"A small favor?"
Looking at the smile on Han Mo's face, Zhong Shidao clearly felt that things could not be that simple.
However, at this moment, he was the one who needed Han Mo's help, so he could only let Han Mo state his conditions first.
"That's right, but let me say this upfront, whether I help or not, I won't make things difficult for the Old Grand尉 regarding the army's pay!"
Zhong Shidao was a man of integrity, and he was also Zhong Yanchong's grandfather. Han Mo did not want to make things difficult for him on this matter.
"Tell me, as long as it's something this old man can help with, I will never refuse!"
After a moment's thought, Zhong Shidao directly agreed to everything.
"I know that the Old Grand尉's prestige in the northwest is almost unmatched. I want to ask the Grand尉 to transfer a general from the northwest to come south and help me train these incompetent auxiliary troops!"
As Han Mo spoke, he cupped his hands towards Zhong Shidao.
"This, the transfer of military officers requires the approval of the Emperor. Even if I have some influence, I'm afraid it will be difficult to intervene in this matter..."
After hearing Han Mo's words, Zhong Shidao showed a hint of surprise.
Frankly speaking, this matter was not a big deal at all. If he could help, he would be happy to do Han Mo this small favor. If that person were under his command now, and it were wartime, he would not hesitate to hand him over to Han Mo.
But the problem was that the war was over now, and all the troops were about to set off. Even though he still held the title of Deputy Pacification Commissioner of the Six Southeastern Circuits, he was afraid it would be difficult to help Han Mo with this matter.
"Old Grand尉 misunderstands. I will naturally speak to the Bureau of Military Affairs and the Emperor. However, this person is arrogant, and if I force him to come from the northwest at this time, I'm afraid he will hold a grudge..."
"So that's how it is. I wonder who you have in mind?"
Hearing Han Mo say this, Zhong Shidao felt a strange sense of moved. Among the civil officials of the Great Song Dynasty, it had been a long time since anyone paid attention to whether a military officer harbored resentment. To those high and mighty scholars, military officers were merely tools. If they dared to have any resentment, they would face ruthless purges. Han Mo was able to go this far. No matter who Han Mo wanted, purely in terms of etiquette, there was no problem.
"Qu Duan, Commander of the Tong'an Fort troops in Jingyuan Circuit!"
"Qu Huan's son?"
After hearing Han Mo's words, Zhong Shidao was obviously stunned.
"That's right!"
"That kid, can you really handle him? You have to think clearly, that guy is a rebellious fellow. If you don't have the ability to subdue him, he won't give you any face at all!"
After receiving Han Mo's confirmation, Zhong Shidao couldn't help but smile bitterly.
"That's not something for the Old Grand尉 to worry about. If generals leading troops were all harmonious, would they still be generals?"
"Hahahaha, that's fine. I'll personally write him a letter and send someone to deliver it tonight. However, you'll have to handle the court's affairs yourself!"
After hearing Han Mo's words, Zhong Shidao smiled with satisfaction, his eyes towards Han Mo becoming even more affectionate. He had been in the northwest for so long and naturally knew the young talents on various circuits. Qu Duan indeed had great talent and the demeanor of a great general, but his temper was also exceptionally bad. Once he got angry, he wouldn't care whether you were his superior or not. It was only because his father had some influence before that the generals in the northwest wouldn't bother too much with him. Otherwise, this kid's grave would probably be overgrown with grass as high as a person.
"Then I thank the Old Grand尉 very much!"
Hearing Zhong Shidao say this, Han Mo felt relieved. When it came to unjust cases among the Song Dynasty generals, the first ones posterity often thought of were the Yang family generals or Yue Fei, but wasn't Qu Duan also one of them? Qu Duan truly had the talent of a great general, but his personality was too fierce. In the original history, because he disagreed with his commander Zhang Jun, he actually ended up gambling his head with his commander. Although things turned out as he predicted, Zhang Jun, in order to protect his authority, directly framed and killed Qu Duan under Wu Jie's instigation. Because of this incident, Wu Jie was always criticized. Han Mo originally thought that with his support, Wu Jie and Qu Duan would not have much interaction, but after Yue He's sudden death, Han Mo became vigilant again. He really did not want such a talented general to be destroyed by infighting. Rather than letting him develop in the northwest and eventually be killed by Zhang Jun and Wu Jie, it was better to keep him by his side to train troops!
"Alright, if we're talking about thanks, then I should be thanking you. From ancient times to the present, wars are fought with money and provisions. Without your financial support, this pacification would not have gone so smoothly! If you hadn't painstakingly raised funds from overseas, I'm afraid the people of the southeast would be at least ten times worse off now..." Unlike Zhao Zhen, Zhong Shidao was truly capable of both civil and military arts, and he had risen from the bottom. He understood the suffering of the common people more clearly. The people of the southeast were already suffering enough. They were already bent over by the heavy taxes of the imperial court and the exploitation of the Zhu family father and son. Many of them were just struggling on the verge of death. Under these circumstances, if the imperial court's military pay were to be forcibly levied on them, wouldn't it be tantamount to forcing them to become bandits? Fang La's rebellion did indeed involve many malicious schemers who deliberately incited trouble, but the vast majority of people joined them simply to find a way to survive. Seeing that they were about to starve to death, rebelling or not rebelling were both deaths. Under such circumstances, let alone ordinary people, even Zhong Shidao would have rebelled. It was precisely because he understood this point that he was always more cautious in his use of troops, trying not to kill those who could be spared. However, even so, the number of people who died directly or indirectly at his hands still reached hundreds of thousands. And the vast majority of these deceased were, not long ago, holding hoes in their hands...
"Old Grand尉 flatters me. If it weren't for the Old Grand尉's masterful generalship, I'm afraid the number of people who would have died in this pacification would not be what it is now..."