White-robed Minister

Chapter 180 0178 [Hou Ke's Journey West, Wang Anshi's Arrival in the Capital]

In early spring, the snow had not yet completely melted.

Two carriages came from the east, carrying Hou Ke and his son, along with their entourage.

Hou Ke is 61 years old this year. He is the Tongyuan Army magistrate sent by the imperial court.

Because the territory was too small, Tongyuan Army did not have a Tongpan (assistant prefect), and Hou Ke was essentially Xu Lai's deputy.

Alas, some officials are afraid of death and have to burden an elderly person with their work.

Hou Ke had by this time founded Huaxue (the predecessor of Guanxue) and could be called a great Confucian scholar of his generation.

He had two nephews, one named Cheng Ti and the other named Cheng Yi.

Although Hou Ke was a great Confucian scholar, he could not pass the imperial examination and could only become an official through military merit.

This is somewhat of a hellish joke.

He participated in the campaign against Nong Zhigao, once led dozens of cavalrymen to cleverly repel the Western Xia army, and once rode alone to the border to persuade the Qiang tribes to submit.

His great-grandfather and grandfather were both military generals of the Northern Han Dynasty. Fighting was his family's true calling, while being a great Confucian scholar would be considered a waste of his talents.

Even without Xu Lai and Wang Shao, Hou Ke would have come this year to build Shuyang Village on Han Qi's orders.

Hou Ke's Shuyang Village was even more advanced than the ancient Weizhai Village, as it was built directly within the territory of the Qiang people, saving Wang Shao a lot of effort in later recovering the Hehuang region.

"My lord, look!"

Hou Zhongliang pointed ahead.

Hou Ke lifted the carriage curtain and saw a large number of merchants, laborers, and archers gathered outside Qinzhou City.

Hou Ke handed over the proclamation tablet and said to his son, "Go and inquire about it."

As the carriage approached, Hou Zhongliang jumped down.

He went to the front of the line, showed his sign, and asked, "Where are these people headed?"

The clerk in charge of registration said, "Merchants, commoners, and archers, go to Guwei Village. The remaining laborers, go to the north of Guwei Village to build a fortified village."

Hou Ke also got off the carriage: "How come I haven't heard anything about building a fortified village in the north?"

The clerk smiled but didn't reply.

Of course, it was Cai Kang and Xu Lai who, once again, acted first and reported later, building and applying for permission at the same time.

Xu Lai's Guwei Village was a salient in the Qin Prefecture defense line. It was essential to build a village in the northern valley to block the advance of the Western Xia forces before they could focus on dealing with the Hehuang Tubo.

Historically, Yang Wenguang was transferred by Han Qi to build the city because the northern part of Guwei Village was vulnerable, and the Western Xia army kept capturing Qiang people who had submitted to the Song Dynasty.

At the time, the military commissioner Ma Zhongfu dared not make decisions on his own and could only request the court's approval to build the city. Even the construction of a few fortified villages attracted countless objections, but Han Qi withstood the pressure.

Now Cai Kang and Xu Lai are both very bold. Without waiting for the Western Xia army to plunder people or for the court to officially approve it, they have already conscripted laborers to build fortified villages.

Next, we must act first and report later, abolish some useless fortresses in the rear, and transfer their garrison troops and archers to the front line!

They finished their work ahead of schedule, so Yang Wenguang probably won't come back.

It's a pity that Yang Wenguang was transferred here; he would have been one of Xu Lai's generals.

Hou Ke returned to the carriage and couldn't help but laugh, "What audacity!"

Hou Zhongliang climbed onto the carriage and asked in a low voice, "Did the local officials make this decision on their own?"

"We didn't receive a word of it when we left the capital. It must have been the officials in Qin Prefecture who made the decision on their own," Hou Ke thought for a moment and realized. "Building a fortress near the border is a big deal. If we had honestly reported it to the court, the officials would have been arguing about it for a month or two."

Hou Zhongliang asked, "Tongyuan Army does not have a Tongpan. As the magistrate, you have the responsibility to supervise the army. Should we impeach Xu Lai?"

""

Hou Ke rolled her eyes at her son: "Have you gone stupid from studying too much? I'm here to assist Xu Lai in expanding the border, not to hold him back!"

"But----"

"There are no 'buts.' If everything were reported to the imperial court, the Tongyuan Army would accomplish nothing. Extraordinary people do extraordinary things and achieve extraordinary feats. This is a temporary measure!"

"I'm afraid he'll implicate the adults."

"I'm old and I'm not afraid, what are you so young afraid of?"

",

'

Hou Zhongliang hesitated, then ultimately said nothing more.

He wasn't actually very familiar with his biological father because his father had traveled all over the country when he was young.

He grew up with his mother when he was young, studied under his cousin Cheng Yi when he was a teenager, and later became a student of Zhou Dunyi.

Now that his father is old and about to go to a remote border region to serve as an official, Hou Zhongliang made a special trip to accompany him.

Hou Zhongliang often found it difficult to understand his father's words and actions.

After entering the city, the father and son went straight to the office of the military commissioner and prefect, Cai Kang.

Cai Kang warmly received them and led them, along with the civil officials and archers, to Guwei Village.

The next day, several clerks came to pay their respects, and the one leading them was none other than Li Shen.

Li Shen spent the entire winter persuading more than ten clansmen and leading over fifty tenant farmers to Guwei Village. Once things stabilized at the front, he would also bring the wives and children of the clansmen and tenant farmers there.

Zhao Long's achievements are even more remarkable.

The Zhao family of Tianshui mobilized over a hundred clansmen and more than six hundred tenant farmers this time.

The Zhang family mobilized fewer people than the Zhao family, but more than the Li family. Their leader was Zhang Shiqi, about thirty years old, who brought his own warhorse, leather armor, bow and arrows, and spear.

Seeing so many local powerful families mobilized, the merchants also mustered their courage to go to the trade market. Some of these merchants themselves came from those powerful families.

The long queue split in two at Fuqiang City.

A small number of soldiers, accompanied by many laborers, escorted supplies toward the northwest valley.

As the county magistrate, Yang Shu had already led the vanguard and laborers there to build a fortified village on the site of Bili City—the same one that Yang Wenguang built in history.

If we don't build fortifications to defend them, the Western Xia army will sooner or later plunder all the Qiang people who have submitted to the Song Dynasty!

When Hou Ke and his son, Zhao Long, Li Shen, and Zhang Shiqi arrived at Guwei Village, the border market there was already engaged in sporadic trading. However, the number of people was small, and both Qiang and Han merchants were still observing.

Due to a shortage of manpower, not only did Bu Chao take on the roles of clerk and broker, but even Chen Xiaoyi came from the prefectural city to help. As for Pianpian, they had to rehire two local female servants.

"Lord, Commander, a lot of people have arrived!" Bu Chao shouted joyfully as he returned to the village.

Xu Lai immediately rode out of the village and saw the officials, clerks, archers, tenants, and merchants—he was so moved that he wanted to cry.

He's been in Guwei Village for several months now, and finally he can get some real work done. Before, he could only rack his brains building the framework. The population is so small that he even considered farming himself!

"Hou Ke, the magistrate of Tongyuan Army, pays his respects to Commander Xu." Hou Ke stepped forward and bowed.

Old man?

Xu Lai was clearly taken aback, not expecting that the first civil official he had been waiting for would be an old man.

Moreover, why does the name Hou Ke sound so familiar?

Never mind, he's an old man, after all, he has management experience.

Xu Lai bowed in return, then took Hou Ke's hand and said, "With Judge Hou's assistance, Tongyuan Army has nothing to worry about. These merchants and households will be placed under Judge Hou's management."

"Xu Zhijun, please rest assured, leave these mundane matters to me," Hou Ke said.

In the early stages of development, Xu Lai entrusted a bunch of tasks to Hou Ke in order to test the other party's abilities.

If someone is incompetent and manages things poorly, adjustments can be made quickly. But once the business grows larger, if the wrong person is entrusted with the task, adjustments become much more difficult.

Zhao Long and Li Shen also stepped forward to pay their respects, and they even pulled Zhang Shiqi, who came from the Zhang family, along with them.

Xu Lai appointed officials on the spot, with Li Shen remaining in the village as a clerk. Zhao Long and Zhang Shiqi were appointed as military agricultural officials, concurrently commanding the clan's archers. Since there were relatively few archers from the Li clan, Xu Lai directly placed them under the command of Bu Chao.

These were all privately appointed positions, equivalent to the bureaucratic class.

To obtain a real official position, one must first perform meritorious service. Xu Laihui will then request an official position from the imperial court based on the merits he has earned.

With the addition of these officials, civilians, and soldiers, Guwei Village became vibrant and full of life.

Hou Ke was definitely capable; he led a group of officials to allocate land and establish trade markets. Since they had missed the winter wheat planting season, the archers and tenant farmers were busy clearing land and planting millet and sorghum.

The more popular Guwei Village became, the more willing the Qiang people from the surrounding area and the Han merchants from Qinzhou were to come here for trade.

There was no fighting in February.

There was no war in March.

Guwei Village's business is booming, and the money it has earned is enough to cover its own expenses, but the grain still needs to be transported from Qinzhou.

The imminent war between Song and Xia cooled down in March.

Empress Dowager Liang and her brother Liang Yimai realized that they could not command the army and that nobles in the court were also hindering them, so they took the initiative to make peace with the Song Dynasty.

The Western Xia took the initiative to send envoys to negotiate peace, and news of Li Liangzuo's death also arrived, instantly rousing the civil officials of the Song Dynasty.

The civil officials said that if they wanted to negotiate peace, they had to hand over the murderer who killed Yang Ding!

Yang Ding was once involved in planning the takeover of Suizhou.

When this man was sent as an envoy to Western Xia, he accepted Li Liangzuo's treasures and gold and silver, and made a promise without authorization to return the border people to Western Xia. After returning to the capital, he only handed over the treasures, but kept the gold and silver for himself. He even deceived the emperor by saying: "Li Liangzuo is similar to Sun Ce. We can send someone to assassinate him."

When Zhong E conquered Suizhou, Li Liangzuo was furious, believing that Yang Ding was behind it all. So, under the guise of peace talks, he lured Yang Ding there and had him killed.

The Song Dynasty envoy was killed, which was a loss of face. Now they insist that the Western Xia hand over the murderer before they will negotiate peace.

The Western Xia claimed to have executed the murderer, and the Song Dynasty demanded the murderer's head, which the Western Xia refused to hand over. Thus, the two sides reached a stalemate, neither fighting nor making peace.

The Song Dynasty civil officials were convinced that the Western Xia would not dare to fight, since their ruler had just died, so they became fearless.

Moreover, Lü Gongbi, the previously subservient Privy Councilor, ordered the recruitment of brave men in Kaifeng, Jingxi, and Shaanxi as reserves to be ready to fight against Western Xia at any time.

Wang Anshi also went to the capital.

He chatted with the emperor until dark, and when he returned home, still feeling that the conversation was not over, he wrote "A Record of a Century of Peace in the Dynasty".

After reading the memorial, Zhao Xu became even more fond of Wang Anshi.

After Wang Anshi returned to the capital, he attended the first court assembly and heard a great commotion in the court.

However, it was because of the Tongyuan Army's construction of fortified villages.

They've been arguing for over a month, and they're even arguing with pens!

Wen Yanbo firmly disagreed, not because he was afraid of angering the Western Xia, but because he felt it was unnecessary and that building more fortified villages would consume too much food and supplies.

He said that after building the fortified village, Han soldiers would still have to be sent to garrison it, but they would only be protecting some Qiang people. It would be better to let the Western Xia kidnap all those Qiang people, creating a vacuum area that neither country wanted.

Han Qi, who was stationed at the front line, firmly supported Xu Lai's construction of the fortified village. He was even more radical than Xu Lai, believing that it should not only be built to the north of Guwei Village, but also to the west of Guwei Village.

Last year, Han Qi was misled by the civil officials and misjudged the situation between the two countries. Now he has finally realized his mistake and wants to take advantage of Li Liangzuo's recent death to build fortified villages and actively defend the front lines.

Han Qi and Wen Yanbo have been arguing back and forth in their memorials, and there is still no conclusion. Historically, this matter has been debated for a full six months.

As for Xu Lai, regardless of whether the imperial court approved it or not, Yang Shu had already built two or three stockades!

After listening for a while, Wang Anshi quickly assessed the situation in the court.

At this time, the kind-hearted Zhao Gai had already resigned, and the three prime ministers were Zeng Gongliang, Zhao Bian, and Tang Jie.

Only Zeng Gongliang supported Wang Anshi's reforms.

Of the four members of the Privy Council, only Chen Xu supported Wang Anshi's reforms.

If Wang Anshi wanted to seize power, he needed to attract more supporters, and Xu Lai was a good candidate.

First, the emperor trusted Xu Lai.

Second, support Xu Laikai's border expansion; once he achieves results, it will be a great help to the reform.

Third, Han Qi also supports Xu Lai in building the stockade, so Xu Lai can take this opportunity to improve his relationship with Han Qi.

"His Majesty!"

Wang Anshi stepped forward, holding his official tablet: "I believe that Tongyuan Army should build more fortified villages. The Western Xia ruler has just died, and his government is in chaos, making it difficult for him to launch a large-scale invasion. This is a great opportunity to expand into the Hehuang region. Once the Hehuang region is recovered, we can cripple Western Xia. Even if it is difficult to recover, as long as we disrupt the Hehuang region, we can still tie down Western Xia's military forces."

Wen Yanbo immediately objected: "Your Majesty, the nation's finances are currently in dire straits, and we absolutely cannot afford to create further border troubles. The newly built fortresses of the Tongyuan Army are all far from Qinzhou City, and they cannot supply themselves with food and fodder, incurring countless expenses every year."

Zhao Xu favored Xu Lai and Wang Anshi, and he specifically asked, "Minister Shao, are the funds and provisions sufficient?"

Shao Bi knew what the emperor meant: "Some funds can be allocated to the Tongyuan Army, if necessary."

Gong Dingchen also stepped forward and said, "I request to go to Qinzhou to take charge of the Sichuan-Shaanxi Tea and Horse Bureau. Once the Tea and Horse Bureau is running smoothly, there will be no shortage of horses or money. The court will only need to transfer grain and fodder to Tongyuan Army."

Zhao Xu quickly agreed: "Granted!"

Wen Yanbo wanted to object, but Wang Anshi interrupted, "Tongyuan Army has a small population. Kaifeng and Jingxi have just recruited brave men, and some can be transferred to Tongyuan Army as archers."

"Your Majesty, you mustn't—" Wen Yanbo said.

Zhang Heng, who had received Xu Lai's recommendation, interrupted Wen Yanbo directly: "The Three Departments should do their best to raise money and provisions to cover the expenses of those archers along the way."

Zhao Xu quickly replied, "Granted!"

Since the Western Xia government was in chaos and a large-scale war between the Song and Xia dynasties was unlikely, the young emperor was no longer afraid.

The ambition to expand his territory once again took over his mind.

Moreover, Wang Anshi and Zhang Heng both supported him, which shows that he was doing the right thing. Zhao Xu had already regained his spirit and would no longer be easily intimidated.

Wen Yanbo was extremely angry: "Your Majesty————"

Zhao Xu interrupted, "Dismiss the court!"

Wen Yanbo was so angry that he went home and wrote his resignation letter. The censors also submitted a memorial denouncing Xu Lai, Wang Anshi, Zhang Heng, and Gong Dingchen as treacherous villains.

Zhao Xu kept all these impeachment memorials in the palace and did not issue them.

The protocol envoy, Xiang Bao, was summoned to an audience with the emperor that very day.

Zhao Xu wanted to reinforce Xu Lai's troops, so he naturally had to personally select military generals. Xiang Bao was the general chosen, and Zhao Xu once praised him as "Xue Rengui" (a reference to a legendary figure known for his integrity and righteousness).

At the young age of fourteen, Xiang Bao had already beheaded two enemy leaders. He also once killed a tiger with a single arrow.

"Your subject Xiang Bao greets Your Majesty!"

"Please take a seat."

Zhao Xu said, "I wish to expand our territory. Would you be willing to go to Tongyuan Army?"

Xiang Bao, who had just sat down, immediately stood up, knelt on one knee, and clasped his hands in a fist salute: "Your subject would gladly die for you!"

Zhao Xu said, "When you go to Tongyuan Army, you must obey Xu Lai's orders."

"Your subject obeys the decree," Xiang Bao replied.

Zhao Xu then said, "Select three thousand brave men recently recruited by Kaifeng Prefecture and Henan Prefecture to serve as archers in Tongyuan Army."

"yes!"

A few days later, Xiang Bao ordered all counties in Kaifeng Prefecture and Henan Prefecture to select newly recruited brave men to be trained into an army in Luoyang.

He personally tested the brave and strong, and if they were capable, he recommended them to be junior military officers.

One of them fired ten arrows in quick succession, shooting them both fast and accurately.

Xiang Bao, who was skilled in riding and archery, was quite surprised and asked, "What's your name? Where are you from? Have you ever served in the army?"

""

The man knelt on one knee and said, "My name is Wang Shunchen. I am from Kaifeng Prefecture. I used to be a farmer and have never served in the army."

Xiang Bao personally helped Wang Shunchen up, patted him on the shoulder, and said, "What a fine warrior! Come with me to Tongyuan Army to kill the bandits and earn merit!"

Niangu Fort.

Mu Zheng slammed his wine cup on the ground and roared, "Those Tangut traitors, they've gone too far!"

Just a few days ago, the Western Xia army began constructing the "West Market Fortress".

This fortified village is only ten miles away from Mu Zheng's lair, so close that it can be clearly seen even when he goes out hunting.

Mu Zheng personally went to negotiate, but the Western Xia general said, "We built this fortress to plunder Qinzhou and Guwei Village. From here, it's only a hundred li to reach Guwei Village."

"That's my territory!" Mu Zheng said.

-

The Western Xia general replied, "You have already submitted to the Great Xia Kingdom."

Mu Zheng returned to Kan Gu Fort, his anger growing with each passing thought, and he threw his wine cup away in a fit of rage.

The Western Xia are truly despicable; they've built fortified villages right up to their doorstep.

But no matter how angry Mu Zheng was, he could only be angry for a moment. He dared not start a war with Western Xia, because he had already lost countless times.

Mu Zheng summoned his brother-in-law: "Those Tangut brats are building a fortress right outside my door. What can you do about it?"

The blind man thought to himself: If I had a way, I wouldn't be here as a hostage.

Mu Zheng genuinely regarded his brother-in-law as his strategist, because Xia Yao was very clever and often came up with good ideas.

Seeing that his brother-in-law remained silent, Mu Zheng sighed and said, "If you can't do anything about it, then there's really nothing you can do."

Faced with the Xixia's blatant insult, Mu Zheng could only pretend nothing had happened.

Anyway, his Kangu Fortress is surrounded by mountains on three sides, and its geographical shape resembles a Buddhist niche, which even Li Liangzuo couldn't conquer. He has no problem protecting himself, so let others insult him if they want.

In just half a month, the simple West Market Fortress was built.

The Western Xia sent soldiers and provisions, bypassing Mu Zheng's house, to raid the Qiang people in the northern mountainous area of ​​Guwei Village.

Yang Shu had already built two fortified villages there to protect the northern region of Xulai.

A plume of smoke rose.

Immediately afterwards, horns sounded loudly, and Qiang people fled over one after another.

Yang Shu, who was building the third fortified village, immediately shouted, "Light the beacon fires and gather the soldiers!"

Although Yang Shu was highly skilled in martial arts, he had never actually been on the battlefield.

During this time, he consulted the village chiefs on military strategy.

These village chiefs were transferred from Qin Prefecture.

Decades ago, that place was the front line, but now it belongs to the rear. Cai Kang and Xu Lai drew people from various old villages to reinforce the new villages.

To be honest, the village chiefs weren't too happy about it. Who the hell wanted to crawl into some godforsaken mountain ravine?

But military orders must not be disobeyed, and we must fight fiercely when the enemy comes.

When the Western Xia army arrived, Yang Shu had already gathered more than 200 Han soldiers and more than 500 Qiang soldiers. A large number of laborers used timber and earth to block up the unfinished stockade wall.

The Qiang soldiers, on the contrary, had the highest morale because the Western Xia often sent troops to plunder, and they all had a blood feud with the Western Xia.

Previously, the Han soldiers did not come to help, and the Qiang people could only hide in the mountains. Now that the Han soldiers have built fortified villages, they can rely on these villages to fight against the enemy.

"They're here! They're here!"

Yang Shu had already heard the sound of horses' hooves.