hotmtlnovel Chapter 1238 1 Yantang
Chapter 1238 1 Yantang
Chapter 1238 One word
Zhang Dun was not allowed to return to the court, Zeng Bu was reappointed, Wu Juhou was severely demoted, and Wu Anchi was allowed to return to the Market and Trade Bureau. Zhang Yue's dominance forced the government to make concessions and compromise.
As the officials learned about these personnel arrangements from the court reports, they were all very surprised. Zhang Yue's strong move gave them a bad feeling that the court seemed to be determined to fight the Khitan and Tangut on both sides.
After Wang Gui and Cai Que received no response, Fan Chunren and other officials who opposed the war gathered at the residence of Sun Gu, the deputy privy envoy.
Sun Gu was a lecturer in the emperor's palace. Before Wang Anshi was appointed as prime minister, the emperor asked Sun Gu what he thought. Sun Gu replied that Wang Anshi had great talent for literature, but he lacked the magnanimity to be prime minister.
However, on the Qingmiao Law, Sun Gu supported Wang Anshi.
Later, he was opposed to fighting against the Tanguts, especially when the two routes attacked Xia, he opposed fighting together with Lü Gongzhu, and went to Zhang Yuefu, who was also opposed to fighting against the Tanguts, to lobby for the victory.
Now Wang Gui and Cai Que still did not respond, so Fan Chunren and other officials who opposed the war had to find the Deputy Privy Envoy Sun Gu.
Sun Gu had been wavering in his stance. On the one hand, he was a teacher in the emperor's residence, and on the other hand, he had his own ideas and persistence.
Seeing the discussions among more than a dozen ministers including Fan Chunren, Sun Gu also became interested.
Everything in the world is nothing but yin and yang. When you put forward an idea and push and support it forcefully, there must be another force pulling it in the opposite direction.
The government wants to reform, but there will inevitably be another force opposing the reform.
The New Party was an integrated whole at the beginning, but as the reform progressed, it continued to break apart and form new factions. The Old Party was composed of various factions within the original court, which came together because they opposed the advancement of the new law.
Now the old party’s greatest power is not in the court, but outside the court.
At a high level, politics is no longer a simple exchange of interests and motivation, but a common frequency of values. In fact, the older you get, the more you return to the original state of your soul. What kind of friends you make and what kind of enemies you make are actually selected by fate.
Rather than saying that we shared the same ideals at the beginning but later parted ways, it would be better to say that we were fundamentally not on the same path.
Wang Anshi should have been deeply touched by this.
Now that Feng Jing, who previously held dissenting opinions in the court, has left, a new candidate is needed in the two governments.
It is well known that Wang Gui's three ministers are unreliable, Cai Que is an official's man, and Zeng Xiaokuan, as the second generation of the emperor, has no foundation for suddenly ascending to the throne.
Zhang Yue and Wang Anli are of the same opinion.
Now the only one who could truly oppose the war between Song and Liao was Sun Gu. Everyone now turned to Sun Gu, even though he had no friendship with Fan Chunren and several other ministers.
"My husband! You are the only one who has a say in the court now."
"Master!"
"Master!"
Sun Gu has now become the number one member of the old party in the court, but Sun Gu has never considered himself a member of the old party. He has also supported the Qingmiao Law and was a lecturer in the emperor's residence. In terms of background, he does not have a father-in-law as prominent as Feng Jing.
He stroked his beard and sighed. He always acted impartially, but at this moment he appeared there like a flag, and he really had no choice.
Sun Gu said slowly: "The historian was also cautious at first. At that time, Your Majesty wanted to conquer the Tanguts, but he preferred to stay at home. In recent years, he led the conquest of Lanzhou and Liangzhou, so he thought he could make further progress. He actually caused such a terrible disaster and ignored the safety of the people. I am really sad."
Fan Chunren said: "The court should have stopped after taking Lanzhou. If it continues to do so now, once the Liao Kingdom sends out troops, not only will the work of the historians and ministers fail, but the situation of continuous war will also be difficult to stop."
"If we don't stop Mr. Zhang, we will be sinners in the world!"
Many ministers echoed Fan Chunren, and every word they said was heartbreaking.
Sun Gu turned around and faced the requests of Fan Chunren and other ministers, but he saw that the ministers were talking in a flurry, as if no one in the world except Sun Gu could oppose Zhang Yue.
Sun Gu said: "I will discuss the affairs of Liangzhou with Your Majesty and the History Bureau!"
The ministers were delighted and said, "This is great. Our country and society can be saved."
……
A few days later, the two governments held a meeting in the government hall.
The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the four-route deployment in Hebei.
Sun Gu, the deputy privy councilor, frowned upon hearing this. This meant that they were going to go into a full-scale war with Liao. Otherwise, what was the point of discussing the four-route deployment in Hebei?
Nowadays, each transport route has a transport commissioner, a criminal justice commissioner, and a grain commissioner.
And under the Transport Commission, there are various Pacification Commissions.
The four pacification envoys in Hebei, like the four major military regions, were gradually established after Emperor Taizong's defeat at Gaoliang River. They were originally located on the front line of the Song Dynasty against the Liao Dynasty. Due to the 80 years of peace between the Song and Liao dynasties after the Treaty of Chanyuan, Hebei's status declined year by year. They were replaced by the five major pacification envoys on the front line of the Song and Xia dynasties.
In fact, the post of Jinglüe Anfu Shilu is somewhat similar to the post of the Grand Commander of the Military Road in the Tang Dynasty.
Of course, Hedong Road was Song-Liao, and its strategic position has never declined in the dispute between Song and Xia. However, the last time Song and Liao argued about demarcation, Zhang Yue pacified Hedong, and the Hebei Roads purged the four pacification envoys.
During this period, Wang Anshi implemented the baojia system, eliminating the troops in various routes in Hebei and replacing them with local baojia systems. This move saved the court a lot of money.
Now a lot of soldiers and horses in Hebei have been eliminated, but it is undoubtedly extremely difficult to use baojia to resist the Liao cavalry moving southward.
Today, the two governments held a meeting. On the Secretariat side, there were Wang Gui, Zhang Yue, and Cai Que; on the Privy Council side, there were Sun Gu and Wang Anli. Also attending the meeting were Han Zhen, who was newly transferred back to the capital to be the head of the Privy Council, and Zhang Dun who rushed over from Chenzhou. As for Zeng Bu, who was in Guizhou, he was still on the way and did not make it to this meeting.
The two governments held meetings in the government hall facing each other from east to west, and although Zhang Dun was the governor, he could only sit at the lower seat and listen.
Zhang Yue said: "All four routes in Hebei are appointed as the governors of the two systems and above, and a military official is selected as the deputy governor. As for the strategies for future battles and defenses, we should discuss them carefully!"
Emphasizing civil officials over military officials is indeed a cowardly problem, but the advantage of a civil official being appointed as the governor is that he dare not rebel. It is hard to say if a military general is appointed instead.
Zhang Yue was halfway through his speech when Sun Gu objected, "Prime Minister, since ancient times, those who have discussed border affairs have always believed that peace with the enemy is beneficial and conscription is harmful. The military preparations in the four routes of Hebei have been neglected for a long time. This situation cannot be solved by selecting a general."
"Heshuo has a territory of several thousand square kilometers, with 36 cities in a row, a thriving population and a flat plain. Before the reign of Emperor Jingde, the Khitan invaded several times, and although the government had a large army, it rarely succeeded in resisting the enemy."
"It was like this during the Zhenmiao period. Can today's military preparations be better than before? Back then, the four routes in Hebei were set up as pacification routes, but the word 'jinglüe' was not added in front of them, meaning that they were only for defense and not for attack, so as not to anger the Khitan."
The pacification envoy of Shaanxi was in charge of both defense and attack.
Zhang Yue rebuked: "Since the Treaty of Chanyuan, military preparations have been neglected. Any border official who has the slightest ulterior motive is accused of causing trouble."
"The officials in the court thought that as long as the Khitans did not break the alliance, there would be no need to defend the border. This would ensure the world's eternal peace and the end of war."
"However, after the Qingli period, when the currency was increased, and the Xining period, there were still people who said this? When Li Yuanhao rebelled, after the Qingli period, when the currency was increased, Duke Fu Zheng wished that the temple would improve its military preparations and never forget the national humiliation. Could it be that Lord Sun has forgotten because Hebei has been peaceful for a long time? Lord Han Wei said that Hebei should 'take peace as a temporary measure and fight and defend as a practical matter', has Lord Sun also forgotten it?"
Sun Gu was speechless. He was old and weak, and he had thought of these words all night before speaking at the meeting between the two governments today.
However, after being refuted by Zhang Yue today, he was speechless.
Firstly, he couldn't argue with her, and secondly, he was intimidated by the accumulated power of Prime Minister Zhang Yue.
Sun Gu sat down again, raised his cup of tea and took a sip, but his hand trembled and the tea spilled onto his clothes. Although he had expected this result, he was still somewhat at a loss after being refuted by Zhang Yue.
Han Zhen and Zhang Dun, who were standing by, were both a little surprised to see Zhang Yue accumulating so much power.
Although Sun Gu was not as good as Feng Jing, he was still the teacher of the emperor. Zhang Yue used his power to suppress his objections. Wang Gui, Cai Que, and Wang Anli all looked calm and indifferent.
Han Zhen never saw Zhang Yue again after he became prime minister.
Han Zhen thought to himself, after seeing each other again for three years, the Prime Minister is now fully grown and his words are so decisive that no one dares to question him.
If I had known this earlier, I would never have dared to...
Han Zhen secretly regretted it in his heart.
Zhang Yue said: "My dynasty has not fought with the Liao Kingdom for eighty years, but the Liao people's tactics are the same as before. If the Liao army moves, they will enter the Great Wall from Juyongguan and other places, and then quickly move south from Youzhou and Pingzhou. They will not stay in Youzhou and Pingzhou for too long to prevent their horses from eating the crops."
"The Liao ruler has always had the habit of leading the army in person, and he would first sweep Guangxinjun, Xiongzhou, Bazhou and other places. If he encountered a large city on the road, it would be difficult to deal with it for a while, so the Khitan soldiers would gather outside the city, make noise and surround and shoot, inviting the defenders to attack or detour to the south."
"As the army marches south, they will burn down all the houses, fields, and mulberry trees they encounter. This is called beating the grass. Ying, Zhen, and Ding are the main routes for Liao to march south. The armies will finally meet at the foot of Damingfu and decide whether to cross the river and attack Bianjing directly or go elsewhere."
Listening to Zhang Yue's words, everyone's faces turned grim. Hebei had been peaceful for eighty years, and the common people had long since forgotten about war. Once the Khitan army marched south, except for the large prefectures and counties, all the small towns or farmhouses would be ravaged by the Khitan troops.
Finally, Zhang Yue said: "It was like this every time the Khitans went south!"
"Although we don't want to fight this war, the Liao Kingdom always uses this as an excuse to raise troops to intimidate us. It's really hateful and despicable!"
"First, the Qingli period increased the currency, and then the Xining period drew the boundary. Hundreds of thousands of yuan in currency are still not enough to support them every year. Today is the second time, how can it be the third time tomorrow?"
The ministers remained silent. Sun Gu seemed to want to refute, but in the end he did not say a word.
Zhang Yue knocked on the table and said, "After the Qingli period, Han Gong and Fu Gong always said that we should not forget the national humiliation, and that peace talks were temporary and fighting was the real thing. People just listened to such words and let it go."
"The Tao is the Tao, and in the end no one takes it to heart. The words are still said, and the days are still peaceful and prosperous, happily forgetting the shame of their ancestors!"
"Is it possible that you gentlemen cannot do anything practical?"
After Zhang Yue's words, everyone in the room fell silent, as if he was the only one who had the final say.
……
After the two governments discussed the matter, Han Zhen went to the West Hall of the Secretariat to meet Zhang Yue.
Han Zhen was extremely domineering in the northwest. He would do whatever he wanted, no matter if you were a general, a chief inspector, or even the deputy general manager of the army.
If he showed any disrespect in front of Han Zhen, he would scold him without mercy even in front of many people.
However, when Han Zhen came before Zhang Yue today, he was extremely respectful.