However, many ministers still felt very sorry. After all, Wang Ju's banking department had been spread out. Although it was not established, the success of the immature Qingzhou Development Fund in Qingzhou means that once a more mature banking department was established, it would build a bright future for the Song Dynasty.

Wang Ju himself did not spend a long time in the Secretariat, less than eight months, but he did a good job in these seven or eight months. Not only did he rectify the minister's money, but also the department staff and the field affairs. Under his leadership, the government affairs of the southern routes were extremely smooth.

All of these mean that Wang Junai is a rare comprehensive talent in government affairs, economy and military affairs.

But that's it.

But happy people are very happy.

This scandal has come out, so don't even think about returning to politics.

If it is normal, they can think like this, but no, something bigger will happen immediately...

After Wang Ju returned home, he immediately packed his luggage and hurriedly took a boat south.

Then, Zhao Niannu and his son couldn't stay in the capital amid the discussions all over the city. Anyway, the matter has been made public, so why not leave the capital with Wang Ju.

Ordinary people are just laughing and crying now. This is why the king and his wife don’t love official titles and beauties.

Lao Wang was so depressed that he wanted to cry.

If it were the Tang Dynasty, maybe it would be better to curry favor with Princess Anle and Princess Taiping. What should I do when I meet Princess in the Song Dynasty?

Is the eldest princess a peerless beauty? No, although she is a little pretty, she is also a half-old woman. Besides, she loves beauty, how many beautiful girls and prostitutes are there in the capital? Even because of Wang Ju's fame and official position and his love for his concubine, I don't know how many pretty people want to come into the Wang family.

Or because of poverty, the princess is different in Wang Ju’s eyes...

Therefore, the more Lao Wang thought about it, the more depressed he became.

…………

The fifth year of Yuanfeng.

At the end of June.

The eunuch reported: "Your Majesty, Zhang Quanzhong and Huang He have entered the palace and are waiting for His Majesty to summon him."

Zhang Quanzhong was also a child of the Zhang family. He failed to pass the imperial examination many times, but he was a little talented. When Wang Ju was in Quanzhou, he used both kindness and power, and also attracted some local wealthy families. He once summoned Zhang Quanzhong as an assistant to assist him in governing Quanzhou, but soon Zhang Quanzhong passed the Jinshi exam.

Although the ranking was not high and was only at the end of the fourth grade, because he was once an assistant to Wang Ju and had practical experience, he was recorded as the head of a small county. Last winter, Zhao Xu sent someone to the other side to summon Wang Ju back and thought of this person.

Huang He is the original Eunuch Huang.

More than a year has passed, but it was an extremely tragic year.

Wang Ju left the capital.

The other side almost laughed happily.

Since Wang Ju entered the capital, he frightened the Liang brothers and sisters. He did not mention the war achievements in the south, the Battle of Dashun City and the Battle of Qingzhou, and the Battle of Xixia in the two battles. Liang Yimian immediately ordered all the troops on the border to not enter the Song territory.

Just when they were frightened, this news came. When Wang Ju left, the Liang brother and sister were relieved and bold, and immediately executed Li Qing and imprisoned Li Bingchang.

So everything continued.

But unlike in history, this time, because the Song army has higher morale and more complete armor, the number of cavalry is slightly more than in history. However, the more than a few thousand cavalrymen have not had much impact on this huge battle, and the main ones are the first two.

Therefore, the advancement speed is relatively fast and more Xixia people are killed.

There were not many other changes. There were still five armies. Li Xian from Xizhou and Dong Jin joined forces to send troops to Lanzhou and go north to Quwushan and Tiandushan. However, because the battle was launched too hastily and the logistics could not keep up, the speed of going north was very slow.

The second and third routes were 150,000 soldiers from Zhongyan Hejing Road and Fulin Road. They once captured Yinzhou, Shizhou, Xiazhou, and Youzhou, but because the supply could not keep up, there would be heavy snow outside Yanzhou City. The soldiers were cold and hungry, and collapsed one after another. Before Xixia could kill many soldiers, they lost nearly 50,000 people.

The fourth route was 50,000 troops led by Liu Changzuo, heading north along Huluchuan.

The fifth route was the main force of the Song Dynasty, with 90,000 troops and 90,000 civilians. The head coach was Gao Zunyu, who launched an attack from Qingzhou to Xixia.

Why Gao Zunyu?

If you don't analyze it from Zhao Xu's psychology, you can't say that Gao Zunyu is useless. He has performed many outstandingly in the Battle of Xihe. In fact, Li Xian, who later shocked the Western Regions, is not as good as Gao Zunyu now.

Or take a metaphor for someone, just like Cao Bin, he performed well when he pacified Shu, but the actual situation was that the enemy was very weak. He performed well in the battle of Pingnan Tang, but he could carefully analyze it because he was procrastinating outside Jiangning City, which almost failed this southern expedition. In fact, the biggest military achievements in Pingnan Tang were Wang Ming, followed by Pan Mei and Liu Yu, not Cao Bin. Therefore, when he encountered a stronger opponent, he was immediately defeated.

However, from Zhao Xu's psychology, the Song Dynasty dispatched a total of 300,000 troops and 200,000 formal civil servants in this battle. Why was it said to be a formal civil servant? Because the war came too suddenly and was not prepared enough. Later, in addition to these 200,000 civil servants, the states also transferred a large number of men and women to carry materials, and even women were arrested as civil servants.

In other words, there were 500,000 people who arrived in Xixia, and countless people were used behind them.

Therefore, most of the elite troops of the Song Dynasty were used up, so Zhao Xu needed someone who believed in commanding the central army and controlling the central army, and he could control the other four armies.

This candidate...

Although the early results were greater than in history, because it was advanced faster than in history, Gao Zunyu not only forced Liu Changzuo to stop siege the city, but also forced Li Xian to cross the Yellow River. Li Xian was unwilling, but Gao Zunyu ordered many orders, so Li Xian had to bite the bullet and lead his army across the Yellow River.

So even more miserable results appeared.

Not only did the Central Army and Liu Changzuo's army suffer heavy losses, but Li Xian's army's strength was the best in history. However, this time it was also affected. Fortunately, he made a judgment in time and immediately rushed to the south, bringing most of the troops back to Lanzhou.

This is why Wang Ju repeatedly tested Zhao Xu.

He can't remember the specific time, but he knows it will happen either this year or next year.

But isn't it a chance? It might be considered a chance.

It was only then that the Liang family imprisoned Li Bingchang, which indeed led to opposition from many powerful people in the country, and the country was once very chaotic.

However, what they were fighting for orthodoxy did not mean that they were turning to the Western Xia. On the contrary, as the Song army pressed forward, they became a force, diverting the contradictions aroused by the Liang family.

Time is not right. The Song Dynasty sent troops in July and August, and could it take Xixia within three months? It can't take it. Well, winter is coming.

Even if Liu Changzuo conquered Lingzhou City, he could not destroy Xixia, because the weather was very cold at that time. The troops of Xixia might be compressed in Zhucheng, Hexi, including Xingzhou City. How can it be captured?

And there is also the Liao Kingdom. Will they sit and watch the Western Xia Kingdom be destroyed?

Therefore, the most correct way is to "attack in the middle".

Zhong Yan is a lone wolf, which is not easy to cooperate with, but can also be used. After all, Fulin Road and Fuyan Road can be regarded as the strongest army of the Song Dynasty.

Take Yinzhou first and hold it on immediately. Then, after taking Shixia Youzhou, all the cities and forts will be destroyed. But you can't go deeper, otherwise supply will be the most troublesome problem.

Why do this?

Because the areas like Yinxiayou are the old nests of Xixia, most tribes are loyal to Xixia and are not easy to rule. Therefore, even if they get the city, they cannot occupy it. Otherwise, the supply road of two or three hundred miles would become the deadly road for the Song army. This principle is the same as Wang Ju took the initiative to abandon Yanzhou.

But Yinzhou is not a big problem. Although it is also the old nest of Xixia, there is Linzhou above and Suide Army below. Reinforcements can arrive at any time, and grain and supply can be transferred from Yanzhou and Hedong.

However, as long as Yinzhou is taken down, the Song Dynasty will occupy half of the Donghengshan area.

The goal of the Central Army is simpler, which is Yanzhou, or all the forts in the rear and Yanzhou area will be removed, and then stop immediately.

Liu Changzuo's army also stopped after taking Xiaoguan.

Li Xian’s target was not Lingzhou, until he reached Tiandu Mountain. However, in this way, the strength of the middle army would be reduced, while the strength of the two routes would be strengthened.

That is, the tactic of two wings flying together.

At this time, the weather was cold. The three armies stopped and waited for the coming year to see what else was going on with the Liao Kingdom and Xixia. If it was not good, consolidate the results of last year. In particular, strengthen the defensive power of Lanzhou, Qu Wushan and Tiandu Mountain. This will block the connection between Xixia and the Hexi Corridor. Although Xixia also migrated many Dangxiang people to Gansu, Su and Sha, most of them were Uighurs. These Uighurs were always very close to the Song Dynasty. In addition, Xixia was not good and the roads were basically blocked, so these states could instigate the rebellion.

Losing the Hexi Corridor and the area south of Xiaoguan. Most of Hengshan Mountain, what else can Xixia rely on to make trouble?

Of course, if the form is good, you can also attack directly.

Moreover, in the second year, the time is more abundant, and the logistics can be continuously transferred to the front line, so the people will not work so hard. With months of consolidation, they can advance or retreat.

But the possibility of the future is extremely small. In the second year, can the Liao Kingdom still not react?

But even after reacting, the Song Dynasty also ate half of Xixia, especially the Hexi Corridor, the key commercial road.

However, there is one of the most important conditions, that is, the court unconditionally believes in Wang Ju and let him take charge of all the troops of the five routes. Otherwise, they will fight each other, such as Zhong Yan, who continues to run towards Yanzhou regardless of logistics, will not succeed in the end.

But this is impossible.

Even if you believe unconditionally, Wang Ju would not choose to attack in such a hurry, because the risk is too high.

So Wang Ju thought about it over and over again and finally chose an extremely cruel strategy to break the deadlock.

On the contrary, in this battle, the Western Xia performed very well. When the Liang family heard that the Song army launched a large-scale attack and asked for advice from the generals, some people said that they did not need to be rejected, but they were firm and cleared the fields. They could gather strong troops in Ling, Xia, Xing, and sent light cavalry to stop them from feeding. The army had no food, so they could be trapped without fighting.

Xixiana used this strategy and it turned out to be successful.

However, Xixia suffered heavy losses in this battle, so after chasing for hundreds of miles, he was unable to catch up.

Zhong Yan captured several states in Xixia in a row and sent only a small number of officers and soldiers to stay. When heavy snow came, the three armies collapsed. It was impossible for them to escape back along Youxiashi and fled directly from Yanzhou to Qingzhou or Yanzhou.

However, Xixia did not have the troops to take back these states immediately. The officers and soldiers left behind in the Song Dynasty did not dare to stay here anymore. After each withdrew his troops, Xixia sent people to take over these states one after another.

This battle had a far-reaching impact.

Only half of the 500,000 soldiers and civilians of the Song Dynasty came back.

On the road to Weizhou on Qinggang Gorge, nine out of ten will go to the army. The bones are like rustling and snow. The general will stop going to Wangxiangtai.

As for the materials consumed, it was even countless, and Xixia even seized a large number of exquisite armor.

Moreover, many soldiers were confused at first. If they were replaced by Qingli, they would become a habit anyway, so it doesn't matter.

But it was not during the Qingli period, the Song Dynasty looked so powerful, and Xihe took it back as soon as he said it was taken away. The two battles in Qingzhou and Dashun City defeated the Xixia people. In the south, they had great military achievements, and it was almost effortless to destroy the two countries and surrender to one country.

Why are the losses so heavy?

When I think about it this way, I think of someone. Did I just touch a princess? Is it because of the sky falling?

Especially Liu Changzuo and other generals, under the leadership of Wang Ju, they all made great contributions and had strong self-esteem. However, they were defeated like this, and the tragic feeling in their hearts could not be spoken.

I can't figure it out. Did I force Wang Ju away just because of a quasi-trade tax? Besides, how did I find out such a hidden thing? Why did I have the ability to not deal with the people of Xixia?

Not only were they, but also ordinary soldiers, felt depressed. In the past, because of poor performance on the battlefield and the people looked down on those who were in the army, the Song Dynasty said, "A good man will not be a nail, and a hero will not be a soldier."

As Wang Ju and Wang Shao led them to fight extremely brilliant battles on the battlefield, the people began to respect them.

But I never thought that the two of them would withdraw from the battlefield separately, and in one battle, they would be defeated in their true form.

Each army retreated back to the Song territory one after another, with various forts and forts to defend, and the Xixia army no longer pursued it.

However, they had to retreat to the rear to replenish the supply of food and grass. Some defeated soldiers fled one after another and met with them. Therefore, they retreated all the way, and defeated soldiers gathered all the way, and many soldiers hugged each other and cried loudly.
Chapter completed!