Chapter 45 The meeting that really decides the fate of the Song Dynasty
The walls of the Yun family's house should be as high as possible, the gate should be as majestic and majestic as possible, and the home should be as sturdy and sturdy as possible.
Wang Anshi's home looked too shabby. Even with his generous salary now, the gate of the Governor's Residence was not as good as the back door of Yun's house. However, the chrysanthemums in the yard gave Wang Anshi a lot of face.
The year before last, Su Shi returned to Beijing from Huangzhou to pay his official duties. It was necessary to visit Wang Anshi. Wang Anshi was not at home at that time. He found an unfinished poem "Ode to Chrysanthemums" on Wang Anshi's desk: "The west wind passed through the garden last night, blowing down the yellow flowers.
The ground is filled with gold.”
After Su Shi looked at it, he couldn't help laughing sarcastically, thinking: "The yellow flower (chrysanthemum) dares to fight fiercely with the autumn frost, and it is the most durable. It will become scorched and wither as you grow old, without falling petals. I didn't expect that the famous Wang Anshi would even do this.
No common sense? These two poems are pure nonsense."
So he took up his pen and continued the sentence: "Autumn flowers are no better than spring flowers. Let the poet recite it carefully." He ridiculed Wang Anshi.
Su Shi was worried that his master would cause an embarrassing situation when he came back, so he said goodbye to the housekeeper and left.
Later, Su Shi returned to Huangzhou to serve. On the Double Ninth Festival, when he and his friend Chen Jichang came to the back garden to enjoy the flowers, they were surprised to find that when the west wind blew, the chrysanthemums were covered with gold and fell.
Jushi's criticism is wrong.
Chen Jichang saw his surprised look and asked why. Su Shi then talked about the continuation of Wang Anshi's poem "Yong Chrysanthemum". Chen Jichang said: "Generally, chrysanthemums do not fall off their petals, but in Huangzhou, chrysanthemums do fall off their petals.
All have their own particularities." Su Shi realized that he had humbly admitted his mistake to Wang Anshi specifically for the continuation of the poem.
Wang Anshi was very open-minded and didn't take this matter to heart, but Wang Yu cared about it very much. He usually lost face in front of Yun Yue and Su Shi, so he would never let this opportunity go easily.
The world would lower the status of the Wang family, so he planted Huangzhou chrysanthemums in his yard. Whenever the chrysanthemums began to shed their petals, he would invite literati from the capital to recite poems, write poems and paint.
Under such a scene, Su Shi's embarrassing incident would be mentioned again and again, even if he wanted to forget it, the consort Wang even named this gathering "The Gathering of Relics" to ridicule Su Shi's shallow knowledge.
You need to pick up your past knowledge and learn it again.
Although it was only early autumn at this time, the yellow chrysanthemums in the yard were already blooming. After being welcomed into the house by Wang Anshi, Yun Zheng stood in front of the flower garden and looked at the yellow chrysanthemums and sighed: "I only hope that at this time next year, Yuan Ze
Brother Shi can still continue to hold gatherings here, but compared to life, personal honor and disgrace are really not on the table."
Wang Anshi's face was very poor, and his hair on the temples already had a hint of frost. Wang Yu was seriously ill, which was a big blow to him. Originally, he wanted to rely on this smart son to inherit his mantle. Now, Wang Yu is no more than two years old.
At the age of ten, he was already terminally ill. This made his heart feel like a knife, how could he not have his liver and intestines broken in pain!
Listening to what Yun Zheng said, I knew that there was definitely no sarcasm in his words at this time. He said to Yun Zheng painfully: "Yuanze, this kid, is not very broad-minded, and he will be depressed whenever something happens. Originally, Xiangguo Temple's
Elder Qingyao said that as long as Yuanze can open his mind, he will have at least ten years of life, but it's a pity... alas!"
Yun Zheng was speechless, took a brocade box from the monkey's hand and handed it to Wang Anshi, saying: "I have some medicines at home, and this three-hundred-year-old ginseng is the best. I hope it can alleviate Yuanze's illness a little bit."
Wang Anshi pushed the brocade box back to Yun Zheng and said: "In these years, the century-old ginseng given by the Yun Mansion has never been cut off for Yuan Ze's illness. Wang is very grateful for this. It's a pity that the medicine can't cure Yuan Ze's disease.
Now that the vitality has been exhausted and cannot be saved by the medicinal stone, it is better for Brother Baoyun to use it for other purposes!"
Yun Zheng said sadly: "Is there really no way to save the day?"
Wang Anshi nodded painfully, but solemnly invited Yun Zheng into the living room to talk.
Yun Zheng picked a yellow chrysanthemum and pinned it on his lapel, and said with emotion: "The garden is full of chrysanthemums and tulips, and there is a solitary bush in the middle that looks like frost. It's like today's singing and drinking banquet, when the white-headed man enters the youth field..."
Wang Anshi burst into tears and said: "At this time, there is no recovery power, and it is useless to break the heart and intestines. Brother Yun, please come into the hall to talk."
Yun Zheng walked into the hall and saw that Pang Ji, who had arrived first, was already seated. Next to him were Han Qi, Wen Yanbo, Ouyang Xiu, Lu Dazhong, Zeng Gongliang, Ding Du, Han Yanshou and others. In comparison, he was actually
He is the latest one to come.
After the confession, Yun Zheng sat down and didn't say much. He believed that these people all came to Wang Anshi's house today in the name of visiting his doctor, and they would definitely have something to say.
Many times, matters in the Song Dynasty were settled in a few words on such occasions. Here, because there was no emperor, all kinds of negotiations could be put on the table openly, whether it was about pushing an inch or staying back, like this
The scene is not uncommon here.
Pang Ji coughed lightly and said first: "The Liao people were the first to launch an attack at Pingyuan Village. This was the first time the Liao people broke the Song-Liao Pingtai Agreement. How should we respond? Today we must come up with a charter."
Han Qi sneered: "How else can we deal with it? Yun Zheng is still killing everyone in the capital and is unwilling to leave. There is no coach in the northwest. How can we fight back? How can we plan?"
Yun Zheng sneered and said: "Don't think you can rant here. The bandit leader of the White Lotus Society and Feng An disappeared. Is there any evidence to prove that it was me, Yun Zheng? I am also seriously dissatisfied with this matter. If I find this troublesome person,
I will definitely cut him in two!"
Wen Yanbo looked at Yun Zheng and said: "The situation in the northwest is intertwined and extremely complicated. The Xixia, Liao and Song Dynasties are entangled there. Why doesn't Yun Shuai take office as soon as possible to prepare for the upcoming Northern Expedition? Di Qing has already
Everything is ready."
Yun Zheng looked at Han Qi and said: "Restrict your subordinates in Pingyuan Village and ask them not to provoke border provocations easily. Don't think that after arming them with gunpowder bombs and war horses, they will be invincible. A million-strong army will start the campaign."
At that time, the small Pingyuan Village was just a small place. There were many ways to defeat them, so it was wise to be careful about being eaten by others.
Mr. Han, I have always wanted to ask one thing. Since Yun is the Minister of the Ministry of War, why does he not have any binding force on your soldiers and horses in Hebei Province? I have issued three warrants these days asking them to stay safe. Why is no one willing to listen?
?Do I have to break my skin and engage in military law?"
Zeng Gongliang interjected: "Shuai Yun, what happened in Pingyuan Village is a trivial matter. If Marshal Yun thinks they have disrespected their orders, just handle them in accordance with military law.
A certain family is just wondering now. Yun Shuai used to go to war first, but now he stays in Tokyo doing nothing in the face of war. What's the reason?
If Commander Yun thinks that he cannot control the northwest battlefield, please speak up as soon as possible so that we can select generals for the expedition as soon as possible!"
Ouyang Xiu frowned and said: "The coach of Northwest China is Yun Shuai. This has been decided a long time ago. Now it is taboo to change generals before the battle. I don't agree with it."
Wang Anshi nodded in agreement. He also strongly agreed with Ouyang Xiu's view that the war in the northwest was the most complicated. The Three Kingdoms all stationed heavy troops there. Apart from Yun Zheng, he didn't think anyone could be qualified to be the commander there.
Then he said to Yun Zheng, "Could it be that Commander Yun has some hidden agenda for his delay in taking action?"
Yun Zheng looked at Wang Anshi, patted the armrest of the chair and said, "I haven't left the Xixia capital yet. The northwest is still peaceful. This is not a good time for me to go out.
I have long said that it is easy to capture Xijing of the Liao Kingdom, but it is too difficult to consolidate the results. When the Song Dynasty and the Liao Kingdom were fighting, it happened to be the time when the Xixia wolf took advantage. Therefore, in the northwest
, it must not be me, Da Song, who launches the first wave of attacks."
Ding Du asked: "From Yun Shuai's point of view, how likely is it that Wu Zang will launch the attack first?"
Yun Zheng shook his head and said: "It's difficult. This time I ordered Yun Yue to kill his son-in-law and the Xixia envoy in Tokyo. I wanted to use this method to force Wu Zang and Pang to march first. I didn't expect this man to be so forbearing.
It has reached this point, and until now, there has been no action.”
Han Qi sneered and said: "Don't make excuses for your brother's murder of the son-in-law. If I had not concealed my secret and suffered such humiliation, I would rather send troops to attack the Song Dynasty first!"
Yun Zheng spread his hands and said: "I would rather attack the Song Dynasty first without hiding Pang, and wake up those of you who think that there is no hiding Pang to rely on for help. In this case, after the situation becomes clear, I will lead the troops to the north.
levy.
Let me say it again, any idea that there is no hidden scam that can be trusted is extremely dangerous, and this idea must be completely removed from your mind. Only in this way can we have the possibility of winning the Northern Expedition."
Pang Ji frowned and said: "Shuai Yun thinks Xixia's failure to hide Pang's secret will be detrimental to our Song Dynasty? Do you think he will stab us in the back while we are fighting the Liao people?"
Yun Zheng nodded and said: "That's exactly it!"
Wang Anshi said in embarrassment: "Shuai Yun, you need sufficient evidence to make such a conclusion. It is very low credibility to say it in such empty words."
Yun Zheng chuckled and said, "Because that's what I think."
Wen Yanbo looked at Yun Zheng in surprise and said: "Shuai Yun means that if there is no hidden danger and Pang chooses to march from Montenegro to the Liao Kingdom, you plan not to attack the Liao people, but will choose to raid the Xixia people?"
Yun Zheng smiled and said: "The Privy Councilor is right, that's what I plan to do. As long as there is an opportunity for a sneak attack in the northwest without concealment, I will never let it go!"
Pang Ji said: "In this case, the Liao Kingdom will be the one who picks up the bargains, which is not in line with our overall plan."
Yun Zheng sighed heavily and said: "In fact, the Liao Kingdom no longer poses any danger to the Song Dynasty. In this expedition, the sixteen states of Yanyun will definitely be conquered in one go.
The only thing that worries us is Xixia. In the past five years, we have been recuperating and the Liao Kingdom has continued to decay, but Xixia has been aggressive. Not only did it successfully defeat the Uighurs, it expanded its power to the land in the river.
In the past five years, hundreds of thousands of capable warriors have been accumulated.
Therefore, the greatest threat to the Song Dynasty is not the Liao Kingdom, but Xixia. Before I am sure of the attitude of the Xixia people, I will never go to Yanmen Pass to increase the possibility of war between Song and Liao!" (To be continued)