Yan Zhenqing was surprisingly calm and said unhurriedly: "If he had embezzled the court's money into his own pocket, I would have dismissed him on the spot. But he didn't do that. Instead, he used the money to build the city wall. Why did he
The key issue is to build the city wall to resist the invasion of Fengzhou by the Xueyantuo people."
Yan Zhenqing raised his voice, "He defeated Xue Yantuo's army in the autumn of last year. How could Xue Yantuo's army just give up? They would definitely take revenge. Last year, they were originally going to attack Fengzhou, but because Sijie's troops pressed the border, they forced Xue Yantuo to give up the attack on Fengzhou.
plan, what about this spring? If he doesn't build the city wall in time, how can he resist Xue Yantuo's army? Everyone must consider the actual situation in Fengzhou. It's not that Guo Song doesn't want to go through the formalities, but he doesn't have enough time, so he can only start construction first.
We will wait until spring to complete the formalities.”
"But there was obviously one year last year, so why didn't he go through the formalities? He could apply to build docks and warehouses, so why didn't he apply to build a city wall? Obviously, he felt that there was no need to apply for a city wall and he could build it if he wanted to, right?" Chang
Gon asked aggressively.
At this time, Cui Youfu said: "We have all been local officials. We can do many things if we want to, but if we can do something, if we don't seize the opportunity, we will regret it when the opportunity passes. Guo Song
Why didn't he build a city wall before, and then suddenly wanted to build a city wall? I think I can understand. Fengzhou has a sparse population, and he was unable to build a city wall even if he wanted to. However, a locust plague brought a large number of refugees to Fengzhou, and it happened to be a good place to build a city wall.
There are a large number of young and strong laborers available for relief. As for why he didn't apply in time, everyone knows how long it usually takes to get the approval if you apply to modify the height of the city wall. With the court's consent, it will take at least three to five years. He can wait
, but will the Xueyantuo people wait?"
Chang Gun snorted coldly and said: "This is no reason for him to violate the rules!"
At this time, Han Huang said slowly: "Fengzhou is a borderland, not the Central Plains. Modifying the city wall in the Central Plains does involve many aspects. It even stipulates that the height of the city wall cannot exceed the height of Chang'an. Generally, even if it collapses and is rebuilt, the height modification will not be easily approved.
But this is not the case in the border areas. Emperor Xuanzong had a decree. The construction of city walls in the border areas should take into account the enemy's situation. It can be decided on an ad hoc basis and does not need to be approved by the court. I have forgotten the specific year in which the decree was issued, but I can find it."
Han Huang's words were very convincing. Chang Gun was speechless for a moment and said after a while: "But if he arbitrarily misappropriated money and materials specified by the imperial court, does it count as a violation?"
Liu Yan also said: "If this is considered a violation, then I should have been jailed countless times. When I was an envoy, I was digging the east wall to make up for the west wall. Isn't the money for various purposes specified by the imperial court just random?"
It doesn’t matter what purpose it is used for. Let’s ask ourselves, which one of us has never misappropriated the money and food approved by the court when we were local officials? I think as long as it is not embezzled or used for eating, drinking and having fun, this kind of misappropriation between projects is nothing.
For major matters, you can criticize a few words, but you cannot use the word "guilt", let alone use it as a reason for impeachment."
Two of the five grounds for impeachment were removed, leaving three. At this time, Yan Zhenqing said again: "It is still about granting land privately. I took a look and found that he did not violate the land equalization system. The land equalization system stipulates very clearly. Ding
One hectare for a man and fifty acres for a female. Although it has never been reached, and the maximum is more than ten acres, it cannot be said that it is against the law if he gives one hectare. The amount of land granted to him is completely in line with the land equalization system! As for "private land granting"
', I think that when Anxi granted land to immigrants, they never asked the court for instructions. When did the court say that Anxi granted land privately? Fengzhou is also a borderland, why can Anxi do it but not Fengzhou?"
Han Huang added: "Article 5: Without the approval of the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, the victims signed immigration agreements without authorization, turning the victims into immigrants, resulting in a large number of empty households in Shengzhou and Xiazhou. I just want to ask, Guo Song
What does the immigration agreement look like? Has Chang Xiangguo read it? Or has the supervisory censor read it? Does it involve re-establishing household registration in Fengzhou? If there is no household registration, it means recruiting refugees to work in the frontier. It is normal.
If you farm on the border for ten consecutive years, then according to the imperial regulations, this unowned land can be owned by the cultivators."
Chang Gun was a little dizzy, seeing that the four grounds for impeachment with solid evidence were refuted one by one, and in an orderly manner, making it difficult for him to fight back.
He grasped the first reason for impeachment as if holding a life-saving straw and said: "What about the first reason? What kind of crime should you do if you secretly form an alliance with the Sijie tribe without the consent of the court?"
Everyone was silent. This was indeed a taboo in the Tang Dynasty. In particular, frontier generals were not allowed to collude with foreigners in private or reach some kind of deal in private. This was also related to the fact that at the end of the Sui Dynasty, the Turks supported a large number of rebel heroes, including
Li Tang also received support from the Turks.
Because of this experience, the Tang Dynasty has always strictly prohibited frontier generals from reaching some kind of deals with nomads privately.
It is impossible to talk about an alliance between Guo Song and Si Jie. After all, I have not seen anything written. However, Si Jie Khan did send troops to suppress Xue Yantuo at the request of Guo Song without going through the imperial court. This matter is indeed serious, but it is not serious.
It doesn't seem to be a big deal. Guo Song and Sijie Khan have a good personal relationship, and there is no specific content of the transaction.
The key is the emperor's words, whether the emperor will pursue this matter or not.
At this time, Han Huang said: "We will sort out today's opinions and hand them to His Highness the Crown Prince together with the impeachment letter, so that the Crown Prince can weigh the matter!"
Everyone agreed. Although Chang Gun wanted to vote on this, he was unable to do so and had to reluctantly agree.
.........
The sound of war drums was beating loudly, and the extremely bloody siege battle continued cruelly. Xue Yantuo's army attacked the city, but was killed and retreated. The city was covered with corpses of the dead, and some soldiers had their heads smashed by huge rocks.
Broken, red and white brains flowed out from the cracks in the rocks, and some only had bodies left, heads missing, and the blood in the neck cavity had dried up, giving off a fishy smell.
The soldiers of the Tang Army also suffered heavy casualties. Some were killed by arrows and lay with their necks crooked at the top of the city. Some soldiers were pierced through the heart by a spear and were already dead, but they still clung to the spear shaft with both hands, their eyes wide open and they could not rest in peace.
.
The war had been going on for nearly three hours, and it was already in the afternoon. The siege battle was still going on extremely fiercely. Although Xue Yantuo's army was extremely fierce, the soldiers of the Tang army resisted tenaciously and were brave and good at fighting. The city could never be captured.
Xue Mantou was a little anxious. He didn't have many troops, so he hoped to capture the city in one go. If the casualties were too heavy, he would be defeated again, and Xue Yantuo's reputation in the grassland would be completely ruined.
"The Hive Cart Attacks!"
Xue Mantou turned around and gave the order, and five giant-like nest cars rumbled out.
The nest chariot is also called the building chariot. It was first used to pull siege soldiers to a high place to observe the enemy's situation at the top of the city. It looks like a bird's nest, so it is called the nest chariot.
However, as siege weapons became larger, the chariot also developed many functions, such as an archery tower. A high platform was built on the top of the wooden frame, which allowed more than a hundred soldiers to stand on the high platform and shoot arrows at the city head.
Another example is the siege tank car, which is actually a siege ladder in disguise, establishing a sealed upper city passage. This siege nest car has a wide chassis and is not easy to tip over. It is made of thick pine wood as a frame and is surrounded by thick wooden boards.
Then wrap it with a layer of rawhide.
Each siege nest vehicle is pulled by forty well-trained horses, and is pushed by hundreds of soldiers. There are thousands of soldiers gathered around each siege nest vehicle, and they form a siege team on the flat wilderness.
Move forward slowly.
To deal with the siege vehicles, bows and arrows have become ineffective. The only effective way is to attack with fire. The second is to use continuous attacks with huge rocks to break the inner wooden structure. However, the surrounding defenses are tight and fire attacks are difficult to achieve, especially with
The rawhide covering is to prevent the Tang army from attacking with fire, followed by boulder attacks. It is impossible for the trebuchet to hit the nest cart continuously. It is good to hit it once, but it will not help.
Because it is difficult to deal with, this kind of siege vehicle has become a weapon for the Xueyantuo people to siege.
Five huge giant siege vehicles were getting closer and closer to the city wall. The Xue Yantuo soldiers who were attacking the city began to retreat, but the archers stayed where they were, using bows and arrows to suppress the Tang army on the top of the city.
'Woo--' The low horn sound echoed in the wilderness, and Xue Yantuo's soldiers came out in full force.
Fourteen thousand Xue Yantuo's army regrouped. They followed the five siege vehicles and marched towards the city wall overwhelmingly.
Guo Song stared sternly at the five siege vehicles that were getting closer and closer, and ordered: "The archers withdraw to the inner city, and the spear soldiers gather at the head of the outer city to prepare for a decisive battle!"