bookrandom Chapter 1115: Will Take It
Chapter 1115: Will Take It
Chapter 1115: Will Take It
After seeing Huang Shang off, Zhang Yue and Cai Bian returned home.
It was already dark at this moment. The carriage was traveling on the streets of Bianjing. Although the scene was prosperous and busy, it made Zhang Yue feel more and more desolate.
Zhang Yue got off the carriage and saw many people gathered in the mansion, one of whom was Shi Deyi.
Zhang Yue's face changed immediately when he saw Shi Deyi. Shi Deyi lowered his head and said, "Prime Minister, His Majesty has urgently summoned you to the palace."
Zhang Yue asked, "Is there any news from the western border?"
Shi Deyi was silent for a moment and said, "Prime Minister, it was Shen Kuo who played the golden medal!"
Zhang Yue said: "I understand."
Zhang Yue wanted to follow Shi Deyi into the palace, but he stopped and said to Peng Jingyi, "Tell my wife that I'm on duty at the Secretariat tonight and ask her to take good care of my brother and sister-in-law."
Peng Jingyi said: "Yes."
The sky is getting darker.
It was already past the Double Ninth Festival. In the past, people would go out to admire the chrysanthemums and return home, filled with joy. Children would happily follow the adults, laughing and playing.
Zhang Yue felt relieved when he saw that the people in the capital were living and working in peace and contentment.
For thousands of years, the common people have not had many such peaceful and prosperous times.
Who could have predicted that decades later in another time and space, the peaceful and prosperous scene of Bianjing would only exist in the memories of the old people and be lamented by future generations.
However, the territories gained through decades of hard work and hundreds of battles during the Xining period were all lost in a single counterattack by the Western Xia.
Zhang Yue sat in the carriage and thought deeply.
The carriage went straight into the palace, and the palace guards did not dare to stop it.
When Wang Anshi first entered the palace, Zhang Maoze ordered the guards to beat the horses. Everyone knew that he was following the instructions of the two Empress Dowagers.
But now Zhang Yue's carriage went straight into the palace.
There are not many prime ministers who can gain unanimous approval from the emperor and the two empress dowagers.
After entering the palace, Zhang Yue met the emperor.
But the official was seen standing in the hall with red eyes and bare feet.
Zhang Yue said: "Your Majesty..."
The emperor said, "Sir... Shen Kuo has sent a report that Mingsha City has been destroyed!"
Although it was expected, Zhang Yue still felt caught off guard when he heard the news.
The official said: "Shen Kuo said in his memorial that Zhang Zhi, with less than 5,000 soldiers and horses, protected tens of thousands of troops on the Jingyuan Road and killed more than 10,000 western bandits under the city."
"Now the ruler of Xixia, Li Bingchang, has sent an envoy to ask for peace and is willing to return the remains of the fallen soldiers and horses."
"Please take a look at the newly arrived apology memorials from Han Zhen, Li Xian, Shen Kuo, Yu Chong, Wang Hou, Zhong Shidao, and Liu Changzuo!"
The eunuch brought a chair and Shi De handed him a stack of memorials in one hand. Zhang Yue took a moment to calm himself down, and then read the memorials one by one.
In their memorials, all of these people blamed themselves harshly, while secretly shifting the blame to others.
Yu Chong blamed Shen Kuo, Shen Kuo blamed Yu Chong, Han Zhen blamed Shen Kuo and Yu Chong.
Li Xian put the blame on himself, saying that he sent reinforcements too late.
Wang Houze admitted that he spent too much effort in attacking Lanzhou.
Liu Changzuo and Zhong Shidao had no way to shirk the blame and could only take it.
The official said, "Look who didn't try his best, missed the opportunity to fight, and caused Mingsha City to fall."
Zhang Yue came back to his senses after hearing the emperor's words, thought for a moment and said, "Your Majesty, all the ministers have done their best. If there is any responsibility, it is because I was unable to coordinate the work in the Secretariat and could not save Mingsha City. Please punish me, Your Majesty."
The emperor said, "The siege of Mingsha City happened before you became the Prime Minister of Jixian. It has nothing to do with you. I am asking about other people."
Zhang Yue said nothing.
The emperor said angrily, "You don't have to cover up for them. I have to punish several people. Fuyan Road was defeated and Mingsha City was captured. Can't I punish even one person?"
Zhang Yue said, "Your Majesty, according to Han Zhen's report, Yu Chong, the governor of Huanqing Road, missed the opportunity to fight, disobeyed your Majesty's order, and watched the success or failure of the friendly army; Shen Kuo harbored illusions and secretly negotiated peace with Xixia, wanting to exchange the two states of Lanhui for Mingsha City."
"Master Zhong said, Liu Changzuo has no way of controlling his troops, causing the troops in Jingyuan Road to abandon almost all of their armor, weapons and baggage."
"Li Xian and Wang Hou are slow in attacking Lanzhou."
The emperor nodded and said, "What do you think we should do?"
Zhang Yue said: "I think that Yu Chong should be dismissed from his post as the governor of Jingyuan Road and placed in another state for supervision, and then the Censorate will further investigate his crime!"
"Shen Kuo has made great contributions in building and pacifying Xiacheng. I have been demoted three levels, but I am still serving as the governor of Jingyuan Road."
"As for Zhong Shidao, Liu Changzuo and Zhong Shidao both had merits in defeating the Western Xia army. Since their merits and demerits offset each other, I will demote them one level and let them serve."
"Li Xian, Wang Hou has the merit of capturing Lanzhou, so he will not be rewarded or punished."
"The previous plan to punish the officials of Fuyan Road included beheading two people, exiling thirty-nine people, and deposing and demoting eighty-two people. Your Majesty has also approved it!"
The emperor nodded and said, "We will do as you say. Xixia has sent envoys to negotiate peace. How should we respond?"
Zhang Yue said: "Since the Xixia people intend to negotiate peace, regardless of whether they are sincere or not, I think we should send envoys to negotiate peace!"
The emperor asked, "My dear, why do you think so?"
Zhang Yue said: "Your Majesty, if you want to shrink it, you must first expand it; if you want to weaken it, you must first strengthen it; if you want to abolish it, you must first promote it; if you want to take it, you must first give it."
"To accomplish something, the purpose and the means can be opposite, which is also the meaning of the opposite of the movement of the Tao."
"It will take time to take over Xixia. We need to take two steps forward and one step back. We are not talking nonsense. We can even return some border areas of Fuyan Road to Xixia, but the key areas of Yulanhuixihe Road, Jingyuan Road, and Huanqing Road cannot be touched."
"As long as Lan Hui is in hand, and we find an opportunity to break through Ganliang and defend Tiandu Mountain and Mingsha, Xixia will surely perish."
The emperor nodded slowly and said, "But Xixia is not without knowledgeable people. If they see that we are not sincere in negotiating peace, how can we hide it from them?"
Zhang Yue said: "Only the wisest and the stupidest people in the world are unchangeable. The peace talks are for the majority of people, not for the smart and stupid people. It is even just to give the peace-loving faction in Xixia an excuse."
"As long as we can shake these people and make them think that our dynasty has no intention of launching another Western Expedition and no longer intends to destroy Xia because of the defeat, that's enough."
"Besides, Xixia may have plans to use peace talks to paralyze us. Your Majesty, a fish should not be taken out of the deep, and a country's sharp weapon should not be shown to others!"
The official pondered, Zhang Yue was about to say that if you want to take it, you must give it to him firmly, and that a fish cannot escape from the deep, and a country's sharp weapon cannot be shown to others.
They all come from Chapter 36 of the Tao Te Ching.
The most important thing is the last sentence: a country’s weapon should not be shown to others.
What does this sentence mean?
It is strategic ambiguity. A country's strategy should not be revealed to others. Otherwise, it would be like a fish out of water.
It’s enough if you are clear about the strategy in your heart, but it will always be unclear to the outside world.
There is a joke that a farmer feeds a chicken and tells it that he will slaughter it for meat tomorrow.
The next day, the farmer found that the chicken had committed suicide by eating rat poison. Its last words were, "Dream on if you want to eat meat. I'm not someone you can easily mess with."
Why?
Once your opponent knows your decision, he will make the decision that is most beneficial to himself, even at the cost of both of you dying.
For example, if you want to take something, you must give it to him. If you can get it now, why go around in circles? Just take it directly. Don't wait for things that can be done immediately.
The farmer was fine if he killed the chicken that day.
If you can't reach it at the moment, you have to take a detour.
The official said, "If the court were to negotiate peace, wouldn't that make everyone in the court hesitate?"
Zhang Yue said: "Your Majesty, on the contrary, if we don't negotiate peace, won't there be people in the court who don't want to negotiate peace? On the contrary, if our peace talks fail, we can put all the blame on the Xixia people in the future. This way, we can also give an 'explanation' to the peace-loving faction in the court."
The official was stunned when he heard this and looked at Zhang Yue repeatedly.
Zhang Yue said sternly, "My nephew is trapped in Mingsha City, and there is a high probability that he will die. I do not want to avenge this great hatred from the bottom of my heart."
"However, the way to use troops lies in one mind. What is one mind? One mind means doing nothing. To do something means to add an extra thought of 'working hard' or 'fear of gain and loss' to the goal. It is because the way is unique that the tactics are varied."
Zhang Yue paused here.
"Your Majesty, we defend in order to attack, we retreat in order to advance, we move sideways in order to face forward, and we take a detour in order to go straight."
“Things in the world cannot be changed by will. The more you think about it, the harder it is to do it. But when you come back, it is done.”
"This is what I really think."
Zhang Yue's final words to the emperor are the classic sayings after crossing the Chishui River four times, which are consistent with "If you want to take it, you must give it firmly" and "Return is the movement of the Tao".
The emperor's understanding was still a little lacking. He thought for a long time before saying, "What Mr. Zhang meant is that I really want this thing in my heart, but I have to say that I don't care."
Zhang Yue said, "Your Majesty, this is a case of saying one thing and thinking another. You are deceiving others and yourself. Your Majesty, as long as you understand that saying no is not to arouse jealousy, but you still have to want it in your heart. And if you are not afraid of others seeing through your mind, then you will be fine."
The emperor nodded and said, "In this case, I agree to negotiate peace with Xixia. You are fully responsible for planning this matter."
"I wonder who you plan to negotiate peace with?"
Of course, there were many candidates for peace talks. Zhang Yue even thought of Sima Guang, Wen Yanbo, Fu Bi and others from Xijing.
But in the end, Zhang Yue knew that none of these people were suitable and said, "Your Majesty, I haven't thought of a candidate yet, but since we are negotiating peace, we must be serious. We must choose one from the officials who are in favor of peace today. At the same time, he must be able to understand the general situation, endure humiliation, and put the country first!"
The emperor thought for a moment and said, "I have an idea of someone. How about Lu Gongzhu?"
Zhang Yue's face darkened upon hearing this, and he immediately said, "Lü Gongzhu is indeed the candidate. He has opposed Your Majesty's Western Expedition before, but because of his son-in-law... I don't know if he can agree."
The official nodded and said, "Okay."
After a pause, the emperor said, "Mr. Zhang, whether Ah Xi is alive or dead, I will let him return to the Song Dynasty."
Zhang Yue was a little bit unbelievable. From the perspective of the emperor, the emperor's words were still very humane.
The emperor said, "I am not lying, Mr. Zhang, I really wish Ah Xi was still alive at this moment."
Zhang Yue looked at the emperor and said, "Your Majesty, dying on the battlefield is a man's nature, but I...I thank your Majesty."
"My minister retire."
Zhang Yue walked out of the hall and looked at the Forbidden City.
But in the twilight, the western sky was filled with blood-red light, as if countless blood had fallen, while in the near distance there were dark clouds covering the city, so depressing that it was almost suffocating.
Zhang Yue calmed himself down, went down the stairs and returned to the Zhongshu.
(End of this chapter)