"The Khitan army has already been stationed on the north bank of the Yellow River!"

Zhao Ji's face was gloomy. He asked Wu Haogu to enter the palace, not to introduce Guo Xiaoxiao to Wu Haogu, but to discuss military and national affairs.

So when Guo Xiaoxiao was preparing a health dinner, Zhao Ji talked about the military situation in Hetao with Wu Haogu.

"Your Majesty, don't worry." Wu Haogu comforted Zhao Ji, "Gao Qiu is in charge of Hetao, and the Liao people will never dare to invade rashly."

"What if there was no Gao Qiu?" Zhao Ji asked immediately.

"Without Gao Qiu, you can only give up the land of Shuozhou. After all, Shuozhou is lonely in the north and it is difficult to get support from the other states of Shuofang Road. Once attacked, it will be an isolated city. However, Tong Guan is in Shuofang Road, Yin, Xia, You and Yan. However, after losing the grasslands of Shuozhou, the court will not have a place to raise horses, and the plan of the herds and prisoners will be ruined."

Wu Haogu was not misleading Zhao Ji. Because Gao Qiu had been ripped out of his deterrence, and the Khitans had also "experienced" the great things. Gao Qiu defeated the fierce men of the Qing army and the Pishi army with hundreds of armored cavalry, so the Liao people naturally did not dare to act rashly.

Therefore, as long as Gao Qiu's flag was erected in Shuozhou City, the Khitans on the other side of the river would not dare to move. If Gao Qiu was gone, then Tong Guan could only give up Shuozhou and the nearby grasslands.

Because Shuozhou is actually far away from the four states of Yin, Xia, You and Yan, and is isolated on the grassland north of the Gobi Desert in the sea. Logistics supply is very difficult, and farming and animal husbandry have not started. Therefore, it is impossible to garrison large soldiers, and they can only rely on Gao Qiu's reputation and use a small amount of troops to defend. Otherwise, as long as the Khitan crosses the river, they can rely on the number of cavalry to defend Shuozhou City, and hunger can even starve the defenders in the city.

After listening to Wu Haogu's analysis, Zhao Ji's last point of withdrawal from Gao Qiu was gone. Because now the Political Affairs Hall has set its sights on the grasslands in Shuozhou, it is a good place to raise horses! If the horse farm of the herds prison can be moved to the grasslands in Shuozhou, it will be more than million to ten million acres of official land for rent. The land rent alone can earn at least hundreds of thousands of dollars every year!

Moreover, how much harvest will be achieved in this thousand acres of land used to grow grain in a year? How much can I feed?

If the common people can eat enough, will they all become officials and officials be at ease to engage in corruption?

As for Gao Qiu's self-respecting problem, it is actually not without a solution.

First of all, Tong Guan was watching Gao Qiu!

Tong Guan's skills were better than Gao Qiu, and his confidants in the Shuofang Army were no less than Gao Qiu. But he was an eunuch without eggs, and no one would criticize him for the matter of supporting troops, because the Northern Song Dynasty had never been afraid of internal officials in charge of border troops.

The second is the core of Gao Qiu's army, that is, officers from the Military Academy, who can actually be copied infinitely!

"Your Majesty, in fact, if you withdraw Gao Qiu, whoever goes to Shuofang will still be said to be a self-respecting person." Wu Haogu began to exonerate Gao Qiu.

"How can I see it?"

Wu Haogu smiled and said, "Gao Qiu actually took advantage of the advantages of the powerful soldiers of the palace, military officers, military officers, military soldiers and knights in all aspects, so that he could achieve the power of famous generals.

The government soldiers, military science department, warriors and knights are not inherent in my Song Dynasty. If they emerge from the sky, they will inevitably hurt the interests of some people. Gao Qiu happened to gain fame with the government soldiers, military science department, warriors and knights, and he would certainly be jealous of the Shuofang military soldiers. If his Majesty is unwilling to give up the government military system, then no matter who goes to Shuofang, he will become the target of public criticism. The difference is that with Gao Qiu in charge, the Khitan dare not invade, the government military system will be successful. If others go, if they are defeated by the Khitan, the government military system will be left to nothing.”

"The soldiers in the palace are really better than recruiting soldiers?" Zhao Ji asked again.

"That's natural," said Wu Haogu, "If you recruit soldiers to serve until you are fifty or sixty, you are all grandfathers. Can you still go to fight to kill enemies? The most powerful and powerful person in a person's life is the period of seventeen or eighteen to thirty years old. In other words, although the soldiers used by Your Majesty have been in service for thirty years, the real useful one is only ten years. On average, only one-third of the military camp is strong, and the rest are gradually getting old and weak. The soldiers in the palace only served for five years and all selected young and strong men, so naturally they are strong.

As for martial arts and combat skills, it seems that recruiting soldiers is not as good as the government soldiers now."

"How could it be?"

Wu Haogu smiled: "Your Majesty is also a son of Bianliang. Don't you know how the imperial guards in the Beijing camp live their daily lives? They are surrounded by wives and children, saying that they live in the military camp, but the military camp is no different from the people's homes. Even according to military rules, it's only a few days to be able to compare with the military soldiers? The military soldiers in Shuofang are all thousands of miles away from home and live in the military camp day and night, so it's okay to have two military soldiers a day and two military soldiers a day. It's not as good as the military soldiers a year of training! "

The soldiers who were being tried in the Northern Song Dynasty are different from those of the Sui and Tang dynasties. The latter also served for life, while the former only had five years of military service. Therefore, they could serve continuously, instead of taking turns to serve both soldiers and farmers. After serving for several consecutive years, the army's management of soldiers can naturally be greatly strengthened, and soldiers can be "locked up" to practice the so-called militarized management in the future is like this!

From the perspective of later generations, the life of the imperial guards in the Jingying Prefecture was actually just a group of ordinary people who lived at home, and had nothing to do with military affairs at all. It was a damn thing that could be trained. In this way, it was actually the common people's army to fight, and of course they were defeated by the Jurchens.

"In addition," Wu Haogu continued, "most of the military officers leading the troops in the Shuofang Army are from the Military Academy. They have spent several years learning how to lead troops and train troops. How can those former military officers in the Imperial Army of the Beijing Camp compare?

From the perspective of the minister, this method is still very good. Your Majesty might as well add a year or two to the Military Academy to teach martial arts on the right-list Jinshi, and then send them to the Shuofang Army to serve. At the same time, the old officers in the Shuofang Army were transferred out to form a new military army... Gradually, a system of officer rotation could be formed, just like civil servant rotation, so that they would not be afraid of them growing up power."

Zhao Ji nodded, with a little relief in his expression.

Wu Haogu is still reliable. He is devoted to the country and came up with the methods of "military and military science department" and "elector rotation".

Let the Political Affairs Hall discuss it and come up with a charter as soon as possible...

...

This is the first time Gao Qiu has stood on the shore of the Yellow River in the Hetao area.

There is no embankment here that is as high as a city wall, nor is there a rushing river water. Only a big river winds through the boundless grassland.

Looking up at the north bank of the Yellow River, there are still endless grasslands. On the grassland, there are small felt tents dotted everywhere. Flocks of white clouds flow on the hillside. The entire world is like a grassland landscape painting.

"Where is the Khitan army?"

Gao Qiu asked to himself. The Khitan army was gone and disappeared, so Gao Qiu ran for nothing.

"Taiwei, Liao Gou has left long ago... he left at night, and I don't know where he went?"

Gao Qiu looked back and saw that the man who was speaking was a handsome man, Wu Song and Wu Erlang.

Wu Song sent Gao Qiu to take the Qing Tang Armor during the Battle of Hehuang, which made Gao Qiu liked very much, and then regarded him as his confidant. Moreover, he was really capable of fighting and made a lot of contributions along the way. Therefore, he was promoted repeatedly by Gao Qiu. Now he has become the governor of Shuozhou and the commander of the military commander. The official also mentioned the deputy envoy of the seventh-rank Guest Provincial People's Political Consultative Conference, and the position of Xuanzan Sheren.

In Shuofang Army, he is also a rare figure. I don’t know if it was because of the promotion or the experience on the battlefield. Wu Song’s temperament is now solid and thick, with a firm look on his eyes. Gao Qiu looked at him and suddenly thought of his good brother Wu Haogu. Wu Haogu is becoming more and more concentric now, and he is a little confused!

"It's good to leave," Gao Qiu breathed, "If you don't leave, the Yellow River here will not be able to stop them! If you really cross the river, a famous general of the Song Dynasty may be defeated."

In fact, he was ready to be defeated and left Tongwancheng. He only brought 1,000 cavalrymen personally selected 500 cavalry and assisted cavalry to Shuozhou City. If he was defeated in Shuozhou, as long as he did not die in the battle, he would be considered a relief. Gao Qiu was defeated and the soldiers in the palace were defeated, and everyone would be satisfied.

But the Khitans refused to cooperate!

Wu Song was sent to Shuozhou by Gao Qiu after the Liao soldiers appeared on the north bank of the Yellow River. He had only one warrior under his command and an infantry general who drove from the Fuyan Road, with a total of less than 5,000 people.

However, when facing at least tens of thousands of Liao soldiers, Wu Song was not very scared because the Shuozhou City, designed and supervised by Huang Zhisheng himself, was still quite solid.

Although the city is not big, it is a tricky location. It is located in a small turn of the Yellow River, facing water on three sides, and only the grassland is on the south side. In addition, Huang Silang also adopted the method of rammed earth and sandbags building, using rammed earth as the basis and sandbags as the wall, and added a canal to the city to transform the small Shuozhou into a fortress as strong as possible.

Not to mention tens of thousands of Khitan soldiers, Wu Song was sure to defend it even if he had a few times more.

So he was not worried about the army gathered on the other side of the Yellow River. Instead, he felt worried after the Khitan army disappeared.

"Taiwei, the lower magistrate is worried that they may go southwest!" Wu Song said his concern.

"Qin Wangchuan?" Gao Qiu asked.

"Yes!" Wu Song said, "Walk 600 miles southwest from here is the battlefield of King Chuan. Khitans are all cavalry and horse teams, with one person, two horses and three horses, and you can reach it in a few days!"

"A few days..." Gao Qiu frowned, "I'm afraid they have arrived at Qin Wangchuan!"

"Then the Hexi Army..."
Chapter completed!