…

Cai You left the capital with a team of people, looked at the water and marched to Liangshan, and as soon as he walked to Chenqiaoyi, something happened that made him very unpleasant.

At dusk, two flag-bearers suddenly ran away, and the two banners with the words "Shaobao, Jiedu Envoy" and "Zhao'an Envoy, Cai You" were also abducted by them.

The officers and men talked in private, saying that this was a bad omen.

Seeing this, Cai You also muttered in his heart.

Le He said to Cai You: "The official family has given a guarantee to the prime minister, why should the prime minister be afraid? ”

Cai You thought about it too, so he no longer took this matter to heart.

Cai You and his entourage left Bianliang City in Tokyo on 15 October and did not arrive at Xingqing Mansion until 11 November.

In this short journey of a few hundred miles, he walked for twenty-six days.

On this way, Cai You knelt down to worship at the temple, burned incense when he saw the gods, and used a whole carriage of incense. Whether it is facing the Buddha, or facing the Guanyin Bodhisattva, or facing the Taoist gods, he holds incense in his hands, closes his eyes and prays, and recites words in his mouth, which is nothing more than begging them to bless him with a smooth trip, and recruit An Jiangyan in one fell swoop, so that he can return with honor.

When he walked to Dongming Mansion, Cai You encountered two pieces of news that made him feel bad:

The first news is that Hou Meng, who advocated Zhao'an Shuibo Liangshan, suddenly died.

This made Cai You muttered in his heart again: "Shouldn't you go to Zhao'an Shuibo Liangshan?" ”

The second news is that Chen Xizhen recovered Puzhou during this time, and the strategic space of the Zhao and Song dynasties was small, and the Liangshan army set up camp in front of Xingqing Mansion and sent generals to fight all day long.

As a result, Cai You suddenly "fell ill" and was bedridden.

Dongming's officials hurriedly found a large group of beauties for Cai You, took care of them day and night, and with Zhao Ji's verbal urging, he gradually recovered.

When Cai You arrived at Xingqing Mansion, Gao Yu, who knew that the battle had not been fought well, greeted Cai You for ten miles.

After the two met, Gao Yu entertained Cai You with good wine and food, and called all his beauties out to accompany Cai You.

After three rounds of wine and five flavors of food, Gao Yu cautiously asked Cai You: "Shao Bao is here, can the official family have something to teach Shao Bao to bring to Gao Yu?" ”

Cai You waved his hand, and asked the people who were waiting for them to all go down, leaving only Le He alone, and then lowered his voice and said, "The official family taught me to ask the captain, can you be sure of winning?" ”

Gao Yu really wanted to say: "Yes! ”

But the problem is that Gao Yu has already scared Liang Shanjun, so he really can't say anything like this, he can only say vaguely: "If there are one or two hundred thousand reinforcements, you can be sure." ”

Be.

Gao Yu and Cai You are both traitors, and they are not knowledgeable.

But you can't stand it, Gao Yu and Cai You are both in the absolute power circle of the Zhao and Song Dynasty.

How could they not know if there were any soldiers and horses in the Zhao and Song dynasties? Especially the "Minister of Defense" Gao Yu.

In a nutshell:

The soldiers and horses of the Zhao and Song dynasties consisted of the Northwest Forbidden Army (Western Army), the Hebei Forbidden Army, the Gyeonggi Forbidden Army, and the Jiangnan Forbidden Army.

The Northwest Forbidden Army is divided into six roads in the northwest, namely Xihe Road, Qinfeng Road, Jingyuan Road, Huanqing Road, and Yanyan Road, plus the Yongxing Military Road in the interior of Guanzhong.

Due to the need to fight the Western Xia war with all the soldiers for many years, the Northwest Sixth Route can be said to be all soldiers, and in some places even women and children can participate in the war, at least as auxiliary troops.

This is also one of the reasons why Tong Guan dared to draw a large number of Western troops to go out to fight.

- As long as the Western Xia dares to invade the Northwest Sixth Road, the people of the Northwest Sixth Road will help the Western Army to defend the Northwest.

Some people may want to say that the people of the Sixth Road in the Northwest are so powerful, it is better to screen out 500,000 qi refiners from there, no, screen out one million qi refiners and transfer them to various battlefields, won't the troubles of the Zhao and Song Dynasty be solved?

Where would it be so easy!

First of all, the people of the Sixth Road in the Northwest have a very strong sense of locality, let them stay at home, they can fight any way, and they are not afraid of death, because in their eyes, it is to defend their homeland, and if they are allowed to go out to fight, it will be difficult.

Secondly, how much spiritual money it would cost to form a million, no, even if it was just to form an army of 500,000 Qi refiners, do you know?

According to Cai Xiang's calculations, which was the third envoy at the time, in the early years of Song Yingzong, there were more than 1.18 million forbidden troops and box soldiers in the Zhao and Song dynasties, and the cost of raising troops was 48 million yuan per year, with an average of about 40 yuan per person per year.

Based on this calculation, the formation of an army of 500,000 will produce an extra 20 million yuan of spiritual money a year.

The point is, it will take time.

Now, if it is hastily mobilized, the northwest can draw up at most another 150,000 to 200,000 troops that can go to war.

But in that case, the defense force of the Zhao Song Dynasty in the northwest would be almost equal to zero.

Some people may want to say that it is not enough to completely hand over the defense to the people, and the six roads in the northwest are not all soldiers.

It is true that all the people are soldiers, but no matter how they say it, they are just people, they can only play auxiliary, and they have to be led by a real army to resist the invasion of Western Xia, otherwise they will be scattered.

And don't forget, the Western Army still has to withstand the expansion of the two big Kou, Tian Hu and Wang Qing.

It can be said that at this stage, there is no army in the Song army that is more under pressure than the Western army.

Therefore, not a single soldier from the Northwest Sixth Route could be transferred in a short period of time.

In addition to the Western Army, the huge Zhao and Song Dynasty had no other army?

Yes.

Of course.

The Zhao and Song dynasties, with a population of hundreds of millions, how could they have such an army?

In addition to the Western Army, the Zhao and Song dynasties also had two major military regions, the Hebei Forbidden Army and the Gyeonggi Forbidden Army.

It is said that the Hebei Forbidden Army, which is the main force to defend against the invasion of Liao, has hundreds of thousands.

But as soon as it came, the Hebei Forbidden Army had just transferred 100,000 troops to the Northwest Sixth Route to change guards with the Western Army.

Second, when Tong Guan went south to suppress Fangla, he transferred a group of Hebei forbidden troops from Hebei.

Third, the Hebei Forbidden Army is now the most serious place for the Zhao and Song dynasties to eat empty salaries, and in fact there are far less than they appear on paper.

Fourth, and the most critical point, in recent years, the Liangshan Army has successively eliminated and annexed a large number of Hebei forbidden troops.

Fifth, Hebei has been blockaded by the Liangshan army, and even some Hebei forbidden troops loyal to the Zhao and Song dynasties cannot leave Hebei.

In a word, the Hebei Forbidden Army can't be counted on.

Let's talk about the Gyeonggi Forbidden Army.

Under the hard work of Captain Gao Yu, the soldiers of the Gyeonggi Forbidden Army have mastered a good skill.

Military skills?

Of course not.

It's about building skills such as repairing palaces and rockeries.

Gao Yu turned the Gyeonggi Forbidden Army, which was supposed to be the most elite of the Zhao Song Dynasty, into hundreds of thousands of craftsmen, who were specially used to help Zhao Ji build a large number of buildings.

As a result, the soldiers of the current Gyeonggi Forbidden Army will definitely not be able to fight, but they are absolutely professional in expanding the palace and building the Gendak Banzai Mountain or something.

Of course, Gao Yu was not stupid enough to fight the Gyeonggi Forbidden Army, after all, on paper, the Gyeonggi Forbidden Army had 800,000 people.

But when Tong Guan went to suppress Fangla, he took away a group of Gyeonggi forbidden troops.

Over the years, the Yangsan Army has also successively eliminated and annexed many Gyeonggi Forbidden Army.

This time, Gao Yu came to suppress Shuibo Liangshan, and it can be said that he brought all the last soldiers of the Gyeonggi Forbidden Army who could fight.

How can the Gyeonggi Forbidden Army still have soldiers to fight?

By the way, there is also the Jiangnan Forbidden Army.

The combat power of the Jiangnan Forbidden Army was already the worst, and now it is even worse, either it was eliminated by Jiang Hongfei and Fang La, or it was eliminated by Wang Qing, even if there was a little left, it would have been incorporated into the team of Fang La.

In other words, now Tong Guan's pressure is no less than Gao Yu's, let Tong Guan give Gao Yu a point of soldiers? Gao Yu didn't dare to have such a dream.

Although Cai You didn't know a lot about these situations, he also knew a thing or two, so he looked at Gao Yu and said leisurely: "Do I still have 120,000 reinforcements for Taiwei in the Great Song Dynasty, and Taiwei doesn't know better than me?" ”

Of course, Gao Yu knew about these situations, but how could he not mean what he said?

I saw Gao Yu say hesitantly: "The imperial court ...... Can't recruit another 120,000 new troops? ”

Cai You said: "Why didn't you levy it? Not long ago, 200,000 new troops were recruited, 50,000 were replenished to you, 50,000 were supplied to Tong Taifu, and the remaining 100,000 were left to fill the defense gap in the Gyeonggi area that you took away. ”

Gao Yu naturally knows about this.

Gao Yu said that these were actually to ask Cai You to persuade Zhao Ji to recruit another 200,000 soldiers.

Gao Yu said: "That...... According to Shaobao, can the imperial court still recruit another 120,000 new troops? ”

Cai You sighed: "Alas! When I came, all the main streets in the capital were posted with billboards recruiting martial artists. All those who have martial arts and ranks, or have talented military strategies, or have military exploits and have fought in battle, or have served as ambassadors and ministers on the border, or have served as the children of archers and horses, as well as those who have martial arts and brave battles of all nationalities, are all within the scope of recruitment. The imperial court has been recruiting new troops lately. But the recruitment is really not as fast as you. And recruiting new troops requires money and food. Now the southeast is occupied by Fang La, the southwest is occupied by Wang Qing, the northwest is occupied by Tian Hu, and here is occupied by Jiang Yan, where does the money and food for recruiting soldiers come from? ”

Hearing Cai You say this, Gao Yu couldn't help but sigh!

Gao Yu knew that it was really not that the imperial court didn't want to help him, but in fact, for the Zhao and Song Dynasty, the situation was too difficult.

Cai You stayed in Xingqing Mansion for a day, and Gao Yu sent Qiu Yue and Zhou Ang to lead 10,000 horses to escort Cai You to the military camp of the Liangshan army on the opposite side and handed it over to the Liangshan army.

What made Cai You breathe a sigh of relief was that when the soldiers of Liang Shanjun heard Lehe and said that Cai You's sister was Jiang Hongfei's concubine, they were very polite to Cai You and their group.

Soon, under the escort of Liang Shanjun, Cai You and his entourage came to Liangshanbo and boarded a luxury boat.

Since it didn't seem to be dangerous, Cai You couldn't help but look at his ears and almost hear the calloused eight hundred miles of water.

As you can see, the water is vertical and horizontal, and the water network is dense. There are thousands of Zhou Hui Hong Kong, and there are 800 miles around the Quartet. It is connected to the island in the east, Xianyang in the west, Da Metallurgical Township in the south, and Qingqi Yanjun in the north. Its shape is like a giant dragon winding, stretching for 800 miles, the smoke waves are vast, and the weather is thousands. The lake is bottomless, and the undercurrent is daunting.

Looking at the anchorage of Liangshan again, there are towering warships coming and going, and two of them are even more than 40 zhang long, 18 zhang wide, and several stories high.

This brought a huge shock to Cai You's soul!

After arriving at Golden Beach, Jiang Hongfei did not come to greet Cai You in person, but Cai Dezhang and Chai Jin, who Cai You did not expect, came to greet Cai You.

Along the way, Chai Jin politely and gracefully introduced Liangshan to Cai You......

Cai You saw that the strange rocks on Liangshan Mountain were craggy, and the mountain road was rugged, which was extremely difficult to climb. The undulating mountains and verdant forests form a natural fortification. Its three passes are majestic, the guns, swords, and halberds are like a forest, the soldiers are strong and the horses are strong, and the whole Liangshan is like a fortress that can never be broken!

Cai You thought to himself: "According to the mountains and rivers, the situation is dangerous, the transportation is convenient, the advance can be attacked, the retreat can be defended, no wonder Jiang Yan has done such a big business!" ”

Along the way, the troops Cai You saw, each of them wearing heavy armor, holding sharp weapons, eyes like torches, immobile like bells, and actions like the wind, two people in a row, three people in a row.

What impressed Cai You the most was a heavy cavalry. They rolled in like a torrent of steel, unstoppable. The sound of their march was like a thunderbolt and shocking to people's hearts. Their figures, as majestic as mountains, are daunting.

Cai You swallowed his saliva when he saw it, and then thought about the Gyeonggi Forbidden Army he had seen.

Even if he didn't understand the army, Cai You couldn't help but think: "This is a bandit and grass coward?" Can my Great Song fight and win? ”

When he came to Wanzi City, Jiang Hongfei still didn't see Cai You, but asked Mrs. Cai to take her son and Cai Dezhang's family to have a family banquet with Cai You first.

This time, even Chai Jin did not accompany him, only the three brothers and sisters of the Cai family, and their families.

Eating such a family banquet in Shuibo Liangshan made Cai You full of emotion!

What makes Cai You even more emotional is that both Mrs. Cai and Cai Dezhang have changed.

In Cai You's impression, Mrs. Cai was accustomed to being arrogant and willful, and even a little vicious by the ten of their father and son.

Cai You once heard that Liang Zhongshu had a concubine room, born on the fifteenth day of the first month, on her birthday, people gave a pair of fish bottles, so the small word "Sister Bottle", the big name is "Li Bottle", his sister is very jealous, Li Bottler has never been able to get close to Liang Zhongshu, can only live with his adoptive mother in the outer study, just like that, his sister also claimed that Li Bottler dared to seduce Liang Zhongshu, so he beat Li Bottler to death and buried it in the back garden.

But now Cai You sees Mrs. Cai again, and finds that she speaks decently, behaves steadily, is not arrogant, not jealous, and looks like a good wife and mother.

Cai You really couldn't figure it out, how could Jiang Hongfei train his sister to be so well-behaved and sensible?

After hesitating again and again, thinking of the relationship between their brother and sister in the past, Cai You still found an opportunity to lower his voice and ask Mrs. Cai: "Can I find a way to bring you back for my brother?" ”

No, Mrs. Cai refused without even thinking about it: "The little sister is doing well now, and the officials and sisters treat the little sister well, so they won't go back." ”

Cai Dezhang is also more stable than before, and he is darker and stronger, on the whole, he has a lot less literati temperament and more capability.

Cai Dezhang was very enthusiastic about Cai You's arrival, and he took the initiative to tell Cai You a lot of things he was doing now, such as persuading farmers to lead the people of Laizhou to engage in refined salt and fishery......

Cai Dezhang said with great interest, even dancing.

Although Cai You didn't understand that Cai Dezhang had something to be proud of in doing these things, he found that his youngest brother was much more motivated than before.

Cai You also inquired with Mrs. Cai and Cai Dezhang about Jiang Hongfei's attitude towards Zhao'an from the side.

But whether it was Mrs. Cai or Cai Dezhang, they all shook their heads, indicating that they didn't know.

However, Cai You did not eat this family banquet with Mrs. Cai and Cai Dezhang in vain.

From the mouths of Mrs. Cai and Cai Dezhang, Cai You learned that the area under the rule of Shuibo Liangshan is politically clear, the people have no worries about food and clothing, live and work in peace and contentment, and people are happy to govern, and the officialdom of Shuibo Liangshan is completely free of the party strife, corruption, and intrigue of the Zhao and Song courts, and some only have healthy competition.

In Cai Dezhang's words: "Here, all my original problems are gone, everyone is looking at you, you can do it, you can do it, if you can't do it, the person who has your own line will replace you, and you will not be unworthy because of who you are." ”

After getting to know Shuibo Liangshan preliminarily, Cai You felt that Jiang Hongfei was amazing, and at the same time began to realize that Shuibo Liangshan was not ordinarily powerful, and this strength was not only reflected in its military, but also in politics.

Cai You was even afraid of Shuibo Liangshan from the bottom of his heart, and he was even more afraid of Jiang Hongfei, who created Shuibo Liangshan.

What's more, Cai You began to faintly feel that the Zhao Song Dynasty really couldn't fight with Shuibo Liangshan anymore, and should recruit An Jiang Hongfei at all costs, otherwise, the Zhao Song Dynasty might be destroyed......

……

……

The second is more in place, ask for a monthly pass!

(End of chapter)