Bai Yijie put down the picture scroll, glanced at Zheng Yunming, who was contemplative, from the corner of his eye, and continued:

"It would be too negative to say that as long as you accumulate national strength and wait for the opportunity. Fortunately, the Mongols occupied the Central Plains not long ago, and they had no intention of using the Han system. ”

"The Mongols originated from Mobei and were crude and unliterate. They governed the Central Plains by relying on the local powerful clans, sending talented men to infiltrate, spy on intelligence, pass on news, drive a wedge between the Mongols and the Han Chinese, and even lurk around the Great Khan, misleading the economic and political strategies of the Mongols and luring them into a favorable path for us."

"It's a risky thing to do." Although Zheng Yunming does not have much practical experience at present, since the southern crossing, the country has always regarded the news from the north and the south as the most important task in determining the fortunes of the country.

"Using this weak country to resist the millions of fierce beasts in the north is a very risky thing in itself." Bai Yijie shook his fan and said indifferently: "If it weren't for the wise and brave people, no one would have come to this troubled water." ”

Zheng Yunming looked at his confident appearance, perhaps in his heart, he already had a comprehensive plan for how to lay out the northern spy network.

Yang Luo suddenly said: "It is not enough to rely on spies to transmit news, the Mongols have done a very perfect secrecy system, and the army's mobility ability is unparalleled in the world. ”

Bai Yijie turned around and said to Yang Luo: "That's right, so the country should place a commander in each of the three directions of Lianghuai, Jinghu, and Guangxi, and send troops to build cities, accumulate grain and grass, and be ready to deal with the enemy's attack at any time." ”

Yang Wei frowned slightly, and asked, "Why do you have to fortify in Guangxi?" ”

"Guangxi has to be fortified, because Sichuan is difficult to hold." Bai Yijie said unhurriedly: "The news reported by the travelers who came back from Shukou that since the fourth prince of Mongolia led the army to ravage the three passes, even the two most elite cavalry troops in Shukou, Xuanfeng and Youyi, have also collapsed, and even pretended to be identities and falsely claimed to be Mongols to plunder the people. The little remaining defensive force in Shukou is only 20,000 at most, but the enemy army often counts in the hundreds of thousands every time it attacks, and once the enemy penetrates deep into Tangao, Sichuan, the cavalry comes and goes, and it is even more irresistible. ”

"So Sichuan will lose. The problem with losing Sichuan is that the enemy can use Sichuan to implement their usual strategy of slashing their belly. ”

Wang Deng made a fist with his left hand and slapped his right palm: "What does Mr. mean Dali?" ”

"It's worthy of Jing Song, it's a little thorough. Yes, after the enemy penetrates the defenses of Sichuan, he will immediately turn his troops to Dali. Bai Yijie said: "Dali has been lying in the southwest for three hundred years, although there are many Fanrong, they no longer know how sharp the military revolution is. The northern iron cavalry suddenly broke in, and the officials and people were bound to panic and could not resist. Once Dali falls, the enemy can drive straight from Guangxi and penetrate deep into the empty rear of Jinghu. ”

"It's not that easy." Zheng Yunming said: "The north of Guangnan West Road and the south of Jinghu South Road are covered with the feudal states of the imperial court, and the natives are fierce and strong. Even if the Tartars really had 100,000 troops, it would be difficult for them to pass easily. ”

In his later memories, he only remembered that the Mongols had repeatedly invaded Guangxi in vain, but he did not know that the Mongol army had successfully diverted to the north of Guangxi several times. It's just that it didn't succeed in getting around the back of Jinghu Road.

Bai Yijie suddenly turned to Zheng Yunming: "This is not an easy or difficult question, this is a matter of the commander's determination, the Jin people can't hold Henan with 200,000 elite soldiers, the Mongols really want to make up their minds to start cutting their bellies, can Jingnan's Prison Prefecture stop them?" ”

He continued: "At present, the state has only a few hundred regular soldiers stationed in each of the three prefectures on the border of Guangxi, and the strongest force is only 2,500 soldiers directly under the jurisdiction of Jingjiang Prefecture. At this point, it was difficult for the army to protect the territory and the people, and it was completely powerless to resist the Mongol army. ”

"So within ten years at the latest, at least 30,000 people should be prepared in the direction of Quang Nam West Road. These 30,000 elite soldiers are all brave warriors who are good at mountain warfare, holding the key roads from Dali to Guangxi, and responding to emergencies in Dali at any time. ”

"It's a surefire solution." Zheng Yunming said: "It's a pity that the country's troops are insufficient, and it is already a fluke to be able to hold the two Huai in Jinghu. It is not an overnight thing to prepare 30,000 elites in the direction of Guangxi. ”

"This matter is open to the public." Bai Yijie said: "But there is one thing that must be done immediately, otherwise the country is in danger of being destroyed immediately." ”

Zheng Yunming lowered his head and thought for a while, and asked, "What Mr. said is to rectify the water army?" ”

"Sure enough, I put all the borderlands of the country in my chest." Bai Yijie praised it, and then said: "There is no doubt that the navy in the south is very powerful now. With the rafts and leather boats made by the Mongols, they were no match for our battleships. But there are still two problems with the trolls. ”

"First, the naval forces in various places are set up by the local generals themselves, and the ships and sailors are prepared by themselves, and the quality and combat effectiveness of the naval forces are uneven. For example, at present, Meng Dutong in Huangzhou, Li Dutong in Zhenjiang, and Jiangdu in Hanyang all have very good naval teams in their hands. However, the naval armies set up in some small states and counties often only replace warships with civilian ships, and soldiers are only recruited indiscriminately and without training. ”

"Second, China's naval forces often operate on their own, lacking coordination and cooperation with the land armies. I heard that this time the Hu people marched into Jinghu, as long as there was an occasion for water warfare, they would inevitably send cavalry to the shore to shoot arrows to assist the naval army in combat. It often leads to the defeat of our army in a three-sided attack. The cooperation of all armies and the multi-faceted face of the enemy is the foundation of the art of war, and if you do not understand this, even if you have a powerful naval army, it will not help. ”

"I've heard a lot about the disadvantages of the water army in Lin'an." Zheng Yunming was referring to the mutiny of the Zhejiang naval army in the south of the Yangtze River before he left for Xiangyang to take office. "Not to mention the small fleet of the state and county, even the naval army directly under the direct jurisdiction of the Imperial Front Division stationed in Jingkou is also lax, once the slightest dissatisfaction is immediately held hostage to the commander to mutiny, and many of them are the sons of the nobles in Lin'an City, the Praetorian Guard is still like this, and the quality of the national naval army can be seen."

"I had the intention of rectifying, but I never waited for the right time."

Bai Yijie said: "Since the general is going to live in Xiangfan for a long time, it is impossible for the imperial court not to give the general the right to command the navy, I expect that later on, the navy will be transferred to your command, or you will be allowed to build your own fleet." This problem is not serious, because this in itself is what the Nanren are good at. Another flaw in armament was fatal to the Great Song Dynasty. ”

The muscles in the corners of Zheng Yunming's eyes twitched slightly, this other defect, the entire Great Song Dynasty knew the Dao, and the whole world knew the Dao, but in the past two hundred years, no matter how hard countless people with lofty ideals and outstanding wisdom have worked hard, the efforts to improve this defect have hardly achieved results.

"There is really no way to do this defect," Zheng Yunming's tone was low and heavy: "The only source of horses that the country can rely on that can be used as war horses is the mutual trade between Longnan and Tubo. Others, such as Sichuan horses, southern horses, and Guang horses, can only be used for transportation and grain baggage at most, and cannot be used for battlefield driving. Now the Mongols have invaded Shukou in a big way, and our army is retreating one after another. It has long lost contact with the Qin-Long-Tubo tribes, and recently received news that the eighteen ethnic groups of the western Tibetans, the main ones in Longnan, have been submissive to the Mongols. Since then, the source of Qin Ma has been completely cut off. ”

"In the future, the source of our war horses will only wither day by day. I fear that within 10 years, less than one-tenth of the number of war horses available in the country may be available today. ”

"Exactly, so from today onwards, we must not only take precautions, but also need to save the fire." Bai Yijie asked, "I wonder if General Lu Dao has seen the geographical map of Sichuan?" ”

Of course, the geographical map of Sichuan was seen in the previous life, and Zheng Yunming considered the meaning of Bai Yijie's question: "I have seen that the four roads of Sichuan and Shaanxi are composed of Chengdu Fu Road, Kuizhou Road, Lizhou Road and Tongchuan Fu Road, of which Tongchuan Mansion governs the land of Hanzhong in Longnan." The other three roads are settled in the Sichuan Basin, the edge of the basin is steep, the sky is difficult to cross, but once it is broken, the Chengdu Plain is a smooth road, almost no way to stop the enemy's iron cavalry. ”

"What else is there besides these four paths?" Bai Yijie suddenly asked inexplicably.

"Outside of these four roads, there are only the indigenous people of Southwest Yi, as well as the Daxue Mountain and Songpan places in the west."

Bai Yijie smiled meaningfully.

Zheng Yunming was stunned for a moment, and then hurriedly shook his head: "No, it can't be done, it is the place where Fan Rong lives, and the Han people rarely go there." Except for some of the Dangxiang people who fled from the hometown of Western Xia to the Minjiang Gorge, there was the world of Qingqiang and Tubo. ”

The so-called Qingqiang Tubo in his mouth refers to the Tubo tribe living in the western part of Sichuan, because this part of the tribe is influenced by the Qiang people, and the customs and habits are different from the Tubo tribes in Hehuang and Qinghai, so the Song people call it Qingqiang Tubo and distinguish it.

Zheng Yunming knew that contacting Qingqiang was not something that could be done casually, and it was almost an impossible task under the current situation.

"If it is said that the merchants of the Han region have been trading with the Qingqiang and Tubo, it is true, but this does not mean that there are willing people who are willing to take risks and go to the sparsely populated Fanrong area to carry out long-term activities, not to mention that the customs of the Han and Tibetan are very different, and the Tubo people take killing as a sign of bravery, and the possibility of dying is very high if someone who does not understand the local folk customs is sent in."

"What's more, it is only a matter of time before the enemy enters Sichuan, once they go down the Jialing River and go deep into the areas on both sides of the Jinsha River, they will separate the territory of the Great Song Dynasty from the Xifandi, and at that time, not only will they not be able to send people to help, but even the people they originally sent will be lost in the Tibetan region."