In the room where the Privy Council commanded the war on Hebei Road, Du Zhongxiao handed the official documents in his hand to Tian Kuang on the side and said, "During the Battle of Quyang, I escaped from the River and I was transferred to the imperial guards in Shenzhou the day before yesterday and was wiped out in one battle."

"That's a good thing." Tian Kuang took the official document and read it in a hurry. "This Shi Daqing brought more than 2,000 people to suppress the thieves. It is a talent to seize the opportunity at night. By the way, those imperial guards were originally going to be eliminated, but Shi Daqing is available."

Du Zhongxiao nodded: "That's natural. Such generals are rare. However, there must be a reason among the generals who are about to be eliminated. It's better to wait for Hebei Road to report carefully before making a decision."

Fu Bi read the official document and shook his head and said, "That's such a talent, he doesn't seem to resist joining the army, so how could he be eliminated? Could it be that this person is illiterate? Many generals in the army are extremely brave, but they are not familiar with literature."

Tian Kuang said: "The most important thing for a general to go to battle to kill the enemy is courage. It is nothing to be illiterate. The slut can't kill people, so the generals in the army don't have to be so strict. He is really a talent, even if he is not good at writing, he should be used."

Du Zhongxiao said: "Now, everything in the army has rules. If you don't know big words and can't even understand official documents and military orders, how can you lead the army? The general must be literate, and this cannot be changed. Like Shi Daqing, if you really can't read, you can send someone to teach him. If you really can't learn it, there is no way. This military achievements will be rewarded with a lot of rewards."

Tian Kuang shook his head and said nothing. He did not agree with the current training of the Song army, especially the introduction of the official document bureaucratic system into the army, which in his opinion was a redundant approach. Generals led troops to kill the enemy bravely. What is the use of literacy? You need to read official documents. Just have literate confidants and let them read it. Since the Five Dynasties, this has been the usual practice in the army. There is even a trend of being ashamed of literacy, never reading, and using staff in Chinese affairs in the Song Dynasty. It was the same in the past that generals were illiterate. It was really common for them to be illiterate.

The distortion of different arguments was very common in the Song Dynasty. This was an imperial technique, and the emperor of the Song Dynasty believed it deeply. It was precisely because Tian Kuang had disagreeable with Du Zhongxiao that he worked together as Privy Councilor. Fortunately, although his opinions were disagreeable, he did not compete with Du Zhongxiao, which did not delay national affairs.

Everyone spread the official documents, and Du Zhongxiao said, "In the battle of Quyang, more than 1,000 Khitan soldiers escaped and went south to several states. I calculated these days. They captured more than 60 villages and towns and killed more than 8,000 people. How many people died after a war was over? But these more than 1,000 cavalrymen killed so many people because they went deep into the rear! This matter should not be underestimated. We must tell the generals on the front line that once they let the Khitans cross the territory, they must know what consequences will be! If such a thing happens in the future, the generals will be punished!"

Several envoys were stunned and looked at Du Zhongxiao together, thinking that this was incredible. What does it matter if the people died? Not to mention the people, when wars occurred in the past, the court looked at victory or defeat, and did not take the death of soldiers seriously. For example, after these Khitans went south, the court thought that he was not enough to threaten Kaifeng Prefecture, so they treated it as a thief and asked Liu Jianji to send cavalry to follow him and pursue him.

Du Zhongxiao shook his head slightly, feeling a little tired. Life is not a number, each represents a living person and a family. No matter how low the status is, they are also other people's parents and children of others, placing infinite hope. However, in this era, human life is far from being valued. For officials, death in population is not an extra problem. The most important thing is not these lives, but numbers.

In the court's assessment, one is that the number of people and households increases. It is precisely because of this that local officials pay attention to how many people and households are under their rule and pay special attention to this number. And they do not care much about the living life represented by these numbers.

Many times, what Du Zhongxiao was difficult for is not that it was difficult to do, but that he had different views on things. So this time, Xiao Hu saw the disaster of prefectures and counties, and there was no number of casualties or loss of property from local governments at first. Later, Du Zhongxiao specially ordered that after each place was attacked by the enemy, these numbers must be stated in the official documents, and these numbers were only found in the official documents.

These subtle concepts are different, and it is very difficult for Du Zhongxiao to gather them together. Many times, he cannot talk to others. Things that you think are important and upset are not worth mentioning in the eyes of other people. The longer the official is, the more tired he feels.

Seeing that the time was almost the same, after receiving the official documents, Du Zhongxiao and his colleagues from the Privy Council arrived at the capital hall.

Today, Wen Yanbo, Han Qi and other officials from the Political Affairs Hall arrived early and hurriedly got up to greet him.

After each of them sat down, Du Zhongxiao handed over the document and said, "The day before yesterday, Shi Daqing, a general from Jizhou, brought more than 2,000 troops and surrounded the Khitans who fled south in Daliu Shucai. He commanded properly and fought fiercely overnight to wipe out the thief."

Wen Yanbo read the official document briefly and nodded, "This Shi Daqing is very particular, so it should be of great use!"

Everyone has seen it and discussed how to reward it.

Du Zhongxiao said: "In this battle, in addition to the more than 800 Khitans killed, there were more than 700 prisoners. Shenzhou came to ask what to do about it."

Wen Yanbo thought for a while and said, "More than 1,500 people can fight in several states, but the pursuers behind them are hard to catch their figures. These soldiers are not simple. The chief general Xiao Hujian was also injured and captured, and was not killed. It is better to surrender them and use them for the court."

Du Zhongxiao shook his head: "These are Khitans, how can they surrender? Not to mention, they broke through more than 60 villages and towns and killed more than 8,000 people. If they surrender, how can they explain to the dead people? On the battlefield, the two armies fought each other and each was their own master. It is inevitable that they would kill and hurt. They can attack the unarmed people, burn, kill, loot, and be completely different!"

Wen Yanbo was stunned: "So, what do the Taiwei thinks?"

"Kill!" Du Zhongxiao said firmly. "They crossed the border without supplies, so it would be fine if they robbed food and grass. But whenever they went to villages and towns, they didn't count, but they burned and killed them, leaving almost no living places where they passed. What should such bandits do to surrender? If they recruited the army, they would be afraid that they would even lead the army. They could order Shenzhou to be killed outside the city to comfort the dead and injured people."

Wen Yanbo pondered for a while and said, "Taiwei, if you do this, you will be afraid of hurting the heavens."

Du Zhongxiao shook his head: "Is there any harm to Tianhe? When they burned, killed and looted in villages and towns, why don't they want to harm Tianhe? If they just follow the rules of killing people, no one of these people will survive! Kill them and make a warning to future generations!"

Seeing Wen Yanbo unhappy, Han Qi said, "After all these are Khitans, how can I use them for me? So, according to what the Taiwei said, it would be killed."

Du Zhongxiao looked at everyone and said in a deep voice: "Waring with the Khitans, you must understand that they are enemies and the people are the foundation of the court. Nothing is strange on the battlefield. Even if the fighting is fierce, you will not kill prisoners. But if the Khitans attack the people, it will be different. This battle against the Khitans is not just about preventing the autumn, but also about regaining the land of Yanyun. Regaining Yanyun is not for the land, but there is originally a Han land and the people are Han people. These Han people abandoned the Khitans for more than a hundred years, and the court originally was sorry for them. The imperial army advanced northward and should fight to the Khitans, but they must protect the people."
Chapter completed!