After seeing Huang Shang off, Zhang Yue and Cai Bian returned home.
It was already dark now, and carriages were driving through the streets of Bianjing. Although the scenery was full of bustling traffic and traffic, Zhang Yue felt even more desolate.
Zhang Yue got off the carriage and saw many people gathered at the house, one of whom was Shi Deyi.
Zhang Yue's expression changed immediately when he saw Shi De. Shi De lowered his head and said, "Prime Minister, Your Majesty has urgently summoned you to the palace."
Zhang Yue said: "Is there any news from the west?"
Shi Deyi was silent for a moment and said: "Prime Minister, this is Shen Kuo's gold medal!"
Zhang Yue said: "I understand."
At that moment, Zhang Yue wanted to follow Shi De into the palace. He immediately stopped and said to Peng Jingyi, "Tell Madam that I will be staying at Zhongshu tonight and ask her to take good care of my brother and sister-in-law."
Peng Jingyi said: "Yes."
The sky is getting darker.
It has passed the Double Ninth Festival. In the past, at this time, people would come back from admiring the chrysanthemums, with all kinds of joy. Children would follow the adults happily, laughing and playing.
Zhang Yue felt a little relieved when he saw the common people living and working in peace and contentment.
For thousands of years, for the common people, there were not many times of peace and prosperity.
Who could have imagined that decades later in another time and space, the peaceful and prosperous scene of Bianjing would only exist in the memories of the elderly and be lamented by future generations.
And the territory that Xining had gained through decades of hard work and hundreds of battles was all lost to a wave of Xixia counterattacks.
Zhang Yue sat in the carriage and pondered.
The carriage drove straight into the palace, and the guards in the palace did not dare to stop it.
When Wang Anshi entered the palace, Zhang Maoze ordered the guards to beat the horses. Everyone knew that he was doing so at the behest of the empress dowagers of the two palaces.
But now Zhang Yue's carriage went straight into the palace.
There are not many prime ministers who can be unanimously recognized by the official family and the empress dowagers of the two palaces.
After Zhang Yue entered the palace, he met with the officials.
But he saw the official standing in the palace with red eyes and bare feet.
Zhang Yue said: "Your Majesty..."
The official said: "Your Majesty... Shen Kuo has come to rescue me. Mingsha City has been destroyed!"
Although he had expected it, Zhang Yue still felt unprepared when he heard the news.
The official said: "Shen Kuo said in the book that Zhang Zhi used less than 5,000 troops to protect the tens of thousands of troops on the Jingyuan Road, and killed more than 10,000 Western bandits under the city."
"Today Li Bingchang, the leader of the Xixia Kingdom, sent an envoy to ask for peace and is willing to return the remains of the soldiers and horses killed in the battle."
"Please take a look at the apology memorials of Han Zhen, Li Xian, Shen Kuo, Yu Chong, Wang Hou, Zhong Shidao, and Liu Changzuo who have just arrived!"
The chamberlain moved the chair, and Shi De held a stack of memorials in one hand and handed them over. Zhang Yue took a moment to collect himself, and then read the memorials one by one.
All of these people severely blamed themselves, while secretly blaming others.
Yu Chong passed the blame to Shen Kuo, Shen Kuo passed the blame to Yu Chong, Han Zhen passed the blame to Shen Kuo and Yu Chong.
Li Xian then shifted the blame to himself, saying that it was too late for him to provide reinforcements.
Wang Hou admitted that he spent too much effort in attacking Lanzhou.
Liu Changzuo, as a teacher, has no way to shirk the blame, so he can only take the blame.
The official said: "Let's see who failed to do his best and missed the opportunity to fight, so that Mingsha City was destroyed."
Zhang Yue came back to his senses after listening to the official's words, thought for a while and said: "Your Majesty, all the ministers have done their best. If there is a responsibility, it is because I am unable to dispatch it in Zhongshu. If I cannot save Mingsha City, I still ask your Majesty to manage the ministers."
sin."
The official said: "The siege of Mingsha City happened before you were appointed Jixian Prime Minister and has nothing to do with you. I am asking about other people?"
Zhang Yue said nothing.
The official said angrily: "You don't have to cover up for them. I have to kill several people. Yanyan Road is defeated and Mingsha City is destroyed. Can't I even hold anyone accountable?"
Zhang Yue said: "Your Majesty, according to Han Zhen's report, Yu Chong's plan for the Huanqing Road caused Yu Chong to miss the opportunity to fight. He violated your Majesty's imperial edict and did not go out to watch the success or failure of his friendly forces. Shen Kuo had illusions in his heart and secretly negotiated peace with Xixia in order to meet with Lan.
Two states are exchanged for Mingsha City."
"In accordance with the teachings of the master, Liu Changzuo was unable to control his troops and horses, so he ordered the soldiers and horses on the Jingyuan Road to abandon almost all the armored weapons and equipment."
"Li Xian, Wang Hou is slow to attack Lanzhou."
The official nodded when he heard this and said, "How do you think this will be discussed?"
Zhang Yue said: "I think that Yu Chong should be removed from the post of manager of the Jingyuan Road and placed under supervision in another state, and then the Yushitai will further judge the crime!"
"Shen Kuo has made great achievements in building peace in Xia City. He has been demoted three levels in a row and is still serving as the Jingyuan Road Manager."
"As for cultivating teachers, Liu Changzuo has previously defeated Xixia soldiers and horses. The merits and demerits are balanced, so I will lower each officer to one level and listen to him."
"Li Xian, Wang Hou has contributed to the capture of Lanzhou. He will not be rewarded or punished."
"Previously, we discussed the punishment of the officials in Fuyan Road. We planned to kill two people, exile 39 people, and remove and demote 82 people. This was also approved by His Majesty!"
The official nodded and said, "I will follow your instructions. Xixia sent envoys to discuss peace. How should I respond?"
Zhang Yue said: "Since the Xixia people intend to negotiate for peace, regardless of whether they are sincere or not, I think we should send envoys to negotiate for peace!"
The official asked: "My dear, why do you mean this?"
Zhang Yue said: "Your Majesty, if you want to eliminate something, you must strengthen it; if you want to weaken it, you must strengthen it; if you want to abolish it, you must strengthen it; if you want to capture it, you must strengthen it."
"To achieve something, the purpose and means can be opposite, which is also the meaning of the opposite."
"If you want to take Xixia, you can't take it overnight. It takes two steps forward and one step back. We are not talking about it. We can even return some border areas of Yanyan Road to Xixia, but between Lanhui Xihe Road, Jingyuan Road and Huanqing Road
Don’t move the vital points.”
"As long as Lan Hui is in hand, and he looks for an opportunity to break through Ganliang, advance to defend Tiandu Mountain, and reach the Mingsha Line, Xixia will surely perish."
The official nodded slowly and said: "But Xixia is not without knowledgeable people. If he sees that we are not sincere in negotiating peace, how can we hide it from him?"
Zhang Yue said: "Only the wise and the foolish in the world will not change. Peace talks are for the majority of people, not the smart and the stupid. It even only needs to give an excuse to the peacemakers in Xixia."
"As long as we can shake these people and make them think that because of the defeat, this dynasty has no intention of launching another Western Expedition and is no longer bent on destroying Xia."
"Besides, Xixia may not have no intention of paralyzing us with peace talks. Your Majesty, fish cannot escape from the abyss, and the sharp weapons of the country cannot be shown to others!"
The officials pondered, Zhang Yue, if the general wants to take it, must hold it firmly, and the fish must not escape from the abyss, and the country's sharp weapons must not be shown to others.
They all come from Chapter 36 of the Tao Te Ching.
The most important thing is the last sentence, the sharp weapon of the country should not be shown to others.
What does this sentence mean?
It means that the strategy is vague. The national strategy must not be revealed to others. Otherwise, it will be like a fish out of water.
It's okay for you to know the strategy in your heart, but it will always be unclear to the outside world.
There is a story about a farmer who feeds a chicken and then tells him to kill it for meat tomorrow.
The next day, the farmer discovered that the chicken had committed suicide by eating rat poison. His last words were, "Go ahead and dream about eating meat. I'm not someone to be trifled with."
Why?
Once your opponent knows your decision, he will make the decision that is most beneficial to him, even if both of you die together.
For example, if you want to get something, you must stick to it. You can get it now, so why go around in circles? Just get it. If you can do it immediately, don't wait.
The farmer will be fine if he kills the chickens on the same day.
If you can't reach it at the moment, you have to take a detour.
The official said: "If the imperial court negotiates peace, won't it make everyone in the imperial court hesitate?"
Zhang Yue said: "Your Majesty, on the contrary, if we don't negotiate for peace, won't there be people in the court who don't want to negotiate for peace? On the contrary, if the peace talks fail, we can blame all the faults on the Xixia people in the future. This will also have a negative impact on the emperor and the faction in the court.
'Explain'."
The official was stunned for a moment and looked at Zhang Yue several times.
Zhang Yue said sternly: "My nephew is trapped in Mingsha City. There is a high chance that something unexpected will happen to him. How come I don't want to avenge this great enemy in my heart?"
"However, the way to use military force lies in one mind. What is one mind? One mind is inaction. Action is the purpose, and there is an additional thought of 'effort' or 'worrying about gains and losses'. It is precisely because the Tao is unique and valuable that skills are valuable.
changeable."
Zhang Yue paused when he said this.
"Your Majesty, defend in order to attack, retreat in order to advance, turn sideways in order to go forward, and take detours in order to go straight."
"The affairs of the world are not dependent on will. The more I think about it, the more I can't do it all at once, but when I turn around and come back, it happens to be done again."
"This is what I say from the bottom of my heart."
Zhang Yue's last words to the emperor are classic sayings after crossing the Chishui River four times. They are mutually confirmed with "If you want to take something, you must hold it firmly" and "The opposite is the movement of the Tao".
The official's understanding was still a bit lacking, so he thought for a long time before he said: "What Zhang Qing means is that I really want this thing in my heart, but I need to say verbally that I don't care."
Zhang Yue said: "Your Majesty, this is duplicity. When you deceive others, you also deceive yourself. As long as your Majesty understands that you won't be jealous of others if you say it with your mouth, you still have to get what you want in your heart. Don't be afraid of others seeing through your mind.
This is nothing more than nothing."
The official nodded and said: "In this case, I agree to negotiate peace with Xixia. You have full authority to plan this matter."
"I wonder who you plan to choose for peace talks?"
Of course, there were many candidates for peace negotiation. Zhang Yue even thought of Sima Guang, Wen Yanbo, Fu Bi, etc. of Xijing.
But in the end, Zhang Yue knew that none of these people were suitable and said: "Your Majesty, I haven't thought about choosing a minister yet, but since we are negotiating peace, we must be serious about it. We must choose someone from among the officials who are currently in charge of the peace, and at the same time, we must be able to understand the general situation. , endure the humiliation and bear the heavy burden, and put the country first!"
The official thought for a moment and said, "I am thinking of someone, how about Mr. Lu?"
Zhang Yue's face darkened when he heard this, and he immediately said: "Lü Gongzhu is indeed the candidate. He has opposed His Majesty's Western Expedition before, but because of his son-in-law... I don't know if he can agree."
The official nodded and said, "That's fine."
After a pause, the official said: "Zhang Qing, whether Ah Xi is alive or dead, I will let him return to the Song Dynasty."
Zhang Yue was a little unbelievable. From the emperor's point of view, the official's words were still very humane.
The official said: "I'm not lying, Zhang Qing, I really want Ah Xi to be alive at this moment."
Zhang Yue looked at the official and said: "Your Majesty, the corpse is wrapped in horse leather. Although he is a man in his true nature, I... I thank your Majesty."
"I excuse myself."
Zhang Yue walked out of the main hall and looked at the Forbidden City.
But in the twilight, half of the sky in the west was filled with blood, as if countless blood had fallen, while in the distance there were dark clouds looming over the city. It was so dull that it was almost suffocating.
Zhang Yue calmed down and walked down the stairs back to Zhongshu.