty had already begun to attack the Tubo of the Hehuang Department. This is the surrounding national conditions listed by Wang Shao in "Pingrong Ce", with the unification of Western Xia at this time and the strength that was still at the beginning of the founding of the country, to attack the Hehuang Tubo tribe that was divided into scattered sands. Annexation is a matter of time! Even if the Song Dynasty is out of safety, it must act quickly, otherwise what awaits is a super ugly death! This is the reason why Wang Anshi's pace of reform is so fast...

Hehuang will be broken at any time, and war is imminent! At that time, the Song Dynasty wanted money but no money, and there were no soldiers... If you want to say anything more about going step by step, straightening out the relationship, and reforming after doing a good job in the administration of officials, it is completely a fool's dream!

For this reason, after Wang Shao had just submitted "Ping Rong Ce", Song Shenzong and Wang Anshi supported him without reservation. If you want a position, you will have a position, and you will be the director of the Northwest Taohe Pacification Division, and all the original leaders who have conflicts with him will be withdrawn!

The opening side of the Xihe River is about to start! Wang Shao wanted to establish an image before the real war began. The Song army was the best friend of the Tubo and Qiang people, although we rode horses, held knives, and killed people along the way. But we're so cute...

With this idea, Wang Shao chose the first target: Yu Longke, the Tubo man with the greatest power in the Qing and Tang Dynasties. There are nearly 200,000 people in his tribe, and there are also an unknown number of Qiang people in his territory...

In the face of such aliens, with the power vacuum of the Song Dynasty in the local area at that time, Wang Shao actually dared to do such a thing: one day, he only took a few cavalry, crossed the border like a tour of the mountains and rivers, entered the Qingtang Dynasty where the Tubo people were powerful, and directly found Yu Longke. chatting with him and analyzing the future of the Tibetan people, the two spoke very harmoniously, and before they knew it, it was dark. Wang Shao actually stayed in Yu Longke's tent that night, lying calmly until dawn the next day...

After dawn, everything was settled. His eloquence. Especially his courage convinced the Tubo people, Yu Longke promised to raise the clan to return to the Song Dynasty and become a courtier of the Great Song Dynasty from now on!

Look at it all. Some people may say that it's not a big deal, there have been people in the Song Dynasty who have done this before-the Chong Shiheng of Qingjian City. The old Xianggong was able to turn Qingjian City into a nightmare for the Xixia people back then, that is, he quickly subdued the nearby Qiang people, and the methods used were very similar to Wang Shao's this time.

But there is a difference, although Qingjian City was newly built, after all, it was in the northwest frontier of the Song Dynasty, and the power of the Song Dynasty was always shrouded in that area. Second, the Qiang people are different from the Tubo and Western Xia, they have never established their own political power since the Wuhu Rebellion, so they are the grass on the wall. But Yu Longke is a native of Tibet, and he is a nobleman of Tubo in the Hehuang Tribe...

But a small incident that happened later can show the essence of Wang Shao. This man doesn't do anything he doesn't know what he's sure about. Yu Longke went to Kaifeng City to meet Song Shenzong, and after the official position and treatment were available, he made an additional request: I heard that Bao Zhongcheng is a loyal minister of the imperial court, please give the surname Bao...

Bao Zhongcheng is Bao Zheng. This figure who is ordinary in the official history and immortal in the wild history is the idol of Yu Longke, a native of Tubo. Shenzong agreed to him and gave him a name, and from then on he was called Bao Shun...

This shows that Wang Shao's preparations are very good, and the reason why he dares to ride alone to see Yu Longke is because he sees that this person has a Great Song complex and can surrender...

On the 27th, Wang Anshi's son Wang Yan was appointed as the crown prince Zhongyun and Chongzheng Hall storyteller, Wang Yan was a standard Legalist believer, and went further than his father. When he was 13 years old, he listened to others talk about the military of Shaanxi, and he strongly advocated recovery, and at this time, his father strongly supported Wang Shao. He had written more than 20 articles on world affairs, and all these policies were printed and sold on the market, which was naturally easy to attract the attention of the emperor, and was strongly recommended by Deng Juan, Zeng Bu and other new party backbones. But Wang Yan is really a loyal believer in the Yifa family, and it is said that he once said to his father Wang Anshi, "But Han Qi and Fu Bi will be the head of the city Cao, why not work with the new law" openly challenged the ancestral family law of the Great Song Dynasty 'not killing scholars and doctors', and also intensified the contradictions between the old and new parties...

This month, the Yellow River broke again in Caocun, a state of art. Governor Marshal Liu Jian urgently informed Cheng Hao, who was hundreds of miles away, of the disaster. Cheng Hao galloped overnight, and after arriving at the scene, he said to Liu Lian, "This big break, the capital will be in danger." In a hurry, please dispatch all the soldiers in this state and follow me to rescue and relieve the disaster! The public can personally lead the forbidden army to be my backup" Liu Jian also immediately gave the seal to the "gentleman's own use" As soon as Cheng Hao got the seal, he immediately summoned all the Xiang army, "The imperial court is raising Er, etc., just for this matter!" Cao Cun will make the capital dangerous! Today, I will share weal and woe with you, and I will not stop if I don't block the Yellow River." Of course, for the Yellow River during the Song Dynasty, the 'blocking' was definitely temporary, and the 'breach' was always non-stop...

On September 19, Xia Huizong Li Bingchang sent an envoy to pay tribute again, requesting the return of Suizhou. Rejected.

On October 17, the seventh new law, the Three Houses for Tai Students, on education, was introduced: increasing the number of Tai students in Guozijian Middle School. The students are divided into 700 students in the outer dormitory, 200 in the inner dormitory, 100 students in the upper dormitory3, etc. Students with excellent character and learning can be exempted from the imperial examination and directly appointed to official positions after inspection.

On the 21st, Wang Anguo, the younger brother of Wang Anshi, was appointed as the secretary of the Chongwen Academy. Wang Anguo opposed the change of the law, and often admonished his brother that the world was raging and he was not happy with the new law, and he was all to blame on his brother, and he was afraid that it would be a family disaster.

In January of the 5th year of Xining (1072), Li Bingchang of Xia Huizong married his sister to Lin Pubi, the son of Dong Yu of Tubo Zanpu.

On March 14, Li Rizun, the pilgrimage sect of Jiaozhi, passed away. His son Renzong Li Qiande was a young heir. is about to challenge the Great Song Dynasty, and then he was hit by Guo Kui!

On the 26th, the 8th new law - the City Easy Law was launched! This is also a controversial decree in Wang Anshi's new law! And it is specially tailored for Wang Shao.

Fighting a war costs money! The "market change law" is actually the deepening and refinement of the "even-loss method", and the grasp of money at a higher level. In the capital, a special department of "City Yiwu" was set up, and the first presiding officer was Lu Jiawen, the judge of the third division. 1 million yuan was withdrawn from the inner treasury as the capital, and the government took over the trading of various materials inside and outside the capital. The specific method is to recruit tooth people (representatives of merchants' guilds) from the city, and they negotiate the price of goods with merchants from all over the country who come to Beijing to do business. Local businessmen in the capital can participate without capital, and use industry and gold silk as collateral. Loan to the state for business, and return the payment after maturity, plus interest ranging from one or two cents.

To be fair, this new law is the most unsuccessful of Wang Anshi's new laws. Because it has gone back, it has not only cracked down on the big businessmen who manipulated the capital market and raised prices before. At the same time, it also exterminated merchants from all over the country... The state monopolizes all business in the world, is there still a way for ordinary people to live? The commercial market of the Great Song Dynasty, which had been active before, was hit hard after the implementation of the City Change Law. Later, the tooth people recruited by the city resigned voluntarily: to serve the country. I'm all broke! Will you kindly allow me to resign?

This is really cruel to say, but it is a policy that no better can be put on military spending!

Wang Shao needs military spending and money, and that is the army farming and selling grain. What self-sufficiency can't achieve! To do this, he needed to do business, and he needed traders from all over the country to operate on the frontier. Then it can only be developed by the power of the state. The state should take out the capital, and the special person should be responsible, and encourage businessmen to protect businessmen and make money. With money, there is everything, and an organic chain of operation will be formed - private wealth collection, turning into military spending, winning wars, expanding the territory, and recovering funds...

This is the real purpose and means of Wang Anshi's reform, otherwise, with the unprecedentedly developed commercial system of the Great Song Dynasty and the agricultural production that is much more advanced than the previous generation, as long as the cost is saved as Sima Guang said, the treasury will definitely be enriched, and there will be no such toss at all!

But what about defending national security and winning wars? Saving one by one slowly, discussing things with scholars and big businessmen, it takes the year of the monkey to accumulate a huge amount of military spending? What's more, as long as the war starts, the money will flow away like flowing water, and even a mountain of gold can't support a few big wars! At that time, how should I ask for follow-up funds from the doctors? Only by raiding the house can you have time! What's more, as long as war is mentioned, all the gentlemen will bring out the holy commandment of Confucius—it is a murder weapon, and we must not use it unless we have to, and we must not use it first in any case. We must be benevolent, moral, and edifying. Emperor Taizong said that "there is no danger in Germany"...

On May 3, the king of Jin, Yelurenxian, died. At this point, the Great Liao State has lost its last umbrella. What awaits it is the remnants of more than half a century of reel...

And this month in the Great Song Dynasty, Wang Shao officially launched the Battle of Xihe! The Battle of Xihe is an important historical event that occupies a unique chapter in the Chronicle of the Song Dynasty. It is very unique, in a narrow sense, the opening of the Xihe River refers to the battle that began at this time in May 1072, led by Wang Shao, to conquer the Hehuang tribe and Tibet. It lasted three years until 1075, when Wang Shao was promoted to the rank of privy deputy came to an end. In a broad sense, the Xihe River opened intermittently, and it was entangled until the fall of the Northern Song Dynasty and the Chongning period of Huizong of the Song Dynasty, led by Wang Hou, the son of Wang Shao, and the great eunuch Tong Guanjian to conquer Hehuang again, and at this time, a full 30 years have passed since the time of Shenzong's expansion... When catastrophe strikes, every move that precedes it is considered one of the countless straws that preceded the last straw that broke the camel's back. This was even more true of the Battle of Xihe. It is hard to say what it has done, and it has various interpretations and evaluations in the history books...

Before that, where did the Prophet War take place? The distribution of each location and potential force. Looking up the information, it is easy to have some answers. Xi is Xizhou, the river is Hezhou, and Huang is Huangzhou. It seems clear, but it is not enough, their precise location is related to how Wang Shao set the order of conquest. You have to know this before you can understand how the Battle of Xihe was fought and how easy it is...

Turning over the map, the northwestern part of the Great Song Dynasty is Huizhou on Jingyuan Road and Qin, Feng, Cheng and Jie4 states on Qinfeng Road, and then Taozhou to the west. With Taozhou as the central point, it is Tibetan, Tibetan, and Tibetan outside the Hehuang Department to the west. To the south was Sichuan of the Song Dynasty. In the north are Xizhou, Hezhou, Lanzhou, Huangzhou...

Maybe in everyone's hearts, they will come up with such an answer - Hehuang Tubo is just like this, a large area of land in the Song Dynasty separates it, and it can't threaten the hinterland of the Song Dynasty in any way? Sorry, that's not right! Understand the location, and be clear about the range of potential forces of Hehuang Tubo at this time! At this time, Hezhou was occupied by Mu Zheng, the son of Blind Yu, the second son of Hasluo. Huangzhou is their base camp, inherited by Dong Yu, the descendant of the Siluo lineage and the third son. Outside these two areas, their tentacles have stretched very far, and the farthest places have reached Minzhou, Gongzhou...

Above the 2 states of Chengdu and Jie is Minzhou, above Minzhou is Gongzhou, and on their right is Qinzhou, the hinterland of Qinfeng Road in the Great Song Dynasty! In the vast area of land between He, Huang and Min, and Gongzhou, the Han people had very little power, and even survival was a problem, and there was no management at all. Because in addition to the Tibetan people, this area is also full of Qiang people who fall on all sides at any time like grass on the wall. It turned out that these Qiang people were even more difficult than the Tibetans, they had almost no principles at all, and they rebelled at any time...

Only in this situation can the temper of Tubo Zampu Siluo be cultivated. We all know that Cao Wei crushed his prime minister Li Lizun in Sandu Valley, which created conditions for him to become independent in the future, so every time he mentioned Cao Wei's name, he increased his forehead with both hands and bowed his head to the southeast... (To be continued......)