Prime Minister

Chapter 1210 Achievements (2 updates in 1)

Chapter 1210 Achievements (Two chapters combined into one)

When Zhang Yue's carriage arrived outside Donghua Gate, many officials who had heard the news had already arrived.

Because the palace gates were locked in the middle of the night and could not be opened easily, even the messengers who came to announce the victory were kept outside the palace gates.

The officials gathered here and saluted when they saw Zhang Yue coming.

Dozens of officials saluted, and Zhang Yue waved his hand and asked, "Where is Lu Bu? Where is the messenger?"

Immediately, an exhausted messenger was brought in front of Zhang Yue, and handed over the blouse and letter with both hands. Zhang Yue asked others to check the messenger's token.

After a chair was put down, Zhang Yue sat down and took the brochure to look at it, and then looked at the wax seal, seal and other items in the letter.

There were many cases of forged letters in the Song Dynasty. Although it was to announce victory, what if it was fake news? The people of Kaifeng were fooled, and the prime minister congratulated the emperor with fake news, which undoubtedly became a huge joke.

My face was swollen from being hit.

The people can be happy, but Zhang Yue needs to confirm the matter first.

Zhang Yue's face was calm, as if it were an ancient well without any ripples.

All the dignitaries stood silently behind Zhang Yue's chair with their hands lowered.

After confirming the seals and tokens, Zhang Yue said to the captain on the ground, "Yes, the military governor Sun Lu ordered you to come."

"To answer your question, it was General Fan who sent someone with the notice."

"Where was Fan Jinglie when Liangzhou City was captured?"

"To answer your question, General Fan is at Yujing Pass. He sent scouts to investigate and reported back. Liangzhou has been breached on three sides!"

Zhang Yue heard this and asked, "Three sides of the city have been breached, but Liangzhou City has not yet been taken!"

Zhang Yue paused, the envoy suddenly broke out in a sweat, and the officials around him also held their breath.

"Reporting to my husband, this is it."

The envoy dared not remain silent, and Zhang Yue put the letter and proclamation aside. Huang Lu said to the envoy who was kneeling beside him: "Although the city has been broken on three sides, we should not rush to announce the victory. Sun Jinglüe was a little careless in this matter."

"This is none of your business, take a rest first!"

Zhang Yue put the letter aside and said, "Let's wait until Wang Hou and Cai Bian's gold medals arrive!"

Zhang Yue sat outside the palace with his eyes closed. At this time, the ministers also arrived one after another. After all, Wang Gui was old, so he was late.

It was almost four o'clock in the morning, and the people in Bianjing City were still celebrating.

But it was very quiet at Donghua Gate. The officials who arrived one after another saw that all the officials were standing solemnly behind Zhang Yue, even the Deputy Privy Councilor Zeng Xiaokuan.

No one had any objection, and the prime minister was treated with great respect by all other officials.

An official whispered, "The city has been breached on three sides, so we can declare victory. Why don't you allow it?"

Another official said: "Prime Minister Zhang is using this to establish his authority!"

One person said, "I don't think so. Fan Jinglue is not the prime minister's confidant, so the prime minister does not believe his words and has to wait for Cai Bian and Wang Hou's words."

"I think the generals on the front line are doing everything they can to win credit. They are all rushing to report their victories, and this is not the first or second time. The Prime Minister previously put the overall situation first, so he didn't care, but he should be cautious about such a big thing as conquering Liangzhou."

Zhang Yue closed his eyes and rested.

I don’t know how long it took, but another group of people came running from a distance.

This time, he was escorted personally by Su Song, the prefect of Kaifeng Prefecture, and he brought with him hundreds of Kaifeng Prefecture officials.

They surrounded a golden messenger, and the bells in front of the horses rang loudly.

Written on it were "The Imperial Court's written instructions, not allowed into the shop". Even in the darkness, these golden characters were dazzling, as if they were coming at you like a ray of light.

This momentum is quite compelling.

When the golden medal messenger arrived in front of Donghua Gate, he was almost dizzy and almost fell off his horse.

A government official nearby supported the man.

Su Song personally took the gold medal lacquer tube from the gold medal messenger and presented it to Zhang Yue, who then cut the sealing wax himself.

He opened the letter and read it.

Beside the towering walls of the imperial city, officials and servants were holding countless torches and moving them around in the night wind.

Zhang Yue looked at him in confidence, and all the officials were silent.

But Zhang Yue finally covered the letter, smiled and said: "The Yellow River flows far away among the white clouds, and there is an isolated city and thousands of mountains.

Why should the Qiang flute blame the willows? The spring breeze does not reach Yumen Pass. "

"This Liangzhou Ci is truly worthy of its reputation."

As soon as these words were spoken, the heavy stone hanging in the hearts of all officials was finally put down, and all the officials bowed to each other in celebration.

Zhang Yue continued to browse everything in the letter.

Zhang Yue learned the specific information about Liangzhou from the letter. Although the report was jointly sent by Wang Hou and Cai Bian, it was written by Cai Bian. Zhang Yue still trusted Cai Bian's work.

This letter reporting victory was also written in great detail.

The military supervisor of Liangzhou, Weiming Ali, committed suicide, and the first general of the Dangxiang, Renduoyading, fell from the city wall and died along with hundreds of his subordinates.

After the city was captured, thousands of Dangxiang soldiers refused to surrender and even died in street fighting with the Song army.

Two days before the fall of Liangzhou City, Liang Yibu led the 15th Army of Xingling to rescue Liangzhou and fought a bloody battle near Pangluoling with Miao Shou, the governor of Huizhou who was responsible for fighting the reinforcements.

As a result, the Song army suffered a minor defeat after three days of fighting. Although they were well-rested, three camps were breached and nearly half of the most elite Second Army of Xihe Road was killed or wounded.

Fortunately, Liang Yibu withdrew his troops immediately after learning that Liangzhou had fallen.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Yue thought that there were still loyal and righteous men in the Dangxiang country. Not only the generals, but also the lower-level soldiers were still brave, and the strength of the regular army was not lost.

It seems that his fate is not over yet.

I am not the kind of person who seeks instant success. Wouldn't it be better to wait for three to five years and then take it slowly?

If he wanted to destroy Xia immediately as he had suggested to the emperor, Zhang Yue thought it would be better not to take the risk. Moreover, there was the variable of Liao.

The Dangxiang of the Liao Kingdom during the Song Dynasty was an ancient version of the Three Kingdoms.

And in the Dangxiang Song Dynasty, Qingtang was a mini version of the Three Kingdoms.

Now with the added variable of Aligu, the situation becomes even more complicated.

Zhang Yue felt that it would be better not to act rashly while the overall situation was still unclear.

He is patient because the most powerful thing in the world is time, but it is also the biggest enemy.

No matter how powerful an empire is, or how fierce the cavalry is, they cannot withstand the erosion of time.

No matter how humble a person is, if he gives time, he will eventually make a name for himself.

"Prime Minister, Prime Minister?" Huang Lu couldn't help but ask when he saw Zhang Yue was distracted, as well as Wang Anli and Xue Xiang who had just arrived.

The three of them and Su Song were all Zhang Yue's trusted confidants.

Zhang Yue came back to his senses and said to everyone, "I was just thinking that the world should be conquered with wisdom and tyranny, and then defended with loyalty, honesty, benevolence and righteousness. This is what I was inspired by when I read Zhang Huan's "Winning with wisdom and defending with benevolence" in the Book of Han."

"There are many examples of countries that have perished because of their strength throughout history."

"War and peace are the only means."

Several people agreed.

Zhang Yue stood up, stroked the back of his chair and said, "Duke Jing's reform regards stubbornness as a virtue and determination as a condition for success."

"I am different. I just go with the flow."

Everyone agreed and said, "It should be so."

At this moment the palace gate opened.

Although it was still a little earlier than the fifth watch, Shi Deyi, Song Yongchen, Li Xian and other trusted eunuchs of the emperor came out in a hurry with hundreds of eunuchs wearing brocade jackets and carrying lanterns.

Shi Deyi, Song Yongchen, and Li Xian all bowed to Zhang Yue and asked, "Prime Minister, is there any good news?"

Zhang Yue nodded and said, "Liangzhou has been taken!"

Several eunuchs were overjoyed when they heard this. Shi De said, "The emperor has been waiting for news from Liangzhou these days and has told us to wake him up in the middle of the night if there is any news."

"But the emperor himself has not slept well for more than ten nights. Whenever someone in the palace walks by, he asks if it is military information from Liangzhou. This has happened dozens of times."

"It just happened to be tonight. For some reason, the emperor was sound asleep, so we didn't dare to disturb him with news from outside. At this moment, the emperor just woke up and opened the palace gate in advance to ask the prime minister."

Zhang Yue couldn't help but think to himself, the government is still the same.

"But fortunately, the emperor, the emperor... finally got what he wanted." Shi Deyi was about to cry. Upon hearing this, many officials had red eyes and wiped their tears silently.

Zhang Yue said: "Your Majesty is like the backbone of the sky, wise and decisive, and you are good at planning and strategizing."

"This time, we conquered Liangzhou thanks to your majesty's military and political strategies."

All officials agreed.

Shi Deyi smiled happily and said, "Prime Minister, lead all the officials into the palace!"

Zhang Yue said modestly: "We need to wait for Mr. Zhaowen!"

Shi Deyi understood and smiled.

Not long after, Wang Gui's sedan chair arrived late, and Zhang Yue led all the officials to come forward to pay their respects.

Wang Gui stroked his white beard and asked, "The children won, didn't they?"

Zhang Yue presented the oracle and the victory report to Wang Gui, and said in the letter: "In reply to Prime Minister Zhao Wen, it was Fan Yu, the transport envoy of Qinfeng Road, who first reported the victory in the oracle after the three-sided city was broken."

"Later, we got the gold medals from Wang Hou and Cai Bian, which predicted that the city would be captured."

Wang Gui glanced hurriedly, but in fact his eyes were blurry due to his old age and the torch was dim, so he could not see clearly, he was just pretending.

Wang Gui smiled and said, "Okay, okay, okay!"

Wang Gui was really happy. He didn't expect that in his twilight years, at the end of his official career, he would be able to gain the credit for Pingliang. This kind of achievement is enough to be recorded in the history books. At the end of his life, these are the only things that make him happy.

He will also go down in history as a wise minister.

Wang Gui looked at Zhang Yue and immediately had a great liking for him. Although he had taken over the power and had sidelined him as the chief minister, he had indeed gotten the job done. This subordinate and student was really great. It really paid off his cultivation.

Xue Xiang looked at Wang Gui from the side, thinking that he had done nothing but was enjoying the honor of being the chief minister. He really got a huge bargain for nothing.

Wang Gui said: "Fan Jinglie is also eager to report his achievements, so don't blame him."

"According to the order of Prime Minister Zhaowen," Zhang Yue said respectfully to Wang Gui, "Please lead us to the palace to pay respects to His Majesty."

Wang Gui was even more delighted when he heard this and said, "That's right."

Immediately, Wang Gui and Zhang Yue led all the officials into the imperial road of the palace.

Because of his old age, Wang Gui was sympathized with by the emperor and was allowed to enter the palace on a sedan chair in recent years.

So eight men carried the sedan chair carrying Wang Gui in front, while the other eunuchs hurriedly held lanterns to light the way for Zhang Yue and the officials, going straight into the Zichen Hall from the Donghua Gate and then climbing up to the Wende Hall.

As we walked, the morning light gradually appeared on the horizon.

The sky in the east began to brighten.

Clouds and mist lingered between the palaces and towers.

Wang Gui led the ministers to the Wende Hall and stood solemnly in front of the towering palace. In the distance, the long corridors of the hall surrounded them, and the palace walls were covered with pepper powder.

Zhang Yue stroked the 'jade belly' around his waist, looking at the palace built of glazed tiles, thinking deeply.

If I retreat now, maybe I can become a good story. But this thought only flashed through my mind.

……

And on the other side is Duting Posthouse.

This has always been the residence of the Liao Dynasty's envoys.

This time, Xiao Derang, the Liao Kingdom envoy who was sent to the Song Dynasty, was staying in this Duting Inn.

For the Liao Kingdom, there had just been turmoil in the country.

After the Empress and the Crown Prince were killed by Yelü Yixin, the Liao ruler Yelü Hongji turned around and wanted to execute the Prince of Wei, Yelü Yixin.

Yelu Yixin gradually lost power and was then put to death by Yelu Hongji.

But who would have thought that Yelu Yixin, who had always been loyal to Yelu Hongji, actually had a backup plan and fled secretly.

Yelu Yixin fled on a ship. There were only two places he could go: Goryeo and Song Dynasty. Of course, there was also Fuso, but the possibility of this was extremely low.

Later, the Liao ruler Yelu Hongji sent people to Goryeo to ask for Yelu Yixin, but Goryeo ministers said that there was no such person and swore that if they caught Yelu Yixin, they would return him to the Liao.

Therefore, Xiao Derang believed that Goryeo did not have the courage to harbor Liao traitors, so the only possibility was that they fled to the Song Dynasty. Moreover, Xiao Derang learned from the people in the Wei Palace that Yelu Yixin secretly corresponded with Zhang Yue, the prime minister of the Song Dynasty.

And give each other gifts.

Xiao Derang was shocked to hear this. Not only had Yelu Yixin defected, but he had even dared to communicate with the Song Dynasty before.

He knew that there was a crime in the Song Dynasty called "communicating with Liao", and there was also a crime in the Liao Dynasty called "communicating with Song".

In all likelihood, Yelu Yixin fled to the Song Dynasty, and only Prime Minister Zhang Yue dared to take him in.

Therefore, Xiao Derang was ordered to go on a diplomatic mission to the Song Dynasty. At the same time, the Dangxiang twice asked the Liao Kingdom to send troops for assistance.

This shocked the Liao ruler Yelu Hongji. The Tanguts were also a powerful country in the past. When Li Yuanhao was in power, they even defeated the Liao Kingdom. But now they were forced into such a state by the Song Dynasty that they were even losing the important northwestern city of Liangzhou.

The Liao Kingdom was still unwilling to go to war with the Song Dynasty. After all, the two countries had been in peace for a long time. At the same time, the Liao Kingdom also needed annual tribute from the Song Dynasty, and it also had many internal and external troubles.

However, some ministers said that the Liao Kingdom and the Dangxiang were interdependent, and once the Song Dynasty destroyed the Dangxiang, it would inevitably go to war with the Liao Kingdom.

Therefore, Xiao Derang, under the order of Yelu Hongji, brought a letter from the state to the Song Dynasty to mediate the dispute between Song and Xia.

Xiao Derang postponed the matter of Yelu Yixin and went to the Song Dynasty only to inquire secretly and then deceive them with words. But the most important thing for him now is to understand what the intentions of the Song Dynasty court are.

However, Xiao Derang learned from the Song Dynasty over the past month that the Song Dynasty had no intention of destroying the Dangxiang. It was just that the Han people who participated in the Guiyi Army were being persecuted by the Dangxiang, so it rescued them.

Xiao Derang was of course skeptical about this, but the Song Dynasty placed him in Duting Posthouse under strict surveillance and did not allow him to leave the posthouse, which left him helpless.

That night, there was a great noise outside, and the sound of countless fireworks and firecrackers was deafening. Xiao Derang woke up from his sleep, but saw that the Song army soldiers guarding him seemed to be a little slack that night.

So Xiao Derang changed into Song Dynasty clothes without saying a word, slipped out from the wall and came to the street.

Xiao Derang was wandering aimlessly on the streets of Bianjing when he heard several scholars getting drunk.

A scholar held a wine pot in one hand and said with a smile: "A man should be equipped with a Wu hook. I am going to the northwest to gain fame and fortune. How can I not be ten times better than burying myself in a pile of old papers?"

Xiao Derang was shocked and grabbed the scholar and asked, "What did you mean Liangzhou was captured?"

The scholar glanced at the other party and said, "Of course. The emperor has made it his mission to rebuild the country. By conquering Liangzhou, he is naturally recovering the land of the Han and Tang dynasties and recreating the former prosperity."

"Such ambitions are worthy of a great leader."

Xiao Derang heard clearly what the restoration was about, and what the restoration was about. He knew that Liangzhou was undoubtedly the land of the Han and Tang dynasties, and the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun occupied by the Liao Kingdom were also the land of the Han and Tang dynasties!

(End of this chapter)