I served as an admonisher in the Song Dynasty

Chapter 282: Yelu Hongji envoys to Song Dynasty, face-saving projects are not allowed

After a while.

Wang Songcai quickly walked up to Su Liang and said, "Su Yushi, Prime Minister Xia Shu has invited you!"

The corners of Su Liang's mouth raised slightly.

He waved his hand towards the four officials at the Censorship Station on the side.

"Pack it up and go back to Taiwan. Such a trivial matter is not worth taking action on."

Su Liang's words.

Naturally, he was satirizing the incompetence of some officials in the Privy Council.

Wang Songcai nodded quickly and said: "Xiaguan will definitely improve in the future, he will definitely improve!"

……

Lean slightly.

Wang Songcai brought Su Liang to Xia Song.

Xia Song smiled and said: "Jingming, sit down quickly, sit down quickly, I have been dizzy from work these past two days, and I just realized that you have come to the Privy Council several times!"

"Where are the documents? How dare I neglect official matters!"

"Yes, yes, it's all my fault. I forgot to report it to Prime Minister Xia!" Wang Songcai took all the blame on himself and took the document from Su Liang's hand and presented it to Xia Song.

Su Liang saw these two cunning people playing double act, so he quietly watched their performance.

After Xia Song read it, he directly stamped it with the seal of the Privy Council.

He could only delay it for two or three days. If he delayed further, the officials would definitely reprimand him.

Immediately.

After Wang Songcai returned the document to Su Liang, he withdrew very wisely.

Su Liang took the document, cupped his hands towards Xia Song and said, "Mr.

Su Liang's apology was sincere.

Later, he felt that he and Xia Song had nothing to talk about in depth, so after apologizing, he prepared to leave.

At this time, Xia Song slowly stood up.

"Jing Ming, the disagreement between you and me is actually a loss for the court. There are only two of you and me in the room at the moment. To be honest, what are my abilities? If I were the prime minister and the two of us cooperated, would the current court be harmed? better?"

Xia Song really wanted to be recognized by Su Liang.

And in his eyes, Du Yan, Chen Zhizhong, Wen Yanbo, and even Fan Zhongyan, Zhang Fangping, Fu Bi and others were inferior to him.

Su Liang thought for a while.

"Xia Shuxiang, in terms of political ability, no one in the current government is more suitable to be prime minister than you!"

"Is this true?" Xia Song couldn't help but get excited.

"Right now, I don't need to compliment you!" Su Liang continued: "However, it's not enough to be a prime minister with just ability. If you have three-thirds of Fan Gong's heart of 'worrying about the country first and then yourself', then you have three-thirds of Bachelor Bao, With half the integrity and integrity of the Prime Minister of the Tang Dynasty, he will surely become the most virtuous Prime Minister of the Song Dynasty."

After hearing Su Liang's comments, Xia Song thought for a while and asked: "If I get rid of those bad habits now, would you like to help me become Prime Minister? Together, we can definitely create a prosperous age in the Song Dynasty and surpass it." It’s not impossible for Tang.”

Xia Song, who is sixty-six years old, is still ambitious and has all kinds of pride in his heart.

Su Liang smiled helplessly.

Just because of Xia Song's fanaticism for fame and fortune, he could not be allowed to serve as prime minister.

"Xia Shuxiang, listen to my advice. It's time for you to retreat. It's a good time to retreat now."

Hearing this, Xia Song couldn't help but frown.

As the saying goes: half a sentence is enough without speculation.

Su Liang handed over to Xia Song again, then turned and left with the document.

"retreat?"

Xia Song curled his lips and clenched his fists.

"Why do I want to retire? My purpose has not been achieved yet, and I can still pay homage to the prime minister again! If you don't help me, I can still do it. Let's see!"

Xia Song still looked unconvinced.

……

August 26th.

Su Liang, holding the document in his hand, appeared in front of Wei Ze, the guard's pro-army and horse army commander, Yuhou Hou.

After reading it, Wei Ze asked: "May I ask Yushi Su, is it a horse or infantry battle? Will weapons be used in this battle?"

Su Liang shook his head.

"Fighting on foot, without weapons. Those new recruits' horse skills are not good enough. What they are training now is their combat effectiveness and bloody spirit. What I imagine is that a thousand people without weapons or armor will fight in a melee, and the victory will be determined by the number of people who win." Win or lose, someone will tell you the detailed rules of the battle in a few days."

Wei Ze nodded.

"Then...then...are we going to be the most powerful group, or are they the middle-level ones? Those recruits are young after all. I'm afraid that if I beat them too hard, they will lose their confidence!"

"No, you don't have to worry about this. Just send the five hundred most powerful people who are good at team fights."

"After you choose the people, immediately let them practice team battles together and fight against each other every day. I would like to remind you that you may not win. If you lose, you will be embarrassed!"

For the soldiers of the Fourth Army.

If you win this battle, you will not show your face; if you lose, it will probably spread throughout the entire Forbidden Army, and the entire Fourth Army will be embarrassed.

"The general will understand that when we fight, we will do our best and show no mercy!"

Wei Ze's expression suddenly became serious.

……

Three days later, Xu Mang and Wei Ze reached an agreement. The two sides will fight on the tenth day of September, and officials will also come in person.

Zhao Zhen has promised that if the 500-heavy cavalry can win this battle, he will give them a designation and make the 500-heavy cavalry officially become the emperor's personal soldiers.

……

On the third day of September, the weather gradually became cooler.

afternoon.

The ministers of the two prefectures and three divisions, as well as the chief officials of the Xueshiyuan and Taijian, received orders from Zhao Zhen and came to Chui Gong Hall one after another.

In the main hall.

A chamberlain handed a letter to Prime Minister Wen Yanbo, and then the ministers circulated it.

After Su Liang read this letter, he couldn't help but sigh: The Liao Kingdom is really a tiger!

This letter comes from Emperor Yelu Zongzhen of the Liao Kingdom.

He said that his eldest son, Yelu Hongji, had long admired the magnificence of the Song Dynasty and had gone to the Song Dynasty with the Liao delegation. He expected to arrive in Bianjing at the end of October and hoped that the Song Dynasty would take good care of him.

At the moment, Yelu Hongji has just turned nineteen.

In the Liao Kingdom, his title was King of Yanzhao, which was similar to the title of county king in the Song Dynasty.

Not surprisingly.

He was the next emperor of Liao.

The Liao Kingdom was so powerful that it dared to let its prince come to the Song Dynasty with the envoy.

Song Dynasty would never be able to do this, and would definitely not dare to do it.

Wen Yanbo murmured: "When Yelu Hongji came here this time, he must have come to learn from our Song Dynasty's political reform."

"Yeah, we have to be on guard against him. We must not let him get any useful information. I heard that Yelu Hongji is very proficient in Confucianism and knows our Song Dynasty very well."

"As I said, I will send several officials from Honglu Temple to play with him, go to the Goulan and go to the market, so that he can experience the prosperity of our Song Dynasty. When accompanying him, we should focus on one thing: enthusiasm and generosity. , I don’t know anything about it.”

……

Su Liang couldn't help but laugh when he heard the discussions among the ministers.

No one thought of detaining him, causing an accident, or directly using him as a proton to stay in the Song Dynasty.

Su Liang thought carefully.

I feel that it is impossible for the officials and the public to agree to such an approach.

Kindness and observance of etiquette were actually the weaknesses of the Song Dynasty.

The Song Dynasty always believed that it was the orthodoxy of the world, while Xixia and Liao were both barbarians. The main reason was that the Song Dynasty observed etiquette and followed rules.

After a while, Zhao Zhen came to the main hall.

He went straight to the point and said, "You must have read that letter. Prince Yelu Hongji of the Liao Kingdom will come to Bianjing with the Liao Kingdom's envoy at the end of next month. How do you think we should receive him?"

"I believe that we should be received with the courtesy of a county king, and Honglu Temple should be ordered to prepare ceremonial guards and residences in advance this month. The main streets of Bianjing City should also be repaired. Any damaged shop doors in the city should be repaired immediately. . We want Yelu Hongji to see the prosperity of our Song Dynasty and let him feel admiration in his heart!" Wen Yanbo was the first to speak.

"I second the proposal. In addition, I suggest that starting from tomorrow, cavalry training should be strengthened so that Yelu Hongji can see the military capabilities of our dynasty and make him fearful. If he becomes emperor in the future, he will definitely not dare to go to war with our dynasty easily!"

"I second the proposal, and I also suggest that the officials of Honglu Temple should be the first to prepare a speech and tell Yelu Hongji about the prosperity of the Song Dynasty. In addition, we should take him to see and play more, instead of letting him understand the content of our reform in depth. .”

……

A group of husbands chatted non-stop.

To sum it up, it can be summed up in one word: show off.

Show off the wealth of the people and show off the strength of the army.

After the princes finished speaking, Su Liang slowly walked out.

"In the official family, I think that everything the ministers say is inappropriate, very inappropriate, especially inappropriate!"

Su Liangla said in a long voice.

Attracted everyone's attention.

Su Liang paused and said slowly: "Officials, Yelu Hongji is neither the official envoy nor the deputy envoy in the mission, and according to what the Emperor of Liao said in the letter, he will be taken care of as a member of the mission. Can."

"I feel that we only need to receive the Liao envoys according to the normal etiquette. If we prepare all kinds of ceremonial guards, build bridges and roads, and repair shop fronts for Yelu Hongji, it will be a waste of people and money. He can't do it at the moment. He is a prince who has not held the position of a mission, the more we value him, the more he will despise us."

"Besides, I feel that the more we lack something, the more we will show off. If we let Yelu Hongji watch our cavalry training, wouldn't that make the other party laugh? Our one-month assault training can be compared to riding on a horse at the age of three. The Khitan on the back?"

"It is the behavior of a great nation to treat Yelu Hongji neither humble nor arrogant. The people in Bianjing are watching!"

"If the imperial court only thought of building bridges and roads and preparing various ceremonial guards because of the arrival of the Liao prince, what would the people think? As for the reform situation of the Song Dynasty, some important information could not be seen by the Liao mission at all. , we can just let them visit, we just need to show our will to go all out in reforming the law and not to hit the wall and not look back, just like we did last year."

"The attitude of an official, a great nation, does not lie in showing off, but in self-confidence, and in the words of the people."

The Song Dynasty has always been about "saving face and suffering", and this is what Su Liang rejects the most.

The face of a country is established by the financial resources and combat effectiveness of the court, and is demonstrated by the happiness of the people.

Instead of wasting money and people just to show off to outsiders.

After Su Liang finished speaking, the court fell silent instantly.

At that time, the late emperor's favorite thing was this kind of face-saving work.

Taishan was granted the title of Zen to prove to the world that the Song Dynasty's prosperous age had arrived, but he was severely slapped in the face by the people.

The imperial court can control the words of history books, but it cannot control the words of the people all over the world.

If Yelu Hongji is treated too favorably, almost treating him as the future emperor of Liao, and causing trouble to the people of Bianjing, the people will definitely be dissatisfied.

Zhao Zhen smiled awkwardly and said, "There is some truth in what Jing Ming said."

(End of this chapter)