When Suo Wuji heard the middle-aged man ask about the young lady, he was in a good mood and said: "Master, the young lady has come back."
"Well, Mr. Suo, show your skills tonight. Your vinegar fish is the lady's favorite,"
Suo Wuji smiled and said, "No problem,"
The middle-aged man seemed to be in a good mood: "Then let's have a good time tonight, the Reunion Festival."
"Yes, Master, there is one more thing I need to report."
"Let's talk, let's go meet the lady together after you finish talking,"
"Well, Master, the several groups of people sent by my subordinates, including Suo Wuhun, have not been able to find out the identity of Mr. Huyan. The only thing we know so far is that Shifeng Trading Company was just a small tea shop last year, only selling some tea. It's just high-end tea. This year, the closest thing to Shifeng Trading Company is Tongle Building, which has now become a subsidiary of Shifeng. Its original owner, Xiao Tian, has a simple and clear background. Even Suo Wuhun does not dare to use unusual means. , Firstly, the master has given instructions, and secondly, Suo Wuhun feels that there seems to be an unknown force around Mr. Huyan, and this force is not weaker than our alliance,"
"Haha, I can't even detect Suo Wuhun's ability, which is enough to show how smart this young master Huyan is, Mr. Suo."
"Master, my subordinates are here,"
"Send the order and don't go after Mr. Huyan anymore. If you don't do it, they might catch you."
"Yes, then, is it necessary to ask the lady,"
"No need. If it weren't for the Chisong Scripture, I would have already gone to Lin'an. After I practice the Chisong Scripture for a while, I will go to the capital in person to meet with this mysterious and interesting Master Huyan."
Suo Wuji nodded and said, "Yes, that subordinate will go and deliver the master's notice first."
The middle-aged man said anxiously: "No rush, it's not too late for you to go tomorrow. Come on, let me see the lady first."
On August 16, when the court meeting was about to end, I sat on the dragon chair in the Daqing Palace and said to Ma Tingluan: "Ma Aiqing, this is my reply to Lord Annan. You can give it to Chen Yuan and let him return. By the way. The value of the return gift will be calculated based on the same value as the gift from Annan."
"Your Majesty, this is inappropriate, it does not reflect the style of our great country,"
I hummed, not wanting to explain to Ma Tingluan, so I said coldly: "Ma Aiqing, just do as you are told."
"Yes, yes, I obey your order,"
"Retreat from the court,"
Xiao Qi on the side then shouted loudly: "Withdraw from the court, please invite the Privy Council, the Ministry of War and Lords Wen Tianxiang and Zhao Kui to move to the side hall."
The second military reform meeting was held in the side hall after the court meeting.
I looked at the ministers attending the military reform meeting. They all seemed a little nervous. Even Jia Sidao, who was always expressionless at the meeting, could also see a hint of uneasiness on his face. Perhaps in the eyes of others, this was just A choice to stand again, and does Jia Sidao have a choice?
For reform, in a sense, it is the redistribution of the interests of existing interest groups. This will inevitably touch the vested interests of most people in power, and will naturally be opposed by them. Therefore, throughout the dynasties, Those who make changes are mostly opposed by the powerful. Some are expelled, some are killed, and few have a happy ending.
In China's thousands of years of history, there have been three famous reforms. The earliest was Shang Yang's reform. Although it was supported by the emperor, the results of the reform also made Qin the most powerful country at that time, and Qin unified the world. The foundation was laid, but Shang Yang, as a reformer, paid the price with his life, and even the lives of his entire clan. Then came Wang Anshi's reform in the Song Dynasty. His new law took fifteen years. Although it achieved certain results, it was not because of the new law. It more or less violated the interests of middle and higher-level officials, the royal family, powerful people and loan sharks, and was eventually deposed. The last time was the Reform Movement of 1898 in the late Qing Dynasty. This time it was even shorter. The powerless Emperor Guangxu and several The reforms implemented by scholars with advanced ideologies offended all the upper classes at that time, so they were quickly suppressed by those in power.
I believe that my reform will be successful, because this is the decision made by me, the emperor.
"Dear dear friends, at the meeting three days ago, I said that we would carry out military reforms. Today we will continue to discuss this issue. Do you have any suggestions and what changes you think should be made to enhance the combat effectiveness of our army?"
As I expected, there was a moment of silence.
I kept tapping my fingers on the table, and glanced at every minister present with stern eyes. Once the eyes of these ministers met mine, they immediately gave me a feeling of guilt, for fear that if I asked their names, I would be wrong. It was as if the teacher called on the students in class to get up and recite the text, but none of the students knew how to recite the text. My eyes stayed on Jia Sidao's face. Jia Sidao trembled in his heart, but then returned to normal. The most powerful person in the military will naturally be the first to be named.
This is the honor of being the head of a hundred officials.
Jia Sidao was also ready to speak as soon as I called his name.
"Zhao Kui, General Zhao," my eyes finally left Jia Sidao and turned to Zhao Kui, the Duke of Lu and the Minister of Agriculture next to him.
"I'm here," Zhao Kui stood up and responded, but Zhao Kui also felt a little surprised. He had retired from the military for several years, how could he be the first to be named by the emperor.
Jia Sidao suddenly felt relaxed, like a tight string relaxing, but he immediately felt a sense of loss. Generally speaking, under normal circumstances, when the teacher calls on the students to answer questions, they will choose the most studied ones. A good student will answer. Of course, this good student should be Grand Master Jia Sidao, and Jia Sidao himself has long been accustomed to being under one person, but this time the teacher suddenly changed and ordered a person who has rarely shown his face in recent years. , and the students who are unknown in the class come to answer.
"Old General Zhao, you have experienced the four dynasties of Song Dynasty including Xiaozong, Guangzong, Ningzong and Lizong, and fought with Jin and Mongolia for decades. You are the only remaining military master in our dynasty and one of the few offensive generals in our dynasty. Please tell me your opinion first,"
"His Majesty,"
"My dear, sit down and talk,"
"Thank you, Your Majesty. I have joined the army with my father since I was a child. It can be said that I have spent most of my life in the military camp. I think that if your Majesty wants to reform, you should first find out the weaknesses of our army. Mr. Lu recently said The points mentioned are very reasonable. First, the command system of our army is cumbersome. Second, the courage of our soldiers is relatively low. Your Majesty, the last large-scale Northern Expedition of our country was the Duanping into Luo during the reign of the late Emperor. Although it ended in failure, it still failed. The lessons learned therein are worth learning from, His Majesty."
"My dear, if you have any experience, I can only tell you."
Zhao Kui hesitated for a moment, then seemed to have mustered up the courage to say: "Your Majesty, the first thing we need to reflect on is the decision-making system of our court. At that time, the court was still indecisive on whether to fight, defend, or fight. After hesitating and repeating, I finally tried every method, but was unwilling to put in a lot of effort and could only accept the result of failure. In fact, whether it is fighting or defending, as long as we develop according to the established ideas, our country will not be defeated. The second reason why we have reached today's passive defense situation is that our army's command system has not been able to form good coordination among various departments of our army. They often fight independently. The armies of Huaihe, Huaihe, and Jinghu march at the same time and place. Unable to achieve synchronization, the most critical logistical guarantee also made mistakes at critical times. In the end, after capturing Luoyang, we were still defeated and retreated. The third problem was the morale of our soldiers. In the early stages of the war between Song and Mongolia, although our army was still It is mainly an infantry army, but it is not weaker than the Mongolian cavalry. At that time, the Huaixi Army of our dynasty used a majestic infantry phalanx to fight against the Mongolian cavalry, which was invincible in cavalry and archery. The Mongolian cavalry who had always despised our Han people were also taken aback. However, with the long-term passive defense of our army, the courage and morale of our soldiers have gradually declined."
When Zhao Kui said this, he suddenly stood up again and said: "Your Majesty, these words I said today have directly pointed the finger of the failure of Duan Ping into Luo at the court at that time. I know that I have made a mistake, but I keep these words in my heart. It has been decades, and I am about to die. Today I will speak out, and there will be no regrets. Please punish me, but I have no complaints. I will say one last thing. I believe that the reform of our military system has arrived. There is no need to delay,”
Zhao Kui summarized the reasons for the failure of Duan Ping's entry into Luo. Although he pointed the finger at the imperial court at that time, everyone present was shocked. Everyone knew in their hearts that the late Emperor Lizong was dictatorial in the imperial court at that time. Zhao Kui's words were actually a metaphor. It was the late Emperor Lizong who made the wrong decision. In ancient times, this was a crime of deceiving the emperor and could be directly sentenced to death without trial.
"This old general's courage is commendable."
I originally just wanted Zhao Kui to make some suggestions, but I didn't expect that the old general would say so much at once. Although they were all facts, they were inappropriate for the occasion. I quickly said: "Zhao Aiqing, please sit down first. I have also carefully studied Duanping." Regarding the memorial to Luo, I believe that the main reason for its failure was that the important officials in the court at that time, Zheng Qingzhi, Zhen Dexiu, Wei Liaoweng and others, were all civil servants and were not familiar with military affairs. In addition, Shi Songzhi and others were perfunctory in perverting the imperial decree. What caused the failure of entering Luo is today's military reform meeting. Don't discuss these past matters anymore."
Zhao Kui glanced at me gratefully and said: "Yes, Your Majesty, I obey your order." Of course Zhao Kui understood that I was protecting him and put the responsibility for that year on Zhen Dexiu, Shi Songzhi and others. Come on, even if the mistakes in the court's decision-making mentioned by Zhao Kui are blamed on those ministers, there will be no crime of deceiving the emperor.
"Zhao Aiqing just said his opinion, everyone should also share their opinions,"
Wen Tianxiang stood up and said: "I agree with Mr. Zhao, and I also believe that military reform is imperative."
Li Beiyang, lieutenant of the Navy of the Ministry of War, also stood up and said: "Your Majesty, the basic systems of our army and navy are very similar. I believe that the same should be changed to correct the disadvantages of our army."
"Yes." I nodded and turned my eyes to Jia Sidao's face again, "Master, what do you think?"
Jia Sidao did not get up and said slowly: "Your Majesty, I think the time is not yet ripe."
"Really," I said with a slightly changed expression, "Master, the reason is,"
"Your Majesty, the military system of our dynasty was passed down from Emperor Taizu and approved by the late Emperor. This is the law of our ancestors and cannot be changed lightly. This is one. The second is that the Xiang Army has just begun to be disbanded this year. This military reform It involves a lot and will not be basically completed until the end of the year, and the restructuring of the Navy is about to begin. With so many matters concentrated together, I am worried that I will focus on one and lose the other. Thirdly, Mongolia has been in a long-term confrontation with our country and is always looking for fighter opportunities. If we The military reform of the DPRK at this time will inevitably cause negligence and give it an opportunity to take advantage of it. Therefore, the veteran believes that military reform is not impossible, but the time is not suitable at this time. Stability should be the priority now, in order to avoid large-scale disasters. Due to the turmoil, I suggest that the army be reorganized after the naval reorganization is completed. At the same time, your majesty can write a letter to notify the organizational envoys of each theater and solicit their opinions."
Jia Sidao did not openly oppose the military reform. After detailed discussions with Liao Yingzhong and others last night, Jia Sidao finally chose to block the military reform on the grounds that the timing was not right.
I know that judging from Jia Sidao's original intention, he was unwilling to military reform, but he could not blatantly oppose it, so he adopted a delaying method. In the previous interactions with Jia Sidao, I increasingly saw that He is essentially a paper tiger, and the Imperial Guard is the last layer of cover for this paper tiger.
I smiled but didn't smile, said nothing, and looked directly at Jia Sidao indifferently.
Jia Sidao's eyes seemed to meet my gaze without any sign of weakness. He could no longer retreat because there was no way out.
Since I came to the throne, this confrontation has been the most tit-for-tat.