manynovel Chapter 1145: Victory or Defeat in the Golden Palace
Chapter 1145: Victory or Defeat in the Golden Palace
Chapter 1145: Victory or Defeat in the Golden Palace
In Wang Gui's mansion.
Wang Gui did not attend the banquet in Daqing Hall due to poor health, but he was not idle either.
His son Wang Zhongxiu, co-director of the Taichang Liyuan, and his youngest son Wang Zhongyi were both sitting in the courtyard, with happy looks on their faces.
"Father, your opinion is great. Yesterday we bought 100,000 strings of Jiaozi at a low price. Today, the price of Lanzhou increased by 30%, and we have now sold them all," said Wang Zhongyi.
Wang Zhongxiu said somewhat dissatisfiedly: "I think it's too early to sell it. If I sell it in larger quantities, I'm afraid it will rise even more tomorrow or the day after tomorrow."
Wang Gui said, "I think this place is just right. Don't be greedy and remember to leave some for others."
"Yes, father." Wang Zhongyi was very happy to see his father support him, and said with a smile: "I still have 500 strings of Jiaozi in my hand, as a reminder."
Wang Zhongxiu smiled and said, "Father, this is 30,000 strings of cash. It's much easier to make money this way. When we learned that the 800,000-strong Xixia army was attacking Lanzhou, our third brother sold Jiaozi on the exchange and made tens of thousands of strings of cash."
Wang Zhongxiu's third brother made a large-scale short selling on behalf of Wang Zhongshan at the Exchange.
Because the exchange is for next-day delivery, some people often take advantage of the opportunity to get the news in advance and deliberately short sell. After a large-scale short selling, they buy back after the exchange price plummets before delivery on the second day to earn the difference.
Wang Zhongxiu laughed and said, "In the past, it was difficult to save money with fear and anxiety, but going to the exchange office is like picking up money."
Wang Gui frowned upon hearing this and said, "You should stop now."
"I have been a prime minister for many years, and I have to leave something for my descendants. I am unwilling to die like this after all the ups and downs in the officialdom. But..."
Wang Zhongxiu said: "Dad, this is the social trend. There are few officials in the world who don't make money for themselves. But I have a sense of propriety and know what money I should take and what money I shouldn't take."
"After eating the meat, leave some soup for others." Wang Gui said, "Since you know not to take money and show off, it's better not to show off. Let others take the limelight, and we should grab some tangible benefits."
Both of them nodded in agreement, knowing that Wang Gui was referring to the fact that Zhang Yue had left them behind to lead all the officials in congratulations today.
However, when the two of them met, there was some tacit understanding between them.
In another time and space in history, Wang Gui's son Wang Zhongshan was Qin Hui's father-in-law. He married his daughter to Qin Hui and gave him a dowry of 200,000 strings of cash.
Wang Zhongshan and Wang Zhongyi were officials of the Song Dynasty and served as prefects. After the Jin army attacked, they surrendered to the Jin without any integrity.
After Qin Hui became prime minister, he cleared the two men of their charges and reinstated them to their posts.
The Wang family really did not make the wrong choice in choosing this good son-in-law.
Wang Gui closed his eyes and rested, swaying on the chair. He had a premonition that the struggle between the new and old parties would be inevitable in the future, and the emperor's health was not very good. By then, he would be in power and might not be able to step down smoothly.
Instead of working for the country, it is better to step down and actually seek some benefits for yourself and leave them to your descendants.
No flower lasts forever, and Wang Gui was well aware of the principle of being prepared for danger in times of peace.
In the Daqing Palace, the victory banquet had already begun. The emperor wanted to offer wine, but was dissuaded by his ministers.
There were more than a thousand officials attending the banquet. The imperial throne was located high up in the hall, facing north and south. On the east side were wine jars and wine utensils, and on the west side was the imperial tea table with food.
Because of his contribution to the great victory in Lanzhou, Zhang Yue sat on the same steps with the emperor.
To the east of His Highness are civil officials, and to the west are military officials. They sit from high to low according to their closeness to the emperor or the size of their official positions.
This was the first time Zhang Yue sat in this seat. In the past, during the palace banquets, Zhang Yue had seen Han Qi, Fu Bi, and Wang Anshi sitting in this seat. But today, Wang Gui was not present, so Zhang Yue had to sit in this seat.
My seat was adjusted almost every time at the banquet, from sitting by the palace gate to sitting next to the emperor.
This was because he held a high official position when he was released from prison, and at least he had never sat in the palaces and corridors on both sides.
During the banquet, musicians played music, and the steps below the hall were filled with officials in auspicious costumes.
Seeing all the officials toasting the emperor and himself, Zhang Yue suddenly felt dazed. He remembered that when he was a lowly official, he attended a banquet with Su Shi one day.
The banquet was filled with praises of the emperor's achievements, but Su Shi whispered to himself, "What is a peaceful and prosperous age? It is a peaceful and prosperous age only when people dare to play the music of beating the earth."
When Zhang Yue heard this, he felt very pleased and even laughed and scolded Su Shi for being so cunning.
The sound of beating the rum is the beating rum song.
We work at sunrise and rest at sunset. We dig wells for drinking and till the fields for food. What power does the emperor have over us?
This was a ballad widely circulated during the time of Yao and Shun.
An old farmer can complain about Yao.
At that time, Zhang Yue and Su Shi both disliked Wang Anshi. They had complained about each other in private and disagreed with Wang Anshi's suppression of criticism.
Su Shi believed that only by being able to publicly criticize the new policies could it be said that Wang Anshi was a good husband.
Zhang Yue remembered that he also agreed with it at that time, but now... his position and opinion are different.
……
A total of nine cups of wine are served at the imperial banquet, and a new dish is served between each cup. Between the first five cups and the last four cups, there is a half-hour break from drinking, as time is allowed for casual chatting between the monarch and his ministers.
The emperor was in high spirits today, and with a flushed face, he asked Zhang Yue, "Mr. Zhang, why did Lanzhou win this time?"
All the officials present also put down their wine bottles and listened to the conversation between Zhang Yue and the emperor.
What is the secret behind Lanzhou’s victory this time, and what did Zhongshu do right?
Zhang Yue put down his wine cup and answered the emperor's question: "It is all thanks to your Majesty's wise decision. I don't know about this."
The official said: "After Liu Bang gained control of the country, he held a banquet with his ministers like today, comparing Xiao He to a meritorious man and the other founding ministers to meritorious dogs."
"I have already said that you are my Xiao He."
"Today's banquet will serve as a lesson for future generations. Don't be stingy with your words, because not only I, but all the officials in the court want to know." The emperor asked with a smile.
The ministers all agreed loudly.
Whether the officials present obeyed Zhang Yue or not, they all wanted to hear some truth from Zhang Yue.
But Xue Xiang held up a cup of wine and said, "Prime Minister Zhang, drink this cup first before speaking."
The prime minister offered the cup to himself, so Zhang Yue had no choice but to take a sip and said, "It's too shallow to drink it all."
At the banquet, the emperor and his ministers all laughed.
Everyone knows that Zhang Yue can drink a lot, so he is being modest.
Now that the atmosphere has been created, we can just share our experience after success.
Zhang Yue said: "Your Majesty, at the end of the Five Dynasties, warlords were in power and common people were in charge of the country. Their army was brave and good at fighting, and heroes emerged in large numbers. The Han Dynasty has been inferior to them since ancient times."
"Emperors Taizu and Taizong were born during the chaos of the Five Dynasties, and witnessed scenes of ministers killing their rulers and sons killing their fathers. The ruler was not a ruler, the minister was not a minister, the father was not a father, and the son was not a son. The principles of heaven were almost destroyed, so they established a system, and only then did they have the peaceful situation of the country today."
There is a saying that the end of the Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties was the ceiling of the military strength of the entire Han nationality.
The professionalism of the soldiers and the high level of military organization were unmatched in all dynasties. Just taking the scale of the Battle of Xiangji Temple and the Battle of Yecheng as an example, the high proportion of casualties on both sides can be regarded as the pinnacle of ancient battles.
But in the late Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties, you killed me and I killed you, and everyone was doomed.
When you are sleeping soundly at night, a group of generals rush into your room and say to you, "We have been unhappy with the Jiedushi for a long time. Let's go together tonight to kill the Jiedushi, and you will be the Jiedushi from now on."
If you dare to say no, you will be killed by these people first, and then they will find the next one.
Sometimes it's not really you who want to rebel, it's the people below who put a knife to your neck and force you to rebel. Anyone who has experienced that era will have nightmares every night.
Finally, Zhao Da and Zhao Er established a system of controlling the military with civil power, which completely suppressed the phenomenon of military men in power at the end of the Five Dynasties. However, they went too far in the end... They reduced the power too much and turned their own troops into useless people.
"The difficulty of the world today is how to avoid a return to the chaos of the Five Dynasties and how to make the troops as good at fighting as before?"
The official sighed upon hearing this.
The officials were also in deep thought.
Zhang Yue said: "This is the first difficulty, there is another difficulty."
Zhang Yue said: "I remember when I was a student of Ouyang Wenzhong, Lord Wenzhong told me that when Lord Li Wenjing (Li Hang) was the prime minister, he said, 'I have no other ability as a prime minister, except to not change the court's laws and regulations, so as to serve the country.'"
"I told Lord Wen Zhong that such a prime minister is not fit for office, is he?"
"Ouyang Yongshu said to me, 'The worst thing a prime minister can do is not think about the affairs of the state, and in order to gain favor and reputation, he repeatedly changes the laws of his ancestors, and finally leads to redundant soldiers and government affairs.'"
"Later, the court spent money without restraint and was short of money, all because of the arbitrary changes made by the government."
Huang Lu, the third official sitting below, couldn't help but show a look of contempt towards Zhang Yue when he heard this.
It turns out that Zhang Yue often used this sentence to show off in the Imperial College. In fact, it was Ouyang Xiu who told the other party during a casual chat, and Zhang Yue used it to flatter himself.
Today, Zhang Yue finally returned the copyright.
What Li Hang and Ouyang Xiu said is quite difficult to understand.
In officialdom, doing things according to the rules is not wrong even if it is wrong, and not doing things according to the rules is wrong even if it is right.
If a new leader wants to gain favors and reputation after taking office, he must establish some rules.
When something happens and a mistake is made, we need to establish a few rules to prevent it from happening again.
In order to prevent people from exploiting loopholes in the rules, more rules have to be established. In the end, there are more and more rules, which leads to a consequence of "redundant government".
Redundant government ultimately led to extremely low organizational efficiency. As an organization that lasted for a hundred years, the Song Dynasty inevitably had too much system redundancy.
Officials are trapped in the rules for fear of making mistakes, and collectively choose not to do the right thing, not seeking merit but avoiding mistakes.
Zhang Yue read the battle report of Lanzhou. Although Liang Yimei had killed many disobedient Tangut tribe leaders, there were still some leaders who dared to slam the table in front of Liang Yimei during the military meeting.
This made a deep impression on him.
On the other hand, there are too many smart people in the Song Dynasty who know how to protect themselves, which leads to irresponsibility towards the organization.
Why are officials so good at micromanaging? It is because the officials below are like toads, jumping when prodded, and not jumping when not prodded.
It's like when a child is slow in doing homework, and the parents have to sit by and supervise him, scolding him for doing one question at a time. If you don't keep a close eye on him, he will dare to hand you a blank paper, and in the end you can only accompany him to do his homework from childhood to adulthood.
The government had no choice but to go ahead with it, but micro-manipulation led to even worse consequences.
Therefore, if you want to prevent officials from micromanaging, you have to solve the problem of low organizational ability.
Zhang Yue said: "When I was in the Secretariat, I subtracted one thing from another place when I established one thing, and subtracted one law from another place when I established one law."
“This is the key to simplifying administration.”
"Then how can the imperial court not interfere in border affairs and at the same time make the generals and commanders below do their work sincerely? This is the second difficulty."
"In fact, Shaanxi's population is four times that of the Tanguts, and the money and grain are supplied by the whole country, so there is no reason why we can't win."
“Therefore, I believe that the previous success or failure was not due to problems in the method, but in the system.”