Fan Zhi shouted loudly, Zheng Wei knelt down, and followed a large area of ​​people kneeling down. In the vast field of thin snow, Zhang Mai was standing alone, like a crane standing out in the flock of chickens, looking very conspicuous.

This is not the first time Zhang Mai encountered this situation. At this time, he had no resistance or panic in his heart, and he smiled and said, "Now, I am standing alone like this. If Li Congke Yelu Deguang sent an assassin, I would have become an excellent target for archery."

Several guards responsible for protecting Zhang Mai were extremely nervous when they heard this. Zheng Wei laughed and was the first to stand up and said, "Everyone, stand up and cover the marshal."

Lu Jialing and others also laughed. The young and flexible people knew that Zhang Mai was joking, while the older and more dull, were a little confused but stood up. The atmosphere at the scene became much more relaxed, and it was no longer as tense as before.

Seeing that a solemn atmosphere was destroyed, the etiquette order he had finally established disappeared in an instant, Fan Zhi was very discordant, but what Zhang Mai said seemed to make some sense. He stood among a large group of people. It would not be easy if there were assassins watching him and trying to start. If everyone else was kneeling, just Zhang Mai stood alone, if an arrow really flew over, he would not be able to bear it.

But in the marshal's simple words, it seems to have a different meaning, and Fan Zhi can't make a mistake for a while.

Zhang Mai glanced at him and smiled and said, "If everyone in the world is kneeling and I am the only one standing, I will become very dangerous."

Fan Zhi's mind buzzed, as if he had thought of something, but he couldn't figure it out thoroughly for a moment.

—————

Zhang Mai said a few more words to the old farmers, then took Zheng Wei away from the crowd and walked to a hillside. The guards in the peasant's clothes were all scattered around. Only Zhang, Zheng, Lu, and Fan were left.

"You wrote to Qinxi to see me, but I thought you were joking." Zhang Mai said: "The center should be very busy, how can you get out now?"

Zheng Wei smiled and said, "You are the boss of the entire Tang Dynasty. You can wander around, why can't I do it?"

"What's the same?" Zhang Mai smiled and said, "I am the boss in my name, is responsible for the show, and you, the real boss, are the ones who are truly responsible for doing things."

Fan Zhi didn't understand what it means to make a show. Zheng Wei had heard him use this word several times, and learned it a little, and said with a smile: "I don't have to do everything myself. Now that I have Zhang Yi here, I don't need to give him some permissions, so I don't need anything big or small. And Wei Renpu, he is really amazing. He can't see anything at a glance, and he's done everything every day, and he doesn't know if he's injected with chicken blood. He seems to have too much energy to use, and he's not going to waste his life when he's working.

I always feel energetic after sleeping for two hours at most. After familiarizing myself with our order process, I don’t need to worry about all the common tasks. The biggest and most arduous things this year are to prepare money and grain before the war, to allocate materials during the war, and to organize winter wheat farming after the war. These three major things are all my main tasks, and now all three things have passed. Then it becomes the operation of daily affairs. I asked Zhang Yi and Wei Renpu to take more responsibility, and I was happy and relaxed."

Fan Zhi was still struggling with Zhang Mai's simple words just now, but then he gradually came to his senses. After hearing Zheng Wei's words, he felt a little envy of his good friends. During this war, Wei Renpu did not support the war. He was left behind by Zhang Mai as Zheng Wei's assistant. According to Zheng Wei, Wei Renpu clearly had taken over most of the actual government affairs of the internal affairs of the Tang Dynasty. If he was placed in the Central Plains, Fan and Wei were of talent at this age, he would probably be at the Hanlin Academy. There would be no chance to take power and manage affairs! Even if he was favored by the master, the entire civil servant group would not be assured to hand over the government power to the hands of two "young people".

That is, under the Tiance regime, this kind of thing went on without any hindrance, because Zhang Mai, Zheng Wei and other leaders themselves were young. Since they could do it, why couldn't Fan Zhi and Wei Renpu do it? Fan Zhi could imagine that Wei Renpu must be full of energy at this moment and inspire his greatest energy to devote himself to the government work of this new empire covering more than 10,000 miles.

Fan Zhi, Zheng Wei's sentence "I've got chicken blood" does not understand what the allusion is, but roughly hears what it means. As a young man like Zheng Wei, who comes from a businessman family, who is the best at enjoying life, naturally does not understand the hunger of intellectuals like Wei Renpu to master government power.

In Zheng Wei's view, being responsible for the operation of the central government affairs of the Tang Dynasty was a kind of labor, but for Wei Renpu at this stage, it was a kind of enjoyment, a kind of enjoyment far better than the mellow wine and beauty.

—————

"But why do you think of starting a scientific examination?" Zheng Wei said again: "Zhang Yi talked to me about this before, saying that he would start a scientific examination in Longyou. Didn't you agree? I also think it's unnecessary. Those scholars may not be useful to those who we trained ourselves."

Since the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the imperial examinations have gradually become popular in the hearts of the people, and there have been such calls within the Tiance Tang Dynasty. The groups that made the calls mainly come from the scholar groups in the Longyou area.

However, for clerk administrators, the Tiance regime has always had another training system. This training system is divided into two parts: part is to train officials responsible for logistics and government affairs during the eastbound trip to improve their cultural literacy and clerk workflow. These people themselves are officials, and this training is equivalent to on-the-job improvement; the second part is to recommend people through various channels to attract incoming people, so that they can familiarize themselves with and accept the existing system, order and style of the Tiance regime. These people are usually intellectuals or people with special abilities, such as Fan Zhi and Wei Renpu, who will put them in the corresponding positions after examining their character and abilities.

These measures of the Tiance regime have obvious characteristics of the regime in the early stage of creation. The advantage is that those who are in their position can do practical things. During the period of the founding of the regime, people's hearts were relatively simple, with high-level and low-level relations and few barriers. For example, Zhang Mai and Yang Dingguo were able to directly contact the grassroots of the military and political team, which made the lower-level affairs unable to be concealed. In addition, the entire country is in an expansionary period, with many channels for upward advancement, and people's hearts are upward, and the problem of corruption is not obvious. It can even be said that the Tiance regime is the cleanest regime in the whole world today, without a single one!

After all, the war is actually the national strength. Human resources and material resources under the control of the Tiance regime are difficult to distinguish from the Khitan, which is much worse than the Central Plains regime. The two sides are not at the same level at all, and they may not even be stronger than Mengshu in terms of material wealth. However, the Tiance regime is much higher than Shijin regime in terms of resource allocation. It can be said that Shijin Mengshu and Tiance Tang are also not on the same level. This powerful and effective human and material resources are the greatest confidence for Zhang Mai to dare to challenge the three families to attack Mobei. The victory of this war is not just the result of strategic use.

And it can lead to such results. There are reasons for the Tiance regime, the leadership ability and charm, and the situation is affected. These three reasons have major variables. If handled well, it will become a political tradition that will continue. If handled poorly, it will be a flash in the pan.

—————

"Our model of cultivating officials and attracting talents is effective in the near future, but it is not sustainable in the long run." Zhang Mai said: "Only only the imperial examinations can have the potential for long-term development, and it may not be the best. It is the least bad of all talent selection systems."

Zheng Wei frowned and said, "But are those sour scholars who are familiar with poetry, songs and poems, and those who say poetry are really that useful?"

Zhang Mai smiled and said, "Who said that the imperial examination must take poetry, songs and essays? The poem says?"

Fan Zhi was shocked when he listened. Since ancient times, the country's criteria for selecting talents has been the ultimate goal of competition among various factions. It is a place that must be seized if each faction fights for life and death. With Zhang Mai's current power and prestige, his decision is likely - no! It will definitely become the unshakable development direction of this empire in the future! With the current development trend of the Tiance Tang Dynasty, it is not impossible to unify the world or even surpass the Han and Tang Dynasties!

In other words, this country, nation, and even this civilization, may be determined by the direction of its academic and cultural development in the next few hundred years!

Fan Zhi suddenly became so excited that his mouth was dry. Such an important thing and such a major decision must play a role in it! But he was so nervous that he couldn't speak.

—————

Bai Chengfu came back from Dianmao in Yunzhou City. When he saw Zhe De Wall, he could hardly believe his eyes!

Bai Chengfu is from Tuyuhun. The Zhe family comes from the Qiang tribe, both of which are border minorities, and they have relatives. When it comes to Zhe De, they have to call Bai Chengfu a cousin. Bai Chengfu naturally knows the current situation of the Zhe family. Now Yunzhou is under strict vigilance, and Zhe Defu will appear in front of him. Bai Chengfu is shocked.

He pulled Zhe De into the tent and said, "Dalang, why are you here?"

Zhe Deqian asked, "Uncle, has the injury on his back been better?"

When Bai Chengfu heard this, his five senses were mixed in his heart.

Tuyuhun originally lived between Qin and Jin. In recent years, the base of Bai Chengfu's branch was in northern Jin. After Shi Jingtang cut off the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun to the Khitan, Tuyuhun returned to the Khitan with the land.

The Khitan conscripted and bribed Tuyuhun. The Tuyuhun tribe was originally rebellious, but it was shocked by the Khitan's accumulated power for a while and did not dare to act rashly. This time, the Khitan invaded the south and summoned all the male Tuyuhun men. When they fought in the decisive battle of the horse-highlands, they regarded the alienated tribes such as Tuyuhun as cannon fodder.

After the defeated war, Yelu Deguang moved his anger to Tuyuhun and the Khitan general Mo Baique, and took them naked and whipped forty whips in front of others! The forty whips beat Bai Chengfu and Mo Baique to their skin and flesh, and the mental insult was far above the punishment! Bai Chengfu, however, when he thought of this, he felt uneasy and resentful, and could not help but grit his teeth.

At this time, when Zhe Deyan asked about his injuries, he snorted: "I can't die! It's a pity that Yelu Deguang ran fast this time. I was unwilling to see him die in Taonan!"

In the battle of Taunan, countless men died at the hands of the Tiance soldiers in Tuyuhun, but Bai Chengfu did not hate the Tiance army, Xi Sheng, but hated the Khitans and Yelu Deguang who took him to fill the trenches.

"Uncle, since you are not convinced by the Khitan, why didn't the Khitan take the opportunity to return to the Tang Dynasty when he retreated in the south?"

Bai Chengfu sighed and said, "Your aunt, your cousin, the wives and children of these thousands of brothers are all in northern Jin. Although I have the intention to return to the Tang Dynasty, I cannot leave them behind. If I had surrendered to Marshal Zhang in front of the formation, I would probably have been massacred for more than 10,000 entries left in northern Jin today."

Speaking of this, he patted Zhe Deyi on the shoulder and said, "Why, you came this time, but you were ordered by the Marshal. Don't worry. As long as the Marshal's army approaches, we will definitely raise an army and respond! This is nothing."

When Guo Wei told Zhang Mai whether Tuyuhun surrendered was not the point of recruiting Tuyuhun, but whether Tiance army could show its military advantages over the Khitan. If possible, Tuyuhun would rely on it even if it was not recruited. Guo Wei lived in Jin for a long time and understood the mentality of these minority groups. Before Zhe Deyi went north, Guo Wei not only conveyed orders, but also exchanged his views on the situation in northern Shanxi with Zhe Deyi. After all, Guo Wei is a person with great talent and great vision. After years of hardships and training, his vision and judgment have become one of the first-class people in the world.

After all, Tuyuhun is not a strong clan who dares to be independent. Bai Chengfu's words are just thinking about relying on Zhang Mai and changing his master.

Zhe Deyan thought to himself: "General Guo is exactly what he expected. His cousin really dared not fight against Khitan alone."

When he was in Chilechuan, from Xue Fu's attitude towards him, Zhe Deyan knew that the Sweat-Blooded Cavalry would not provide much assistance to the affairs of northern Shanxi, and that everything in Yanyun had to rely on himself. But if he told the truth at this time, Zhe Deyan knew that Bai Chengfu would immediately retreat.

"Uncle," Zhe Dejian said, "If we really wait until the Tiance army advances eastward and forces Yunzhou, what contribution will we have?"

Bai Chengfu was a little surprised and said, "What about that?"

Zhe Dejian said: "We have to take action before the Tiance army enters Yunzhou, so that the Tiance army can see our sincerity and ability. Only in Marshal Zhang's mind can we win a position!"

Bai Chengfu hesitated when he heard this and said, "We can't beat the Khitan alone. If we can beat the Khitan, do we still need to see their faces being angry and bullied?"

"It's the past that I can't beat the Khitan." Zhe Deying laughed: "The current Khitan is not the Khitan before. Yelu Deguang lost Mobei in the north and suffered another defeat in the south. Now he is a dog in the water. It depends on who comes first to hit him! I came from Chilechuan, along the way. The soldiers and generals checked at the intersection were all headed by the Xi tribe. Han Qiang Dangxiang and others were running errands. There was no Khitan inside. The Khitans were in northern Jin, and now they dare not leave Yunzhou City at all! They are so scared themselves, so we still have to be afraid of him?"

Bai Chengfu felt it was reasonable after hearing this, but he was scared by the Khitans and said, "It's just... there are still three thousand Khitans in Yunzhou City, and five hundred skin rooms!"

There were still thousands of young men who could fight in Tuyuhun assembled, but these thousands of people could not be compared with the three thousand Khitans, let alone the Pishi Army. If the two sides really fought, the five hundred Pishi could chase thousands of Tuyuhun into chaos with one charge. The Tuyuhun and other tribes' fear of the Khitan's power had been buried deep in their bones. This time, the defeat at Tiance was hit by the hands of Tiance, which certainly hit the Khitan's reputation, but in the eyes of Tuyuhun and other tribes, it was mainly because the Tiance army was more powerful, not the Khitans.

When Zhe Deyan heard this, he was happy again, but he looked disdainful, and said, "They have a squid as a backer, so don't we have the Tiance Army as a backer? The decisive battle with the squid army is not our business. We mainly deal with the Khitan's traitors. As for the squid, there are their own sweat-blooded cavalry regiments to deal with them."

The military information of Xue Fu's troops at the foot of Yinshan Mountain was not concealed from the outside. Bai Chengfu had known about this before, so he was overjoyed when he heard this: "If there was a sweat-blooded cavalry regiment to support us, then what are we afraid of insults!"

The talents of the senior leaders of the Tuyuhun clan are far less than those of the Qiang clan in the Chinese, which matches their prestige, status and influence in northern Shanxi. Bai Chengfuchi was in his twenties and was the leader of the clan. At this time, he was led by Zhe De.

Bai Chengfu said again: "But I don't know what General Xue has to give. As long as it is his order, we Tuyuhun will follow it! We go through fire and water without hesitation. But it is best to ask General Xue to take care of our Tuyuhun. There are still many tribe members in northern Shanxi, so that we should not harm women and children during the war."

The first half of these sentences was passionate, but afterwards, they were still afraid.

Zhe Dejian said: "Of course, the general has already been thinking about this, so the general is not ready to let us start a rebellion in Yunzhou."

"That……"

The two words of Zhe Deyan just now were true, but then he said: "Uncle, you should immediately lead the young and strong man in Tuyuhun to break away from the control of the Khitan, run to our Tuyuhun station, openly fight against the Khitan, and be the first person to ignite the beacon!"

These sentences are not Xue Fu's opinion, but Guo Wei's strategic prediction in the western Qin Dynasty, plus the idea that Zhe Dejian actually grasped after entering the northern Shanxi region during this period.

Bai Chengfu said: "You mean, let me take someone back to Huairen?"

Huairen is a small county in the southern part of Datong Prefecture. After the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun were ceased to the Khitan by Shi Jingtang, the Khitans placed the Tuyuhun clan on the bank of the Sanggan River in the southeast of Huairen. The Khitan military division system was "when there was something to do, they focused on attacking and fighting. When there was leisure, they lived with fishing." It was a military arrangement that integrated military and civilians. After they entered northern Shanxi, they also brought this system in. The Bai Chengfu clan usually lived outside Huairen county, and when there was a military operation, they gathered together to obey the army.

Zhe Dejian said, "Now the people of Yunzhou are in panic. You just need to move quickly. It will take at least two or three days for the Khitan to react. When it comes, it will take another two or three days for the Khitan to react. Huairen is just a small county, and we will win again. This period is enough for us to seize this city. After the city is captured, we will gather the entire clan's people and supplies, enter the city to set up defenses, raise the flag to attach the Han Dynasty. At that time, even if the Khitan attacks, we can defend the city and fight! Before I came to see my uncle this time, I had already gone to Shuozhou and Yingzhou in the south. Once the Huairen beacon fire is lit, the Hanjiawu Fort in Shuozhou, the twenty-six villages in Wutai Mountain in Yingzhou, and thirty temples with monks will respond together. Even the Han soldiers and generals south of Yanmen Pass will respond together."

This strategic guide to "not taking Yunzhou, first ignore the surrounding areas, beacons are everywhere and besieged Datong" was taken by Guo Wei. The Khitan had newly obtained northern Shanxi and its influence and control was mainly concentrated in the Yunzhou City area. The Hu and Han ethnic groups in northern Shanxi surrendered for a while but did not sincerely surrender. Once the beacons arose from all sides, under the situation of the newly defeat of the Khitan, even if the localities do not rebel, there is a great possibility of maintaining independence.

Although Huairen is just a small county, it is located on the main road between Yunzhou and Shuo, Ying and Ying. As for the military structure of northern Shanxi, it has relatively important strategic significance. If Huairen is occupied, the relationship between the Khitan and the prefectures and counties in northern Shanxi will be cut off. Of course, if the two major countries are fighting, Huairen's small county cannot afford to crush a hundred thousand troops, but if it is only a fight for tens of millions of troops, this place will be enough to resist.

Bai Chengfu said: "Where is the sweat-blooded cavalry regiment? When will it come?"

Zhe Dejian said, "The military affairs are strange! How can the movements of the Sweat-Blooded Cavalry Corps be informed in advance? But uncle, think about Marshal Zhang's past actions, he will regard his subordinate tribe as a person who abandoned his son across the river? Besides, Huairen is in a formidable position. With this county in hand, the Tang army can guarantee its strategic advantage in Datong Prefecture. As long as we take it down, General Xue will definitely try to protect us."

At this time, Zhang Mai's reputation was at its peak. Bai Chengfu believed it because of this, and half of it also felt that Zhe De's analysis was reasonable. If he occupied a strategic location, it would be useful to the Tiance Army. Even if he was a pawn crossing the river, he would be valued in a critical position.

Although he was already moved, he still hesitated. Zhe Deyi's voice turned deep and he shouted: "Uncle! A man is a real man, you can do it if you are 50% sure! There is no foolproof thing in the world, unless you go home to serve your wife and be a daddy! If you are not determined in the face of things, what is a man!"

Bai Chengfu was stimulated by him, and he hit his palms, saying, "Grandma, Lao Bai, I am so old, I want you guys to teach me! OK! Let's do it!"

When he heard that Bai Chengfu was willing to raise an incident, Zhe De was overjoyed. Bai Chengfu said again: "The Han general Mo Baique, after being punished together, he was both sick and sympathetic. He has always had great complaints about the Khitan. I will go to him now. With his help, he can also make a great contribution."

Zhe Deyan remembered some of Guo Wei's instructions before leaving, pondered for a while, and said, "The key to the uprising is that it is very fast, not the number of people. Besides, people are unpredictable. If he goes to report the news, the Khitan soldiers and horses will be taken away before we can even pull out the camp. According to my nephew, we should raise troops and go south immediately. As for Mo Baique, it is better to leave someone before we leave and send him a letter after we leave. If he is interested, he will come to surrender, or if he has other ways to raise an army to respond, it is also good."

Bai Chengfu said: "Okay, then let's go now!"

—————

Tuyuhun was originally stationed outside Yunzhou City, but only once a day. Bai Chengfu had to enter the city to accept the spot of Xiao Jie. At this time, he decided to set his mind and handed over military orders. He drove the camp south on the spot. Most of the troops were from Tuyuhun. Bai Chengfu was both a general and a patriarch, and no one opposed the orders.

The army did not have baggage, and thousands of people rode horses to Huairen. When they set off, they sent someone to send a letter to Mo Baique.

—————

Not to mention that Bai Chengfu went south, but Mo Baique was shocked and afraid when he received a letter from Bai Chengfu to persuade him to oppose the Khitan to return to the Han throne. His courage was a little weaker than Bai Chengfu. Although the Khitan did not regard him as a personal opinion, he did not dare to think about opposing the Khitan.

Mo Baique thought about it and could not make a decision. That night, he summoned a few trustees to discuss. One or two of the trustees said that they would go against each other, but the remaining four or five did not say anything, and they were all afraid. Mo Baique had been serving Hu for a long time, and although he was not brave enough, he was a good player in observing his words and expressions. Seeing them like this, he knew that the rebellion would not be possible. If the intention of following Bai Chengfu was really revealed here, someone among the trustees would go to report the news.

Mo Baique said, "We have been promoted by the Khitan grace, so we have today. How can we fight back? I asked you to come today. I want to discuss what to do. Do you want to go directly to General Xiaoxiaoli?"

One of the confidants who had been silent was Mo Baique's think tank, and immediately opposed it, saying: "The Khitan has always been suspicious of us Han people. The commander did not report it as soon as he received the letter. At this time, he would not have doubted him when he took the letter to Xiao Xiali. Before the troops moved, we were punished first."
To be continued...