"The Western Front..."

Upon hearing this term from Zong Ze's mouth, a complex expression flashed in Wang Bing's eyes.

However, just as he was about to speak,

the voice of a young servant suddenly came from outside the door:

"Gentlemen, your dishes are ready. May I enter to serve them?"

Seeing this, Wang Bing quickly put away the wine pouch.

He also drank the remaining half glass of distilled wine in one gulp before responding:

"Come in."

"Alright!"

After receiving Wang Bing's approval,

the young servant immediately pushed the door open and entered, swiftly retrieving several dishes from a vermillion lacquer food case he carried, placing them on the table one by one:

"This is the Jade Sunflower Treasure Fan..."

"This is Proud to Be Number One..."

"This is..."

The young servant was quite perceptive and, realizing that Wang Bing and the others had matters to discuss, sped up his actions and speech significantly.

In no time at all,

six dishes, one soup, and several bowls of rice were placed on the table.

Then Wang Bing gave a few more instructions regarding the side table for his attendants, asking the young servant to serve some food to Zhang San and Zhang Yuan before signaling him to leave.

After the young servant left,

Wang Bing first proactively placed some food into the bowls of Zong Ze and Xu Yun, estimating that the young servant had walked far enough away, he then sighed and said:

"Brother Zong, although I, Wang Bing, was killing enemies on the Western Front, there are certain words I cannot deceive you with—the matters of the Western Front can be summed up in one word: chaos!"

"Chaos?"

Zong Ze was slightly taken aback and asked:

"Brother Wang, I, Zong Mou, have been hurrying to the Capital City for the past ten days, and everyone I met on the road said that the Western Army has won a great victory and that the Qingtang Region will soon be recaptured. Why do you speak of chaos?"

Wang Bing sighed heavily, shaking his head.

He took out his wine pouch and poured himself another cup, sipping it leisurely.

As the wine went down,

a mouthful of alcohol breath was exhaled along with some turbid air:

"Brother Zong, you may not be aware that the chaos on the Western Front can be divided into internal and external chaos."

Zong Ze quickly assumed a listening posture, while Xu Yun, beside him, also eagerly pricked up his ears.

Although he was a transmigrator from a later age, his knowledge of this era was mostly on a macro level.

For example, he knew the Northern Song would fall 26 years later, he knew that the neighboring Danluo Kingdom had just suffered a great raid by Korea,

and he knew that thousands of miles away, there was a country called the Holy Roman Empire, where the emperor and the pope were on the verge of tearing each other apart over the right to appoint bishops...

But when the focus was narrowed down to a specific region or a particular battle line,

he would encounter extremely solid information barriers.

Because historical records are limited in what they can document, many things cannot be described in detail:

Unless you could create the internet in the Song Dynasty and cultivate a group of typists.

Thus, in terms of details,

Wang Bing is undeniably a vast, new source of information.

Subsequently, Wang Bing took a bite of food to suppress the effects of the wine and continued:

"The so-called internal chaos refers to numerous internal issues of the Western Army, starting with the empty salaries."

"Brother Zong, may I ask a question—my position in the army is that of a Captain, a Senior Seventh Grade rank, which entitles me to command a battalion."

"Currently, there are 497 people registered under my command. Can you guess how many of them are real and how many are drawing salaries fraudulently?"

Zong Ze glanced at him.

After thinking for a moment, he tentatively offered a number:

"...Three hundred?"

"Three hundred?"

Wang Bing shook his head, a mocking smile forming on his face.

He dipped his forefinger in wine from his cup and wrote several traditional Chinese characters on the table:

One hundred fifty-nine.

Zong Ze's pupils shrank instantly in shock:

"This... only one-third are real?"

Wang Bing nodded emphatically:

"That's right. You must know, Brother Zong, the place where I am stationed is the Taoxi Border, where a skirmish occurs on average every ten days."

"If such a critical location is subject to salary padding, what do you think of the entire Western Front?"

Hearing this, Zong Ze remained silent, while Xu Yun also heaved a heavy sigh.

Empty salaries.

This was also one of the topics he had discussed with Xiaozhao before.

The truth Xiaozhao revealed after drinking was also a key factor in his decision to take certain actions.

In the Northern Song period,

it was well known that the Zhe Family Army and Zhong Family Army were highly effective, capable of fighting three times their number in the same formation.

This was partly due to the training effects of Old Zhong and others.

But equally important was the fact that these 'X Family Armies' were generally at full strength for a long period.

For example, with the same nominal strength of a thousand troops,

Old Zhong's forces, if not fully staffed,

could at least field around nine hundred real soldiers, possibly approaching full strength.

But other units suffering from empty salaries could barely field three to four hundred soldiers, so how could they be effective in combat?

For instance, later when the Jin Army attacked Bianjing,

although the registered soldiers in Bianjing numbered two hundred thousand, apart from the thirty thousand brought by Zhang Shuye, the entire Bianjing City could muster only a little over twenty thousand warriors.

A nearly ninety-percent empty salary ratio—can you believe this was the Imperial Guard protecting the Capital City?

Wang Bing took a pause, cautiously walked to the window to sense any disturbances,

and, after ensuring nothing was amiss, returned to his seat, continuing in a lowered voice:

"Besides empty salaries, another aspect of internal chaos is... deduction of military merits!"

With that, he took out several pieces of official silver from his pocket, tossing them lightly in his hand while smiling bitterly:

"Brother Zong, you might not believe it, but after participating in dozens of battles large and small, this is the first time I've seen so much reward silver."

"Normally, for ten taels of official silver awarded by the court, only one tael would eventually reach us."

"Hm, outrageous!"

Zong Ze, who had always despised corruption, couldn't contain his anger upon hearing Wang Bing's words:

"Brother Wang, is there truly no one in the military to appeal or seek justice?"

Wang Bing shook his head with a bitter smile, looking at him with an expression of 'you are naive':

"Seek justice? Is it that easy?"

"Those people are shrewd. They never embezzle the relief funds, only the reward silver. How could ordinary soldiers know how much reward silver they can really get?"

"Whenever soldiers receive letters from home, learning that the families of fallen comrades have all received relief funds and knowing their own affairs are secured, who would fuss over the reward silver?"

"Even if there were officers who submitted reports to complain, those reports would never reach the officials' desks — although our dynasty prioritizes scholars over warriors, there is still some interaction between them, and those people have everything well taken care of."

Hearing this, Xu Yun suddenly thought of a name:

Li Gang.

Indeed.

This Li Gang has nothing to do with that later Li Gang.

He was a figure during the late Northern Song Dynasty, a typical example where personal virtue contradicted capability.

Li Gang organized the defense of Bianjing City and had fierce conflicts with the party led by Wang Boyan and Huang Qianshan that advocated surrender.

From a standpoint, he was a typical representative of the resistance faction.

Additionally, he was one of the staunch supporters of Zong Ze and supported Yue Fei's anti-Jin struggle until his death.

From a contribution perspective.

He was undoubtedly a Good Minister during the Southern Song, and his proposed plans could even be considered the 'revival strategies'.

But in stark contrast to his contributions and abilities was his personal virtue.

Setting aside the smear on Lv Haowen, his avarice was also quite severe:

On one hand, he supported rectifying military and political corruption and issued 21 new military regulations.

On the other hand, he turned around and embezzled seventy percent of the compensation relief funds...

While serving in the taxation of Nanjian Prefecture, Sha County, he copied the Western Army's corrupt practices, embezzling over fifty thousand coins over four years.

Actually, Li Gang's case wasn't unique.

Among all the Western frontline generals in the late Northern Song.

Apart from Liu Fa, Old Zhong, and Old Zhe.

Even the renowned veteran Wang Hou was once involved in embezzling funds...

"Wealth indeed stirs the human heart..."

Zong Ze sighed and shook his head, clinking a cup of wine with Wang Bing, then asked:

"Brother Wang, aside from internal strife, I wonder what this external strife entails?"

This time, Wang Bing still didn't directly answer his question but asked back:

"Brother Zong, having served as a county magistrate on the frontier, you should know where our dynasty's external threats primarily come from."

Zong Ze nodded.

His initial posting was at Daming Prefecture, also a crucial borderland:

"On the western front, we confront Western Xia, while the Liao People are eager in the north. Beyond these two, the remaining Qiang People and Wokou are nothing more than remnants."

Wang Bing slightly nodded:

"Indeed."

If we compare the Song Dynasty territory to a person.

Then to this person's right is the sea, directly ahead lies the Liao Kingdom.

At ten o'clock is Western Xia, to the right are Tubo and Dali.

The most threatening to the Song Dynasty are Western Xia and Liao Kingdom, though Song-Liao conflicts are relatively less—not because the Liao People are passive, but because 95 years ago, the Song Dynasty and Liao Kingdom signed the famous Treaty of Chanyuan.

Some people see it as a humiliating submission while others regard it as a wise decision.

In any case, after the signing of the Treaty of Chanyuan, on the surface, disputes between Song and Liao lessened considerably.

It even led to a flourishing cross-border trade.

However, peace is one thing.

But akin to the hawk and the rabbit later on, in the eyes of Song people like Zong Ze, the Liao Kingdom remains a potential enemy.

Hearing the resentment in Zong Ze's tone, Wang Bing paused for a moment before slowly saying:

"Then...may I ask Brother Zong, have you ever heard of the Jurchen tribe?"

"Jurchen?"

Zong Ze was taken aback, contemplating for a moment, and somewhat uncertainly said:

"The Jurchen Brother Wang refers to, could it be the Zhueng People south of Liaoyang?"

Wang Bing nodded:

"That's correct, it is indeed this tribe."

Zong Ze blinked, puzzled:

"Brother Wang, I, Zong Mou, heard that after the Liao Dynasty wiped out the Mohe People, the Zhueng tribe split into two."

"The two tribes were named Sheng Jurchen and Shu Jurchen, somewhat similar to the vassal Qiang tribes of our dynasty."

"What, according to Brother Wang, the Jurchen tribe appears rather threatening?"

Wang Bing gently shook his head:

"It's just a hunch. While fighting on the western front, I, Mr. Wang, heard that there was a warrior among the Jurchen named Wanyan Aguda, renowned for his unmatched bravery."

"In recent years, it seems the Emperor Daozong of the Liao is also nearing his end. Nine years ago, Yelv Yanxi was established as the heir to the Liao throne, and upon Daozong's passing, it will surely be this man who ascends."

"But this man is known to be ignorant and tyrannical, and it's rumored there is discontent among the Jurchen tribes within the Liao people."

"Currently, there seem to be voices in the court hoping that the officials could offer some support to the Jurchen, to assist them in causing some trouble for the Liao..."

Xu Yun had been quietly observing from the side, but upon hearing Wang Bing's words, he was taken aback and couldn't help but interject:

"Captain, does the court plan to support the Jurchen?"

Wang Bing sighed. It was evident he didn't seem to favor this plan much:

"It seems so..."

Xu Yun's brows immediately furrowed.

In the future where he came from, there was never a conclusive determination in the historical community regarding whether the Song Dynasty had supported the Jin Kingdom—because there was too little historical material for reference.

Some believed the Jurchen were fully aided by the Song Dynasty itself, a self-inflicted problem.

Others thought the Song Dynasty proposed cooperation only after seeing the Jurchen grow strong.

But regardless of which view, it is certain that Zhao Ji had indeed committed an audacious maneuver:

In the autumn of 1109, Zhao Ji sent the Jurchen many siege engines along with blueprints and craftsmen.

Along with an uncertain amount of provisions, which traveled via the Korean sea route...

Though no detailed records can confirm that Wanyan Zongwang employed identical siege weapons during the attack on Taiyuan.

But from a logical standpoint.

When the Jin Army attacked Taiyuan, they would almost certainly utilize these highly efficient Central Plains weapons unless they're out of their mind, or at least an improved version based on them.

With such generous assistance, how could one not sigh?

"The situation is quite dire..."

Wang Bing seemed to have hit a nerve, shaking his head again, he said:

"Presently, the western front is embroiled in continuous conflicts, the cavalry of the Western Xia bandits is strong, with many warhorses, while our dynasty has very few horses.

Some warhorses, after prolonged running and fighting, experience severe hoof damage.

Even if their stamina is still sufficient, they can only retreat to the rear, serving as transport horses or packhorses...."

"?"

Wang Bing had not finished his remarks when Xu Yun's face revealed a question mark:

"Severe hoof damage? Captain, are the warhorses on the frontlines not equipped with horseshoes?"

....

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