In the Privy Council, Du Zhongxiao, Jia Changchao, Tian Kuang and Cheng Kan sat around and discussed the memorial of Liu Changhao's return.

Tian Kuang said: "According to what Liu Zhigong said, after he passed Youzhou, he encountered two troops at Sanchakou and Xiazhou Tieyewu. There was no follow-up at Sanchakou. Tieyewu Di Qing clearly stated that the army was greedy for the prosperity there, and used the excuse of the Dangxiang people causing chaos and plundering the troops. In this regard, I am afraid that the rebellion of the Dangxiang people in Hongzhou and other places will be very suspicious. After a long time, I am afraid that no one can explain the truth."

Jia Changchao said: "Di Qing, the rioters of the Tieye Service, has taken the people and executed them in Shizhou. It can be seen that his military governance is extremely strict. Other places may be the rebellion of the Dangxiang people, and it is unknown. How can we explain clearly the matter on the front line?"

Du Zhongxiao said: "Yes, we can't explain the things on the front line clearly. How can Di Qing explain them clearly when it is far away from Shizhou? He naturally knew where he was close, so he took the soldiers who were in trouble and beheaded and showed them to the public. Because he was not clear about the places far away, he had to ignore them."

Jia Changchao was unhappy: "The deputy envoy said this, because he believed that there were indeed soldiers on the front line greedy for money and were in chaos?"

Du Zhongxiao said: "It's not just about greed for money, but also about military merits. After the defeat of Lingzhou, the Dangxiang people did not resist firmly, and most cities surrendered. The battle went smoothly, and the soldiers lost their lives and had no military merits. Once they settled down, there would inevitably be someone else's thoughts."

Jia Changchao said: "There is no way to do this. Now it seems that Di Qing is extremely strict in governing the army. Whenever there is chaos, he will immediately suppress it, and even if the meritorious generals are killed. This is a rare general in the army."

Du Zhongxiao said: "Taiwei, Di Qing is extremely strict in his army, and there are so many chaos under his rule. The problem is that. If the commander is indulging him, then as long as the court is strict, the matter will not be difficult to handle. In the case of the commander's strict military discipline, his subordinates violated military discipline many times and looted the people. The court had no choice but to do anything, which was the real headache. If the generals were not good, they could change generals. If there was a problem with the entire military system, what should we do?"

Jia Changchao was speechless for a moment and didn't know what to say. The imperial guards were trained, and Jia Changchao was an official outside. When he returned to the court to serve as Privy Council, the training had been completed. Du Zhongxiao's military system on Hequ Road and the template for the imperial guards' training were not clear about. Therefore, he was the chief of the Privy Council based on his previous impression of the imperial guards. According to the previous imperial guards, Di Qing was already a rare general, so he maintained it everywhere.

Du Zhongxiao was different. When he was appointed as the Censor, he showed that the emperor had doubts about himself and ignored anything in the army at that time. Now he was appointed as the deputy envoy of the Privy Council, which showed the emperor's attitude and of course he had to keep a close eye on the military system. From Liu Chang's report, it can be seen that Di Qing was very strict in governing the army, but that does not mean that his troops were not in trouble. Iron and smelting was a rebellion by the Song army, so the same might be true for other places.

Tian Kuang said: "No matter what, this is the case in the Dangxiang war. No matter what happens in the future, we will have to wait until the battle is over."

Cheng Kan said: "This is right. However, now there is only Yinzhou left. Although there is a dense population and a large number of Dangxiang troops, it cannot resist much time. After the destruction of Dangxiang, what should Di Qing's army be? The most important thing is."

After hearing this, several people were silent. Yes, this is the most important thing. The Song army's operation to seize Shuozhou and Dezhou did not begin. In order to gain an absolute advantage over the Khitan, Di Qing's troops should be transferred to Hedong Road after capturing Yinzhou. Di Qing obviously thought so too. After the Yinzhou war was over, the army headed to Baode Army and took a train to Bingzhou.

Tian Kuang said: "If the Khitan lost Shuozhou and did not go to war with the dynasty, Di Qing's troops would not have to be stationed on the border."

Jia Changchao said: "The army of Yelu Hongji's army is known as 400,000. If we take over Shuozhou, how can we ignore it? If the army of 400,000 attacks Shuozhou, can Han Qi's army support it? If not, we still need reinforcements from Di Qing."

Tian Kuang said: "In a city in Shuozhou, Yelu Hongji's 400,000 troops, what should he eat there? Han Qi arranged 100,000 people, and it was enough to seize Shuozhou. No matter how many people there are, the food and grass in the rear are not easy to supply."

Jia Changchao said: "Di Qing's troops can go to the Bingzhou area, and it should not be difficult to transport grain by railway. 200,000 troops are in Bingzhou and can support Shuozhou at any time. Hong Ji will definitely not dare to raise a large army, which is to suppress people with power."

Du Zhongxiao said: "It has been nearly five years since Yelu Chongyuan's independence and the two Khitan emperors have joined forces and fought for five years. Chongyuan and Hong Ji both fought for the whole country and spent countless money. In recent years, Xijing Road has not made enough money and has no savings. How can we support Hong Ji's 400,000 army? The Khitan did not have railway transportation grain. What did they eat when the 400,000 army arrived in Shuozhou?"

Jia Changchao said: "The Khitan is different from this dynasty. Its army does not require much food and grass when it goes forward."

Du Zhongxiao said: "Taiwei, that was when the Khitan attacked the dynasty, he could get food locally. How could he do this on Xijing Road? A 400,000 army attacked Shuozhou, and half of the Khitans had to transport grain, which could still support him. Han Qi arranged a 100,000 army, as a whole, and the number of people was enough. In a state of Shuozhou, the Khitans would only be crazy. The most likely thing was that the Khitans had been exhausted for many years and had already begun to recuperate after defeating Chongyuan. We occupied Shuozhou in time, and the two countries might look for a small battle, and the possibility of a big war was not high."

Tian Kuang said: "What the Deputy Envoy said is that the two Khitan emperors had fought for five years and the country was already exhausted. How could they go to war with this dynasty again?"

When Jia Changchao saw that he did not support him, he had to say, "Before you have to worry about victory, you should first think about defeat. This is the key to military strategy. It is always impossible to make more troops."

Du Zhongxiao said: "It has been nearly six months since Di Qing led his army out of the Rong army in September last year. For the army, it has been exhausted for so long, so it is not easy to let them participate directly in the war. After breaking Yinzhou, they should go to Yanzhou and take a train back to the vicinity of the capital. The troops on Shuozhou, Hequ Road and Hedong Road are enough, and there is no need to accumulate heavy troops on the front line, which makes the Khitan suspicious. The area of ​​Datong Prefecture is not suitable for large-scale combat. More than 300,000 troops on Hequ Road and Hedong Road are already very, and there is no need to add heavy troops."

Tian Kuang nodded: "If you seize Shuozhou and get into evil with the Khitan, you should be careful not about Hedong Road, but about Hebei Road. Hedong is mostly mountain roads, not the battlefield that the Khitans like. What they are best at is the Qianli Plain on Hebei Road. The right way is to let Di Qing's troops return to the capital in time."

When Xia Qian was the commander of Shaanxi Road, he was a judge and has been in the northwest for many years since then. Compared with Jia Changchao, Tian Kuang knew the situation in the army well and could see the problems of Di Qing's troops. With Di Qing alone, under the current military system, more than 200,000 troops were difficult for him to command. It would be better to gather the entire army in one place. Once the troops were divided, the subordinates would be taken care of.

After entering Hengshan, these chaos occurred. Compared with the previous imperial guards, it was actually very good. In the past, there were more than 200,000 troops in battle, but I don’t know how many chaos would happen. Many times, so many troops went to fight, and they would be in chaos before they could fight. But now, there are different forces, and the army from Hequ Road is really far behind.
Chapter completed!