Chapter 1070: Before Defeat, Wang Yan is Innocent

In the Western Xia camp, a group of people stood on the city tower, looking at the hundred or so people cursing in the distance.

"General, shall we just let the Song army curse like this?"

"Wang Yan's intentions are sinister. In just half a month, our unit has lost two thousand lads. Moreover, the opposite side has increased their troops by seven thousand in this half-month, reaching a force of fifteen thousand. Without knowing their intentions, we must not act rashly. If we start a war rashly, we cannot bear the consequences."

Yeli Zhong sneered, "I won't take the bait; let's see what Wang Yan can do. I have received news that the Song people have no intention of attacking us. It is after Wang Yan was transferred to Yanzhou that he privately trained troops and sought provocation. I really didn't expect this Wang Yan to be so knowledgeable about military affairs; he is truly my great enemy. I won't take the bait; let's see what that Wang surnamed man can do. If my guess is correct, the people from the Song court reprimanding him are already on the way. Let's see if he still dares to come and seek provocation."

"General, now it is we who dare not go out to fight."

"Don't I know that? If you are not convinced, you lead a hundred-man squad down to kill?" Yeli Zhong glared fiercely at his subordinate who had no eyes; the truth was always so heartbreaking.

He couldn't admit that he had already been numbed by the hundred-man squad duels. If this continued, he feared he would be finished...

He clenched his fists tightly, watching the hundred-man squad two hundred meters away cursing in unison...

"Master, these Western Xia barbarians aren't much either, are they? It's only been half a month and they don't dare to come out?" Xiao Dongliang hugged his shoulders, pouting, looking down on them.

Zhong E replied from the side: "Prefect, it must be that the troops gathered in Qingjian are a bit too many. Although Western Xia has also increased their troops, the soldiers under the Prefect's command are all elites of Yanzhou, so Yeli Zhong and the others dare not act rashly."

"Makes sense." Wang Yan waved his hand, "Sound the retreat."

The imperial guards on the side obediently struck the gongs. With the sharp sound of the gongs, the garrison soldiers, whose throats were already smoked from cursing, walked back while cursing and swearing.

They were truly angry; after all, they had spent a long time building their psychological state, transferred from Yanzhou, and reorganized, all prepared to die, brewing for several days. As a result, the Western Xia people didn't come out; how could they not be angry?

Watching the soldiers walking back while cursing, Wang Yan smiled: "It seems there is no chance here. Pass my order, today we break camp for Dantu Village."

Zhong E was stunned for a moment and said: "The Prefect is leaving just like this?"

"I have already bothered them for half a month. Now that the Western Xia people have shrunk their heads like turtles, what am I still doing here? This trip was for training troops and patrolling the border. The Western Xia people here have been scared to death by the killing, so naturally, I will go to the next place to continue killing. In the past half-month, I guarantee two thousand casualties on the opposite side; they cannot hold on. When I have killed my way through the entire Yanzhou defense line, let's see if the situation changes. Zi Zheng, the fate of a soldier ultimately lies on the battlefield."

"What about Lord Di?"

Wang Yan smiled lightly, patted Zhong E on the shoulder, and turned to descend the city tower, without any hesitation, decisively organizing the army to set off...

Zhong E didn't say any more nonsense, even though he really wanted to work with this Prefect. Because although this thigh wasn't thick, it was very hard and awesome. Anyway, Wang Yan was in Qingjian for half a month, and he didn't have any trouble at all.

Usually, it wouldn't be like this; from time to time, someone would come to supervise and find trouble, and from time to time, he would have to go to the Pacification Commissioner to hold a meeting. Delays in grain and pay were even more common; he spent half of his time running to the yamen to urge for grain and pay.

It wasn't that they wouldn't give it, but when they would give it, how much they would give, what the quality of the grain was, and whether it was full weight—there were many tricks in this.

But this half-month happened to coincide with the delivery of grain and pay, and it was punctual. The grain couldn't be said to be the best, but it was definitely not bad; it was a mixture of new and old grain, and the amount was not short by a single bit.

That was the people from the Transport Yamen; they came properly and correctly, without a word of nonsense, and ran away quickly after the handover was completed. This was the power of deterrence. He had never really witnessed how fierce Wang Yan's deterrence was before; he only knew that everyone feared Wang Yan. This half-month was an eye-opener.

Moreover, he had learned a lot of knowledge and deeply felt Wang Yan's profound learning and unparalleled military strategy. From training troops to leading troops, from marching to fighting, he was proficient in everything.

In the pure military simulations between him and Wang Yan, Wang Yan had wiped out Western Xia eight times with different postures, and he couldn't pick a single fault. This was too terrifying...

Amidst the solemn salutes and farewells of Zhong E and the others, Wang Yan took a carriage and set off with less than five thousand men, leaving Qingjian.

But things did not go as one wished; not long after they set off, having walked less than ten miles, something happened.

"Master, the Pacification Commissioner sent someone to deliver a message."

"Where is the letter?"

"A verbal message, holding the Pacification Commissioner's warrant."

Wang Yan sat up lazily, bent over and walked out of the carriage, looking at a minor official and two soldiers who were riding horses and moving slowly along with the carriage: "Speak."

"Lord Cheng orders Prefect Wang to return to Yanzhou immediately for an audience, and at the same time withdraw the garrison troops." The minor official bowed, his voice lacking confidence, and he didn't even dare to look into Wang Yan's eyes.

Wang Yan waved his hand, summoned several military commanders who were swaying slowly along with him, and ordered: "You continue to march to Dantu Village. Do in Dantu Village what you did in Qingjian."

"Yes, Master."

"Go." Wang Yan waved his hand to disperse the crowd, let the coachman drive back to Yanzhou, and took a hundred-man squad as guards.

The minor official on the side watched how Wang Yan defied the order, not daring to say a word of nonsense, greeted Wang Yan, and hurriedly ran back to report.

The current Pacification Commissioner of the Shaanxi Circuit was Cheng Kan. This person took office around the same time as Wang Yan and was an acquaintance of Wang Yan; he used to be a Canzhi Zhengshi (Assistant Chancellor) and could be considered a high-ranking official.

He was able to become a Canzhi Zhengshi because of Wang Yan's contribution, and he was demoted also because of Wang Yan. He was actually not an isolated case, so he was not lonely. After all, Wang Yan caused too much trouble and implicated many people, and many people's official career paths had changed because of him.

Wang Yan spent two days slowly swaying back to Yanzhou and met Cheng Kan, a rather wealthy-looking old man.

After the two sides exchanged greetings, Wang Yan asked very simply and directly: "I wonder what important matter Lord Cheng has for me?"

"Xu Ziyan must be clear in his heart; besides your leading troops to seek provocation, what else could it be?"

"What instructions do the Emperor, the Government Affairs Hall, and the Privy Council have?"

Cheng Kan naturally understood Wang Yan's meaning; this was saying he was meddling, and he was naturally very unhappy.

"I am the Pacification Commissioner of the Shaanxi Circuit, in charge of border affairs and the Western Army. What does Xu Ziyan have to teach me?"

"I dare not, I dare not."

Wang Yan bowed and said, "However, I am in charge of Yanzhou affairs and concurrently lead the garrison troops. The Yanzhou border also belongs to my jurisdiction. The border imperial guards are under your command, Lord Cheng, but the land is under my jurisdiction. I trained the garrison troops to hone my unit with the Western Xia army. The lads used their lives to kill the enemy, causing over two thousand enemy casualties in half a month, gaining two thousand elite garrison troops, which I reorganized to get over five thousand battle-ready soldiers. As for the matter of seeking provocation, Lord Cheng is mistaken. Since the Qingli Peace Treaty, the Western Xia army has repeatedly provoked, and there has not been a single day of true peace at the border. How can Western Xia do it, but the Great Song cannot? Does Lord Cheng know that after fighting for half a month until the sixteenth day, no matter how we challenged, they all closed their doors and didn't come out. Only through war can there be peace."

"It is only because they fear your increase of seven thousand troops that they dare not act rashly."

"It is also a fact that the enemy suffered over two thousand casualties."

Cheng Kan shook his head repeatedly: "Now, causing two thousand enemy casualties is of no help to the overall situation. Have you thought about what will happen if war breaks out again because of your reckless actions?"

"Only war, that is all."

"You say it lightly, how can we resist? And there is the Khitan eyeing us covetously. If there is a slight mistake, the Divine Land will change hands, the people will be slaughtered, and you and I will both be sinners through the ages."

"Lord Cheng is wrong." Wang Yan shook his head calmly, not afraid of this so-called overall situation kidnapping at all, and said, "Lord Cheng and I took office one after another; you should know how I acted in the past year, and you should also know what problems Yanzhou has. Does Lord Cheng think that only Yanzhou is like this?"

"Things cannot be rushed; we must plan slowly."

"How could I not know such a principle? However, even if we plan slowly, we must take action. If there is no action, how can we plan? Like the two of us drinking tea and discussing matters, discussing and then stopping? To this day, I have not heard of any border prefecture or county that has rectified its affairs. The imperial court only talks about breaking Western Xia and recovering the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun. Once border affairs are mentioned, it is said that we cannot act lightly. But among the officials in the court, who has solved any problems? What measures have been taken? I have not seen it, nor have I heard of it. Since Lord Cheng speaks of the overall situation, why not teach me how to plan to break Xia? Lord Cheng, give me a strategy; if it is feasible, I am willing to be the blade in your hand."

"You..." Cheng Kan's hands trembled, glaring angrily at Wang Yan, but seeing Wang Yan's indifferent appearance, he helplessly lowered his hands.

Wang Yan's words were very clear: if you can't say one, two, or three, don't blather about the overall situation, and don't point fingers at me. How could Cheng Kan not be angry? He didn't show any respect to this old man who was nearly sixty years old.

"What strategy do you have?"

"No strategy." Wang Yan spread his hands, "But it is always better than empty talk about the overall situation without any action. I will train troops first, dampen the spirit of Western Xia, and kill ten or eight thousand of them first."

"If this leads to a full-scale war between our two families, what will you do?"

"Just fight; it is better than being full of the overall situation and doing nothing." Prefect Wang mocked his superior leader to his face, paused, and continued, "Before defeat, Wang Yan is innocent!"

Eight words, spoken with force and resonance.

"I will definitely report this to the Emperor!"

"Lord Cheng, please do as you wish." Wang Yan laughed, "Lord Cheng, please drink tea; you and I just have different political views, don't hurt the harmony. I have a request."

Just now it was you, you, me, me, and now it is "your subordinate" again?

Old Cheng squinted and snorted coldly: "I can't do it!"

Wang Yan was indeed bullying people; after mocking them, he still wanted them to do things.

But he didn't care and said to himself: "I want to train an elite cavalry, not many, three thousand is enough. I hope Lord Cheng can transfer a batch of fine warhorses to my Yanzhou garrison troops. My Yanzhou yamen will pay Lord Cheng money and grain at 30% above the market price. If Lord Cheng does not agree, I will write to the Three Yamen to discuss it. When I was the Assistant Prefect of Hangzhou, I bought fine armaments. Now buying warhorses is for my Great Song, and I think the Three Yamen will definitely agree."

Cheng Kan let out a long breath: "I will give you five hundred."

"I want fine warhorses." Wang Yan bit the words "fine" very hard.

"Hmph!"

Cheng Kan didn't speak again, put down the teacup in his hand heavily, and flicked his sleeves away.

"Respectfully send off Lord Cheng."

Although Old Cheng was angry and the conversation was unpleasant, Wang Yan still gave him face and sent him out of the office, acting very respectfully.

After sending Old Cheng away, he began to sit in the office and handle the work of the past half-month.

He was not afraid of Cheng Kan's complaint, as if the capital didn't know what he had done; half a month was enough for news to travel a circle, and no one had said anything.

It was still that sentence: his foundation was his absolute ability. He could make money and didn't cause trouble for others. Hangzhou was still the fifth largest tax-paying prefecture, and it was getting closer and closer to the fourth. One must know that the capital and other prefectures were different. The population scale, economic development, etc., were not comparable to Hangzhou. From this, one could see how awesome Wang Yan was.

Of course, there were comparisons. Fan Zhongyan had been in Qingzhou for two years and still hadn't achieved the situation Wang Yan had in Hangzhou, and he still had to ask Wang Yan for advice on the intentions of various policies and the connection between things in his letters. Fan Chunren had also been a county magistrate for two years and hadn't figured out a county yet.

In Yanzhou, Wang Yan had been working for more than half a year, and it was visibly brand new, with construction sites everywhere, and economic development was quite good. Although Wang Yan didn't pay a penny of tax to the capital, he didn't ask for much subsidy from the capital and also trained a not-so-low-combat-power army.

This was ability.

So Wang Yan was very confident that absolutely no one would replace him at this time. Even if he really started another war between Song and Xia, he could solve the trouble, so he had no trouble.

The current Zhao Song had no enterprising spirit; internal reforms couldn't be moved, and external wars couldn't be won. Perhaps everyone didn't want to reform or fight. Anyway, life could go on, and it was relatively stable; no one wanted to destroy this situation.

It was just that Wang Yan was a variable; no one wanted to see him stay in the capital, nor did they want him to govern in an already prosperous area. After all, those big families had connections in those places, and they were afraid that Wang Yan would come over and do the Hangzhou thing again, and it would be them who were unlucky.

Even if they dismissed Wang Yan, Wang Yan could write books, give lectures, and travel the world, and could kidnap scholars, which was also equally terrifying. There was really no place to place Wang Yan; this was someone who would cause trouble if he had power, and would also cause trouble if he didn't have power.

Everyone knew that Wang Yan was loyal to the Great Song and wholeheartedly good for the Great Song, but absolutely no one hoped that Wang Yan would be an official in their hometown. Yanzhou was really quite good...

Wang Yan was not afraid of being transferred; anyway, if he didn't fight the Western Xia people, didn't fight the Khitan people, didn't fight Dali, and didn't fight the mountain people in Lingnan, then he would have to fight his own people. There must be someone for him to fight...

Old Cheng did things quite reliably. After the unhappy parting, he transferred five hundred warhorses. They were all good horses, at least not worse than Western Xia's warhorses, and that was enough. Wang Yan paid quickly and settled on the spot.

It was well known that Zhao Song lacked warhorses, and the combat effectiveness of the cavalry was not very good. Wang Yan had been buying warhorses, and after arriving in Yanzhou, he hadn't stopped, and had long since started cavalry training, but he never complained about having too many warhorses.

Of course, Old Cheng was also a man of his word and really wrote to impeach Wang Yan. A leader impeaching a subordinate was a matter to be laughed at, but no one in the capital laughed at Cheng Kan; instead, they felt a sense of sympathy and secret schadenfreude.

Zhao Zhen comforted Cheng Kan and also issued an edict to reprimand Wang Yan, telling him to manage the prefecture well and not to provoke a Song-Xia war, etc.

To this, Wang Yan treated it as a fart.

After handling some affairs, he ran to the front line again, taking his garrison troops to wander around, patrolling the situation while dueling with Western Xia, continuing his biochemical warfare.

The border generals of Western Xia had naturally communicated with each other. But military generals had this one good point: they were unconvinced. They all thought others were trash and that others' troops were not as good as their own.

So in the face of Wang Yan's active provocation, one or two couldn't bear it and didn't listen to advice at all. They also unanimously chose to challenge Wang Yan's garrison troops to a duel.

It was just a hundred-man squad, nothing big. At first, they would send out all-elite soldiers to gain the upper hand. But the result was often a mutual destruction.

They would think that Wang Yan also sent elite soldiers, so they tacitly chose to continue sending elites to battle, continuing the mutual destruction. Little did they know, Wang Yan's garrison troops were developed in a balanced way. Just like this, after a few battles, the elites suffered heavy losses, and they all closed their doors and acted like turtles.

They all admitted that at first, they were the ones who shouted the loudest...

After all, it was no longer the time of Qingjian. Under the leadership of veterans, the new recruits performed better, and their combat effectiveness soared. And they all knew the situation of the one thousand plus casualties before; not many really died, and a considerable number could come back after being raised well, so they all had a count in their hearts. The soldiers behind were more powerful than the group in Qingjian, and could be called fearless.

If a unit develops momentum, it is a tiger-wolf division. The gap between Wang Yan's garrison troops and a tiger-wolf division was a head-on, large-scale battle.

However, the Western Xia border generals were not all unconvinced; after all, more and more people closed their doors, and the statistical casualty figures were getting higher and higher. Even if the people behind were unconvinced, they didn't dare to go out to fight.

So Wang Yan ultimately failed to achieve full success; of the fifteen thousand battle soldiers, over three thousand were completely lost, and two thousand didn't get a turn to fight.

But the results were excellent. According to Wang Yan's estimation, Western Xia had lost at least ten thousand, and most of them were elites. Not to mention hundred-battle veterans, they had fought dozens of battles.

The Western Xia army had five hundred thousand, but not everyone could be called an elite. In the case of pure field head-on battles, losing these ten thousand people would cut their overall military strength by at least ten percent.

But correspondingly, Wang Yan had gained ten thousand battle soldiers. With this back and forth, Wang Yan had earned it.

However, the price he paid was also huge: the medical expenses for the wounded soldiers now, and the hundreds of thousands of strings of cash in compensation he would have to pay in the coming decades.

But overall, he had earned it. After all, the compensation wasn't given for nothing; this money would also circulate, and he had gained the hearts of the people. If you ask who supports Wang Yan's governance the most, these soldiers and their families are definitely the most steadfast supporters...

Pingrong Village, over eight thousand people were two hundred meters away from the opposite Western Xia army, led by Wang Yan in a purple official robe, cursing loudly at the Western Xia people who were ready for battle.

But they just wouldn't come out...

After cursing for two quarters of an hour, Wang Yan picked his ears and shook his head regretfully: "Sound the retreat, kill pigs and eat meat tonight."

The soldiers shouted "Ten Thousand Victories" and turned back to the village laughing and joking.

This was a new activity Wang Yan had created. Every time he killed the opposite side until they acted like turtles, Wang Yan would assemble his forces, garrison troops and imperial guards together, to curse loudly to boost morale and enhance cohesion.

Then eat meat to buy hearts.

This trick was really useful...

Wang Yan looked at the Western Xia side, ultimately carrying his hands behind his back, swaying back with the army.

But he couldn't help but shake his head again; Western Xia people were not easy to kill, he had to change another method... ===== CHAPTER 1071 =====

Wang Yan looked toward the Western Xia side, and in the end, he still walked back with his hands behind his back, swaying leisurely along with the main army.

Yet he couldn't help but shake his head again; the Western Xia people were no longer easy to kill, so he would have to find another way...