Not allowing Zhang Dun to return to the court, Zeng Bu re-appointed him, demoted Wu Juhou, and allowed Wu Anzhi to return to the Yisi. Zhang Yue's strength forced the officials to compromise.
As these personnel arrangements were learned from the Di newspaper, the officials were all alert to it. Zhang Yue's strong move gave them a bad feeling. It seemed that the imperial court was really determined to fight with the Khitan and Dangxiang on both sides.
After Wang Gui and Cai Quena 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 an official when the emperor was in hiding. Before Wang Anshi paid homage to the prime minister, the official asked Sun Gu what he meant. Sun Gu replied that Wang Anshi was a very talented person, but he did not have enough magnanimity to serve as prime minister.
However, Sun Gu supported Wang Anshi on the Green Seedlings Law.
Later, he was opposed to the war against Dangxiang. Especially during the two-pronged expedition to Xia, he and Lu Gongzhu opposed the war, and once went to Zhang Yue's house to lobby, who also opposed the war against Dangxiang.
Now Wang Gui and Cai Que still did not respond. Fan Chunren and other officials who opposed the war had no choice but to approach Sun Gu, the deputy privy envoy.
Sun Gu has been wavering in his position. On the one hand, he is a teacher in the official family's dormitory, but on the other hand, he has his own ideas and persistence.
Seeing the discussions among more than a dozen ministers including Fan Chunren, Sun Gu was also moved.
Everything in the world is just a yin and a yang. When you put forward an idea and forcefully push and lift it, there must be another force pulling it in the opposite direction.
The officials want to reform, but there must be another force that opposes the reform.
The New Party was a whole at the beginning, but as the reform progressed, it continued to peel off and form new factions. The Old Party, on the other hand, was the various factions within the original court. Instead, they came together because they opposed the advancement of the new law.
Now the greatest power of the old party is not in the court, but below the court.
When politics reaches a high level, it is no longer a simple exchange and drive of interests, but a sharing of values. In fact, the longer people live, the more they return to the origin of the soul. What kind of friends do you make and what kind of trees do you cultivate? Your enemies, in fact, fate has already selected them for you.
Rather than saying that we were like-minded at the beginning and then parted ways, it would be better to say that we are fundamentally different from each other.
Wang Anshi should be deeply touched by this.
Now that Feng Jing, who originally held different opinions in the Manchu Dynasty, has left, a new candidate is needed in both governments.
It is well known that Wang Gui's three edicts are unreliable, Cai is indeed a member of the official family, and Zeng Xiaokuan, as the second generation, has no foundation for his sudden rise to power.
Zhang Yue and Wang Anli expressed the same sentiment.
Now the only one who can truly oppose the war between Song and Liao is Sun Gu. Now everyone has asked for Sun Gu, even though he has no friendship with Fan Chunren and other ministers.
"My lord! Now you are the only one who can speak in the court."
"Ms. sir!"
"Ms. sir!"
Sun Gu has now become the first member of the old party in the government, but Sun Gu has never considered himself to be a member of the old party. He also supported the Qingmiao Law and was a lecturer when he was an official's residence. In terms of background, he does not have the same background as Feng Jing.
Such a distinguished father-in-law.
He stroked his beard and sighed, he always acted with a public heart, but now he appeared there like a flag, he really couldn't help himself.
Sun Gu said slowly: "Historical staff also took a cautious view at first. At that time, His Majesty wanted to recruit party members, and he would rather stay at home. In recent years, he has presided over the capture of Lanzhou and Liangzhou one after another, so he thought he could go further, and actually caused such a problem.
Such a catastrophic disaster, regardless of the safety of the people in the world. I am really sad."
Fan Chunren said: "After the imperial court took Lanzhou, it was enough. Now if we take this step further, once the Liao Kingdom sends troops, not only will the achievements of historians and ministers be in vain, but the situation of continuous military disasters will also be difficult to eliminate."
"If we don't stop Mr. Zhang, we will be the sinners of the world!"
Many ministers echoed Fan Chunren, weeping every word.
Sun Gu turned around to face the request of Fan Chunren and other ministers, but saw that the ministers were talking too much, as if no one in the world except Sun Gu could oppose Zhang Yue.
Sun Gu said: "I will discuss the matter in Liangzhou with Your Majesty and the History Museum!"
All the ministers were overjoyed and said: "This is so good, our country and our country will be saved."
…
A few days later, there will be a meeting between the government halls of the two governments.
The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the deployment of Hebei's Fourth Road.
Sun Gu, who was the Deputy Privy Envoy, frowned when he heard this. This was going to be a full-scale war with Liao. Otherwise, what would be the point of discussing the deployment of the four routes in Hebei?
Nowadays, there are transportation envoys on each transportation envoy, some punishment and prison envoys, and Changping.
And there are various appeasement routes under the transport route.
The four pacification envoys in Hebei, like the four major military regions, were gradually established after Taizong's tragic defeat at Gaolianghe. They were originally located on the front line of the Song Dynasty against the Liao Dynasty. Due to the eighty-year peace between the Song and Liao Dynasties after the Chanyuan Alliance, Hebei's status gradually increased year by year.
Declined. Replaced by the five major economic strategies and pacification envoys on the Song and Xia front lines.
In fact, the role of managing and pacifying the envoys is somewhat similar to the role of the general manager of the marching roads in the Tang Dynasty.
Of course, the Hedong Road belongs to the Song and Liao Dynasties, and its strategic position has never declined during the dispute between Song and Xia. However, the last time the Song and Liao Dynasties debated the demarcation issue, Zhang Yue carried out military campaigns against Xuanfu and Fu Hedong, and the Hebei roads carried out military purges against the four pacification envoys.
.
During this period, Wang Anshi also implemented the Baojia Law, eliminating the troops and horses on various roads in Hebei and replacing them with local Baojia. This move saved the court a lot of expenses.
Nowadays, many soldiers and horses in Hebei have been eliminated, but it is undoubtedly extremely difficult to use Baojia to fight against the Liao cavalry heading south.
Today the two offices gathered for a meeting. On the Zhongshu side were Wang Gui, Zhang Yue and Cai Que. On the Privy Council side were Sun Gu and Wang Anli. Also present were Han Zhen, newly transferred back to the capital to know the Privy Council, and those who had arrived from Chenzhou.
Zhang Dun, as for Zeng Bu, who was in Guizhou, was still on the road and did not catch up with this meeting.
The meetings in the government halls of the two governments were naturally facing each other from east to west, and although Zhang Dun was an emissary, he could only sit at the bottom and listen in.
Zhang Yue said: "All the four roads in Hebei Province appoint officials with more than two systems as strategic envoys, and choose Wu Chenyi as the deputy general manager. As for the future war and defense strategies, we should have a good discussion!"
It is indeed a coward's fault to emphasize civil servants over military officers, but the advantage of appointing civil servants as managers and envoys is that they dare not rebel. It would be hard to say if the military commanders were replaced.
Zhang Yue was halfway through what he said, but Sun Gu objected: "Prime Minister, since ancient times, those who discuss border affairs have always regarded peace with the Rong as an advantage and conquest as a detriment. The military preparations on the four roads in Hebei have been depleted for a long time, so the selection of generals will not be able to cover the situation."
of."
"The Heshuo area is thousands of miles away, with thirty-six connected cities. The people are prosperous and the plains are flat. Since before Jingde, the Khitan invaded several times. Although the officers and soldiers were numerous, they rarely succeeded in defending against the enemy."
"It was like this in the time of the Zhen Temple. How can it be better than before when we have been armed for a long time? At the beginning, the Hebei Fourth Road was set up to appease the envoys, but there was no word "jinglue" in front of it, which meant to only defend but not attack, so as not to offend the Khitans.
.”
Shaanxi's strategy of appeasing the envoy is to both defend and attack. The appeasement envoy is to only defend but not attack.
Zhang Yue reprimanded: "Since the Chanyuan Alliance, military preparations have been abandoned. Border ministers who have the slightest intention will be reprimanded for causing trouble."
"The civil servants of the Manchu Dynasty thought that as long as the Khitan did not betray the alliance, there would be no need to defend the border. This can be said to be a permanent peace in the world, and war disasters will never end."
"However, after the Qingli increase of coins and the transformation of the Xining border, do people still say this? When Li Yuanhao rebelled, after the Qingli increase of coins, Fu Zhenggong wished Ren Temple to improve its military equipment and did not forget the national humiliation. Did Sun Gong forget it because Hebei had been in peace for a long time?
Is that so? Did Duke Sun of Han also forget what Duke Wei of Han said that Hebei should 'make peace as a matter of expediency and fight and defend as a matter of fact'?"
Sun Gu was at a loss for words. He was old and frail. He had thought about these remarks all night and said them today at the meeting between the two governments.
However, Zhang Yue's retort today left him speechless.
Firstly, it is nothing but secondly, it is due to Prime Minister Zhang Yue’s accumulated prestige.
Sun Gu sat down again, raised the tea soup and took a sip, but when his hand trembled, the water sloshed onto his clothes. Although he had expected the result, he still felt a little confused after being refuted by Zhang Yue.
Han Zhen and Zhang Dun were a little surprised to see Zhang Yue amassing such power.
Although Sun Gu was not as good as Feng Jing, he was still the teacher of the emperor. Zhang Yuejin used the power to suppress his objections. Looking at Wang Gui, Cai Que, and Wang Anli, they all looked normal and stayed away from the incident.
After Han Zhen became Prime Minister of Zhang Yue, he never saw him again.
Han Zhen thought to himself, after meeting again after three years, the Prime Minister is now full-fledged, and his words are full of first-class decisions, which makes people dare not question him at all.
If I had known this earlier, I would have never dared to...
Han Zhen secretly regretted it.
Zhang Yue said: "My dynasty has not had war with the Liao Kingdom for eighty years, but the Liao people's tactics are the same as before. If the Liao army moves, it will enter the fortress from Juyongguan and other places, and then quickly from Youzhou and Pingzhou."
Going south. They will not stop in Youzhou and Pingzhou for too long, lest the war horses eat the crops."
"The Lord of the Liao Dynasty has always had the habit of conquering the country personally. He must first sweep the Guangxin Army, Xiongzhou, Bazhou and other places. If he encounters a big city and is unable to do anything for a while, the Khitan soldiers and horses will gather outside the city to make noise and fire, and invite the defenders to attack.
Or take a detour south."
"The houses, fields, and mulberry trees encountered by the army along the way south were all burned. This was called Dacao Valley. The three roads of Ying, Zhen, and Ding were the main routes for the Liao Kingdom to go south. The armies would finally meet at the foot of Damingfu City to decide whether to cross the river.
Attack Bianjing directly or go elsewhere."
Listening to Zhang Yue's words, everyone looked grim. In the 80th year of the Peace in Hebei, the common people had long ignored military affairs. Once the Khitan army went south, in addition to large prefectures and counties, ordinary small towns or farmhouses would be attacked by Khitan soldiers and horses.
Poisonous.
Finally, Zhang Yue said: "Every time the Khitan went south, it was like this!"
"Although we don't want to fight this war, the Liao Kingdom uses this move to raise troops to intimidate us every time. It's really hateful and hateful!"
"First, the Qingli increase in coins, and then the Xining demarcation. It is still insufficient to raise hundreds of thousands of coins every year. Today has happened again and again, how can it happen again tomorrow?"
The ministers remained silent. Sun Gu seemed to want to refute, but in the end he didn't say a word.
Zhang Yue knocked on the table and said: "After Qingli, Han Gongfu always shouted that he should not forget the national humiliation, that peace should be discussed temporarily, and war and defense should be practical. Everyone listened to such words and let them go."
"The Tao follows the Tao, but in the end no one takes it to heart. As the saying goes, the days are still peaceful with singing and dancing, and the shame of the ancestors is happily forgotten!"
"Can't you guys do anything practical?"
After Zhang Yue said something, the whole hall fell into silence, which seemed like a speech in a hall.
…
After the two government affairs were discussed, Han Zhen went to the West Hall of Zhongshu to meet with Zhang Yue.
Han Zhen is very domineering in the northwest. Even if he is a general, he does not matter whether you are in charge of Lu Qian, the supervisor of Lu, or even the deputy general manager of troops and horses.
If he shows any disrespect in front of Han Zhen, he will be scolded, even if he is in front of many people, he will be so merciless.
However, when Han Zhen came to Zhang Yue today, he was extremely respectful.
