Chapter 186 Northwest Swearing-In Ceremony

Zhao Jun obviously didn't realize how much impact a laptop game that he was tired of playing in the future brought to Zhao Zhen.

Zhao Jun didn't feel it because those games were really boring in his eyes.

In the Internet age, new games appear every day, with new skins, new ways of playing, and new special effects.

Even mobile games have gradually caught up with computer client games and become the new overlord.

There are too many ways to entertain, and there are new tricks every day, which makes people overwhelmed.

If he wasn't afraid that there would be no Internet in the mountains and he could only download some stand-alone games, like those popular online games, he would be too lazy to download these old-fashioned ones.

So he left the notebook in Bianliang, thinking that Zhao Zhen couldn't understand these things anyway, so it was good for him to learn knowledge with the notebook.

However, he forgot that Zhao Zhen had not experienced the impact of the Internet.

Everything in the laptop was full of freshness for Zhao Zhen, especially novels, games, movies, etc., which were much more interesting than ancient entertainment methods.

This led to Zhao Zhen quickly becoming addicted to it and unable to extricate himself.

Moreover, he learned it by himself. After learning how to operate a laptop, he has gradually learned to watch movies, read novels, and finally play games.

It has to be said that if a person is almost fanatically obsessed with something, even if it is just an unfamiliar field for him at the beginning, he can quickly achieve the effect of mastering it through amazing learning ability.

Zhao Zhen obviously fell into this kind of eager learning because of his serious Internet addiction.

If Zhao Jun knew, he might drag him to the Thunder King for electrotherapy. And every time he was electrocuted, he would ask him "Do you still go online?" "Do you still go online?" "Do you still go online?".

Unfortunately, except for the solar charging panels and computer batteries that barely had some power, the Song Dynasty had no electricity and no Thunder King, and Zhao Jun did not know about this.

At this time, Zhao Jun went south to Haozhou and Shouzhou to continue his inspections, while conducting grassroots research, investigating corruption, and looking for talents.

Fan Zhongyan, who was far away in the northwest, was a completely different picture.

As the saying goes, "In May, the Tianshan Mountains are covered with snow, but there are no flowers and only coldness. I hear the sound of willows being cut in the flute, but I have not seen the spring scenery." Although it is spring now, the northwest wind is still blowing, and the Loess Plateau is full of desolation and loneliness.

Old Fan set out on January 10th and arrived in Hezhong Prefecture in early February. It took about 20 days to travel more than 300 kilometers.

Before Fan Zhongyan took office, there was no general manager in Shaanxi Road, only a transportation manager. The transportation manager was mainly responsible for taxation, local governance and material transportation, while the general manager was in charge of the military and political power of the road, which was somewhat equivalent to the governor of the state in the Han Dynasty.

In the second year of the Qingli period (1042), due to the repeated invasion of the border by the Western Xia, Song Renzong decided to reform the military command system in Shaanxi. He issued an edict to divide Shaanxi Road into four roads: Fuyan, Jingyuan, Huanqing and Qinfeng, and set up a general manager and appeasement envoy. The officers of this road were all general managers, deputy general managers, seals and supervisors, all under the command of the general manager.

But now that Zhao Jun has appeared, Zhao Zhen realizes that he must respond in advance. So at the beginning of this year, under the "recommendation" of Lu Yijian, Zhao Zhen officially divided Shaanxi into four routes, with the Shaanxi Economic and Pacification Envoy coordinating all military and political affairs, and Fan Zhongyan became the first Economic and Pacification Envoy.

Fan Yong was transferred back to Henan Prefecture for his "meritorious" governance of Shaanxi.

Although Fan Yong was a little confused.

He, the Shaanxi Road Transport Envoy, was a senior official of the fourth rank, while the governors of Kaifeng Prefecture, Yingtian Prefecture, Henan Prefecture, and Daming Prefecture were of the fourth rank, half a level lower than the governor of one route. Why was he demoted for his meritorious service?

But no matter what, this decree was unanimously agreed upon by the Political System Council. Under the promotion of the government and many prime ministers, this decree was quickly issued and implemented.

So Fan Yong was transferred back to Henan, and Fan Zhongyan led Wang Deyong and 20,000 soldiers to the northwest.

In the fifth year of Xining, Shaanxi Road was divided into Qinfeng and Yongxingjun. However, the four routes now divided are still dominated by Shaanxi Road. The following four routes can be regarded as the four strategic military regions with major deployment.

Therefore, Shaanxi Road is still governed by Chang'an.

But Fan Zhongyan did not go to Chang'an, but ordered the newly appointed Shaanxi pacification envoy Pang Ji to prepare food and grass in Chang'an, and went to Yanzhou himself.

In history, although Zhao Zhen appointed Xia Song to govern the northwest, he also appointed a large number of civil officials to contain him.

For example, Han Qi, Fan Zhongyan, Wen Yanbo, Fan Yong, Pang Ji, Wang Yaochen, Yang Xie, Teng Zongliang, Wang Yan, Fan Xiang, Liu Ping, Yin Zhu and others all served as important positions such as the envoy of Jinglüe, the pacification envoy, the recruiting envoy, and the transport envoy in the northwest.

These civil officials hindered each other and argued with each other, resulting in constant internal friction. They had different opinions on defense and sending troops. In the end, the combined strength of the various departments of the Song Dynasty was far greater than that of Li Yuanhao, but they were defeated one by one by Li Yuanhao and suffered three major defeats.

Now, having learned from this lesson, Zhao Zhen only appointed Fan Zhongyan as the general, Pang Ji and Wang Yaochen as the pacification envoys, and set up four transport envoys, Wang Yan, Liu Ping, Wang Deyong and Wen Yanbo, in four routes. The rest were Yin Zhu, Fan Xiang, Yang Xie, Teng Zongliang and others as deputy envoys.

Although there were still many officials, Fan Zhongyan was the chief officer.

In this way, the court's appointment gave Fan Zhongyan great power as a frontier commander, and all military and political affairs in the northwest were handed over to him, without having to report to the emperor and the Political System Council. He was truly equivalent to the Northwest Jiedushi of the Tang Dynasty.

Old Fan arrived in Yanzhou in mid-February, and immediately began to select soldiers and generals and form a team after arriving at the local area.

Song Dynasty was still the same, soldiers did not know the generals, and the generals did not know the soldiers. In history, many generals of the Northwest Army were transferred from various places. For example, Ge Huaimin entered the officialdom through family ties, and now he is the governor of Cangzhou. He will serve as the governor of Chuzhou for two years before he will be transferred to the northwest.

In addition, Gao Jixuan is now the military commander of Yizhou Road, Cao Cong is the training envoy of Weizhou, Shi Yuansun is the governor of Mozhou, Zhou Mei is the chief of Tianwu Army, Wang Kai is the inspector of Dingxing and Zhaodu, Xu Huaide is the chief of Zuoban, etc..

Basically, most of the generals who became famous in the Song-Xia War are still scattered all over the country, except for a few such as Wang Zhongbao, Zhong Shiheng, Ren Fu, Li Shibin, Guo Zun, Geng Fu, Zhao Zhen, etc. who are in the northwest.

After Fan Zhongyan arrived, he asked for the transfer of reliable generals from various routes, and immediately inspected the defense of the prefecture, ordered the construction of various fortresses, and began his defense plan.

Now it is the fourth year of Jingyou, 1037 AD.

Historically, Li Yuanhao founded the country in 1038 and began to attack the Song Dynasty in 1039, but was repelled by Di Qing, Xu Huaide, Gao Jilong, Zhang Chongjun and others. It was not until 1040 that Li Yuanhao attacked again and the Battle of Sanchuankou broke out, and the Song Dynasty was defeated.

However, although Li Yuanhao did not start the attack until 1039, it was actually a large-scale attack. Before that, he often sent the Dangxiang and Qiang tribes on the border to Koulue south to test the border defense of the Song Dynasty.

So there was not much time left for Fan Zhongyan. After he arrived in Yanzhou, he appointed Wang Deyong as the commander-in-chief, and Wang Zhongbao, Zhong Shiheng, Ren Fu, Li Shibin, Guo Zun, Geng Fu, Zhao Zhen and others as generals, preparing to change the old system of the army, train in divisions, and take turns to resist the enemy.

Yanzhou was the seat of Fuyan Road. The main officials included Liu Ping, the transport envoy of Fuyan Road, and the deputy commander of Fuyan and Huanqing, Xue Xiang, the governor of Fuzhou, and Zhao Zhen, the governor of Qingzhou and the inspector of the border.

The generals included Li Shibin, the chief supervisor of Jinming Village, Ren Fu, the deputy general manager of the horse and infantry army of Fuyan Road, Wang Xin, the chief of Longwei and the inspector of Fuyan, and dozens of others.

At this moment, the north wind was blowing, and Fan Zhongyan was standing on Long'an Mountain. This was Jianhua Town, Ansai District, Yan'an City, Shaanxi Province in the future. More than 100 miles to the north, after Ansai Fort, it was Longzhou of the Western Xia Kingdom, which was the area of ​​Jingbian County in Yulin City, Shaanxi Province in the future.

Next to Fan Zhongyan, followed the newly appointed transport envoy of Huanqing Road, Wang Deyong, Liu Ping, Xue Xiang, Li Shibin, Ren Fu, Wang Xin, etc., and there were about 3,000 soldiers and horses behind him.

After seeing the vast northwest, Old Fan said to Wang Deyong beside him: "The wind is strong."

The north wind whistled, making the military flags flutter.

Wang Deyong said in a deep voice: "This is already the border with Western Xia. To the north is the Xia Kingdom, which is an endless grassland."

"Yeah."

Fan Zhongyan looked around and then said: "Zhao Yuanhao has repeatedly sent border vassals to invade in recent years. The court ordered us to guard the border and be cautious. What do you think about the relationship between Western Xia and Zhao Yuanhao?"

Li Shibin laughed and said: "Don't worry, sir. I will kill any small Xia thief who comes. In recent years, I have killed more than a thousand border vassals in Jinmingzhai, and tens of thousands of people have surrendered."

Fan Zhongyan glanced at him. Li Shibin was indeed as Zhao Jun said, arrogant and conceited. No wonder he was easily tricked by Zhao Yuanhao in history.

Liu Ping said: "The Xixia has become increasingly powerful in recent years because our Song Dynasty has opened many markets on the border, allowing them to exchange cattle, sheep and horses for ironware and tea. If we can cut off the trade, we can give Zhao Yuanhao a warning, and maybe he will not dare to do anything wrong again."

Is this an economic blockade?

Fan Zhongyan remembered what Zhao Jun said, but shook his head and said: "If it was before, this method might be okay, but now forget it. We also need to use the trade to collect horses and accumulate strength for the time being."

When Li Yuanhao was not strong before, the economic blockade could indeed hit Xixia hard.

But now, after so many years of development, Li Yuanhao can't be said to be strong in military and horses, but he has accumulated a little and is no longer afraid of the economic blockade of the Song Dynasty.

And if the economic blockade is now, it may make Li Yuanhao wary, so it is better to maintain the status quo and continue to allow the Baoan Army, Suide Army and other places to continue the trade, collect more horses and materials to deal with the attack of Xixia.

Xue Xiang said: "I think there are too many entrances to the south of the border. It is too difficult to defend them one by one. It is better to withdraw the troops from the periphery."

"Oh?"

Fan Zhongyan became interested and asked: "Can you tell me about it?"

"The periphery of Huanqing and Fuyan is mostly high mountains and steep cliffs. If we defend in various places, we will need too much baggage and troops. If Zhao Yuanhao goes south to invade the border, there is no need to attack. We only need to concentrate on one route and break through one route. Then the rear will be empty and the defense line will collapse."

Xue Xiang said: "Therefore I think we should concentrate our troops to guard Yan'an Prefecture, Suide Army, Bao'an Army, Tongyuan, Anhua and other places, and set up beacon towers on the main roads along the way. If the Xia bandits come, they will have difficulty in supplying after a long journey. We can delay them, and then send more troops to surround and attack them, or we can win the battle. "

This is a strategic contraction, deploying troops in the main cities of Huanqing Road and Fuyan Road, and using beacon towers to warn the enemy in the outer hills and mountain roads. When the enemy comes, we will set off wolf smoke. When the city is ready, we can repel the Xixia people.

However, this move obviously made Li Shibin very unhappy, and he said: "The Xia bandits have invaded the border in recent years, and I have easily repelled them. What is there to be afraid of these people? But we still want to shrink the troops back, which is simply a disgrace to the country. In my opinion, we should take the initiative to attack to enhance the prestige of our Song Dynasty. "

"alright."

Fan Zhongyan frowned and said: "The Xia thieves have been in business for many years. Don't underestimate them. Put away your arrogance. The government and the Political Yuan sent me here because the enemy is strong. What's more, the Xia thieves have repeatedly attacked the Uyghurs and Tubos in the west. , the so-called punishment of the enemy is a taboo for military strategists to underestimate the enemy's carelessness. "

"yes."

Being scolded by Fan Zhongyan, Li Shibin had to reluctantly respond.

Fan Zhongyan knew that in history, the Song Dynasty was defeated in three battles. In addition to some subjective reasons, there were also many objective reasons. For example, there were many disagreements between civil servants, between generals and generals, and between civil servants and generals.

So after scolding him, he said: "Although generals may not obey military orders abroad, generals must still obey orders on the battlefield. Unless there are changes in the battle, any deployment must be approved by me." . If there is any quarrel, it must be reported to me before I make a decision. Do you hear me?"

Everyone had no choice but to respond: "Yes."

Fan Zhongyan nodded with satisfaction. Although Xia Song was an official in history, he was restrained by him, Han Qi and others, and his power was not that great.

But now the emperor and the Constitutional Yuan have given him absolute power as the top leader, and he can even directly appoint and remove any local officials in Shaanxi. This is a huge improvement.

For this reason, no one in the court impeached Fan Zhongyan for having too much power, which would lead to the birth of warlords like the Jiedushi in the former Tang Dynasty.

However, with Zhao Jun's recommendation, the emperor and the Constitutional Yuan still overcame all opinions and let Fan Zhongyan take charge of all major military and political affairs in the northwest, which showed their great trust in him.

After setting the tone for his rights, Fan Zhongyan turned his head, walked to the hillside, and summoned all the army officers to come in front of him.

Di Qing, Zhang Yu, Zhe Jimin and other young officers were among them.

Zhe Jimin was the right servant and a palace guard. This time his brother Zhejixuan was a harsh government official at the border and imposed excessive taxes. He was dismissed by the court and replaced by Zhe Jixuan as the inspector of Linfu Road.

Many young officers lined up in front of the formation, and behind them were neatly arranged Forbidden Army officers.

Fan Zhongyan stood on the slope, took out a small trumpet, and shouted: "My fellow soldiers! Xia thieves have invaded the border many times, and the border is uneasy. The imperial court sent us here to guard the border and to secure the country."

"In the past, many people looked down on us and said that we were thieves and soldiers. But I don't think so. I think all the soldiers present are heroes."

"Those who defend the country are heroes!"

"Now is the time to prove yourself and serve your country. This time, we will strengthen our troops and rectify the border troops. We must make the Xia thieves look good."

"Everyone, do you dare to fight?"

he shouted.

Everyone below shouted: "Dare to fight! Dare to fight! Dare to fight!"

"good!"

Fan Zhongyan shouted: "I am not afraid of death. If the soldiers are not afraid of death and dare to use their lives, then the country will be peaceful. Train your soldiers well and train them well. Anyone who has made meritorious service will be promoted by me personally and I will not hesitate to reward him!"

"Mighty! Mighty! Mighty!"

The soldiers below shouted again, with overwhelming momentum.

Fan Zhongyan was very satisfied with the attitude of the soldiers, and it cannot be said that the northwest border was poorly managed by Fan Yong.

But there is still the same problem. The generals who the soldiers usually train and command have never been together. Now he has brought a group of elite grassroots officers from Bianliang to change this situation.

When the time comes, these elite grassroots officers will first lead the border soldiers in drills, and then outstanding generals will be recruited from all over the country to coordinate with these grassroots officers in command.

I believe that in less than a year, he will be able to train a group of excellent troops!

Fan Zhongyan finally handed over to the southeast and said generously: "I came to the northwest to take charge of the overall situation and guard against the Xia thieves who repeatedly invaded the border. It is all because of the trust of the officials and the emperor's sage! If the Xia thieves dare to attack here, they must come. No return! The destiny is in the Song Dynasty, and the emperor's grace is worthy of it!"

"Destiny is in the Song Dynasty, and it lives up to the emperor's grace! God's destiny is in the Song Dynasty, and it lives up to the emperor's grace! God's destiny is in the Song Dynasty, and it lives up to the emperor's grace!"

The soldiers roared with great momentum.

At the same time, Zhao Zhen, who was playing games far away in Bianliang, sneezed hard.

"Aqiu!"

He was wearing a silk robe. Although it was spring, it had been a bit cold recently, making his nose almost runny.

"Oh, I stayed up all night last night and couldn't pass the test. Maybe it was the cold. Grandson said it was a cold. Maybe I caught a cold."

Zhao Zhen wiped his nose with a handkerchief, then looked at the screen of clearing the level on the computer screen, showing a bright smile: "Hey, hey, I finally passed the level, it's not easy."

Yesterday I went out of town to do some work. I thought I would go and come back quickly, so I didn’t post yesterday’s one-chapter explanation. Unexpectedly, it took a whole day and I just came back this morning. Then I caught a cold again, with a blocked nose, runny nose, dizziness, and very uncomfortable. I am working hard to code the second chapter. I hope I can finish it today.