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Chapter 1108 Chapter System
Chapter 1108 System
Morning in Bianjing.
The tall Xuande Building is the central axis, and the buildings on both sides of the Imperial Street are lined up one after another, including teahouses, wine shops, foot shops, butcher shops, temples, government offices, and so on.
Zhang Yue was sitting in a teahouse drinking tea leisurely. It was half a mile from Xuande Gate to here, and there was nothing else to do except for urgent official documents forwarded from the capital to here for review.
On the second floor of Zhangyue Teahouse, I had just finished writing several official letters. I was drinking tea while looking at the prosperous scene of Bianjing.
On the street before us, the shops are filled with silks, jewellery, spices, incense, paper and all kinds of things. There are also shops selling medical advice, car and horse repairs, fortune-telling, facials and plastic surgery, and a myriad of other businesses.
The restaurant door also has a "colorful building and happy door" and hangs a market sign. The street is crowded with people.
Merchants, gentry, officials riding horses, officials' families riding in carriages, wandering monks, and tourists from other places.
Young men from Wuling were drinking wildly in the taverns, old beggars were sitting on the ground in misery, and children were running nimbly in the streets. Sedan chairs, camels, ox carts, rickshaws, Taiping carts, flat-head carts, etc. were traveling on the Imperial Street.
The Bianjing in front of Zhang Yue was still as prosperous as the Bianjing he saw twenty years ago, and even better.
However, at this moment, Mingsha City was in danger. Soldiers from both Song and Xia were lying dead everywhere in the city. Some of them had just buried the bodies of their comrades, some were holding the Shenbi bow tightly in their hands, or were killing their horses with broken legs. Perhaps this horse had followed them for many years.
How many lives and deaths depend on just one moment.
Bian Jing is too far from Mingsha. The news that Zhang Yue received from Mingsha was sent ten days ago. The letter told him that there were only ten days of food and grass in the city. When Zhang Yue learned the news, the food and grass in the city should have just been eaten up. At this time, it would take another ten days for him to send the next order to the front line even if it was delivered using a gold medal.
At this moment, the people of Bian Jing might have just gotten up and had a bowl of Anle tea and rice, but the soldiers in Mingsha City were probably eating horse meat, and in a few days they might not even have horses to eat.
Zhang Yue really admired how the emperor came up with the brilliant idea of "controlling the general from the middle".
At this moment, the news of the defeat of Fuyan Road and the siege of Mingsha had spread in the capital. In addition, the corruption case of Fuyan Road had been exposed at this time. Not only had the number of officials opposed to the use of military force against Xia increased greatly, but even the scholars were tired of war.
Not to mention the old veterans in Luoyang such as Wen Yanbo, Fu Bi, Sima Guang, etc., the official with the greatest opposition in Bianliang was Zhang Shunmin.
This man was a Jinshi in the second year of Zhiping, and was recruited by Gao Zunyu as an aide. Later, he resigned due to a disagreement with Gao Zunyu. Now, because of the defeat in Fuyan Road, he announced to the outside world that "two hundred thousand soldiers were lost" in Fuyan Road alone.
The people were all shocked when they heard this.
At this moment there was a sound on the stairs below.
It turned out that Cai Bian was here.
After Xu Xi entered Han Zhen's court, Zhang Yue wrote a memorial to the emperor, requesting that Cai Bian be promoted to the position of Inspector of the Military Affairs Office of the Secretariat, and placed him by his side for training.
Zhang Yue likes Cai Bian's personality, the two have similarities.
Both of them are not good at boasting, but they are determined and never give up. Zhang Yue's determination is hesitant beforehand, and he seems a little indecisive and fussy, but once he makes up his mind, he will never give up.
This was the case from the time he married Shiqi Niang and decided to attack Xia.
Cai Bian's perseverance in adhering to the line was evaluated in another time and space in history as follows: after Shaosheng, Cai Bian was the only one who took the lead in following Anshi's way and became the emperor's seal.
At the same time, they are not so obsessed with wealth and fame.
On the contrary, Cai Jing was a bit impetuous, but ambitious and enterprising. At the same time, he was quick-witted, good at maneuvering between people and good at capturing people's hearts. His shortcomings were that he liked luxury, did not live a simple life, and could not be honest as an official.
Zhang Yue chose Cai Jing because he thought their personalities complemented each other and he was not good at adapting and interacting. Cai Jing had really helped him a lot in politics, economy and military affairs.
It can be said that without Cai Jing there would be no Zhang Yue today, but Cai Jing's biggest problem was that he could not "keep to his own simplicity".
This is the difference between the two brothers.
Cai Bian stepped forward and said, "Prime Minister, Shen Kuo reported that Yu Chong was arrogant and self-centered, and ignored the emperor's edict and refused to send a single soldier to rescue Jingyuan Road."
Zhang Yue wondered why Yu Chong did not send troops to rescue.
"Should we issue a direct decree in the name of the emperor or the Secretariat to urge Yu Chong to advance?"
Zhang Yue waved his hand and said, "In view of the failure of 'General Yu Zhongyu', I have set up a Privy Council in Shaanxi to handle frontline military affairs, but now the power to make decisions in emergencies is still in the hands of the various military governors."
"If I force Yu Chong to send troops to rescue Mingsha City, I will repeat the mistake of 'controlling the general from the middle'."
Considering that the emperor had previously controlled the war situation remotely, now that Zhang Yue had taken over the command, the first thing he had to do was to get rid of the emperor's remote control, both delegating power and taking it back.
The Xingshumiyuan was used to control the six routes, and the power of the military governors of each route to make their own decisions based on the frontline situation was returned to the Xingshumiyuan. The Xihe Zhizhisi was also established to clearly define the priorities among the six routes on the border, making it equal to the Xingshumiyuan.
But now the Acting Privy Councilor Han Zhen is still on the road and has not yet come on line, so it is up to the front-line commander to make the decision on his own.
It was very difficult for him to control the war situation from thousands of miles away. Even if he ordered Yu Chong to dispatch troops now, he would not receive the order until ten days later, and by then Zhang Zhi might be dead.
If the Western Xia took advantage of the victory and seized Huanzhou or Qingzhou, it would be a complete loss.
"Then you won't give the order?"
Zhang Yue said: "Even if we don't talk, he still needs to know how to do things. Yu Chong is a smart man."
"Now our business is not outside the court, but inside the court!"
After saying this, Zhang Yue looked towards the bustling city of Bianjing. The voices in the court opposing the invasion of Western Xia and advocating peace talks were gradually rising. How would he suppress them?
As mentioned before, Zhang Yue is hesitant before doing anything, but once he makes up his mind, he will never give up and will not give up until he breaks down the wall.
Anyone who opposes the attack on Xia now is a peace advocate, which goes against the mainstream ideology in the court.
When I was the Vice-Chancellor, the debate was about whether to reform the law or not. Now that I have been appointed Prime Minister, I will face a debate between those who advocate peace and those who advocate war. In fact, neither of them has changed.
You will find that most of those who oppose the reform are actually also opposed to the conquest of Xia!
Historically, during the Yuanyou period, Sima Guang ceded territory and withdrew his troops immediately after coming to power and negotiated peace with Western Xia.
Now that Fuyan Road was defeated and corruption broke out, the power of the peace faction increased greatly. Zhang Yue guessed that at least three out of ten officials were in favor of abandoning the Lanhui and negotiating peace with Xixia.
This debate in the court would also be transmitted to the generals and officials at the front, making them waver between peace and war and at a loss as to what to do.
Zhang Yue asked Cai Bian, "Why do they object?"
Cai Bian said: "Most of them are worried that if the imperial court fails in conquering the Xia, it will have to raise a lot of money to train troops. This will make the people suffer even more, and it will be more difficult to get things done in the local areas."
Zhang Yue nodded and said, "That's right, but there are also benefits to looking at it the other way around. It's extremely difficult to reform the system on weekdays, but now, taking advantage of the pretext of conquering Xia, it's also an idea to reform the official system in reverse."
Having said that, Zhang Yue looked towards the Imperial Street in Bianjing.
(End of this chapter)