Prime Minister

Chapter 1074: Heroes of the World, Envoy and Cao

Chapter 1074: Heroes of the World, Envoy and Cao

Lu Huiqing was such a smart man that he knew what Zhang Yue meant after a moment's thought.

Lu Huiqing thought to himself, what a good Zhang San, he actually made fun of me, Lu.

Lu Huiqing was a man who was good at giving answers. No matter what the emperor wanted to do, he would list them all one by one and do it to the utmost, which not only satisfied the emperor but also satisfied him beyond his expectations.

Not only Lu Huiqing was like this, but his subordinates were also like this. Whatever he gave an order, he would do it no matter what, and no one was allowed to bargain with him.

Chen Guan said: "Lü Gong has been preparing his troops in the northwest. If he cannot defeat Xixia in one battle, wouldn't all his efforts be wasted?"

Lu Huiqing said calmly, "It turns out that Mr. Zhang had already anticipated my meeting with the emperor."

Chen Guan smiled and said, "Mr. Zhang didn't say that, but I guess if Mr. Lu hadn't run into a wall, he wouldn't have come to look for Mr. Zhang."

"Now that Lord Lu knows that the attack on Xia is impossible, he has spoken too confidently to the emperor before, and is afraid that the emperor will blame him later, so he must be here today to encourage Lord Zhang to oppose it as well."

"It's a pity that everything in the world can't go as Lu Gong wants."

Lu Huiqing looked at Chen Guan and couldn't help laughing.

Chen Guan was stunned and thought that maybe he guessed wrong.

……

At this moment, Zhang Yue was weaving bamboo strips to make baskets in his mansion, waiting for Peng Jingyi to report to Lu Huiqing's repeated request to see him.

Zhang Yue said to himself, "We have known each other for many years. It would be a pity not to see each other again. Please invite him in!"

Peng Jingyi said yes, took a look at the bamboo strips in Zhang Yue's hand and asked, "Should we change the place?"

Zhang Yue smiled and said, "Don't worry about it."

After a while, Lu Huiqing came in, greeted Zhang Yue and said, "Lu greets the Grand Councilor!"

Zhang Yue looked at Lu Huiqing. He had never led troops before, but this time when he went to Fuyan Road to lead the troops, he was more decisive and murderous than before.

Zhang Yue said: "Ji Fu, please accept my condolences."

The two exchanged a few words, and Zhang Yue said casually: "You shouldn't lie down for too long while you are recovering from an illness, so you should do something."

Lu Huiqing said: "In the past, Tao Kan carried bricks, and Da Shen really had his style."

Tao Kan carrying bricks refers to the fact that when Tao Kan was at home, he still carried 100 bricks every day. Actually, this is nothing to praise. If this is also worthy of praise, then those who lift weights in the gym are more diligent than Tao Kan.

However, everyone has a personality when serving as an official, and Lu Huiqing created a capable official. It is said that Zhang Yue is similar to Tao Kan, who is generally careful and prudent in his work, never tired of doing things, and frugal and honest.

Zhang Yue smiled and said, "I am just lazy and don't want to use my brain anymore. After becoming an official, I became lazy about writing articles. I wrote an article a few days ago and it took me half a day to finish it."

"Compared to the writings he did when he was young, they are far inferior, and the meaning of the writing is far inferior to that of the past. No wonder Jiang Yan's higher official position makes him unable to write good articles. I am the same as him, and we have all run out of talent."

"I can't write it."

Zhang Yue said this with a somewhat bleak tone.

Lu Huiqing also sighed.

After a pause, Lu Huiqing said, "I am in mourning and should not say anything, but today I want to tell you the truth when I see you, Grand Chancellor."

Zhang Yue smiled and said, "Ji Fu, why can't you speak frankly? When we first met, we told each other everything we knew."

"Later, when we met as strangers, it was difficult for us to be honest with each other. Now, after wasting half of our lives, Brother Ji Fu has started to speak the truth again."

Lu Huiqing said: "Life is like this."

"Does the Grand Counselor know that Zhang Zhi and Shen Kuo are the commanders of the respective armies in this campaign against Xia?"

Zhang Yue said calmly: "That's their chance to show off. Come, Ji Fu, have some tea!"

Lu Huiqing said, "Master, I will offer you tea instead of wine."

They both drank the tea in one gulp.

Lu Huiqing said: "I have a few words from the bottom of my heart to report to the Grand Council. Since ancient times, those who seek great things have not paid attention to small gains, and those who have far-reaching ambitions have not paid attention to daily life."

"Your Majesty wants to be the leader of the revival of the country. If you attack Xia Cheng, wouldn't Prime Minister Zhang be the prime minister of the revival of the country? Even Lu will benefit from it, and his reputation will be recorded in history!"

"At present, Mr. Zhang does not want to damage his reputation. If the plan fails, the state will never recover, and how can the emperor's favor last long? Therefore, I am here today to beg the Grand Councillor to come out and help Your Majesty to conquer Xia!"

Zhang Yue said: "Oh, didn't Ji Fu advise Your Majesty not to attack Xia today? Why did he come to my house today to persuade me to come out of retirement? Isn't it..."

Zhang Yue's implication was that it was you, Lu Huiqing, who advocated the attack on Xia. Now that you are in mourning, the plan is unlikely to succeed. So you asked me to come out and help the emperor. If we win, Lu Huiqing will have the credit. Even if we lose, I will share the blame with you.

Why should I be responsible for your decision in the end?

Lu Huiqing said: "Grand Counselor, yes, some people may say that the idea of ​​attacking Xia was first proposed by Lu to the emperor. Then I would like to ask, if it were not for Lu, would the emperor not have attacked Xia?"

Zhang Yue said: "This intention cannot be changed."

Lu Huiqing said: "Grand Counselor, I just said what the emperor wanted to say and did what the emperor wanted to do. What's wrong with that? I want to attack Xia, but the time is not right. I would like to advise Your Majesty to delay, but Your Majesty is Emperor Taizong of Tang, so you can't delay."

"Lü is devoted to His Majesty and the country. Even if I lead a large army to attack Xia, I will not hesitate to sacrifice my life, but I have to do so now because I have to..."

Zhang Yue laughed and said, "Ji Fu can ask His Majesty to take back his love, and there is nothing wrong with Mo Sui joining the army."

Lu Huiqing sighed, "Even if I am willing to take away the love, the troops in Fuyan Road cannot be attacked if they advance, and cannot be defended if they retreat. But Your Majesty does not listen to me, and instead it is better to abandon Shaanxi. Why bother defending it any longer?"

Zhang Yue sneered and thought, if I had known this would happen, I wouldn’t have done it in the first place!

Lu Huiqing said: "Just as the Grand Councillor said, the best strategy is to operate along the Xihe Road and Jingyuan Road! It's a pity that Your Majesty didn't listen to what Lu said."

"Your Majesty is now determined to attack Xia and will not listen to anyone else. Only the Grand Counselor can listen to your Majesty. The Grand Counselor is good at calculating and has long known that only the Jingyuan and Xihe routes can be victorious. It took me several years to see through this, and I am not as good as the Grand Counselor."

"Your Majesty has a great assistant, no less than King Wu of Zhou had Jiang Shang and Liu Bei had Zhuge Liang."

Zhang Yue listened to Lu Huiqing's words. He knew that this person was extremely jealous of him and had always been dissatisfied with him. Now he was actually humbly sighing that he was inferior to him, and even praised himself as Jiang Shang and Zhuge Liang.

Hearing this, Zhang Yue couldn't help but feel a little comfortable with Lu Huiqing's flattery.

Finally, Lu Huiqing said, "Tian Feng once advised Yuan Shao not to attack Cao and died. Prime Minister Zhang, you must learn from this! I'm leaving now!"

Zhang Yue looked at Lu Huiqing and thought to himself that this man was indeed his greatest rival, and he understood his psychology very well. Although every word he said was out of self-interest, one should examine not only his motives but also the facts.

He would not listen to everything Lu Huiqing said, nor would he not listen to it.

Zhang Yue nodded and said, "I am ill, so I am sorry I cannot see you off!"

Lu Huiqing bowed and left.

Zhang Yue watched Lu Huiqing's back and felt desolate. He immediately said, "Brother Lu, please stay!"

Lu Huiqing stood in the courtyard and asked, "What advice do you have, Grand Chan Master?"

Zhang Yue said: "Brother Lu is about to leave, and I suddenly thought of a poem to give him!"

“I’m all ears!”

Zhang Yue said, "Where did we meet? Climb up the Baochai Tower and visit the Tongque Tower. Ask the cook to chop the whale meat from the East Sea; ask the groom to present the dragon from the West. You and Cao are the heroes of the world. Who else can drink with me? There are thousands of carriages, carrying the swordsmen from Yan and Zhao in the south and the genius from the west."

Lü Huiqing felt ashamed when he heard this. He remembered that he had compared Zhang Yue to Liu Bei and Cao Cao to express his appreciation for Zhang Yue. Now Zhang Yue gave him another gift in his poem: "Among all the heroes in the world, only you, Lü Huiqing, are worthy of drinking with me. The rest are not worthy of being compared."

It turns out that Zhang Yue has always valued me so much in his heart.

In a flash, Zhang Yue started the second half of the poem.

"When I was drunk, the drums were as loud as thunder. Who would have thought that I would be called back by the morning rooster? I sigh that the years have passed, but I have not yet achieved fame; the scholar is getting old, and the opportunity has just come. If General Li had met Emperor Gao, what would his title of marquis be? I got up, but I felt sad and nostalgic, and my generosity gave rise to sorrow."

After listening to the second half of the poem, Lu Huiqing could not help but say with sadness: "Time has passed, fame has not been achieved, the scholar is getting old, the opportunity has just come, good words, good words!"

Lu Huiqing said to Zhang Yue: "Although I have served as a councilor, I have not achieved anything in my life. Now that I am old, I am afraid I will never have the opportunity to make achievements again."

Zhang Yue said: "There is no need to look down on Ji Fu. Everyone is a scholar."

Lu Huiqing sighed, "I have already become notorious. If the attack on Xia fails, I will be criticized and condemned!"

Zhang Yue smiled and said, "It is not difficult for Ji Fu to avoid disaster. You can take advantage of this opportunity to ask the government for the position of a scholar in the Zizheng Palace while you are in mourning."

Lu Huiqing's eyes lit up when he heard this, and he understood Zhang Yue's intention.

Lu Huiqing thought to himself, he is actually giving me advice, how can I accept it!

Lu Huiqing looked at Zhang Yue with a complicated expression, then bowed and left.

……

Knowing that the emperor intended to mobilize two armies to attack Xia, court officials submitted memorials to oppose it.

First, the Imperial Academy scholar Sun Gu submitted a memorial to oppose the movement, saying that it was easy to raise an army but difficult to eliminate the disaster; even if victory could be achieved, Western Xia could not be defeated in one battle.

But the emperor had made up his mind. The emperor and his minister argued in front of all the officials. Sun Gu saw that he could not win the argument and said, "It is better to attack him lightly."

The government didn't listen.

The next day, Lü Gongzhu again advised: "If Your Majesty must send troops, you must carefully select your generals."

The official said, "Wang Zhongzheng, Li Xian, and Gao Zunyu are all OK."

Lu Gongzhu said: "How can you use eunuchs as generals? If Your Majesty has no suitable generals, it is better to withdraw the troops first."

Sun Gu and a dozen court officials echoed each other in opposing the expedition to Western Xia.

But the government still refused to listen.

It happened that Lu Huiqing asked for the position of Academician of the Zizheng Palace. The court officials all laughed when they heard about it, and there was even an imperial censor who advised Lu Huiqing not to be too greedy.

The official said, "Lü Huiqing was once a member of the government. Don't embarrass him too much. Just give him more money."

The government gave Lu Huiqing 50,000 strings of cash, but Lu Huiqing felt it was not enough and asked the emperor for more money. The censor could not stand it anymore and thought Lu Huiqing was too greedy, so he impeached him.

Lu Huiqing continued to write memorials to defend himself, but all the court officials laughed at him.

The emperor wondered why Lu Huiqing, after his period of mourning, kept asking for money and status and had no ambition at all. He was impeached and ridiculed by ministers and censors.

But now many court officials opposed the attack on Xia. Even Lu Huiqing, who had strongly supported the attack on Xia, spoke out against it. The emperor felt somewhat isolated and helpless at the moment.

At this time, Zhang Yue submitted a memorial while he was ill.

There are three possibilities and three benefits in attacking Xia!

The emperor was overjoyed to see that Zhang Yue's memorial was like timely help.

(End of this chapter)