From a son-in-law to a favorite of the empress

Chapter 388

Zhou Yuan was not the only one who went to Tianjin for negotiations, but also Zeng Cheng from the cabinet, so there were many accompanying personnel. In addition to the protection of the inner guards along the way, the Jinyiwei also dispatched a large number of troops.

Moreover, Qu Shaogeng, the governor of Tianjin, also sent two thousand elite soldiers to greet them from Tianjin.

The two sides met halfway and went to Tianjin together.

Along the way, Zhou Yuan and Zhuang Xuansu quarreled, and time passed quickly. Since the travel speed was not fast, everyone camped and slept at night, and arrived in Tianjin slowly at dusk the next day.

The governor's office in Tianjin was naturally responsible for the reception, and the posthouse had already been arranged.

Qu Shaogeng was responsible for welcoming them and arranged a relatively grand banquet.

"Mingyi, we haven't seen each other for more than ten years."

Zeng Cheng seemed to have a good relationship with Qu Shaogeng. While drinking, he sighed: "Thinking back to when you were in Shenjing, in charge of the Three Thousand Battalions, you were so high-spirited. Time flies, and we are all old now."

Qu Shaogeng smiled and said: "Uncle, you are wrong. At that time, I was just the governor of the Three Thousand Battalions, and my official rank was only the third rank, and I had not been granted a title. Now I am the governor of a prefecture, a second-rank official, and a marquis. Although time flies, I have finally found a bright way."

"And uncle has also gone from being the assistant minister of the Ministry of Justice to a loyal minister today."

Zeng Cheng waved his hand, picked up the wine glass, and said solemnly: "This is because of your majesty's wisdom, not our merits. This cup is for your majesty, and I wish the prosperity of the Great Jin."

With one sentence, the pattern was opened, and everyone at the table stood up quickly, raised their glasses, and drank them all.

Qu Shaogeng then looked at Zhou Yuan and said with a smile: "After the Marquis of Zhongwu came to the table, he was quiet and calm, worthy of being a young talent. Why don't you say a few words and talk about the war in the Central Plains?"

Several officials from Tianjin and several senior officials from the accompanying delegation all looked at this young man of the hour.

Zhou Yuan shook his head and said, "Mr. Qu, you are too kind. I am just a humble servant and I am not a talented young man. Qu Ling and I are good friends. I should call you uncle."

Qu Shaogeng nodded slowly and said in a deep voice, "Last year, Ling'er wrote to me for help in the matter of Lin'an Prefecture. Since then, I have known you, Zhou Yuan."

"But in the past year, you have risen too fast, beyond people's expectations. Now you are also a young marquis, much better than me, the so-called uncle."

Speaking of this, he picked up the wine glass and smiled, "Since you said so, I will recognize you as my uncle. After drinking this glass of wine, we are one family."

The two smiled at each other and drank it all.

Seeing that everyone was still staring at him, Zhou Yuan had no choice but to ponder for a moment and slowly said, "There is actually nothing much to say about the battle in the Central Plains."

"Zhang Bailong was born in a poor peasant family. He studied for a few years and became a private school teacher in Guangzhou after passing the imperial examination."

"His character does have personal charm. He has the generosity, mind and majesty of a superior, and also has a relative degree of organizational ability."

"But he doesn't know how to fight, nor does he know how a large organization can form a virtuous cycle."

"Although there are hundreds of thousands of peasant soldiers, they are all a mob. They have nothing but brute force."

Speaking of this, Zhou Yuan paused slightly and whispered, "To defeat such people, you naturally can't rely on brute force. You can win by surprise by starting with organization and discipline."

"I believe that Uncle Qu can easily recover the Central Plains if he goes there."

Everyone listened with relish and couldn't help but applaud and laugh out loud.

"Well said!"

A big man with a curly beard said: "Our lord fought with Mongolian cavalry in the past, and he didn't suffer any great loss. If he really went to the Central Plains, he would definitely win within half a year."

Qu Shaogeng shook his head and said: "It won't be that easy. After all, there are only 60,000 people in the Five Military Camps. Even with the tens of thousands of militias in Kaifeng Prefecture, the gap between the enemy and us is still very large. In addition, the enemy occupies a large area and can support each other. Even for me, it will definitely be very difficult."

Speaking of this, he laughed instead and said with emotion: "Zhou Yuan, in fact, I have been paying attention to the situation in the Central Plains. Every time I receive the official report, I am shocked."

"Your understanding of war and your use of the army have reached the extreme. In a few years, you should be transferred to Sanbian or Jizhou to fight against Mongolia and the Eastern Tartars."

Zhou Yuan did not dare to respond, and could only smile and say: "It all depends on your majesty's order. As a minister, I will do my best."

Qu Shaogeng did not spare him and asked: "If you were the governor of Jizhou, or in other words, you were the general of the anti-Tatars, with 100,000 elite soldiers, how would you fight?"

"I mainly want to hear your views on the Eastern Tartars. You know the situation. We have hardly won in the past 20 years."

This question can be said to be the most core issue of the Jin Dynasty.It's a question of heart. To resist the barbarians is to fight for the fate of the country!

Seeing his curious eyes, Zhou Yuan had a little understanding of Qu Shaogeng. This man really had the heart to make achievements and worry about the country.

"I'm afraid it's not just Uncle Qu. Many generals present also want to know how to fight the Eastern Tartars, right?"

Everyone looked at each other and nodded.

Almost all of them had encountered the Eastern Tartars, but the results were not very ideal.

The battles Zhou Yuan fought in the Central Plains opened their eyes and even amazed them. Naturally, they wanted to hear his opinion.

Zhou Yuan sighed: "But my answer may disappoint you. From the current situation, we can't win the Eastern Tartars anyway."

Everyone's face changed immediately.

The bearded man couldn't help but ask: "Why does Lord Zhou boost others' ambitions and destroy his own prestige? Although the Eastern Tartar cavalry is strong, it is not impossible to defeat them no matter what!"

Zhou Yuan said: "War is a very objective thing. When the objective situation is too different, there are not many things that generals can change."

"Although there have always been people who win by wisdom and strategy, the situation of the Eastern Tartar is different. When fighting with them, there is little room for wisdom and strategy to play."

Qu Shaogeng said: "Then tell me why we can't defeat them!"

Zhou Yuan said: "There are many reasons, such as the huge difference in war horses. Our Taifu Temple of the Great Jin Dynasty is in charge of animal husbandry and war horse affairs. At the beginning of the dynasty, it was still considered They worked diligently, but over time, they gradually entrusted the horse farm to others and pushed the responsibility to the people, so that the quality of horses in our Jin Dynasty dropped rapidly and almost had no combat capability. "

"The Donglu have vast grasslands, and horses are their life. If they don't raise horses well, they will be whipped."

"Today, the Donglu have countless war horses, with good endurance, high explosive power, and a higher degree of domestication. With the horsemanship training of the Donglu people since childhood, their cavalry can be said to be a unity of man and horse, so they are invincible."

Speaking of this, Zhou Yuan paused slightly and continued: "In the land of Liaodong, if the horses are not good and the horsemanship is not good, it means nothing will work."

He looked at everyone and spread his hands, saying: "With such a gap, how can we win by strategy? The endless plains and the cavalry that come and go freely can't set up an ambush or conduct guerrilla warfare. The key is that the enemy can abandon the city and flee back to the vast grassland at any time. How to pursue? How to annihilate?"

"If the enemy is like the peasant soldiers in the Central Plains, with weak organizational ability and poor discipline, then it's fine."

"The key is that the enemy is a mature and organized army with strong organizational ability and discipline. It can enforce orders and has almost no flaws."

"Under such circumstances, it is a pipe dream to want to win against the Eastern Tartar head-on."

Zeng Cheng couldn't help but interrupt. : "Are we going to be threatened by the Eastern Tartars all the time, and even lose our territory step by step?"

Zhou Yuan said: "Not necessarily. There are many factors that affect war, such as the number of soldiers, the command ability of generals, and weapons."

"We are not short of people in the Great Jin, nor are we short of outstanding generals. It's just that our weapons and the use of weapons are not as good as those of the other side. Of course, the weapons and the use here refer to good horsemanship."

"But if we have newer and more dominant weapons, we can naturally beat the Eastern Tartars, take back Liaodong, and drive them back to the grassland."

"It just takes time."

Everyone looked at each other and fell into silence.

Time, where does the Great Jin have time now!