Chapter 242 My Life Is Like Walking on Thin Ice

Except for Gu Tingye and a few generals, the rest of them were stationed in Yanbian all year round, and conflicts with Xixia were not the first or second time.

Logically speaking, Yang Huairen had never fought with the Xixia army or the Liao army, so why could those border generals obey him?

The reason is very simple, he was a general appointed by Wei Yuan himself.

Others did not obey Yang Huairen, so how could they not obey Wei Yuan?

Who doesn't know about Wei Yuan's deeds of killing five generals in battle, defending Yanmen, and shocking Liaoxia?

Even the generals of Liaoxia and Xia regarded Wei Yuan as a big threat at this moment.

No one dared to underestimate the generals he recommended.

In the end, the method Yang Huairen gave was also very simple, that is, to burn Geta Village, and bypass Weizhou to attack Kangle City.

Although Kangle City's strategic position is not as good as Geta Village, it is like a throat, which can be attacked or defended. If this city is captured, it will be like driving a nail into the ground, making Xixia uneasy.

Moreover, the defense force of Kangle City is far inferior to Geta Village.

When the mountains around Geta Village were on fire, the guards of the village thought that the Zhou army was coming to attack.

However, apart from the spreading mountain fire, no Zhou army soldier came to attack the village.

Geta Village was built between the valleys, which was a strategic place to control the mountain road. The surrounding fires could not affect the village.

But there were countless grasslands and sheep farms around the mountains.

Once the fire started, the people of Xixia nearby would suffer.

When the fire was difficult to control, Yang Huairen ordered the soldiers of the Great Zhou to shoot rockets into the village.

In an instant, from a distance, Geta Village and Geta Village looked like a fire dragon lying on the hill.

At this moment, the fire attack was effective.

When the Xixia soldiers in the village were busy with their own affairs, Yang Huairen had already led the army to continue to move eastward.

It is true that attacking the village at this time would be twice as effective with half the effort, but the village had been destroyed by a fire.

Yang Huairen did not have time to rebuild the fortifications after conquering the village.

When leading the army to Kangle City, Gu Tingye couldn't help but say worriedly:

"The Xixia people suffered more in this fire. They are also the people of our Celestial Empire. Will the general's actions give people a reason to criticize him in the future?"

Yang Huairen said: "When Fan Wenzheng was in charge of Yanbian and attacked Xixia, he did not harm the Xixia people, but so what?"

"Wei Shuai once said that we have always claimed to be the king's army when we were fighting outside. Wherever we went, we loved the people. This is not wrong, but it is wrong. This will restrict our march."

"If we wait for Xixia and Liao to go south one day, I am afraid that the people of our Great Zhou will suffer more casualties."

When Emperor Taizong went north to fight, he did take back a lot of his homeland and showed kindness to the local people. Not only did he not harm them, but he even reduced taxes.

But he lost that war, and the entire Great Zhou lost.

The elite army of the founding of the country was lost, and the Great Zhou did not raise its head for decades.

If Emperor Taizong didn't care about the title of the so-called king's army, didn't care about the people in certain areas, and marched northward, burning, killing and looting all the way, would he still need to worry about the problem of food and grass?

But if he didn't do this, the loss might be greater, after all, he lost the people's hearts.

Did Emperor Taizong really grasp the people's hearts?

As long as it is a war, there will be no incidents that do not hurt civilians, and no one can avoid it. The Liao Kingdom doesn't care about this. Every time they capture a city, they will burn, kill and loot, so they can come and go without a trace, leaving the Great Zhou army in a passive position forever.

Therefore, when Wei Yuan taught generals at all levels to use troops, he made it clear that as long as they win, they can pay any price, provided that they win.

If Yang Huairen doesn't set fire to the mountain today, the strategic significance of Cutta Village will still be there, and it will be difficult for them to put pressure on Xixia with such a trip.

But once this mountain fire is ignited, it will affect the lives of tens of thousands of people, which is enough for Xixia to have a headache for a while.

After all, the biggest purpose of the Great Zhou's use of troops this time is to make Xixia feel pressure.

——

In early April of the sixth year of Jiayou, Zhong Yan led his army to attack Helan Mountain.

This mountain is one of the famous arsenals of Western Xia, with strict defenses, and about 6,000 Western Xia soldiers are stationed here.

In early last month, everyone, including Wei Yuan, thought that Zhong Yan would march to the Great Wall and then attack a city in Xiazhou.

Therefore, the Western Xia army gathered its forces in Xiazhou in advance, intending to fight a decisive battle with the Zhou army.

As the saying goes, the army is unpredictable, and the water is unpredictable. If Zhong Yan marched according to the established strategy and did not listen to Wei Yuan's advice and tried to avoid the main force of Xiazhou.

Then now the Zhong family army will be entangled.

It's okay if the decisive victory is won, but what if it is defeated?

The overall strategic plan personally formulated by Wei Yuan will collapse in an instant.

At this moment, the battle of Helan Mountain has begun.

30,000 Zhong family troops are besieging this mountain.

On a small hill.

Zhong Yan, who was in his thirties, was watching the development of the battle in Helan Mountain.

When the intelligence about Xiazhou came, Zhong Yan couldn't help but exclaimed:

"Zhongyong Marquis Wei Yuan is in the capital, and he can still deduce the situation here. He is really a talented general. I am not as good as him."

Zhong Yan's younger brother Zhong Yi said in a deep voice:

"Xiazhou has gathered troops to fight with our army. Everyone can see it. Why do you think that Zhongyong Marquis can only deduce some situations, and you are not as good as him?"

Zhong Yi is also a frontier general. The thing that these frontier generals are most worried about is that when they are fighting outside, those who are high above the temple will keep pointing fingers.

Obviously, he felt that Wei Yuan was also pointing fingers.

Zhong Yan said: "We are at the border, and we only know the movements of Xiazhou recently, but Lord Wei had already thought of this before our army entered the territory of Western Xia."

"Even before our army informed Lord Wei of the route of advance, he had already guessed it and advised me not to cross the Wuding River and march into Xiazhou, but to try to avoid the main force of Xiazhou."

"If you put yourself in his shoes, it would be difficult for me to do this."

"Besides, if Lord Wei was not in the capital, I am afraid that the scholars in the court would be more reckless."

He was not wrong. If Wei Yuan was not in the capital and pointed to the Yanbian war, but Zhang Fu and others were in place, I am afraid that they would think that attacking Xiazhou would be more in line with the interests of the Great Zhou.

As for Helan Mountain.

It is just a place to hide troops. Even if we cross Helan Mountain, what is the use of it if we are weak in succession?

But they don't know that once Helan Mountain is taken, Hongzhou, Yanzhou and other places bordering Helan Mountain will send troops to attack.

At that time, according to Wei Yuan's established strategy, the Zhong family army can withdraw from Helan Mountain at any time and burn all the weapons hidden in the mountain.

With this loss, it is uncertain whether Xixia can continue to fight the Great Zhou army to the end.

"You have read the military training method written by Wei Houye. I am convinced that he can have a marquisate."

"The Great Zhou has such a good general, which gives me hope."

Zhong Yan stared at the war going on in the Helan Mountain area, and suddenly had the idea of ​​following Wei Yuan to fight north and south.

He knew where his ability was.

Guarding a place from being disturbed was already the limit.

Wei Yuan was far away in the capital, and he had already understood the situation in his mind, and he could also have a rough idea of ​​the final outcome of this battle.

The so-called strategizing in the tent and winning thousands of miles away is just like this.

It is for this reason that Zhong Yan admired Wei Yuan, whom he had never met.

Let's talk about the record.

In the battle of Yanmen, a remnant army was able to resist the Liao Kingdom's vanguard for several days. Who could do it?

Wei Yuan did it.

Including this man's management of the southeast, the establishment of the navy can be said to be a stroke of genius.

If Zhong Yan were to do it, he would not be able to do it to this extent.

——

It was still as Wei Yuan expected.

Li Ninglingge had no idea of ​​dividing his army to resist the Zhou army.

Instead, he took advantage of the emptiness inside Weizhou and marched straight into and attacked Weizhou.

Coincidentally, at this time, the intentions of the Palace Front Office and the Secretariat had also been passed to Fengxiang.

Dingbian Army, Huaide Army and many other armies rushed to Weizhou and Qingzhou to fight against Li Ninglingge.

At this time, the capital.

Every day, an urgent military report of 800 miles was sent to the Palace Front Office.

Wei Yuan was not too worried about the situation of Yang Huairen and Zhong Yan.

Only the situation in Weizhou was becoming increasingly serious.

"Report! At 3:00 pm on April 10, Li Ningling ordered an attack on Weizhou!"

"Report! At 2:00 pm on April 10, the first siege of the Xixia army ended, and our army suffered more than 1,000 casualties."

"Report! The Huaide Army's reinforcements have arrived in Weizhou!"

"."

Several military reports were sent to the Palace Front Division in one day, which made the Ministry of War and the commanders of various armies worried.

If the war situation is not controlled, it may lead to a national war.

And a national war is something that neither Zhou nor Xia wants to happen.

At this moment, Han Zhang, Wen Yanbo, and Wei Yuan sat in a row, motionless as a mountain.

They were all waiting for the latest news about Weizhou in recent days.

The more this time, the more they, the big guys of Qingtian, can't panic.

After an unknown amount of time, when the court was about to end, Han Zhang slowly said:

"I will write a note and submit the military reports of the past few days to the government."

"The next step is to see the battle of Weizhou. If Weizhou is captured by the Xixia army, General Wei, neither you nor I can bear the blame."

"."

Before he finished speaking, another dusty scout came hurriedly,

"Weizhou military situation! Weizhou military situation!"

Hearing the four words he repeated, Wei Yuan quickly stood up, stepped forward, supported the scout's arm, and asked impatiently:

"Have the reinforcements from Fengxiang arrived in Weizhou? How many troops are there?"

The scout nodded solemnly and said, "They have arrived!"

"Fengxiang Prefecture Prefect Chen Xiliang and Fengxiang Prefecture Tongpan Su Shi personally led 30,000 troops!"

"Among them, there are 3,000 cavalry."

Thirty thousand!

Hearing this, Wei Yuan quickly came to the sand table, planted Fengxiang's flag near Weizhou, and laughed:

"Prime Minister Han, Prime Minister Wen, the situation has been decided!"

The two said one after another:

"Weizhou is safe. When Li Ningling returns without success, Yang Huairen and Zhong Yan's troops will surely end the war very early."

"If General Wei hadn't guessed that the Xixia army intended to get involved in Weizhou, I'm afraid the situation in Weizhou would be dangerous."

Wei Yuan smiled and said, "If the two ministers hadn't helped, I'm afraid the soldiers in Fengxiang would not dare to move without authorization."

The highest officials of the prefectures and counties of Dazhou only have the right to train troops, not the right to mobilize troops.

If they don't get the imperial edict to mobilize troops to Weizhou, even if they solve the problem of Weizhou, they will not end up well.

If they meet a leader who is afraid of taking responsibility, I'm afraid they won't even go.

At that time, Weizhou will really be in danger.

After a pause, Wei Yuan asked again: "I know that the prefect of Fengxiang Prefecture has always been Han Xiliang, but what about the great poet Su Shi?"

Nowadays, Su Shi's poems have become quite famous, so it is not wrong to call him a great poet.

Han Zhang said: "This person wrote a letter to the official family, saying that the reform of the civil service department was inappropriate. Last year, when the official family was seriously ill, this person also wrote several letters to the official family."

"In anger, the official wanted to dismiss him and imprison him. Su Che wrote a letter to plead for mercy, and Prime Minister Wen added fuel to the fire, so he was sent to Fengxiang Mansion to serve as a general judge."

Wen Yanbo said: "What does it mean to add fuel to the flames? Su Shi is a talented person and should be reused."

Han Zhang said: "Li Taibai is also talented, but what's the use of being talented? How many poems did Su Shi write? After all, poetry is a small thing."

"Besides, Zhang Huaimin is also a man of talent. These two are the same as Zhazi. Why do you only protect Su Shi? Is it because Su Xun has a good relationship with you?"

Wen Yanbo frowned and said: "Nonsense, how can Zhang Huaimin become a man of talent? During the court meeting, this man could fall asleep standing outside the Zichen Palace, how can he be a man of war?"

Zhang Huaimin explained this to his boss, saying that the night before the big court meeting, Su Shi knocked on his door and woke him up. When he opened the door, Su Shi said you weren't asleep either, so he took him to admire the moon.

Wei Yuan said: "You two gentlemen, let's argue first. I will go into the palace to see the officials and inform them of Weizhou's military situation."

After saying that, he left here.

Han and Wen were blowing their beards and staring, neither of them convinced of the other.

——

Two days later, the war in Weizhou was intense, but with Fengxiang's troops there, Wei Yuan no longer worried about losing Weizhou.

In the past two days, Wang Anshi expressed to Wei Yuan his intention to accept Sheng Changbai as his student.

Wei Yuan was puzzled and asked: "There are so many potential talents for new scholars, why did you choose Changbai? Because he is my nephew?"

Wang Anshi said: "Countless of the candidates' answers on the first day of the general examination are better than those written by Sheng Changbai. Why did you rank his answer sheet first?"

Wei Yuan said: "I didn't know that the answer sheet was written by Sheng Changbai. Besides, I'm just giving you a suggestion. You still need to make the final decision."

Wang Anshi said: "Then I made the final decision to accept him as my disciple. What does it have to do with you?"

Wei Yuan was speechless.

Finally, on April 16th.

Witnessed by Wei Yuan and Sheng Hong, Sheng Changbai paid homage to Wang Anshi.

Sheng Hong was so happy.

Wang Anshi is the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, and he is the young master of the prince. When the prince ascends the throne in the future, the Sheng family will have two big trees, Wang Anshi and Wei Yuan, so there is no need to worry about not being prosperous?

After the apprenticeship ceremony was over, Wei Yuan returned with the Sheng family.

On the way, Wei Yuan specifically asked Sheng Changbai to get on his carriage and asked, "Why did Wang Shangshu accept you as his disciple?"

Sheng Changbai shook his head, "Nephew doesn't know either. Doesn't uncle know?"

Wei Yuan is hard to say.

He thought to himself.

Since Wang Anshi knew Sheng Changbai's answer on the first day, he should know that he wanted to cultivate Sheng Changbai.

Now, he has accepted Sheng Changbai as his disciple. Why? Seize your own chess pieces?

Or do you want to let Sheng Changbai become the link between the two?

Or maybe Wang Anshi wants to take advantage of Sheng Changbai

No matter which possibility it is, it is not a good thing!

"Changbai, you are tough and steady, and you are a good official who can do practical things."

"You just need to do your part well and don't get involved in the muddy waters of the court too early."

Wei Yuan could only give more advice to Sheng Changbai from the perspective of an elder.

As for what the future will bring, no one can say for sure.

Those people in the imperial court can be broken into countless parts with just one thought.

Wei Yuan went to see off Sheng Changbai first. From Wang Anshi's home to Jiying Lane, he had to pass the Hong Bridge, which is the Bianhe Bridge.

When he was about to cross the bridge, Wei Yuan opened the curtain of his car, looked at the endless crowds of people passing by, and suddenly murmured:

"Changbai, tell me, I have been walking on thin ice in my life, can I make it to the other side?"

Sheng Changbai was stunned, "What else will uncle say?"

Wei Yuan shook his head, "Nothing."

Since arriving in the capital and occupying a high position, everything he has done has been like walking on thin ice?

Like Uncle Ouyang Yong, who can really gain a foothold in the capital?

Why don't you just sing and I come on stage?

But what Wei Yuan wants is to always be able to appear.

After a pause, Sheng Changbai smiled and responded:

"Isn't my uncle sitting on the chariot gifted by the government now? If I want to get to the other side of the bridge, why should my uncle walk there in person?"