novelonline Chapter 1151 Brothers fighting
Chapter 1151 Brothers fighting
Chapter 1151 Brothers fighting
At Zhang's house, there were guests who came to congratulate Zhang Yue on his promotion to Minister of History.
Zhang Yu was sitting alone, looking at the hall from afar. This scene was really unpleasant to him.
Guests came and went in the Zhang residence, all of them smiling and talking about things. But Zhang Yu sat alone in the corner, and no one greeted him.
For a man who has retired for many years but whose son is appointed as an official in the imperial court, it is undoubtedly very uncomfortable.
After hesitating for a moment, Zhang Yu shook his head and murmured, "If I had known this would happen, I would not have done it in the first place. He is about to be buried, why should I abandon him?"
Zhang Yu finally wanted to get up and leave.
But at this time, Peng Jingyi came to Zhang Yu and said, "Prime Minister, you have some free time now, come over here."
Zhang Yu immediately showed a look of great joy, responded and followed Peng Jingyi.
He followed Peng Jingyi around the main hall which was crowded with guests, and led them to a flower hall from the side.
But there were several servants standing there with their hands down, silent. Besides, there were no precious flowers or trees, and it was even very simple, not at all like a place for a prime minister to receive guests.
When he arrived at the flower hall, he saw Zhang Yue sitting at a round table, scooping a bowl of porridge into his mouth with a spoon. A young scholar was reading official documents to him.
While drinking porridge, Zhang Yue stretched out his hand to Zhang Yu. Zhang Yu tactfully sat aside and did not dare to disturb him, but he was afraid that he might hear the secret, so he could not help feeling a little uneasy.
But Zhang Yue had no intention of avoiding the other party. Zhang Yu heard that it was the foreign chieftain Aligu who requested the court to appoint him as a governor.
Zhang Yue scooped up some porridge and said to the scholar, "Shaoyou, please reply to Aligu for me. If he can have a place in the Hexi Corridor, I will ask for an official position for him."
The scholar named Shaoyou said he would withdraw.
Zhang Yue hurriedly took two mouthfuls of porridge and put the bowl down, then said to Zhang Yu: "Uncle, do you have something important to talk to me about?"
Zhang Yue wiped his mouth with a towel.
Seeing Zhang Yue so busy, Zhang Yu said guiltily, "Today is the day when the Prime Minister takes office as the Minister of History, so I came here without permission."
Zhang Yue originally wanted to say, "Zhang Dun is so powerful now, why did he come to find me?" However, he didn't say it out loud. This was inconsistent with his kind-hearted personality, so he didn't say anything.
Zhang Yu hurriedly said, "Brother Dun didn't come to visit today, it's his fault. I also know that I have done something wrong to you in the past..."
Zhang Yue looked at Zhang Yu and said, "Uncle, it's been so many years, it's useless to bring this up again. If you had said this to me back then, I don't think I would be like this today, and I might even be a little moved. But listening to this now... it's a little... it's hard for you, uncle."
Zhang Yue smiled bitterly and shook his head. Zhang Yu said, "What happened back then, Prime Minister...what happened back then...I am to blame."
Zhang Yue said, "Let it go as long as you have uncle's words."
"Now, I am an official in the same court as Dun'er. Although we have different political views, they are purely official matters and have no impact on the personal relationship between our two families. However, we have nothing to do with each other in private matters."
"I know that Brother Dun has a hot temper. Don't worry, if I meet Brother Dun in private, I will take the initiative to avoid him."
Zhang Yu was embarrassed to speak after hearing this. Zhang Yue was surprised and asked, "Why is there something else?"
Zhang Yu said: "To be honest, Prime Minister, there is a wicked man kneeling in front of the Dali Temple, accusing me of embezzling his family's land."
Zhang Yue couldn't help but frown. He thought he was being too sentimental and underestimated the thickness of his good uncle's face. He forced himself to resist the urge to order someone to serve tea and send the guest away immediately.
Zhang Yue said, "I heard that this person seemed to have stopped by to file a complaint, and was taken to the capital by Brother Dun, right?"
Zhang Yu said anxiously, "This person is talking nonsense and wants to frame the ministers. It was Zhou Zhidao from the Dali Temple who was relentless and wanted to put Dun Ge'er to death. You also know that Dun Ge'er has been an official for many years. He has an impatient temper and has offended many people, so someone wants to frame him."
"It just so happens that the current Prime Minister Zhaowen and Brother Dun don't get along."
Zhang Yue knew that Wang Gui disliked Zhang Dun very much.
Zhang Dun was arrogant, talented, and capable. He was very dissatisfied with Wang Gui, who was mediocre and sought to maintain the status quo, and he verbally offended him many times. The last time Zhang Dun scolded Wang Gui because of Su Shi was just one of them.
Although Wang Gui did not look like a prime minister, he was the prime minister after all, so he had to be given some face.
This time, Wang Gui secretly made a big fuss about Zhang Yu's invasion of farmland among the people. In fact, Wang Gui was a gentle man on the outside and on the inside, and he was very meticulous in his work.
A person's political ability and level of political struggle are two different concepts. There are always young people who think that the old leaders are mediocre and look down on them, and in the end they don't even know how they died.
The old leaders always killed people without shedding blood.
As an official, Zhang Yue was not afraid of falling out with Wang Anshi, because the other party was a gentleman and it didn't matter if he offended him, but he would not easily fall out with people like Wang Gui.
Of course, this is just the surface, there are deeper reasons behind it.
Wang Gui knew that the emperor admired Zhang Dun very much and wanted to appoint him as the Secretary of State, but he wanted to promote Li Qingchen and Sun Gu to the position of prime minister, so Zhang Dun would become a potential rival.
Zhang Yue wanted to promote Xue Xiang, Lu Gongzhu and Wang Anli to be prime ministers.
He and Wang Gui had reached a consensus on Wang Anli, but Zhang Yue and Wang Gui had been haggling over the other candidates for a long time. There were only so many spots, and no one wanted to give them up.
However, among the three ministers of the Secretariat, Cai Que and Zhang Dun were on good terms, and most importantly, they had the emperor's approval.
In order to prevent Zhang Dun from becoming prime minister, Wang Gui simply manipulated the matter. Wang Gui still wanted to let the emperor know that in the selection of prime ministers, the emperor could not just choose whoever he wanted.
Zhang Yue said: "Uncle, there is nothing I can do to help you with this matter."
After Zhang Yue finished speaking, he picked up the tea and Peng Jingyi stepped forward and said, "The Prime Minister has something else to do."
Seeing this, Zhang Yu scratched his knee in embarrassment, bowed, and stood up to leave.
Zhang Yue also stood up to see him off.
……
Because of the great victory in Lanzhou, the killing of Liang Yimai, and Xixia's request for peace, Zhang Yue and Wang Gui once again requested the title of emperor. This time the title was changed to "Shao Tian Fa Gu Yun De Jiangong Ying Wen Lie Wu Qin Ren Sheng Xiao Emperor".
The previously proposed title was twelve characters, but this time it was changed to eighteen characters.
Remember, the more words there are, the more noble it is.
Emperor Taizu's title only had twelve characters, and only Emperor Zhenzong's title had twenty-two characters which was slightly better.
Originally, Wang Gui was very enthusiastic about such whitewashing matters as conferring the title of emperor. He did not expect that Zhang Yue was also so enthusiastic about this matter, even more active than him.
Wang Gui actually felt a bit like he was "willing to be second to others".
In the hall, every time Zhang Yue made his statement and asked for the title of emperor, the emperor remained calm and restrained.
Guan Jia was a person with a strong desire for power, but he had no interest in such empty words. On the contrary, Zhang Yue was very obsessed with it.
Then a strange scene appeared in the palace. The emperor was unwilling to add the title of honor, but Zhang Yue chased the emperor to give him the title of honor.
The ministers were all confused, but Zhang Dun saw through it clearly.
He disagreed with Zhang Yue in political views, and at the same time, he shared the same views as Wang Anshi in curbing the power of the monarch, which was completely opposite to Cai Que, another banner of the New Party.
He saved Su Shi not only because he was his friend, but also because of this thought. Otherwise, if the government wanted to kill an official he had never met, he would not have said to the government, "It is better not to do such a pleasant thing."
Now Zhang Yue was trying his best to persuade the emperor to take the title of emperor. In the past, this would have been something he despised, but he vaguely guessed his intention.
Faced with Zhang Yue's repeated requests, the emperor rejected the Zhongshu team's request for the title of emperor for the second time.
The attendants in the hall felt somewhat relieved. If people like Feng Jing were somewhat disgusted when Zhang Yue was given the title before, their attitude was somewhat different now that Xixia asked for peace.
At this time, Xue Xiang came out and said, "Your Majesty, the people find it inconvenient to have the baojia soldiers go on duty. I think from now on, we can have a review and stop the duty."
Xue Xiang had reported this to the emperor yesterday. At that time, Xue Xiang believed that the Baojia system should be completely abolished, but the emperor did not agree, so he changed it to stop the militia from going on duty first.
The emperor asked, "What do you think?"
Zhang Yue immediately stepped out and said, "Your Majesty, when Wang Anshi submitted a memorial on five issues, among the many new policies of Xining, the five issues were the most important, the least effective, and the most discussed. One is peace with the barbarians, two is green seedlings, three is exemption from military service, four is baojia, and five is market exchange."
"In fact, the most controversial issue of Baojia is the most controversial, and the most discussed issue is the above one. The court has a law that if a Baojia member escapes privately, he will be caned 60 times, and the number of days he escapes will be compensated. If he fails to show up at twilight hour or fails to attend the military review, he may be caned with a small amount of cane, but no more than 70 times."
"The power to manage the people is not even granted to the prefectures and counties, but is given to the patrol inspectors. As for the village chiefs, the big village chiefs can also exploit the people, which is actually too disturbing. I think not only should the upper guards be abolished, but also the inspections should be abolished."
Zhang Dun came out and said, "Your Majesty, the Baojia system is not special. In the past, Shanxi had archery societies and loyalty societies, where the people spontaneously fought against bandits. Now it is under the control of the court, just like the story of Chongzhefu in the Tang Dynasty. How can it be said to disturb the people?"
"When I was in Jinghu, I took in Han people as baojia and organized them into households to resist the barbarians. The effect was very good. At the same time, there are many bandits in the area now, and the people can form baojia to defend themselves and catch thieves."
Feng Jing said: "There are many local bandits because of harsh laws. The harsher the laws, the more bandits there are."
Zhang Dun said: "From the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors to the present day, there has never been a dynasty without bandits."
After a while of argument, they had to shelve the proposal due to the firm opposition of Zhang Dun and Pu Zongmeng. However, the proposal for this year was temporarily suspended and would be discussed again next year.
When Wang Gui saw that Zhang Yue was frustrated in front of the emperor, he looked slightly happy.
……
After the palace meeting, Zhang Yue and Huang Lu left side by side.
Huang Lu said, "Zhang Zihou has repeatedly opposed the Prime Minister in front of the emperor. What should we do?"
Unexpectedly, Zhang Yue said, "What Zhang Zihou said in the palace today is indeed reasonable. Although the baojia soldiers are not strong enough to go into battle, they can be used to catch thieves among the people. In places where the Han and the non-Han people live together, it is also suitable to implement the baojia system."
"I was anxious to abolish the Baojia system, which was indeed a bit hasty."
Huang Lu was surprised. Zhang Yue smiled and said, "If you want to discuss something, you still have to let people speak. As long as it is of the slightest benefit to the people, don't worry about who said it."
Huang Lu smiled when he heard this.
"Sir, please stay!"
Zhang Yue turned around and saw that it was Zhang Dun.
Zhang Dun took a few steps forward and saluted. Zhang Yue returned the salute, but the other party asked, "Sir, do you want to abolish the [King]'s rule and follow the [Zhang]'s rule?"
Zhang Yue said: "As for internal regulations, I don't know what is the rule of the king or the rule of the emperor. But as long as it is beneficial to the people and the country, it will be preserved. If it is not beneficial to the people and the country, it will be abolished."
Zhang Dun said: "The Baojia system is a good system proposed by Wang Shugong during his administration, and it has been implemented for many years and has brought benefits. If we abandon this system for personal reasons, it will bring disaster to the country and the people in the future!"