The Happy Life of Small Officials in Northern Song Dynasty

In the early morning of the next day, the rumors in the market were finally confirmed. Yan Shu led the officials of the two governments, three yamen and one official to jointly play Zhao Zhen, and promoted Su Jin to enter the center; Take the position of privy envoy.

Of course Su Jin knew that this was their politeness. Although he might enter the center, if he wanted to become a privy envoy or prime minister in one step, it was just talk. Even if they were sincere, Zhao Zhen would not agree. It's not enough for a minister to just have credit, he must be a person who plays a pivotal role in advancing and retreating, and he is not qualified yet.

Sure enough, after Su Jin humbled himself and said that his qualifications were too young to bear the heavy responsibility, Zhao Zhen naturally rejected Yan Shu and others' proposal to make a virtuous person, but immediately announced the appointment of Su Jin as a privy deputy envoy to participate in political affairs; that is to say, Su Jin With the triple status of Deputy Prime Minister of the Political Affairs Hall, Deputy Envoy of the Privy Council, and the Deputy Envoy of the Third Department appointed before the war, he has the right to speak in government affairs, military affairs, and finance.

It's just that the three deputies of the political, military, and economics seem to be better than each other, but once they have the right to make decisions, it's a little embarrassing, but it can be seen that Zhao Zhen really values ​​​​Su Jin this time; This is the No. 1 position since the founding of the Song Dynasty, not to mention that this person is only 21 years old and has only been an official for five years. This is enough to make the world talk about it and marvel at it.

Above the court, the ministers expressed their views on the situation after the Xia Liao war. This kind of discussion had been carried out many times before, and the opinions basically tended to be unified, but Su Jin was not present. This kind of discussion Somewhat not enough weight, now that the parties involved have arrived, the discussion has set the tone for decision-making. [

Prime Minister Yan Shu narrated the results of the discussions in the halls and halls over the past few days. The attitude of the court was quite clear. Everyone believed that after the Xia Liao War, the vitality of the two countries was greatly damaged, and they would start to provoke again in a short period of time. At this opportunity, the imperial court should focus on the crusade against Nong Zhigao in the south.

Nong Zhigao occupies the advantage of high mountains and dense forests, and has dealt with Di Qing for nearly half a year. The court's eyes are on the northern war situation, and he is obviously not very concerned about the battle against the small barbarians, so that the officers and soldiers have lost consecutively, making Nong Zhigao arrogant The steep rise, taking advantage of the time when both Xia and Liao are injured, the imperial court can deploy two garrison troops in the northwest and northeast to go south to wipe out the troubles of Nong Zhigao.

After hearing Yan Shu's narration, Su Jin felt a little surprised; Di Qing's ability was unquestionable, and the reason why he was unable to perform for a long time was probably due to insufficient supplies of supplies and troops. Bing, the south has been in peace for a long time. Although it is a frontier, the countries bordering it, such as Nanyi and Jiaozhi, are all vassal states of the Song Dynasty. Naturally, the imperial court does not need to spend huge sums of money to strengthen the training and equipment of the Xiang army in the southwestern states. With ability, it is difficult to bring a group of mobs who can't fight.

Of course Su Jin agreed to increase troops to Guangnan, but he never agreed to withdraw troops from the northwest and northeast, because he had a slightly different view on the current situation; when Zhao Zhen asked by name, Su Jin frankly said that Sued.

"Your Majesty, my lords, increasing troops in the southwest is a top priority. In addition to increasing troops, there must also be sufficient supplies. Nong Zhigao occupies a favorable location and is familiar with the terrain. Perhaps the local Yi people will secretly support him. We must give General Di Qing Enough support can help him put down the rebellion; I personally express my opinion that the [-] barrels of kerosene I aided Xia Guo this time have not been used, and I have taken them all back to the northwest. The kerosene was ordered to be transported to the south, there are many mountains and forests in the south, it may come in handy."

Everyone stuck out their tongues secretly, Su Jin was rich and powerful, it was unknown where the five thousand barrels of kerosene came from, but the value of the five thousand barrels of kerosene was worth millions, Su Jin gave it away as he said, without frowning, Sure enough, it has been operating in the Northwest for several years, and it is already fat.

Zhao Zhen nodded with a smile and said: "Su Aiqing is very thoughtful. You financed and refined the fire oil yourself. At this moment, you can give all you have to support the imperial court in suppressing the rebellion. This act of disregarding self-interest should be a model; although the imperial court spares no effort to give you money and money Repayment, but for your credit, I will remember it for you in my heart."

Su Jindao: "National affairs and personal interests must be taken into account. Naturally, the country is the most important thing. If the Song Dynasty cannot be peaceful, how can individuals be honored? Besides, this batch of kerosene was originally intended to be used in the Liaoxia War. It is already quite a lot to keep it. I was surprised; the imperial court wanted to support General Di in all aspects, but I thought it was inappropriate to send troops from the northwest and northeast borders to the south."

Zhao Zhen frowned and said, "Oh? Now there are 20 troops stationed in the northwest, and 25 troops are stationed at the front line of Bazhou in the northeast. Under the current situation, it seems that there is no need for so many troops to be stationed."

Su Jindao: "I can only say that everything is not as we imagined. Yes, Liao and Xia lost a lot this time. The total number of casualties in the war between the two countries exceeded 40, which greatly damaged the vitality of the two countries. But based on this, it can be concluded that the two countries have threatened The decision seemed a bit hasty; before and after the New Year, while thanking the guests behind closed doors, I also analyzed the situation. Looking back on the various situations before and after the war, I admitted that my previous judgment on the Xia and Liao countries was biased. It is not accidental that the two countries have been able to compete with our Great Song Dynasty for more than a hundred years, and gradually have the tendency to suppress our Great Song Dynasty."

Zhao Zhen raised his eyebrows and said, "Oh? Su Aiqing tell me, from what you say, I have some admiration for Xia Liao."

Su Jin nodded and said: "That's right, I do have respect for them. Behind the respect is fear. In other words, I am a little afraid of the Dangxiang and Khitan people."

The ministers buzzed and discussed, some were shocked, some pondered, and some didn't take it seriously. In the situation where the Song Dynasty's strategy was successful and not one soldier was killed, the two countries were fighting each other, and the casualties were 10. Su Jin said something like this The words seemed out of place, but at this time and at that time, if Su Jin had said this a few years ago, some ministers would immediately refute him in court. At this moment, Su Jin is already an important minister of the central government, and the weight of what he said has been greatly different. Apart from being surprised, what I want to know more is the reason why this prosperous Mr. Su said so.

"This is the first time I've heard such words from you. In my impression, you don't seem to be afraid of anything. Please tell me your reasons." Zhao Zhen laughed.

Su Jindao: "I am afraid because I know that my previous understanding of the Xia and Liao countries was only on the surface, and the dealings with the Xia people were limited to the battle of Weizhou. The dealings with the Liao people were not only a confrontation with the Liao envoys. There is nothing outside; but this time I have contacted the Liaoxia army head-on, and I have gained a lot; the success of this plan to drive away wolves is due to the right timing. Song's hatred for the Xia people achieved their goals, and we seized the opportunity; and the reason why the Xia people were willing to cooperate was because they were on the verge of destroying the country and had to join hands with us. In terms of actual effect, the goal of sitting on the mountain and watching the tigers fight has been achieved, but psychologically, it has already drawn great hatred between the two countries, this point should be understood by the emperor and all the adults."

Zhao Zhen lowered his head and thought, and the officials also whispered to each other.

Su Jindao: "There is an old saying, 'Take history as a mirror'. During the period of the Three Kingdoms at the end of Han Dynasty, the three kingdoms of Wei, Shu and Wu stood together, and Wei was the most powerful. However, Shu and Wu did not unite before Wei showed aggressiveness. When they were in any one country, the two countries, Shu and Wu, worked closely together to fight against Wei, completely disregarding the multiple conflicts of interests and suspicions between the two countries. The great war between Liao and Xia took place under extremely reluctant circumstances. If it were not for the coercion of the Song Dynasty, Xia would never be driven to fight to the death with the Liao people; if we wishful thinking, these two countries will become mortal enemies for generations, That would be a big mistake, in the current situation you, we have to guard against the secret alliance between the two countries, we can shady others, and others can shady us."

Zhao Zhen also frowned at the voices of the officials, and Du Yan couldn't help but said: "Lord Su, it's not as serious as you said, is it? The two countries have suffered so badly, even if they want to, they might attack with all their strength, right?"

Su Jin shook his head and said: "Don't be careless, I got the news that after the war, the Xia people immediately transferred their troops to the south, and the troops in Huizhou and Youzhou increased from 10 before the war to 20. How do you explain this? Logically speaking, after the Liao-Xia War, in order to prevent the Liao people from retaliating, the Xia Kingdom should have stationed large troops in the north and south of Helan Mountain, but in fact they had no such plan at all. There is no hesitation in increasing the number of troops, isn't this worth pondering?" [

Zhao Zhen said slowly: "Perhaps because the Liao people were hurt, my Great Song Dynasty was a direct threat, and the Xia people arranged it like this."

Su Jindao: "I don't think so, at least I don't fully agree with it. The Liao people's claim to have a million soldiers may be exaggerated, but at least they have a standing army of 80 million. This time more than 20 were wiped out, and the remaining army is also about 60 million. This number is not much different from the total of 80 troops of the Imperial Army of the Great Song Dynasty; moreover, this time I saw with my own eyes Xia Guo's ability to recruit soldiers. Under such a difficult situation, Xia Guo recruited in almost a few days The [-] new army is similar to the military system of the Liao Dynasty and Xia Dynasty. From this, it can be concluded that it will take little effort for the Liao people to recover their numbers. Their main loss is the loss of the elite. The limited combat power of the recruits is what they care about; And in terms of combat power, the combat capability and strict military discipline of the soldiers of the two countries are their highlights, and I can only say that my Song soldiers are far inferior to them in these two points."