Prime Minister

The trio of Cai Que, Huang Lu, and Zhang Zhi is indeed a newcomer in today's political arena.

There are quite a few people in the temple who oppose Hehuang Kaibian. In the history of another time and space, because of the leadership of Wang Anshi, Wang Yu and his son, all the pressure on Kaibian is on the new party.

But now Han Jiang took over, and after Han Jiang left the field, he was led by Wu Chong, the deputy envoy of the Privy Council. Even in order to support his son-in-law and Wen Yanbo, Feng Jing and Feng Jing had a suspicion.

After all, Wu Chong's energy is far from Wang Anshi's, so the resistance in the court is also extremely large.

At this time, the three of Cai Que stood up to speak out for this matter, and formed a strong support for Wu Chong in the public opinion of the temple.

Among the three, Cai Que is the most shrewd and eloquent.

Huang Lu looked at Cai Que from the sidelines. At first, Zhang Yue highly recommended this senior brother Cai among his classmates, but now he didn't expect that the two would become irresistible.

Cai Que did have unscrupulous ways in his career as an official, but he took great care of Zhang Yue, Huang Lu, and even Zhang Zhi, and treated his friends with sincerity.

The most controversial thing in the court today is the conquest of Mu Zheng. Why did Mu Zheng rebel against the court because he was always submissive? Could it be that Zhang Yue and Wang Shao were inappropriate?

Or why must Hehuang be captured?
When the officials chatted, Cai Que said: "You ask me if I want to take Lintao, then I ask you, do you know if Xixia wants to take it?"

The officials said: "I haven't heard of it."

An official said: "Now that Xia Zhunian is immature and weak, how can we talk about taking it?"

Cai Que said: "It's true that Lord Xia doesn't take it today, but Li Liangzuo wanted it in the past."

“How come you see?”

Cai Que said: "Li Liangzuo is very human. He was going to use his soldiers to intimidate the Qiangs of the Qing and Tang Dynasties. The Yucheng Wusheng Army attacked the west of Qinfeng Road. If he hadn't happened to die, the Xia people would have succeeded today."

Zhang Zhi said: "I heard that Li Liangzuo is indeed a hero. He was able to kill powerful officials at the beginning of his ascension. This must be done by an authoritative lord. Moreover, this person also accepted people from this dynasty, went in and out with him, and lived close to him. There is a long way to go.”

One person said: "Li liangzuo's collection is the abandoned man of this dynasty. What's the point?"

Cai Que said: "In the past, Zhang Yuan also abandoned people, but... the one who conspired with Li Liangzuo to visit Taocheng is precisely this Jingxun. If Xixia is allowed to occupy this place, can you sleep in peace?"

All the officials nodded.

It turned out that the Xixia people also planned to take Lintao, but because of the death of Li Liangzuo, the matter was abandoned, which gave the Song Dynasty a chance instead.

One person asked: "Isn't Xia Guo coming to fight today?"

Cai Que smiled and said: "Li Yuanhao and Li Liangzuo can compete in fashion, but they can't compete now!"

Although Cai Que's eloquent words could not convince everyone, they had a guide for public opinion in the temple.Don't underestimate official public opinion, which is also an important reference for the decisions of the ruling people.

On this day, all the rulers gathered in the hall of Chongzheng, and Zhang Shouyue, who was in charge of the door, went to the hall to play.

Zhang Shouyue used to be the governor of Qinfeng Road. At that time, he was in charge of the Goufan Department. He was Wang Shao and Xiang Bao's predecessor.The officials summoned him and asked him how to deal with Muzheng and the follow-up to taking down Lintao City.

To be honest, the officials were appointed to manage Xizhou more and more. When they first learned that Mu Zheng and the Dangxiang coalition forces were attacking, the officials were still in fear, and repeatedly ordered Guo Kui to keep Weiyuan Fort no matter what.

When the officials learned that Zhang Yue and Wang Shao had defeated Mu Zheng and even captured Lintao City, the headquarters of Xizhou, they were overjoyed.

But when the officials waited for the definite news from the front, they found Guo Kui's memorial to impeach Wang Shao and capture Lintao City without permission.

Then there are two generals, Wang Shao and Gao Zunyu, each showing their merits.

The officials and the people in power couldn't figure out the situation on the front line for a while. Should they be rewarded or punished?

Zhang Shouyue is a famous general, and he has guarded Qinfeng Road for six years. He is most familiar with borderline affairs. There is no further news on Qinfeng Road. Zhang Shouyue's judgment is a very important reference.

The officials were so anxious that they repeatedly called Zhang Shouyue to the hall to inquire.This is the third time Zhang Shouyue has gone to the palace in a month, and every time the monarch and his ministers are right, it takes more than a quarter of an hour.

Even Zai Zhi felt ashamed of this treatment.

The tall white-haired veteran Zhang Shouyue arrived at the Golden Palace, and the officials said to Zhang Shouyue: "Zhang Qing is dead! I asked you Zhang Yue yesterday, whether Wang Shao can handle the Hehuang incident? You will tell the ministers the exact words Say something."

Zhang Shouyue said: "Reporting to Your Majesty, His Majesty counseled the minister yesterday, and the minister said at that time that His Majesty approached him with the power of heaven, and everything would be helpful. But Mu Zheng, Dong Zhan has always been loyal and obedient, and His Majesty really should not invade..."

The lords of the court were silent for a while, Wang Anshi preferred to send troops to Hehuang, but did not strongly support it, while Wen Yanbo preferred not to send troops to Hehuang, but because of Wu Chong, he did not actively oppose it.

Wang Gui's attitude can be ignored.

Feng Jing was the one in the palace who had the strongest opinion against sending troops to Hehuang.

Feng Jing's attitude was quite lenient at first, and he had a personal relationship with Wu Chong on weekdays, but he inherited the political legacy of his father-in-law Fu Bi in order to govern.Fu Bi was firmly opposed to the use of troops.

So even though Feng Jing was unwilling to fight, he had to oppose it.

Zhang Shouyue continued to talk about the reasons why they should not be subjugated, but Wu Chong already said: "Your Majesty, I think it's just the opposite. Mu Zheng is like Anlu Mountain, and Shi Siming's people seem to be obedient, but it will be difficult to obey the imperial order. I heard that in the past Xingzhu could allow generals to be corrupt, but never allow generals to be insulted. If the general is uncontrollable, how can he obey the minister for me?"

Zhang Shouyue didn't dare to contradict Wu Chong, and stepped aside consciously.

Feng Jing came out of the squad and said: "Your Majesty, even if Mu Zheng has something to do with his ministers, the matter of conquest must be decided by His Majesty. If he cannot ask for instructions when the opportunity arises, it will be Guo Kui's important task. How can a few border ministers do it rashly?"

Wu Chong said: "Gao Zunyu, before Wang Shao wanted to take Lintao, of course he had to communicate with Guo Kui first. But Guo Kui was at odds with Wang Shao, so he killed him first and played later!"

Feng Jingdao: "But now that Lintao has been seized, Mu Zheng will not be reconciled. He will definitely fight hard. After fighting hard, he will raise troops. How will the court bear it?"

The officials said: "I don't see anything wrong with Kaiyuan, but I use soldiers every year. There are countries in the world, and it is common to use soldiers, but they have not been used for a long time, so it is strange to hear that soldiers are used."

At this time Wen Yanbo came off the stage and said: "Your Majesty, don't forget the lessons learned by Han Jiang."

Wang Anshi said: "Han Jiang had to retreat because of the Khitan sending troops, otherwise our army would have taken Hengshan."

Wu Chong also said: "It's true. How can Han Jiang not speak for the rest of his life because of Han Jiang's inappropriate actions?"

Feng Jingdao: "This is because the name is not right and the words are not good. If the soldiers are not famous, things will not be done. The imperial court is famous for using soldiers as teachers."

Wu Chong said: "The so-called masters are famous because of Gang Ji. The imperial court lost restraint on the Tibetan tribe before, so that although Mu Zheng was the governor of Hezhou, Zhang Yue recruited Qiang from Weiyuan, and did not invade the other border, but sent troops to fight. , and even colluded with Dangxiang and Dong Zhan, is this what the governor of this dynasty did?"

Feng Jingdao: "But I heard that what Mu Zheng said was that Zhang Yue invaded his territory and took his salt well."

The official said this very clearly: "For the matter of the salt well, Zhang Yue and Mu Zheng made an appointment first."

Feng Jingdao: "Your Majesty, Mu Zheng is only afraid that Zhang will gradually invade him."

……

After the crowd debated for a while, Wang Anshi came out and concluded: "The debate on truth has been going on for several months, and it is useless even now."

"The trouble with this matter lies in whether the Mu Zheng can be eliminated. If the Mu Zheng can be eliminated, it is not a foreign invasion. If the Mu Zheng refuses to obey and repeatedly raises troops, then the capture of Lintao will be a failure."

Officials take it for granted, but in the end, any war has to go from justified to unreasonable to whether it can be won.

This is the principle of success and defeat, which has never been broken in ancient and modern times.

Even if he could win for a while, Mu Zheng, with the support of Dong Zhi and the party, has been fighting with the Song Dynasty in Xizhou all the time. With the lack of money and food, even if the Song Dynasty always wins, it loses.

Zhang Yue analyzed it very clearly with himself in the memorial.

Wu Chong said: "Your Majesty, now in Xizhou, all the money and food for the Tongyuan Army come from Qinfeng Road, but Guo Kui used Wang Shao to embezzle the city's money, even sold green salt privately, and falsely reported the amount of farmland. How can people succeed."

"Your Majesty, it is better to appoint a confidant to take responsibility in various aspects and get rid of Guo Kui's system, so that the matter can be successful."

Wen Yanbo said: "But if it is a system, it will require more troops and money."

Wu Chong said: "Zhang Yue and Wang Shao are both capable. You must know that it is a long way to go. Now that you have set up Xizhou, Huizhou, and Tongyuan Army, why waste money and food?"

Feng Jing asked: "If it is the appointment of the party, Zhang Yue, Wang Shao and others will have to serve for a few more years. After a long time, wouldn't it become the system of Jiedu Fangzhen again?"

Wu Chong said: "It is necessary to employ people, but also to suspect people. How can things be accomplished? Your Majesty, please consider it early, and let him make contributions in the years of Wang Shao!"

The official said: "I thought before that since Qinfeng Road's border appeasement department is the economic strategy officer, it should be dealt with separately, but Guo Kui is a senior general and it is not easy to be transferred. I plan not to set up Xihe Road as the economic strategy appeasement route. , what do you think?"

Don't set up a strategy to appease?
Shanxi Road now has four strategic appeasement routes, Qinfeng, Fuyan, Huanqing, and Jingyuan. If there is another Xihe appeasement route, then there will be five economic appeasement routes.

Wu Chong said with great joy: "This decision is your Majesty's. Your Majesty appointed two people for this matter, and they will do their best. He also controlled the Xia Kingdom at the same time and restored the old situation of the Han and Tang Dynasties. This is fundamental, and it will not waste people's money."

The officials consulted Wang Anshi, and Wang Anshi said: "Your Majesty, the wooden levy must be removed as soon as possible. The new defeat of the wooden levy can be defeated in one fell swoop. As long as the money is generous and the official position is recruited, Zhang Yue and Wang Shao will do everything. If you are restricted by the elbow, you dare not open up and draw, and you lose your size."

"Once the Mu Zheng can be dispatched, Dong Zhan and Xia Guo will be under my control. The other economic strategies in Shaanxi will make the roads high and smooth."

The officials were delighted to hear Wang Anshi playing.

But at this time, Wen Yanbo and Feng Jing also said that the establishment of the appeasement envoy Luzi is a big deal. Once the Xihe Economic Strategy appeasement envoy is actually established, then Xixia and Dong Zhan will know the Song Dynasty's intention to invade Hehuang, and a disaster will be inevitable. war.

This is beyond the current financial and material resources of the Song Dynasty.

When it comes to money, the officials have nothing to do.

Or should he appease Mu Zheng again, and then return the conquered Lintao City to the opponent, which is the real way to go far.

Hearing this, the officials sighed and said: "I want to control Di and barbarians at the same time, with the ambition of my ancestors, but now the court affairs have not been completed, there are not enough soldiers, food is not enough, and there are no generals in the court!"

Hearing what the officials said, the officials were speechless.

Just at this time, Li Xian's memorial came on horseback, and at the same time, a good news was attached.

Unwilling to be defeated, Mu Zheng wanted to seize Lintao again, but was defeated by Wang Shao.Mu Zheng killed Li Duke and his son to vent his anger, and all his troops rebelled.