The two brats Zhang Xing and Zhang Buzhi were crawling around Zhang Fei on the bed, and would pounce on Zhang Fei from time to time. They couldn't stop having fun.
Zhang Fei also had fun with them, but Xu Zhiqian next to him was worried, "Zhang San, did you find out anything?"
"Um?"
Zhang Fei seemed unable to react for a moment and asked: "What?"
Xu Zhiqian said angrily: "It's about the Liao envoy."
"oh!"
"oh?"
Xu Zhiqian looked at Zhang Fei in confusion.
She didn't know why Zhang Fei didn't seem to take it to such an important matter.
Zhang Fei smiled and explained: "Actually, this is all expected. If you want to become rich and powerful, if others don't beat you, why don't they wait for you to become stronger to beat them? This is the normal relationship between countries.
"This is a critical period for our country's reform, and there will definitely be people who will make trouble. This is not an accident."
After Wang Shao Tuobian succeeded, Zhang Fei told Zhao Xu more than once that the Liao Kingdom would not just watch everything happen, and they would definitely do something.
This was all within his expectation.
That's it.
It is also inevitable.
Xu Zhiqian said: "That being said, we have to find a way to solve this problem. How do you think we should deal with it?"
Zhang Fei sighed and said: "At present, we must still try our best to avoid fighting on two fronts, but this really requires wisdom to solve, and I am just a prosecutor, and this is not what I am good at. I can only see how the above operates, and they also
They are all better than me."
Regarding this kind of diplomacy, the Song Dynasty was most familiar with it. Han Qi and Fu Bi were both first-class diplomats.
Xu Zhiqian's eyes turned and she said: "Can it be resolved through litigation?"
Zhang Fei chuckled and said: "If the Liao Kingdom agrees to settle the matter with a lawsuit, then I can sue them for bankruptcy. Believe it or not, they are not here to reason."
After Xu Zhiqian heard this, she immediately said angrily: "But they are really bullying people too much."
Zhang Fei smiled and said: "Don't worry too much about it. Everything has two sides. This is not necessarily a bad thing."
Xu Zhiqian said in surprise: "Isn't this a bad thing?"
"Of course not."
Zhang Fei said: "There will be motivation only when there is pressure. If the Song Dynasty is not surrounded by powerful enemies, then is it necessary to reform to become stronger? Is there any need to introduce public security laws? I'm afraid it has long been rotten to the core. This is a
It is an era worth looking forward to, and we should enjoy it."
These words are really not to appease his wife, but he really thinks so. Without these pressures, it would be impossible for Zhao Xu to accept the prosecution.
This was actually the driving force behind Zhao Xu's reforms.
At all times and in all countries, if there is no external pressure, the motivation for internal reform will definitely be insufficient.
It was precisely because of this that Zhang Fei dared to take this step. Otherwise, he would never mess with the public prosecutor's law.
Because there is no possibility of success.
It was precisely because he was surrounded by powerful enemies that Zhao Xu held back his strength and was willing to make compromises.
Xu Zhiqian thought for a while and was about to say something when Zhang Fei suddenly made a silent gesture and glanced at his chest. Xu Zhiqian looked down and saw two boys sleeping on Zhang Fei's chest.
It’s on.
Zhang Fei said in a very low voice: "You know now how boring our conversation just now was."
Xu Zhiqian glared at him, then gently covered the two little guys with the quilt.
...
Of course, currently only Zhang Fei is so open-minded and sees things so openly. In fact, most ministers are still more like Xu Zhiqian, which makes me very worried.
Especially when they first learned that the Liao Kingdom had sent a special envoy, everyone in the government and the public was very nervous. If this was not a big deal, they would not send a special envoy.
Everyone thought that the Liao Kingdom must have come to ask for the ten counties in Guannan again. Who knew that the other party came this time, and it was not because of the ten counties in Guannan.
It is mainly aimed at two things. One is the issue of border intrusion in Hedong area, Dai, Ying and other places. The other is the construction of fortifications in Zhantuoguan City in Xiongzhou. The Liao Dynasty believes that doing so violates the Chanyuan Policy.
alliance.
Zhao Xu and the others were still relieved.
There is a big difference between the two.
Asking for the ten counties in Guannan is an act of ceding territory, because the Chanyuan Alliance has agreed that these ten counties will belong to the Song Dynasty. Otherwise, the Song Dynasty would have no reason to give the coins, and now it wants to go back. It is just bullying, you know.
The subjects of the Song Dynasty were actually very sensitive to matters such as ceding land, and there was not much market for it.
At the beginning, Song Zhenzong and Song Renzong would rather give money than cede land.
But the invasion of the border was a controversial issue, and the pressure on the Song court was not that great, but it was not a trivial matter, it was just that the pressure from public opinion was not that great.
Invasion of the border has not never happened, but it has always been handled by local governments and will not rise to the central level. But this time the Liao Kingdom sent a special envoy, there must be a problem.
Zhao Xu is not stupid, and this matter must be handled with caution.
He immediately called for Han Qi and Zeng Gongliang, who had already become prime ministers.
Especially Han Qi, because he had been handling the border issues with Liao before and had excellent results.
Afterwards, Zhao Xu summoned Fu Bi, Wang Anshi, Wen Yanbo, Sima Guang, Lu Gongzhu and other prime ministers respectively.
Their suggestions are roughly the same.
They all suggested that the emperor should actively negotiate with the Liao State and strive to maintain friendly relations with the Liao State.
Because they all know that at this moment, they are actually very passive. This country's internal reforms and Xihe Tuobian have put huge pressure on the finances.
We must not break up with the Liao Kingdom at this time.
But on the border issue, they believe that we must not give in, and we must be reasonable and evidence-based.
Although they are roughly the same, their statements are subtly different.
Han Qi believes that Wang Anshi is fully responsible for getting to this point.
Based on his observations while serving as a pacifier in Hebei, the people of the two countries had not fought for decades and were actually very war-weary. Based on this, Han Qi believed that the Liao Kingdom had no intention of going to war with the Song Dynasty because there was no public support for it.
The reason for doing this is that Wang Anshi has been showing off his teeth and claws in the past few years, and he wants to let everyone in the world know that my reform is just to do you.
The key is, if something is good at the top, it will be worse at the bottom.
Since Wang Anshi became prime minister, he placed some generals who supported his reforms at the border, and these generals were all radicals, which caused the surrounding forces to actively guard against the Song Dynasty.
Han Qi believed that this was a very serious mistake. He believed that troops should be trained secretly, defenses should be strengthened, and before their wings were full, they should actively improve their surrounding relations, even with Xixia.
And cite the example of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. After two generations of development by Wen and Jing, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty began to break up with the Xiongnu. Wang Anshi's reform had only been a few years, and the results were not much, but he shouted more fiercely than anyone else.
.
Then Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty tolerated it for three or four years. You must tolerate it for at least ten years.
His suggestion was to abolish some of Wang Anshi's military policies in order to relieve the Liao's doubts and put the matter to rest, because he believed that the Liao would not easily go to war with the Song Dynasty.
Although Han Qi must have selfish motives, because he does not agree with some of Wang Anshi's policies, what he said is true, but it is a little exaggerated.
Because the purpose of Wang Anshi's reforms was to fight, this was also the consensus between him and Zhao Xu. It was precisely because of this that Zhao Xu was willing to support Wang Anshi. No other minister was as fierce as Wang Anshi, so Wang Anshi would definitely shout this slogan to the outside world.
tough.
Otherwise, he has no reason to reform. In fact, he is the same as Zhang Fei, seeking internal reforms through external pressure.
However, both Fu Bi and Sima Guang opposed this approach. Fu Bi gave Zhao Xu the advice not to use troops for twenty years.
The underlying meaning is that the country's people's livelihood is now in decline, and it will take at least twenty years of development before it can have the strength to fight a foreign war.
Therefore, both Fu Bi and Sima Guang more or less put the blame on Wang Anshi, but they were not as straightforward as Han Qi, because during this period, Wang Anshi was in charge. If Wang Anshi had not been so radical, the Song Dynasty would not have fallen into
This dilemma.
Of course Wang Anshi is not stupid. He also knows very well that the Song Dynasty is now unable to go to war with the Liao Kingdom. Once the key point is to start a war with the Liao Kingdom, what will happen to Xixia? His focus is entirely on Xixia, and his plan is to destroy Xixia first.
Therefore, he also suggested actively negotiating with the Liao Kingdom and making some compromises, such as dismantling Xiongzhou's defenses, but not going too far.
At the same time, he believed that preparations for the elimination of Xixia should be accelerated, otherwise, he would always be suppressed by these two forces.
Among them, only Wen Yanbo and Zeng Gongliang were stronger. They believed that you must be prepared for war and actively defend, and you cannot hope that the Liao Kingdom will not attack you.
But they all believed that the current national strength of the Liao State could not swallow up the Song Dynasty, and if a war broke out, they would suffer heavy losses.
Here we can still see the struggle between the innovative and conservative factions.
...
During this period, Zhang Fei was not worried about this matter, but had been discussing the agricultural tax issue with the Imperial Court and the Third Division.
The imperial court has stopped the tax department and believes that if the agricultural tax remains unchanged, it will violate the new tax law.
The Third Division is also willing to compromise, but the question is how much to compromise.
The problem here is actually very complicated, because barren land may yield no harvest, but fertile land may only be reduced by 30 to 40% compared to previous years.
In the end, Zhang Fei came up with the idea to conduct a sample survey and randomly check some land in different places to see how much damage the disaster had caused to the farmland.
Then this number is determined as the output per mu of land this year, but the tax rate remains unchanged. In the past, someone might have to pay 20% tax. After this calculation, you may only need to pay 10%. In the past, you only had to pay 10% tax.
Five, it may be tax-free.
Of course the people were rejoicing.
However, Zhao Xu was not in the mood to worry about this matter at all. He summoned Zhang Fei into the palace today not to discuss this matter, but to discuss the issue of the Liao envoy.
Zhao Xu must discuss it with Zhang Fei before making a decision, because the current layout has slightly deviated from Wang Anshi's track, and Zhang Fei is fully involved in it.
"I have already learned the specific details of this matter from Li Bao, but after all, foreign affairs are not my specialty. I wonder what Wang Xueshi and others said?"
Zhang Fei asked humbly.
They really don't know much about the stakes here.
Zhao Xu also informed Zhang Fei of the suggestions of the prime ministers.
After Zhang Fei heard this, he thought for a while and then said: "Actually, I agree with Xianggong Han's opinion. What we lack now is time. During this period, we should actively improve relations with surrounding forces and reduce wars. After the reform is completely completed,
Then start using troops abroad."
Zhao Xu said: "But this tree wants to be quiet but the wind is not stopping! Although the Liao Kingdom did not attack the ten counties in Guannan this time, but turned to the border of Hedong, they definitely wanted to ask for more territory.
In this negotiation, they will definitely make things difficult for them. If they want to solve this problem, I’m afraid it won’t be that easy!”
Zhang Fei asked: "Is there any dispute over the border east of Hedong?"
Zhao Xu said: “When the boundaries were demarcated back then, it was generally relatively clear, but it was not said that even every plant and tree was clearly marked.
In particular, that area has been a forbidden land for our dynasty for a long time. It was not until the Qingli period that people began to migrate there for farming. However, before that, many Liao people had already crossed the border and entered the territory of our dynasty for farming. This resulted in those areas.
Most of them are Liao people.
Now they are attacking us, thinking that we have crossed the border and occupied the fields of the Liao people, so they use this as an excuse to demand that the border be redrawn to avoid disputes."
Zhang Fei thought for a while, nodded and said: "Since the Liao Kingdom has this request, we should also respond positively. Only in this way can we ease relations with the Liao Kingdom, draw a clear boundary with them, and avoid future disputes."
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! Zhao Xu asked: "Then what are you going to do?"
Zhang Fei said: "Plot slowly and carefully. Every plant and tree must be clearly marked to avoid further disputes."
Zhao Xu looked at Zhang Fei in confusion.
Zhang Fei explained: "Your Majesty, if we want to draw such a long boundary line clearly, I don't think it can be done within three or four years. And these three or four years are crucial to our country."
.”
Zhao Xu said: "So, this is a delaying tactic."
Zhang Fei nodded, "According to Li Bao's news, it is possible for the Liao Kingdom to take action. Although if they do this, both sides will lose, but the problem is that time is very beneficial to us, so we should try our best to avoid it.
Moreover, Xianggong Han's suggestion is also worthy of reference, that is, the people on both sides are very war-weary, and a war without a basis of public opinion cannot be won.
So, has your Majesty ever thought about how we would go to war with Liao in the future?"
Zhao Xu was stunned for a moment. How could he think so far now?
Zhang Fei said: "Now this matter is in the hands of the Liao Kingdom, but in the future we can also operate this matter to gain the support of public opinion. It is the Liao Kingdom that bullies others too much, not us who want to break the peace."
These words inexplicably gave Zhao Xu confidence and support, "Are you sure that after three or four years of reform, we can fight against the Liao Kingdom?"
Zhang Fei nodded and said: "Absolutely. If your Majesty doesn't believe it, you can look at the development of the northwest and the development of Jingdong East Road. If this trend continues, we will become very powerful in three years."
He wanted to hang Zhao Xu and resolutely implement the public security law.
Of course, what he said was true, and Zhao Xu also knew that when there were wars on the Western Front in the past, the people in the northwest would inevitably have a hard time making a living, but this time the expansion of the Xihe River would require three to four million strings per year, although it would bring great difficulties to the northwest.
, but it did not affect the development of the northwest.
Moreover, under the drought, business is so prosperous, which is unprecedented!
Zhao Xu thought for a while and asked: "Then who do you think should be sent to negotiate with the Liao Kingdom?"
Zhang Fei was stunned for a moment and said, "I don't know about that."
But after saying that, he saw a trace of evil in Zhao Xu's eyes, "Your Majesty, you... you are not going to send me, are you?"
Zhao Xu immediately said: "You are willing to go there for me."
"Of course not."
"Um?"
"No."
Zhang Fei immediately explained: "Your Majesty, what I mean is that I am not good at foreign affairs and I don't have any experience."
Zhao Xu said: "But there are many ministers in the court who recommend you."
Damn it? It’s really party fighting that is harming the country! You bastards are making fun of national affairs. You deserve to die. Zhang Fei said: "Your Majesty, those people have bad intentions!"
"I know."
Zhao Xu nodded.
Zhang Fei was astonished and said: "Since Your Majesty knows, why did you send me there?"
Zhao Xu said: "I plan to send you there for three reasons. First, although you have no experience in foreign affairs, the demarcation of boundaries requires evidence, demarcation according to law, and debate with the other party. This is not your strength.
?
Secondly, this delaying strategy was proposed by you, and apart from you, no matter who I send, I cannot tell him clearly. During this period, problems are likely to arise, which will not meet our expectations.
Thirdly, whether it is Mr. Han or Mr. Wang, although their suggestions are similar, they all have their own selfish motives in this matter. They will find ways to intervene and guide the matter in a direction that is beneficial to them, but this