Chapter 319 Gu Tingye’s Decisive Decision
It has been more than a year since Gu Tingye and others came to work in the northwest.
Compared to when I first came here, I look a lot darker and my skin is a lot rougher.
However, the temperaments of several people have changed greatly.
"Brother Zichun, Xixia suddenly retreated. It should be that they want to retreat in order to advance. I am afraid that it will not be long before the plateau is pacified. But now the Hehuang land has not yet become chaotic. When Xixia pacifies the plateau, I'm afraid your strategy may not work." Gu Tingye said with a solemn expression.
"Zhong Huai has a unique vision, and he thought of it together with me. But it's useless to rush this matter. We still have to wait and see when Dr. Sheng can transport the batch of weapons and armor." Wang Shao sighed.
Although the Song Dynasty did not fight in these years, Bianjing also accumulated a lot of weapons, armor and ordnance.
Even those who have been replaced in the military can still be used.
According to what he and Zhao Xing discussed, Zhao Xing would transfer a batch from the treasury in the name of the Imperial Guards in front of the palace replacing their weapons and armor.
Then it was smuggled to the northwest by Sheng Wei and sold to the Tubo and Qiang people in the Hehuang land to stimulate their ambitions.
He would think of a way to let the Tubo and Qiang people in Hehuang know that Xixia's next target was likely to be them.
In order to have enough strength to protect themselves, the Tubo and Qiang people in the Hehuang land are very likely to mobilize troops to unify the Hehuang land before Xixia annexes the plateau.
Even if they don't move troops and strengthen the strength of Hehuang Land, it will hinder Xixia's mobilization of troops against Hehuang Land.
For the Song Dynasty and Xixia, no matter which side wanted to occupy Hehuang, the other side would not sit idly by and send troops to intervene.
Therefore, if both parties want to mobilize their troops, they need to be quick and annex the land of Hehuang before the other party can react.
Although the Song Dynasty had accumulated heavy troops in the northwest, the shortcomings of the Song Dynasty's military system were there. If Xixia launched troops against Hehuang, no one would dare to send troops to intervene without the will of Bianjing.
Therefore, if Hehuang cannot be annexed, it is necessary to strengthen Hehuang's strength.
Now that the batch of weapons and armor has not arrived, although the Tubo and Qiang people in the Hehuang land had a small friction before, there was no sign of a big war
Hearing this, Gu Tingye looked at Sheng Chang Wu, said: "Did your father send you a letter, saying how long it will take?"
Sheng Changwu smiled bitterly when he heard this: "Father, he will not tell me this."< br>
Although father and son were both ministers of Zhao Xing, Sheng Changwu was a military general, and Sheng Wei was equivalent to Zhao Xing's housekeeper, taking care of some chores for him.
There is no subordinate relationship, so Sheng Wei will naturally not tell him this.
Hearing this, Gu Tingye was silent for a while and said: "Brother Zichun, time waits for no one. There is not much time left for us now. I can first transfer a batch of weapons and armor from Wu Xiong's army to provide it to He Huangzhi The Tubo and Qiang people in the land!"
"Command, no!" Yuan Wenshao said urgently: "It is a big taboo to use weapons and armor without permission!"
You must know Gu Tingye. This is not a simple call, but is provided to the Tubo and Qiang people in the Hehuang land.
Once the matter is leaked, it will be difficult for even Zhao Xing to keep Gu Tingye.
In the Song Dynasty, there was no such thing as a general who would not accept the fate of a foreign king.
In fact, not only in the Song Dynasty, but in any dynasty, just listen to the saying that the foreign king will not accept his orders.
Otherwise, even if we win the battle, the outcome will not be much better in the future.
Not to mention that Gu Tingye didn't even have the emperor's order, he was completely self-independent.
"I can't care about so much at this time!" Gu Tingye said resolutely: "If I miss this opportunity, I may not be able to wait for such a good opportunity next time."
Gu Tingye is familiar with the art of war and knows it well. Fighter opportunities are fleeting.
Now the weapons and armor transported by Shengwei are delayed, and the weapons and armor provided to the Tubo and Qiang people in Hehuang land also need time to brew, and time is very tight.
Gu Tingye knew the likely consequences of doing so.
But he has been with Zhao Xing for many years and understands Zhao Xing's character. He felt that even if Zhao Xing knew, he would support his current decision.
"Zhong Huai, you should be aware of the consequences of doing this. You must think carefully about doing this." Wang Shao said seriously.
Hearing this, Gu Tingye smiled and said: "I will bear all the consequences alone!"
If you want to mobilize a batch of weapons and armor from the army, you cannot bypass Wang Shao.
Wang Shao was the supervisor of the army, and Wen of the Song Dynasty led the military. This was not only because the power to mobilize troops was controlled by the Privy Council, and the envoys of the Privy Council were basically civilian officials.
What's more, it's because of the supervisory army system. When the general and the supervisory army disagree, the supervisory army can directly take over the army.
Assembling weapons and armor, Gu Tingye could hide it from others, but he could not hide it from Wang Shao.
If Wang Shao didn't agree, he simply couldn't do it.
Wang Shao just said that he should consider the consequences clearly, which actually showed that he was not opposed to this matter.
"That's not necessary. I agree with the method you said. If anything happens, I will bear it with you." Wang Shao shook his head.
He had actually considered the method Gu Tingye said, but he had too many worries and could not make up his mind.
But Gu Tingye's decisiveness affected him, and he decided to accompany Gu Tingye to go crazy once.
In fact, this is the difference between civil servants and military generals.
Civil officials are not ignorant of military affairs. Historically, during the several hundred years of the Song Dynasty, many civil servants who knew military skills emerged.
His military talents may not be worse than some famous generals in history.
But these people were all left in the court in the end.
Although some civil servants have very high military talents, compared with military generals, civil servants have a big flaw, that is, they are not decisive enough.
Or perhaps because they are proficient in politics, when making any decision, they not only consider the outcome on the battlefield, but also their own political gains and losses.
When Gu Tingye saw what Wang Shao said, he naturally would not refuse. After careful discussion with Wang Shao, he began to prepare.
With Wang Shao’s support, the mobilization of weapons and armor was extremely smooth.
The border troops all have a certain amount of reserves in weapons and armor.
These are used for replacement of wear and tear in the military.
However, Takeo's army only has 12,500 people, and its reserves of weapons and armor are only more than 3,000 sets.
After Gu Tingye and Wang Shao discussed it, they simply added some old and damaged ones that had been replaced before.
Although these are old and some are damaged, they are also rare and good things for the Tubo and Qiang people in the Hehuang land.
The Tubo and Qiang people in the Hehuang land were backward in skills and lacked materials such as iron ore, so their weapons and equipment were very poor.
Although Sheng Wei had previously traded with various Tubo Qiang tribes, in order to ensure Sheng Wei's safety, Gu Tingye also sent some people to pretend to be guards and follow Sheng Wei into Hehuang.
Sheng Changwu and Sheng Wei are father and son, so the task of providing protection naturally falls on him.
So if you want to trade with the Tubo Qiang people in Hehuang, Sheng Changwu has to come forward in the name of Sheng Wei.
The whole process was extremely smooth. The price had been negotiated long ago. The Tubo and Qiang people received the weapons and armor and paid for them easily.
(End of this chapter)