Prime Minister

Chapter 1075 The arrow is on the string and has to be fired

Chapter 1075 The arrow is on the string and has to be fired

Another sleepless night.

Zhang Yue felt what the ancients meant by "sighing day and night".

He wrote and revised the memorial on the desk, and it was extremely difficult to write.

Since the cheating skills in his dream gradually faded, it became increasingly difficult for Zhang Yue to write articles. The higher the official rank, the more cheating things he had on his mind, and the harder it was to write a good article.

Su Shi's official career was not smooth, but his writing became better and better.

However, "attacking Xia" was not Zhang Yue's original intention, so it was extremely difficult to write a memorial that did not come from his innermost thoughts.

It is particularly uncomfortable when one's writing cannot express one's own ideas and one says things that are not what one means.

But I can’t not write!

To sum it up in one word, it means 'the emperor's grace is profound'.

Newcomers in the workplace always have the idea of ​​waiting for the "money and goods to be settled".

I was able to get a promotion and a raise because of my contribution to the company.

The reason why Zhang Yue is now in power is because of his achievements in destroying Gui Zhang, expanding the border to Xihe, and recovering Qingtang. It has nothing to do with your kindness to the emperor.

That's wrong. Nepotism is the essence of officialdom.

To take a step back, should Zhang Yue be kind and righteous in everything he does for others?

Not because he's a good guy.

Only when you have done your utmost to be kind and righteous in everything you do can you be completely heartless and unrighteous.

Therefore, in his memorial, Zhang Yue not only reluctantly agreed with the emperor's attack on Xia, but also proposed three strategies.

One strategy is to offer heavy rewards, and all the spoils will be distributed among the generals, without the court taking any account of them.

The way for feudal armies to boost morale during battles was to allow looting.

Only Yue's army would not demolish houses even if they were freezing to death, and would not plunder even if they were starving to death, and they were able to do this when they were fighting on their own land.

When Zeng Guofan used Zeng Guoquan to suppress the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, the military discipline was really... but the Hunan Army was also really good at fighting.

This time, the troops of the Tibetans and Han people are mixed together. If the restrictions on the Tibetans are too strict, they will surely be dissatisfied. However, the Tibetans are good at fighting, so we can only work harder on rewards.

This was how national struggles were in the feudal era; there was no morality or righteousness to speak of.

The second strategy is to renovate the post stations and express delivery shops.

Last year, Zhang Yue had already laid out five postal routes from Bian Jing to Luoyang and then from Luoyang to Shaanxi.

The dispatch of hundreds of thousands of troops and the transportation of supplies all require central coordination.

The emperors of the Song Dynasty all liked to "control the generals from the center", and the official was even known as the "master of micro-manipulation". It took more than ten days for news to be transmitted from Bian Jing to the front line in Shaanxi.

Zhang Yue specially repaired the post road for the post office he set up and configured it to have an express speed of 800 miles, which not only met the daily needs of commercial circulation, but also prepared for the government's future large-scale expeditions.

But unfortunately, among the five roads in Shaanxi, only Jingyuan Road has been repaired, and the Fuyan Road and Yi Road, which are further up, have not yet been repaired.

Zhang Yue did not expect the government to start the fight so early, otherwise he would have asked the post office to work harder.

However, further improving the post roads would definitely be beneficial for the officials who control the madman, but it might not be a good thing for the generals on the front line.

Zhang Yue’s idea is that he can’t stop you from micromanipulating, so just let you do it to the end.

The third was to learn from the lessons of the Battle of Luowu City in the third year of Xining and to prepare for the Liao Kingdom's intervention in the Song-Xia War.

The troops of Hedong Road must be on high alert at the Song-Liao border and guard all key passes. At the same time, the troops of Huanqing Road must be kept as a general reserve to prepare for any unexpected event.

Losing the battle would be fine, but if they won, if the Liao army intervened, the Song army would have to be confident enough to fight. Otherwise, all efforts would be in vain.

In addition, there are the steps of advancing the troops, and Zhang Yue wrote down the details one by one, which can be said to be complete and exhaustive.

Zhang Yue spent one day and one night writing the memorial, which contained nearly ten thousand words and almost exhausted all his energy.

The memorial had not been finished yet when Zhang Yue learned that five or six ministers including Lu Gongzhu, Sun Gu, and Huang Lu had come to the palace together. When Zhang Yue asked Chen Guan, he found out that they had tried to persuade the emperor not to attack Xia in the palace today but to no avail. Now they came to see Zhang Yue, and they must have asked him to persuade the emperor not to attack Xia together.

Zhang Yue had just finished writing a memorial, and his energy was exhausted and his face was extremely haggard, but he still agreed to meet everyone. When everyone saw Zhang Yue like this, Lu Gongzhu asked first: "Prime Minister Zhang is so ill that we should not disturb him, but he came to talk to you about state affairs. It seems that the time is imminent."

Zhang Yue asked, "What's so urgent?"

Sun Gu said: "Prime Minister Wang, the Yuan government has always followed your majesty's lead, knowing that this attack on Xia will bring troubles, but your majesty still insists on doing it. Only you can stop your majesty from attacking Xia!"

After listening to this, Zhang Yue pondered in silence. The other officials all said the same thing, saying that if the emperor ignored everyone's opposition and continued to attack Xia, he would surely fail.

Lu Gongzhu said, "We all have the same idea. We would like to ask Lord Zhang to join us in petitioning Your Majesty to withdraw the troops!"

Zhang Yue said: "I understand what you said. The emperor is determined to attack Xia. The only way now is to advance and retreat together with the country."

The ministers were surprised to hear this.

All the ministers stepped forward and said, "Please think twice, sir! We are here to follow your lead."

Zhang Yue stretched out his hand and stopped. He knew that from the moment he agreed to the war against Xia, he was betting his own reputation with the emperor on the outcome of the war.

Zhang Yue said: "Gentlemen, those who oppose the attack on Xia will never lose, because they never think of winning."

“There is always a lack of sober and calm voices in the world, but there must also be sincerity in doing things. Pessimists are always right, but the only ones who win everything are optimists.”

"Now that the military campaign is a foregone conclusion, the arrow is on the string and has to be shot. I have previously taken sick leave and tried my best to persuade you, but there is no way to stop Your Majesty from attacking Xia. So we have to go all out."

"Before the temple calculation, everyone can argue as much as they want, but after the temple calculation, you should stop arguing!"

"War is a matter of great importance to a country, a matter of life and death. The whole world can only allow one will and listen to one person!"

As the classic saying goes, 'When the guns sound, the whole regiment has to listen to me.'

What we can't do now is that we have been defeated, and we have no choice but to stand on the side of the emperor. This is also the way to repay the emperor's kindness.

After hearing what Zhang Yue said, Lu Gongzhu, Sun Gu and others all sighed silently. They were helpless because they knew that what Zhang Yue said was indeed the truth.

Zhang Yue's memorial was sent to the emperor.

Just because the ministers were against the officials who had no appetite, when they heard Zhang Yue's memorial, they immediately ordered people to withdraw the case and read it immediately.

Shi De, who was standing by, couldn't help but worry when he saw that the officials ate so little and worked hard every day until late at night.

When the emperor saw Zhang Yue's memorial, he was overjoyed.

……

Yanzhou.

Gao Zunyu, the governor of Fuyan Road, had received a secret order from the emperor, ordering him to lead the Fuyan Road army to first attack Xiazhou, then advance to Huaizhou Ferry, and attack Xingzhou.

The troops from Jingyuan Road and Xihe Road jointly captured Lingzhou Ferry, and the two armies met at the foot of Xingzhou City.

When Gao Zunyu received the imperial edict, Lu Huiqing, Lu Gongzhu and others were opposing the advance. It can be seen that the emperor had already decided to execute first and report later. When the ministers learned the news and opposed it, the emperor had already bypassed the Privy Council and issued the secret edict to the frontline generals.

This is what the emperor did in the first year of his reign, when Zhong Yan captured Suide City in the fourth year of Zhiping.

Gao Zunyu showed the letter to Zhong Yan and asked, "Which of the three routes do you think is the main force?"

Zhong Yan said: "Xihe Road needs to guard Lanzhou and Liangzhou, and the troops it brings are no more than 20,000 to 30,000. Jingyuan Road is expected to send out 50,000 troops, and will also need to bring nearly 100,000 civilians to build the city."

"Only our Fuyan Road has 54,000 soldiers and horses, and the 39,000 soldiers and horses from the capital brought by the general are undoubtedly the main force of this pacification of Xia."

Gao Zunyu said happily: "If that's the case, the other two routes can't compete with me."

After a pause, Gao Zunyu said, "The emperor has repeatedly reminded us that this time, conquering the two states of Xingling is secondary, and the most important thing is to provide logistics and supplies."

Zhong Yan said: "I think this is wrong. The sharpest troops are those who fight quickly. If they bring too much food and supplies, the march will be slow. How to gather the main forces of Xixia and defeat them in one battle? The emperor has not been in the battle, so it is inevitable that he cannot see clearly. But the general is familiar with military affairs. Everyone in the world knows that he was the first in pacifying Xihe and conquering Qingtang!"

The generals below also flattered him, saying, "Who doesn't know that the commander-in-chief is the white jade pillar that supports the sky and the purple gold beam that spans the sea?"

After listening to what Zhong Yan and the generals said, Gao Zunyu couldn't help feeling elated even though he knew that they were just flattering him.

Gao Zunyu said to Zhong Yan, "You are the commander-in-chief of the army. You should save yourself the amount of food and fodder you bring. However, since His Majesty has ordered that the food and fodder of the three routes of Hedong, Fuyan, and Huanqing be reserved for my use, you can bring as much as you can."

That's right, in history, the Song Dynasty failed to conquer the Xia Dynasty because of insufficient logistics, so Zhang Yue repeatedly advised the emperor on this point. Zhang Yue advised the emperor to first take care of the people, but the emperor had another idea. He thought that sending five routes at the same time was too extravagant, so it would be better to change to two or three routes, and transfer the food and manpower of the other routes to one route, so that there would be no problem of lack of logistics.

Gao Zunyu took the emperor's words to heart. He thought that Zhong Yan wanted to make achievements and was unwilling to bring more food and grass, so he would bring more, but the speed would be a little slower, so he should let him share the credit.

Gao Zunyu was the main general, and it was up to him to decide how the credit was determined.

This time, he brought hundreds of military sons from the Forbidden City to join the army. Among them were nephews and nieces of the Gao family, as well as relatives from other families. This time, they defeated the country and conquered Xia, which was an unparalleled achievement. Naturally, he had to make good arrangements for his nephews and nieces to receive rewards. This was the way to lasting prosperity.

As for the matter of life and death, leave it to Zhong Yan.

After the plan was decided, Gao Zunyu left. The generals below said to Zhong Yan, "Gao Zunyu really has no talent. The reason why he was able to achieve great success in Xihe was because of Wang Shao and Er Zhang."

Zhong Yan smiled and said, "That's perfect. When I was under the command of Zhang Xianggong, I was controlled by him in every way and was influenced by him. This is not okay, and that is not okay."

"Of course, I'm not saying that Mr. Zhang is wrong. He didn't underestimate the contributions I made back then."

"But now that Gao Zunyu has taken over, he will have to rely more on me. We can make our own decisions in the future."

The generals laughed and said, "That's right. With Gao Zunyu, we Northwest generals can make our own decisions."

Zhong Yan laughed when he heard this.

A general said: "What the commander said is true. This time, it is a feat of conquering a country. When Qing Tang was conquered, a councilor and a privy councilor were produced."

"And Xia is far superior to Qingtang. If we conquer Xingling and Lingzhou, our general will be as powerful as Grandpa Di!"

Zhong Yan smiled. To become a small soldier like Di Qing and eventually become a Privy Councilor is the lifelong wish of every soldier of the Western Army.

When he was promoted to the position of Privy Councilor, even Zhang Yue and Gao Zunyu had to obey his orders and be inferior to him.

Thinking of this, Zhong Yan flicked his sleeves, clenched his fists and said to the generals: "I don't want to be a marquis or a commander, but I want to kill a million Western bandits and avenge my brothers who have died at their hands over the years!"

"revenge!"

A thunderous roar came from under the tent!

(End of this chapter)