In the clean room, Chen Ke looked at Mr. Lu and this close minister of the emperor, and said slowly: "Brother Hui said this, I don't understand... Since the fight is probably not going to happen, why are the officials and the princes so nervous?"
"What if a fight breaks out? Where is the face of the imperial court?" Lu Gongzhu said with a wry smile: "Zhong Fang, let me tell you the truth, in fact, the Xixia issue is just a cover, and the key point is still the matter of 'sending troops to Dali'.
Our army of the Song Dynasty has not set foot outside the country for decades, and the officials and ministers have no confidence at all."
What did Chen Ke not understand at this point? It turns out that the emperor and the prime ministers, although they could not refuse the temptation to expand their territory and solve the money shortage, were really afraid that the Song army would show cowardice and be discovered by the Dali people.
It's a paper tiger. Wouldn't it cost both face and troops?
"This is really speechless..." Chen Ke said with a dark face: "There is a saying that 'to raise an army for a thousand days, use it for a moment'. The country uses 70% of its income to raise the army every year, which makes the country poor and the people unable to make ends meet. In case of emergency
But I’m worried that the army won’t be able to take action, what’s the point of raising such an army?!”
"Alas..." Lu Gongzhu said with a wry smile: "These issues are not something we, the ministers, should discuss." After a pause, he comforted Chen Ke and said, "Don't be depressed, in fact, the chances of this matter happening are quite high." As he said this, he comforted Chen Ke.
He lowered his voice and said: "To be honest, the imperial court cannot make ends meet every year, which amounts to about 20 million guan. After the disaster last year, the national funds were even exhausted. If the land for thirteen rows of pavilions had not been sold, I am afraid that this year's salary would be all gone.
It cannot be sent out... So if there is really inexhaustible copper mine in Dali and it can be easily transported to the Song Dynasty, I think the officials and princes will still give it a try."
"I understand." Chen Ke nodded. He understood what Mr. Lu meant... The officials and the princes wanted nothing more than to seek benefits while avoiding harm. If he wanted to convince them, he could only follow this method.
"You must be exhausted from traveling all the way." After saying this, Mr. Lu stood up and said, "Rest in peace and wait for the official summons."
"Yes." Chen Ke nodded and stood up to see him off.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The next day, the officials summoned Chen Ke in the imperial hall of Zichen Palace.
When Chen Ke entered the palace after listening to the announcement, he found that all the ministers of the two mansions were already sitting under the throne in east and west rows... In formal court meetings, the ministers stood, but during this informal summons
, officials are considerate of their important ministers and have always given them seats.
After saluting the officials and all the ministers, Chen Ke was ordered to stand up. He found that he was the only one standing in the palace.
Zhao Zhen, an official, looked at this man, the number one scholar he had made an exception for, with thoughts running through his mind... Over the years, the officials of the Song Dynasty he had seen all used prudent policies to protect themselves, used alarmism as a way to gain fame, and used flattery.
Inviting pets is the first step to enter the world.
But this Chen Ke is different. He is the number one scholar, and as long as he follows the steps, he can be crowned prime minister in more than ten years at most. There is no need to ask for trouble, or even risk his own future.
However, Zhao Zhen has long noticed that in the 100 years since the founding of the Song Dynasty, there were more than 20 number one scholars, but not a decent big shot. Is it because the number one scholars are incompetent? Obviously not. Is it because there is no chance? Obviously not, any emperor will be right.
He carefully cultivated his top talent and promoted him in every possible way. But why didn’t he become a great talent?
Seeing this young man who only took more than ten days to rush back from Dali, thousands of miles away, and dared to shoulder such a huge responsibility, Zhao Zhen understood a little bit... A spoiled child is like a child killed, what an excellent condition.
, so that those No. 1 scholars are unwilling to take risks and do not want to make progress. How can they shoulder the important responsibilities of the country?
After a long time, the official came back to his senses, looked at Chen Ke and said, "Chen Aiqing."
"I'm here," Chen Ke replied respectfully.
"What did I tell you before I went on the mission?" Zhao Zhen didn't mention the present, but instead started to look into the past.
"Officials ask ministers to act with caution and prudence first, and not to act rashly." Chen Ke replied.
"You dare to direct and stage an assassination, and play with all the kings and ministers of Dali." Zhao Zhen said coldly: "You are so brave."
"The official forgives me, but I have no choice but to serve as a minister." Chen Ke knew that this matter could not be concealed, so in the report, he told everything he had done, and did not hide anything: "The leader of Dali, Duan Silian, was indecisive, cowardly and contented.
.If I don’t force him, Dali will still be in a stalemate, and we, the Song Dynasty, will not be able to make progress at all."
"Does your so-called progress mean that Dali will fall into civil strife?" Privy Councilor Han Qi said solemnly: "How could the envoys of the Song Dynasty do such treacherous things?"
"The Prime Minister's words are wrong." Chen Ke shook his head and said: "The official's move is precisely to avoid civil strife in Dali, rather than causing the people of Dali to suffer misery."
"how do I say this?"
"The chaos in Dali is not due to the chaos on the surface. The root cause is that the leader is weak and the ministers are strong, and the powerful officials want to replace them." Chen Ke said solemnly: "At this time, I, the Song Dynasty, became the sect leader of Dali and sent troops to intervene in Dali.
It is to support the Duan family. With the support and protection of the Song Dynasty, the powerful officials in Dali will not dare to act rashly no matter how evil they are."
"To put it lightly, whether it is the Duan family's donation of land or the Song Dynasty's sending troops, it will cause drastic changes." Han Qi hissed: "With such a huge relationship, shouldn't you report it to the court first and then act as ordered?"
"Of course I should." Chen Ke nodded and said, "Isn't the official coming back to report now?"
"You are going to kill first and then report later!" Han Qi said with a dark face: "Dali's envoy has arrived in Yazhou, how can the court refuse?"
"In name, they are just apologizing for the assassination of Xiaguan." Chen Ke said calmly: "Now Xiaguan is standing here. If the Prime Minister is unwilling to accept it, let them go back."
"Hmph..." Han Qi snorted coldly: "Do you think this is child's play?"
Chen Ke smiled and said nothing.
"Okay, okay." Zhao Zhen came out to smooth things over and said, "In any case, the donation of soil in Dali is a grand event for the Celestial Empire. The court should handle this matter properly, right, Mr. Fu?" As he spoke, he turned to Fu Bi.
"What the officials said is absolutely true. The last time such a grand event happened in the Song Dynasty, when Emperor Taizong was still Emperor Taizong, the springs of Zhang and Yue returned to the land, and Wu and Yue donated their land. At that time, the Song Dynasty was so majestic to the world, and the imperial court accepted it grandly and informed the world. Now the officials are benevolent
Virtue, and there are big countries willing to rely on the Song Dynasty. Although the situation is different from that of Taizong, the court should still handle this matter properly. It must not lose the prestige of the court, chill the hearts of all the people, nor be dragged into a pit of fire.
Not coming." Fu Bi replied slowly: "After all, the Duan family in Dali came up with this move because they were desperate. They can't just look at the benefits without considering whether they have the diamond."
"What the prime minister said is very true." Zhao Zhen nodded and motioned for Fu Bi to continue.
"Dali's donation of soil is not unconditional. Duan asked the imperial court to send troops immediately to help stabilize the political situation. In this way, the imperial court must make an evaluation of sending troops to Dali. If everything goes well, it will be good. But going abroad to fight is still a good thing.
Far away is the country of Dali. When Emperor Taizu's army swept the world, he did not take Dali because the gains were not worth the losses. Now we must encounter more difficulties than imagined. If we lose the battle and lose our troops, the court will lose face.
Where can I go? If I am trapped in Dali for a long time and have to transport food and recruit troops, can the imperial court bear the burden?" Fu Bi looked at Chen Ke and said, "I hope the imperial court can accept the answer of the number one scholar."
"Before answering these questions, I have the guts to ask my husband, what is the significance of recovering Dali?" Chen Ke asked back unceremoniously.
"This..." Fu Bi was a gentleman after all. Although he was asked a rhetorical question, he still answered slowly: "The first is to expand the territory and boost the prestige of the Song Dynasty. The second is, Dali has horses and copper, both are
This is what the Song Dynasty urgently needs. The acquisition of Dali among the three will prevent Tubo from having second thoughts and focus on fighting the Song Dynasty against Xixia."
"What your husband said is absolutely true. I would like to ask you again, what price is the imperial court willing to pay to obtain these three items?" Chen Ke said lightly.
"It's impossible not to pay the price..." Fu Bi said leisurely: "But of course the smaller the price, the better."
"It's not that the imperial court is unwilling to pay the price," Han Qi happily took over the conversation and said, "it's that the treasury has no money and the imperial court has no available soldiers. Do you understand?"
"If the state treasury has no money, it can still fight a war. The key depends on whether the war is valuable. If it is valuable, there will be no need to worry about where the military resources will come from." Chen Ke said calmly: "As for the army, as far as I know, the number of military supplies has increased in recent times.
Since the year, the troops on the Guangnan West Road have been suppressing bandits in the deep mountains and old forests, and the Guangxi civil and military forces have also requested war several times to enter Dali and wipe out Nong Zhigao. It can be said that the military strength and morale are all available, and it is enough to use this army alone."
"No." Han Qi shook his head and said: "The Guangnan West Road has been initially decided. If the troops are transferred away, there will be no guarantee of another chaos."
"The war has been decided, and some troops can always be mobilized." Chen Ke argued: "Then we can recruit some Tibetan soldiers on the spot. This can reduce the hidden dangers in Guangxi, and secondly, we can train and move out..."
"Absurd!" Han Qi scolded: "Do you think that becoming a soldier from civilians can be accomplished overnight?"
"As long as we move faster, there will be no war in Dali for a few years, and there will be enough time to train them." Chen Ke said: "The army will set off from Guangxi, along the Hongshui River and Nanpan River, and arrive at Yuchanfu.
That is the territory of the Duan family, so we will be stationed there to intimidate the Gao family and the Yang family, and create opportunities for Duan Silian to negotiate. Overtly, we are supporting the Duan family, but secretly, we are protecting the mining of copper mines. This is our motivation for sending troops.
Instead of helping the Duan family and annihilating the Gao family or the Yang family."
Hearing Chen Ke say that the troops were sent not for war, but for deterrence, Zhao Zhen's expression became obviously much more relaxed, but he still asked uneasily: "Chen Aiqing, can you really guarantee that the Song Dynasty's army will not be involved in the war?
"
"The officials have learned from it, and the ministers have full confidence." Chen Ke nodded heavily and said: "Because the Gao family in eastern Yunnan will not rebel against the Duan family."
