.

Zhao Pu's analysis pointed to the key points. Zhao Jing nodded in praise and asked Wang Lu: "Tian Qinzuo had been besieging Lanzhou for more than a month, and the war could not be delayed. Why did it?" Although Tian Qinzuo had long reported the war in Lanzhou in his military letter, opening up the road of speech and checking and balancing each other was the emperor's mind. Furthermore, although the Zoroastrianism was hit in Lanzhou and could no longer be used, Wang Lu was still the person in the court who knew the truth of Lanzhou best. Zhao Jiong was also quite interested in the facts of Lanzhou's more than a thousand soldiers left behind in Lanzhou to resist for a month under the siege of the army.

Wang Qi did not dare to neglect and bowed to the ground and said, "The one who stayed in Lanzhou was Chen De's right-hand man. The commander of the Right Army Xiao Jiu, under his command, had a baggage camp, Jincheng camp, and a thousand five soldiers. Although Chen De had few left-behind troops in Lanzhou, the border residents were always strong. When the residents of Lanzhou were idle, the soldiers were led by the soldiers to practice shooting skills. Chen De also recruited the residents with the Ministry of Military Law. Therefore, although there were few soldiers in Lanzhou, there were more than 10,000 people from the residents who could not leave the city to fight, but it was more than 10,000 people who could reach the city to defend. Therefore, the 5,000 imperial guards led by General Tian were really difficult to capture."

"Oh? There is such a thing," Zhao Jing said with interest. "If all the households in the north can climb the city like the strong men in Lanzhou, it would be very difficult for the Khitans to attack the city and the villages."

Seeing that the emperor's thoughts suddenly turned to the battle with the Liao Kingdom, Cao Bin continued: "Mr. Wang's words are a bit biased. Although the civilians practice shooting skills in their spare time, they are difficult to compare with the army. Not to mention the imperial guards, even the wing army is inferior. It is extremely easy to cause chaos, mutiny, etc., and it is not good to be taken advantage of by the enemy." He looked at Zhao Jiong's expression, and seemed to have no dissatisfaction, so he continued: "Lanzhou has not been sent for more than a month, and Chen De must have left more troops and horses to guard. Since Taiyuan does not save Lanzhou, hundreds of thousands of imperial guards in the court can wait for the battle, and he can send more troops to defeat this lonely city."

"Your Majesty," Wang Zhi saw Cao Bin report, Zhao Jing still did not comment. Instead, he looked at himself and said, "What I am more worried about is that in addition to Ding Zhuang, there are more than 10,000 Chen De from the grassland. Among them, there are warriors who are good at riding and shooting. If our army is too siege, then Xiao Jiu will release this group of barbarians to oppose our army in a hurry, which will be even more difficult to deal with." His words put a weight on the balance of Zhao Jing's weighing. At this time, the Central Plains had experienced the late Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties. Although they still regarded themselves as the Heavenly Kingdom, they had lost their confidence in their military power. It was a consensus among the courts that the Hu people fought with great wars.

If the Lanzhou is too tight, the rabbit will kick the eagle to death. Xiao Jiu armed the grassland slaves in his craftsman camp, whether it is plundering or fighting, which will cause trouble to the Song army. As for whether the slaves can be armed as soldiers, it is not within the scope of the considerations of the monarchs and ministers of the Song Dynasty. In their minds, soldiers and slaves are originally two levels that are not far apart. As long as these slaves were once very good soldiers, they would be much stronger than those strong men who practiced shooting skills during the slack farming. If there were thousands of war horses in Lanzhou City arming these slaves into cavalry, Tian Qinzuo would probably consider withdrawing the troops.

"So, there are more than 10,000 soldiers in this small Lanzhou city, as well as the Hu tribe, and there is no shortage of equipment, food and grass. If there is no war, it will not be able to be defeated." Zhao Jing pondered. Tian Qinzuo had already reported the army, and the Lanzhou garrison was far more than 1,500. In the past few days, the imperial guards attacked with all their strength, and the casualties were not serious. However, the enemy on the city was not damaged. Tian Qinzuo even accused the city information given by Wang Zhi to mislead the army.

After Zhao Jiong and Wang Zhi were friends who were good friends at the end of their lives. Since they ascended the throne, they have either been incompetent in military affairs, had shallow foundations, or had actually made their mark when they were Taizu. Only Wang Zhi was both a confidant and had been practicing for a long time. In addition to his unfair belief in the Zoroastrianism, Zhao Jiong was still very satisfied with him. Therefore, the slander of others and even Wang Zhi's belief in Zoroastrianism cannot affect Zhao Jiong's reliance on him for the time being.

"In the opinion of an old minister, since Chen De was willing to surrender, he summoned him to the court as an official, and first isolated him from his subordinates, and then the court gradually appointed officials to Hexi to change the generals to select soldiers. In this way, the troops could obtain thousands of miles of Hexi without bloodshed." Zhao Pu heard.

"The Prime Minister's words are wrong. Chen De is a heroic spirit. The above-mentioned peace-seeking is just a force for the situation. He has tens of thousands of troops in his hands, and he is thousands of miles away from his commands. He is willing to surrender to the court sincerely?" Cao Bin did not wait for Zhao Jiong to speak, but refuted, which was contrary to his usual humble and gentlemanly behavior.

Zhao Pu shook his head slowly and said leisurely: "Does Cao Shumi know Chen De very well? How could he know that he would not be willing to take off his armor and come to the court? Besides, not only his relatives in the city of Lanzhou, but his confidant generals and more than 10,000 troops are also there. If he was burned by his unwillingness to come to the court, he would not be able to hold a grudge in his heart. He was disloyal from Hexi, and the court would take off another day and send troops to destroy it." He stroked his chest with one hand, his beard trembled slightly, as if he was a mature and conspiring country. The demeanor of the prime minister was heartbroken.

"If Chen De refused to come to the court, what should I do?" Cao Bin asked again, not to be outdone and the Privy Councilor. He was not a piece of paper. If he only knew how to be submissive, how could Zhao Jiong, who was determined to fight the Northern Expedition, let him have a place for his corpse.

Although he was fierce, Zhao Pu calmly looked calm and replied calmly: "Then follow the invitation of Cao Shumi and General Tian, ​​send more troops to capture Lanzhou. Follow Chen De's family to Bianliang, Your Majesty builds a Shuofang Jieduan Mansion to live there. As for other men and women in the city, reward the imperial soldiers and soldiers and slaves. He will issue the appointment of Shuofang Jieduan to Lanzhou together with the situation of Lanzhou. At the same time, Dong Zunhui was ordered to retreat from Lingzhou to Huanzhou. There were still tens of thousands of imperial troops in the five routes of Shaanxi, and nearly 100,000 local soldiers in the Xiang army and nearly 100,000 local soldiers, which was the heart of the Central Plains. Chen De would not be able to invade within several years. When the war in the east was pacified, the imperial soldiers turned to the west. At that time, he would have to work hard to dispatch troops and generals." After saying that, he laughed dryly and picked up his beard.

"Shuofang Jiedushi," Zhao Jing pondered, "The former dynasty Shuofang Jiedushi was Lingzhou. Is the Prime Minister trying to abandon Lingzhou and give way to Chen De?"

Zhao Pu said in a deep voice: "Lingzhou is alone outside the vast sea, and there are all foreign barbarians around it. It is difficult to reach reinforcements, so it is extremely inconvenient to transport food and grass from Shaanxi. Although Chen De was granted the title of the court and entered the court, his subordinates were vassal states in the northwest of the court. What's wrong with building a festival with Shuofang? If he did not enter the court, Lingzhou would be surrounded by him on all sides, and whether to give or not is just a form."

At this time, the power of the Han people in the Central Plains had greatly contracted to the inland after the wars of the late Tang and Five Dynasties. Although there were still a large number of Han people living near Lingzhou, the desert and Gobi between them was already a place where various tribes grazed cattle and sheep. As the prime minister, Zhao Pu had a headache in private for supplying the Lingzhou garrisons for countless times. He had already complained in his heart. Taking advantage of Chen De's chance to be besieged Lingzhou, he simply proposed it together. According to his principles, if the imperial army maintained the eastward trend, the towns with inconvenient supply in the west would have to retreat back, so as to avoid being dragged into a war that was either to fight or not to fight, just like this time. If the imperial guards turned west, with the continuous support of the human, financial and military power of the Central Plains, these lost towns could naturally be easily recaptured.

Zhao Jiong nodded slowly when he heard this. If we only follow Chen De's current territory, we should grant him the title of Shuofang Jiedushi and the commander of Hexi Jiedushi, and observe the four prefectures of Guasha, Gansu. The authority is too heavy to add. Zhao Pu only mentioned Shuofang Jiedushi, and granted him the shallowest place in his foundation. Many of the French troops in Hexi have already had various Jiedushi, group training envoys, and observation envoys have not even been cut off, which is also the meaning of laying nails for Chen De's rule over Hexi.

"Since that's the case, I will follow the Prime Minister's advice." Zhao Jing nodded, "If he was willing to surrender to the court, how could I be stingy with someone who talked about the reputation of the governor of Shuofang?" He said lightly, but he was worried about the title of the vassal state in his heart, and waved his hand to order Zhao Pu to draft the edict.

In Lanzhou, Xiao Jiu has been staying in the city tower for a month. At night, the lanterns and torches are brightly lit around the city walls. People are sent to guard against the Song army to steal the city at night. The city is full of bad fighting. The soldiers of Jinfan Camp patrol the sword to prevent the residents of the city from rioting.

Since the Song army besieged the city, Xiao Jiu immediately selected 5,000 households who were good at shooting archery in the city. A sergeant from the baggage battalion led ten households to the city to defend. This month the war was lingering, and the strong men were damaged and replenished. There were still 3,000 soldiers on the city walls, and more than 300 soldiers in the baggage battalion. Each soldier was beaten into a real ten-man commander. Without any chance, Xiao Jiu, a 300 soldier from the craftsman, dared not dispatch any of them. Thousands of work slaves heard the news from somewhere. In recent days, Li Jian also kept suggesting that these barbarians should be armed and released from the city to kill the Song army.

"According to our eyes and ears among the labor slaves, many of these Hu tribes used to ride horses and shoot arrows, but after staying in the craftsman camp for a long time, most of their rebellious nature was wiped out. As long as we promised that they would give them the identity of a yin household or even a soldier in Lanzhou after this battle, most of them would still be willing to fight for us." Li Jian suggested. Although the number of Song soldiers besieged in the city was not large, the crossbows and equipment they carried were very powerful. The strong men available in the city have suffered a lot in recent days, and they have no choice but to supplement them.

Note: The territory and troops under the jurisdiction of the five major military governors who operated the northwest in the Tang Dynasty were as follows:

The Shuofang Jiedushi defended the Turks, ruled Lingzhou (Lingwu County, now southwest of Lingwu, Ningxia), and ruled the Martial Army, Feng'an Army, Dingyuan Army, East Sushoucheng, Central Sushoucheng, West Sushoucheng, Anbei Protectorate, and Shanyu Protectorate, and managed 64,700 soldiers. During the Tianbao period, the governors were Wang Zhongsi, Zhang Qiqiu, and An Sishun.

The Jiedushi of Hexi, separated Tubo and Turkic, ruled Liangzhou (Wuwei County, now Wuwei, Gansu), and ruled the Chishui Army, Dadou Army, Jiankang Army, Ningkou Army, Yumen Army, Moli Army, Doulu Army, Xinquan Army, Zhangye Guard, Jiaocheng Guard, and Baiting Guard, and managed 73,000 troops. The Jiedushi of Tianbao was Wang Ye, Huangfu Weiming, Wang Zhongsi, An Sishun, and Geshuhan.

The Anxi Jiedushi, also known as the Jiedushi of the Four Towns and the Jiedushi of the Four Towns, Funing the Western Regions, governed Kucha City (now Kuche, Xinjiang), and ruled the four towns of Kucha, Yanqi, Khotan and Shule, and managed 24,000 soldiers. The Jiedushi of Tianbao was Mengling, Gao Xianzhi, Wang Zhengjian, and Feng Changqing.

The governor of Beiting defended the Tuqi Shi and Jiankun, and governed the Beiting Protectorate (the governor of Tingzhou, now the north-pochengzi of Jimusar, Xinjiang), and ruled the Hanhai Army, Tianshan Army, and Yiwu Army, and managed 20,000 troops. During the Tianbao period, the governor of the governor of Lai Yao, Wang Anjian, Cheng Qianli, and Feng Changqing.

The governor of Longyou was prepared to rule Tubo, governed Shanzhou (Xiping County, now in Qinghai Ledu), and ruled the Lintao Army, Heyuan Army, Baishui Army, Anren Army, Zhenwu Army, Weirong Army, Momen Army, Ningsai Army, Jishi Army, Zhenxi Army, Suihe Shoucha, Hechuan Shoucha, Pingyi Shoucha, and Pingyi Shoucha. He was in charge of 75,000 troops. In the thirteenth year of Tianbao, Ningbian, Weisheng, Tiancheng, Zhenwei (Tubo Diaoke City), Shence, Jintian, Wuning and Yaowu Eight Armies. The governors of Tianbao were Huangfu Weiming, Wang Zhongsi, and Geshuhan.

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