The Happy Life of Small Officials in Northern Song Dynasty

The voices of the people in the Daqing Hall gradually fell silent, and all the officials stood quietly waiting for Renzong Zhao Zhen to speak. Zhao Zhen looked worried and looked tired. These few major events today have given me quite a headache, they are all important, and I really can't bear to announce this first major event to all the ministers after I am proud to report it, and it has been on the desk for more than ten days, hesitating."

Everyone looked at each other in blank dismay, not knowing what made the emperor so worried; Lu Yijian, Yan Shu and others certainly knew about it, but if the emperor didn't say anything, it was naturally inconvenient for them to say so.

"My lord, it's better for the guilty minister to explain it on his behalf. This matter is the fault of the minister, and the minister has no shirkable responsibility." Han Qi, a tall and strong man, came out of the train, knelt at the bottom of the steps and said loudly.

Zhao Zhen looked at the dusty complexion on his face and body, then sighed and said, "Alright, Han Qing can tell the matter to all the ministers, let's get up and talk."

Han Qi looked depressed, Xie En got up, and said in a low voice after being silent for a long time: "My lords, the Northwest War has suffered serious disadvantages. Half a month ago, our army and the western thief Li Yuanhao's army encountered in Weizhou Beihaoshuichuan. The western thief in our army The plan fell, and more than [-] people died in battle, and hundreds of generals and officers such as General Ren Fu died in battle and martyred for the country."

Han Qi's voice was choked with tears, and his eyes seemed to return to the tragic battlefield. After the defeat, Han Qi personally led the army to respond, and immediately ordered the army to retreat. Before the first time, the scene was vivid and miserable.

All the ministers changed their colors in an uproar. They always thought that the war in the northwest was just a stalemate, and that one victory and one defeat would be a see-saw trend. Everyone knew in their hearts that as long as there was a stalemate, Xixia Li Yuanhao would definitely retreat; In the battle of attrition, the gap in national power will make Li Yuanhao exhausted in the end. Although Da Song also hurt himself, compared to failure, this is the best result.

Unexpectedly, 6000 people were killed in the Battle of Haoshuichuan. According to this ratio, at least 2 people died in the battle, and the total strength of the Northwest Song Army was only 10. In this way, the balance of strength suddenly tilted towards the Xixia Army. I'm afraid something big will happen. <Heaven, an army of 8000 thieves from the west is approaching Weizhou, and there is no danger for Weizhou to defend, so the minister ordered to retreat to Huaiyuan City, and appointed Ren Fu and Sang Ze to lead [-] people to defend against the enemy. Ren Fu explained, "Go around and attack his back, if he can fight, he will fight, if he can't fight, he will set up an ambush to rob him according to the danger. On his way back, there must be restraint. ', at the beginning of a small victory in Zhangjiabao, after the Xia army was defeated, they discarded supplies along the way. At that time, he had already led his army to chase Haoshuichuan in Weizhou, so that he was defeated, my minister..."

"Vice Envoy Han, are you trying to shirk responsibility? Ren Fu is dead, and you are trying to put the blame on Ren Fu by talking like this right now. It's not appropriate to do so." Lu Yijian directly interrupted Han Qi's narration, Loudly.

Everyone agreed one after another, humming accusing Han Qi of being dishonest and using dead people as excuses.

"The minister is only reporting the facts. The minister knows that he is guilty, but the minister's fault is up to the minister. Naturally, the fault of the minister must be reported to the emperor."

"It's grand. Could it be that the emperor wronged you? You don't need to complain by yourself. If the old minister remembers correctly, you are the main offensive strategy and the decisive battle with the Xia army. In the first year of Kangding, you came to Beijing to offer advice to the emperor. You once said: Although Yuan Hao poured his country into the bandits, there are only 5 or [-] people. Go forward, take advantage of the thief's arrogance, and break it. Are these your original words?"

Han Qi said: "It's my exact words, but..."

"Since it is your original words, when you said that there were only [-] to [-] bandit soldiers, why did Yuan Hao's [-] troops come out in the Battle of Shuichuan today, and you strongly advocated attacking, then Ren Fu just respect Your order, how come you say that he is greedy for merit and rushes forward, contradictory words, it is very inappropriate."

Han Qi said dejectedly: "What Lu Xiang said is reasonable, but the time when the officer said [-] to [-] soldiers was last year. The situation has changed a lot, and it is very different from last year, so..."

"Master Han, I originally admired you for being a man who was courageous and never procrastinating, but today you make Truth look down on you. Your reasons are totally untenable. Last year you were [-] to [-] yuan, and this year there will be [-] yuan. Could it be that Yuan Hao has twice as many troops as this? Or did the Liao Kingdom borrow troops from him? It is obvious that you made a mistake in judging the situation, and you have to take full responsibility for this matter."

Han Qi stopped talking, and his face was extremely ugly. This time, his family will not change, and he can only bear these responsibilities by himself.

Emperor Renzong sat on the throne and listened to the debate between the two without saying a word. This is his old habit, and it is also his shrewdness. Speaking of which, what he cares more about is not who is guilty and who bears the responsibility, but what to do next?

But the relevant people need to be punished, that's for sure, so he didn't make a sound, just listened quietly.

"Deputy Envoy Han cannot bear the responsibility alone. The minister is also responsible." Fan Zhongyan, with gray hair, black and dry, suddenly stood up. The ax chiseled the mark of the guest.

"Lord Fan, what are your responsibilities? This matter has nothing to do with you. You have led your troops to station in Yaozhou, so this matter has nothing to do with you." Han Qi was afraid that another person would be involved, and said with a wink.

"Master Han, you and I are jointly responsible for the military affairs of the Northwest, and we should be jointly responsible for the affairs of the Northwest. How can you say that I have nothing to do with it?"

Han Qi was so anxious that he almost jumped up and scolded his mother. I have to tell the truth and hope that the emperor will give me a lighter punishment.

Fan Zhongyan didn't take it seriously, and said calmly: "Your Majesty, not only the ministers are responsible, but there are also people who must take responsibility."

Zhao Zhen said quietly: "You mean Master Xia?"

"It is Master Xia. As the envoy to appease the economic strategy, the minister and Deputy Envoy Han are both deputies. The three of us should bear the responsibility for this defeat."

Everyone's eyes turned to Xia Song who was standing behind Privy Envoy Du Yan. Xia Song had a short stature and a fat face, but he would never have guessed that this person was the commander of the Northwest Hundred Thousand Song Army. He would be misunderstood if he was seen on the street. I thought it was someone's little rich man, but if you look at him, you will find that there is a trace of coldness in this person's eyes that makes you feel cold to the bottom of your feet.

At this moment, Xia Song's face was livid, seeing everyone's eyes on him, knowing that he couldn't escape this time, he cursed secretly and got out of class and knelt down.

"Your Majesty, I don't think Lord Xia was primarily responsible for the defeat. In the past, when Han and Fan were ordered by the emperor to go to the northwest, Han Qi asked the emperor to give him and Fan Zhongyan full military responsibility. At that time, my minister and Lord Xia objected. But later, in order to take care of the situation in the northwest, it was agreed that Han Fan could make his own decision on military affairs, and Master Xia was in charge of logistics affairs. Forcibly dragging Master Xia to take responsibility, I think it is very wrong."

It was the Privy Councilor Du Yan who spoke. The Privy Council was the highest military institution in the Song Dynasty.

Zhao Zhen frowned and said: "Du Aiqing is right, I remember this matter clearly, Han Qi, Fan Zhongyan, don't forget what you said in front of me that day."

Fan Zhongyan kowtowed and said: "The guilty minister will die forever, but this matter is indeed related to Mr. Xia, how dare I slander others indiscriminately."

"Oh? Then tell me the reason." Zhao Zhen knew that Han Qi and Fan Zhongyan would have to support Northwest in the end. As long as Fan Zhongyan could tell the reason, he wouldn't mind pulling Xia Song to punish him together. Come back, if there are more people, I can be punished less later. After all, the three of us share the responsibility, and the guilt is much smaller psychologically.

"The battle of Haoshuichuan appeared to be a military defeat on the surface, but in fact there was another reason that the emperor did not know; Ren Fu led 8000 forwards to Huaiyuan to intercept the soldiers of the Western bandits. At that time, the military affairs were urgent. After a day's rations, Deputy Envoy Han asked Master Xia to count and escort the frontline for the follow-up rations; but until the end of the war, Master Xia's food and grass had not yet been on the road, and Ren Fujun had been out for four days at that time; it is conceivable that Ren Fujun had nearly 3 troops People who have been hungry for three days are fighting Yuan Hao's [-] army, how can they be undefeated? Ren Fu's rash advances are not thoughtful, but whose fault is it that it is the responsibility of backup?"

The more Fan Zhongyan spoke, the more excited he became, he gritted his teeth and wished he could slap Xia Song on the head who was kneeling beside him.

"Xia Song, can this happen?" Zhao Zhen was angry, Xia Song has always been shrewd in his work, how could he make such a big mistake this time.

"My Majesty, I deserve death for my crimes. Lord Han did discuss this matter with my ministers that day, but the food in the barracks was exhausted. If it was transported to the front line, what would the tens of thousands of troops in the rear battalion feed on? The transfer made the huge people supply the army. Food is getting less and less, and the minister is also a clever woman who can't cook without rice, so there is nothing I can do."

After hearing Xia Song's justification, everyone was dumbfounded. Well, all the grasshoppers on a rope were pulled out one by one, and none of them could escape.

The eyes of all the ministers turned to Pang Ji who was standing behind Yan Shu again; Zhao Zhen had a headache to death, seeing that all of them were involved, if Pang Ji said that the supply of the third department was not strong enough, and then dragged out Yan Shu, it would be really interesting Got it.