Do you know: I have a different surname: Wang, uncle Minglan.

Chapter 290: Cover the sky with one hand? Try to cover it!

Apart from guarding the border and writing books and biographies, in Wei Yuan's eyes, the only things that could be considered big things were those three.

But whether it is the construction of the coastal Great Wall, the establishment of the navy or the military reform in Yanbian, these are things that will affect future generations.

As of now, these three things are going smoothly.

Although Guo Hao had selfish desires and ambitions, he did not dare to completely overturn Wei Yuan's key deployment. He was standing behind Wei Yuan, clasped his fists and said:
"Brother Zhang Rui is now a naval lieutenant general and is currently training the navy in Quanzhou."

"My Lord said he was going to Quanzhou to inspect the navy, so I did not let Brother Zhang Rui come to Fuzhou, but waited for you in Quanzhou."

Wei Yuan said: "We have to go to Quanzhou, but there is no rush. Let's go to the counties along the coast first to take a look."

Guo Hao was stunned. He had already visited Fuzhou. Was there any need to visit other prefectures and counties?

In fact, although he was the commander of the navy, he still had many doubts about why Wei Yuan tried so hard to build coastal defense and establish a navy.

I just felt that he was trying to expand his own power.

But now it seems that it is not just that. So, I took this opportunity to ask:

"Since the opening of sea transportation, I have gained some understanding of the military strength of overseas countries. To be honest, their strength is far inferior to that of Liaoxia."

"They have never dared to provoke our Great Zhou. Why did you go to so much trouble to build coastal defenses?"

Hearing this, Wei Yuan stood with his hands behind his back, looking at the rough sea in front of him, and said seriously:
"A long time ago, those people in the north didn't even know how to forge iron. Now, their armor is no weaker than that of my Great Zhou."

Guo Hao thought thoughtfully, "Even if they will be like Liaoxia one day, it's not now."

Wei Yuan smiled and said, "We can't leave everything to future generations, right?"

As long as you are in that position, you should always do what you can.

In the seventh year of Jiayou, early August.

At this time, Wei Yuan had just arrived in Quanzhou, heading towards the capital, and he wrote down the process of Zhuangger and Mujie'er's grasping of the week.

Zhang Guifen used a rather playful way to tell him that when Zhuang Ge'er was doing the "Zhuazhou" ceremony, he knew nothing but wanted everything. He first grabbed a Buddhist scripture.
Wei Yuan didn’t really believe in the “Zhuazhou” ceremony. After all, a child’s future still depended on the careful teaching of their parents.

However, the matter of grabbing the week-old still made him think a lot.

On the same day, the news that Wei Yuan was coming to the Quanzhou camp quickly spread among the naval officers and soldiers.

Early in the morning, they stood in front of the camp gate, lined up in several rows, wanting to see Wei Yuan first.

Logically speaking, Guo Hao had been operating in Quanzhou for a year and a half, and the naval officers and soldiers had long regarded him as the commander-in-chief. As for Wei Yuan, he should have been forgotten long ago.

However, because Wei Yuan allowed a large number of Wei clan members to join the navy, under their subtle influence, Wei Yuan's influence among the naval officers and soldiers increased instead of decreased.

Now, those soldiers all respectfully call Wei Yuan the "God of War".

Outside the naval camp, Huyan Zhong, Zhang Rui and other generals were patiently waiting for Wei Yuan's arrival.

Not long after, from a distance, everyone saw several carriages slowly approaching.

Seeing this, Hu Yanzhong's face lit up with joy, "It's the Marquis of Wei who has arrived."

The naval officers and soldiers naturally knew that Wei Yuan had been dismissed from his post, but to them, this was not important.

Hu Yanzhong quickly stepped forward, stood in front of the carriage team, bowed deeply and said:

"General Hu Yanzhong pays homage to the Marquis of Wei!"

After saying that, he knelt down on one knee again.

Huyan Zhong was a grateful man. If it weren't for Wei Yuan, he wouldn't have the future he has today. It can be said that Wei Yuan gave him a new life.

Chen Daniu quickly informed Wei Yuan of the news that Hu Yanzhong bowed and knelt.

When he came to inspect the camp today, the latter did not bring Xie Yuying with him.

He personally lifted the curtain of the carriage and walked quickly to Huyan Zhong. Looking at the bearded man in front of him, he felt a lot of emotion.

Judging from the way he does things, Huyan Zhong seems to be more loyal to him than Guo Hao.

But in the final analysis, the object of Hu Yanzhong's loyalty was not him, Wei Yuan, but the royal family, Zhao Zhen, and the emperor.

"General Huyan, it's been nearly two years since we last met. I heard that you've done a good job in Quanzhou."

Wei Yuan personally helped Hu Yanzhong up.

However, the next moment, the latter bowed again and said: "My Lord, you have been wronged!"

Wronged?
Wei Yuan was stunned.

I immediately realized that he was talking about his dismissal from his post.

Is this considered a grievance? I guess so.

Wei Yuan smiled and said, "How can you feel wronged? I know that the task of training the Quanzhou navy has always been on your shoulders."

"Since I left, you have fought several victorious naval battles against the remaining Japanese pirates. I also know about this."

"General Huyan, the court will remember your achievements. Don't be anxious and do your part well."

The reason why he said this to Hu Yanzhong was because of the news from Zhang Rui.

Some of the current naval commanders, such as those from Fuzhou and Zhejiang, actually feel that the navy’s current success has little to do with Guo Hao.

Moreover, after fighting several beautiful naval battles, the person who was commended by the emperor was only Guo Hao, and had nothing to do with Hu Yanzhong.

This is the difference between the top leader and the second-in-command in feudal autocracy.

When Wei Yuan said this, he actually wanted to tell Hu Yanzhong that if he knew it, it meant that the court knew it.

"My Lord." Hu Yanzhong clasped his fists and said, "I am a rough man, so I won't say anything hypocritical. Please rest assured, as long as I am in the Southeast Navy, those Japanese pirates will never be able to cause any trouble!"

In fact, when Wei Yuan was in the southeast, he had already defeated the Japanese pirates. So why did a large-scale naval battle break out?
This is because Japan is behind this and fanning the flames.

They were still dissatisfied with Wei Yuan's decision to have Chen Daniu kill the Japanese on the sea.

No one, including Wei Yuan, took this matter seriously, because the gap in strength between the two sides was too big and it would be strange if they could not win.

But winning and fighting beautifully are two different things.

The next moment, Wei Yuan deliberately grabbed Huyan Zhong's wrist and strode towards the navy camp.

When I came to the front of the many soldiers, their voices could be heard by my ears.

"Greetings to Lord Wei!"

Hundreds of soldiers stood in several rows and bowed to Wei Yuan.

At the same time, a path was cleared for him to go to the camp.

Wei Yuan's gaze fell specifically on Zhang Rui.

He is satisfied with the results of his experience in the Southeast.

Not far away, Guo Hao, who was following behind Wei Yuan and Huyan Zhong, had a gloomy look on his face.

These soldiers stood outside the camp waiting for Wei Yuan, but it was not his order.

He couldn't help but sighed: "You are worthy of being the eldest brother."

In front of everyone, Wei Yuan took the initiative to hold Hu Yanzhong's wrist and walked forward, just to tell them a message.

Compared with Guo Hao, who was born in Daizhou, the person he valued more was the deputy commander Huyan Zhong.

Didn’t Guo Hao want to have absolute control over Quanzhou?

Then cultivate an opponent so that he can’t cover the sky.

Later, accompanied by Hu Yanzhong, Wei Yuan witnessed the training of the navy. To be honest, if Hu Yanzhong hadn't been there, it would have been impossible to train a navy that could win a battle in such a short period of time.

And this impossible thing was accomplished by Hu Yanzhong.

"Right now, our Great Zhou only has this one navy, and this navy cannot be expanded for the time being."

"But please rest assured that in the future, my Great Zhou will have at least three naval forces."

"One is stationed in Haizhou, one is stationed in Liangzhe, and the other is in Quanzhou, responsible for guarding Yizhou and Quanzhou."

Wei Yuan knew very well what Hu Yanzhong wanted.

During his lifetime, the latter hoped very much that the navy of the Great Zhou would become extremely powerful and far better than before.

How could Wei Yuan not want to see it?
Hu Yanzhong did not think that Wei Yuan would deceive him with such a thing. He just felt that this matter was too far away. After all, there were no strong enemies overseas in the Great Zhou Dynasty.
“Only a team that has experienced wars frequently can become a team that can fight a hundred battles.”

"The Great Zhou is invincible on the sea. It is useless except for suppressing bandits. A navy is enough."

What he meant was that if there were too many naval forces and they were not trained for many years, sooner or later they would become naval forces that only knew how to collect empty salaries.

Huyan Zhong would rather not have a navy than see this scene.

Wei Yuan was a little surprised. He didn't expect that Hu Yanzhong could realize this.

It can be seen that he has made progress.
"Although the Dang Navy is a naval force, we cannot always train them in the same way as the naval force. Sometimes we should also teach them some skills to kill enemies on land."

Hu Yanzhong was stunned.

Teach the naval officers and soldiers how to kill the enemies on land?

Besides Liao and Xia, who are the other enemies of the Great Zhou on land?

Let the navy attack Liao and Xia?

this.
If there really comes a day when the navy is sent to fight on land, it can only mean that Liao and Xia have defeated and dispersed all the imperial guards of the Great Zhou.

But, could such a thing possibly happen?

"Please rest assured, my lord. I understand."

Although he was puzzled, he would not disobey Wei Yuan's orders.

"To be honest, sir, I was studying your military training records a while ago. Now that you mentioned it today, I can finally put it to use."

Hu Yanzhong bowed and said.

Actual record of military training?

Wei Yuan frowned slightly.

Local military commanders have no right to see this book unless they report it to the Ministry of War.

So far, the record of military training he wrote has not been fully circulated among the people.

Apart from the hope that local military generals could see it after arriving in the capital, there was almost no other channel.

Moreover, he never remembered giving this book to Hu Yanzhong.

The latter explained: "I borrowed it from General Zhang Rui, the son of Duke Ying."

Wei Yuan nodded. "If you hadn't mentioned him, I would have forgotten about it. Don't think that Zhang Rui has a special status and treat him differently from others."

"He has only been out at sea to suppress banditry and has never been on a real battlefield. Now he has been promoted to the position of lieutenant general. What do other soldiers think of him?"

"In the future, I will have to trouble you to train him more and make him a talent instead of just talking on paper."

Hu Yanzhong bowed and said, "Don't worry, Lord. This Lieutenant General Zhang is no ordinary man. He not only eats and sleeps with the soldiers, but he also often criticizes himself. His training volume is equivalent to the combined training volume of two or three soldiers."

Hearing this, Wei Yuan was satisfied.

It is worthy of being the teacher’s seed.

Afterwards, Wei Yuan called Zhang Rui into a big tent alone.

Outside the tent, Lin Zhaoyuan was guarding it personally.

When Zhang Rui saw Wei Yuan, he immediately clasped his fists and said, "Brother Wei."

Although according to seniority, he should call Wei Yuan his brother-in-law.

But since Wei Yuan was older than all of them, and the three sons of the Zhang family admired Wei Yuan very much, therefore, whether in front of outsiders or at home, they all called Wei Yuan "Big Brother".

Wei Yuan patted his shoulder and said earnestly: "Brother, no need to be polite. You have done a great job in Quanzhou."

Zhang Rui smiled and said, "The navy is run by Brother Wei, we can't lose any talent to you."

Wei Yuan said: "I won't stay in Quanzhou for too long, otherwise the government will probably think too much."

"From now on, if you have nothing to do in the army, you can hang out with Hu Yanzhong more often."

Walk around with him?

Zhang Rui was puzzled and asked, "Wasn't Commander Guo promoted by you, big brother?"

Wei Yuan said sternly: "There are too many things going on during this period. I will tell you in detail when you return to Beijing during the New Year. In short, I am afraid that Hu Yanzhong will often oppose Guo Hao in the camp from now on."

"It was my intention that you approach him, and this intention was for outsiders to see."

Wei Yuan came to the navy camp, in addition to meeting the people he should meet, the most important point was to make Hu Yanzhong and Guo Hao completely stand on opposite sides.

As the saying goes, there can't be two tigers in one mountain. Only if they fight each other can the navy and the southeast be relatively stable.

The seventh year of Jiayou, mid-August.

When Wei Yuan received the imperial edict, Wang Anshi had already set out for Hangzhou.

The Liao Kingdom has also sent people to investigate Wang Anshi's assassination together with him.

He was extremely puzzled by this.

He burned the assassin's body, but he still came to investigate. What's the meaning?
Just make a few words of condemnation and give him or some people an explanation, and the matter will be over, right?

In addition to the imperial edict, there was also a letter that Wang Anshi ordered someone to deliver at full speed.

The letter told him to go to Hangzhou as soon as possible, as there was something strange about his assassination.

What could be weird?
But since Wang Anshi had already spoken, he did not stay in Quanzhou and headed to Hangzhou as quickly as possible.

The two agreed to meet at the official post station outside the city.

After seeing Wang Anshi, Wei Yuan was extremely puzzled and said, "The emperor is not in good health, I am not in the capital, and now even you have left the capital, the prince is alone. Aren't you afraid of something bad happening?"

The former stroked his beard and said, "Do you think I want to come? It was Fan Chunren who recommended me to the prince to investigate your assassination. If I continue to stay in the capital, I am afraid that it will make our Prime Minister Fan unhappy."

At this point, he informed Wei Yuan of some of the findings of the Imperial City Division.
"Two or three months ago, the news that you were dismissed from your post spread all over the country. Afterwards, you left Beijing for Jiangnan. This is well known to everyone."

"The group of people who tried to assassinate you were all disguised as Liao merchants. They arrived in Jiangnan earlier than you did. They are indeed Liao people."

Wei Yuan frowned and said, "I already knew about this on the day I was assassinated."

Wang Anshi said seriously, "I mean, those people are Liao people, not assassins raised by Xixia, but real Liao people."

It was the Liao people who tried to assassinate him.

etc.
Suddenly, Wei Yuan's pupils shrank.
"Were the people who assassinated me really assigned by the Liao people? They had nothing to do with Xixia?"

Wang Anshi stroked his beard and said, "Based on the existing evidence, this is indeed the case."

(End of this chapter)