As the sun gradually set, the last army, led by Aligu, emerged from the valley.

It is possible that Dong Wu was worried, and it may be that Ali Gu increased his prestige. Therefore, Dong Wu asked Ali Gu to lead the army, but he did not expect that the Song army would fight to the valley. When he heard these four words, Dong Wu and Ali Gu's faces turned blue.

People are under the eaves and have to bow their heads.

Aligu and a deputy general of the Song army escorted the baggage out of the valley. Looking at the camps that Song army had built on Xueye, the cold black face finally relaxed, and a long breath of cold air was exhaled. It was a miracle that this line could actually come out safely.

But Aligu didn't know that for this business, just to investigate the terrain of the valley, there were more than a dozen scouts who had frozen to death. The cold-proof and slip-proof materials they brought turned into copper coins, which could cover the entire Dadoubagu Road.

Guo Cheng and Wang Guangzu came over in person and asked them to enter the camp. The tent had already raised fire with coal. They knew that Aligu was hostile to the Song Dynasty, but they could fight for the best, but the two did not reject it. The next series of military operations also required Aligu to cooperate.

The two of them placed the last army and brought the generals to the large tent prepared for Aligu. After leaving the valley, the weather was still very cold. After all, it was the twelfth lunar month, and the cold was howling and dust and snow were flying. But compared to the valley, the wind was not as good as the valley wind, and the cold was even worse. Even within four days, the army encountered a sudden blizzard, strong wind, hail, and severe snow that came at the same time. The heavy snow alone caused the death of nearly 3,000 soldiers.

Although it is cold outside the valley, it is within the endurance of everyone.

Aligu roasted on fire, took a few sips of strong wine, and finally returned to his temperature. Seeing the generals coming, he immediately stood up to greet him.

There were complaints on the way, but after leaving the valley, he also thought of military significance.

The guards were roasting lamb beside them, and the generals began to discuss tomorrow's military operations. The troops went to a great battle to defeat the valley. It was an imaginative military operation, which was to gain the effect of a surprise soldier. Therefore, the speed of the soldiers was necessary. Tomorrow's army was divided into two groups, one went to Liangzhou, the other went to Ganzhou, Suzhou, Guazhou and Shazhou.

There is still some uncertainty in the future.

Although they were strange soldiers and had a lot of troops, they still had few troops compared to the Hexi Corridor that was nearly two thousand miles long. Moreover, this force was only said to be the 60,000 Song army led by the Song army and Guo and Wang. There were imprisoned soldiers and foreign soldiers, but they were all elite soldiers of the entire Hehuang. Even if they were foreign soldiers, they formed an army with the team, and after training for more than half a year, they were no longer the kind of foreign troops with loose military disciplines in the past. However, Dong Jin's subordinates could exert their combat effectiveness, or whether they were willing to fight for the Song Dynasty to death. This is quite suspicious.

Guo Cheng and Wang Guangzu did not expect this foreign army to be willing to fight to the death for the Song Dynasty. They brought them, mainly because the logistics required a large number of troops and civilians, and at the same time they lost 50,000 strong men. Dong Wen would not have any other ideas. Everyone sat down and began to divide the troops.

This trip pays more attention to speed. Guo Cheng is famous for running fast. Wang Guangzu fought in Bashu. He is also famous for his speed. But the two were the main generals and they definitely cannot be vanguards. The vanguards were Qu Zhen and Zong Pu, while the rear army was handed over to Li Hao and Ali Gu. However, the rear army mainly supported Wang Guangzu's western army. After all, after capturing Liangzhou, they could meet with Zhang Qing's army and did not have to worry about supply of materials. However, Guo Cheng's mission was heavier. Although he only captured Liangzhou, due to Zhang Qing's attraction, there were more Xixia troops stationed in Liangzhou. At the same time, the main army and materials had to support Xi'an. The Eastern Army had fewer troops and fewer materials, and Liangzhou had to be captured, otherwise 100,000 people would become lonely and trapped in the Hexi Corridor.

I drank wine, ate mutton, finished drinking, and discussed it.

Everyone rest.

The next day, just as dawn was dawn, the Song army formed a camp, but Aligu and Li Hao's rear army did not take action. Many soldiers and war horses died along the way, and a large amount of supplies were also damaged. Even the baggage trucks were damaged and they had to stay for repair. This army would have to set off one day later.

In the evening of that day, Qu Zhen first came to Didan County. The county was not big. Due to the economic depression, Didan County became even more lifeless. This small town, which was once prosperous because of the Silk Road, had lost its former glory.

The Song army suddenly arrived and was caught off guard. In addition, the Uighurs and the foreigners were mostly here, so they didn't want to resist at all. Qu Zhen just launched a wave of attacks and successfully climbed to the city, opened the city gate, and rushed into the city. Hundreds of Xia soldiers guarding the city fled to Ganzhou.

Qu Zhen left a soldier stationed in Didan City, waiting for Wang Guangzu's army, and the rest brought some simple siege equipment. Regardless of the cold snow night, he chased him out again. Before the sky was clear, he came to the city of Ganzhou. The Xia soldiers on the top of the city also discovered the arrival of the army and sounded the trumpet.

But it was New Year's Eve, and the weather was cold, and there were less than a hundred guards on the city. Qu Zhen quickly took down Ganzhou City again. There were still 400 miles from Ganzhou to Suzhou, and 300 miles from Suzhou to Shazhou. At the same time, there were some checkpoints of Xixia people on the road, so Qu Zhen had to stop.

On the afternoon of the New Year, Wang Guangzu's main army entered Ganzhou City, collected some horses in the city as pack horses, brought supplies, and asked Qu Zhen to go west.

The journey west was temporarily successful, but the Eastern Army encountered difficulties.

The distance from Gukou to Liangzhou is a little closer than to Ganzhou. In addition, they are all cavalry. At noon the next day, Zhongpu led his army to Liangzhou City. If it weren't for the heavy snow on the road, the time would have been faster. It was successful at the beginning. Zhongpu's army suddenly arrived in the rear, and the end of the year was approaching. Xixia soldiers rushed to fight and quickly let Zhongpu lead his subordinates to climb to the top of the city, then rushed into the city, opened the urn city and the Xicheng Gate, and the Song army rushed into Liangzhou City.

But at this time, many Western Xia soldiers were stationed in Liangzhou City. Seeing the arrival of the Song army, they quickly formed a group of people to resist. Although the Song army was brave and outnumbered, they were gradually forced to the edge of the urn city again. However, the shouts of killing in the city also alarmed the foreign tribes in the suburbs.

The collapse of banks brought about a series of serious consequences, such as economic depression, more than 80% of the industrial and commercial workers in the city went bankrupt and unemployed, and the people were living in poverty. For example, prices rose, in the past, a horse could be exchanged for ten silk, but now two horses can only exchange for one silk. The Hexi Corridor was backed by the Uighurs, and the Song Dynasty blocked the border, and the Uighurs were not blocked, which was relatively better. However, in order to ensure the stability of the core area, Xixia imposed heavy taxes on the tribes of the Hexi Corridor, coupled with various previous conflicts. When hearing the arrival of the Song army, a tribe immediately rebelled.

It’s a pity that the Song Dynasty operated the Hexi Corridor too late. At this time, some tribes in Liangzhou were influenced by the Western Xia, and some Dangxiang tribes expanded over the years. Some tribes that were disgusted with the rule of the Western Xia, and some tribes and nobles who were loyal to the Western Xia, otherwise they would have turned against each other.

Fortunately, due to economic problems, some tribes had sharp conflicts with the rulers of the Western Xia, which offset the ruling achievements of the Western Xia over the years. In addition, because of the issue of prisoners of war, Xixia believed that they had met with the Song Dynasty and deliberately suppressed some tribes, causing more conflicts. Most tribes waited and watched after hearing it. However, some tribes had their own ideas because of the exploitation and suppression of the Western Xia, or had other ideas. When they heard the arrival of the Song army, they immediately raised their troops to respond. With the support of these tribe soldiers, Zhong Pu gradually stabilized his defeat on the edge of the urn city.

On New Year's Eve, the two armies were still fighting bloody battles.

Until dawn, the remaining troops of Zhong Pu's subordinates were less than half, and Guo Cheng led the central army to arrive. At this time, more tribes brought heroes from afar and came outside Liangzhou City. At the same time, Zhang Shi also received news that the army crossed the Yellow River and launched an attack on Zhuoluo City, restraining the troops of Xixia.

In the afternoon, the Liangzhou guards saw that the situation was over and abandoned the city and fled.

Guo Cheng once again divided his troops to defend the city, led his army out of Liangzhou City, and rushed towards Jisang City.

That night, Jisang City was taken down.

On the second day of the lunar month, the Xixia guards in Zhuoluo City heard that all the rear were lost. In addition, Zhuoluo City itself gradually became unsupported, and abandoned the city and fled to Lingbo Mountain from the small path.

After four days, Liang and Ganzhou were recovered, and Zhang Feng asked Guo Cheng to lead a powerful force to hurry westward to support Wang Guangzu. Then he notified the news of the victory with a fast horse to the capital.

The news arrived in the capital on the sixth day of the lunar month.

At this time, the Song Dynasty monarchs and ministers were in the palace to invite Khitan envoys.

The father and son of Liao Xingzong and Liao Daozong were not evil to the Song Dynasty. Although they extorted twice, Zhao Xu was very angry. But who made the Song Dynasty weak? If the people are kind, they will be bullied by others. If the country is weak, how can other countries not want to eat a bite? Of course, if the Song Dynasty tends to annex the Western Xia, it is hard to say.

The Song Dynasty took the initiative to give grain seeds and rice introduced from the Wanu Kingdom were also successfully planted with the help of farmers sent by the Song Dynasty. Perhaps the rice seeds in the Wanu Kingdom were still very backward at this time. The seeds had not evolved and the yield was not high. The harvest of a mu of land was only about 100 kilograms. However, after gradually evolving, the yield would further increase. This yield of about 100 kilograms has made the Khitan monarchs and ministers very happy. The weather in the north is cold and it is not suitable to plant grain. As long as it can be planted, the land is wide and sparsely populated. Although the yield is low, how much black soil is there in Liaodong.

There are also higher yields and more drought-tolerant crops in the Song Dynasty.

Therefore, this time the envoy was sent to bring a lot of gifts to express his gratitude.

In fact, it is just miscellaneous grains, and they do not have such high yields. They are the harvests of the best-growing pieces of land. Once promoted, the fertilizer cannot keep up and the planting method is improper, and the yield will fall further. If it is a rough and broad-sized harvest, the yield will be less than half. In addition, weather factors, insect pests, plagues, soil and other factors will further reduce the yield. This is also the reason why Zheng Lang is dissatisfied.

However, if you want to satisfy Zheng Lang, it was impossible to be around when Zheng Lang was alive. The yield in later generations was high, and even a high yield of 3,000 kilograms per acre of sweet potatoes was produced. There were many factors, one was fertilizer, the other was seeds, and even genetically modified ones. Both of them were impossible.

This is his idea, but others don't think so.

Zheng Lang compared his previous life, while others compared his current situation. In the summer of the north, millet is planted, and beans are planted. The yield of beans is lower, and the water supply requirements are higher. The yield of millet is not high, and now the technology of dehulling is backward. Half of the corn is millet shells, which is very unpalatable. If the people were asked to choose, they would rather eat sweet potatoes every day than eat corn every day. In fact, before rice became popular, the high-end staple food in the Sui and Tang Dynasties was not millet, the first was rice and the second was beans. Even if a mu of corn harvested less than 200 kilograms and less than 500 kilograms of sweet potatoes, it is also an amazing contribution to this era.

Zhao Xu was disgusted with the Khitan, especially the extortion of the Khitan in the seventh year of Xining, which made him angry, but he also knew the severity. Once the Xixia was officially recovered, all the elite troops in the country would be released. Although there were many forbidden soldiers stationed in the north, most of the elite soldiers and brave generals were in the northwest. Once the Khitan used more than 100,000 troops to surround Wei and save Zhao, not to mention the Gouhe faction, even Zheng Lang would not be relieved.

When the Song Dynasty attacked Xia, it was necessary to stabilize the Khitan before destroying Xia. Even if the Western Xia was destroyed, it would take at least one year to govern it. In more than one year, if the Khitan sent troops, it would be unfavorable to the Song Dynasty. Therefore, Zhao Xu was in the palace and talked about his brotherhood and friendship.

The atmosphere is quite good.

At this moment, the eunuch quietly whispered a few words in Zhao Xu's ear.

Zhao Xu showed joy and dared not say anything. In order to conceal the news, so as not to alarm the Khitan, the news of the victory could not be seen in the newspaper. After the banquet, Zhao Xu kept the important officials.

The Khitan envoy dispersed with other ministers. Zhao Xu said, "All the ministers, Liang and Ganzhou have taken down."

Not many people knew the truth, and the Censor Man Zhongxing was shocked when he heard this: "So quickly?"

A few days ago, the Song army was still in stalemate with Xixia in Lanzhou, so why did they take over the Liang and Ganzhou? Besides, Liangzhou is not another city, with tall and strong walls, and even a urn city. Just one Liangzhou can block the Song Dynasty for more than a month.

Zhang Dun said: "It was not because the Song army was awarded the merits from Lanzhou, but because Zhang Feng secretly sent Guo Cheng and Wang Guangzu to sneak from the back of Liangzhou to the throne."

It turns out that if you say "Da Dou Ba Gu", some ministers may not know where it is. But this time the turmoil in the Song Dynasty was very big, and most ministers were obsessing with Northwest. After hearing these four words, many people took a breath.

Man Zhongxing murmured: "Our Song army is so powerful."

Zheng Lang sneered in his heart. It was the Song army at this time, not as powerful as the Han and Tang dynasties, and it can only be said to be better than the Song army of Zhenzong Renzong. The reason why he successfully captured the two states of Ganliang was that he concentrated the wisdom of Zhang Ju and others, as well as the morale and confidence accumulated by Zheng Lang's previous victory in using the Golden Finger Index. He had sufficient preparations, more advanced weapons, and appropriate general appointments. As well as Zheng Lang's decades of planning, if the target of the Sixteen State of Youyun, it would not be so smooth.

Of course, there is no need to say this.

In general, the Gouhe faction in the Song Dynasty still had a little upper hand. Without confidence, he did not dare to recover the Sixteen Prefectures of Youyun, but he was so eager for the Sixteen Prefectures of Youyun. Do you have to join forces with the Jurchens to recover the Sixteen Prefectures of Youyun? The tenth** will be sad again.

But Zheng Lang also breathed a sigh of relief. Dadou Valley was a natural barrier for ancient people, but because of the barriers between Daxue Mountains (Qilian Mountains) and Liuling (East Qilian Mountains, which is Lenglongling), people now have to regard Dadou Valley as an important channel for the two places to travel. The plan was formulated by Zhang Zhi and fed back to the court. Only a few people knew about it, and Zheng Lang also agreed. However, the entire march was full of uncertainty.

If you are not lucky and encounter such an idiosyncratic disaster, the Song army may be wiped out in this valley. Of course, if it succeeds, the effect will be extremely significant.

When the New Year came, Zheng Lang also knew that the Song army had begun to set off and was worried about the tens of thousands of troops. It was not until the good news came out that he felt relieved.

All the elites are left behind.

When the map was revealed, they all understood the strategic intentions of the court. It turned out that the Song army was a guise of the three armies, and their real goal was to cut off the right arm of Xixia in the four states of the Hexi Corridor.

Some people also understood why Zheng Lang said he had resigned from his position.

After taking down the Hexi Corridor, Xixia was complaining because the Liang family imprisoned the emperor and suffered great economic troubles. Can the Song Dynasty not recover Xixia? As long as Xixia is recovered, Zheng Lang will inevitably lead the army and get Xixia. Zheng Lang has made great contributions to the world. Can he return to the East Prefecture to be the prime minister?

Most ministers were both happy and melancholy.

Zhang Qi looked at a wintersweet blooming outside the hall in the cold wind and murmured: "Mr. Zheng, it's wintersweet."

He wanted to flatter Zheng Lang. The Song Dynasty's economy has improved now, and with the emergence of various miscellaneous grains, few dynasties in civil governance can pass it. The worst is martial arts. If the Western Xia is destroyed, without the restraint between Western Xia and Tubo, even if the Sixteen Prefectures of Youyun, the Song Dynasty can still be on par with the Khitan. If he is even unhappy, he can directly refuse the humiliating supreme. So although his martial arts are not as powerful as the prosperous Kaiyuan period, he is at least inferior to Hanwu in martial arts. His literary power is higher than Hanwu, and even higher than Wenjing's rule, and his martial arts are higher than Wenjing's rule. Isn't this a prosperous era yet?

But when the prosperity comes, Zheng Lang is about to resign and go home.

This kind of virtue is undoubtedly like this wintersweet. When snow invades the dead, it blooms alone in the wind, adding a fragrance to this cold winter. In the spring when flowers bloom, the wintersweet begins to wither silently.

It was kind-hearted, but Wang Anshi glared at him fiercely.

I can't think about it. Thinking about this sentence can easily cause misunderstandings, even though Zhang Qi is kind-hearted.

Zheng Lang said: "Jiefu, it's okay, but it's not me who really is wintersweet, but the soldiers who sacrifice their lives on the front line."
Chapter completed!