Prime Minister

Chapter 966 The official’s wavering

In the first month of the ninth year of Xining.

The tenth year of the emperor’s reign.

There should have been some celebrations inside and outside Bianjing, but Jiaozhi in the south and Liao Kingdom in the north launched attacks on the Song Dynasty at the same time, so the officials just celebrated.

After the Great Court Meeting, the officials opened Tianzhang Pavilion and the two government offices to give advice and wait for the above officials to discuss state affairs in the cabinet.

The emperor had been in power for ten years and had personally presided over many state affairs. However, after Wang Anshi returned to the prime minister, Lu Huiqing defected, and his power as prime minister was greatly reduced.

Nowadays, officials can make at least [-]% of their opinions on the agenda of the court.

Not all the remaining [-]% belongs to Wang Anshi.

As the Prime Minister of the State, Wu Chong has recently revolted against Song Minqiu. Su Song and other officials who were previously criticized by Wang Anshi also have some say in the court.

Now the emperor opens the Tianzhang Pavilion to discuss affairs, allowing officials above the system level to speak freely about Liao and Jiaozhi affairs.

Many officials had a glimpse of the emperor's intentions, so they criticized the current prime minister's strategy for the Liao Kingdom and Jiaozhi.

"Your Majesty, Zhang Yue has dispatched [-] cavalry on Xihe Road to the east of Hedong to set up defenses, leaving the gates of the West Road open. Once Xixia starts a war at this time, Xihe Road will be lost."

"Your Majesty, yesterday I reported that the Moyak tribe, which is a familiar household on Xihe Road, caused the Tibetan tribe to attack our Zhucheng city. Fortunately, the Ministry of Economic Affairs sent more than a thousand troops to repel it. The deployment of heavy troops from Xihe Road really gave the Tibetan tribe an opportunity to take advantage of it. !”

Hearing this, Deng Wan and Deng Runfu smiled slightly. They restricted Zhang Yue so that he could not have too much power. This was their arrangement.

After he finished speaking, General Xu from the Zhijian Yuan said: "Your Majesty, it is very urgent for Jiaozhi to attack Guangxi! Zhao Xi recruited envoys for Annan without consultation with the two governments. Everyone said that he was incompetent for the job."

Deng Wan frowned after hearing General Xu's words. This Zhao Xi was recommended to the officials by Wang Anshi.It was said that he did not go through the second government because Wu Chong opposed this candidate, but Wang Anshi still insisted on his own intention.

After hearing the opponent's criticism of Zhang Yue, Wu Chong fought back not to be outdone.

The official opened the Tianzhang Pavilion to let the system discuss the matter, just to hear different voices besides the second government, as a way to weaken the power of the prime minister, so I nodded lightly to show that I understood.

"Your Majesty, the capital city has been in disrepair for a long time. It is necessary to send 5000 people to repair it in preparation for the Liao army's invasion. At the same time, Kaifeng Mansion should train the people to protect the armor and collect the grain owed by each road as a way to defend the city."

"Your Majesty, Zhang Yue said that Yang Wan, the No. 19 general in Hebei Province, has failed to train troops well and needs to report his achievements in suppressing bandits. He should be removed from his post and impeached! No. 20 second deputy general Sun Gui has no problem in training troops and will be demoted to an official position. I think he cannot be left alone. Pretentious.”

By talking about the Khitan incident, the situation turned to Deng Wan again.

It can be clearly seen that the officials are very worried about the long-term unresolved issue of Khitan.

"Your Majesty, now that the Northerners have invaded Dingzhou, it is appropriate to issue an edict to know the state, to oversee the state, to govern the state, and to govern the state. They should first terminate the agreement with reason. If they do not comply, then drive them away with troops and horses to avoid causing trouble. Other states should do the same. .”

The official finally said: "Yes, this is exactly the truth."

Seeing that the officials finally spoke up, another official stood up and said: "Now that Hebei is in crisis, Li Pingyan and Zhang Yue are waiting for the Khitan to take a tough stance. It is better to reassign Zeng Xiaokuan, deputy privy envoy, to investigate the matter."

Seeing this, Wu Chong said: "Your Majesty, it has always been Zhang Yue's initiative to negotiate with the Liao Kingdom. It seems to Yichen that he is more than capable. He cannot change his general at the moment."

The official said: "I understand the intentions of the people in the north, and my intention of sending envoys to promote the discussion is very sincere. I am ordering Zhang Yue to consider the favor and make it convenient for him to stay here, and not to let his nature go north. If something unexpected happens and causes trouble, it will be difficult for the court to do anything. Reward."

"I heard a report a few days ago that the Liao envoy decided to leave. I'm afraid there was some injustice."

Deng Wan said: "Your Majesty, there is news circulating in Hebei that the Liao Kingdom has made concessions, but Zhang Yue still refuses to agree to peace. He wants to take credit for himself and completely ignores national affairs."

The official listened silently, and he listened to Li Ping's report. It was true that Zhang Yue did not agree to the conditions after the Liao Kingdom proposed it, which made him really dissatisfied.Wu Chong heard so many opinions that were unfavorable to Zhang Yue, and he could not speak anymore.

At this time, Shen Kuo said: "Your Majesty, I feel that... something is strange. During the Zhiping period... when the Liao Kingdom and I demarcated the boundary, we twice talked about the ownership of Tianchi, but this time the boundary... was never mentioned. This order The minister is very puzzled."

"I thought Zhang Yue... didn't agree rashly, that's why."

The official nodded and said: "Tianchi must not be ceded to the Liao Kingdom."

At this time Wang Anshi said: "The Liao people are capricious, and this demarcation is not done overnight. Agreeing too quickly will easily let the Liao people know our bottom line, but the safety of Xihe Road must not be ignored. We must wait until the troops and horses are empty. The Xia Kingdom took the opportunity to attack here."

The official nodded, and Wang Anshi held true to what he said.

After the court meeting ended.

Shen Kuo approached Wu Chong and saluted: "Wu... Mr. Wu."

Wu Chong glanced at Shen Kuo. His official reputation was not very good and he did not want to get too involved with him.

However, Shen Kuo is now being favored by Zhang Yue. Wu Chong once asked why Shen Kuo was used?

Zhang Yue replied to Wu Chong, "If a person has no shortcomings, he cannot be used. If you use a person without perfecting him, a perfect person will be useless."Shen Kuo's shortcoming was that he was an official. It would be good to find someone to learn from his strengths and make up for his weaknesses.

Seeing that Shen Kuo had found him, Wu Chong also gritted his teeth.

But Shen Kuo stammered and said: "I'm reporting to Mr. Wu, Deputy Zhang Shu mobilized troops and horses on Xihe Road. I'm afraid something unexpected will happen in the future. Now I can ask Quan to send Xihe Road Manager Gao Zunyu to give me some words. Dong Fei is respectful." , Ali has no different intentions, and Xihe Road is enough to protect himself."

Wu Chong nodded and said: "This matter can be handled. Empress Dowager Gao has always appreciated it, and Gao Zunyu has also made arrangements for it in the past."

Shen Kuo was very happy to see that Wu Chong had adopted his opinion.

Shen Kuo added: "I heard that Yongzhou is in danger, and Prime Minister Wang said in front of the officials that the city of Yongzhou must be unbreakable. Prime Minister Wu... can make preparations."

But Wu Chong saw Shen Kuo's intention of clinging to him, and prepared himself to deal with Wang Anshi. He felt unhappy in his heart and said: "Cunzhong, you are Du's recommendation. It is very good that you can speak for him in Tianzhang Pavilion today. You will do the same in the future." Like."

Shen Kuo said: "It is a great honor for Shen to be appreciated by Prime Minister Wu Weng's son-in-law."

The next day, news came that the city of Yongzhou was broken, and the governor of the state, Su Yan, and tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians died in the battle.Zhao Shen was slow to advance his troops and was unable to rescue him. He sat back and watched as Su Mian and his people perished in Jiaozhi.

After the officials heard about this, they didn't eat for a day and a night, and sat alone in the palace for a whole day.

The servants heard the officials sighing.

As soon as this incident came out, the imperial censor Cai Chengxi went to court to impeach Wang Anshi. Although he did not explicitly say that Wang Anshi had made mistakes in his employment, it was clear at a glance.

Wang Anshi said that the city of Yongzhou would be indestructible. He was so confident that all the ministers had heard of it.

The official called Wang Anshi inside and said, "Now that Jiaozhi is in serious trouble and Su Mian is dead, it would be better to hold another Tianzhang Pavilion meeting."

Wang Anshi said: "Your Majesty, we are currently negotiating with the Liao Kingdom. The defeat must not be made public, as long as the Dongfu hears about it."

When the officials heard this, they suddenly thought of Su Mian who had died for his country, and wept in front of Wang Anshi. Wang Anshi was shocked.

The official covered his face with his sleeves and said: "We cannot let Jiaozhi continue to be rampant. I order Zhang Yue not to make his own decisions anymore and to call back the Liao envoys to discuss peace!"