Chapter 195 Testing
At the gate of the Duke of England's mansion, the Duke of England, his wife Ms. Sun, his son Zhang Feng, and his daughter-in-law Ms. Liu were waiting at the door.
"Why hasn't he come yet?" Sun jumped up and looked in the direction of the East Palace.
"Why rush? The East Palace sent someone to say that His Highness is coming, so he will come naturally." The Duke of England said.
Sun ignored her husband and saw a group of imperial guards appearing on the street in the distance. She exclaimed in surprise, "They are coming! They are coming!"
Upon hearing this, the Duke of England looked over and saw a team of imperial guards trotting over and blocking the street. After a while, a carriage turned around the corner and came towards this side under the escort of the imperial guards.
Soon, the carriage stopped at the door.
"Your Highness the Crown Prince and the Crown Princess!" The Duke of England and his companions saluted.
Sanshui lifted the curtain of the carriage, Zhao Xing leaned out, smiled and said, "No need to be polite."
After saying that, Zhao Xing got off the carriage and reached out to help Zhang Guifen down.
"Dad, Mom!" Zhang Guifen said excitedly.
"Daughter!" Sun excitedly walked forward, took her daughter's hand, and looked her up and down.
Fortunately, she still had some sense and didn't ask anything good or anything.
"Your Highness, my wife was so excited that she was impolite. I hope Your Highness will forgive me!" The Duke of England bowed.
According to etiquette, they could only call Zhang Guifen the Crown Princess in public, and it was okay to call their daughter by her name in private.
"Father-in-law, you're too serious. My mother-in-law misses her so much that she has done nothing wrong." Zhao Xing said with a smile.
"Thank you, Your Highness, for your magnanimity. Your Highness and Crown Princess, please come in!" The Duke of England said sideways.
Zhao Xing nodded slightly, and walked side by side with Zhang Guifen, who had just recovered from her excitement, and entered the mansion.
When they arrived at the main hall, Duke Ying invited Zhao Xing and Zhang Guifen to sit down.
Zhang Guifen was a little uncomfortable, but she knew that this was something she had to accept after her identity changed.
"Mother-in-law misses the Crown Princess. Crown Princess, please accompany mother-in-law to have some private conversation." Zhao Xing waved his hand.
"Yes." Zhang Guifen bowed and said, "Then I will go first."
Sun and Liu also bowed and followed Zhang Guifen.
Only Zhao Xing and Duke Yingguo and his son were left in the hall.
There are many members of the Zhang family, but Duke Ying was not notified at all.
Zhao Xing was the crown prince, and being able to accompany Zhang Guifen back home like an ordinary family was already a great honor for the Zhang family.
There are too many people coming, not only is it unsafe, but it would be even worse if someone thought that Zhang Guifen is now the Crown Princess and wanted to ask for some favors from His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.
"I heard from the Crown Princess that there are many military books in my father-in-law's study, some of which are rare copies. I also like to read some military books. I wonder if my father-in-law can take me to have a look?" Zhao Xing said with a smile.
"Your Highness, please!"
The Duke of England naturally would not refuse when he heard this, and he stood up and invited him.
Zhao Xing followed the Duke of England to the study. There was only one bookshelf in the study, and there were not many books on it, only a few dozen.
I picked up a book while taking photos and found that it was a history book.
"Father-in-law also likes to read history books?" Zhao Xing asked in surprise.
"History books are actually also military strategies. I have only read the records of wars in various dynasties." said the Duke of England.
Zhao Xing nodded slightly when he heard this. There were many military books in ancient times, and many famous generals in past dynasties had written military books.
However, most of these military books have been lost, and only a few have been passed down.
Some wars recorded in history can indeed be studied as military books.
Zhao Xing picked up the books casually and flipped through them. The covers of these books were a bit old, which showed that people often read them and they were not just for display.
"I wonder which ancient military sage my father-in-law admires?" Zhao Xing asked.
"I have the greatest respect for Li Jing, the pharmacist of the early Tang Dynasty," said the Duke of England.
"Li Yaoshi is indeed a master in commanding troops. He has made great contributions to the title of Heavenly Khan given to Emperor Taizong of Tang." Zhao Xing praised.
Li Jing was skilled in strategy, a master in command of troops, and invincible. He made great contributions to the establishment and development of the Tang Dynasty.
Li Jing is definitely one of the top few famous generals in history, but many of them did not belong to the same dynasty and had no chance to fight each other, so it is difficult to define what they were like.
But if Zhao Xing could select famous generals from history to serve him, he would definitely choose Wang Jian, Li Jing and others.
There is no other reason, it’s just that he has the ability, knows when to advance and when to retreat, and knows how to retreat at the right time.
The rest of the people are more capable than them, but they all have certain flaws in their personalities.
I just don't know if when Duke Ying said he admired Li Jing, he was referring to his efforts in destroying the Turks and pacifying Tuyuhun, or because he knew how to retreat at the right time.
Zhao Xing put down the book, sat down, and asked the Duke of Ying to sit down. He said, "I want to let Zhang Feng go to the Northwest Army to train for a few years. What do you think, father-in-law?"
The Duke of England was silent for a while after hearing this, and then said, "Your Highness, are you planning to plot against Xixia?"
The official had a serious illness before the New Year, and after recovering, he was not as energetic as before.
Many people are speculating that the official may not live for many years.
But no one would say such things out loud, they just thought about it in their hearts. When Zhao Xing told him that he would send Zhang Feng to the northwest for training, he roughly understood what Zhao Xing meant.
The training was just an excuse, it should be a preparation for entering the Xixia Palace in the future.
Otherwise, there is no war on the border now, so what is there to gain experience in the northwest?
Zhao Xing did not answer but asked: "Father-in-law, do you think that the Song Dynasty and the Liao Kingdom and Western Xia can maintain peace forever?"
"Of course it's impossible. The three countries are close neighbors and they have been keeping peace by checking each other. Once something happens in one of the countries, the other two countries will definitely not miss the opportunity." said the Duke of England.
"If the Song Dynasty wants to mobilize troops, who do you think should be attacked first?" Zhao Xing asked.
Duke Ying pondered for a moment and said, "From a strategic perspective, it is natural to recover the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun. Xixia is poor, but has a lot of troops, so it is difficult to win quickly, and the Liao Kingdom will not watch the Song Dynasty annex Xixia. There is no strategic location to defend in the north, and not only does it require a large number of troops to be deployed, but the military expenditure and food consumption are also very huge. If the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun are recovered, the current situation can be avoided.
But in my opinion, we should attack Xixia first!"
"Oh?" Zhao Xing looked at the Duke of Ying in surprise and asked, "Why did my father-in-law choose Xixia?"
Starting from Taizu, the goal of emperors and generals of all dynasties has been the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun.
Because the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun were too important to the Song Dynasty.
The Song Dynasty fought against the Liao Dynasty many times, but rarely fought against the Western Xia Dynasty.
In the past, they were all small-scale fights, until Western Xia became independent, when they fought a big war, which they ultimately lost.
Just as Duke Ying said, it would be difficult to defeat Western Xia quickly, and the land there was barren. Even if it could be conquered, the cost would be high, and the benefits gained would not be much.
Zhao Xing originally thought that the Duke of Yingguo also advocated recovering the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun first, but he did not expect that he also supported fighting against Western Xia.
"Western Xia is not easy to fight, and Liao is even harder to fight. Once the war situation reaches a stalemate, Western Xia will inevitably send troops to launch a surprise attack. Only by destroying Western Xia can we fight Liao with all our strength." said the Duke of Ying.
"What my father-in-law said coincides with what I thought. As the Art of War says, war is a major issue for a country, a matter of life and death, a road to survival or destruction, and it must be carefully considered. I want to send Zhang Feng to the Northwest Army for training, and also to prepare for the future." Zhao Xing directly stated his purpose.
The so-called later refers to after Zhao Xing ascends the throne. The Duke of Ying naturally understands this principle.
The Duke of England was silent for a while, then said, "My son is still young and cannot take on this important task. I am afraid that it will ruin your Highness's plans. Your Highness should send someone else."
Zhao Xing frowned when he heard this. It was not very important to send Zhang Feng or not.
The reason why he said this was that he wanted to see the attitude of the Duke of England.
Even though Zhang Guifen had already been confirmed as the Crown Princess, the future father-in-law, the Duke of Yingguo, kept his distance from Zhao Xing.
Neither close nor distant, just like an ordinary minister.
But that is based on the assumption that the two have not gotten married. After all, no one can tell whether there will be any changes in the future.
At the same time, it is also to prevent suspicion from officials.
However, the situation is different now. Zhao Xing and Zhang Guifen are already married. The Duke of Yingguo’s Mansion has no way out and must support Zhao Xing.
Now the Duke of England and he share the same fate.
But the Duke of England is loyal to the government.
If Zhao Xing intended to rebel, he might not help.
Of course, this does not mean that Zhao Xing intended to rebel, but that the Duke of Yingguo's support for him was not unreserved.
If he intended to launch an attack on Western Xia, but the Duke of Yingguo advocated launching an attack on Liao, given the Duke of Yingguo's temperament, he would most likely oppose launching an attack on Western Xia.
The Duke of England has a high prestige in the army and his attitude is very important.
This was also Zhao Xing's purpose in testing him.
He originally thought that the Duke of England would also agree to launch a military campaign against Western Xia and would spare no effort to support him.
Unexpectedly, the Duke of England refused to let Zhang Feng join the Northwest Army.
"It is precisely because Zhang Feng is still young that I want him to go to the northwest for training," Zhao Xing said.
"Your Highness, as a general, you should obey orders. But my two sons died in battle. Although Feng'er was adopted, I still treat him as my own son. I can't bear the blow of seeing my son die.
Please forgive my selfishness, Your Highness. I do not expect Feng'er to achieve great things, but only hope that he can inherit the title, have many children, and live a stable life. "The Duke of England said.
Zhao Xing's eyes flickered slightly. He now understood what the Duke of England meant.
The Duke of England refused, not because he did not support it, but because he felt that the Duke of England’s government was too powerful now.
The so-called hope that Zhang Feng would not achieve great things and live a stable life was actually said to Zhao Xing.
Zhao Xing's current test has already demonstrated the power of the Duke of Yingzhou. Even Zhao Xing needs his support.
In this situation, if Zhang Feng went to the Northwest Army and launched an attack against Western Xia in the future, it would be fine if he did not make any contributions. But if he did, Zhao Xing would reward him.
By then, Zhang Feng will be able to inherit the Duke of Ying's military connections.
Zhang Guifen is the Crown Princess and will be the Queen in the future, and her grandson is also the future Crown Prince.
If Zhang Feng inherits the prestige of the Duke of Ying's Mansion in the army, he will likely arouse Zhao Xing's suspicion in the future.
Whether from a strategic or relational perspective, he supported Zhao Xing in fighting against Western Xia.
He could even lead the troops himself, but Zhang Feng could not go.
Zhang Feng could not make any meritorious service. Only in this way could the prestige of the Zhang family in the army be weakened after his death.
(End of this chapter)