manynovel Chapter 1208: State Affairs Are Settled
Chapter 1208: State Affairs Are Settled
Chapter 1208: State Affairs Are Settled
Although Wang Anshi was extremely important, Lu Huiqing knew who the most important person in the court was. Lu Huiqing was not impatient and first went to drink tea in the teahouse where he often went incognito.
Lu Huiqing got off the carriage and couldn't help but sigh at the familiar scene here.
The Nanxun Gate area became very lively due to the increase in the number of students enrolled in the Imperial College. Many of the people who came and went in the teahouse were students from the Imperial College.
Doctor Tea recognized Lu Huiqing at a glance, and said with surprise, "It's been a long time since we met, sir."
Lu Huiqing nodded and said, "Business is better than ever."
Dr. Tea quickly served and said, "Thanks to you."
Later, Lu Huiqing took his seat and listened to the scholars around him talking passionately about the attack on Liangzhou. It was like a scholar pointing out the meaning of the country, and most people talked about the attack on Liangzhou and the restoration of Zhongxing.
Lv Huiqing listened and tasted the tea carefully. The tea doctor stepped forward and said with a smile: "It is still the best small-leaf tea in Jianzhou. Is it suitable for your taste?"
Lu Huiqing said calmly: "It's OK, but what are these students talking about?"
Tea Doctor smiled and said, "You don't know, it's about the imperial court's attack on Liangzhou. Now all the teahouses and restaurants are discussing it."
"Oh? I'd like to ask for your advice, Doctor."
Dr. Tea waved his hands and said, "I don't have any brilliant ideas. The students here know much more than me."
At this time, a student from the next table asked, "Do we have a good chance of winning the battle against Liangzhou this time?"
Another person said: "It is said that hundreds of thousands of troops have surrounded Liangzhou City, and victory reports have been received one after another, but the ministers in the court are all worried."
"There is no victory news, but logically we should have conquered the city, but the lack of good news is worrying."
A student of the Imperial College said solemnly: "If Prime Minister Zhang really conquers Liangzhou, I would like to go to his house and drive his horse and whip him."
Lu Huiqing couldn't help but laugh when he heard this, but then he heard a student at the next table say, "Since the second year of Guangde in the reign of Emperor Daizong of the Tang Dynasty, Liangzhou has been occupied by Tubo, and the barbarians have occupied it for three hundred years."
"However, if Prime Minister Zhang can recover Liangzhou this time, and enable the Han Dynasty to open up to the Western Regions again after 317 years, and reproduce the Han and Tang dynasties... this is a great achievement."
After listening for a while, Lu Huiqing stood up, left the tea money and left. The tea master was shocked and thought that he had not served the other party well.
After Lu Huiqing walked to the entrance of the teahouse, he returned and said to the students, "You are wrong. Liangzhou has not been occupied by the enemy for 300 years. The Guiyi Army has also recaptured it during this period."
Seeing that the other party had an extraordinary demeanor, the students did not dare to say anything in front of him.
After saying this, Lu Huiqing left again, leaving the students of the Imperial College with a look of surprise on their faces.
A student said, "We were talking to each other, and this guy interrupted us."
"This man looks like a monkey, but his aura is quite intimidating. I was so shocked just now that I couldn't say a word."
"Let's ignore him."
After refilling the tea, a student lowered his voice and said, "To be honest, my father said that the news of the attack on Liang Province has changed the attitude of the Censorate. Cai Que is such a powerful figure that he dared not disobey Prime Minister Zhang in the court."
The student laughed and said, "I've heard that during the reign of Emperor Renzong, the censors only made things difficult for the ruling party, but now the censors only make things difficult for the ruling party."
Several students laughed.
After leaving the teahouse, Lu Huiqing got on the carriage and headed straight to Zhang's house.
When they arrived at Zhang's house, Lu Huiqing ordered his servants to take out the boxes and sticks prepared in his hometown in Fujian. These were the things he had carefully selected.
After handing over the invitation and the box, the doorman informed, and a clerk named Huang went out to reply to Lu Huiqing. Zhang Yue was accompanying the emperor and was fasting in the palace, and he could only be received after returning to the palace in the evening. However, there was already a distinguished guest today, and the appointment would have to wait until five days later to see Lu Huiqing.
Hearing this, Lu Huiqing thought to himself, Zhang Yue is not someone he can see whenever he wants. In the past, whenever he visited, Zhang Yue would always come out to greet him in person.
After becoming the prime minister, he is really arrogant!
I saw that he actually needed to make an appointment?
Lu Huiqing's attendant said, "Mr. Huang, please see clearly that this is Mr. Lu."
Huang Ganban immediately apologized, "I was blind and didn't recognize the great man. I can't make the decision on this matter. Let me report it to Peng Duguan."
Lu Huiqing knew that Peng Duguan was Zhang Yue's confidant, so he immediately waited in the living room of the Xiangfu. The Zhangfu's hospitality was also very thoughtful, with tea and dried fruits served, and Peng Duguan also arrived in time.
When the other party saw Lu Huiqing, he bowed and said, "Mr. Lu."
Lu Huiqing held the other person's hands and said very intimately: "Peng Duguan is still so smart and capable."
After the two sat down, Peng Duguan apologized to Lu Huiqing, "The subordinates did not know the rules and offended Prime Minister Lu. But the truth is that the court is attacking Liangzhou, and the Prime Minister is busy with many things every day. It can be said that he is too busy to attend to everything... If Lu Gong is not busy, the Prime Minister can see Lu Gong after he goes to bed in the next day. But it is really not possible tonight or tomorrow night."
Lu Gong is not busy... Lu Huiqing thought to himself, I am a person who is waiting for orders and has nothing to do, so why should I be busy or not? Not busy, not busy, I, Lu Huiqing, am not busy for 365 days. If Zhang Yue wants to see me, I can go out in the middle of the night.
Thinking back to when he was in power, Zhang San always called him "Mr. Lu" and was very affectionate. But now...
The emperor scheduled an appointment to see him three days later, but Zhang Yue gave himself two days. That’s good, for a prime minister.
Although Lu Huiqing was somewhat dissatisfied, he knew it was the truth, and at this moment he was only disappointed. He knew that Zhang Yue was now the prime minister. The prime minister of the dynasty was not someone that an idle official like him could meet whenever he wanted.
I waited until later in the queue, and on the surface it seemed that it was because others were 'taking care' of me.
But Lu Huiqing had no choice but to accept it. Before he could see the emperor, he had to meet Zhang Yue first. Although it was a bit against the rules, it was not the emperor but Zhang Yue who could decide his fate. If he didn't dare to go up again, all the achievements would be left to Zhang San alone.
After saying that, Lu Huiqing stood up and said with a smile: "Thank you very much, Peng Duguan."
Peng Duguan smiled and said, "Your Excellency has made a wasted trip."
"I don't deserve it!" Lu Huiqing put away her smile after she walked away.
After Lu Huiqing walked out of the door, he looked at the government office filled with officials who had come to ask for an appointment, submit letters, and send in invitations. He had experienced this scene before.
Unfortunately, it lasted less than a year.
……
Zhang Yue was sitting in the carriage on his way back home.
In his hand was the report on the siege of Liangzhou that he had received the day before.
Wang Hou had been reporting to the emperor, saying the day before yesterday that they were about to capture Liangzhou City, but unfortunately a heavy rain fell, preventing the siege equipment from approaching the city, so that the battle to capture Liangzhou failed.
Zhang Yue couldn't help but cover up his belief, "Wang Hou, you're walking the dog."
Every time they were trying to capture Liangzhou City quickly, but in the end they failed for some reason.
He made both himself and the officials run around in circles.
But he and the government couldn't rush them, so they had to sit there and wait. After all, there was a lesson learned before.
However, the waste of food and fodder for hundreds of thousands of troops on the front line is an astronomical figure, not to mention the hundreds of thousands of civilian servants who have to take time off from work to transport the food and weapons.
If Wang Hou drags on, Liangzhou will not be taken, and the finances of Sichuan and Shaanxi will collapse first, followed by a civil uprising.
Although the victory in Liangzhou was a great success, the long siege made him anxious. He had planned many things carefully before and thought they would be foolproof, but when he got to the battle, he realized that it was not the case.
Zhang Yue still has some patience, but the emperor has become a little anxious these days.
Of course Zhang Yue understood the officials' anxiety and dissatisfaction.
This is exactly what happens when people are extremely anxious. The emperor is a person who is impatient and wants to personally intervene in everything. Seeing the tense situation in Liangzhou, if I hadn't stopped him, the emperor would have bypassed me several times to issue orders to the frontline generals.
Zhang Yue said to the emperor: "Your Majesty, the most important affairs of the country are sacrifice and military affairs."
"Your Majesty is not as good as I am in military affairs, but I am not as good as the generals on the front line."
"If Liang Province fails, I will punish the generals, and then Your Majesty will punish me. Your Majesty, the most important thing right now is to pray for your blessing."
Professional matters should be left to professionals. As an emperor, you only need to lead all the ministers to pray to the heavens, which is more important than your personal intervention.
Emperor Qianlong also managed the war situation thousands of miles away, but the history books say that although he did not go to the scene in person, he seemed to have seen everything with his own eyes. He even knew clearly the intrigues and concealment of facts among the generals on the front line.
You don't have that ability.
After being persuaded by Zhang Yue, the emperor could only say: "Then I entrust everything to you!"
Finally the government gave up and started to pray.
Zhang Yue was pleased to think that the emperor had finally listened to his advice, but he also felt very tired.
Thinking of this, he opened the curtain of the carriage and looked out the window at the busy scene on the road. This was the great and colorful world of Bianjing. The lively atmosphere was overwhelming, and Zhang Yue thought to himself, after all, this world belongs to the Zhao family. Although I am now the prime minister, I am only managing this world for your Zhao family for a few years.
Although I know this and I am trying to comfort myself, why... why am I trying so hard?
This is something that Zhang Yue himself doesn't understand.
Zhang Yue returned to his mansion, and Peng Jingyi reported to Zhang Yue.
When Zhang Yue heard that Lu Huiqing's mourning period had ended and he had returned to Beijing to meet him before the emperor, he knew what was going on.
"The Prime Minister has arranged for Lu Gong to come to the mansion after sunset tomorrow."
Zhang Yue nodded when he heard this. In fact, he was very free tonight and tomorrow night, but he just couldn't see Lu Huiqing.
This is not intentional neglect.
In Water Margin, Dai Zong pretended to be Cai Jing's reply letter to Governor Cai but was found out.
Why? Because Dai Zong said that after he wrote the letter that day, he replied at five o'clock in the morning the next day.
This was how Dai Zong, as a military governor, handled official correspondence, but Cai Jing was the prime minister at the time, so the rules were different. Any letter that arrived at Cai's residence had to be "waited for three days" before being replied to. Even if it was from Cai Jing's own son, he had to wait for three days.
So let alone meeting Cai Jing, even replying to a WeChat message would require three days of waiting.
You can't be too close to Lu Huiqing, nor can you be too far away from him. Peng Jingyi handled this matter in accordance with his own wishes.
Zhang Yue did not meet any officials that night, but only replied to a few letters. He never had to write letters himself, he just read them once after his subordinates finished writing them.
After Zhang Yue accompanied his family to eat a vegetarian meal, he asked about Zhang Cheng's schoolwork, chatted with Shiqi Niang, and then went to bed to rest.
In the middle of the night, I suddenly heard someone knocking on the door and saying, "Prime Minister! Liangzhou has been recovered!"
Zhang Yue was not sleeping soundly. Hearing this, he stood up and calmed himself down.
"The affairs of state are settled!"