Do You Know?: I, the Little Cabinet Elder, Regent of the World

"Torpedoes, form up!" With the order, thirty trebuchets were pushed forward.

The catapults advanced, continuously hurling stones into the air.

"Break!" With the command flag waved, the ramming carts and moat bridge carts advanced together, crashing into the city gate.

Archers then fired arrows, leaving the already small Moershuiba tribe unable to defend itself.

"despair!"

"clatter!"

"despair!"

With no one to stop the city gate, the gate of the border town was suddenly flung open after repeated ramming.

"kill!"

Everything happened too fast and too suddenly, leaving no room for resistance.

A scout came to report from ten miles away.

"Reporting to the commander, the siege is going well, and the city gates have been breached."

Jiang Zhao, mounted on his horse, gazed at the flickering firelight in the distance and nodded slowly.

"rush to the rescue!"

After he finished speaking, the three armies, totaling 7,500 soldiers, rushed to his aid.

With the city gates breached, the two armies engaged in a fierce and earth-shattering battle.

In less than half an hour, 7,500 people rushed to the aid.

They had 12,500 men to fight against 500.

"I surrender! I am the general! I surrender!" The defending general, Sengzongbao, dressed in armor, knelt down and begged for mercy.

As expected, nearly all 500 men were wiped out, and the battle was a resounding victory!

After a resounding victory in the first battle, the army was rewarded.

The following day, more than 12,000 people headed straight for Nanchuan Village and Anxiang Pass.

Jiang Zhao devised a plan to lure the surrendered garrison commander, Senggezongbao, into the city by having him pretend to be fleeing for help. This allowed them to open the city gates from the inside.

More than 12,000 people, in 32 days, captured three villages and four forts in Hezhou, advancing with unstoppable momentum.

During this time, Gu Tingye arrived as reinforcements, and more than 14,000 people gathered in Xiangzi City, capturing the leader of the Moershui Ba people alive.

This leader of the Moershui people was the cousin of Yulongke, the leader of the Yulongke tribe, one of the largest tribes in Tibet.

May of the seventh year of the Jiayou era.

Jiang Zhao, Gu Tingye, and Wang Shao led only about twenty men and went straight into the Tibetan Yulongke tribe's camp.

Jiang Zhao and Yu Longke slept side by side, and with the condition that "the emperor would bestow a surname upon him and grant him an official position," they successfully persuaded Yu Longke to submit and recruited 120,000 of his followers.

Yu Longke entered the capital and was given the name "Bao Shun" by Emperor Zhao Zhen.

Once this move is completed, it will mean the collapse of the Tibetan alliance, and a large number of pro-Zhou forces will emerge within it.

When the Tibetan king Qusiluo fell seriously ill, Jiang Zhao took the opportunity to openly support the pro-Zhou faction, exacerbating the division within Tibet.

In July, Duke Zhang Fu of Yingguo, Marquis Gu Yankai of Ningyuan, and Marquis Zheng Shun of Zhongjing arrived in Xinjiang. With the strong support of six Grand Secretaries of the Cabinet, Jiang Zhao remained the leader in expanding the territory.

At the end of September, the Tibetans wanted to recapture Hezhou. Gu Yankai and his son Gu Tingye feigned an attack on the Qiang people, which drew the main force of the Tibetans to their aid. On the way, they devised a plan to ambush and annihilate a large number of Tibetan elites, thus stabilizing Hezhou and expanding their territory.

In October, Jiang Zhao manufactured the "matchlock gun," which was a significant leap forward compared to the firearms of the Great Zhou Dynasty. It greatly solved the problems of accuracy and safety and was specifically designed for offensive operations.

Wang Shao ordered his men to carve out an ice road and used matchlock guns and crossbows to suppress the Tibetans, inflicting a major defeat on the enemy army and thus expanding the territory of Taozhou.

January of the eighth year of the Jiayou era.

Transport Commissioner Jiang Zhao and Duke of Yingguo Zhang Fu led the main army, advancing rapidly and capturing Minzhou, Diezhou, and Dangzhou in succession.

The transport judge Shen Kuo devised the "ice road grain transport" system, which utilized the frozen Tao River in winter to quickly transport military supplies and support expeditions.

In February, in the Western Xia region, the former subordinates of Mezang Epang launched a rebellion, and the regime of the new emperor Li Liangzuo became unstable.

Jiang Zhao made a decisive decision and selected Marquis Zhongjing Zheng Shun and Wang Shao to lead troops to attack. The two of them defeated the Western Xia army and captured Lanzhou and Lezhou.

Li Liangzuo merely sent troops to attempt to reclaim lost territory, then claimed he was powerless to do so, barely giving the country an explanation before continuing the suppression.

Thus, Lanzhou and Lezhou fell completely into the hands of the Great Zhou.

From the beginning of the Three Kingdoms period, the Great Zhou army built fortresses and cultivated land, monopolized the tea-horse trade, and exchanged a large number of Tibetan warhorses. They also established a Tibetan school in Hezhou to teach Chinese classics, which attracted Tibetan and Western Xia children to enroll.

Thus, through a four-dimensional strategy of appeasement and division, military raids, economic control, and cultural assimilation, the border army led by Jiang Zhao fought across thousands of miles and expanded its territory to seven prefectures.

From the memorial to the emperor in July of the sixth year of the Jiayou reign (1847) regarding the strategy of pacifying the barbarians, to the successful training of troops in February of the seventh year of the Jiayou reign (1848), which led to the expansion of the territory, the campaign continued until March of the eighth year of the Jiayou reign (1849).

The duration was nearly two years in total.

Expanding the territory to seven prefectures, uniting two thousand miles of mountains and rivers!

The last time the orthodox Central Plains dynasty arrived in this place was during the Tang Dynasty.

More than 240 years have passed since the An Lushan Rebellion.

Finally, we regained our land!

……

I originally intended to delay writing a more detailed account of this part, but after thinking about it, I decided not to. There's still the Liao Dynasty, the Xia Dynasty, the Tubo Kingdom, and the Dali Kingdom to come—there's so much more to come, a little more won't make a difference.

Chapter 88 Rewarding Meritorious Service!

It was the end of May in the eighth year of the Jiayou era.

Hezhou, Military Council Hall.

Transport Commissioner and Pacification Commissioner Jiang Zhao sat in the main seat, holding a brocade cloth, and glanced at it indifferently.

The so-called Xuanfu Shi (宣抚使) means to announce the imperial decree, appease the military and civilians, and take charge of military and political affairs.

This official position was not a permanent government post, but a temporary appointment, and it was an official position without rank.

Generally speaking, it was only during special periods such as war, famine, or rebellion that an emperor would personally appoint someone to oversee the affairs of a region.

More than 20 years ago, Han Zhang had held this official position, overseeing affairs on the northwestern frontier and joining forces with Fan Zhongyan to resist the invasion of the Western Xia.

For Jiang Zhao, this assignment brought more prestige than anything else.

Last year, the initial expansion and development went smoothly. With the support of the six Grand Secretaries of the Cabinet, it was decided that the Duke of Yingguo, the Marquis of Ningyuan, and the Marquis of Zhongjing would support the frontier, with Jiang Zhao as the leader.

Civil servants support each other, and civil servants trust each other.

This decision is perfectly justifiable.

However, the Duke of Yingguo, Zhang Fu, the Marquis of Ningyuan, Gu Yankai, and the Marquis of Zhongjing, Zheng Shun, were all first-class nobles with real power.

In terms of official rank, all three of them held the second rank, which was above Jiang Zhao.

It has a negative impact when someone of lower rank leads someone of higher rank.

At the same time, it could also make the three main military commanders lose face.

As a result, Jiang Zhao was given the additional post of Pacification Commissioner, which nominally put him in charge of all frontier affairs.

Inside the military council hall, civil and military officials, starting with Jiang Zhao, sat on the left and right respectively.

On the civil service side, the main figures were Wang Shao, Zhang Heng, Xue Xiang, Shen Kuo, and Jiang Zhiqi, with some other nobodies of the sixth or seventh rank.

Since the newly expanded frontier has not yet been assigned to any territory, it is temporarily assumed that the Shaanxi Circuit will govern it.

Zhang Heng served as the Chief Clerk of the Ever-Normal Granary Office of Shaanxi Circuit, whose responsibilities included tea and salt trade.

Therefore, Jiang Zhao entrusted him with the responsibility of maintaining and managing the tea-horse trade and the salt-horse trade.

On the military side, the main generals were Duke Zhang Fu of Yingguo, Marquis Gu Yankai of Ningyuan, Marquis Zheng Shun of Zhongjing, junior general Gu Tingye, and Zhong E, with some minor generals as well.

Among them, Zhong E was the son of the famous general Zhong Shiheng.

Zhong Shiheng was the founder of the Zhong Family Army.

More than 20 years ago, Han Zhang served as the Pacification Commissioner and had long assisted Zhong Shiheng in resisting the Western Xia.

During the expansion of the territory, Zhong E used Han Zhang's connections to join Jiang Zhao's army as a general.

Jiang Zhao, sitting in the main seat, patted the brocade cloth, and dozens of people turned their attention to him.

"Expanding territory has always been a great achievement."

Jiang Zhao looked at the dozens of officials and said in a deep voice, "It has taken two years to expand our territory to seven prefectures, totaling two thousand li. Such achievements deserve a great reward."

"Report all the achievements of your subordinates and yourselves. I will do my utmost to secure the rewards that I deserve."

Since capturing Lanzhou and Lezhou in February, the surrounding armies have been building fortifications and implementing a policy of land reclamation.

Even now, the Western Xia regime is unstable and dares not make any rash moves.

The Tibetan Empire was internally divided and was already in decline.

With 200,000 soldiers stockpiled, the overall situation was already settled.

Thus, it came time to determine who would reward those who had contributed.

Jiang Zhao, as the Pacification Commissioner, was in charge of everything. Whoever made a contribution would have their merits attributed to him, and his achievements were undoubtedly remarkable.

The achievements of the soldiers below are not difficult to count.

Military judges, clerks, and household affairs officers were all responsible for compiling statistics on soldiers' military achievements.

If the exact number of people beheaded is verified and the discrepancies are not significant, then the verdict is accepted.

Occasionally, a soldier who commits a ten-man kill will be given special attention by the military commander, who will then promote him to a higher position.

The achievements of the commander are beyond doubt, and the achievements of the soldiers are obvious, but the achievements of the generals under his command are not so clear.

As a general, apart from actions like "beheading," "first to scale the walls," "breaking into enemy lines," and "surprise attack," which are particularly easy to demonstrate a general's ability to lead troops, there is a lot of room for debate regarding other achievements.

Jiang Zhao glanced at everyone, finally looking at Wang Shao: "Zi Chun formed a new army, launched a surprise attack on Dingqiang City, persuaded Yu Kelong to surrender, and participated in expanding the territory of Hezhou, Taozhou, Lanzhou, and Lezhou. Can he be credited with the greatest merit?"

Wang Shao was present in four of the seven prefectures he expanded the territory to.

Generally speaking, the head coach does not interfere with the ranking of subordinates' achievements.

Wang Shao's achievements naturally deserve to be ranked first among those below the commander-in-chief.

"Such an achievement is undoubtedly the greatest merit," Gu Tingye said, cupping his hands in agreement.

The surprise attack alone was enough to demonstrate Wang Shao's military prowess.

It was Wang Shao who initially proposed this idea.

The remaining dozens of officials nodded in unison.

Wang Shao's military achievements were indeed quite outstanding.

"In that case, Zichun is the one who has made the greatest contribution."

A single word can define it.

In a corner of the hall, Zhang Zai picked up his pen to record.

These are all things that need to be submitted, and they are also the most important reference for determining merits and rewards.

“Zhong Huai formed a new army, feigned an attack on the market city, persuaded Yu Kelong to surrender, stabilized Hezhou, and ambushed and annihilated the Tibetan elite troops.”

"British officials participated in the conquest of Minzhou, Diezhou, and Dangzhou."

"The Marquis of Ningyuan participated in stabilizing Hezhou."

"The Marquis of Zhongjing participated in the capture of Lanzhou and Lezhou."

Jiang Zhao listed the military achievements of several people in succession, and then pondered for a moment before saying, "Duke of Yingguo, Zhonghuai, Marquis Zhongjing, Marquis Ningyuan. How about this order?"

Generally speaking, a commander-in-chief can make decisions independently.

However, the matter of distributing rewards still needs to be discussed to avoid any omissions.

Led by Duke Zhang Fu of England, the generals exchanged glances and nodded in unison.

"Very good!"

Upon hearing this, Gu Tingye secretly breathed a sigh of relief.