Chapter 883 The vulgar Li Zhan

During the reign of the first emperor, Song and Liao had not fought each other for more than 40 years and were living in peace. Therefore, the biggest enemy of this dynasty became the party members who suddenly emerged in the northwest. Li Yuanhao established Xixia. After Li Yuanhao became emperor, the Song Dynasty The top and bottom were extremely angry, and the relationship between the two parties officially broke down. In the following years, Yuan Hao successively launched four major battles, including the Battle of Sanchuankou, the Battle of Haoshuichuan, the Battle of Linfufeng, and the Battle of Dingchuanzhai, annihilating tens of thousands of elite Song troops in the northwest. In the seventh year of Yanzuo's reign, he defeated Liao Xingzong who brought 100,000 elite chariots to conquer in the Battle of Hequ. At this time, Xixia's total military strength was about 500,000. He was the biggest enemy of the Song Dynasty. In recent years, he had invaded many borders and wars broke out frequently, causing the court a lot of headaches.

Xixia is now in its heyday, and the emperor of Xixia is named Liangzuo, also known as Xia Yizong, also known as Li Liangzuo and Tuoba Liangzuo. It has the land of Xia, Yin, Sui, You, Jing, Ling, Hui, Sheng, Gan, Liang, Gua, Sha and Su, namely northern Ningxia, small parts of Gansu, northern Shaanxi, eastern Qinghai and parts of Inner Mongolia. The main place where the Song Dynasty came into contact with Xixia was Qin Feng Road, where Li Zhan needed to be in charge.

After Li Zhan arrived at the Fourth Northwest Road, he was not in a hurry. He just visited the various states first, checked the specific terrain of each place, and then began to reorganize the army. During the prosperous Tang Dynasty, there was a saying that one Han was against five barbarians, but now it is not It just so happened that one barbarian defeated five Han men. It was really embarrassing. Naturally, Li Zhan didn't want this to happen again.

Li Zhan first strictly enforced military discipline and strictly inspected empty pay, which solved the habit of generals being paid empty pay. Some of these actions included killing chickens to scare monkeys, and also offended some generals. Fortunately, as the prime minister, Li Zhan's status was much higher than that of these generals. , although they complained, they did not dare to act rashly. Li Zhan settled the matter of military pay and discipline before he began to truly train his troops.

There was nothing surprising about Li Zhan's military training. He emphasized discipline and physical fitness. He created a set of battlefield fighting techniques, which were not complicated and suitable for soldiers to learn. Finally, he began to practice military formations and even set up a ring. Let the heroes in the army compete to select talents, and most of the brave warriors were promoted to middle and lower-level officers.

Li Zhan finally stayed at the Yongxing Military Road to reorganize his armaments, while the city of Bianjing was also undergoing changes, with endless fighting, and overall it was a mess. Li Zhan didn't care. The only thing he cared about was that Hualan gave birth to a son for him. , he named him Li Rui. Li Zhan was very happy when Brother Rui was born, and Shengfu and Hualan also breathed a sigh of relief. This was the fourth generation of the Li family.

Even the officials and the Queen Mother learned about it, and they generously rewarded Li Zhan and showed their kindness to Li Zhan. Although Li Zhan is in the northwest now, he is the imperial envoy after all. He cannot always stay at the border and must always return to the center. .

Yanzhou, in the military camp.

Li Zhan took off his brocade robe, was shirtless, and stood in the center of the ring holding a long spear. Now he has become a lot darker. He hangs out in the military camp all day long. For the sake of military morale, he often trains with the soldiers to make everyone The general's impression of him changed drastically, and he became a little more approachable.

When Han Qi killed Di Qing's generals, the words "The one who sings the number one scholar outside the Donghua Gate is a good man" made the military generals have a lot of resistance to Li Zhan, who was born in the imperial examination. Now they see Li Zhan. Zhan had no prejudice against warriors, and even got along with them, which was how he dispelled his wariness and became close to each other.

There was sweat on Li Zhan's forehead. He looked at the generals and soldiers under the ring and laughed loudly.

"We have nothing to do today. Let's set up a competition. If there is anyone who can beat me, I will not hesitate to promote him. If there is a war, I will definitely let him be the vanguard! How can anyone be willing to take the stage?"

All the generals and soldiers laughed when they heard this. Although they were now familiar with Li Zhan and often practiced together, they did not think that Li Zhan could defeat the warriors in the army, so no one came to the stage.

Li Zhan was not angry. He tapped the ring lightly with the spear in his hand and continued shouting.

"Are you afraid? Not a single man in the army dares to compete with a scholar like me?"

As soon as Li Zhan said this, everyone suddenly became excited and shouted loudly.

"If the Prime Minister loses, will he give us little shoes to wear?"

When Li Zhan heard this, he felt as if he had been deeply humiliated. He took two steps to the edge of the ring and stared at the soldier who asked the question. Sure enough, he was tall, strong and powerful. Li Zhan recognized him. He was originally a thorn in the army. His name was Wang Wu often used force to bully other colleagues. He was punished by Li Zhan once, but he changed his mind. After Li Zhan set up the arena, he was promoted by Li Zhan to the rank of Yuhou in the army because of his superior force. He is very familiar with him and is also a die-hard fan of Li Zhan, so he makes fun of him.

Li Zhan stretched out his hand to signal him to come on stage and cursed.

"Wang Wu, what the hell are you talking about? Am I the kind of person who avenges private revenge? If you don't get punished for a few days, your butt will itch and you will become a fool. Come up here quickly. I must teach you a lesson today!"

Li Zhan was also vulgar at this time, but the men in the army liked Li Zhan's behavior and felt friendly. Therefore, Li Zhan followed the locals, making vulgar remarks every day and being unreasonable. However, the soldiers treated him very well. But he gradually respects him and is willing to get along with him.

Wang Wu was not afraid at all. He pushed away the soldiers around him and walked towards the ring, talking big words.

"My dear fellow, I can testify that the Prime Minister himself said that he will not avenge himself. If I go up and defeat the Prime Minister, you cannot retaliate against me!"

All the soldiers laughed and cheered.

"We have all heard it, and I will testify to you that the Prime Minister himself said that he will never retaliate!"

"Taking this opportunity, you must go up and give the Prime Minister a good beating to vent your anger on us."

Although Li Zhan was in a group with the soldiers, the military discipline was strict and the drills were very strict. There were many soldiers who were punished, so the soldiers were looking forward to Li Zhan making a fool of himself and letting out a bad breath.

Li Zhan looked at the soldiers with disdain, pointed at them and cursed.

"You bastards are actually avenging private revenge. I trained you so that you would bleed less on the battlefield, but you still dare to hate me. When I defeat Wang Wu, if you are not convinced, feel free to come to the stage to challenge me. I will not refuse anyone who comes. !”

When all the soldiers heard Li Zhan's arrogant words, they became excited and cheered for Wang Wu and shouted.

"Wang Wu, you have to be more confident, you must beat the Prime Minister to the point where he kneels down and begs for mercy!"

Wang Wu laughed loudly, patted his chest, and said confidently.

"Don't worry, I have the most grievances against the Prime Minister. Grandma, I've been punished the most among you guys. My butt is still swollen!"

Everyone laughed. Wang Wu was indeed a reckless person who often violated military discipline. Although he never made major mistakes, he kept making small mistakes and was often caught and punished by Li Zhan.