Bianjing is still prosperous, and the Bon Festival is a grand event in Bianjing. This is also the time when the drama "Mu Lian Saves His Mother" is performed.
Maud Lian's mother was suffering. Although Maud Lian was an Arahant, he could not save his mother. The Buddha said to Maud Lian, you must create the Ullambana Festival widely so that all the hungry ghosts in the world can be fed, so that your mother can be saved.
Mulian did this, which is also the origin of the Bon Festival.
Therefore, every July, the Daxiangguo Temple in Bianjing performs a drama in which Mulian saves his mother. On this day, it is a grand event in Bianjing. Both the queen mothers of the two palaces worship Buddhism, and this play also promotes filial piety. Teaching people how to be kind is loved by everyone from high-ranking officials to common people.
Rich people among the people would also imitate Mulian Lian's story, give porridge to the poor or set up running water mats, and organize various social rituals to pray for blessings.
Zhang Yue also likes the story of Mulian saving his mother. He still vaguely remembers the origin of eating Aojiu porridge before time travel, but now he really feels it.
He used to think that in a place with such a big gap between the rich and the poor in Bianjing, the people at the bottom would live a very miserable life. In fact, this is not the case. The rich and the poor can live in peace, the social atmosphere is stable, and some conflicts can be made public. Of course, it is better than this. Yuji is still a little less prosperous than usual, but his prosperity is twice as great.
The people in Bianjing were completely unaware of the Northwest War, as if it was very far away. They might as well pay attention to the society of the Zaju Opera and Temple Fairs in front of them.
…
This is the benefit of a large territory. The Song army surrounded Lingzhou City with a large army. For Xingzhou, which is across the river, the Xixia monarchs and ministers must have been unable to sleep at night.
However, the territory of the Song Dynasty was so large that there was no such concern.
Therefore, the Song Dynasty liked to "give away".
When Emperor Taizong saw that Li Jiqian was difficult to control, he destroyed Xiazhou City and moved all the people south, allowing Li Jiqian to completely occupy the five Dingnan prefectures. Later, Li Jiqian and others made further progress and captured Lingzhou. At that time, the emperor and his ministers thought it was nothing, after all, they had to maintain The troops and horses stationed on the border are a huge drain on national power.
The Song Dynasty thought that it could gain peace by conceding some territory, but a small decision at that time, after Li Yuanhao gained power, even Chang'an was threatened.
If the Chanyuan Alliance buys peace and completely abandons the Yanyun Sixteenth Prefecture, life will be better.
In particular, the total cost of a year's coin is only one or two percent of the war with the Liao Kingdom. The ministers slapped their thighs, oh, it is a great deal.
This is the origin of the theory that Sima Guang and other ministers abandoned the land.
But any gift from fate has a price secretly marked on it.
…
Zhang Yue stayed at home for more than half a year to recover from his illness, and he was doing well.
Since the emperor personally visited the thatched cottage, most of the officials in Bianjing became familiar with Zhangfu again. In particular, Cai Jing visited three times within ten days. Of course, this does not mean that Cai Jing has not visited before, but he did come more often.
In the officialdom, officials all have the ability to read the "weather forecast".
This seems to indicate that Zhang Yue will rise again, but Zhang Yue is still recuperating at home, which makes many people doubtful.
A 'weather forecast' is just a 'weather forecast' after all.
On this day, everyone in the family went to watch a drama in which Mulian saved his mother, while Zhang Yue made bamboo strips at home.
At this time, Zhang Yue knew that someone was visiting. When he saw the three words "Zhou Zhongzhen" in his name, he immediately asked someone to lead him to the hall.
Zhang Yue quickly stepped out of the house and immediately saluted Zhao Guan's family, who was traveling incognito with only a few people in the hall.
The official smiled and said, "I went to my husband's house to learn calligraphy in the name of Zhou Zhongzhen. Do you still remember it?"
Zhang Yue laughed awkwardly when he heard this, and was frightened at the same time. The official suddenly mentioned that he learned calligraphy under his disciple. Could it be that something happened to Zhang Zhi during his expedition to Xia?
The official said: "I haven't gone on patrol incognito for a long time. The ministers are all watching, and it's always inconvenient for me. But I always think about the time when Emperor Taizu went to Zhao Pu's home incognito on a snowy night, and got a wonderful plan to govern the country and bring peace to the world, so I decided to march to the north.
Han's plan, how comfortable it is."
Zhang Yue thought, Zhao Pu made two strategies for Zhao Kuangyin, one was to drink wine to release military power, the other was to attack the Northern Han Dynasty.
Releasing military power with this glass of wine is a wonderful strategy for governing the country and bringing peace to the world. The officials also concealed it and talked about it directly. What the officials said today seems to be related to these two things.
"Our monarch and his ministers will follow suit today, grilling meat on charcoal, and I have brought mutton and fine wine." After the official finished speaking, he laughed heartily, but Zhang Yue could hear the desolation and loss that could not be concealed in the other party's laughter.
Zhang Yue was moved and said: "As ordered by His Majesty."
Immediately Zhang Yue spread a mattress in the hall, put on charcoal, roasted the mutton, and set up a large pot with the sheep's head cooked, while Song Yongchen, the chamberlain, was drinking wine by the side.
In the hall, you can leisurely look at the flowers and leaves blown down by the south wind in the courtyard. Several plainclothes attendants stood in front of the door and looked around cautiously.
The first time the officials came with great fanfare, this time they came incognito.
But for ministers, the latter is better than the former. The former is what officials show to the world.
Lamb head, fine wine.
Shi Deyi, the great Abban, held the iron pick for the officials himself, while Zhang Yue roasted the mutton, making a sizzling sound without the grease falling on the fire.
This scene actually has the artistic conception of Zhao Kuangyin visiting Zhao Pu on a snowy night to plan the attack on the Northern Han Dynasty.
The official said: "I admire Emperor Taizu the most, followed by Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty and Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty once said that the Han Dynasty will be in trouble during the Sixth and Seventh Dynasties, and Fa Ying will be ordered again. Who among the descendants of the clan should respond to this? Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty said that Han Dynasty will be the successor of the Han Dynasty.
Those who should be painted high should do so."
"Yuan Shu thought he had a destiny. His word "road" means road, so he thought he had the destiny to be high. Yuan Shu was called Cao Pi, and Wei means tall and majestic, so he took it as such. Later, someone told Sima Zhao,
The person riding a tall horse on the road is called a Sima."
"The success or failure of a country is passed on from generation to generation, which is the most important thing in my heart. However, there is no country that will not be destroyed in the world. Even Cao Pi of the Han Dynasty once said that from ancient times to the present, there is no country that will not be destroyed, and there is no tomb that will not be dug.
Even heroes like Emperor Taizu died violently, and there was no way to conquer the Northern Han Dynasty."
Zhang Yue had already understood what the official meant and said: "Your Majesty is blessed by destiny and has good ministers to help you. He must be passed down from father to son and passed down from generation to generation."
After hearing this, the official understood what Zhang Yue meant and smiled happily.
Shi Deyi had roasted the cooked mutton and distributed it to the emperor and Zhang Yue.
The official was fond of mutton. After eating a few mouthfuls, he said: "Good meat, good meat. There are many stories in the palace about Emperor Taizu eating mutton. I like this one too."
"Everything I have today is the legacy of Taizu. In those days, Taizu was the emperor for those with strong soldiers and horses. This time, I have braved the disapproval of the world and used Gao Zunyu and Wang Zhongzheng to prepare the troops. They are the empress of the art of war.
, the generals in the northwest have the potential of vassal towns. All the armies in the northwest are half Tibetan and half Han. How can they be controlled on weekdays? Needless to say, if these generals are born in front of the battle and are capable, they can still get generous rewards. If they are defeated, there is no guarantee that they will not be defeated.
drop."
"No matter how incompetent Wang Zhongzheng and Gao Zunyu are, they can at least bring the defeated army back to me and not surrender the thieves. I can also trust Zhonge, but in the end they are not as good as the two of them."
Zhang Yue sighed secretly in his heart, anything that was not in line with common sense had his own internal logic behind it.
The civil servants criticized Wang Zhongzheng wildly, and Gao Zunyu was a eunuch and a relative led the army, but they did not understand the logic behind the officialdom.
If you want your soldiers and horses to be able to fight, you must turn them into vassal towns, and your soldiers and horses must be highly loyal. Only the soldiers do not know the generals, and the generals do not know the soldiers. This is a dilemma.
For example, the Hunan Army, which was responsible for the ZTE, and the Yue Family Army were all soldiers recruited by the generals below. As for the soldiers originally raised by the imperial court, they had no merit except for their high loyalty.
This is especially true for the Song army. Even the Imperial Army is busy working for the generals. The frontier army has a fair fighting capacity, but the Song army in the interior is famous for being proficient in all industries, except for fighting.
The art of war was to transform the armies in the northwest into vassal towns. In order to make up for the decline in loyalty, the officials sent generals Wang Zhongzheng and Gao Zunyu. These two people would not surrender even if the Xixia people put a knife to their necks.
The officials immediately nodded to Song Yongchen. After Song Yongchen poured wine for the emperor, he took out a letter and handed it to Zhang Yue respectfully.
The official pointed to the letter and said, "This letter was written by Zhang Zhi, the envoy of Xihe Road Jinglue."
Zhang Yuezhan read the letter and said: "Your Majesty..."
The official said: "Zhang Zhi is your nephew and my playmate in the past. I can still trust his words. I think that the Taoist King is loyal and loyal. Even if he doesn't know how to fight, it will not affect the overall situation."
Zhang Yue said: "Your Majesty, the king's most upright ministers know that when he was at Xihe, this man had a weak sense of thinking, and he was arrogant and arrogant. He was fond of humiliating officials and was not sympathetic to military commanders. This is a disease. Zhang Zhi is a minister.
Nephew, I am not partial, this matter is probably the fault of Wang Zhongzheng."
The official looked up to the sky and said: "Now there is no news after the Yanyan Army entered the Hanhai. Gao Zunyu is the only one among the generals who knows a little about military affairs, but he has repeatedly claimed credit for Zhong'e. This killing of the Xia thieves is clearly Zhong'e's greatest contribution.
, but he refused to retaliate, and repeatedly used words to humiliate him. On the contrary, those nephews from Jingying who had never been in battle were all rewarded. "
"It's so unfair. No wonder Zhong'e was so angry that he led his troops away. I'm worried that they will be lost in the vast sea to the Xia thieves..."
Zhang Yue said: "The ministers on the Yanyan Road dare not make arbitrary decisions, but the troops on the Jingyuan Road are extremely bad. If they stand under the fortified city and eat all the food without retreating, then..."
When Zhang Yue said this, he saw the pain on the official's face and stopped talking.
Zhang Yue said: "The only strategy now is to let Zhang Zhi replace Wang Zhongzheng and control the Xihe and Jingyuan troops! It is up to him to decide whether to return to the court or not!"
The official drank a glass of wine and sighed: "I made a mistake in employing people. I already did this before I came to your place. I don't know if it will be too late or not."
The official said to Zhang Yue: "If this expedition against Xia is defeated, what should I do next?"
Zhang Yue said without hesitation: "Your Majesty, if this expedition to Xia fails, we should continue to fight..."
"Why did you say this?" the official asked seriously.
Zhang Yue said: "Your Majesty, I was unwilling to fight before because the Song and Xia were fighting at the same time, and the two sides could not stop. If the Xixia wins, the DPRK will make further progress, invade and force us to pay tribute as before, and even plan to attack Chang'an again.
"
"And the courtiers will definitely oppose the fact that the border has been expanded for many years. The imperial court's operations in Xihe and Qingtang in these years have even failed. Dong Felt will surrender and rebel again, and the Tibetan leaders on Xihe Road will also be ready to make a move."
"The most important thing is the prestige of the imperial court. Since Yuanfeng, the factional strife in the imperial court has been slightly eliminated. Once the attack on Xia fails, it will inevitably happen again. If we do not continue to fight, there will be worries about division in the court."
The use of troops abroad was a way to establish the emperor's prestige and suppress conflicts within the court. The war against Xia was initiated by the Song Dynasty. Once the officials admitted defeat, it would be a real defeat, and the prestige they had finally established would be lost.
There will be nothing left, so at this time no matter what, I can only grit my teeth and continue to fight, no matter how difficult it is, I have to fight.
When the officials heard this, they closed their eyes and said nothing, looking sad.