Chapter 230 Questioning
Zhao Xing was very curious about the contents of the bundle that the Duke of England sent him in such a roundabout way, so he unfolded it and began to read it.
After reading a passage, Zhao Xing was stunned.
What was written on the note was actually about the strategy against Western Xia.
No wonder the Duke of England gave it to him in this way.
The Duke of England was very cautious and did not have much contact with even his father-in-law.
Moreover, no information regarding the Western Xia issue can be leaked.
After all, the two countries are about to make peace with each other, and once the news leaks out, it will affect the relationship between the two countries.
At the same time, it will also make Xixia alert.
"Your Highness, what's wrong?" Zhang Guifen saw Zhao Xing standing there in a daze and asked worriedly.
"fine."
Zhao Xing came back to his senses, smiled at Zhang Guifen, lowered his head and continued reading.
After a long time, Zhao Xing finished reading the contents on the note and took a deep breath.
The strategy proposed by the British public was to first target Hehuang.
In the letter, the Duke of England stated the purpose and benefits of doing so.
Finally, he said that if the Song Dynasty conquered Hehuang, it only needed to hold on to it and would be able to bring down the Western Xia.
If there is any change in Western Xia, we can advance and Western Xia will be destroyed.
Although Zhao Xing did not remember the details of Wang Shao's strategy to pacify the Rong people, he still knew the general strategy.
What the Duke of England said coincided exactly with Wang Shao's strategy for pacifying the barbarians in terms of general direction.
If there is any difference, it is that when Wang Shao presented "Plan for Pacifying the Rong", he had traveled in the Hehuang area for many years and was very familiar with the situation in the Hehuang region.
He not only stated the pros and cons of doing so, but also provided specific strategies for conquering Hehuang.
The Duke of Ying's general strategy was the same as Wang Shao's plan to pacify the enemy.
However, Zhao Xing soon felt relieved. As the number one person in the army, it was not surprising that the Duke of Yingguo had such a strategic vision.
The significance of the Hehuang area to the Song Dynasty does not lie in the expansion of territory.
In fact, in history, Wang Shao was ordered to govern Hehuang. It took him several years to capture Hehuang and expand the border of the Song Dynasty by more than 2,000 miles.
He instantly became a new noble in the court.
Many people in the court were jealous, and many of them attacked him for opening up the Xihe border.
The Hehuang area was poor and useless. After it was captured, it not only brought no benefit to the court, but also consumed a lot of manpower and material resources.
This is true. The Hehuang area is inherently barren, otherwise the Song Dynasty and Western Xia would not have allowed it to be taken over for so many years.
Although there are reasons for the mutual restraint between the two countries, the poverty of Hehuang is itself a major factor.
However, the strategic significance of the Hehuang area is very important.
The border link between the Song Dynasty, Western Xia and Hehuang is an L shape.
This L-shape half encloses Western Xia, while the Song Dynasty is on the short side.
In other words, the areas directly bordering the Song Dynasty and the Western Xia were not particularly large, but the area bordering Hehuang and the Western Xia was larger.
At first glance, it seems like a good thing. After all, the bordering area is small and the area that the Song Dynasty needs to defend is also small.
But the same is true for Western Xia.
Hehuang was occupied by the Qiang and Tubo peoples, and was not unified and was in great chaos.
Even though the bordering area with Western Xia was large, the various forces in Hehuang did not dare to provoke Western Xia.
Therefore, Western Xia did not arrange many garrisons on the border between Western Xia and Hehuang.
As mentioned before, Western Xia was extremely warlike. With a population of two to three million, it had an army of four to five hundred thousand.
Because Xixia implemented a military system similar to the Fubing system, it was able to maintain itself. However, it was destined that Xixia's war potential was not high and it could not fight a protracted war.
This is also the reason why Western Xia defeated the Liao Kingdom and the Song Dynasty in the early years, but could only survive in a small area.
Once the bordering area between the Song Dynasty and Western Xia expanded, Western Xia would need to station a large number of troops for defense.
The advantage of the military system is that the soldiers serve as soldiers in wartime and as farmers in peacetime, and the court does not need to spend much effort to support them.
But if the soldiers are not given time to farm, how long can Xixia's national strength last?
This is also the reason why Duke Ying said that after conquering Hehuang, there was no need to advance, only to garrison and the Western Xia could be brought down.
Of course, this put a lot of pressure on the Song Dynasty, so Britain said that if there were any changes in Western Xia, they could march in.
Zhao Xing hoarded money in order to bring down Western Xia.
"I thought you really didn't care." Zhao Xing smiled slightly.
When he accompanied Zhang Guifen back home, he once tested the Duke of England.
See the attitude of the Duke of England towards his plot against Western Xia.
After all, the Duke of England is the number one person in the army. If even he opposes it, the resistance will be too great and he will be under a lot of pressure.
The Duke of Ying expressed his attitude and did not oppose the plot against Xixia, but he had no intention of interfering, nor did he suggest anything.
It now seems that the Duke of England is still worried that his son-in-law is inexperienced and will make mistakes when plotting against Western Xia, thus affecting his prestige.
This idea was probably the result of the Duke of England's careful thinking and hard work during this period of time.
Zhang Guifen saw Zhao Xing was in a daze for a while, then in deep thought, and now he smiled, and she was very confused.
I wanted to ask, but I held back.
When her sister-in-law was doing the injection, she told her not to open it to look.
It would be better to explain that she didn't know about this matter, so she suppressed her curiosity and didn't ask.
Zhao Xing saw Zhang Guifen's expression and did not explain. He closed his bag and said, "Today's banquet in the palace has been cancelled, but we still have to go to the palace to accompany our father, the emperor, and our mother to have dinner and enjoy the moon. It's getting late, so you should change your clothes quickly and let's go into the palace."
"Yes!" Zhang Guifen responded and went back to the bedroom to change clothes.
…………
Moriya
Old Lady Sheng gave Minglan some instructions and then stopped talking. She asked her about what she had seen and heard in the Eastern Palace.
Although Mother Cui has already said it once, she is just a servant after all, and may not understand some things.
After asking some questions, Mrs. Sheng asked Minglan to go visit her mother and brother.
At noon, the Sheng family held a family banquet and it was lively.
During the dinner, Mrs. Wang was happy, but she also complained a few words about her son and daughter-in-law.
Sheng Changbai followed his father-in-law Hai Wenyou to Jiangnan, but Hai did not follow him. She stayed in Zhongmou County and did not come back.
Mrs. Wang had been a daughter-in-law for many years and finally became a mother-in-law, but before she could show off her mother-in-law style, her daughter-in-law followed her son to take up his new post.
Now that her son has gone to Jiangnan and is no longer with her, and her daughter-in-law has not come back, she is naturally unhappy.
Upon hearing this, Sheng Hong angrily scolded Madam Wang.
He could naturally see Zhao Xing's intention in arranging Sheng Changbai to follow Hai Wenyou to Jiangnan.
Moreover, what Madam Wang said seemed to be somewhat resentful towards Crown Prince Zhao Xing.
A nice family dinner ended abruptly with an awkward atmosphere due to this.
After dinner, Minglan went to Shou'an Hall, chatted with Old Madam Sheng, and took a nap there.
It was already past 3 . when she got up. After she washed up, Old Lady Sheng urged her and Rulan to go back.
If you marry into an ordinary family, there is nothing wrong with spending the night at your parents' home.
However, Rulan was the prince's concubine, so naturally she could not spend the night at her parents' home.
Before going back, she naturally had to bid farewell to her parents. Minglan first came to Weiruixuan to find Rulan, and also came to bid farewell to Madam Wang.
At Weiruixuan, Madam Wang and Rulan had also woken up and were talking in the main hall of Weiruixuan.
After receiving the report from the servant, Madam Wang said, "Minglan must have come here to ask you to go back with her. You should go to the inner room and dress up."
"Mother, isn't it good for my daughter to be like this?" Rulan raised her hand, looked at her and said.
"Silly girl, all the concubines in the Eastern Palace are going home to visit their families today, and they are bound to compare with each other when they go back. Although our family is not as good as those concubines in the Eastern Palace, we cannot lose face. Mother asked someone to make some jewelry for you a few days ago. Go and have someone help you put them on while you dress up." Madam Wang pushed her daughter inside.
"Okay, okay, I'll go." Rulan muttered, "If you don't take out the jewelry, I'll put it on when I got up and put on my makeup just now."
Madam Wang ignored her daughter's mumbling. After Rulan came in, she went to sit down on the soft couch at the top.
As soon as she sat down, Minglan walked in.
"Hello, Madam!" Rulan bowed.
"Please sit down." Madam Wang said expressionlessly.
Hearing this, Minglan came to a chair nearby and sat down.
"It's indeed a bit unfair to ask you to give dowry to Ruer. But it's also a blessing for you to be favored by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince by following Ruer. But I hope you can remember your duty." Madam Wang said lightly.
"Minglan has always been committed to her duties and has never overstepped them. I don't know why the lady would say that." Minglan asked puzzledly.
"Hmph!" Madam Wang snorted coldly, "You abide by your duty? Then why did you instigate Ru'er to contradict her aunt? If this matter gets to the ears of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, wouldn't His Royal Highness think that Ru'er is disrespectful to her elders? How could I not know what you are up to? Don't think that I can't do anything to you just because you go to the East Palace and have the old lady to protect you at home?"
Minglan was furious when she heard this, but she suppressed her anger and smiled, "This is what Aunt Kang said to the Madam, right? Didn't the Madam ask Fifth Sister?"
"Of course I asked Ruer, but Ruer is simple-minded. Even if she was deceived by you, how could she see it?" Madam Wang said coldly.
"Since the Madam said so, no matter how I explain it, it will be just quibbling in your eyes. Since the Madam said that it was my instigation, then let's just assume that it was my instigation. But Aunt Kang asked Fifth Sister to ask His Highness to arrange a job for Kang's cousin. It can't be something I made up, right?" Minglan said lightly.
"Assigning an errand is just a small matter for Your Highness. What does it count for?" Madam Wang said indifferently.
Minglan was speechless for a while. Seeing that she couldn't convince Madam Wang, she looked at Madam Liu and said, "Madam Liu also thinks this is a trivial matter?"
Without waiting for Mama Liu to answer, Minglan spoke up, "As far as I know, although His Highness has promoted many people, such as Brother Changwu from the first house, and my eldest brother-in-law were also transferred to the Eastern Palace. But these were all His Highness's own ideas. There are many concubines in the Eastern Palace now, and no one has ever asked for favors from His Highness or sought jobs for their relatives."
"Not only the concubines, but also the Crown Princess is like this. The Crown Princess's family and her grandfather's family are both large families with many people. Even the Crown Princess has never asked His Highness for help because of her relatives. If the fifth sister asks His Highness for help, what will happen? Have you ever thought about it, Madam?"
(End of this chapter)