The battle lasted for a day and a night, from noon on the 24th to the early morning of the 25th, the Song army had been chasing the Liao people for more than 100 miles.

Along the way, the Liao army was scattered, killed by the Song army, and the prisoners were captured, which can be described as heavy losses.

It was not until the morning of the 25th that Fan Zhongyan finally began to assemble his team.

It's not that he doesn't want to continue to expand the results of the battle, but now the soldiers of the Song army are also very tired, tired, sleepy and hungry, and their spirits have been tense to the extreme.

After all, since eating a lunch at noon yesterday, Song Jun has been in a high-intensity fight, and he has not slept or eaten until now, which has lasted for a day and a night.

Even the bones of the iron can't bear it.

Therefore, Fan Zhongyan naturally wanted to assemble the troops immediately, so as to give the soldiers a good rest, and by the way, also a chance to rest and recuperate.

At this time, the main force of the Song army had arrived in the area of Shunzhou and Huairou.

Due to the chaotic war before, the various departments were extremely chaotic, and the generals of each army did not have many of their own troops under their hands, and they all ran under the hands of others.

One is poor information.

Fan Zhongyan smiled bitterly and shook his head: "I actually didn't do anything, it was all the soldiers' lives. ”

"Who would have thought that the Liao people would retreat to advance, and only Xianggong would have such wisdom."

Therefore, Zhao Jun must change this atmosphere to encourage the emergence of talents.

"This place is supposed to be the place where the Liao people are preparing to ambush us, and those mountains should be the places where they will arrange artillery."

I saw that inside the fence, which was only half a person high, countless simple tents were densely piled up, and all the soldiers of the Song army were sleeping in it, and the snoring of each battalion was like thunder, as if they were not worried that the enemy would attack at all.

Before the end of the day, they began to cut down trees, build fences, make food, and then set up tents to provide food and lodging for the soldiers on the front line.

Compared with those first-class commanders in history, not to mention top commanders like Sun Wu, Bai Qi, and Han Xin.

Once a dazzling talent appeared in the imperial court, like Di Qing in history, he immediately suppressed all kinds of them, criticized them all kinds of things, and even spread rumors and slanders.

For example, under the current system, even if Fan Zhongyan has more than 200,000 troops in his hands, it is almost impossible to achieve a rebellion.

Because the overall military system of the Song Dynasty was only at the army level, with 5,000 people per army, Fan Zhongyan had more than 30 armies under his command, led by nearly 100 middle and senior generals.

It was the city of Shunzhou in Liao.

I saw that north of the camp, everything was full of life and greenery. In the distance, hills and forests are full of trees, some dilapidated villages inhabit, and farther away, a city rises on the distant horizon.

As a result, if there is no actual evidence within the imperial court, it will no longer chase after the wind and shadows, impeach, spread rumors, and slander colleagues at will.

When Fan Zhongyan heard everyone's compliments, he had to smile awkwardly and didn't say anything more about this matter.

Unless Fan Zhongyan was able to rebel against more than 100 middle and high-ranking generals, including Zhang Kang and Di Qing, it would be almost impossible to rebel.

By midnight, the Song army had already settled in Shunzhou, Huairou and other places.

The busiest right now are the logistical auxiliaries and civilians.

And the leader of all this is naturally Zhao Jun.

It is not that the temperament of the officials has improved, but that those who are disobedient and disobedient as before are often deposed, ostracized, and degraded, and are no longer allowed to serve in the imperial court.

"Yes, Xianggong is really a god and a man, I have only seen the enemy thousands of miles away from the book before, but now I have really seen it."

But in recent years, the atmosphere of the imperial court has changed greatly, and among colleagues, when they meet that kind of talented, they will no longer be jealous of the virtuous.

Wei Huanzhi also put his hands behind his back, stepped on the green grass under his feet, and said with a smile: "Everything was planned by Xianggong and full of wisdom to thwart the conspiracy of the Liao people. ”

In fact, he knows his own ability, and he is at most at the level of a second-rate commander.

He was able to do this for two main reasons.

Therefore, it is imperative to clean up the atmosphere of the imperial court.

Let's not talk about the question of whether high-ranking generals and civilian officials such as Zhang Kang, Di Qing, Wang Su, and Wei Huanzhi are willing to follow, and it is difficult to do this after the military is restructured.

"Yes, Xianggong Zhizhu is in his hands, every step of the Liao people is clearly calculated, if you change someone else, it is impossible to win, all of this is the credit of Xianggong."

Fan Zhongyan pointed to the distance and said: "It is indeed dangerous, if we rashly pursue, and the forests in the distance are all over us, we can only take the main official road, and we will inevitably be ambushed by their artillery fire, and the consequences will be unimaginable." ”

It is not that Zhao Jun is persecuting these officials, but that he must change this atmosphere.

Fan Zhongyan put his hands behind his back, and walked leisurely outside the camp with Wang Su, Wei Huanzhi and others, his eyes scanning the wilderness in the distance.

The crowd praised and almost complimented.

If this continues, it is strange that the Great Song Dynasty can still be saved.

The second is the advent of the age of firearms.

After all, it is easy to get a thousand troops and a general is hard to find, whether it is governing the country or marching to war, talent is very important.

As for the problem of self-respect for the army, it can be completely resolved through the system.

"What's the matter, if it's not for Xianggong, I'm afraid we may also want the treacherous tricks of the Liao people."

There was a later generation who told him the information in advance, so that he could predict the enemy first, and naturally he would be able to win all battles.

If it had been before, when he encountered a situation like Fan Zhongyan, even if he was a civilian official, I am afraid that he would have already attacked in groups, in the name of preventing him from supporting the army and self-respecting, he would inevitably be pulled off the horse.

Therefore, now the Song army made timely adjustments and stationed in Dazhuzhuang, Wangjingguan, Sunhou Pavilion and other places south of Shunzhou and Huairou, so that all departments could return to their respective camps, start to eat breakfast, and then sleep well.

Especially the latter, advanced thermal weapons allowed them to form a qualitative crush on the Liao army, which was dominated by cold weapons.

Otherwise, with the situation of the Song army before, even if there is poor information, it will be difficult to win with the Liao people on the frontal battlefield.

Therefore, Fan Zhongyan's ability to achieve a great victory over the Liao State this time was largely due to the improvement of the comprehensive national strength of the Great Song Dynasty and the cheaper weapons and equipment that were more advanced.

To sum it up, "Times have changed, my lord".

If he is proud of his achievements for this reason and thinks that he is great, outsiders like Wang Suwei Huanzhi who don't know the inside story will naturally not find anything strange.

But if the people in the Constitutional Yuan who know the inside story know, I'm afraid they will laugh at him for being a fox and a fake tiger, but they will be complacent.

A few people were talking.

Zhang Kang came out of the camp and said, "Xianggong." ”

"Gongshou woke up so soon, didn't he let you have a good rest?"

Fan Zhongyan couldn't help frowning when he saw Zhang Kang with a pair of panda eyes, obviously not sleeping well.

Zhang Kang was indeed tired, but said: "Xiaguan can't sleep when he thinks about it, and thinks about it, will this be inappropriate?" The soldiers are resting, if the Liao army in the city suddenly kills out? ”

He hadn't slept all night last night, and had been fighting until this morning to get a little rest.

But lying in bed and sleeping in a daze for an hour or two, or waking up because of a sense of uneasiness, such defenselessness, is indeed a little too imprudent.

Fan Zhongyan patted his head and said, "Gongshou didn't sleep all night last night, I only let you rest, but I forgot to tell you about it." ”

Saying that, he smiled and pointed in the direction of Shunzhou City: "Yelu Sect was really frightened, and fled north overnight, and now there are only five thousand people in the city, and the main general is still our internal response." ”

"Amount"

Zhang Kang was dumbfounded.

Will the defenders of the city be their men?

It seems that I was worried in vain all night.

But think about it.

It doesn't seem like a problem.

What's going on now?

The Liao people suffered a crushing defeat.

Yeluzong really fled north in panic.

The Leather Room Army suffered heavy losses.

Although the rear is still cleaning the battlefield, the war overseer is counting the battle exploits and casualties.

However, the rough estimate of the number of prisoners in the various ministries alone was as high as 50,000 or 60,000, and the casualties would only be much higher than this number.

And not only the leather room army, but also the soldiers of the other ethnic tribes of the Liao people also suffered countless casualties.

This not only severely weakened the strength of the Liao and the dependent tribes.

At the same time, it is bound to make the prestige of the Khitan plummet, and make the rest of the ethnic tribes who are already ready to move dissatisfied.

It can be said that under such a blow, it is a question whether Yelu Zong can really maintain the Liao State.

Therefore, it is reasonable for the enemy to judge the situation and change the court.

"It's still a wise and martial artist."

Zhang Kang hurriedly said: "Then let's take advantage of the situation to subdue Yanyun first?" ”

"Well, naturally, it's not just Yanyun, it's also Shenzhou outside the country."

"Shenzhou?"

"Not bad."

Fan Zhongyan nodded and said: "Although Shenzhou was only a small city before, it was only after Yelu Abaoji migrated a large number of Han people that it prospered here and became the Liaoyang Mansion of today's Liao State. But since Qin Kai of Yan State cast Hou Cheng here, this is the territory of our Han people, how can we let it be left alone outside the Guan? ”

Something was wrong with what everyone was hearing.

Wei Huanzhi wondered: "Xianggong, just recover Yanyun and Shenzhou?" ”

"Yes, Xianggong."

Zhang Kang hurriedly said: "This big victory, it is time to take advantage of the victory to pursue and go straight to the Zhongjing of the Liao State, why only recover Yanyun and stop moving?" ”

"Not going north."

Fan Zhongyan shook his head.

"Why?"

Everyone was confused and puzzled.

Right now, the vitality of the Liao State has been greatly damaged, and this is the best time to eliminate the Liao State.

However, Fan Zhongyan shook his head and said: "Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty destroyed the Xiongnu because the Xiongnu had threatened the Han Dynasty, so Han Wu gathered hundreds of thousands of troops and launched an attack on Monan. ”

As he spoke, he continued: "Although the Han Wu eliminated the Xiongnu in that war, he almost collapsed the country, can you see the desert returning to the Han land?" ”

"Xianggong means that destroying Liao is not beneficial to us?"

Wang Su somewhat understood what Fan Zhongyan meant.

"Not bad."

Fan Zhongyan tapped his chin and said, "Not only is it not beneficial, but it is harmful." Therefore, it is not the best policy to destroy Liao at this time. This is also the meaning of the Constitutional Yuan. ”

After finishing speaking, Fan Zhongyan smiled mysteriously and said, "The consideration of the Constitutional Yuan is not overnight, but changes in the next few decades or even hundreds of years. These are not things that you can know, you just have to listen now. ”

"I see."

When everyone heard that it was the consideration of the Constitutional Yuan, they looked at each other, and naturally they didn't ask any more questions.

Now the Constitutional Yuan is too powerful.

In the past, when the emperor still had limited power, such as when the holy decree was issued, some scholars felt that the emperor's order was problematic, and they had the power to reject it.

However, there are almost no obstacles to the power of the current Constitutional Yuan, and as long as the decisions made by many prime ministers are rejected, there is no room for rejection.

Therefore, it can be said that now the Manchurian dynasty is no longer questioning the Constitutional Yuan.

In fact, this is also true.

Essentially, the Constitutional Yuan actually represents the power of the ancient Dynasty.

And there has been a struggle between the prime minister and the imperial power since ancient times.

The case of Hu Weiyong in the Ming Dynasty, isn't it essentially that Lao Zhu is suppressing the power and putting the power in his own hands?

But today's Xiangquan has changed dramatically because of Zhao Jun.

The struggle between imperial power and relative power is the overlapping power of the two sides and the distrust of each other.

It's not the same now.

The Constitutional Yuan and the Emperor are grasshoppers tied to a rope.

The combination of imperial power and relative power, isn't there no power barrier, and the power is monstrous?

Therefore, the current system of the Great Song Dynasty is, to some extent, the best system in ancient times, and it is also a model set up by the prime minister.

There was no suspicion between the monarch and the minister, and the high concentration of power greatly improved the administrative efficiency, thus forming the current almost perfect administrative system.

Of course.

The emergence of such a system is a special case.

If there was no Zhao Jun, it would be impossible for Zhao Zhen to let a place with a high concentration of power like the Constitutional Yuan appear, and it would be impossible to delegate power to the subordinates.

So in general, as long as Zhao Jun is here, then this system can be maintained forever.

If one day he is gone.

It is difficult to say whether this system can be sustained.

It's just that the only good news is that Zhao Jun is still very young and can live a long time.

"Okay, now Yelu Zongzhen has fled north in a panic, and there are only a large number of Liao people fleeing and some Liao troops outside Yuguan in the land of Youyan."

Fan Zhongyan said: "Now our task is to clear the remnants of the Youyan Liao people, and then the troops are divided into two routes, all the way to aid Di Qing, attack Shenzhou, all the way to the west, gallop to aid Yunzhou, and be sure to recapture the sixteen states of Yanyun that have been lost from the hands of our Han people for a hundred years." ”

"Yes."

Everyone nodded in response.

Then Fan Zhongyan looked at Wang Su and said with a smile: "Zhongyi, such good news, report it immediately, you go and write a sword immediately, and report it to Bianliang quickly, and also make Your Majesty and the civil and military officials happy." ”

"Yes."

Wang Suhaha laughed: "Your Majesty knows about this, I'm afraid I don't know how happy I am." ”

"Yes, this is the recovery of Yanyun, in the past, I couldn't even dream of it."

"Who would have thought that the Liao people, who were invincible in the city of Lanzhou, were now beaten north by my Great Song Dynasty and fled north in panic, and did not dare to look south?"

"It's a pity, my uncle was an official in Hebei in his early years, and the Liao people encountered an accident when they came to attack, and my father wanted to avenge him all his life, and today the revenge will be avenged, but my father can't see it anymore."

Everyone was overwhelmed with emotion and looked at the sky overhead.

The warm spring sun is so warm and bustling, making this quiet and peaceful land.

The Great Song Dynasty has lost Yanyun for a hundred years.

And today.

It's like a mouthful of turbid air in the chest, suddenly spurting out.

It's refreshing.

(End of chapter)