The Song Dynasty has been deliberate for 16 years, only to know that it is the Water Margin

The [-] cavalrymen arrived near Huangzhou in an instant. At this time, Zhao Tao no longer concealed himself. The team was speeding along the official road. When they met the Xihe soldiers blocking the road, they rushed over and crossed the border of Xining Prefecture in a short time. .

I saw that the plains had become more undulating, but they were still green everywhere, with birds singing and flowers fragrant, and the soil fertile.

Some farmland can already be seen, cultivated near the Huangshui River. These are reward fields, which are rewards for Tibetan generals and familiar households to join the Song Dynasty. They were implemented from the sixth year of Xining, Shenzong's reign.

The iron horse rode straight to Xining City without stopping. When it was about to approach, they already saw the racecourse. It was not dilapidated and depressed a few years ago, but was orderly, uniform, and looked prosperous.

Zhao Tong only built a horse racing farm in Longyou, and asked Zhe Hanmei and his disciples to teach. Hong Qi brought the dirty clothes from Tokyo to help them take care of them. After that, he returned to Tokyo, and Zhe Hanmei still lived here for a while. , expanded the racecourse to three, and then left.

Nowadays, the size of the racecourse has grown again. At a rough glance, there are already five racecourses, but Zhao Tong knows that there are actually two more near the West Sea.

At this moment, horses could be heard neighing in the distance and the venue was noisy. He nodded slightly. Although Liu Suiyun often reported the situation of the racecourse in his letters, he never saw it with his own eyes.

After stopping for a moment, Zhao Tong led his people to continue to Xining Prefecture. Soon they saw the majestic city standing tall and majestic, like an ancient giant beast, lying under the white clouds and blue sky in the endless lofty plateau.

At this time, there were many people riding horses in front of the city gate. Seeing the flags carried by Zhao Tong's team, they immediately straightened their backs and blew the ancient horns. The desolate sound immediately echoed in front of the ancient city and floated in the sky. Down.

As the trumpet sounded, the two city gates in the east direction of Xining City were all opened, and the unique music of the plateau was played inside, and then two teams of people came out.

Zhao Tao ordered the cavalry behind him to stop and squinted at the two groups.

The first team was led by Liu Suiyun, followed by Yang Zhi, Lu Da, Xu Ning, Shi Jin, Hong Qi, and a group of heroes from Suiyulou.

Among the people in Broken Jade Tower, Jian Suyi was the leader, riding a lantern alone for thousands of miles, dressed in white, looking dashing and heroic.

But next to Jian Suyi was a red horse, with a woman sitting on it. Her eyebrows were like distant mountains, her cheeks were like peach blossoms in March, her eyes were bright and her teeth were bright, and she was looking forward to her. She was waving to him. It wasn't Xiao Min again. who is it.

Zhao Tong smiled and looked at the other team. This team was led by Ouyang Bei. Ouyang Bei was wearing armor and robes. He was sitting on a horse. He looked different from the one who liked to make jokes and play rogue in the past. His expression was serious and majestic. He has a bit of a general demeanor.

Ouyang Bei was followed by a group of infantrymen. This group of infantry numbered 3000 to [-] people. They looked very strong and strong. They were not wearing the uniforms of the Song Dynasty army, but were wearing a unique kind of armor.

This armor is not gold and iron, nor is it bamboo cloth. It seems to be woven from mountain vines. The color is not uniform, including red, black and yellow.

The appearance of this kind of rattan armor is similar to that of chain mail. It is divided into several parts: the body part covers the front and rear ribs, the arm part protects the upper and lower arms, and the legs each have a part that reaches the knees.

Not only that, in addition to wearing rattan armor, these infantrymen also held Teng shields in their hands. This Teng shield was round, looked very compact, and came in various colors.

Zhao Tong couldn't help but squinted his eyes when he saw this. These were rattan armors sent by Dali. They had been sent to Longyou one after another since the year before last. By last winter, [-] pieces had been delivered.

The colors of these rattan armor are different because the rattan species are different. The dark red color is the best and is the top grade, while the black and yellow ones are slightly worse.

However, Zhao Tong doesn't care much about this. After all, they are all vine armor. No matter how bad it is, the effect is almost the same. There is no dark red vine armor that can withstand swords and guns, but black and yellow ones cannot. It is probably easier for red ones. The better it is preserved, the longer its service life will be and its greater resilience.

As for the rattan shields in the hands of soldiers, they are actually called rattan cards. They have the same purpose as shields, but they are more than twice as light as ordinary wooden shields. On the battlefield, shields are twice as light and can save lives at critical moments. After all, the effect is the same. The weight is much lighter, making it more convenient and faster to use.

Zhao Tong nodded slightly at the front, and the front immediately shouted: "Your Majesty is respectfully invited to enter the city, Your Majesty is respectfully invited to enter the city..."

Zhao Tong smiled and ordered: "Enter the city!"

The [-] cavalrymen behind him responded loudly: "Yes, Your Majesty!"

After a long while, Zhao Tong sat in the lobby of Xining Prefecture Magistrate.

He drank tea with a calm expression and listened to Liu Suiyun's report on Longyou's situation in the past few years, as well as the recent movements of Xihe soldiers.

Although Zhao Tong has been exchanging letters with Long You in the past few years, there are some things that cannot be detailed in the letters. Now it becomes much clearer when Liu Suiyun talks about it. He also raised many questions, and Liu Suiyun answered them one by one.

Unknowingly, more than two hours passed, and the sky turned to afternoon. Zhao Tong sat on the chair, stretched out, and said, "Mengshu, you did a good job. Thank you for your hard work these years."

Liu Suiyun said with a smile: "Your Majesty, why are you so polite to your subordinates? I see that Your Majesty seems a little tired. The banquet is already prepared. Your Majesty, do you want to enjoy the banquet first or rest for a while?"

Zhao Tong thought for a while and suddenly said: "Is there nothing going on in the backyard?"

Liu Suiyun was stunned when he heard this, and then he came to his senses and said: "Nothing, nothing, the princesses are fine, and the little prince is fine. No, Princess Xiao had to go to the city gate when she learned that the prince was coming. Everyone greeted her, and my subordinates couldn't stop her. However, Princess Xiao has martial arts skills and can ride a horse. My subordinates thought that there was nothing else to do, so they agreed to go together."

Zhao Tong touched his chin when he heard this, thinking that it would be fine if nothing happened. He looked up and looked into the hall, but Xiao Min was not there. He wanted to go back and forth to inform others, so he said: "Then let's have a banquet first. We can't do it just because I am the king alone." Being tired makes everyone hungry.”

Liu Suiyun smiled and said: "Your Majesty is considerate of his subordinates, and I admire Suiyun." After saying that, he went out to deliver the banquet. Zhao Tong sat on the chair and thought quietly. After a while, the banquet was set up in the Zhizhou Mansion.

This Zhizhou Mansion is the largest palace in the entire Xining City. It was originally the palace of King Qingtang. Later, when the Song Dynasty captured Qingtang City, it was changed into the Prefectural Government Office.

Naturally, the banquet was attended by direct subordinates, with a total of one to two hundred people, and more than a dozen tables were set up. The wine was highland barley wine, a specialty of the plateau, and the dishes were all beef, sheep, and birds, although they were not as good as those made in Jiangnan and other places in the Central Plains. Exquisite, but also has a unique flavor.

However, because the situation in Xihe was unclear, it was not known whether Xizhou had received the military order from the imperial court to send troops north to attack Liao. If they had not received it, whether they would have come to Xining to besiege the city, so there were not too many people. Drinking, even Ruda only drank five bowls, and he usually drank at least ten bowls.

When the banquet was over, Zhao Tong left only Liu Suiyun, Lu Junyi, Ouyang Bei and Zhang Xian, and told the rest to rest.

It was still early at this time, so he took out a piece of paper from his arms and handed it to Liu Suiyun, saying: "I have thought about it in the past few years and found that the military structure of the Song Dynasty was too complicated, which was not conducive to command and deployment, so I came up with the idea. I have prepared a new set of army formation methods, take it and take a look, and try to use this method to reorganize the army in the shortest possible time."

Liu Suiyun was stunned. He didn't expect that Zhao Tong wanted to reform the army's organization. He hurriedly took the paper and looked at it carefully.

Zhao Tong said: "The army of the Song Dynasty gradually increased in number from low to high. Basically, it was based on the five-five system. After reaching the Longwei Shenwu and other large armies, it was divided into left and right wings. This was the old method of the Five Dynasties. Although Emperor Taizu changed it slightly back then. Some, but it hasn’t changed much, and it’s no longer suitable for today’s world, so I upgraded it to the ten-ten system and renamed it.”

Liu Suiyun nodded and watched, and the more he watched, the more frightened he became, because Zhao Tong's new method looked very rough, but it was simple and easy to understand, much easier to understand than the original customization in the army.The so-called ten-ten system starts from the lowest level of the organization. Each level is composed of the number of ten. When the ten levels are grouped together, they will move up to another level system.

The smallest organizational structure is the "team", with a team of ten people, one captain and one deputy.

Then ten "teams" are grouped into "battalions", each battalion has 100 people, with one battalion commander and two deputy battalion commanders.

Ten "battalions" are grouped into "guards", each guard has 1000 people, one guard chief and three deputy guard chiefs.

Ten "guards" are grouped into an "army", each army has 1 people, one commander and three deputy commanders.

The ten "army" groups are called "divisions". Each division has 10 people, with one division commander and four deputy commanders.

In short, from low to high, the system is organized according to the team, battalion, guard, army, and division. Each organizational system is equipped with one officer, and the number of adjutants increases according to the organizational system.

The smallest team has only ten people, and the highest division has 10 people.

Liu Suiyun couldn't help but say after reading this: "My lord, if you build an army according to this new method, the number of troops will be more clear at a glance. It is indeed easier to distinguish than the original one."

Zhao Tong took a sip of tea and said: "As for things such as baggage, food and cooking, they are all set up in the Wei system of a thousand people. They are not set up separately below, because the number of battalions and teams below is too small, and there is no need to separate them. It is clearly written on the paper. , you can try to figure it out, and then see if there are any deficiencies or omissions, and just make changes."

Liu Suiyun nodded and said: "Your Majesty, now we have more than 5000 people, plus the more than 1000 cavalry brought by Your Majesty, and including the soldiers from Xining's original state, we can barely form two armies."

Zhao Tong shook his head and said: "You can't make such mixed calculations. Ten thousand vine armor soldiers are indeed enough for an army, but the other cavalry are cavalry and the infantry are infantry. They have to be separated. This point follows the original system of the Song Dynasty. The horse army is Horse army, infantry army is infantry army, by the way... break it down in this way. If the number is not enough, then there is no need to set up an army for the time being. Once enough, we can increase it gradually."

Liu Suiyun said: "I understand, I will think about this matter after I go back."

Zhao Tong then looked at Ouyang Bei and said: "The Tibetan soldiers can't just practice bows and arrows. Since they have put on the rattan armor and picked up the rattan shield, they have to practice sword skills. You are good at this. You need to teach more simple and effective ones. Since If you have armor and shield on your body, you don't need the kind of fighting skills, but you need killing skills. You can resist the opponent for one and a half times, and you can kill the opponent with all your strength."

Ouyang Beidao: "I know that I have been teaching them sword skills in the past few days."

Zhao Tong looked at Zhang Xian again: "You take the cavalry first, but now there are more horses and fewer horses. When the Xihe side stabilizes, we will select the cavalry from the infantry and merge it."

Zhang Xian said: "Yes, Your Majesty."

Zhao Tong then turned to look at Lu Junyi: "Senior brother, the infantry inside and outside the city are temporarily under your command, but some of them are surrendered troops. Senior brother, please be more careful. I will ask General Lu to assist you, and you two can discuss the matter."

Lu Junyi said: "I know that General Lu is very resourceful. I will ask him more when the time comes."

Zhao Tong nodded and looked at Liu Suiyun again: "Although Xining is under control at the moment, there is still some confusion. However, as long as we can control the city and wait until the Xihe Army conquers the Liao Kingdom, everything can be settled. ”

Liu Suiyun said: "My lord, don't worry. If we only defend the city, with the strength of Qingtang and the sufficient supply of food and grass, even if all the Xihe army arrives, it will not be able to break it easily!"

Zhao Tong narrowed his eyes and looked at him: "There are nearly 5 troops in Xihe. If they all arrive, how long can you hold on?"

Liu Suiyun thought for a while and said, "At least a year!"

Zhao Tong smiled and said, "That's good. I'm also a little tired, so I need to rest early."

Liu Suiyun said: "I will lead the way for the prince."

Zhao Tong nodded, then left the Zhizhou Hall and headed straight to another mansion under the leadership of Liu Suiyun.

After walking for about a quarter of an hour, I came to the door of a mansion, but it was also a large mansion. It was built by Liu Suiyun when Ouyang Bei came to deliver a letter last year, and it was temporarily used as Zhao Tong's palace.

Zhao Tong got off his horse in front of the mansion, but saw Lei San running down the steps: "Your Majesty!"

Zhao Tong handed him the reins of the red horse: "Are you still used to living here?"

Lei San scratched his scalp and said with a smile: "There is nothing wrong with being a kid. As long as you can follow the prince, you can do anything."

Zhao Tong smiled and walked in. When he got the news, many people ran out to greet him.

Xiao Min, Zhang Zhenniang, and Zhao Yuannu were in the head, while Zhu Xiuniang was holding little Zhao Xi behind. When little Zhao Xi saw him, he shouted loudly: "Daddy... Daddy!"

Then he suddenly broke away from Zhu Xiuniang's arms, jumped to the ground and ran over.

Zhao Tong picked him up, looked around, and said with a smile: "A little darker, but a lot stronger. I haven't seen you for more than a month. Do you miss me?"

Xiao Zhao Xi said: "I do, I miss my dad, but it's not fun here. The kid wants... I want to go back to the capital."

Zhao Tong laughed loudly and said: "I will go back, I will go back."

At this time, Zhang Zhenniang smiled and said, "Your Majesty, the food has been prepared inside. We are just waiting for Your Majesty to come back."

Zhao Tong touched his stomach. He didn't eat much at the banquet before, and he chatted with Liu Suiyun and others for a long time. He was indeed a little hungry, so he nodded and said, "Okay, let's go eat together."

Then when we arrived at the hall, we saw a table full of wine and food, so we sat down to eat and drink. After eating, we rested directly and spent the whole night in silence.

(End of this chapter)