As soon as Zhang Dun's suggestion was released, the atmosphere in Chongzheng Hall became a little weird in an instant.

In fact, everyone knows that practicing an elite soldier that the court can control is the foundation for restoring Yan Yun. After all, the ironwork must be strong himself. Without hard power as the basis, it is simply a dream to win Yan Yun by conspiracy.

Even if the dream comes true due to various reasons, the "Youzhou Town", which barely enters the territory of the Song Dynasty, will become another source of the Anshi Rebellion.

But the problem is that the problem of training elite soldiers has always been a trouble in the Song Dynasty court that no one wants to get involved. That is, the "State of War" produced by Wang Anshi involves "military reform", but it is not really a training of troops. The "State of War" and Song Xia's long-term tug-of-war battles finally honed a northwest imperial guard that was still able to fight for the Song Dynasty, that is, the Western Army.

In other words, the Northwest Imperial Guard, which looks relatively powerful, was not deliberately trained by anyone, but was developed slowly due to the right system and environment, coupled with a poor opponent who can compete with him.

However, Zhang Dun, who truly knew about the army, and both the chief officials of Zeng Bu knew that relying solely on the power of the Northwest Imperial Army was not enough to complete the great cause of pacifying Liao and restoring Yan while maintaining military pressure on the Western Xia.

Because the total number of soldiers in the Northwest Imperial Army is less than 200,000, considering the shortage, empty amount, old and weak, the number of elite soldiers who can fight is only 100,000, and they cannot all be taken to Hebei to participate in the war. After all, the Western Xia has not yet destroyed its country! It would be great to be able to withdraw 50,000 real elite soldiers from the Northwest Imperial Army.

It is definitely not enough to rely on 50,000 Northwest Imperial Guards to recover Yan Yun... If the Northwest Imperial Guards were really so powerful, the Western Xia would have been about to perish the country.

In addition, there are 590,000 imperial guards on the books of the Song Dynasty. There can be no only 100,000 to be able to fight, and 490,000 are all mixed-army pay, right?

Therefore, to fight against Yanyun in the north, training is imperative. The 100,000 imperial guards in Hebei must reach the level of the Northwest imperial guards. The 200,000 imperial guards in Kaifeng Prefecture must have at least 50,000 troops reach the level of the Northwest imperial guards.

In this way, 200,000 troops who can go to the battlefield can be drawn, and use fortress tactics to force Yanjing step by step...

In other words, if you want to restore Yan and pacify Liao, you have to train at least 150,000 elite soldiers!

Not to mention where the food, money and military funds needed for training are available, there is one. Who will practice this soldier? Who dares to practice? Who has the ability to practice? Will he practice the unique skill of "yellow robe" as he practices?

In addition to training troops, Hebei East and West are not a system that can be fought. It has been peaceful since the Chanyuan Alliance. It has been almost 100 years. The local soldiers, clerks, and people have long known what war is, and they have not realized and prepared to serve labor service for war.

In addition, the "Three Easy Return to the River" disaster also flooded Hebei East Road again. Not to mention that nine out of ten rooms are empty, at least half of them are empty!

If we don’t make up for it, we will move some people from other places to farm and build roads and river embankments. It will be impossible for Hebei East Road to support the war in ten or eight years.

It is not easy to rectify Hebei East Road and Hebei West Road. These two routes of Hebei have always been the territory of the old party! Many generals of the old party and the nobles of Kaifeng who have close ties with the old party are in the east and west roads of Hebei. Those aristocratic families are in the east and west roads of Hebei. I don’t know how much benefits are there for the new party to do it. If you want to rectify it, you won’t be able to get messed up?

Moreover, Zhao Xu, the official family, doesn't look like he can last a long time. If he has a three-way and two-way short-term situation, he will be responsible for the East and West routes of Hebei, and will not ask people to go to Yalong Bay to see the sea?

Empress Dowager Xiang is a native of Daming Mansion on East Road, Hebei...

Seeing that everyone was not talking, after a while, Prime Minister Zhang Dun had to speak: "It's already noon, I dare not delay Your Majesty's meal, I will leave!"

When the prime minister spoke, the important officials in the hall all surrendered. Zhao Xu didn't keep them, but hesitated for a moment and said to Zhang Dun: "Zhang Qing, please stay for a while."

Zhang Dun stopped as he said, and other important ministers of the prime minister still left the palace. Next was Zhao Xu and Zhang Dun's solo recitation.

Zhang Dun stood in the hall, waiting for Zhao Xu to speak. Zhao Xu looked at Zhang Dun and asked in a deep thought: "Zhang Qing thinks who can be responsible for training troops now?"

"Lu Jifu, the Fuyan Road Pacifier, has always known the army. He has implemented the "Architective Art of General" very effectively during his tenure as Fuyan Road Pacifier, and has also made great contributions to the Battle of Hengshan."

Zhang Dun recommended the new party general Lu Huiqing. This person has a bad reputation and popularity. Not only is he a treacherous minister in the eyes of the old party, but he is also a traitor in the eyes of the new party. Even Wang Anshi hated him very much later.

However, this treacherous man was able to do things and could train troops and fight. He served as the Fuyan Road Pacification Envoy twice. He stayed in front of the Shaanxi Army for nearly 10 years and was the same as Zhang Yue.

Although his character is not very good, he is also the only one who can be used at the moment. Because Zhang Shi is Zhang Dun's cousin, his cousin is the only one, and his cousin is in charge of military training, this matter will definitely not work in the Song Dynasty. Unless Zhang Dun resigns and retires, Zhao Xu cannot do without Zhang Dun, so Zhang Shi cannot train troops. At most, he will be entrusted to rectify the responsibility of the east and west routes of Hebei.

In addition, Zhang Dun recommended Lu Huiqing to train troops and was also selfish - he was also a traitor! Because Lu Huiqing had been a deputy minister in the Shenzong Dynasty, that is, a deputy prime minister, and was a very old-fashioned important official. Now he has made meritorious service in the northwest and is fully qualified to be a prime minister. Moreover, Lu Huiqing is a traitor who is very good at punishing people. Once he becomes a prime minister, he will definitely be in a dilemma with Zhang Dun.

Therefore, Zhang Dun simply gave him a military training mission, so that he would probably have the title of knowing the affairs of the Privy Council. Dingtian would be the top leader of the Privy Council (it was unlikely) and could not be the prime minister. Because the four major powers of military, politics, finance and punishment in the Northern Song Dynasty were basically separated, except for the founding period, there was basically no minister who could monopolize two major powers.

"Zhang Qing, who should I ask the east and west routes of Hebei to rectify it?" Zhao Xu mentioned the second problem that was a headache.

The so-called "rectification" is actually torture people and harm the people! It is impossible to be happy to let people in a peaceful and comfortable environment enter a wartime state.

Besides, whose family belongs to the land in the east and west routes of Hebei? Who are the farmers farming for? If these farmers are asked to serve various corvee labor, would the famous families in the two routes of Hebei be happy?

If this matter is not possible, it will be a mess!

"I recommend my brother Zhang Zhifu and current Privy Councilor Zeng Zixuan."

Zhang Dun's recommendation is also full of calculating. Hebei East and West are not something that small people can suppress. Only people like Zhang Feng, Zeng Bu, Cai Jing, and Cai Bian can go.

Moreover, this is an offensive instigation, and he may be forced to retire after he finishes his work. Therefore, Zhang Dun must take out his cousin Zhang Yu, so that he can use Zhang Yu to "die" Zeng Bu. Once Zeng Bu is out of the town, the Privy Council will be vacant, because Lu Huiqing is responsible for the great task of training troops, and it is impossible for him to truly control the Privy Council - otherwise the military power will be too heavy! Therefore, someone must replace Zeng Bu, and the successor must be Cai Jing, who is now the deputy envoy.

Once Cai Jing enters the Privy Council, Cai Bian will not want to go further to become a prime minister. His brother becomes a Privy Councilor and his younger brother becomes a secondary prime minister, which seems too powerful. Maybe Cai Bian's Left Secretary may be out of security and will be sent to court by Zhao Xu, the official.

In this way, no one in the court can threaten Zhang Dun's status as the solemn minister... Unless the official's family dies, the Empress Dowager will come to the court!

After hearing what Zhang Dun said, Zhao Xu sighed softly: "The military training is originally a military general, but now it is inappropriate to supervise it on civil servants. If Lu Huiqing rejects it on this ground, it is reasonable... As for the rectification of the east and west routes of Hebei, it is not easy, so let me think about it again and again."

Now Zhao Xu is suffering from the family rules of his ancestors. He must practice his soldiers. If he doesn't practice, he will not be able to take Yan Yun back. Even if he barely takes them back, he will not be able to hold on.

However, civil officials can only mobilize troops but not command the troops, and they cannot train troops. Although the military officers of the Song Dynasty have a little more power after the implementation of the "General and Military Art", a "general" is usually only a few thousand people. If they want to train 100,000 elite soldiers, at least twenty or thirty generals. How can they do without important officials to supervise the commander? Do those martial men rely on the three yamen to manage the army? Not to mention whether those military officers will manage the army, they can manage it... Can the emperor rest assured?

Who knows if Zhao Kuangyin will be the second?

As for using an internal official to practice the imperial guards in Kaifeng Prefecture, it is not possible... Who knows if he will train a "Lieutenant of the Shence Army"? Therefore, the internal officials of the Song Dynasty generally cannot control the imperial guards in Kaifeng, and they can only manage the affairs of the border troops.

So the only way is to let the important officials and the military in charge together, and it is more reassuring to be the main officials and officials. However, letting the important officials and officials manage the military training with the military manager... is also a headache.

Not to mention the difficulty of the candidates, this important official who trains the army will definitely not be able to do the military training like the prime minister. It is as dangerous as a civil servant who has trained the army! Maybe he will be forced to retire and return home to retire. What will he do if he is thankless?

Seeing Zhao Xu hesitating, Zhang Dun replied again: "Your Majesty, I am afraid that the Liao Kingdom will be in chaos now... If the imperial court does not have a large army that can be fought, how can I protect myself if there is any trouble in the future?"

Zhang Dun could see clearly that the Yuyang drum may not necessarily have to be beaten by the governor of Youzhou, but the same is true for the King of Bohai Kingdom or the Khan of Bu!

Therefore, the Song Dynasty could not stay out of trouble when the Liao Kingdom collapsed. Even if it was to stay out of trouble, it would have elite soldiers in its hands. Otherwise, what would the other cavalry use to resist when they headed south?

"I'm afraid that Lu Huiqing will not accept it." Zhao Xu shook his head.

"It's better to send him to the capital to report the matter first." Zhang Dun said, "When the Hengshan War ended, he invited him to the capital, and now he is just summoning him to come. Your Majesty can ask him what he meant when the report is correct. If he is willing to take on the heavy responsibility, it would be better."
Chapter completed!