In the back yamen of Xiongzhou, Ma Huaide and Zhang Ku were sitting and drinking. Both of them were military generals. They had contacts these days, had similar tempers and often chatted.

After drinking a few glasses of wine, Ma Huaide said: "The Privy Council transferred the article and said about the matter with the Khitan. He no longer talked with the Khitan envoys in the capital. He just asked me to negotiate with the Khitan as a pacifier. Let's see, it's time to celebrate the New Year, and this year will not be peaceful."

Zhang Ke said: "In my opinion, the military strength of the Khitan is not necessarily very strong. Stop saying that the current army is different, even the previous imperial guards are not inferior to them. The Khitans are so tough, I don't know what they are relying on!"

Ma Huaide smiled and said, "Taiwei, the Khitans rely on cavalry, and a large number of cavalry. The Khitan forces have been dominated by the palace soldiers and horses around the king. There are more than 100,000 people, all of which are cavalry, and they are very elite. Therefore, when Khitans fight, the king has always been fighting in great battles, and the rest of the generals are unable to command the palace soldiers and horses. Once the rest of the divisions are gathered, there can still be hundreds of thousands of people, and they are also cavalry. Only in Yanyun can there be infantry. Hundreds of thousands of cavalry are traversing and moving quickly, how can they stop it?"

Zhang Ji said: "As long as you know the Khitans' march route, you can send troops to pre-interception."

Ma Huaide shook his head: "I don't know if it can be done now. If it weren't before, it would be impossible. The Khitans invaded and rode to Jingdong Road. The court still didn't know where its main force was. Often, it would cross hundreds of miles in a few days, and it would not be erratic. At that time, the imperial court did not have as many cavalry as if it were now. It could only guard the important land and let the Khitans enter a no-man."

Zhang Ke thought for a while and nodded, "Yes, when Taiwei Du had not taken Hequ Road, the court had no horses and it was really difficult to deal with. However, it is different now. The court does not lack horses and has sufficient cavalry. It is difficult for the Khitans to do this."

Ma Huaide said: "The words are good, but the Khitans may not be able to accept these for a while. Even though they know that the present is not the past, they subconsciously think that this dynasty was the country that was short of horses and had weak military strength. What if they lose in a while? If they get angry, they will be able to surround the Central Plains as long as they ignite the army. How could the Khitans give in?"

Zhang Ke said: "But over the years, the two Khitan emperors have fought each other and are quite submissive to our dynasty."

Ma Huaide smiled and said, "When the two emperors were fighting, Chongyuan and Hong Ji were recruiting troops from Yunzhou and Youzhou, and the Khitan troops were watching. Even the tribes of the palace were brought to Shangjing by Yelu Renxian and did not participate in the war. Now the overall situation of Hong Ji has been determined, and all the troops in the country are in his hands. How can we compare with that at that time? Besides, the Khitan was respectful at that time, and our dynasty also intended not to provoke the Khitan, so of course it would be harmonious."

Zhang Ke was from the Prefecture. When he joined the army, he was fighting Dangxiang. His military career was basically fighting Dangxiang. It was not until Du Zhongxiao arrived at Hequ Road that he took over Dou Shunqing's troops and was not familiar with the Khitan army. He annihilated Yelu Fonu that day, and felt that the Khitan army was not very good. His infantry rushed forward and faced the Khitan cavalry, and still maintained the formation intact. However, he did not know that his troops were the foundation for Du Zhongxiao's training in Suizhou. Although after training, the backbone of the army was mainly the elderly, which was not comparable to other troops.

Zhang Ke has been carrying this army for several years now, and his vision is no longer comparable to that of the past. In his eyes, the Khitan army is not as strong as a strong soldier, and is far from his troops.

Ma Huaide was in charge of Xiongzhou for several years and had a deep understanding of the Khitan army, so naturally he would not be the same as Zhang Ji.

After talking for a while, Ma Huaide said: "The imperial court orders that the original imperial guards on Hebei Road will go to Hejian Prefecture to train. A few days ago, I and other routes have deployed to meet with Liu Taiwei. Taiwei said that the number of people who registered in the military academy was too small, so we asked us to recruit more people. However, Xiongzhou is a border state, so there are not many scholars, and there are mostly two losers under the rule. Where can we recruit people?"

Zhang Ke said: "Now the two losers don't give credit to the Khitan, aren't they still considered the people of this dynasty? They should be fine if they join the army."

Ma Huaide said: "The Taiwei said that two losers can also enter the military academy. But you think that the imperial court and the Khitan were both guarding each other before, and they were useless in studying. What can they do? If they were compared with the archery and horse martial arts skills in the past, they could recruit people. Now, they have to make a plan for entering the military academy. There are not many people who can read, so who can do any strategy!"

Zhang Ke nodded. Of course, he understood that he was promoted before he led this army. If he was in Du Zhongxiao's army, he would not be able to do today with his cultural level. He led this army and studied for a while before he gradually adapted. There were not many people in Xiongzhou who read and read, so how could he recruit people to the military academy? That strategy requires some knowledgeable scholars.

Seeing Ma Huaide sighing there, Zhang Ji said, "The magistrate is just to do his best to do his best. Since there are few scholars under his rule, it is better to give them more favorable conditions and see if they can recruit people. If it doesn't work, then it's unimaginable."

Ma Huaide said: "If you learn from a military academy, you can join the army and become an officer. Isn't this good condition?"

Zhang Ji laughed when he heard this: "What if I can't learn it? Although it's slack farming now, there are railways in Xiongzhou, and many things are done, and there is money every day. I'm afraid it will take ten days to go back and forth? Calculate it, a lot of money."

Ma Huaide was stunned for a moment, but he forgot about this festival. At the construction site, scholars can write and keep accounts, but they are not tired from their work, and they have a lot of money. Even if there are a few scholars, how could they put the money they have received and go to the military academy to take? Even if the government does not have travel expenses, they will earn nearly ten days of wages for these people.

After thinking for a while, Ma Huaide said: "How much money can you make in a day when working on a construction site?"

Zhang Ji said: "I heard that the Secretary of the Communist Party of China urged the railway to tighten the railway, and the wages have increased recently. Those who do heavy work and those who write and keep accounts have more wages than others, and they have 150 cents a day. Those who do light work can have more than 100 cents a day. Of course, in addition to the wages, the construction site also cares about their food and accommodation."

Ma Huaide nodded: "It takes 150 citations a day. If you count the ten-day journey to Hejian Mansion, you will have to 500 citations a day. This is not a small amount of money. It's okay if there are few people. If there are hundreds of people, you have to go out to 500 citations a day."

After hearing this, Zhang Ji smiled and said, "The magistrate, Xiongzhou, are there hundreds of people who can read and read?"

Ma Huaide smiled and said, "No. As far as I know, in addition to working in the yamen, there are also several shopkeepers in the city. There are not many scholars in the province. Not to mention hundreds of people, there are dozens of people, you can also hand in the work to Taiwei Liu."

Speaking of this, he clapped his hands and said, "The Grand Marshal Liu is really urging him, but it's not enough. He spends a hundred tens of cents of money, so he can just recruit some people. Liu is not able to recruit enough people, so he is forced to force us to force him to hurry. If he sends the people, what else can he say?"

Zhang Ke smiled and said, "That's the reason. In such a large Xiongzhou, I can't afford a hundred ten-point coins."
Chapter completed!