Prime Minister

Chapter 1248 Situation

Chapter 1248 Situation

In the fifth year of Yuanfeng, the Song Dynasty was preparing for war along the Hebei line.

The situation in the early Song Dynasty when Zhao Kuangyin ordered Li Hanchao and other generals to garrison in various states is gone forever.

After Emperor Taizong's two failed northern expeditions, and his growing wariness of military commanders, the situation became one in which civil officials were in charge of the military.

Because of the loss of the natural barrier of Youyan, Hebei's defense line became flat.

During the late period of Emperor Taizong and the early period of Emperor Zhenzong, the Song army suffered repeated defeats in field battles against the Liao, which resulted in the Song Dynasty being forced to defend a few fortified cities in Hebei and allowing the Liao cavalry to plunder Hebei at will.

Finally, there was the humiliating peace agreement of the Treaty of Chanyuan.

From then on, the Liao Kingdom consistently pursued a deterrent diplomacy towards the Song Dynasty.

In another time and space, from the increase of currency in the Qingli period to the demarcation of boundaries in the Xining period, the Liao Kingdom succeeded time and time again.

When forcing the Song Dynasty to change the annual tribute to tribute, the Liao envoys even threatened the Song envoys in person, saying that our Liao army is strong and everyone wants to go south. If you suffer the danger of national destruction for a small issue of face, it will be too late to regret it.

In the relationship between Song and Liao, the Song Dynasty was always in an extremely humiliating state.

During the Xining period, the emperor and his minister Wang Anshi were also ashamed of this, but in the end they could do nothing about it. Wang Anshi advised the emperor that this was a historical problem and that we could only accept reality.

……

Therefore, Zhang Yue decided to reorganize Hebei's military equipment and make full preparations for war with the Khitan.

This is the truth, but things are often two different things.

Just like everyone has a period of time when they are full of energy, I was determined to study hard, but after a few days, all kinds of difficulties came.

It's too cold today, I'll get up later.

A certain big V once said not to work too hard.

It's okay to play for a while.

When studying, you need to know how to combine work and rest.

I must study hard tomorrow.

sleepy!

Countries are different from people. Countries are more rational, but making excuses means the same thing.

When Xiao Derang, the envoy from the Liao Kingdom, came to the Song Dynasty again, many officials began to persuade the emperor to obey.

But these shrewd bureaucrats are also very strategic when they persuade.

Some officials believed that the Song Dynasty could not defeat the Liao Kingdom, but they could not write it down, so they filled the document with high-sounding words about influencing foreigners with morality. Many ministers persuaded the emperor that Emperor Wu of Han personally held the military authority and ascended the Chanyu's platform, and Emperor Taizong of Tang tied a raincoat with his hands and went to attack the Liaodong Kingdom, which were all actions that did not make up for the loss.

Later generations thought that these officials were pedantic, and that they really believed that these people were full of benevolence, righteousness, and morality, and could use morality to influence foreigners.

In fact, the underlying reason is the conservatism and laziness of officials.

Officials knew that once a war broke out, everyone had a share of responsibility.

The Liao army cavalry marches southward, what should you do as a city guard? Outside the city are tens of thousands of Khitan cavalry.

You looked back at the city. The city had been in disrepair for a long time, the treasury was empty, and there were only a few hundred old, weak, sick and disabled archers in the whole city.

When you saw this, you felt disappointed, so thinking about your future situation, you immediately wrote a letter of opposition.

Other officials knew that the court would definitely carry out major reforms and reorganize the army.

If the city walls were dilapidated, they would repair them; if the treasury was empty, they would collect taxes from the people; if the soldiers were old, weak, sick and disabled, they would recruit and train them.

But doing these things doesn't require a lot of energy, material resources, manpower and financial resources. I am just a small and humble official, how can I bear such a big responsibility. Are the decision-makers in the court all shit-eating people?

It’s just like when you don’t want to get up and study just because the weather is too cold.

……

Of course there are those who oppose it, and there are also those who are actively preparing for war.

After Zhang Dun arrived in Dingzhou as a frontier commander, he immediately proposed the extreme one-for-one strategy. In fact, Wang Chao, a frontier general during the reign of Emperor Zhenzong, had proposed a similar strategy.

Zhang Dun meant that when the Liao army bypassed the fortified city and went south to drink from the Yellow River, our rear border troops did not return to support Bian Jing, but went deep into the Liao territory to capture Youyan, creating signs of instability in the Liao rear.

At the same time, Zhang Dun boldly asked the court to combine the Ding and Zhen routes into one route and give them to him to command, so that he could organize the field army against Liao.

The emperor appreciated Zhang Dun's idea, while the court officials thought.

This move would repeat the fate of Wang Chao, who had 100,000 troops but did nothing at the back during the Treaty of Chanyuan. So the proposal was abandoned, but the government still allocated money for Zhang Dun to recruit Tiaodang and light cavalry in Dingzhou for field battles.

……

After Zeng Bu arrived in Yingzhou, he proposed to reorganize the Tangbo defense line in Hebei.

The terrain of Hebei is high in the west and low in the east. There were originally ninety-nine lakes, Yongnu Sou and other ancient pools.

Since the time of Emperor Taizong, the strategy of using rivers and lakes to resist the southward advance of Liao cavalry was decided.

Then it passed through the reigns of Renzong and Zhenzong.

In the middle of the Xining period, Shen Kuo finally talked about the Tangbo Defense Line in Hebei.

It has the Xu, Bao, Sha, Tang rivers, and the Monkey, Jiji, Wuyan springs as its source. It merges with the Hutuo, Zhang, Qi, Yi, Bai and other rivers in the east and forms the Great Yellow River. From Shenyuanluo in the northwest of Baozhou to Nigukou in Cangzhou in the east, a distance of nearly 800 miles is completely blocked by floods. Some of the widest sections are as wide as 60 miles and are still used as fences today.

Many people claim that the Tangbo Defense Line in Hebei can withstand at least one million troops.

Although this statement is exaggerated, when the Liao cavalry went south to plunder, the ponds and ponds could serve as an obstacle and also provide the people with a place to hide.

After the Tangpo defense line was abandoned, it evolved into Baiyangdian and Wenanwa.

However, artificial facilities like ponds cannot be left unmaintained. During the reign of Emperor Huizong of Song, the ponds dried up and were not dredged. Officials and common people often drained the accumulated water to benefit the rice fields. In addition, the Yellow River flooded, and the pond defense line was in tatters when the Jin soldiers marched south.

The reign of Emperor Huizong of Song seemed prosperous and wealthy, but in fact it was not the case at all.

Both ponds and baojia required money to maintain, but Huizong did not adopt this plan at all.

In addition, Zeng Bu also advocated the continued maintenance of Yusai.

In places without ponds, the Song army planted elm trees as barriers to prevent the Liao cavalry from moving south. In history, Tong Guan ordered his men to cut down the elm barriers because he thought they were too troublesome to build in order to fight against the Liao.

However, the prohibition has not been strict in recent years, and people often cut down trees secretly.

Although Zhang Yue thought that Yulesai was of little use, the sandstorm in Bianjing was too terrible.

Planting trees and preventing sandstorms is also useful.

Therefore, after becoming prime minister, he issued an order strictly prohibiting the people from cutting down trees and continued to expand the scope of Yusai.

……

After Chen Xiang, the prefect of Daming Prefecture, died in office, Zhang Yue replaced him with Zhang Heng as the prefect of Daming Prefecture.

Zhang Heng had been an envoy to the Liao Kingdom, where his archery skills were amazing, and he also advocated a northern expedition to take back the eight states behind the mountains. This time, Zhang Heng was appointed as the governor of Daming Prefecture, serving as the central authority of the four routes in Hebei.

After Zhang Heng took office, he proposed to build a barrier city in the important area of ​​Hebei, that is, to build another small city outside the city gate to cover the city gate.

At the same time, Zhang Heng proposed to add more navy in Mizhou so that they could cross the sea for attack.

Finally, Zhang Heng also submitted a memorial to the emperor, saying that "the soldiers should be the city and the hearts should be the soldiers."

Hebei has always had elite soldiers and brave generals. The Jingsai Army in Shanggu, the Xiaojian Army in Xiongzhou, and the Tingzi Army in Changshan are all elite, capable of fighting against the Liao Army's cavalry in the field. At the same time, mobilize the local soldiers and mobilize the people, so that the people of Hebei will have the attitude of defending the land as their responsibility.

Under Wang Anshi's baojia system, Hebei's rural soldiers were indeed trained.

Although Zhang Yue changed the baojia system and abolished the baoma system, he still followed Wang Anshi's strategy of emphasizing baojia in Shaanxi and Hebei.

Although the previous strategy was not adopted, officials familiar with military affairs were sent to Hebei every now and then to review the training of Hebei local soldiers.

……

Opinions on Zhang Dun, Zeng Bu, and Zhang Heng were different, which was closely related to the character of the commander-in-chief.

Zhang Dun advocated limited field warfare, that is, flexible defense, which was consistent with his generally aggressive character.

Zeng Bu also advocated building defenses. Although it seemed conservative, it was also an attitude of not compromising with the Khitan.

Zhang Heng had both opinions and advocated mobilizing the people. He advocated defense in depth, using the three routes of Ding, Zhen and Ying to delay the Khitan troops from moving south, and then using Daming Prefecture as the defense center. This was actually similar to the defense strategy during the reign of Emperor Zhenzong of Song Dynasty in history, which was the famous Tanghe Formation.

Among the three views, Zhang Yue actually still has high hopes for Zhang Dun. It would be unsuccessful to defend stubbornly like Zeng Bu did. If it is a defensive battle, only flexible defense is correct.

In the battle between Xihe Road and Dangxiang, Zhang Yu's battle at Taoshui was a model of flexible defense, using strong cities to defend and organizing troops outside.

Here we have to mention the warlords during the Five Dynasties. Whether it was the Later Tang, Later Jin, or Later Han, their territory, troops, manpower, and material resources were far inferior to those of the Song Dynasty, but they all won through field battles with the Khitan. The Liao cavalry was not strong, but this was compared with the Jurchens.

If Zhang Yue encountered the Jurchen cavalry who defeated the 2,000-man Song army with only 17 cavalrymen or defeated the 30,000-man Xixia cavalry with more than 1,000 cavalrymen in later generations, he would definitely not plan a field battle for the time being.

Although the Liao cavalry was not strong, it had a large number of cavalry. Therefore, Zhang Dun's flexible defense suggestion was not mature yet.

Therefore, the flexible defense that was effective against the Tanguts was ineffective against the Khitans, and the Western Army’s methods could not be applied to the Liao Kingdom’s grand strategy.

Zhang Yue did not appoint the highest military commander in Hebei, because he planned that if the Liao army broke into an important place like Damingfu, Zhang Heng would hold on and wait for help. He would lead the three auxiliary armies from the capital to the north, and outflank the three routes of Dingzhenying from the rear. In this way, the Liao army would be trapped in a situation where the Song army was in front, in the middle and in the back.

Therefore, Zhang Yue was inclined to Zhang Dun's flexible defense, but finally chose Zhang Heng's strategy of deep defense. Zeng Bu's strategy of building Tangbo Yusai on the front line was also correct, which could hinder and delay the Khitan cavalry's southward advance, but it was impossible for Zhang Yue to concentrate his forces on outer defense.

Outer-line defense can keep enemies at home and abroad and minimize the losses in Hebei. On the contrary, deep defense will cause Hebei to be ravaged by the Khitan cavalry, but there is no other way around it.

As for transferring the water army to Mizhou, it is also a move that can be used for counterattack in the future.

We must rely on the wisdom of the ancients. What we read from later history books is just a fragment like a photo, but their lives are like videos. Later readers of history do not understand the cause and effect, so they make hasty judgments and think that something is wrong.

In fact, basically the method used by the ancients, although not the optimal solution, is not much different.

Zhang Yue's general policy towards Liao was also a continuation of Fu Bi's proposal: "Don't rely on them not coming, but rely on what we have to wait for them; don't rely on them not attacking, but rely on what we have that cannot be attacked."

In order to avoid war between Song and Liao, we should prepare strategies to deal with future wars between Song and Liao. We should never relax our military preparations by thinking that Liao will not move south.

The best solution is to seek unity through struggle and to promote talks through fighting.

Under Zhang Yue's insistence, the four routes of Hebei were preparing for war, and the war clouds gathered.

……

However, on the second day after Han Zhongyan returned to the Song Dynasty, news came from the border that the Liao army invaded and attacked Xiaonanhe Village in Cangzhou, killing and wounding civilians, breaking through the fort, attacking and killing the Song army, and stripping away all the armor of the fallen Song soldiers.

The Liao army not only broke through the city, but also killed the civilians and Song army.

Before leaving, the Liao cavalry all shot arrows at the city wall. When the Song reinforcements arrived, they saw that the outer wall of the city wall was full of arrowheads and there was almost no tile intact on the city wall.

This move is not only a naked provocation.

When this incident happened, the whole government and the public were shocked, and the discussion of war and peace with Khitan once again emerged like a pulse wave.

……

But the top officials in the court knew that this was a warning from the Liao Kingdom.

Han Zhongyan called them "barbarian dogs" and the Liao Kingdom's revenge came, and it came very quickly.

Deep in the palace, Empress Dowager Gao heard about this and immediately persuaded the emperor.

Empress Dowager Gao said to the emperor: "Your Majesty, although the king conquers the country with military prowess, he must ultimately rule with civil virtues."

"The Tanguts have been taught a lesson for their humiliation of Emperor Renzong. Now we should focus on people's livelihood."

The official said, "Empress Dowager, since ancient times, when felling a tree, one should first remove its branches and leaves, and then cut down its roots. Liangzhou is like branches and leaves, and I have cut them all down. Now only Xingling and Lingzhou are left."

Empress Dowager Gao said: "The Tanguts have the support of the Khitans, so it will take time to conquer them, but it is better to focus on people's livelihood. Since the government has compared it to planting trees, I think governing the country is like planting trees. First, we need to strengthen the roots, and then the branches and leaves will not be a problem. As long as the court can be governed, why worry about not being able to control the border troubles?"

The official couldn't help but hesitate when he heard this.

Empress Dowager Gao said earnestly, "Your Majesty, there was no trouble between Song and Liao. It was the border officials who caused the trouble. People like Lu Huiqing, Han Zhen, and Shen Kuo are all treacherous. They seem to be working for the court, but in fact they are all for their own selfish interests. They put their selfish desires above the interests of the court."

"Although you value Zhang Yue, you should not be too indulgent. If we really fight against the Liao Kingdom, the century of peace our ancestors have enjoyed will be destroyed in an instant."

Although he did not agree with Empress Dowager Gao's proposal, the emperor did have his doubts.

Empress Dowager Gao said: "Han Zhongyan is the son of Han Qi, and he is also a person who understands the state system. This time he went to Liao to provoke the Liao ruler with words. Could it be that someone instructed him to do this?"

The emperor thought to himself, what do you mean by reasonable? Before Han Zhongyan returned to the court, Zhang Yue had already drafted a petition for promotion to Hanlin Bachelor. It was clearly Zhang Yue's instruction.

What should we do next? Han Zhongyan cursed them as barbarians. The Liao army killed a whole city of Song army and used arrows to establish their authority?

Should we respond next?