Volume 5 Chapter 12 Response
As Ren Baozhong said, although some things seem cumbersome and often come at a rush, as an official there is no need to worry about everything. He only needs to care about the key points that need to be paid attention to at his own level.
In fact, not only Ren Baozhong, but also Wang Yan, who was in charge of the miscellaneous affairs of the Imperial Camp, and Liu Ziwu of the Ministry of War, all made corresponding summaries to Emperor Zhao through the Privy Council and gave their own suggestions.
A few days later, near the end of March, Zhao Jiu also received feedback from several generals and the generals in charge.
But to be honest, although these people gave answers in response to Zhao Jiu's straightforward questioning, the quality of their responses seemed somewhat uneven, and their positions were difficult to describe.
First of all, in terms of the content level of the letters, Wu Jie and Yue Fei were undoubtedly the best. They knew very well what Emperor Zhao's intentions were, and they both gave well-reasoned explanations. Moreover, their answers were basically the same as the answers that Zhao Jiu and his small circle of close ministers had obtained in advance.
The reason why he said "basically" was because Yue Fei clearly expressed his hope to increase the number of naval forces in the imperial camp to ensure the freedom of advance and retreat on the eastern front. Wu Jie directly suggested that if it was difficult to expand the imperial camp, some wing troops, that is, reserve troops, could be maintained in Guanxi at a low cost... Moreover, he clearly expressed some doubts about the potential plan of temporarily and massively conquering the Tangut soldiers, which was told to him by Emperor Zhao.
To put it bluntly, although Yue Fei was the one who proposed the strategy of advancing from Hedong, he was a Hebei native and most of the soldiers he led were exiles from Hebei. He certainly hoped to open up the situation directly from the Hebei Plain. It is only natural for him to mention this.
Relatively speaking, Wu Jie's private goods were heavier.
Who can be used to form a reserve army in Guanxi? They are the Western Army that was eliminated and replaced when it was reorganized and compressed into the Imperial Camp Rear Army!
As for the hostility of the Western Army to the Tanguts, it has always existed, but the Western Xia has been destroyed, and the key is that the court asked you questions at this time, isn't it because there is no money, so it can only selectively expand the army? So, is it cheaper to raise a large number of Western Army members in Guanxi to form a reserve army, or to directly use a method similar to blood tax and recruit a large number of Tanguts at once?
Even further, you should know that the reintegration of Ningxia Road and Shaanxi Road triggered a series of Han-Fan confrontation issues. At this time, you, Wu Jie, are talking about these things. Aren't you too good at uniting your colleagues?
There are those who are too full of personal opinions, and naturally there are those who have the most correct stance.
Li Yanxian and Zhang Rong were very appropriate. The former only emphasized the necessity of setting the main attack direction on Hedong, while the latter simply did not mention anything, but just guaranteed that there would be no problem on the river.
However, Han Shizhong and Zhang Jun, the two most senior generals, were obviously perfunctory in their work.
There was no need to say much about Zhang Boying, as he had been dismissed from his post and his mind was on the fleet that had not returned for a long time. As for Han Liangchen, Zhao Jiu could roughly guess what he was thinking, but as long as he did not delay things, Emperor Zhao was too lazy to distract himself.
As for Wang De, Li Qiong, and the newly appointed commander-in-chief of the Imperial Camp Wang Yan, including the Minister of War Liu Ziwu, and even the Prime Ministers Zhang Jun and Chen Gui, they had slight deviations in the final answers, and then they all put forward a common suggestion - they advocated that the expansion of the army should start from the central army of the Imperial Camp. Some even believed that all the current quota for expansion should be given to Wang De and Li Qiong to ensure that the troops directly under Tokyo can form a balance with the Jingdong and Kansai directions.
This is a typical problem of stance. Although it is not as obvious as Wu Jie's, it actually produced inappropriate suggestions.
In fact, isn't this the right time for Emperor Zhao to take back the military power?
This is not to say that the more centralized power is, the harder it is to release power. Rather, this legion system centered on individual generals is a historical legacy, a military characteristic that naturally formed under the collapse of Jingkang, and an established reality. Changing the established situation is bound to cause unrest.
He even said bluntly that the Northern Expedition was a war that would determine the fate of the country. Not to mention success, if it failed, it would probably take another ten or twenty years to muster up the courage and gather strength. In this case, Emperor Zhao could even tolerate another attack on Jingou Town, let alone taking back the military power!
Back to the present, although the court has gathered opinions from all sides, this matter is of great importance after all. Therefore, from mid-March to late March, the Privy Council adjusted the plan several times. Although it has gradually stabilized, to be honest, everyone, including Emperor Zhao, has always felt that some aspects are still not satisfactory.
Of course, everyone knows that finances are limited and there are bound to be unsatisfactory aspects, so it is estimated that after a few more adjustments, the matter will be finally settled after a grand court meeting in early April.
However, in late March, just as the court was gradually deciding on a plan to expand the army, an extremely ironic thing happened due to the truly frustrating transportation conditions of that era - the court received a fierce memorial from the former prime minister Li Gang and Li Boji from the southeast.
You don't even need to look at the content to know, just calculate the time, that this memorial was obviously directed at the court's radical Northern Expedition advocacy. However, most of the people in various departments who read the content gasped, and then immediately realized that this Prime Minister Li Gang was obviously angry because his third brother Li Jing was unreasonably expelled from the court.
"I resign..."
"Please, fuck!"
On the west side of Yanfu Palace, in the main courtyard of the military academy, under the precious spring rain, Prime Minister Zhang Jun had just uttered three words with difficulty, with his hands cupped, when he was stopped without even turning his head by Emperor Zhao, who was standing there with his back turned to read memorials.
Not only that, the memorial in the official's hand was thrown directly onto the already wet ground after he said this.
It was obvious that Emperor Zhao was angry.
Upon seeing this, almost all the civil and military officials, close ministers, eunuchs, and even the soldiers on duty at the martial arts school who had gathered here for the Northern Expedition simulation were stunned into silence.
Even the ministers who came hurriedly had serious expressions.
The people in front were more or less frightened by Emperor Zhao's rage. As for the ministers who had read the memorial, it was not that they were cowardly, but Li Gang and Li Boji were really too much this time. This memorial could almost be said to be a break between the two sides.
The political consequences of a prime minister who had peacefully abdicated and whose political influence had not yet disappeared publicly breaking up with an incumbent prime minister were self-evident... After all, according to the rules, if an imperial censor publicly impeached a prime minister, the prime minister would have to resign as per the routine procedure and then hand over the decision of whether to stay or go to the government... This was an important means for the court system to control the prime minister.
Although Li Gang was not a censor, his impeachment had greater political power than that of a censor!
To put it bluntly, ordinary people cannot afford to write this memorial, not even the prime minister can bear it, only Emperor Zhao can bear it.
To be more specific, in this memorial delivered through public channels, Li Boji directly impeached Zhang Deyuan as a villain who had been promoted due to luck, a person who had brought misfortune upon the country, and a person who had formed a clique and tried to control the Censorate by "colluding with the villains", "expelling the loyal and upright", and forming an illegal clique!
Faced with such a direct attack, apart from other things, the person involved, Zhang Jun, had to make a swift and direct political response. It is no wonder that after reading this memorial in Chongwenyuan, several ministers hurried to Emperor Zhao who was watching the Northern Expedition simulation at the martial arts school.
But no one expected that Emperor Zhao would be so angry after reading this memorial, and even flew into a rage in public... It can only be said that this emperor's temper is indeed getting worse.
"Look at what he wrote!" Zhao Jiu turned around and snatched the muddy memorial from Lan Gui, the chief eunuch of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, who had just picked it up, and then shook off the water droplets on his sleeves. "Who is a bunch of villains?! Who is loyal?! Does not doing things according to his ideas mean 'having ulterior motives'?"
After saying this, the official threw the memorial to the ground again and turned his back again.
Chief escort Lan Gui had no choice but to bend down to pick up the memorial from the soaked ground and then tidy it up a bit.
Facing the emperor's back, to be honest, the scene was still a bit weird... Zhang Jun bowed his head and said nothing, of course, but the matter involved the prime minister, the other three ministers, including Wang Yan and many others who were here before, although they had a lot to say and some were willing to say it, they just didn't want to interrupt.
The rain was getting heavier. Zhao Jiu, who was wearing only a wingless cap and casual clothes, looked up at the sky full of raindrops. It took him a long time to catch his breath, but he turned back and looked at him:
"Come in, don't get wet in the rain, and put away the sand table in the hall... There's no rush."
However, although he said he would go in, the official did not walk towards the martial arts hall in front of him. Instead, he snatched the memorial from the guard Lan again, turned around and went out, and finally walked towards Xinggang, not far from the martial arts hall.
The people around looked at each other in bewilderment. How could anyone really go into the martial arts hall to take shelter from the rain? From the Prime Minister of the capital province, Zhao Ding, almost everyone followed Emperor Zhao out. Even Wang Yan, who was originally in charge of the simulation here, ordered the sand tables to be put away and hurried to Xinggang to chase after them.
It is said that on top of the Apricot Hill are the finest apricot trees transplanted from all over the country during the reign of Emperor Taishang Daojun. They almost cover the entire hill. It is now March, and the apricot flowers are in full bloom, filling the hill with green and red. Not only does it shield the people who climb the hill from most of the spring rain, it also creates a truly spectacular March scene.
However, Emperor Zhao liked to come here recently, or at least he came here today, obviously not because of the apricot blossoms on the hill, because after he came to the apricot hill next to the city wall, he entered the thatched pavilion on the top of the hill, and stood outside the pavilion with his hands behind his back. Then, regardless of the rain, he looked beyond the apricot blossoms on the hill to the distance.
This is the best bird's-eye view point for the entire imperial city and even the northern part of the inner city.
On clear days, you can even see the edge of the inner city from afar. Emperor Zhao has actually been here several times.
However, looking from here in the drizzle, only the outlines of the buildings in the entire imperial city were visible, and the entire inner city of Bianliang was also hidden in the mist and rain.
However, in the northeast direction, the Kaibao Temple Iron Tower, far outside the inner city wall, is still visible from afar.
Moreover, the noisy sounds outside Donghua Gate can still penetrate the drizzle all over the city and the misty fragrance of Xinggang and reach the thatched pavilion.
It has a unique flavor.
After looking for a while, perhaps the misty scenery suppressed his inner anger, Emperor Zhao finally turned around, but still did not enter the thatched pavilion. Instead, he stood outside in the rain and began to read Li Gang's memorial in his hand again.
But to be honest, even after he recovered, when he looked at it again, Zhao Jiu didn't look at it for long before shaking his head in public, but he was not as angry as before.
After reading it, Emperor Zhao handed the memorial to Wang Yan, who had the highest status at the time except for the four prime ministers, and asked Wang Yan and others to pass it around for reading.
At this time, these people finally understood why the government was so angry.
Because this memorial contained much more than what Zhang Jun had said in the previous memorial at the Military Academy...Li Gang not only attacked Zhang Jun personally and impeached Zhang Jun, he also directly attacked Emperor Zhao personally and issued direct advice to him.
Of course, there were also criticisms of Zhang Jun's package.
"The world does not belong to your Majesty alone... I am tired of hearing this, and you don't know how to change it." Zhao Jiu sneered with his hands behind his back. "Also, just because Zhang Xianggong's wife Yuwen is Yuwen Xianggong's niece, they say that their influence is all over Guanxi and they are suspected of being affiliated with a party. What about the people who caught the son-in-law under the list? So Xianggong Wang caught my first champion, is it considered a party? What about the fact that Xianggong Lu's family has been married to Meihua Han for generations? What about the two generals, Zhe and Yang? They are also military generals with heavy troops. Aren't they more sinister?"
After Zhao Jiu finished speaking, Zhang Deyuan immediately came out and made the necessary explanation: "To let the emperor know, I was not a prime minister when I married into the Yuwen family. It was just that I was handling affairs in Guanxi a few years ago, and I had to communicate with Minister Yuwen, so naturally there was some friendship between us. Minister Yuwen knew that I had not had a wife since the Jingkang Rebellion, so he took me in as his nephew's son-in-law... I only thought it was a good thing at the time, but I forgot that it is the duty of a minister to avoid suspicion."
Zhang Jun had to explain - as a prime minister, this incident was mentioned in the impeachment memorial against him. According to political rules, he had to explain it in front of the emperor, and he might have to write a written defense when he returned.
But Lü Benzhong who was standing aside, Zhe Yanzhi who was called to participate in the martial arts deduction this time, and Yang Yizhong who did not say a word were all innocent victims… The three of them had no choice but to step out when Emperor Zhao mentioned the affairs of their own in-laws, but today's matter happened to be Zhang Shuxiang's, which essentially had nothing to do with them, so they could not even interrupt to apologize, and could only stand around the four prime ministers.
Let's not talk about how embarrassed these three people were, and how the others hurried to pass on the memorial. On the other side, after listening to this explanation, Emperor Zhao walked forward with his hands behind his back, and stopped just one step in front of Zhang Jun:
"Deyuan, do you know what I am going to say?"
Even if Zhang Jun knew, he could only say he didn't know at this moment, not to mention that he didn't know in the first place... So the prime minister of the current dynasty quickly shook his head.
At this time, Emperor Zhao put one hand behind his back and suddenly stretched out the other hand to hold Zhang Jun's already wet shoulder: "I want to tell Mr. Zhang...I'm sorry for wronging you today!"
Zhang Jun was a sentimental person to begin with. Even at the age of sixty, he still fantasized about becoming like Zhuge Liang. When he heard this, he raised his head, his eyes turned red, and he opened his mouth to speak, but was choked with sobs and was about to kneel down on the spot.
Of course, how could Emperor Zhao let him kneel down? He used force with his hands and spoke to stop the other party's actions:
"Deyuan, it's not just you, there are also Mr. Zhao, Mr. Liu, Mr. Chen..."
The other three ministers hurriedly stepped forward and bowed to each other.
"I want to tell you that what we have to do in the next few years is not just about having an unstoppable momentum. There are countless things that we have to do one by one despite the resistance."
Zhao Jiu replied with a sigh. "As the prime minister of the country, you will definitely bear the brunt of the burden. Not only will you be attacked directly and without reason like today, you will also face a real dilemma, and there will be eight out of ten problems and mistakes... What I want to say today is that when you encounter difficult matters, please do not give up and abandon the stall just because of a momentary anger or grievance... If you don't care, what should I do?"
The four ministers were all stunned, and then bowed their heads.
However, the civil and military officials around them were shocked and their thoughts slightly deviated.
Some people immediately realized that Emperor Zhao was not only going to take over the memorial for Prime Minister Zhang... this was expected... but he also semi-publicly made long-term political commitments to the four prime ministers.
Others, such as Ren Baozhong, instinctively thought that the famous Li Gongxiang was only in his fifties and might never be able to serve as prime minister again in his lifetime. Not only that, this wave of people had angered Emperor Zhao. Although they would not be killed directly like the Tanguts, they would definitely be driven to Hainan according to Han Chinese rules.
Sure enough, the next moment, when Emperor Zhao put his hands behind his back again, he suddenly raised his voice: "Li Boji not only impeached Prime Minister Zhang, but also reprimanded me... As for impeaching Prime Minister Zhang, Prime Minister Zhang has already explained and resigned, but I just didn't allow it; as for reprimanding me, I am thick-skinned and will not reply to him; but he also said that he couldn't understand whether the court was suppressing the South and humiliating the two emperors in order to march north, or raising the banner of the Northern Expedition in order to suppress the South and humiliate the two emperors. You are all important officials of the court, and you all participated in the public discussion at the first day of this month. What do you think?"
Zhao Ding had been waiting for his own appearance. When he heard this, he took a step forward without hesitation under everyone's attention, standing side by side with Zhang Jun, and then bowed to the emperor and said, "I think that Prime Minister Li is making a sophistry! There is no need for the emperor and the prime minister to explain such a statement!"
"I think so too."
"I agree with what Prime Minister Zhao said." Liu Ji and Chen Gui followed closely.
"I also think that what Li Xianggong said is ridiculous." Wang Yan came to his senses and followed suit, but he couldn't help but say one more thing. "In the final analysis, Li Xianggong's argument is not about whether it can be argued or not. As long as the country is wholeheartedly preparing for the Northern Expedition, his argument will be defeated."
After Wang Yan, Zhe Yanzhi, Fan Zongyin, Yang Yizhong, Lu Benzhong, Liu Yan, Ren Baozhong and others quickly raised their hands to express their opinions. For a moment, only Lan Gui, the chief guard of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, stood at the side of Emperor Zhao without moving.
Emperor Zhao, whose shoulders and wingless hat were soaked, sneered when he heard this. "Well said, that's the truth. As long as we take the first step, these words will be as insignificant as the raindrops in our ears today... I will take this opportunity to formally decide on the expansion of the army, and follow the latest plan from yesterday... Adjust it back and forth, it's always the same... Publish it directly! The imperial edict, the official documents of the provincial Privy Council, and the official report, publish them together as a response to Minister Li!"
Zhao Ding and Zhang Jun took the lead and led the ministers and officials present to agree on the spot. Although Wang Yan wanted to say something, he did not dare to speak in the end.
Soon after, the drizzle continued, but everyone dispersed under the leadership of the ministers. Emperor Zhao stood on Xinggang for a while again, and then suddenly took the memorial, dressed lightly, and left Yanfu Palace with only four or five close ministers and a team of guards. He turned into the west city and arrived at Lu Benzhong's house before noon... or rather, at Lu Haowen, the prime minister's house.
When Lu Haowen heard that the emperor was coming, he welcomed him calmly. When the emperor and his minister met, they simply set up a few tables in the corridor where they usually played chess and sat down cross-legged. Then Zhao Jiu handed the memorial to Lu Haowen and narrated today's events to him.
"The emperor has handled it very properly." In the corridor, Lv Haowen, who was sitting cross-legged across from Emperor Zhao, read the memorial, listened to the explanation, and then respectfully placed the memorial on the table, and then sighed. "Thinking back to the past few years, when I was the prime minister, the emperor always asked us to be tolerant for the sake of the country. Today, we are still tolerant for the sake of the country... But if I were to say, today's tolerance is probably more difficult than in previous years, because back then we had to be tolerant, but today we can be tolerant... It is precisely because we can be tolerant that it is difficult."
In the corridor next to them, several close ministers, from Lü Benzhong to Ren Baozhong, then to Yang Yizhong, as well as Fan Zongyin and Liu Yan, almost everyone came to their senses - the emperor must have come to ask Prime Minister Lü how to deal with Prime Minister Li, and Prime Minister Lü was obviously trying to persuade the emperor to let Prime Minister Li go.
Tolerance is the key to a country. Although you can choose not to tolerate, you still have to tolerate.
However, the next moment, Emperor Zhao burst out laughing: "Does Prime Minister Lu think that I am here to ask how to deal with Prime Minister Li?"
"Isn't this what the emperor meant?" Lu Haowen asked curiously.
As for the others, although they didn't say it out loud, they all asked the same question in their hearts.
"Since I have decided to respond to Li Gongxiang by taking a step forward, I am ready to let him go." Zhao Jiu shook his head and sighed. "After all, he is the first Gongxiang after I ascended the throne, the first Gongxiang, and the banner of the country's war since the Jingkang period... He has made great contributions to the world, the country, and me, and I will not let him have a bad ending! Besides, he is not the kind of person who changes his ways. When the court wanted to surrender, he advocated war. Today, I want to quickly march north, but he still advocates it, so he naturally becomes a slow-moving faction! This was seen in the disagreement between him and Zong Zhongwu at the beginning of Jianyan... and I finally accepted Zong Zhongwu and abandoned him."
At this point, Zhao Jiu paused for a moment before continuing, "Moreover, I also know that he probably saw the faster court report first, and then received Li Jing's letter. After a few days, he suddenly learned that Li Jing was exiled on the first day of March. He was so angry and embarrassed that he thought I was the first to betray the tacit understanding between the monarch and his subjects, which is why he did this."
"Your Majesty is very generous." Lu Haowen bowed his head slightly, but still couldn't help being curious. "But if that's the case, why did your Majesty come to see me and tell me the whole story?"
Zhao Jiu sat opposite him, silent for a moment, then pointed at the memorial on the table between the two of them and said seriously: "I just want to ask you, Lord Lu, tell me, I knew from the beginning that I would definitely let Lord Li go, and I also knew that I would not stop at all because of this matter, but would move forward more resolutely, but why did I get so angry after seeing this memorial?"
Of course it's because you, as an official, feel that the other party has betrayed you! Just like when Li Gang wrote this memorial, he felt that you betrayed him!
Thinking back to the early years of Jianyan, you two, the emperor and the minister, were absolutely tolerant of each other for the sake of the country, and even shared life and death together. But only a few years later, Li Boji actually became suspicious of you, the official, because of a little bit of political opinion, to the point of doing such a thing.
There were certainly some misunderstandings here, and Li Gang's bad temper and his old mentality of looking down on officials were also at work. But no matter what, as an official, he would of course feel angry when suddenly encountering such a thing.
In fact, Lu Haowen had the answer in his mind in an instant, and was about to blurt it out, but the words reached his throat and he swallowed them back.
Then, the minister just stared at Emperor Zhao for a long time before speaking earnestly in the spring rain that gradually turned into raindrops and had a pattering sound:
"Your Majesty, I am in this city and I have seen your actions with my own eyes. Three people can make a tiger, and this will never happen to me!"
As soon as these words were spoken, almost all the ministers around him began to breathe heavily.
On the contrary, Emperor Zhao shook his head and smiled: "That's not what I meant. I'm just sad that Lord Li doesn't trust me... But Lord Lu has overthought it again."
Lu Haowen also laughed: "If that's the case, I was indeed overthinking it... But Li Xianggong's situation is really lamentable."
Zhao Jiu nodded in vain.
Just like that, let’s not talk about how Emperor Zhao felt so emotional that he needed to seek psychological counseling from Lu Haowen. Let’s just say that on the second day, the court finally officially issued a plan to expand the army:
The Imperial Camp Left Army led by Han Shizhong was increased from 30,000 to 37,000.
The rear imperial army led by Wu Jie was increased from 30,000 to 38,000.
The strength of the Imperial Camp Central Army was increased from 50,000 to 65,000, but most of the corresponding military supplies were given to Li Yanxian of Shanzhou. Wang De's army was increased from 15,000 to 17,000, and Li Qiong's army was increased from 15,000 to 18,000. In other words, the increase in the Imperial Camp Central Army was still given to the Guanxi direction. The Imperial Camp Central Army only had one more commander for Wang De's army and Li Qiong's army... This was also the reason why Wang Yan hesitated on Xinggang before and wanted to protest on the spot;
The Imperial Camp Front Army led by Yue Fei was increased from 35,000 to 40,000.
The 25,000 troops of Zhang Jun's imperial camp remained unchanged;
The 15,000 naval forces under Zhang Rong's command remained unchanged;
The Imperial Navy led by Li Bao will remain at 5,000 to 6,000 men for the time being, but Li Bao's title of Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial Camp has been officially recognized. After the imperial edict arrives , he will enjoy similar treatment as Li Qiong.
The strength of the Imperial Cavalry led by Qu Duan was increased from 15,000 to 20,000;
Finally, there were Guo Zhongxun's 10,000 imperial camp reserve troops, whose treatment was halved compared to that of the imperial camp soldiers, and who were recruited and resettled locally.
In general, this military expansion was equivalent to an increase of 45,000 regular soldiers in the imperial camp, of which 25,000 were given to the Kansai direction, 10,000 soldiers were added to the area near Tokyo, which was directly under the central government, and only 5,000 were given to the Jingdong direction, most of which were those surrendered by Yue Fei's troops during the rebellion.
Basically, the original strategy of expanding land, expanding cavalry, and expanding westward was implemented.
Of course, these quotas were not added all at once... In addition to the actual recognition of the previous military expansion, most of the new personnel, from the front line to Guo Zhongxun's reserve army, would be added in batches gradually over three years.
The advantage of this is that it saves money, and a lot of money can be saved, giving the finances some buffer space, but the disadvantage is that the soldiers are inevitably under-trained, especially the cavalry, who will inevitably have to follow the route of the foreign army again.
But there is really nothing we can do about it.
No matter what, with the public decree being issued, the official documents of the Privy Council in the capital and provinces being delivered, the secret letters with personal replies from the emperor being sent back, and even the direct publication in the court gazette, this huge court finally took a firm but shaky step forward.
In contrast, the central court in Tokyo, faced with the public memorial from former prime minister Li Gang, did not give Li Gang any public orders or official responses, nor did it make any promotions, transfers, or demotions.
If the Ministry of Internal Affairs had not sent and received a self-defense memorial from Zhang Shuxiang, the Hanlin Academy would have kept a record of Zhang Shuxiang's resignation being rejected, as if the incident had never happened.
