With Zhao Xi's suggestions and urging, the two most urgent matters for the court at the moment finally took shape.
This court is really fucked up. Maybe it’s time to standardize the court’s discussion system and introduce reforms to the official system at the same time.
Zhao Xi had always thought of playing it safe, but with everything going on, Zhao Xi really couldn't bear it anymore.
No, it's another court meeting, just another shouting.
"Your Majesty, I have sent soldiers and horses along the Huanqing Road to govern Zhong'e. Guo Kui, the Huichuan Army, started a border provocation indiscriminately, causing unrest in the border village..."
"Your Majesty, the strategic goal of the Pingrong Policy is to form an encirclement of Xixia, which is of great significance. The Pingrong method only attaches equal importance to suppression and appeasement. Now the Tubo tribe respects Siluo. If you want to complete Pingrong, conquer Siluo.
Luo is the only way..."
"Your Majesty, Si Luo has been on good terms with me, the Song Dynasty, for generations, and it is not against the imperial court. It is not the work of a holy king to conquer Si Luo..."
"Have we been friends for generations? Will we rob the border people of their property if we have friends for generations? Will we rob our border people and make them slaves if we have good friends for generations?"
"Siluo has fought with Xixia several times, but he has never harassed our border with the Song Dynasty. The disasters caused by the border people are just trivial matters. We, the Song Dynasty, are the sovereign states. How can we push Siluo to the Xixia side for the sake of a small loss?"
"Siluo is the governor of Anzhou in our dynasty..."
"Xixia is still my envoy to Liangzhou, so what?"
That's it, as long as there are different opinions on no big deal, the meeting will definitely be messed up.
Zhao Xi had already expressed his irritation several times. He closed the palace door to let them make noise and treated them coldly. He looked like a monkey show and didn't care about the food, just letting them talk nonsense here.
I even scolded, reprimanded, ignored, etc., I tried every method, and I almost dragged him out like a dead dog, but when something happened, I still made a fuss!
It’s not the fault of the ministers, it’s like this in Zhengshitang. It seems that if you don’t argue, you can’t prove your ability. It seems that winning the argument means you are talented!
Let’s talk about today’s matter. Wang Shao took charge of side affairs, and his purpose was to regain the Hehuang area and form a strategic encirclement of Xixia.
Before leaving, Zhao Xi mentioned to Wang Shao that the only way to regain the Hehuang area was to focus on ethnic groups and interests.
From the information reported by Wang Shao, Zhao Xi knew that Wang Shao's work was not making much progress.
Although Tubo was split, the area from Qingtang City and Mochuan City to Linchuan and the Xihe and Tao river basins were all under Siluo's sphere of influence. Even Lanzhou, which Guo Kui had captured in recent years, was under Siluo's influence.
The impact is great.
The current leader of Siluo is said to be a descendant of Songtsen Gampo in terms of blood, and he has a certain appeal among the various tribes in Tubo.
Although Tubo was divided due to profit reasons, in the heart of the Tibetan people, Songtsen Gampo was still quite recognized. This also gave Si Luo great prestige among the Tubo people.
Wang Shao had taken office for a few months and had indeed done a lot of work. It was precisely because he was attentive and had a certain understanding of He Huang that he jointly petitioned Guo Kui and Zhong E to request the use of troops against Si Luo.
Of course, there must be some encouragement from Zhong E and Guo Kui.
Since the battle with Xixia, the entire west has been completely peaceful, and even the shadow of the Shengsheng Army is nowhere to be seen.
Even in the past few years, Guo Kui has been encroaching on Hubei, bit by bit to the west, occupying piece by piece, constantly challenging the limits of Xixia people's tolerance.
It is also strange that the Xixia people endured it again and again without any intention of resisting.
This time the imperial court was interested in regaining Hehuang, which made these two bellicose generals ready to make a move. No matter whether they fight Tibet or Xixia, as long as there is a war, it will be fine.
Recovering Hehuang had nothing to do with the Zhong'efu on Huanqing Road. It just required fighting, and that was also a matter for Guo Kui's department.
Probably just to join in the fun...
This is not a big deal. For the new army equipped with muskets, gunpowder shells and chariots, the conquest of Siluo is indeed not a big deal.
Even the imperial court did not mobilize additional troops. It just asked Huanqing Road to mobilize some soldiers to cooperate with the Huichuan Army... This is what Zhong'e hopes for most.
Besides, the preservation of firearms has always been a problem. Even though Su Song continued to improve the technology of gunpowder bullets and musket bullets, the disadvantage of firearms being affected by moisture has not been improved.
Zhao Xi knew that this was the limitation of technology and there was no way around it.
Unless there is great progress in chemical industry, such defects will always exist. This is not a problem that can be solved by changing from bamboo gunpowder bullets to paper gunpowder bullets, let alone oil paper-wrapped musket ammunition.
This is why Gongfangcheng focuses most of its energy on civilian products.
As for the border troops, even if the armory is built with cement, it cannot prevent the firearms from getting wet and being discarded.
It's time to take out those nearly obsolete firearms and put them to use.
Therefore, Zhao Xi has no objections to the Western Army's plan to conquer Qingtang Siluo, and there don't seem to be many opponents in the political hall.
The imperial court had already approved this matter, and the documents had already been sent to the Western Army. Who would have thought that someone would break up the matter at the court meeting, and it would lead to another court meeting with constant quarrels.
The decision to conquer Si Luo, whether made by Zhao Xi or Zhengshitang, was based on the principle of keeping a low profile, and they were not prepared to make it known to everyone from the beginning.
Zhao Xi wanted to see how well the Western Army had mastered firearms warfare, to see whether the Western Army generals had changed from traditional tactics to firearms warfare, and at the same time, to review the results of the Martial Arts Hall's education of generals.
It's not all because of lack of confidence, it's just that this is an experimental operation.
Of course, the reason why Zhengshitang agreed to fight Qingtang and keep a low profile was due to lack of confidence.
This is the first time that the old guard battalion is not the main force, and it is not a direct line of the official family. The princes are still a little uneasy.
Besides, I am very worried that this defeat will bring the confidence that the country has built up so hard in the past few years back to its original form.
Therefore, Zhengshitang has no intention of shouting in the court hall.
However, it is impossible to keep this matter absolutely confidential. From the mobilization of money and food from the Ministry of Revenue, to the supply of armaments in Gongfang City, to the correspondence between the Privy Council and the frontier, it is not difficult for the courtiers to know.
But arguing like this in the court meeting is quite annoying even in the political hall!
If the government wants to demote these officials who are looking for trouble at this time, the Political Affairs Hall will definitely follow suit...
It was originally a leisurely matter, but it became no longer idle after being quarreled by such a court meeting.
The court was dismissed, and the way of retreat once again expressed the dissatisfaction of the officials. The eunuch even called for retreat in the middle of an argument between the ministers and workers, and left the court without even waiting for the ministers to finish speaking.
"Standardize the various processes of political discussion and decision-making. Government affairs need not be such endless useless quarrels, and court meetings cannot always be so chaotic."
“When the Qinzheng Palace was built, this layout was used to set up a three-level decision-making system.”
"Everyone is also familiar with the Qinzheng Hall. The main hall, the council hall, and the cabinet have different settings, which represent different functions. Please think about it first and see if it can be promoted in conjunction with the reform of the official system."
It is not the most appropriate time to do this now, as many layouts have not yet been completed.
But the chaos of every court meeting really annoyed Zhao Xi. He didn't care whether he had completed the layout or not. Maybe he could do something in the whole major adjustment.