Chapter 1078: The Northwest Army reports (Thanks to book friend Lao Lao Ya
Chapter 1087 The Northwest Army reports (thanks to book friend Lao Laoya for joining the alliance)
The wind and rain were dark, and a thunder broke out in the afternoon.
Heavy rain came to Bianjing City like this.
Zhang Yue was awakened by the sound of rain and thunder from his afternoon nap. He had a nightmare. He dreamed that Zhang Zhi was lying on the edge of a cliff with countless arrows stuck in his armor, calling for help.
Zhang Yue tried his best to pull him up from the cliff, but in the end he failed.
A Xixia general shot Zhang Zhi in the back of the heart with an arrow, causing him to fall into an infinite abyss.
The more Zhang thought about this scene, he woke up from the bed with sweat on his body and forehead.
The feeling of this dream was so real that he couldn't help but feel that this was not a dream, but a sign of some kind.
Looking at the heavy rain outside the window and the dark sky, Zhang Yue felt depressed. He got up from the couch and looked at the military report on the desk.
There was no news from the two armies attacking Xia. It had been 12 days since there was no news from the Yanyan Road. The emperor ordered the Hedong Army to set out from Linfu for rescue. There was no news from the Jingyuan Road two days ago. The Jingyuan Road Manager envoy
Shen Kuo and Yu Chong, the military envoy of Huanqing Road, led troops to respond.
However, Guan Jia fell ill at this time and was absent from court for five days. Everyone speculated whether Guan Jia was suffering from some physical illness.
Now the news of the two-pronged expedition to summer has spread to everyone in Bianjing City, and everyone is full of worry.
Not a single word about the military affairs in the northwest could be found in the imperial newspaper.
But it doesn't matter, rumors have spread all over the sky that all the two armies have been annihilated! Xixia has already invaded Yanzhou and even reached Yongxing City.
As for the common people, they are also full of vigilance. For example, yesterday, several Xixia fine craftsmen were arrested in Tianshui Lane and were collectively taken to Kaifeng Mansion by hundreds of common people.
After careful inspection, it turned out that it was just a few businessmen who were buying and selling smuggled goods from Xixia.
Zhang Yue even heard that Sima Guang and other ministers in Luoyang criticized the imperial court's strategy of using troops in the northwest.
War is a double-edged sword. If you win, you can suppress or resolve many problems, but if you lose, it will accelerate the outbreak of many problems.
The rulers of the past dynasties have warned against this and concluded that as long as they do not gain, they will not lose, and then closing the country to the outside world can solve the problem.
In fact, when there is no external input and no room for Pareto improvement, the killing and consumption of the zero-sum game cannot be stopped.
At that time, the party struggle will always be suspended and will never end until the whole country is lifeless.
In particular, the party struggle between the new party and the old party had eased slightly after the official government came into power, but with this expedition to Xia, it came to light again.
Outsiders said that Su Che came to visit.
Zhang Yue met him immediately, but Su Zhe said as soon as he met him: "Ms. Zhang, please save my brother!"
Zhang Yue asked in shock: "What's the matter? Didn't Brother Zizhan receive a commendation from the court for controlling floods in Xuzhou?"
Although Su Che was in a panic, he said calmly: "Xianggong Zhang, I have to ask Cai Que. There are rumors that Cai Que wants to participate in politics, so he promised to know Li Ding.
Decide on the two men’s accomplices.”
"They must have been instructed by Cai Que!"
Zhang Yue said: "Who informed you about this?"
Su Che whispered: "Yes, Prince Consort Wang Shen!"
Zhang Yue glanced at Su Che, who lowered his head.
Zhang Yue said: "Wang Shen kept a concubine, was mean to the princess, and made the princess seriously ill. Your Majesty hates him very much. If it were not for the affection of the brother and sister... I have spoken to Zi Zhan many times, and seldom interacted with Wang Shen..."
Su Zhe said: "My brother said that although Wang Shen is romantic, judging from his poems and paintings, he is still a gentleman."
Zhang Yue was speechless, and Su Shi once again acted like "there is no bad person in the world" and made friends with everyone.
It was clear that Wang Shen was extremely disliked by the emperor and everyone avoided him, but Su Shi still kept in contact with him and acted without regard to the emperor's wishes.
Of course, Wang Shen was also very grateful to Su Shi, so he would not have risked his life to inform Su Shi and the Su Che brothers.
Zhang Yue said to Su Zhe: "The arrest of a county guard is not something that Cai Que can say, but it comes from the emperor's will. If there is another Wang Shen, it will not make the emperor so aggressive. Is there another reason for him?
?”
Su Zhe said: "When my brother went to Huzhou to take office, his majesty seemed dissatisfied with his sparse words. In addition, when he came to Huzhou to hear about the military deployment in the northwest, he wrote several poems."
Zhang Yue laughed angrily when he heard this. At this time, he was still opposing the use of troops in the northwest, but he didn't see that even he had changed his mind and supported the emperor.
What's more, since I'm not in the court now, if something happens, there won't even be anyone to give you a fair word.
Do you really think that if you follow the ancestral teachings and don’t kill scholar-bureaucrats, you can speak without restraint?
Zhang Yue said: "Zizhan usually talks a lot about the New Deal. Before Shu Gong was in the country, he used to call it the New Deal, but now Wang Gui, Cai Que and others praise it as the Holy Rule."
"Brother Zizhan did not mention criticism, but used yin and yang in his poems to accuse Chengyu. Not to mention criticizing the use of troops in the northwest this time."
Su Zhe said: "Mr. Zhang, I am willing to protect my brother with my life and official position and have no other intentions. I dare not go against His Majesty's wishes."
Zhang Yue said: "This is of no help. It would not be like this if it were anyone else. But my brother has a high reputation, and your majesty regards him as using his own opinions to compete with the imperial court."
"You go back and I'll think of a solution."
Su Che bowed to Zhang Yue, turned around and left.
Zhang Yue thought that he knew nothing about Su Shi's arrest this time.
It can be seen that the officials and Cai Que deliberately blocked information from themselves and did not allow themselves to get involved in this matter. At the same time, it can also be seen that he has temporarily left the position of prime minister and faded out of the center of power. His influence on the court has been greatly reduced, and a lot of information has been blocked.
Su Zhe didn't even know about this until he told him.
But...but Zhang Yue feels that living like this is pretty good.
It may not be comfortable to be in that position, and the following conflicts cannot be resolved, so I will poke at you. You must always stand in line and be consistent with the emperor's opinions, so sincerely tiring.
The imperial censor in Taitung was transformed into a factory, the ministers were transformed into eunuchs, and the ministers were competing for favor like concubines... Public opinion also wanted to beautify it into the emperor's mentality.
Of course, your official family must be really wise. This is not a bad thing but a good thing. But with the situation in the northwest, you are not able to take the blame yourself, and you want me to accompany you.
Zhang Yue stood by the window and watched the downpour, which pounded on the window paper.
Zhang Yue opened the door slightly, and for a moment the wind and rain rushed into the room. The tip of his nose was filled with earthy smell, and the gown on his body was unknowingly wet.
At this moment, he has no time to worry about his own future, but the whole world is worried about him.
…
The emperor's bedroom.
The official has been ill for several days.
Although he was seriously ill and could not get out of bed, the official was still concerned about the military situation in the northwest, and he would be informed of any military situation in the northwest as soon as possible.
The biggest problem now is that when Gao Zunyu and his 100,000-strong army from Yanyan Road crossed the Dry Sea, there was no news at all.
Although the Dry Sea is 700 miles away, it is impossible that there is no news about so many soldiers and horses.
Officials ordered the soldiers and horses on the Hedong Road who were originally on guard against the Khitans to set out from Linzhou, but the soldiers and horses were short of food and fodder and have not yet reached Xiazhou.
At this time, the soldiers and horses on Xihe Road, Jingyuan Road, who had been receiving very good news, also lost news.
The last news that the officials heard was that Xixia had conquered the Yellow River in Lingzhou City and flooded Jingyuan Road and Xihe Road soldiers and horses. There was no other news at all. Even Wang Zhongzheng, who originally had one memorial every day, has not yet received a memorial.
Beijing.
At this moment, the officials deeply regretted not listening to Zhang Yue's words and letting the two groups continue to attack Xia. If they had known they would have stopped in the first place.
But how?
Money can't buy it, I already knew it.
Zhang Yue and other ministers had previously advised him, and His Majesty just thought that he ‘knew’.
Although he was bedridden, he issued edicts to Zhang Zhi, Gao Zunyu and Wang Zhongzheng on the front line. At this moment, the edict no longer asked them to go straight to Xingling and join forces at the foot of Xingzhou City.
Instead, his tone gradually softened, and he had asked the three of them to act accordingly in the past few days. If they encountered any disadvantage, they would retreat first and hold on to the captured territory for food and fodder, or wait until winter before advancing in force.
As for Shen Kuo, Yu Chong and others, they kept urging them to send troops to meet him, and they would take the two groups of troops back to the Song Dynasty at all costs.
Until yesterday, the officials looked extremely depressed.
It turned out that the officials had received news that the Xixia Twelve Army Supervisors had gathered troops on the Lingwu front line to fight the Song army, and the two armies had been suspended for a long time. Without the support of fresh troops, the troops and horses must have been exhausted.
Therefore, the officials immediately issued a retreat edict. No matter what the situation was, both groups of soldiers and horses were ordered to return to their respective starting points. As for the discarding of the previously captured troops, there was no problem.
Now what the officials are thinking about is not to conquer Xingling, but to hope that the two armies can return safely. Even if there is no success, it is much better than the annihilation of either arm of the two armies.
Compared with the harsh tone when sending troops, the officials were much gentler this time. They actually confided their concerns in the edict, saying a lot of words of trust in Gao Zunyu and Wang Zhongzheng, and expressing their respect for Zhang Zhi.
The tone of the official edict was almost pleading, showing all humility.
It's like sending messages on WeChat, waiting for the goddess to reply, the feeling of eagerness and anticipation. But the goddess doesn't know whether she went to take a shower or went to bed, and she hasn't replied to the message for a long time.
None of the three coaches replied to the emperor, and actually left the emperor aside.
The officials had a sense of unforeseen events on the Yanyan Road and had already informed the Hedong Road and even Shen Kuo, Yu Chong and others to take in the remaining soldiers and welcome the defeated division into the fortress.
Today, the official family was lying on the couch without water or rice. The sky outside the palace seemed to have opened a big hole, and the rain poured out crazily from the hole.
The thunder rumbled like the whole palace was shaking, and huge lightning struck down, illuminating the palace in flickering light.
Although hundreds of candles were lit in the hall, the official's house still felt extremely dark. Although all the windows and doors were closed tightly, the wind coming from nowhere caused the candles in the hall to flicker.
Facing the flickering candlelight, Guan Jia fell into deep thought again, his head feeling dizzy.
Thinking of the humiliation of Taizong, Zhenzong and Renzong's defeat at the hands of Xixia, and his long-cherished wish to restore the Han Dynasty and revitalize the Song Dynasty, the officials felt unwilling to accept the edict to withdraw from the army, and even had the idea of recalling the previous edict.
But the facts forced him to be willing to do this...
It rained until mid-night, and the officials refused to listen. The officials were drowsy and full of thoughts.
At this moment, the messengers coming all the way from the northwest and the urgent news in the middle of the night opened the palace door one after another.
In the heavy rain, the palace servants held bamboo tubes printed with fire paint and rushed through the palace to the emperor's bedroom.
Ps1: Thank you to old book friend Lao Laoya for becoming the 22nd leader of this book!
Ps2: There will be another update tonight!
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Provide you with a reading experience with no wrong chapters and no out-of-order chapters. The first release of this book??????????.??????