After entering the capital hall, I met with the ministers of the Secretariat and everyone sat down.

Wen Yanbo said: "The capital city has received the news that Datong Prefecture has arrived. Yelu Zong has offered the city and recovered Datong Prefecture. So far, the land in Yanyun area has been restored and the Song Dynasty has unified the entire universe. What we need to discuss carefully next. In recent years, foreign wars have been constantly, and the imperial court has spent too much money and can't hold on. In the Battle of Youzhou, bonds have been sold for one year, and the principal and interest will be paid for the next year."

In fact, the national bonds in Du Zhongxiao's memory are not so troublesome. They have always had more bonds every year. New debts are issued to pay off old debts. As long as the regime is stable, there is no need to consider repaying bonds. However, this is a new matter, and the court really thinks it is one thing. The financial situation has always been good over the years, and the court does not want to owe debts. If the problem of income is huge, they will think of losing money.

Tian Kuang said: "Youzhou and Yunzhou, in front of and behind the mountains, were originally connected. Now, all the two places are taken, and the Fengshengzhou court, which is sandwiched between the two states, must be taken. Otherwise, Fengshengzhou could threaten the two places. Over time, the strength of the Khitan will be restored and a great disaster will be caused. I discussed with Taiwei Du that there are now 750,000 imperial guards in the world. If the Khitan is defeated, it should be sacked. It is appropriate to retain a number of 400,000 to 500,000. The sacking of the imperial guards cannot be completed in one day. Before that, you can use troops to Fengshengzhou. While fighting, you can also dismiss the army."

Du Zhongxiao said: "There are many ways to disarmament. One is to directly lay off certain military numbers, and the other is to lay off the number of troops from each army. Except for a few elite troops, most of the troops are usually not satisfied. For example, if an ordinary army retains 30,000 people, it can lay off a lot of people."

Han Qi nodded: "This method is good. Now each army has a large number of artillery, cavalry, etc., which is not suitable for cutting. The infantry inside is easier to replenish. As long as the backbone is left, it will be quickly replenished during the war."

Du Zhongxiao nodded: "No, so this disarmament does not need to make a big fuss, which will make the army panic. When we recruit soldiers, ordinary soldiers have a term of service, usually five years. Now, the service period of many people has reached, and as long as they do not recruit new recruits, the number of people will naturally decrease gradually. Over time, the number of people will be cut enough, and then the recruitment will be resumed slowly."

Wen Yanbo and others discussed it and thought that this was the best. If the army was quickly reduced after a big victory, it would inevitably be unstable. This way of using natural retirement would not harm the interests of the army, and it would be much more relaxed.

Han Qi said: "What army should be used to attack Fengshengzhou? Now there are not many Khitan troops, so there is no need to concentrate the army."

Du Zhongxiao said: "After the war in Youzhou, Liu Qifen 50,000 people were stationed in Youzhou, Zhang Jifen 50,000 people were stationed in Pingzhou, guarding the Khitan and Jurchen tribes. Ma Huaide 50,000 people were stationed in Daming Prefecture and Hebei Road. Jia Kui 50,000 people were stationed from Youzhou to attack Ruzhou, and together with Wang Kai and Bin, the rest of the army will be withdrawn back to the capital. The military academy will be re-established, and after the training of each army, they will be stationed in various places."

Song Xiang pondered: "Is there a little less attack on Fengshengzhou by 100,000 people? In the battle of Youzhou, there were more than 500,000 troops."

Du Zhongxiao said: "After the Battle of Youzhou, there were no more Khitan troops. After Yelu Zong was willing to offer the city, it is a problem whether the Khitan can organize 100,000 troops. Now, 100,000 or 200,000 troops are already large troops, so there is no need to gather troops like before."

Han Qi nodded: "Yes. Yelu Hongji was captured. Until now, the Khitan has not established a new lord, and the country is in chaos. It is actually not difficult for us to send troops to capture cities and plunder land. The Tokyo Jurchens have caused chaos and captured many prefectures, but the Khitans are unable to suppress them."

Du Zhongxiao said: "After the Jurchens absorbed the Bohai people, they were also a large clan, so they should not be careless. After occupying Zhongjing Road, they would gather a large army to fight. Tokyo Road is vast and has a lot of cultivated land, which can support tens of thousands of troops. If they are not careful, they will develop it, which will be a big problem."

Wen Yanbo said: "The Jurchens who eat raw meat and drink blood are also difficult to eat, so there is no need to be afraid of them."

Du Zhongxiao shook his head: "Your Majesty, all dynasties have always been strong and did not pay attention to the foreign races on the frontier. As a result, over time, they slowly gathered together and became a big force. In the past, they did not conquer foreign races because they were too far away. Although they did not use much troops, it was difficult to transport grain. Now that we have trains, it is easy to transport grain, so don't make mistakes from the previous dynasty. Anyone who does not obey the king's transformation should not let them fight east and west and cause great trouble."

Wen Yanbo nodded: "The Grand Marshal said it makes sense. This is a later statement, let's put it aside now."

Du Zhongxiao said: "All the imperial guards who withdraw to the capital will begin to disarmament except for the four armies. After occupying Fengshengzhou, the other armies will also cut the number. More than 700,000 imperial guards, although the imperial court can afford to support them, there is no need."

Han Qi frowned: "There is no need to be full of troops at the top of the fourth army. They are always stationed in the capital and have no strong enemies. Just keep artillery, cavalry and backbones in the army. When it is time to use, it is not too late to be joined by the troops."

Du Zhongxiao smiled and said, "The matter of going to the Fourth Army depends on what the emperor said. We are not easy to make decisions. There must be some troops in the world who return to the front of the palace, so our ministers do not need to interfere too much."

Wen Yanbo had to speak out and think about it carefully. What Du Zhongxiao said makes sense. As an emperor, whether it is real or fake, he always has to directly interfere in the military. Just like before, all commanders and above in the army had to be appointed by the emperor himself, which is the case. Now, the recruitment of soldiers in the army and the promotion of officers have systems, but the influence of imperial power cannot be completely eliminated.

Han Qi said: "When it comes to Yanmen Pass in Datong Prefecture, the mountain road is rugged and difficult to pass. Pang Ji once sent someone to investigate and could not build the railway. After occupying Datong Prefecture, if the railway cannot be built there, it will be inappropriate. Now it seems that it is still necessary to start from Shengzhou and build it all the way to Datong. Most of the road are mountain roads, although it is not steep, it is not difficult. Moreover, the population along the way is sparse, which is not easy."

Du Zhongxiao thought for a while and said, "In this way, Shengzhou will become a big city in the world, not comparable to before. Whether it is for the Western Regions, to the outer borders, or to Datong Prefecture, it is very important to go there."

Wen Yanbo nodded: "We have discussed that once the railway to Datong Prefecture is built, Shengzhou will be the key place in the world. It is not an important official and cannot guard it. However, there is no other way. Only Shengzhou is suitable to cross Yinshan and Yanshan."

For later generations, it is not difficult to cross Yinshan and Yanshan. The routes are different, but it only costs a lot. This era is different, and the technical conditions do not support too much transportation at all. It is difficult to cross the Yanshan railway north of Youzhou, and you can only detour from the west. The railway can be built to near Youzhou, but you must rely on other means of transportation to cross the mountains. Without a railway, it is much more difficult to control the vast northern grasslands.

After occupying Fengshengzhou, the railway went north from the junction of Yinshan and Yanshan. With a stronghold, the Song Dynasty would dispatch large troops to occupy the grasslands. Then it used roads to connect various important places to control them. Only in this way can the threat of the northern grasslands to the Central Plains be completely cut off.

Du Zhongxiao has been developing Hequ Road for many years, and now it has developed and has become an important place. Whether in the Western Regions or the North, cargo merchants from other places gather there, and then follow the railway to the capital. Then build the railway to Datong Prefecture and connect to the Youyan area, where the status there is even more important.

When he was working on Hequ Road, Du Zhongxiao thought about external railway routes. In the end, he had to admit that the important transportation link in this era was Shengzhou, and it was difficult to have other more suitable places. Moreover, around Shengzhou, there is Yellow River irrigation and relatively sufficient food, which is a suitable place to build a big city. Now it seems that this is true.

With railways, the traffic pattern is definitely different from when there is no railway. Major regions across the country must have their own traffic pivots. For example, Kaifeng Prefecture, with well-connected roads, which is the traffic pivot of the Central Plains.

This is true for Shengzhou. The first railway built to the Western Regions was chosen to go to Heishui City because the Hexi Corridor was in the hands of Dangxiang. Shengzhou became the gateway for countries in the Western Regions to enter the Central Plains. After defeating the Khitan, Yanshan Mountain is difficult to cross now, so you still have to cross the mountains from there. The two railways are connected, and Shengzhou has become a hub for east-west transportation.

After thinking about it, Du Zhongxiao said: "If you build a railway from Shengzhou, there will be a large army there in the future. No matter where something happens, you can send troops from there and set out quickly along the railway. This principle is the same as the army stationed in the capital. The army stationed in the capital is not only the internal and external coordination, but also because of the convenient transportation, it is convenient to set off."

Everyone nodded together. After the railway, the internal and external ministers who used to seem a little stupid, the heavy troops stationed in the capital suddenly became a very good policy. No matter where there was a war, the imperial guards in the capital could arrive quickly.

Han Qi said: "However, when the railway construction is built from Shengzhou to everywhere, because there is a sparse population there, where are the road construction workers coming?"

Du Zhongxiao smiled and said, "What's the difficulty? In the battle of Youzhou, nearly 300,000 Khitans were captured, and they were all sent to build railways. This was done before when he was in Hequ. As long as tens of thousands of troops were watching, they would add the old road repairers and use them as coolies."

Han Qi said: "This is also a solution. Anyway, hundreds of thousands of Khitan prisoners cannot be released, and they can only raise food. They use their road construction without recruiting people, saving a lot of effort."
Chapter completed!