Fu Song

Chapter 482
Ma Xing's eight hundred miles rushed to Bianliang, and immediately caused waves in Bianliang.

The officials were furious, and tore Ma Xing's memorial to pieces in front of dozens of high-ranking officials above the rank of attendant. In the entire hall of the Long Live Palace, paper scraps and his roar were flying everywhere.

For a frontier minister who cannot fully implement the emperor's wishes, but wants to sing against the emperor, the fate is self-evident.

For Ma Xing, the emperor has endured it for a long time.

He has always placed Xiao Ding's reason on Ma Xing's head.

If it wasn't for Ma Xing's connivance, Xiao Ding was only a commander back then, why did he develop to such a degree in just a few years?
It's just that in the past few years, Hebei Road has been messed up. It needs a decisive, ruthless and capable guy like Ma Xing to clean up and stabilize it. He is not easy to move Ma Xing.

Now that a peace agreement has been signed with the Liao people, and everyone forms an alliance to wipe out Xiao Ding in the northwest, then Hebei must be stable for at least the next two years.

Since Hebei is safe, what else do you need Ma Xing to do?
I think you have been working hard in the past few years, so I directly order you to resign on your own and go home to retire!

As for other rewards, you don't have to think about it.

Not pursuing your responsibility is already the greatest gift to you.

"Who will take over the post of comfort envoy of Hebei Road?" Zhao Suo looked at the officials below with a sullen face.

Xia Jie is still thinking hard, but Cui Ang has already stepped forward.

"Officials, I recommend Zhang Kuo and Zhang Zidun."

Hearing this candidate, Xia Jie was furious.

Who is Guo Kuo and Zhang Zidun?
The original appeasement envoy of Shaanxi Road.

He has been in office for many years without doing anything, and there is nothing he can do about Li Xu. He watched Li Xu expand his power step by step and reached the brink of rebellion.

The entire Shaanxi Road was also under the governance of this pedantic and ineffective guy, and it was completely corrupted. In the end, Ma Xing had to be replaced to make things right.

Ma Xing is called Ma Behead, is it because he likes to cut people?

of course not.

At that time, on Shaanxi Road, if you don’t cut people down to build your prestige, you can’t walk anymore. If you cut down people, you can’t do it if your status is low.

Ma Xing was notorious, but it was under Ma Xing's strong governance that the crisis on Shaanxi Road was brought back bit by bit.

As for Xiao Ding's rise until Xiao Ding rebelled and dominated the side, that was another matter. At that time, Ma Xing had already been transferred to Hebei Road, which was messed up by Cui Ang. In fact, Ma Xing was no wonder.

Now that Ma Xing managed Hebei Road to look a little bit, and he was a little angry when he saw it, could it be possible to let Zhang Kuo mess around again?

Hebei Road is no better than Shaanxi Road, it is the first line of resistance against Liao Dynasty.

Don't look at the fact that Song Dynasty and Liao Kingdom have signed a peace treaty, which is so good, but who knows how long this honeymoon period will last?

From Xia Jie's point of view, at least until Xiao Ding is defeated.

Therefore, the precautions on Hebei Road cannot be relaxed for a moment, and even during the rare two-year buffer period, the pace must be accelerated.

This is actually a very high requirement for Fuchen on Hebei Road.

Obviously, the focus of the Great Song Dynasty will be on Shaanxi Road next, and a large number of soldiers, supplies, and food will be sent to Hengshan to attack Xiaoding.

There are more over there, and naturally there will be less on Hebei Road.

You want the horse to run, but you don't give the horse grass to eat. The difficulty here is not a single thing.

Therefore, Fuchen on Hebei Road must be a guy with excellent comprehensive ability to be competent.

Ma Xing is actually the most suitable candidate right now.

But this guy is still too stubborn after all.

Xia Jie glanced at Chen Gui who was facing him, and Chen Gui's eyes were also full of anger.

Obviously, he dared to be extremely annoyed by Cui Ang's proposed candidate.

Ma Xing, oh Ma Xing, you really failed me and Chen Jingchang's expectations of you!
It's been so many years as a local minister, and his temper is still so rebellious, and his eyes still don't care about the overall situation at all!
If you leave here, what will happen to Hebei Road?
In the past two years, when the Liao people aggressively attacked, what should Song Dynasty do?
Can't you just put your head down and endure the humiliation for the sake of the overall situation?

Looking at the angry one, Xia Jie knew that he couldn't keep Ma Xing this time.

It's not been a day or two since the officials wanted to clean up Ma Xing, but he couldn't find an excuse before, and he couldn't let everyone see that he wanted to find old debts. Isn't this the hand of the knife in the hands of the officials?

Ma Xing can't be kept, but those who go to Hebei Road must be capable, and Zhang Kuo is absolutely not.

With lightning revolving in his mind, Xia Jie went through all the guys who were qualified or promoted to be Hebei Road appeasement envoys.

For some reason, he suddenly thought of Xiao Cheng.

"Your Majesty, the important place in Hebei, the Fuchen must not be ignored. I recommend the former Kuizhou Road transfer envoy Li Fang to take over as the Hebei Road appeasement envoy!" Xia Jie cupped his hands.

"Li Fang is already seventy years old, and he has already returned home for the elderly!" Cui Ang objected: "At such an age, can An take on important tasks in Hebei?"

"Although a person is old, he can still eat three catties of meat and a bucket of rice every day!" Xia Jie said loudly.

"Your minister recommends Li Fang!" Chen Gui took a step forward and said loudly: "If the officials are afraid of his old age, I would like to go to Hebei Road and let Li Fang take up the post of privy secretary. As for Zhang Zidun, I think it is better to let him go. It's good for him to play with Sun at home."

"Nonsense!" Zhao Suo slapped the table and said, "The position of privy secretary is something you can take if you want, and you can take it if you don't want to?"

"I'm guilty!" Chen Gui bowed down.

The head of the capital hall and the head of the privy secretaries, the two reached an agreement without any discussion, and other high-ranking officials above the rank of servants in the hall also appeared one after another. Suddenly, two-thirds of the people stood up to support Li Fang.

At present, the court decided that Li Fang would succeed Ma Xing as the appeasement envoy of Hebei Road.

As soon as the court meeting was over, the officials who delivered the decree flew out of Bianliang, first to Li Fang's hometown Jiangling, and then to the place where Ma Xing, a famous mansion in Hebei, was located.

Li Fang, who retired from the transfer envoy on Kuizhou Road and returned to his hometown for more than two years, never imagined that after the age of seventy, his fortune would turn around again, and he went up to a higher level and became Hebei Road. Soothed.

For the position of comfort envoy of Hebei Road, at least the second rank is qualified to take up the position.

Regarding his official career, Li Fang actually did not hold any hope anymore.

Needless to say, the reason is that a guy like Xiao Cheng has been doing things in Qianzhou, and finally created a separatist regime in Guizhou Road. You, Li Fang, are his immediate boss. How do you restrain and manage him?

It's already a mighty grace that didn't push you to the end.

So back to the honest Li Fang, his heart is actually very peaceful. He reads every day, grows flowers, and teaches his grandchildren to read and write in his free time.

Or it was because of his relaxed state of mind that his originally weak body was getting better day by day, and his face was flushed and he was full of energy.

Ma Xing did not return to Daming Mansion.

He still stays in Bazhou City.

Although the news from the capital arrived much faster than the emperor's envoys, he had already been found and informed that he had stepped down.

Sitting in the windy city gate building, Ma Xing was seriously reading a letter from afar.

It is indeed far.

Much farther than Bianliang.

The letter was sent from Guiyang, the capital of Guizhou Road.

The signer is Xiao Cheng.

Obviously, this letter was written and sent by Xiao Cheng after he learned that the imperial court had signed the covenant with the Liao people.

"Yun'er, Xiao Cheng said in the letter, beware of the Liao people's deceit. They clearly intend to form an alliance with the Song Dynasty to attack the Northwest, but in fact they are building plank roads and crossing Chencang secretly. In fact, their goal is our Song Dynasty. Hebei Road, what do you think?" Ma Xing asked, raising the letter in his hand.

Ma Yun glanced at his father angrily.

All the aides and officials, including him, advised Ma Xing not to follow the script like crazy, but he insisted on it. What happened?
A good appeasement envoy, a second-rank official, was wiped out in an instant.

Generally speaking, an official of Ma Xing's level has not made any serious mistakes. If you really want to withdraw, you have to find a reasonable excuse and give some rewards such as consoling lords.

In this way, everyone has face.

There is no other way to say that Ma Xing is wiped clean from beginning to end like this. It is clearly a humiliation. Of course, it also shows the anger of the officials from another aspect.

When Ma Xing fell, Ma Yun would naturally follow him home.

A Guan Gou, who has so much power in Hebei, loses everything in an instant, can he be happy?

"Xiao Chongwen is nonsense!" Ma Yun said angrily: "Da Song, Daliao, the two giants of the world are going to join forces to deal with his elder brother, can he not be in a hurry? Brothers fighting tigers, father and son in battle Bing, the broken bones are still connected! This guy wants to use this to disturb his father's heart, so that his father can help his brother share some pressure! Hehe, he has a good plan, but he didn't think about you now He is no longer the Hebei Road appeasement envoy, all of his efforts are in vain now!"

With a bang, Ma Xing patted the table angrily: "What are you doing with the yin and yang? I'm asking your opinion on the matter Xiao Chongwen said, not to make you talk nonsense."

"Impossible!" Jack Ma said, poking his neck. "The Liao Kingdom is a big country anyway, and it needs face. Moreover, Xiao Ding's presence in the northwest does pose a huge threat to them."

Ma Xing stood up, walked to the broken window, looked at the light rain that was still falling outside, frowned and looked at the dilapidated city wall of Bazhou: "If it is really included in Xiao Chong's literature, so what?"

"Father, you are already an ordinary person. You are no longer a court minister and a scholar, and you are no longer a comfort envoy of the Hebei Road. If you are not in your position, you are not in charge of politics. Let's go back to your hometown. Didn't you always think about it?" Do you want to see Nanshan leisurely under the chrysanthemum fence? Yes, this time your wish has come true!"

"Everyone is responsible for the rise and fall of the world. Even if your father and I become ordinary people, we won't just sit and watch the world be snatched away by the Liao people!" Ma Xing snorted.

There was a sound of footsteps outside, and a guard poked his head out of the door opening without a door: "Futai, Zheng Qianju is here?"

"Jieshan is here?" Ma Xing stepped out the door, and saw Zheng Xiong, wearing a bamboo hat and coir raincoat, climbing up along the trail. "Jieshan, I've already stepped down, and now I'm a white man, what are you doing here to see me? You're not waiting for a new appeasement envoy from the Daming Mansion?"

Looking at Ma Xing who was laughing, Zheng Xiong didn't smile: "Futai, this time, you are really wrong. If you go here and leave this mess, what shall we do?"

"It's not Zhang Kuo and Zhang Zidun who came here, it's Li Fang and Li Yishan who came. Although he is a bit old, this person is not a person with nothing in his stomach, he still has something." Ma Xing smiled and stretched out his hand to give Zheng Xiong a hand. .

Zheng Xiong took off his bamboo hat, and said: "Li Fang does have something, but this person has never been in the border area to appease a place. Can Kuizhou Road be compared with Hebei Road?"

Ma Xing patted the other party's shoulder: "Just talk about these things in front of me, don't say them outside, Li Fang is not a temperless person. By the way, I want to ask you something."

"what's up?"

"As Bazhou is like now, with your ability, how long will it take for him to recover to a certain defensive ability?" Ma Xing pointed to the dilapidated city road of Bazhou.

"When I came here just now, I had a general look!" Zheng Xiong said: "Futai, this city alone has only earthen walls, but it can barely be used."

"Not much?" Ma Xing was a little excited.

Zheng Xiong shook his head: "Futai, the defense of the entire Hebei area is a whole. Here in Bazhou, it is a node. As far as I know, all the forts, villages, and cities around this node have been destroyed. If you want to It will take at least two years to recover to the ability to resist the Liao army."

Ma Xing's face suddenly changed.

"Two years?"

Zheng Xiong nodded: "Two years. But for us, the time is still enough. Northwest Xiao Ding is not so easy to fight. It is not bad to defeat him in two years, so we can pass this The defense line has been rebuilt, which is why I am reluctant to let you go, the newcomer Li Fang and Li Yishan, I don't know if I can fully support it then? This will require a lot of money."

"What if the Liao people call now?"

Zheng Xiong gave Ma Xing a strange look: "I'm not afraid of calling now. In the past five years, haven't you led us to rebuild a line of defense?"

Ma Xing swallowed a mouthful of saliva: "What if you transfer all your soldiers to the new borders of Bazhou and Xiongzhou, and the Liao people come to fight at this time?"

"Futai, why are you thinking so strangely?"

"I'm discussing such a possibility with you."

Zheng Xiong's face changed slightly: "Futai, then I won't hide it from you. If this is the case, we are afraid that we will be in trouble. The new defense line has not been built, the old defense line is insufficient, and there are too many Liao cavalry. Once we Split from front to back, and it's over!"

Ma Xing took a few steps back, leaned against the dirt wall, and murmured: "The possibility Xiao Chongwen mentioned really exists!"

(End of this chapter)