Wang Zeng's funeral was ordered by Zhao Zhen, and the Constitutional Yuan personally presided over the operation.

Except for Lu Yijian because of physical problems, everyone attended the funeral and expressed their condolences to Wang Zeng.

Zhang Shixun and Li Di are both in their seventies and almost eighty years old, and Lu Yijian is actually only sixty-eight this year.

But he has been dead for three years now, and the grass on his grave is estimated to be three feet high.

This is enough to show that Lu Yijian's health has not been very good.

Now it's just because he stayed in Beijing all the year round, and after being deposed as he was like in history, he was transferred everywhere to serve as governors, and he died of illness soon after his body was running around.

But his health is still not optimistic, after Wang Zeng died of illness, Lu Yijian also fell ill again, and the Constitutional Yuan lacked another prime minister.

For a while, there was a turmoil in the court, and the scholars of various ministries, especially those of the first-level institutions under the Constitutional Yuan, were all surging with undercurrents and became active one after another.

Even Han Qi, who was far away in the northwest, was a little nervous when he heard the news that Wang Zeng had died of illness and Lu Yijian was seriously ill.

In late July, the scorching sun in the northwest was high, and in Chengji County, Qinzhou, the original Qinfeng Road Transit Envoy's Mansion in the city, Han Qi, the prefect of the Supervision Yuan and the Shaanxi Road Economic Envoy, was sitting in the backyard pavilion.

The sun was shining warmly on his desk. The stone table in the courtyard was placed at this time with a large number of maps of the border of Shaanxi Road, the most of which were the border military reports of Huizhou, Xi'an, Huaide, Huanzhou and other places.

There is also a middle-aged man sitting next to him, this person is Han Rui, the military judge of Qinzhou who signed the book, and he is also the youngest son of Han Qi's uncle, because Han Qi's uncle died early, Han Rui was entrusted to Han Qi's father Han Hua to take care of, so Han Rui has been Han Qi's follower since he was a child.

It's just that Han Rui didn't get into the Jinshi, relying on his father who died early to make up for the entry, and he has only been polishing in the middle and lower-level officials for so many years, this time Han Qi was transferred to the northwest, and it happened that Han Rui was also a judge in Qinzhou, so the two brothers got together.

In the courtyard, Han Rui saw Han Qi staring at the map on the table in a daze, so he wondered and asked, "Brother Eleven, why are you still looking at these?" ”

"What do you look at without looking at these?"

Han Qi didn't raise his head and said.

Han Rui hurriedly said, "Didn't you hear what I said just now?" ”

"Hear that?"

"Aren't you in a hurry?"

"What's the hurry?"

Han Qi said lightly.

"There's no hurry."

Han Rui said speechlessly: "Wang Xianggong died of illness, and Lu Gong died of illness. In October this year, there will be another general election for the Constitutional Yuan, and according to the Tongzhi set by the Governor's Yuan, it will be held every five years, and at most ten years, Song Xiang and Cai Xiang will also be you."

Han Qi didn't speak, quietly looked at the map, and took out a four-glance from time to time.

Just now, Han Rui hurriedly came over and told him a big news, Wang Zeng had died of illness, and Lu Yijian was also sick and retired, and there were only nine people left in the Political Yuan now.

That is, Zhao Jun, Song Shou, Cai Qi, Fan Zhongyan, Yan Shu, Zhang Shixun, Li Di, Jiang Tang, and Jia Changchao.

Since the establishment of the Constitutional Yuan, Zhao Jun, the prefect, has decided that the co-knowledge of the Constitutional Yuan cannot be held all the time, basically every five years, and if it is not done well, it needs to be voted by the official, the prefect and many fellow intellectuals to decide whether to support re-election.

Although the original three ministers and three counselors have been re-elected until now, and even according to the more nostalgic thinking of the official family, Cai Qi and Song Shou are likely to break the rules set by the prefect and continue to be re-elected.

However, this does not prevent the Constitutional Yuan from having a huge vacancy.

Judging from the scale of the 12 people in the last session, at least three people will be added this time, so the heads of first-level institutions such as the Ministry of Finance, the Traditional Six Ministries, the Ministry of Education, the Imperial Observatory, and the Imperial Historical Observatory will be logical.

This is also the order of today's officialdom promotion rules, that is, if you want to be the head of a first-level organization, you must have experienced all kinds of second- and third-level institutions.

If you want to enter the Constitutional Yuan, you must serve as the chief officer of the first-level organization and concurrently serve as the alternate acquaintance of the Constitutional Yuan.

Those second-level institutions such as the Ministry of Civil Affairs, the Ministry of Taxation, the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Natural Resources, the Ministry of Communications, the Ministry of Statistics, the Ministry of Communications, the Ministry of Geology, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs cannot directly skip this layer and enter the Constitutional Yuan.

If it was before, Han Qi would definitely not have a chance, because the former Dali Temple and the Criminal Court, that is, the predecessor of the Supervision Yuan, were both second-level institutions, and their weight was slightly lower.

Later, Zhao Jun increased the weight of Kaifeng Mansion, and by the way, he also raised Dali Temple and the Supervision Yuan, so that including Kaifeng Mansion, these institutions have all become first-class institutions, and the chief officials are all alternate with the title of governor.

In this way, Han Qi has a chance.

But Han Rui's words obviously made him forget about it, as if he didn't have any idea at all, which made Han Rui even more anxious, and said, "Brother Eleven, don't you want to go further?" Entering the Constitutional Yuan as Prime Minister? ”

"Whew."

Han Qi exhaled a long breath and turned his head to look at his cousin.

He is the sixth oldest in his family, and he has five older brothers on his head, but he is eleventh in the family ranking, so he still has a good relationship with his younger brother, who is ranked fourteenth.

It's just a pity.

His younger brother is in his thirties, but his political wisdom is more than one step behind him, otherwise, how can he be an official for many years, or a state military judge from the seventh grade?

Thinking of this, Han Qi shook his head and said, "I do want to go further, but when I think about it, it's probably not now." ”

"Why?"

"I'm only thirty-nine years old this year, and it's not easy to serve as the governor of the Supervisory Yuan, do you think I can still enter the Constitutional Yuan so easily?"

"This"

Han Rui was speechless for a while, and then said: "Ambition is not old, when Kou Gong was thirty-two years old, he was the governor of political affairs, and at the age of forty-one, he worshiped the Pingzhang affairs under the Zhongshu Sect, and the talent of the eleventh brother is not worse than Kou Gong. ”

"Huh."

Han Qi smiled, and then said, "Then why do you think I am the only one who passes through the northwest?" ”

"That's naturally the official's attention."

"No, that just means it's hard for me to get into the Constitutional Yuan."

"Why?"

Han Rui was puzzled.

Han Qi explained: "The war is not a day or two can be calmed, the northwest is remote, just marching and fighting can be for several months, not to mention that Zhao Yuanhao is not a stupid man, standing still and fighting, once it is protracted, I am afraid that the political system has already been re-elected." ”

"This"

Han Rui was stunned for a moment, and then said gloomily: "Then it seems that you will not be allowed to enter this year." ”

"Not necessarily."

"Eleventh brother?"

"Who wouldn't want to be a prime minister? What's more, the Constitutional Yuan is also a prime minister who knows such power, so I naturally have this heart. ”

Han Qi raised his head and looked at Han Rui, and said with a chuckle: "It's just the fourteenth brother, sometimes, fighting is not fighting, not fighting is fighting, you have to understand this truth." ”

"To fight is not to fight, not to fight is to fight?"

Han Rui was confused.

What does it mean?

Han Qi smiled and did not speak.

In fact, his family has already been a family of sons and daughters through marriage with Wang Zeng's family, Lu Yijian's family, and Jia Changchao's family.

For example, Han Qi's eldest son married Lu Yijian's granddaughter, Han Xuan's only son married Wang Zeng's granddaughter, and the eldest brother's second son, who died early, married the daughter of Jia Changchao's cousin Jia Changfu.

But in this matter, he did not intend to use these connections, nor did he have the slightest intention of clearing the way and being recommended by the prime ministers.

You must know that the last election was nominated by the prime ministers. Although Jiang Tang belonged to the neutral faction and entered the Constitutional Yuan, his entry was the result of a compromise between various forces.

Therefore, the heads of many first-level institutions in Bianliang have to worship the doors of the prime ministers in order to obtain the key step.

However, although Han Qi is a family with their sons and daughters, he often disagrees with Lu Yijian and others in politics, and in recent years, he has supported Fan Zhongyan's reforms.

In this way, it seems that he only has the possibility of being nominated by Fan Zhongyan.

But at this level, officialdom is not a person who says that whoever you support is whoever, he just treats things not people, and thinks that Fan Zhongyan's reform is beneficial to the country, so he is the same as Fan Zhongyan in personal relations.

Then Han Qi can see for himself that although he is close to the three prime ministers, his political opinions are different. Although he has the same political opinion as Fan Zhongyan, he has such a relationship with Fan Zhongyan, and it is still unknown whether he can be nominated.

Therefore, Han Qi understands that unless he personally visits Lu Yijian, who is still alive, or asks someone to ask for a relationship between Jia Changchao and Fan Zhongyan, it is difficult to say whether he can be nominated.

In this case, Han Qi could not take the initiative. He chooses to do his own thing, as long as everything goes well, he will definitely not be able to run.

In the afternoon, Han Qi summoned Yang Kai, Zhang Kang, and Zhang Fangping's deputies to the meeting.

It didn't take long for everyone to arrive.

At this time, in the house in the backyard of the government, everyone sat in columns.

Han Qi sat on the main seat, and on the table in front of him was a large number of military intelligence documents and maps from various places.

After everyone had arrived, he spoke: "Ladies and gentlemen, we have been in the northwest for more than a month, and when we set off this time, everyone had read the documents of the Constitutional Yuan. ”

"The strategic task assigned by the Constitutional Yuan this time is not to let us destroy Western Xia, but to drive Zhao Yuanhao out of Qingtang and Zhuo Luo Sinan, which is enough to see that the imperial court does not want to annex Western Xia, or that the imperial court should not want to fall into a large-scale war."

Yang Kai said.

"Hmm."

Han Qi nodded: "Now my Great Song is thriving, far ahead." It is a matter of time before the national strength is much stronger than that of Liaoxia, and there is no need to entangle with them at this time. ”

Zhang Fangping said: "Then in this case, does it mean that we don't need to raise the strength of the whole Shaanxi to enter Western Xia?" ”

"I don't think so, since the imperial court has assigned a task, then we must complete it, and we still have to exceed it."

Zhang Kang was anxious, and hurriedly said: "Xianggong, I think this matter can't stop here, at least the Western Xia must be disabled, so that the people of the world can know that the strong Song Dynasty cannot be committed." ”

Han Qi smiled, although Zhang Kang was born as a jinshi, his promotion relied on marching to fight, and now he is also serving as a privy deputy envoy, so he must want to fight more and make meritorious contributions.

It can be said that Zhang Kang, as a civilian official, now represents the interests of the military, and will definitely advocate the strategy of attacking Western Xia on a large scale.

This coincides with him.

Because at least no one knows yet, Han Qi is actually a staunch main battle faction, so he must be on Zhang Kang's side.

However, the tendency must not be too obvious, so Han Qi pondered for a moment and said: "What the two of you said makes sense, that is, you can't destroy Western Xia, and you can't stop there. That being the case, there are two ways to divide the army. ”

"Oh?"

Everyone hurriedly said: "What is the best plan for Xianggong?" ”

"You can feint all the way to Xingqing Mansion in Western Xia and besiege Wei to save Zhao. The other way attacked Qingtang and Zhuo Luo and Nan, and drove Yuan Hao's soldiers and horses out. ”

Han Qi said.

Zhang Kang's eyes rolled, this is very similar to the strategy set by Fan Zhongyan at the beginning.

At the beginning, Li Yuanhao went south, Fan Zhongyan was mainly defensive in the west, and in the east he sent a light cavalry straight to Xingqing Mansion, killing and looting all the way, causing heavy losses to Western Xia.

But wouldn't the same trick work?

Thinking of this, Zhang Kang said: "Xianggong, when I personally led eight thousand iron horsemen to take Xingqing Mansion, I was afraid that Yuan Hao would not be so easy to fall into the scheme." ”

Han Qi said with a smile: "Don't worry, our internal should have found out that Yuan Hao led the army of his headquarters to attack Qingtang, and now most of the troops are in Huangzhou and other places, and there are not many troops in the Western Thief country." ”

"This"

Everyone looked at each other and felt that something was wrong.

Li Yuanhao won't be so stupid as to be so empty in China, isn't he afraid that the Great Song Dynasty will directly take Western Xia?

Seeing everyone's reaction like this, Han Qi also understood their thoughts, so he said: "I naturally know your concerns, are you afraid that Yuan Hao will set up a plan to lure us in?" ”

"Yes."

The crowd nodded.

Han Qi said: "That's why I plan to divide my troops into two ways, one to feint and one to attack. ”

Only then did everyone understand Han Qi's strategy.

Yes.

Since the imperial court asked them to complete the basic task, then if Han Qi was steady, he only needed to complete this task.

So the west is a real attack, and the north is a feint. In this way, even if Li Yuanhao set up a trap, there is nothing to do with them, and the feint team sees that the situation is not good, so it is necessary to withdraw immediately.

Thinking of this, Yang Kai and Zhang Fangping both praised Han Qi's steady strategy.

Only Zhang Kang was slightly dissatisfied, he actually wanted to attack in the north and fight to the death with Western Xia.

Even if it was a trap, Zhang Kang didn't think that when the main force of the Great Song Dynasty met the main force of Western Xia, he would fall into disadvantage.

But since Han Qi wanted to fight steadily, there was nothing he could do.

After all, there's nothing wrong with being steady.

Seeing that everyone did not object, Han Qi breathed a sigh of relief.

In fact, his original idea was to be the same as Zhang Kang, and go out all the way.

Because he did this in history, he suffered a crushing defeat in the Battle of Komizukawa.

But now Han Qi is a few years older, unlike in history, when he was appointed as the pacification envoy of Shaanxi Road at the age of thirty-one, and now his personality is a little calmer.

Second, the election of the Constitutional Yuan is imminent, and it is too risky to go out recklessly.

Although high risk means high reward, the greater the merit of the battle, the more likely he is to be appreciated by the above, but if he is seven or eight years younger, he really does it.

It's a pity.

Han Qi remembered Shi Zhiyuan's words.

The meaning of the prefect is simple.

When you come to Shaanxi Road, you are mainly responsible for the local people's livelihood management.

The second is to recover Qingtang and Zhuo Luo Sinan.

If you have done these two things, then your Han Qi's credit will be the greatest.

As for the rest.

Unless you destroy the Western Xia country, even if you defeat the Western Xia army head-on, that's it.

On the contrary, if you make a mistake and cause the defeat of the Great Song army or even if it is a victory, it is a heavy loss, then there is no success.

It was precisely because of these warning words that Han Qi's impulse to recklessly pass was suppressed.

There is no child's play in national affairs.

Since the imperial court has no intention of destroying Western Xia now, then as the commander of the front line, they still have to obey the arrangements of the imperial court.

(End of chapter)