manynovel Chapter 1241 I Am the Only One (Part 2)
Chapter 1241 I Am the Only One (Part 2)
Chapter 1241 I Am the Only One (Second Update)
The Liao envoy Xiao Derang was still in the capital and stayed there for a long time, but still had not received a reply from the Song Dynasty.
The official was anxious for Zhang Yue to come up with a final answer.
Those present included Wang Gui, Zhang Yue, and Li Xian, the new imperial officer in charge of military affairs.
Wang Guizhang became more alert as Li Xian's power rose. This meant that the government was going to use Li Xian to interfere in military affairs again.
The emperor said to Wang Gui and Zhang Yue, "I intend to spend three million strings of cash to rectify the military affairs in Hebei."
Zhang Yue and Wang Gui both praised the emperor for his wisdom.
The emperor began to pay real attention to the military affairs in Hebei. At this moment, the emperor said to Lu Dian, who was compiling the daily records, "You have worked hard to write. Please have a bowl of tea and take a rest."
Lu Dian was stunned when he heard this.
Lu Dian was Wang Anshi's favorite student. He once said, "It is better to follow Wang Anshi for one day than to follow him for ten years." However, after the implementation of the new law, he and Wang Anshi had different opinions. Wang Anshi thought that Lu Dian was not on the side of the new party, so he ignored him.
Later, after Cai Bian took the position of daily recorder, he recommended Lu Dian, his fellow apprentice, to Zhang Yue several times.
Zhang Yue felt that Lu Dian was a talented person who could be cultivated, so he recommended him to be the storyteller in Chongzheng Hall and now he is compiling the daily records.
When Lu Dian heard that the emperor wanted him to leave, he immediately said, "Your Majesty, this is against the rules!"
Li Xian said: "Your Majesty, I will give you some tea, please drink it!"
"When the emperor and his ministers are discussing matters, there must be an attendant present. This is the rule passed down by our ancestors." Lu Dian retorted on the spot.
Li Xian was furious when he heard this. When he was in the northwest, he was a leading general who was decisive and ruthless in killing people. But now Lu Dian didn't buy his words at all.
Seeing this, Zhang Yue gave Lu Dian a look, signaling him to leave.
Only then did Lu Dian bow and leave.
After a while, the emperor said to Zhang Yue, "There are no extra people here. Today, you must tell me the truth. If the Song and Liao go to war, do you have a chance of winning?"
Zhang Yue looked at the official and thought of the Three Kingdoms of Song, Liao and Dangxiang in history.
Historically, the Xuanhe Northern Expedition was not a hasty move, but one that Song Huizong had planned long ago.
If we carefully study a series of decisions made by Emperor Huizong of Song before the Xuanhe Northern Expedition, we cannot say that they were completely unreasonable. Even his own imperial skills were still acceptable.
During the Zhenghe period of Emperor Huizong of Song, it was decided to ally with Jin to launch a northern expedition. In the seventh year of Zhenghe, the plan was to send troops. However, after Emperor Huizong of Song listened to the intelligence from the officials of Liao, they replied that although Liao was badly beaten by the Jurchens at that time, the country was still united and the people's hearts were stable. If they launched a northern expedition, they would probably fail.
Although Song Huizong had planned for many years, he still called off the battle.
From then on until the fourth year of Xuanhe, six or seven years had passed. By that time, the Liao Kingdom was on the verge of destruction. Four of the five capitals had been lost, leaving only Nanjing.
Emperor Tianzuo fled to Xijing, but the Jurchens chased him there, so he had to flee again. Yelu Chun, who was left in Nanjing at the time, was forced to declare himself emperor with the support of local officials, thus establishing the Northern Liao Dynasty.
Even under this circumstance, the Song Dynasty was still hesitant about the Northern Expedition.
There were also many opinions in the court. At that time, the Song Dynasty had three choices: one was to ally with Jin to destroy Liao, one was to preserve Liao and plot against Jin, and the other was to wait and see?
Repeated indecision.
The view of Cun Liao Tu Jin is that it is better to be neighbors with the strong Jurchens than with the weak Khitans.
The Liao envoys also warned the Song Dynasty that if the court trampled on its good neighbors and did not realize that they were bad neighbors, it would surely regret it.
Goryeo also warned the Song Dynasty not to attack the Liao Kingdom together with the Jurchens, otherwise the consequences would be disastrous.
He believed that joining the Jurchens in destroying the Khitans would be like courting death, and that they should unite with the Khitans to fight the Jurchens.
There is also a group of people who are waiting and watching.
But both of them are no longer feasible.
First of all, it is unrealistic to "wait and see what happens." With such a big change happening in the Liao Kingdom, it is impossible for the Song Dynasty, as a regional power, to have no statement at all, or even no intervention measures, and to sit back and watch the situation unfold while staying out of it completely.
Secondly, "preserving Liao and plotting against Jin" was not realistic either. The Liao Kingdom had always looked down on the Song Dynasty, believing that the country was ruled by literati and that its military force was too weak.
Even when the Liao lost four of its five capitals and only had Nanjing left, the Song Dynasty was still extremely arrogant. The Song Dynasty would only send troops if the Liao was willing to bow to the Song Dynasty and the two sides made clear the distinction between suzerainty and vassalage in order to save the Liao and conquer the Jin.
So what was Song Huizong's real intention in the Xuanhe Northern Expedition in history?
Before the army set out, Emperor Huizong of Song gave Tong Guan some instructions in person, which were called "Three Strategies Written by the Emperor".
The best strategy is that if the Liao Kingdom is willing to surrender to the Song Dynasty, we will return to our old country. This is the best outcome.
The middle strategy is to anticipate that if the Liao Kingdom is unwilling, it would be acceptable if Yelu Chun is willing to pay tribute and become a vassal.
The worst option is for the Liao Kingdom to refuse to surrender, so the troops can patrol the border and return with the whole army.
The Xuanhe Northern Expedition was a threat of force, to take over the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun without bloodshed. If that doesn't work, the Liao Kingdom will surrender, and we will protect your country. If that doesn't work, we won't attack the Liao Kingdom, and the 200,000 troops will just go around and come back.
In other words, the best strategy is to "ally with Jin to destroy Liao", the middle strategy is to "preserve Liao and attack Jin", and the worst strategy is to "wait and see what happens".
This decision is definitely problematic and is the result of disagreements among the emperor and his ministers in the court.
The final result was that the Song Dynasty mobilized the entire country and sent Tong Guan, who had just put down the Fang La Rebellion in three months, to lead the most elite Western Army, which was the elite Han and non-Han soldiers from the six routes in Shaanxi as the main force in the Northern Expedition, with some soldiers from Hebei as well.
The general leading the troops on the front line was Zhong Shidao, the best general of the Western Army.
At that time, Song army generals such as Tong Guan generally believed that since the Liao Kingdom was in such a state, the local people would surely come to welcome the royal army with food and drink when it launched a northern expedition.
As a result, the strategy of surrender failed, and all the envoys sent by the Liao Kingdom at the beginning were killed.
Halfway through the negotiations, the Song Dynasty suffered a major defeat on the front line. The Liao Dynasty's top leaders were still considering whether to surrender, but when they saw how weak the Song army was, they simply decided not to surrender.
In the end, the Song army, with its elite Western Army, led by famous generals Tong Guan and Zhong Shidao, still lost to the desperate Liao Kingdom. Even the Jurchens were stunned by the Song army's actions.
The reason for the failure of the Song army was internal strife and disagreement, wavering between persuading the Liao army to surrender and annihilating the Liao army. Tong Guan followed the imperial edict issued by Emperor Huizong of Song, but he also ordered the army not to take the initiative to attack the Liao army.
Back to the question the emperor asked Zhang Yue, what is the comparison of military strength between Song and Liao?
Judging from the results of the Xuanhe Northern Expedition, the Song army's most elite Western Army and the desperate Liao army were at most a draw, not to mention the troops from Hebei.
Yelu Dashi, a famous general of the Liao army who defeated the Song army in the Xuanhe Northern Expedition, later founded the Western Liao Dynasty in Central Asia with 20,000 remnants of his army. The Western Liao Dynasty defeated the Seljuk Empire, which was at its peak, in the Battle of Katwan, turning it from prosperity to decline. As a result, the Western Liao Dynasty became famous in Europe and Asia.
Is the Western Army of the Song Dynasty weak?
They were not weak either. Although they were defeated by the Dangxiang in the previous Battle of Tong'an City, the Song Dynasty had already formed a comprehensive suppression of the Dangxiang at that time.
So it’s not that Song and Liao were weak, but that the Jurchens were too strong.
East Asia and Northeast Asia are worthy of being called the Monster House.
The Jurchen cavalry at that time was at the peak of the cold weapon era.
Not only the Song and Liao dynasties, in the Battle of Yishui, the 30,000 cavalry led by the Dangxiang general Li Liangfu were defeated by more than a thousand cavalry led by the Jurchen Wanyan Loushi, and more than 10,000 of the 30,000 troops were killed or wounded.
Upon seeing this, the Dangxiang immediately abandoned their alliance with the Liao Kingdom and submitted to the Jurchens.
At that time, the Jurchen cavalry was really the same no matter who came. It was like the Chinese national football team was beaten 5-0, and everyone was very angry. Later, when they heard that the opponent was Brazil, everyone understood.
What if the government asked Zhang Yue to give his true feelings?
Wang Gui and Li Xian were both looking at Zhang Yue. Zhang Yue said, "Your Majesty, if the Liao army comes, the Western Army can defeat it, but the Hebei Army cannot."
"There is no doubt that the best troops in the world are in the Western Army. After all, they were brought in through fighting. The military expenditure of Shaanxi accounts for half of the military expenditure in the world today. To be honest, the Hebei Army has been idle for a long time. Although I have previously reorganized the military preparations and selected generals to fight against them, Your Majesty has now allocated another 3 million strings of cash, which is still not enough to stop the Liao Army."
The official was somewhat dissatisfied when he heard this.
Wang Gui said: "Your Majesty, Hebei's Baojia system has been in place for several years, and the people are able to use it. Besides, the people in Hebei are naturally tough, and the soldiers of Yan and Zhao are brave and good at fighting. As long as they are rectified, they can face the enemy."
Li Xian said: "But we may not even be able to rely on the garrison to defend the city, so how can we fight the enemy?"
The emperor said, "Yes, I am afraid that I am sharpening my weapons before the battle. Even though the Liao army is not as good as that of Emperor Zhenzong, the army of Hebei is not as good as before. The Tanguts have not been destroyed yet, and we cannot transfer the Western Army to defend Hebei."
After a pause, the emperor said to Zhang Yue, "What is your plan? How do you respond to the letter from the Liao ruler?"
Zhang Yue said: "Your Majesty, there is no need to rush to give a reply. You can order an eloquent minister to accompany the Liao envoy to Liao to personally present his case to the Liao ruler and find out the truth about Liao."
Everyone knows that Zhang Yue uses the tactic of procrastination.
It would take several months to travel from Bian Jing to Liao and back, so this way, an immediate reply could be avoided.
When great powers compete with each other, such petty tricks will not have much impact on the final outcome.
Li Xian asked: "Your Majesty, I think the military preparations in Hebei should be reorganized, but Hebei is a flat land with no strategic location, so we have no choice but to use soldiers as a city."
"I think we can follow the example of the Three Prefectures of the Han Dynasty and build several prefectures in the important areas around the capital to protect it. Each prefecture should have tens of thousands of elite soldiers stationed there, and each of them should be led by a close minister!"
Upon hearing this, Wang Gui looked at Li Xian. As an eunuch, Li Xian actually had the audacity to make suggestions in front of the emperor. Needless to say, this was most likely the emperor's intention.
Li Xian did follow orders, and it was Zhang Dun's idea to establish the Three Auxiliary Prefectures. If Zhang Yue knew that it was Zhang Dun who proposed this, he would certainly oppose it, so the emperor used his own mouth to speak about it.
After all, Li Xian was friends with Zhang Yue, and had made outstanding military achievements in the northwest. If an ordinary eunuch had spoken so bluntly, not to mention Zhang Yue and Wang Gui, he would have been scolded to death.
This is a first-class interference with the prime minister's authority.
Wang Gui remained silent as usual, and Zhang Yue was also silent for a moment before saying, "Such an important matter requires discussion between the two governments before a decision can be made."
Seeing that Zhang Yue did not object immediately, the official nodded slowly.
……
Walk out of the hall.
Zhang Yue couldn't help but smile.
It was Zhang Yue's idea to establish a secondary state in the capital area. He asked Zhang Qie and received his clear support.
Then Zhang Qie really revealed it to Zhang Dun.
Why didn't he say it himself? Because he had established auxiliary states near the capital and stationed heavy troops there. If he proposed it himself, it would easily cause the emperor to be jealous.
Major events such as training new troops in Fuzhou were all moves to win people's hearts and minds. Setting up troops in such an important place as the capital, and the prime minister personally intervening in military power, could easily be seen by the government and the public as a self-centered military.
So I have to go through such a big circle.
As for Zhang Qie, he will definitely be rewarded in the future.
Thinking of this, Zhang Yue turned his head to look at the Zizheng Hall in the cold wind, and said to himself: "I am the only one who can handle the affairs of the north and the west. Others will not be able to do it."