Volume 1 Chapter 59 Lantern Festival (Part 2)
"What a treasure." Zong Ze had no choice but to carry the box to the desk full of messy documents, then carefully opened it and took out a heavy silk scroll from it, then carefully spread it on the couch beside him, and then waved his hand. "Pengju, come and see... This is the battle formation diagram left by Emperor Taizong. It can only be given to great generals. I found it in the palace and I'm giving it to you today!"
Yue Pengju instinctively felt it was absurd when he heard the word "array diagram", but for the sake of Emperor Taizong, he was still skeptical and stepped forward to squint at it a few times under the light. However, after only looking at half of the diagram, he could no longer bear to look at it:
"Eun-sang!"
"How about it?" Zong Ze looked expectant. "Would you like to take it home and read it slowly, and then give me a few essays on your experience when you come back?"
Yue Fei looked at Zong Ze's face and forced himself to swallow back many words... To be honest, if it was his turn to rest in Tokyo in the past, he would have agreed with a pinch of nose to comfort the other party, but he would have to travel a long way to Shouzhou tomorrow, so how could he have so much leisure time to do this?
Therefore, Yue Pengju could only reluctantly defend himself: "Emperor Taizong's battle formation is of course excellent, but to form such a battle formation, tens of thousands of elite soldiers and tens of thousands of special weapons are needed. I am just a small commander, leading 3,000 soldiers with incomplete armor. What is the use of this battle formation?"
Zong Ze was such a person, how could he not know what Yue Pengju meant? He immediately said sadly: "You just said it was useless, and I, Zong Rulin, don't know anything about military affairs, so I made a fool of myself!"
Yue Fei was rarely stubborn, so he quickly tried to comfort the other party.
However, Zong Ze casually put away the formation diagram and said something else:
"It's just that Pengju, you are a rare type of general I have ever seen in my life. Under my command, you will win every battle, and you will be the first in the number of captured heads and beheaded. Moreover, your determination to resist the Jin Dynasty is the most resolute. Otherwise, are I, Zhang Longtu before, and Wang Yan who wrote a letter to let you go all crazy, trying to protect you in everything and promoting you to a higher level every time? Even if I don't know much about military affairs, I know that there is a difference between a brave man and a great general. Now that I hope you can become a great general as soon as possible, like Wei, Huo, Li, and Xu, I can only seek advice from the blind and try all kinds of methods when I am desperate..."
Yue Fei was slightly startled, and said earnestly: "Don't worry, my lord. I have my own calculations and measures on how to use the troops."
"What measure?"
"The formation is followed by the battle. The common method of the army is to use it skillfully. The key to the military strategy is to be unexpected and unpredictable, so as to win!"
Zong Ze was stunned for a moment, then shook his head slightly: "I don't understand..."
Yue Fei immediately wanted to explain further.
"You don't have to explain. After all, you are much better at using troops than me. Just make up your mind!" Zong Ze waved his hands repeatedly, and then he put on his fur robe and went to bed. "Forget about this matter. I'll see you off!"
Yue Fei quickly declined.
"It doesn't have to be that serious. It's just sending someone away. It won't cost you your life. If you can be loyal to your country and kill as many enemies , I think you can live a few more months..."
Yue Pengju had no choice but to bow his head and agree.
When Zong Rulin put on his clogs and went out, he first saw Ma Kuo and Zong Ying. The governor of Tokyo could not help but frown and scolded them: "Why are you still carrying a human head? Don't you think it's dirty?"
Zong Ying was helpless and could only quickly put the bloody head on the ground.
But the Prime Minister didn't bother to pay attention at all. He just raised his hand again and pointed at Yue Fei and said to Ma Kuo: "Master Ma, you should also pack up. Tomorrow you will follow Yue's army and go to Shouzhou to meet the emperor."
Ma Kuo was overjoyed and quickly bowed to Zong Ze and Yue Fei outside the door.
After saying this, Zong Ze said nothing more. Instead, accompanied by the three men and several guards, he walked out of the residence and stopped in front of Yue Fei's attendants Tang Huai and others on the street.
Moreover, during the Jingkang Incident more than half a year ago, although the Jin army never entered the city from beginning to end, which allowed the buildings to be generally preserved, the craftsmen, property, military equipment, and grain stores were all lost. In addition, hundreds of thousands of imperial guards and the royal defense troops were defeated and then disbanded into bandits, making the entire city almost a ghost town!
It really is a ghost town. You have to know that during the heyday of Tokyo, the population was 1.4 million and the streets were crowded with people. But now, Tokyo and its surroundings, the total population of ordinary families inside and outside the city is only 200,000... and everyone is poor, and there was even a famine at one point. Fortunately, Zong Ze came here to take charge in the middle of last year. On the one hand, he comforted the people, on the other hand, he recruited the defeated soldiers, on the other hand, he organized anti-Jin resistance, and on the other hand, he took the trouble to engage in literary debate with the central government. Now things are barely looking good.
But back to the present, tonight is the Lantern Festival. In previous years, the city of Bianliang would have been ablaze with lights and flowers all night long, but now it is desolate. Although there are lights here and there, they are just soldiers patrolling. Only the bright moon hangs high in the sky, arousing people's reverie... It can only be said that the prosperous scene of Tokyo in the past is just like a dream.
Among the four people, three had experienced such a prosperous time, so they were naturally speechless and full of emotion. Although Yue Fei had never seen the prosperous scene at that time, he only looked at the expressions of the other three people, and today was a festive day, so how could he not understand? He also stood in silence.
"Let's go!"
It was a cold moonlit night. Zong Ze, a thin man wearing a colorful fur robe, looked around the street for a long time, but suddenly waved his hand. "You have to go on the road tomorrow."
Yue Fei and Ma Kuo quickly bowed their heads, and Zong Ying originally wanted to reach out and help his father go back, but when he thought about the time he had just been carrying heads for half a day, he had no choice but to follow him.
However, Zong Ze walked a few steps slowly in his colorful fur robe, but suddenly turned back and called to the two men who had already mounted their horses: "Come back!"
Yue and Ma did not dare to be negligent. They dismounted again, turned around and saluted respectfully.
"Pengju." Zong Ze really spoke to Yue Fei first. "I thought about it, what you said before is absolutely right, my way of doing things can't last long, and I'm really not good at using troops... If we want to truly recover Hebei and welcome back the two saints, we have to follow your instructions, enforce strict military discipline, have well-trained soldiers, sufficient food, and complete military equipment, and go to war with dignity!"
Yue Fei bowed his head quickly under the gaze of the others: "I am ashamed. I am not criticizing Prime Minister En. Prime Minister En has won the hearts of the people in Tokyo and improved the military. He is already a model for generals. What I said about the art of using troops is just a trick for the battlefield..."
"I know, I know, I have no intention of admitting my mistake." Zong Ze stepped forward to support the other party and said, "I am a low-ranking scholar who has been a county lieutenant and county magistrate for half my life. How can I know how to use troops and fight wars, or learn from Zhuge Liang? It's just that my country has fallen, and no one cares about it. I am the only old man in his seventies who is left in this abandoned city. It's good enough that I can do the best I can. Why should I be as good as a jade pillar? Can't I be an iron pillar?"
"Eun-sang is right."
Yue Fei answered sincerely.
Let's say, although Yue Pengju felt that Zong Ze was wrong in the room, he also felt that what Zong Ze said was right... Just think about it, when the situation was bad, everyone from the emperor to the emperor was in the south, and it seemed reasonable to stay in the south, but Zong Ze stayed in Tokyo alone, and then relied on his own strength, worked hard, and held up such a big situation. At this time, saying that he can't use troops and that he has no system in doing things, if someone who is loyal to him hopes that Zong Ze can do better, of course it's fine, and he can use this to attack the other party, then what's the difference between that and the blood-sucking flies on the battlefield?
How could Zong Ze gather these defeated soldiers and rebel forces in Tokyo so efficiently and make all of them die for him? Could it be that he relied on some kind of military genius?
Being able to achieve the current situation, this Marshal Zong is already the best general in the world! Because at this moment in the world, there is no other person who can break through the various constraints of the previous line and the current bad situation to devote himself to the country and become another qualified general!
The skinny iron pillar is also a pillar that supports the sky!
