The earth began to gradually be covered with green gauze, and the jungle slowly turned goose yellow. Under the spring breeze, the air became wet. Spring in the northwest finally came. On a small hill next to Dingxi City, a new pavilion was built on the mountain, where you can overlook the valley and the surrounding scenery was unobstructed.

This was built by Xu Ping recently. Dingxi City is becoming increasingly prosperous. Not only are there merchants gathered, but many nearby scholars gathered here. This small town in the northwest is remote and deep mountains, and has been abandoned for nearly two hundred years. There is no place for sightseeing. When you have free time, Xu Ping ordered people to build some places to visit. A place must always have its own character. The blind yellow sand desert will always make people in the Central Plains feel strange and feel like a foreign country.

After a break from the day, Xu Ping called Li Zhang and asked Tan Hu to bring wine and meat to the mountain to see the scenery. When they arrived at the Youting Pavilion, they sat down opposite each other. Tan Hu served the dishes, poured the wine, and scattered with the guards around.

Xu Ping said to Tan Hu: "This place is northwest, so naturally cows and sheep are indispensable. You can set a pot next to it and cook some meat. Let's eat two pieces, and you and the guards also use some wine and meat."

Tan Hu Yingnuo led the guards to set up the pot and picked up some dry firewood around them. The meat was brought by them to make food on the road.

Xu Ping turned around, raised his glass and said, "Brother, I have been in the northwest for a year and have a lot of hard work, so drink a glass of wine."

The two of them were playmates who grew up together in private and have always been brothers. However, after being in the army for a long time, Li Zhang became less and less used to it. With Xu Ping's status and his official position, Li Zhang became more and more restrained.

After drinking, Li Zhang said, "The strategy has been reported these days. Since Zhuoluo City fled back to Lingzhou, Haozhe sent someone to build a southern courtyard in Tiandu Mountain and imitated the Khitan to make it his palace. By autumn, most of the war will be in Tiandu Mountain."

Xu Ping smiled and said, "Today we brothers drink and don't talk about business. We are tired all year round and we always have some leisure time."

Li Zhang nodded in agreement, and suddenly, he didn't know what he should talk about when he stopped talking about official business.

After drinking another glass of wine, Xu Ping asked Li Zhang: "Do you miss home after a year in Qinzhou?"

Li Zhang said embarrassedly: "When my brother said that, he suddenly felt that he was thinking a little."

"I'm missing home, so I'll prepare for it in the past few months and wait until I go back to the capital after autumn."

After hearing Xu Ping's words, Li Zhang was stunned: "Why did my brother suddenly ask me to return to Beijing? Could it be that I have been ineffective recently?"

Xu Ping shook his head: "Of course not. As you are, you come to the northwest to be in charge of Jiyi. You work day and night, and never slacken in business. It is rare. I don't want you to go back. We brothers join forces to make great achievements in the northwest. How much is it good? However, the wood is so beautiful that the wind will destroy it. Without you returning to Beijing, I am afraid that the great disaster will be caused in the northwest. Originally, I wanted the military supervisor Wang Kai to go back to Beijing, but after thinking about it, I am still relieved. You are my own brother, and I can only sit here when you go back."

Li Zhang was shocked and hurriedly said, "Brother, please speak carefully. I just won a big victory a few days ago. Now is the time when you are in the limelight. How could you think of disaster? If there is a disaster, let's find a way together!"

"Drink, drink." Xu Ping raised his glass, drank another glass of wine with Li Zhang, and shook his head with a smile. "At this time, I have no trouble at this time, but people have no long-term plans, so there must be immediate worries. Since the rebellion of the Hao Thief, although this dynasty has repeatedly won small victories, in general, it has been many times when the army has lost its territory. The only two great victories were fought by me, which was the result of the Qinzhou army. The wood was in the forest, and the wind would destroy it; the action was higher than the people, and the people would be wrong. Now we have just won a great victory, so naturally we will be praised inside and outside, but after a while, there will inevitably be rumors and slander. This is human nature and cannot be avoided. We have changed the military system in Qinzhou and organized the troops, and we have not known how many people's jobs have been ruined. With the momentum of two great victories, the court will inevitably intend to implement the Qinzhou military system in other places, and there will be more people offended."

Li Zhang nodded silently, and he naturally had already seen the clues of the matter. He knew that Xu Ping knew it and didn't say it out. The Privy Council intends to implement the military system of Qinzhou to other routes, but was fiercely opposed by the three yamen and the generals of the imperial guards from all over the country. The reason why Qinzhou's military system was smooth was because the power of the imperial guards here was weak. The two largest branches of Sang Yi and Gao Daquan were Xu Ping's old subordinates, so there was no resistance, but how could it be done elsewhere?

The core of the Qinzhou military system is to strengthen the institutional control of the army, and at the same time greatly weaken the power of the commander. This matter is simple, but if it is really implemented, I don’t know how many generals have been moved. The culture at this time is that military officers can love money, but the power to make money is deprived. Where does the money come from? If there is no money, why should we work hard in the army?

To strengthen institutional control, it will inevitably lead to the institutionalization of a large number of affairs in the military. In the past, a few public officials could manage military affairs, and the commanding officers could not read a big word. It would be impossible to do so. A large number of scholars entered the army, and it would be inevitable that the original officers and soldiers in the army would learn to read and recognize words, and the boundaries between civil and military will gradually blur. Since Emperor Taizong was in power and advocated civil and political affairs, civil officials gradually excluded military officers from major national affairs. The blurred boundaries between civil and military officials will inevitably change this trend. Some civil and military officials will cater to this policy, and in addition to state affairs, they will also take military power from the hands of military generals. However, most of them will strongly oppose it. It is the basic policy at this time to prevent military generals from interfering in politics. At the same time, the regime will also let some of them go out.

If the Qinzhou military system is implemented, it will inevitably offend civil officials and generals at the same time. It is okay for Xu Ping to win consecutive battles in a row, but others can't do anything about him. If there is a little setback, you don't know what kind of disaster it will cause. Even if you don't cause trouble, these constraints will have a significant impact on Xu Ping's strategic decisions. In the end, there is a vicious cycle, and I'm afraid there will be no good ending.

Of course, the most important thing is that the Qinzhou military system subverts the current military culture. It offends not a certain person or a group of people, but a large part of the ruling class. Just as the imperial examination opened up the path of officialdom for poor scholars at the bottom, the reform of the Qinzhou military system will also open up the path of military merit promotion at the bottom, and the imperial guards' military army will be greatly impacted.

This is a complete transformation of military culture, how can it be relaxed? When the country was first established, Song Taizu also said that he wanted all the martial artists in the world to study, but in the end he was just talking, and even half of the waves did not turn up.

After pondering for a long time, Li Zhang asked Xu Ping: "What do you want me to do if my brother wants me to do it? Although I have been in charge of Jiyisi for more than a year, the affairs in the court are not working. I am afraid that it will be difficult to take on the important task when I ask me to go back to the court."

"You don't need to understand the affairs of the court. You can compare with the old ministers in the court who have been in the officialdom for decades? You just need to familiarize yourself with the affairs of the military and put them in front of everyone. What should you do? You must trust the officials in the court. In the next few months, you will participate in the affairs of the Military Department. You don't need to come up with any ideas or decisions. Just learn how to do it. After the autumn, you will go to the Privy Council and move our chief account to where to discuss the affairs!"

Xu Ping originally wanted to let Wang Kai do this. He was the great-grandson of the founding general Wang Quanbin. However, because Wang Quanbin was greedy and bloodthirsty after pacifying Shu, he caused civil rebellion and was demoted. Their family did not become a generational relative like the Cao family. Wang Kai was arrested for his destruction of the Yongxing Army because he was a hero. After Kou Zhun was aware of his meritorious officials, he became an official. Wang Kai was disciplined in the army, and he was not greedy for money and treated his soldiers well. He was Xu Ping's good helper in Qinzhou. However, his power in the court was too weak and without support from others, it would be difficult to help Xu Ping far away in the northwest. After thinking about it, Xu Ping decided to let Li Zhang return to the court and put the decision-making mechanism and process of Qinzhou combat into the court. For fear of being slandered by others, Xu Ping did not have the ability to stop these things, so he could only put the matter on the surface. If he lost clearly, he would be helpless and no one could blame him.

This is an era of drastic changes. A large number of poor children entered the officialdom through the imperial examinations and became the backbone of the government. As long as Xu Ping did it really right, there is no need to worry that no one would support him, just like he did in the Sansi.

Lu Yijian is already old, and even if he spreads his followers, he can no longer make waves in the court, let alone in fact, he and Xu Ping are supporting and using each other, Gong is because of his own status. What really threatens Xu Ping is the generations of generals in the three yamen, and the identity of Li Zhang and Zhao Zhen's cousin is exactly the nemesis of those people.

Li Zhang nodded silently. After a year of polishing in Qinzhou, he was no longer the little officer who had been surrounded by Zhao Zhen. He may not be familiar with the affairs in the court, but when it comes to military affairs, he can be considered a sensible person when returning to the capital.

Xu Ping raised his glass and drank it all, stood up, and went to the pavilion to look at the surrounding mountains. How easy is it for a person to change an era? If you want to make a real career, it is not enough to rely on personal struggle alone. In the end, you still have to change the trend of the times and lead a group of people to move forward with you.

This is an era of changing minds, with all kinds of talents emerging one after another. As long as you do it right, you don’t need to worry about not being able to find fellow travelers. Needless to say, Xu Ping, Wang Anshi, later, could have caused huge waves. Now Xu Ping has made enough military achievements to prove himself and no longer needs to beg others to understand him. Now he only shows what Qinzhou has done to the people of the world, how these battles were won and how they achieved military achievements, and naturally others will follow him.

After entering the officialdom, who doesn’t want to be promoted? Who doesn’t want to make achievements? Xu Ping pointed out a clear path to others, and someone broke his head and squeezed towards this path. Even if there are obstacles and even if there are twists and turns, this vast momentum is unstoppable.

Perhaps, the significance of this battle in Zhuoluo City that Xu Ping did not want to fight was far beyond his own imagination.
Chapter completed!