Prime Minister

Chapter 1271 Strong Wind! Strong Wind! (2 updates in 1)

Chapter 1271 Strong Wind! Strong Wind! (Two chapters in one)

After hearing Wang Gui's words, Zhang Yue hurriedly said, "Teacher, how dare you do this? I told you at the beginning that you are the Minister of the Central Secretariat. How dare you take over the responsibility of the Central Secretariat?"

Wang Gui smiled and said, "It's been a while since I called you teacher."

"Do you remember the first day you became prime minister, I told you that the officialdom is a place where human feelings are valued, and people who are inhumane will not go far."

Zhang Yue said: "Teacher's words will be remembered by students for life."

It is indeed as Wang Gui said, a person who does not care about human feelings will not be able to stay in the high position for long, even if he holds a high position for a while.

The word "human touch" is sneered at by many young people today, but it is what bureaucrats of Wang Gui's generation valued most.

"I still remember that on the first day I became prime minister, the teacher took out the class book and discussed it with me."

Wang Gui said happily: "It seems that the Queen Mother also governs the world with the word 'humanity'."

Zhang Yue said: "But if we want to reform the system, we must not be too sentimental. If we are too sentimental, we must not reform the system."

"Another teacher of mine, Ouyang Wenzhong, also said that truth comes from human nature, and it all depends on how you choose to make choices."

Wang Gui said, "That's right, that's right."

"The last time the government and the public opposed peace with the Liao Kingdom, it was because of the public opinion aroused by the students of the Imperial College. There are so many voices discussing policies in the Imperial College, which really worries me!"

Zhang Yue said: "Public opinion is the opinion of the people, not the opinion of meat eaters.

"Since ancient times, saints and wise men have enjoyed hearing slanderous words and listening to the opinions of the public, so that even the most trivial things can be recorded and the firewood carriers can have the words spoken in the halls of the imperial court."

"In this dynasty, the emperor and the scholars and officials jointly rule the country. The students of the Imperial College are scholars, so it would be fine for the scholars and officials of the future to listen to it."

Wang Gui said, "I heard that Cai Bian submitted a memorial to reform the martial arts, no longer regarding scholars as martial arts students, but regarding martial artists as scholars?"

Zhang Yue said: "During the Warring States Period, warriors were called warriors, and warriors were also called scholars."

Wang Gui asked, "Then what Cai Jing proposed is that each state and county should establish a state school and a county school, and the county school should select scholars to enter the state school, and the state school should select scholars to enter the Imperial College. Is this correct?"

Zhang Yue pretended not to know: "I was ill these days and didn't know about this. Is there anything wrong with that?"

Wang Gui said: "I am worried that it will be difficult to control the scholars in the future!"

Zhang Yue said: "This is what I think. Half of the students in the provincial and county schools are from humble families, that is, those who have no official posts for more than three generations. As long as they are from humble families, I think it will be no problem!"

After a pause, Zhang Yue said, "The morale of scholars is very good now. Mr. Hengqu's four sentences are being recited and passed down by scholars all over the world. As long as all scholars follow suit, why should we worry about the lack of successors after us?"

Wang Gui said: "It is good that all scholars have such a spirit. But with such enthusiasm, how can the court negotiate peace with Liao?"

In fact, since the establishment of education in the Qingli period, the imperial court encouraged and even forced local governments to set up provincial and county schools. Fan Zhongyan realized that he needed to use the student class to break the dull and conservative atmosphere in the government.

Wang Anshi's Xining Education Reform, which reformed the Imperial College system and expanded the number of students to 2,400, and Cai Jing's Chongning Education Reform in another time and space in history, all had this plan.

The same is true for Zhang Yue.

The establishment of a three-level system of Imperial College, provincial schools, and county schools was also part of the Chongning Education Promotion Plan. Cai Jing, through Zhang Yue, came up with this plan in advance and incorporated the original provincial and county students into the Imperial College student system.

Outstanding county students will enter provincial schools, and outstanding provincial students will enter imperial schools.

Half of the vacancies must be from humble families with no official posts for more than three generations.

In addition, Zhang Yue also opened up a way for military generals to become officials.

In the future, martial arts were no longer about scholars becoming military generals, but about military generals becoming scholars, which existed like military academies in later generations.

Therefore, there is an implicit thread, that is, the military students among the Imperial College students become military generals, then enter the martial arts school through their status as military generals, and finally become high officials.

These two methods can strengthen the "scholar" class.

In addition to the medical students run by Qian Yi, Zhang Yue also planned to select "scholars" from businessmen, craftsmen, and farmers.

Wang Gui saw worry in it, while Zhang Yue saw hope in it. This was due to their different perspectives.

The "scholars" class will always be the most idealistic, ambitious and dedicated class in society.

The six thieves in history were defeated because of the petition submitted by the student Chen Dong. In the end, Chen Dong also died a martyrdom.

An organization needs to have a constant infusion of fresh blood in order to continue to innovate and progress.

Previously, the students of the Imperial Academy had strongly opposed the peace talks with the Liao Kingdom, even risking their lives to persuade the emperor and the empress dowager to change their minds. This time, Wang Gui was worried that the peace talks with the Liao Kingdom would fail, and the students of the Imperial Academy would come out to cause trouble again.

Wang Gui believed that Zhang Yue himself was the mastermind behind the incident, so he offered the position of Zhongshu Shilang as a bargaining chip to get him to cooperate.

However, as for this matter of public opinion, Zhang Yue could only take advantage of the situation and could not reverse it at all.

Wang Gui said: "I have read Fan Wencheng's "Nanjing Academy Inscriptions" and Wang Jinggong's "Cixi County School Records", both of which say that the way to govern and educate the world should be to guide people back to the original state first."

"These students can understand the truth, but they also don't understand it. Nowadays, there are few officials and many scholars in the world. Although those who are good at learning can become officials, the number of scholars is increasing day by day, and the court is no longer able to support them. And these extra scholars are unwilling to be lowly, and they will definitely cause chaos in the court in the future."

Zhang Yue said: "Teacher, chaos is order, and order is chaos."

"A small chaos will lead to a great order, and a small order will lead to a great chaos. It is important to distinguish the two."

"The teacher said that students both understand and don't understand the truth, which is true. But they are the ones who accomplish a lot of things."

"In fact, what the government says and plans are all brilliant things and brilliant words, but they are inevitably too far away from the people."

"The scholars can be both high and low, and although they are inevitably radical in their work, the people are not very smart either. By letting them say some foolish things to the people, they can actually get on the road to being smart."

After a pause, Zhang Yue said, "I've also heard that some officials want to ban storytelling in teahouses and tabloids."

"They even made the imperial examination texts difficult to understand and pretend to be profound, which was not conducive to recruiting scholars from poor families."

Wang Gui said: "At this point, we can only hope that Shen Cunzhong can win the battle in Pingxia City."

"Otherwise, even if we succeed in negotiating peace with Liao, we will still be condemned by the people. Is this the situation that Du Zhi hopes for?"

Zhang Yue said: "Teacher, the only thing on my mind is the reform. Apart from that, I have no selfish motives."

Wang Gui nodded, and the two ended their conversation.

Zhang Yue escorted Wang Gui to the door of his bedroom and said, "Teacher, I will never forget your kindness in nurturing me. If you can take care of things with a care, I will immediately give up my power and position and return to my hometown to work as a farmer. What's the harm?"

Wang Gui said: "I am very pleased that Duzhi cares about our old friendship so much."

"But the national situation is critical, the border situation is urgent, and the whole world must rely on you."

After saying this, Wang Gui said goodbye.

Zhang Yue watched Wang Gui's back as Chen Guan walked up to Zhang Yue and said to him, "Teacher, the affairs of the world are not about position, but about power."

"It's a pity that Lord Zhaowen doesn't understand this principle."

Zhang Yue said: "But only those with power can have influence, and this is also true in ancient and modern times."

Chen Guan asked, "When will the teacher come back?"

Zhang Yue said: "Let's talk about it after Shen Cunzhong wins this battle!"

Chen Guan was surprised. Wang Gui's visit was the best opportunity for Zhang Yue to make a comeback, so why did he have to wait until Shen Kuo won the battle?

But he knew that Zhang Yue must have his reasons for doing so, so he stopped making assumptions.

Wang Gui left Zhang Yue's mansion and rode in a carriage along the streets of Bian Jing. He saw a communal opera on the side of the street that attracted countless people to watch.

Wang Gui asked, "What kind of community opera is this?"

The attendant asked, "Let the Prime Minister know, this is the book about the robes and belts of the Yang family generals of this dynasty?"

Wang Gui asked: "We have always talked about the Three Kingdoms and the Five Dynasties. When did we start talking about our own dynasty?"

The attendant said, "Reporting to the Prime Minister, they are talking about the three generations of Yang Jiye, Yang Yanlang, and Yang Wenguang of our dynasty. Now they are talking about the sixth son of the Yang family who broke the Tianmen Formation of the Liao Kingdom during the reign of Emperor Renzong."

"The Liao people believed that the sixth star of the Big Dipper was specifically designed to defeat the Liao Kingdom, hence the saying of the Sixth Young Master of the Yang Family."

Wang Gui sighed upon hearing this.

Yang Wenguang knew that during the Zhiping period, the Bilu City, which is now the Gangu City, was built on Qinfeng Road.

However, Yang Wenguang had died of illness during the boundary negotiations between Song and Liao in Xining. There was no outstanding person among the descendants of the Yang family, not to mention that during the reign of Emperor Renzong, they broke the Tianmen Formation of Liao.

However, since it is a community opera, it is fabricated, assigning non-existent things to existing people.

But this kind of community drama is very popular among the common people.

The common people were all looking forward to the emergence of a general from the Yang family who would lead the Song Dynasty to destroy the arrogance of the Liao Kingdom.

Wang Gui sighed upon hearing this, and thought of Zhang Yue's words just now. He couldn't help but sigh at the other party's grasp of public opinion, his clear understanding of the situation, and his foresight in everything he did.

Looking at the people's excitement, they cheered endlessly.

Wang Gui instructed his attendants, "Tonight, I will invite those who are performing community plays to come to the palace. I will invite them to watch the play."

-

The attack on Pingxia City lasted for the fourteenth day.

The Dangxiang troops attacked day and night, and Pingxia City was in danger.

The Dangxiang troops built countless siege weapons and pushed forward to the vicinity of Pingxia City.

The trenches were filled with the bodies of unarmored tribal soldiers. These tribal soldiers were cannon fodder during the siege. They attacked the Song army's strong city with a spear in hand, and most of them filled the trenches in the end.

The Dangxiang also allowed their soldiers to plunder, but this time the Song army had fortified its defenses and cleared the fields, and the food they looted could not sustain the army for three days. Now they had to eat the baggage and food they brought with them.

As most of the baggage and food supplies were in other large camps besieging several strongholds around Pingxia City, the Dangxiang had to use them to divide their forces.

Once the Dangxiang troops divided up, Zhe Keshi and several other generals went out to attack. The Dangxiang troops were scattered in various camps around Pingxia City. Although the fighting was minor, the Song army won repeatedly.

Now it was the night of the fourteenth day of the siege of Pingxia City.

Liang Yibu already felt that although the attack on Pingxia City was fierce, it was not as strong as in the first few days. The consequences of dividing the troops had already become apparent. The soldiers were not trying as hard as they had in the first few days. On the contrary, after the Song army in the city had withstood three attacks, their defense became more and more stable.

"We can't keep fighting like this."

Liang Yibu could see the end of this war at a glance.

As the Song army won victory after victory in defensive battles, they became more and more confident. However, the Tanguts could not hold out for long and were on the decline.

Liang Yibu knew that he had to persuade the king to withdraw his troops, but he couldn't do it because he knew that even if he expressed his opinion, King Li Bingchang would not listen.

He has now been completely excluded from central decision-making.

"What will happen if we fail in Pingxia this time?"

Liang Yibu speculated.

If he returned to China, Li Bingchang's reputation would certainly be greatly damaged. Then, Liang Yibu, who had previously opposed the advance, would not only not be rewarded, but would be killed by the furious Li Bingchang.

Liang Yibu had already anticipated this. If Pingxia City won this time, then he, Liang Yibu, would still have a chance of survival, but if he was defeated, then he, Liang Yibu, would have no way of survival.

So what should we do next?

Liang Yibu needed to find a way to survive, so his only choice was to surrender to the Song Dynasty.

This absurd thought flashed through his mind, but he immediately realized that it was impossible because his father Liang Yimai died at the hands of the Song people.

The Song Dynasty had a grudge against him for killing his father!

But...but, compared to the survival of the Liang family, this is nothing.

He heard that the Liao Dynasty's Prime Minister Yelu Yixin was living a very good life in the Song Dynasty.

Now the Chief Censor Ren Duochuqing has already surrendered to the Song Dynasty. If I also surrender to the Song Dynasty...

The ruler of Song was ambitious and determined to destroy Xia, so he would definitely accept him. It would be better to surrender to Song earlier than later, as he would die anyway.

"To be honest, although I hate Song, I hate Wei Mingjia even more!"

Liang Yibu muttered to himself, where did this mentality come from? It was after his sister was sentenced to death by Li Bingchang and the Liang family was deprived of their military power.

When Liang Yibu thought of this, he sat down again. Suddenly, he saw a strong wind blowing.

Why does a strong wind suddenly blow?

This is not surprising, as Xiaoguan Road, the Huluchuan River Valley, is located in the canyon. Pingxia City is built under the Meiyan Gorge, so there are many strong winds in the canyon.

But the wind that night was extremely fierce!

Liang Yibu was upset and didn't notice anything unusual at first, so he walked out of the tent to take a look.

But in the middle of the night, there were mountains on both sides, and on them stood beacon towers built by the Song army. The valley among the mountains was where the Dangxiang army's base camp was located.

But then a strong wind blew, and the fire was blown to one side. The soldiers were blown all over the place, and the men and horses could not stand for a while.

The same strong wind had no effect on Pingxia City, but it was a disaster for the Dangxiang troops stationed outside Pingxia City.

In an instant, several tents were blown over.

At this moment, the tall siege equipment was shaken by the strong wind, and then a crackling sound was heard.

The towers of Pingxia City were all three zhang high, so the Dangxiang chariots were all built more than three zhang high to make it easier for the soldiers to climb the city walls.

Because they were built in a hurry, the high carts used to climb the city walls were all tall and thin.

Therefore, when the strong wind came, several high carts built with miscellaneous wood could not withstand the strong wind and began to fall diagonally. The Dangxiang soldiers and horses near the high carts saw this scene and fled in all directions in a hurry.

With a loud crash, the carriage collapsed in an instant, instantly crushing several Dangxiang soldiers who had no time to escape, as well as a war horse.

After this, the Dangxiang people had built dozens of high carts for many days, but they all collapsed under the strong wind.

In the dead of night, soldiers fled in panic in their tents. When an army of hundreds of thousands is camping, the most taboo thing is for soldiers to wander around.

The Tangut soldiers, unaware of the situation, thought that the Song army in the city was attacking, so they set off their camp.

The exhaustion from days of siege and the heavy casualties caused several camps of Dangxiang troops to collapse. Even the king's Golden Tent was attacked by the rebellious army.

"General, General, please reorganize the troops!"

A personal soldier brought a horse to Liang Yibu and asked him to preside over the meeting. Liang Yibu sneered and ignored the scene.

"Finally...finally I have waited for this day!"

In the strong wind, Liang Yibu suddenly laughed loudly with a ferocious look on his face.

As the wind blew, the Dangxiang soldiers in the canyon were thrown into chaos, and flames were lit on the beacon towers of the Song army in the mountains.

In the darkness, these beacon towers seemed to be embedded in the sky, and each beacon tower set up by the Song army stood across the mountains. At this moment, the fires burning on the beacon towers were as bright as torches, giving the Song army ambushed in the valley on all sides a tip-off.

When Li Bingchang, the leader of the Tangut state, was awakened from his tent by the chaos of the army, what he saw was a scene of the army's collapse.

Li Bingchang was shocked and couldn't believe that the army collapsed and the camp was destroyed in this way.

He picked up his sword and killed several panicked soldiers, then walked into Queen Dowager Liang's tent.

Empress Dowager Liang knelt on a cushion, holding a string of sandalwood beads in her hand and muttering to herself.

"Mother, let's go!"

Empress Dowager Liang raised her head, glanced at Li Bingchang and said, "This is retribution! Retribution!"

Li Bingchang did not understand what Empress Dowager Liang said and asked, "Mother, what does this mean? What is the retribution?"

Queen Mother Liang smiled bitterly and said, "Have you forgotten where this time is? This is where the Meizang family rose to prominence. This is the retribution that the Meizang family has brought upon our Weiming family."

Moyan Gorge was called by the people of Song Dynasty, while the Dangxiang people called it Mokou Gorge. It got the name because the Mo Zang clan lived here for generations.

Mo Zang gave birth to a queen for the Dangxiang. The former king of the Dangxiang, Li Liangzuo, was the son of Queen Mo Zang.

It’s also a fate with Tiandu Mountain.

Queen Mo Zang was originally the wife of Yeli Yuqi, a general of the Dangxiang who guarded Tiandu Mountain. After Li Yuanhao killed Yeli Yuqi, he took possession of the Mo Zang family.

At that time, Li Yuanhao abandoned Queen Yeli and had secret meetings with Mo Zang many times in the palace in Tiandu Mountain.

Mo Zang gave birth to Li Liangzuo, a son, at the place where the two had a secret meeting. The Liangcha River at the foot of Tiandu Mountain is the transliteration of Li Liangzuo's name.

Queen Mo Zang's brother, Mo Zang Epang, was a powerful official of the Tanguts. After Li Yuanhao's death, the brother and sister controlled the government for eight years. As Li Liangzuo grew up, he became dissatisfied with the Mo Zang family's meddling in government affairs.

In the end, all of Mo Zang's family, including his brothers and sisters, were killed by Li Liangzuo.

The Mei Zang clan declined in this way.

Therefore, when the storm arose, Empress Dowager Liang said that it was Mo Zang's revenge on the Dangxiang royal family.

It’s right here in this smokeless gorge.

This inevitably makes everyone feel a sense of fate.

"I, Liang, am no different from Mo Zang in the past!" Queen Mother Liang wept.

Li Bingchang said in a distracted manner: "Mother, let's go!"

Queen Mother Liang shook her head and said, "I won't leave. I will stay here and wait for the Song army to catch up and kill you! This way you can avoid the reputation of killing your parents."

Li Bingchang refused to do so and immediately ordered the maidservants serving Empress Dowager Liang to forcibly carry her away.

The Dangxiang troops immediately retreated from Pingxia City, but Guo Cheng, the Song army defender in Pingxia City, saw this and did not rashly open the city to attack.

The next day, the Dangxiang troops under the city of Pingxia retreated more than ten miles. Just when Li Bingchang was about to reorganize his troops, the Song troops ambushed on all sides of the canyon and the Song troops confronting him at the mouth of the ancient trench attacked!

At this moment, Liang Yibu, the brother-in-law of the King of Western Xia, had already surrendered to the Song army with dozens of his trusted men!

After Liu Changzuo, the main general of the Song army, learned from Liang Yibu that the morale of the Dangxiang troops was broken, he immediately ordered the Song troops in Jingyuan Road, Huanqing Road, Qinfeng Road, and Xihe Road to launch an all-out attack and fight a decisive battle with the Dangxiang.