I served as an admonisher in the Song Dynasty

Chapter 171 Veterans gathered by the Xihe River: Either capture us or kill us

The next day, the sky was bright.

In Gyeongju City, in Fan's house, the crisp sound of birdsong can be heard from time to time.

Fan Zhongyan, Su Liang, and Fan Chunren walked out of the study one after another.

The three of them didn't expect to chat all night long.

But their eyes were bright and they were not tired at all.

If Fan Chunren hadn't reminded them that it was already dawn, they might have talked for much longer.

Fan Zhongyan looked at the orange-colored sky in the distance and sighed: "I haven't talked about political affairs so heartily for a long time. Chunren, arrange for Jingming to have a good rest, and the veterans will form a killing club. After Han Chen arrives, Reconsideration."

"I have benefited a lot from a long night's chat with Mr. Fan. Mr. Fan, please rest!" Su Liang smiled and handed over his hand.

Su Liang has always been informal.

There was no such false etiquette towards Chen Zhizhong, Xia Song and other ministers.

But he sincerely admired Fan Zhongyan and couldn't help but be more polite.

……

After Su Liang returned to the house, he fell asleep and slept until noon when he woke up.

Followed by.

Some officials from Qingzhou sent Su Liang some documents on the troop reduction in the northwest.

After Su Liang read through the documents and made some inquiries, he allowed these officials to leave.

The main reason he came to the northwest was to inspect troop reductions.

It is also necessary to report the news to the court in a timely manner, so it is necessary to have a comprehensive understanding of the troop reduction situation in the northwest.

With Fan Zhongyan and Di Qing on the battlefield, the troop reduction efficiency in the northwest is very high.

Of course, there were some minor frictions in various places, but fortunately they were all resolved properly, and overall it went smoothly.

What troubles Su Liang the most right now are those passionate veterans who are desperate for their lives.

In terms of fighting will and spirit, they can still be regarded as excellent soldiers of the Western Army.

But after all, I am older and my physical strength cannot keep up.

War is not about showing off violence or fighting in the street. You must consider the overall situation.

If they really gather together to cause chaos, big problems are very likely to occur.

……

The next day, in the afternoon, Gyeongju official office.

Fan Zhongyan and Su Liang were sitting at a long table and reviewing documents when suddenly there was a sound of footsteps outside.

Immediately afterwards, people came before they arrived.

A rough voice sounded.

"Mr. Fan, where is Su Jingming? I want to see what this admonishing officer who can perform an over-the-shoulder throw in front of Chui Gong Hall looks like?"

Su Liang couldn't help but stand up with a smile.

Unexpectedly, the "Martial Arts Star" of the Great Song Dynasty had the deepest impression of him, actually hugging and throwing the former imperial censor Zhongcheng Wang Gongchen.

Su Liang saw a tall man with a tattoo on his face striding into the house. He quickly raised his hands and said, "Supervisory censor Su Liang meets General Di!"

"Hahahaha... Su Jingming is the youngest admonisher in the Song Dynasty!"

Di Qing gave Su Liang a big bear hug.

Su Liang almost couldn't breathe before he let go. Then he patted Su Liang's shoulder and said, "Mr. Fan often praises you. It makes my ears feel calluses. When I see you today, you really have a good temperament." Not bad…”

Di Qing looked at Su Liang and said a lot of words of appreciation.

Su Liang didn't expect Di Qing to be so talkative.

He had read Di Qing's performance appraisal, and the comment in Zhongshu was: brave, good at fighting, cautious and taciturn.

But now that I saw the real person, I found that he was not taciturn at all.

What Su Liang didn't know was that Di Qing really said little in front of civil servants because he was from a military background and was afraid of saying the wrong thing.

But because Fan Zhongyan mentioned Su Liang many times.

And Di Qing admired the enterprising civil servants like Su Liang very much, so he spoke closely.

Immediately, the three of them sat together and talked about troop reductions.

Not long after, they started talking about the veterans forming a killing club.

Di Qing frowned slightly and said: "Mr. Fan, how about I go there in person and force them out. Most of these veterans are my subordinates and they don't dare to disobey my orders. If anyone disobeys, I will forcibly send them back to their hometown." ." Fan Zhongyan shook his head.

"They will indeed obey your orders, but after returning home, I'm worried that they will commit suicide because of their own thoughts!"

"This... this... this..." Di Qing was speechless.

Fan Zhongyan and he both know these veterans very well.

Almost all of those veterans who were unwilling to return home had a blood feud with Xixia, and they lived just to kill Xixia thieves.

Once they are forcibly sent back to their hometowns, they may run away again, or even commit suicide out of desperation.

These are all people who have contributed to the Song Dynasty.

Fan Zhongyan and Di Qing naturally do not want such a tragedy to happen.

Just as the three of them were racking their brains, thinking about how to place these people.

A post soldier ran over quickly and shouted: "Mr. Fan, there is an urgent message from Qinzhou!"

I heard the word "Qinzhou".

Di Qing and Su Liang couldn't help but become nervous.

Qinzhou is the administrative seat of Qinfeng Road.

It was an important city on the northwest border of the Song Dynasty, close to the Xihe and Hehuang areas.

To the west are the Tubo tribes and to the northwest is Xixia. In addition to the Han people, there are also a large number of Tubo, Qiang and Dangxiang people gathered there.

Small-scale conflicts often occur.

An urgent message came from Qinzhou. Apparently there was a problem on the northwest border.

Fan Zhongyan opened the letter, read it, and handed it to Di Qing. After Di Qing read it, he handed the letter to Su Liang.

After reading it, the three of them couldn't help but frowned tightly.

Nothing happened at the border.

It's still about the veterans.

The letter comes from Liu Cun, the magistrate of Qinzhou.

He stated in the letter: Nearly [-] veterans who were known as "killing members of the Tibetan Society" gathered on the banks of the Xihe River, intending to open up wasteland and build villages near the Xihe River.

Liu Cun ordered his soldiers to drive them away.

But this group of veterans in their 50s claimed that they would either be captured or killed.

Otherwise, they will never leave, and some even threaten to die.

Liu Cun also excerpted the original words of the veterans.

"We... we don't cause trouble to the government, we don't disturb the people, we don't want any compensation from the court, and we won't do anything harmful to the people of Song Dynasty. We just want to stay by the Xi River. If you force us again , we chose to commit suicide by jumping into the river..."

The words of the veterans were so decisive that they had long put life and death aside.

Their intentions are also clear.

If there is a war between Xixia and the Song Dynasty, both sides of the Xihe River will be a must-win area.

This group of veterans plans to live here, as if they are ready to fight to the death against the Xixia people at any time, or even die for the country.

The businessmen and local people near Xihe are very supportive of them.

This made Liu Cun very confused.

I don't know whether to treat them as troublemakers who oppose the disarmament or as refugees, so I can only reflect upwards.

Di Qingnai felt sorry for the soldiers the most.

He thought for a moment and looked at Fan Zhongyan and Su Liang.

"You two, can you explain the situation to the court and get these veterans to return to the military camp?"

"Only 8000 people. We brothers in the army can definitely feed them if we save a province, and they are experienced. When it comes to fighting, they are no less good than those young and middle-aged men!"

After Fan Zhongyan hesitated for a moment, he shook his head.

"No, this bad sign cannot start. We must resolutely complete the imperial court's troop reduction task without any compromise!"

Su Liang on the side also nodded.

There must be no exceptions to the policy of reducing troops, otherwise other places will follow suit, leading to various accidents.

But how to place these [-] veterans?Su Liang couldn't help but feel a severe headache.

(End of this chapter)