The Happy Life of Small Officials in Northern Song Dynasty

The ministers were in an uproar, Bao Zheng's words were a little too much, even if Su Jin died in battle, he was still loyal to the country, but it would be too strong to say that he would not save him, let alone threaten to resign from office.

"My lord Bao, you are acting on your own will. The emperor is here. What do you mean by saying this? Are you loyal to the emperor or to Su Jin?" Zhang Yaozuo keenly grasped the loopholes in Bao Zheng's words and launched an attack in time.

Bao Zheng stepped forward and stared at Zhang Yaozuo. The tall and oppressive Zhang Yaozuo raised his head to avoid it, and spit on Zhang Yaozuo's face: "Small man, what right do you have to dictate? We are talking about the life and death of important officials of the country. You are a mediocre speculator, a clown, what qualifications do you have to talk about here?"

"You, Bao Zheng, you are too presumptuous." Zhang Yaozuo blushed, Bao Zheng said he was a mediocre speculator, and he was saying that he was promoted by relying on the pillow style of his cousin Zhang Guifei, which Zhang Yaozuo hated the most mentioned by others.

"Bao Zheng, don't be presumptuous." Zhao Zhen said majesticly.

Bao Zheng said: "Is what I said wrong? What ability does Zhang Yaozuo have to enter the house in court? The emperor revealed his intention to let him enter the center the day before yesterday, but the minister never agrees; the post of court ordering officer is not reserved for speculators. It's about shouldering the righteousness and benefiting the world, not a gift that is given casually; today the minister's words may be too fierce, but the minister's words are all from the public heart, the emperor can punish me, I, Bao Zheng, would rather be a critical minister , don’t be like Vino.”

Zhao Zhen was furious, and Bao Zheng was stinky and tough. The reason why I let him be Yushi Zhongcheng was because I liked him, but it also added a lot of trouble to me. Bao Zheng would also point it out mercilessly, making himself very embarrassed; in order to show that he was tolerant and admonishing, Zhao Zhen could only bear it, and squeezed a smile from his face.

"I know Bao Aiqing's patriotism, but today's discussion is about fighting the Liao Dynasty. How can it be related to Zhang Aiqing's appointment?"

Bao Zheng said: "I just want the emperor to know that it is not easy for the country to be the pillar of the country? The prosperity of the past dynasties can not help but need good ministers, and now there are good ministers, how can we abandon them? Master Su led the army to fight hard in the Liao Kingdom. Is it right not to do something as soon as possible to show support, but to hesitate instead?"

With Bao Zheng's words and no fear, the ministers began to express their feelings one after another. The officials of the Song Dynasty who were influenced by the sage books, under Fan Zhongyan's promise that they would not lose their Bianliang, naturally started from the perspective of human nature and morality. It is advocated that we should not just watch Su Jin's army die in the Liao territory.

Seeing this, Zhang Yaozuo and others chose to shut up wisely. Zhang Yaozuo's goal was actually very clear. He wanted Su Jin to die in the Liao Kingdom, because after Yan Shu retired, Su Jin would be the most powerful contender for the position. No one can compete with him except Su Jin; and Zhang Yaozuo also learned through the pillow wind in the harem that Zhao Zhen's love for Su Jin is not as good as it looks, which gave him great confidence, so today he tried his best The alarmist talk is based on the safety of Bianliang to prevent and delay the army's counterattack.

But I didn't expect Su Jin's prestige in the court to be so high, and the officials were so ignorant of praise, and turned a blind eye to him, the future prime minister. After taking the position, it will be liquidated after autumn.

Zhao Zhen understood that it was time to make a statement. Not only did he have to make a statement at this time, but he also had to be firm and high-minded: "My dear friends, I am really pleased today. I think Su Aiqing must be very grateful if she knows what's going on today. "I have already made up my mind to counterattack. I never thought that you and I would hit it off. I told Huang Peisheng privately that even if Bianliang is lost, so what? Su Jin must be rescued. He is a great hero of my Song Dynasty. Even if he is not Su Jin, but any lover in my Great Song court, I will give priority to his life and death."

Apart from Yan Shu, Du Yan, Xia Song, Fan Zhongyan and others, the officials almost burst into tears. The emperor can say such a thing, no matter it is true or not, it is enough to make them feel grateful.

"Fan Zhongyan, Han Qi, and Di Qing, the three of you rush back to the defense line immediately and prepare for a counterattack. The third division needs to replenish supplies such as cotton clothes, food and grass immediately. When the time comes, you will immediately report to me and fight the Liao people to the death." Zhao Zhen said loudly.

Fan Zhongyan, Han Qi, and Di Qing are the three commanders of the re-divided Song Army Zuozhong Road. Fan Zhongyan is in charge of the entire army, and Han Qi and Di Qing are the deputy commanders.

"I will obey your orders!"

"However, I would like to report to the emperor that the preparations for the counterattack have already been made, and the cotton grains of the third division have already been in place, so it is only an order from the emperor." Fan Zhongyan said in a deep voice.

Zhao Zhen wished he could kick Fan Zhongyan's wrinkled face, how much he wanted to procrastinate for a little longer, hoping to launch it after the snow, that would have a better chance of winning, the damn thing is, Fan Zhongyan and others obviously didn't delay for themselves An excuse, and the allocation of the military rations and uniforms of the third division has already been completed, which means that Fan Zhongyan and Yan Shu have already reached an agreement on the offensive.

Zhao Zhen held back his anger and said with a forced smile: "Okay, Fan Aiqing is really planning ahead. It seems that he is very confident in this battle and has already put his fists to work. In this case, I sent Zhang Yaozuo to supervise the army. You can start to fight back as you see fit."

Fan Zhongyan was taken aback for a moment, glanced at Zhang Yaozuo whose eyes were shining, and Xie En withdrew.

……

Four days later, the Song army launched a full-scale counter-offensive. On the hundreds of miles long front, Han Qi's left army, Fan Zhongyan's central army and the main force of the Liao people launched a heart-to-heart battle. The battle was extremely stalemate, but the Liao army was obviously insufficiently prepared. Two days after the start of the war, the Liao army retreated to the front line of the Song-Liao border, and dozens of prefectures such as Taiyuan Mansion, Zhending Mansion, and Baoding Mansion lost by the Song Dynasty were all recaptured.

What is strange is that Di Qing's [-] soldiers and horses on the right showed no signs of attacking, but more than ten days later, the figure of Song Jun suddenly appeared at Yingzhou City on the east side of Nanjing Road in Liao Kingdom, and it was Di Qing. Di Qing's scheming, even confiscated a large number of fishing boats out of the mouth of the Bohai Sea to the north, and forced [-] troops from the sea across the Liao army's defense line to the rear of the Liao army.

After taking Yingzhou, the army continued to attack north without stopping. The target turned out to be directly in the hinterland of the Liao army, and went straight to Shangjing.

This is exactly the strategy set by Fan Zhongyan, Han Qi, Di Qing and others. Fan Zhongyan and Han Qi's army attacked head-on, while Di Qing led his troops into the Liao territory to attack northward, trying to fight Su Jin for a round, and then sent his troops southward to flank and attack. It can not only be strategically beneficial to the war, but also ensure that Su Jin will receive assistance, so that he will not be forcibly annihilated by the Liao people.

Zhang Yaozuo, the supervisor, kept asking why the Youjun didn't act. Of course, Han and Fan would not tell him the truth. Zhang Yaozuo's thoughts were well known. If he knew that Di Qing was sent in to meet Su Jin, this guy would definitely babble. Crooked objection, he is the supervisor of the army, directly connected to the emperor, if he talks nonsense, it is difficult to guarantee that the emperor will not believe his words and prohibit Di Qing from entering the country.

……

Five days before the time, Su Jin's men and horses traveled day and night, approaching Shangjing, the capital of Liao, from the narrow area between Wuzhou and Yikun.

Linhuang Mansion in Shangjing was the first capital built by the Liao people in their native land. As early as when the Liao people did not go south to obtain the large land of Li and Tang, and the sixteen prefectures of Youyun, the Liao people surrounded Linhuang Mansion as the center. Nomadic breeding in a small area.

Because of this, the status of Linhuang Mansion in the hearts of the Liao people is extremely lofty. It is the center of power, politics and economy of the Liao Kingdom.

Linhuang Mansion is a super city with extremely majestic momentum. There are two city groups in the shape of "Sun" in the north. The imperial city is ten miles in circumference and is hexagonal. Bai; the southern city is called Hancheng, and as the name suggests, it is a place where Han people live together. It has a circumference of seventeen miles, a square shape, a wall two feet high, and no enemy towers.

After more than a hundred years of development, the population of Shangjing has exceeded 60, and the permanent army has remained at as many as 25, and they are all well-equipped palace tent troops. The entire city is well-defended. When there are large troops stationed, it can be said that impregnable.

But that was the old calendar. In today’s Shangjing, the population and city defense are still the same, but the garrison is only 20, because 15 of the [-] soldiers and horses that were dispatched have been transferred away by Yelu Zhongyuan to chase after the dynasty’s ass. Later, I went to Xinzhou.

Even if there were only [-] cobbled together tribal soldiers and retinue soldiers, it was a hard nut to crack for Su Jin's [-] cavalry. Moreover, before the camp was set up, snowflakes fell from the sky. Extremely unfavorable.