The officials and Zhang Yue's monarch and ministers sat opposite each other.
When Zhang Yue stayed in front of the king to play the duet, the chair he was sitting on was neither a pier nor a pillar, but a top chair, and yes, it had a backrest.
There is a hierarchy in the prime minister's grant of sitting.
At that time, Ding Wei and Li Di were having a huge quarrel, and Ding Wei was going to travel to another state with Li Di.
However, Ding Wei played another trick and went to the palace to make a speech to Zhenzong.
Ding Wei expressed his willingness to resume his post as prime minister. Zhenzong did not agree on the spot, but first gave Ding Wei the courtesy of sitting down. At that time, the servants on the left and right moved the pillars for Ding Wei.
Ding said that he had already acquiesced to Zhenzong, and shouted to his chamberlain: "There is a decree to restore order!"
Suddenly, the chamberlain immediately removed the trestle and gave Ding Wei a tumbler that the prime minister could sit on.
The pier is like a round drum with four legs, and the chair has a backrest.
After Zhao Kuangyin removed the chairs of Prime Minister Fan Zhi and three others from the court, Zhang Yue now used his ability to sit on the prime minister's chair again.
Of course not in the court, only when the monarch and his ministers are alone to play the duel.
This is a treatment that even Duke Zhaowen and Wang Gui did not have. It is self-evident who is the number one prime minister in the heart of the emperor.
Zhang Yue was different from Ding Wei. Although he resigned, as long as the emperor did not approve it, he would still be the prime minister of the dynasty. The chamberlains would not get confused and moved the throne to the palace as usual.
Zhang Yue sat two-thirds of the way up on the chair, and the waiter respectfully served the perilla drink.
Zhang Yue blew on the perilla drink, took a big sip, and put it aside.
I just happened to eat mutton and my mouth felt greasy. I needed a drink to neutralize it and try to relieve the smell of alcohol. As for taking a sip as a courtesy, that is not what I should do at my level. The scholar-officials and the emperor rule the world together. Chapter
Even if it is not for myself, I must win this face for the scholars all over the world.
As for many prime ministers in the Ming and Qing dynasties, to be honest, they were all expensive dogs with their balls cut off.
Can you expect these prime ministers to take charge of the country when the country is in crisis?
You want the emperor to ask me to take care of so many things. If you don't respect the etiquette, how can you convince others?
Zhang Yue put down his drink and skimmed through the contents of the Song and Liao negotiations in the past few days and then said to the official: "Your Majesty, what Shi Ce said about politics and military affairs is to expand manpower and ignore the use of systems and strength."
"For example, in the Battle of Changping, history books say that King Zhao Xiaocheng fell into the Qin army's counter-intentional plan and replaced the old and prudent Lian Po with Zhao Kuo."
"Who knows that the State of Zhao has no money or food in its treasury and cannot support Lian Po any longer. Zhao State will either be exhausted or fight to the death. Therefore, King Zhao Xiaocheng replaced Lian Po with Zhao Kuo, who was leading the battle.
"
"The Qin Dynasty has implemented Shang Yang's military merit system. During the Changping War, the King of Qin personally went to Hanoi County and promoted the titles of all the people in the county to one level. All those who were fifteen years old and above went to Changping to block Zhao's reinforcements and food imports.
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"I am not saying that human schemes are useless. But the general trend is more important than human schemes!"
Historically, the decision-making team headed by Cai Jing, Huizong of the Song Dynasty, was torn between three choices: preserving the Liao Dynasty to fight against the Jin Dynasty, joining the Jin Dynasty to destroy the Liao Dynasty, and waiting to see what happened. In fact, facing the Jurchens who had already destroyed the Liao Kingdom, it was very difficult for the Song Dynasty to choose no matter what they chose.
The Jurchens at that time indeed had the power to crush everything.
Song Huizong and Cai Jing did have their own faults in their governance, but in fact they did not make many mistakes in their decision-making regarding the Liao Dynasty.
But it was the Jurchen cavalry who marched southward, as if they were entering uninhabited territory, and fought all the way to the city of Bianjing.
This led to the two men leaving their seats one after another.
This pairing of monarchs and ministers almost earned the worst reputation in history. After the Jin soldiers went south for the first time, Song Huizong was forced to internalize the Qin sect, and Cai Jing starved to death on the road.
In the same time and space, what would happen if Song and Liao went to war?
Regarding the border defense in Hebei, Zhang Yue and the officials knew very well. They had been deploying in the northwest before, but now they are operating in Hebei. Once the Liao cavalry reaches Bianjing City, their situation and fate will not be worse than that of Song Huizong and Cai Jing in history.
better.
So who will take the blame?
Although Zhang Yue had made it clear that he was willing to shoulder the responsibility alone, and was even willing to lead the three auxiliary armies to fight decisively in Jinei when the Liao army went south.
But the officials were still unwilling.
The emperor and his ministers all had unclear intentions.
At the bottom of their hearts, the officials were worried that the Liao Kingdom would attack Bianjing and shake their political foundation, but at the bottom of their hearts they were unwilling. Zhang Yue could handle this matter on his own.
Anyway, he had expressed his opposition and cautious attitude, so in the end, all the responsibility fell to Zhang Yuelai. He would never give up on Liangzhou no matter what.
It's like Song Huizong dumping the blame on Cai Jing.
For decades, Emperor Huizong repeatedly passed the blame to Cai Jing, but by the time the Jurchens went south, Cai Jing was already very old. Huizong already had other ruling teams such as the "Six Thieves".
Zhang Yuegu advocated being tough on the Liao Kingdom, but seeing that he had reached this point, the officials were still unwilling to agree with him.
Simply cherish yourself, and use retreat to advance.
When the monarch and his ministers met, the officials were secretly feeling strange. Only then did Zhang Yue reply: "I don't dare to be the first for the world"!
I have talked about this, but if the monarch and his ministers still disagree, then I will step aside.
The officials now feel that they can no longer negotiate with the Liao State, and they blame themselves for not being able to stick to their own opinions. Although you didn't say it clearly, after many years as a monarch, you think I don't know what you are thinking in your heart?
You are angry, but am I not angry in my heart?
…
After hearing what Zhang Yue said, the official thought about it calmly. After all, the official is still a wise king and can reflect on his own mistakes.
The most important thing is that he will have to rely on Zhang Yue in the future.
Finally, the official said: "I regret not listening to your advice, and I never expected that the Liao Kingdom's ambitions would reach this level."
The official has already apologized and admitted that he was wrong.
Zhang Yue also said respectfully: "The world belongs to your Majesty, and I am just a steward who takes care of things for the time being. How can I dare to make mistakes? It is just to repay Your Majesty for your kindness. I dare not not do my best."
The official said: "You said that the situation is greater than the human plan, but how can the human plan be of no use?"
Zhang Yue said: "If I were still presiding over the negotiations with the Liao, we could still use people to try to stop it. But now Sun Guzhi's retreat has allowed the Khitan envoys to see what we are and what we are not."
"How do you say this? Why do you say that the Khitan sees my true and false nature?" the official asked in surprise.
Zhang Yue thought to himself, Needless to say, the Khitan envoy Xiao Xi came to the court to ask the officials about his whereabouts.
Zhang Yue was the prime minister of the dynasty and a leading combatant, but he was not present. What does this mean?
Do you think they are fools?
Only then did Xiao Xi feel confident enough to overturn his previous opinion of only ceding Liangzhou, and then asked the Song Dynasty to cede all the Dangxiang land that was captured by Yuanfeng two years later.
This is a further test!
And at this critical point, Sun Gu failed to catch it.
The negotiations between Song and Liao were like two people jumping to the edge of a cliff to see who was closer to the cliff?
Everyone pretended to be ready to fight, and then added chips little by little. In the end, either one person gave up, or one person jumped off the cliff.
It's also a lot like playing SHOWHAND.
Take out a card, the other party raises 50,000, and you follow with 50,000.
Add another card, the other party raises 100,000, and you follow with 100,000.
When another card was played and the envoy from the Liao Kingdom raised a bet of one million, Sun Gu was scared and did not dare to follow again.
The other party can tell at a glance that you have no clue.
Now the Liao Kingdom has seen through the trump cards held by the Song Dynasty, and has been caught mentally. If SHOWAND loses, all the chips you invested before are gone.
Why did we set up three auxiliary armies, work hard to lay out the defense line in Hebei, and organize the troops and martial arts? Now they can no longer intimidate the Khitans.
When the official heard this, he looked frustrated and said, "I made a big mistake by letting Sun Qing negotiate."
Zhang Yue said: "Your Majesty, you don't have to be like this. Although this dynasty is richer than others, its soldiers and horses are indeed not as good as those of the Khitans. This is also true. It is really difficult to turn things around if it is all based on manpower."
Sun Gu advised the emperor to think of big things as small things, but Zhang Yue chose to tell the 'truth'.
"What's the plan next?" the official asked.
Zhang Yue said: "There is still hope for this matter!"
As long as it is not time to reveal the trump cards and compare the odds, the Liao Kingdom is not absolutely confident that it will defeat the Song Dynasty, and there is still something to be done.
Zhang Yue said: "Military battles are unpredictable. Although Hebei's soldiers and horses are not as good as those of Khitan, if there is a fight, our dynasty may not necessarily lose. As long as swords and guns are not really used, Liao will still be hesitant."
The official said: "The Liao envoy Xiao Xi said that the Lord of the Liao has planned to spend the winter in the clouds."
"Both Zifangsi and Hedong reported that the Khitan was indeed overhauling the palace walls in Yunzhong and deploying troops and food supplies!"
Zhang Yue said: "Your Majesty, as things have come to this, we can only temporarily allow the Liao Kingdom to cede Liangzhou!"
The official was shocked. Although he was unwilling to go to war with the Khitan, he absolutely could not cede Liangzhou, which he had finally conquered.
"Is there no other way?"
Zhang Yue said: "If my prediction is correct, the Lord of Liao no longer intends to do it, and he is already in the clouds."
"The Khitan is ready to raise its troops this autumn, or the court may have some ideas."
"The current strategy is to agree to it first and then delay it slowly. We can allow the cession of Liangzhou, but we also require the leader of Dangxiang to submit an oath to us! Never invade the Song Dynasty again!"
"You can tell the envoy of the Liao State that this matter is particularly relevant to the state. Be careful not to arouse public opinion among officials and the people, and do not write it into the credential. In order to show sincerity, we can first return Yelu Yixin to the Liao State. As long as it is not written into the credential, it will be
It's just a matter of words. As long as the party oath is not delivered for one day, we will not cede Liangzhou."
"Even if the party item is sworn in, I can still use the excuse to delay it. I can even allow the party item to be delivered, but delay the deadline. As long as it is delayed past this autumn and winter, I will turn my back on it the next year!"
After hearing Zhang Yue's words, the officials looked very excited.
What was the core of the Song-Liao negotiations?
What the Liao Kingdom wanted was an attitude from the Song Dynasty, a test of loyalty and obedience.
For the time being, I'll admit my mistake, but I won't compromise on my core interests at all.
Zhang Yue said: "Your Majesty, even if I agree verbally if I know this, it will be extremely humiliating. But now this is the only way to do it!"
The official said: "What if next year the Liao Kingdom will still force Liangzhou?"
Zhang Yue said: "Your Majesty, this matter is easy to retreat but difficult to recover."
"At least we fought for one year, no, two years."
"As long as we capture Xingzhou and Lingzhou, it will be the Khitan who will look at His Majesty's face from now on."
The officials felt a little relieved after hearing this.
The same goes for dealing with leaders.
What they want is your attitude. If they really want to deal with you, they will have to spend a lot of energy and favors. You can give in a little in attitude, but in fact you will still go your own way, and your boss will turn a blind eye afterwards if you find it troublesome.
It's not that the leader is afraid of you, but that he himself is in a lot of trouble.
But what leaders hate most is the kind of people who are doing bad things here and yelling verbally over there. This kind of people don’t even know how to die.
The officials were full of hesitation when they heard this, and Zhang Yue said: "Your Majesty, I know that even if I agree verbally, it will be a humiliation."
The official said: "Back then, Emperor Renzong was humiliated by Dang Xiang, and the courtiers also said that they would rest on their laurels and try to cheer up. But after several decades, here we are, and the great revenge has still not been avenged."
"Now that I have humiliated the Liao Kingdom, I really feel ashamed of my ancestors!"
The official paused and said categorically: "But why can't I endure the hardship of serving the country? But as long as my ambition can be relaxed, I can bear such humiliation."
The officials knew that their current strength was not as good as that of the Liao Kingdom, so they could only endure it and wait for the opportunity to retaliate in the future.
