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

Chapter 352: Battle
Xu Changzhi, Liang Da and others did not ask why Guo Hao was appointed as the vanguard.

In fact, they can also make a rough guess.

First of all, since Guo Hao took over as commander of the navy, he has not participated in any major battles.

During the National War, Guo Hao raised money and worked hard in the Jiangnan area, but he did not receive any credit.

No matter who it is, they would feel bad.

Secondly, Guo Hao is now the commander-in-chief of the Southern Camp. All the major camps are participating in this Northern Expedition, and the affairs of the South cannot be ignored.

Therefore, Wei Yuan thought carefully and decided to use Guo Hao.

When everyone was heading to Huanzhou, Wei Yuan said to Xu Changzhi, "We were originally going to let Guo Hao serve as the left vanguard and attack Weizhou with you."

"But considering that Guo Hao has been in Jiangnan for so long and has been a local emperor for so long, I'm afraid he won't obey my orders. So, let him follow me."

During the Northern Expedition next year, Wei Yuan will serve as the commander-in-chief of the right wing to attack Yunzhou, and Xu Changzhi will be the commander-in-chief of the left wing.

But in fact, both armies were under the control of Wei Yuan.

Xu Changzhi nodded. There was no need to argue about such things.

"Not long ago, I proposed to the court to abolish the county system and replace it with a provincial system. Once Wang Anshi has solved the problem of land annexation in the Jiangnan area, we should start this matter."

Wei Yuan suddenly talked about the affairs of the court, which surprised Xu Changzhi.

"What does this have to do with us?"

Wei Yuan smiled and said, "The people from our Daizhou are not only military generals, but also some civil officials and counselors."

"Once the provincial system is in place, we will send them to various provinces to gain experience."

What Daizhou lacks the least is generals.

But it is not enough to just produce famous generals, we also need civil officials to match them.

In this way, the nobles and generals of the Daizhou Group can go further.

Although Wei Yuan only wanted to recover the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun, it did not mean that he did not prepare for the future.

Wei Yuan had heard what Wang Anshi and Fan Chunren said outside the imperial city in the past.

Just as Wang Anshi said, the emperor is young and simple-minded today, but he will grow up one day.

By then, will the relationship between Wei Yuan and the emperor still be the same as it is now?
This is an unknown, but Wei Yuan doesn't dare to gamble.

The situation in Huanzhou is very different from that in Ying and Shuozhou.

With the arrival of some people from the north, there is a sense of integration into Datong.

Although the war has ended for several years, there is still no real peace between the countries.

Therefore, the three states are still not allowed to trade with foreign races.

At least, it doesn’t work now.

Originally, a faction advocating reform had raised this issue to Zhao Xi, suggesting that it would be appropriate to allow foreigners to trade in a certain month or season.

At first, Wei Yuan did not refuse this matter.

As a result, a large number of spies poured in. From then on, all matters big and small in the three states were basically decided by Wei Yuan.

"The total number of defenders in the three states is about 60,000. The Liao Kingdom has many cavalry and is not good at attacking cities. As long as we occupy a city and focus on defense, even if the Liao Kingdom has the power to reach the sky, it will be difficult for them to gain even an inch of land."

Liang Da was talking to Wei Yuan.

The latter said in a deep voice: "Liang Da, you have to change your mind. Now is not the time for us to defend. Now it has already changed from offense to defense."

In fact, within the Great Zhou, there were still many military generals and civil officials who could not believe that the offensive and defensive strategies had changed so much.

The main reason is that since the founding of the Great Zhou Dynasty, there has not been a battle in the true sense in which the army could go out to fight, capture cities and win a great victory.

Wei Yuan had stayed in the three states for more than half a month. He originally wanted to personally deploy the battle plan for the next year.

However, Zhao Xi urgently summoned him back to the capital.

The reason is that the current Tubo leader Dong Zhen has arrived.

In Huanzhou camp.

Wei Yuan smiled at Xu Changzhi and said, "Before I came to Yanmen, I sent someone to inform him about the Northern Expedition next year. I didn't expect him to act so quickly."

The latter asked, "Your Majesty, do you know about your contact with the leader of Tubo?"

Wei Yuan nodded and said, "I mentioned it before, Changzhi, I'll trouble you to continue to stay in Sanzhou and keep a close eye on the movements of the Liao Kingdom."

"I will return to Beijing immediately and transfer Guo Hao to the north to replace you."

"By the way, I haven't had time to say congratulations to you these few days. You're going to be a father."

Xu Changzhi's wife, Princess Chai, has been found to be pregnant.

About two months ago.

Xu Changzhi smiled and said, "It doesn't matter whether I return to Kyoto or not at this time. I'm just afraid that I won't be able to accompany my wife to give birth next year during the Northern Expedition."

Wei Yuan responded, "Don't worry, the battle next year will be very long, and we should be able to squeeze out time for you to return to the capital." Xu Changzhi said, "Next year, as the commander of the left wing, I am afraid it would be inappropriate for me to suddenly leave the army and return to the capital, right?"

Wei Yuan patted his shoulder and said, "Let's talk about it next year."

In the third year of Kaiwu, in early October, Wei Yuan returned to the capital.

On that day, Zhao Xi summoned six officials above the rank of minister and held a meeting regarding the Northern Expedition next year.

Originally, not many people knew about the Northern Expedition next year, and everyone felt that it was still a distant dream.

However, as the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Works raised money and food, manufactured armor, weapons, and large siege equipment, many people realized that war was about to begin.

In the Xuanzheng Palace.

Regarding the annexation of land in Jiangnan, Wang Anshi, who had not slept well for several nights, asked Wei Yuan with all his strength:
"Can we postpone the war for next year?"

Wei Yuan knew his difficulties.

The issues in Jiangnan have not been resolved yet, and yet another wave of taxes have to be levied because of the war. I am afraid that the aristocratic families in Jiangnan will find ways to oppose the court.

After all, there is a saying that goes "every policy has its own countermeasures".

Wang Anshi mainly tried to curb land annexation by investigating land that was tax evading and adjusting land taxes, but he failed to solve the problem.

He is very anxious now.

Some officials from the south of the Yangtze River would submit memorials every day to impeach Wang Anshi.

If Zhao Xi had not withstood the pressure, I'm afraid Wang Anshi would have been demoted and exiled from Beijing.

However, Wang Anshi had difficulties, and so did Wei Yuan.

If there is no Northern Expedition next year, the actions of the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Works will sooner or later be noticed by the Liao Kingdom.

How can you achieve an unexpected effect?

Besides, ever since Yelu Xin came to power, he has been either recruiting soldiers or training them.

He is preparing for war so actively, obviously he has some plan.

Last year and this year, the Great Zhou maintained close contact with Wanyan Wugunai.

If there is no Northern Expedition next year, I am afraid that the Liao Kingdom will put pressure on the Jurchens.

By then, the national policy of allowing the Jurchens to become powerful and threaten the Liao Dynasty would become problematic.

However, these are all things that are out in the open, and Wang Anshi cannot be unaware of them. So Wei Yuan changed his perspective and said to Wang Anshi earnestly:

"Since the first year of Kaiwu, various measures such as military reform, civilian reform, land reform, and political reform have been implemented simultaneously. To put it bluntly, they are taking advantage of the fact that the government still has its authority after the national war, so they are so impatient."

"But after so many years of reforms and so many reform heroes, have people's lives gotten better?"

"In fact, everyone knows in their hearts that not only has the situation not gotten better, but it has gotten worse."

"Now the conflicts in our Great Zhou are getting more and more serious. At this time, if we don't fight a battle to alleviate the consequences and disadvantages brought about by various reform measures in our Great Zhou, can Wang Xianggong's reform policy continue to be implemented?"

These words stumped Wang Anshi.

Wei Yuan was telling the truth.

However, once a foreign war breaks out, will the people in the south of the Yangtze River, who are already filled with resentment, be able to endure the additional taxes?

Logically speaking, Wang Anshi's reforms were for the benefit of the lower classes, and were intended to spread the benefits of the middle and upper classes downwards.

But why does it become more difficult the more we change people’s livelihood?

That is because the more the imperial court exploits the aristocratic class, the more the aristocratic class will exploit the common people. Over time, they will fall into a vicious circle.

Now, it depends on who will collapse first.

The common people will not resent the aristocratic class, they will only resent Wang Anshi.

From the current perspective, Wang Anshi is undoubtedly bearing the infamy, but now that things have come to this point, he has no choice and no way out.

Seeing that Wang Anshi stopped talking, Wei Yuan turned to look at Dong Zhen who was sitting beside him and bowed:

"During the Northern Expedition next year, our Great Zhou will have no time to care about Western Xia. I hope that Tubo can fight a few large-scale battles in Western Xia territory."

Does the Great Zhou really have no time to care about Western Xia?
Actually it is not.

After all, the main force of this expedition is from the northern and eastern camps.

Wei Yuan did not move a single soldier of the 200,000-strong army in the western camp.

Why did he arrange it this way?
The reason is simple, he knows Dong Zhan very well.

Nowadays, all countries are implementing military reforms or expanding military forces.

Tubo was no exception.

What does Dong Zhan want to do?
Have to guard against it.

Since Tubo wants to rely on the economy of the Great Zhou to maintain domestic prosperity, it must pay some price when necessary.

(End of this chapter)