Elegy of Tang Dynasty

Chapter 645: Should I be a Scumbag? That is a Question

In the feudal era, sending troops was not an easy task, and sending troops and mobilizing troops were two different things. The difficulty of the latter was much lower.

Therefore, Fang Zhongyong's strategy this time was to march out first, then go to Shouchun to reorganize the army, and wait for the baggage to arrive. This would save a lot of waiting time.

The discussion continued in the Privy Council until nightfall, and finally all the details were finalized. Fang Zhongyong dragged his exhausted body back to the study room of the Bianzhou government office, feeling that his body was about to fall apart from exhaustion.

"Have all the examinees left?"

Seeing Zhang Guangsheng on duty, Fang Zhongyong asked casually.

Zhang Guangsheng hesitated to speak, but still whispered: "They all went back. They waited for a long time before leaving, and they all seemed to have some regrets."

Regret, that's for sure.

If you didn't have an interview before, it is almost certain that you won't have the opportunity to interview again in the future.

Fang Chongyong will lead the army to war tomorrow. He will set off first and then go through the court procedures, with the first principle being to save time.

As for the interview, let's wait until later, if Fang Zhongyong, a busy man, still remembers this matter.

Anyway, it does not affect the candidates' official positions, but it has a huge impact on their future prospects. It will be very difficult to get a "jumping promotion" in the future.

It has to be said that fairness in the world is indeed relative. Even the order in which you line up can affect your fate.

The idiom "bad luck" is often used, and it doesn't mean that people are just complaining without reason.

"Let's talk about it later. The people in Jiangnan are in turmoil. When I lead my troops there, I'm afraid there will be as many as 200,000 enemy troops."

Fang Zhongyong sighed deeply. If he wanted to change the world, these things were the pressure that he had to bear. He couldn't escape from them, nor could he find anyone to replace him.

"Your Majesty, Li Guangbi is in Shouchun, why not let him lead the troops to quell the rebellion?

You can’t leave Bianzhou either.”

Zhang Guangsheng asked with some confusion.

"These things cannot be done by others."

Fang Chongyong shook his head and said with a very firm attitude.

Zhang Guangsheng nodded as if he understood, but did not ask any further questions.

In fact, he also vaguely guessed that if Li Guangbi led his troops south to suppress the rebellion and succeeded in suppressing it, it would be hard to say whether the current court could still control this brave and warlike general and the soldiers under his command.

At the very least, Fang Chongyong has to share power with Li Guangbi, which will affect the overall situation.

This shows that every leader must have a strong will, otherwise he will not be able to bear the burden.

Either you are crushed, or the burden is taken up by subordinates who can take on the responsibilities of everyone, and your power falls into others' hands.

The competition for power is very fierce; the game of power is also very cruel.

Zhang Guangsheng thought to himself, and then felt fortunate: he was never cut out for it. Only someone like Fang Zhongyong could play this kind of game.

However, just when Fang Zhongyong was about to let Zhang Guangsheng go to rest, Da Congming, who was waiting outside, suddenly knocked on the study door and asked, "Sir, there is a man named Yuan Zai who wants to see you. He said he has something important to discuss with you."

Yuan Zai? The candidate who didn't have an interview today?

What is he here to do?
Fang Zhongyong was a little confused, but he still told Da Congming: "Bring him in."

After a while, Yuan Zai was brought into the study, followed by a young girl in a light green gauze dance dress.

The woman's waist is so slender that it seems like it will break if you touch it. Her legs are also very long and slender, making people unforgettable at first sight.

Although her face looked beautiful, it also seemed rather childish, and her facial features had obviously not fully developed. It would not be surprising to say that she was only fourteen or fifteen years old.

This is a very outstanding beauty. She must have learned dancing since she was young, so dancing has affected her figure.

In time, it will surely be extremely beautiful.

"If you have something to ask for, why do you bring a dancer with you?"

Fang Zhongyong looked at Yuan Zai with a smile and asked.

"This girl's name is Xue Yaoying. She has loved poetry since she was young. After hearing that Marshal Fang is proficient in literature, she wanted to become his disciple, serve him, and add fragrance to his sleeves.

I hope you can accept her and give her some pointers from time to time."

Yuan Zai said this with a smile on his face, but his heart was bleeding.

He had raised this girl for three years, waiting for her to grow up so that he could keep her by his side and enjoy her. This was a dancer that he had carefully selected and finally got!
Not only does she have a charming figure, but she also has her own body fragrance, making her a rare beauty!
Xue Yaoying's mother, Zhao Juan, was once the favorite concubine of King Qi. Later, she divorced and remarried her husband Xue and gave birth to a daughter, Yaoying. Zhao had been feeding Xue Yaoying with spices since she was a child.

The latter eats spices all the time, so their bodies naturally emit fragrance.

It was by chance that Yuan Zai had the opportunity to marry her and raised her like his own daughter.

Of course, for the future and destiny, for power, this level of sacrifice is still worth it.

To put it bluntly, she's just a dancer.

Yuan Zai is not a fool who is dazzled by women!
"You are an interesting person."

Fang Zhongyong smiled slightly and said to Zhang Guangsheng, "Bring Madam Xue to my bedroom. I will teach her how to write poetry later."

"Well, I'm going to retire."

Zhang Guangsheng looked embarrassed and left the study with Xue Yaoying.

Fang Chongyong asked Yuan Zai to sit down and face him across a table.

"Tell me, you're here so late, there must be something wrong, right?"

Fang Zhongyong pretended to be indifferent.

"I am here to ask for an official position."

Yuan Zai finally felt a little embarrassed.

"Then tell me, what can you do to help me?

After all, you are a Jinshi and you will eventually become an official.

If you want to seek an official position now and advance further, you must have the corresponding ability. "

Fang Zhongyong asked with narrowed eyes.

"No matter how high the position of prime minister is, or how small the position of provincial governor is, I will never let the emperor feel that he has suffered a loss."

Yuan Zai said calmly.

Fang Chongyong nodded calmly. He always felt that anyone who was willing to give a girl away was definitely sincere.

"It's a good thing to be confident. Let me test you first."

Fang Zhongyong crossed his legs, looked directly at Yuan Zai and asked, "There is chaos in Jiangdong now, with bandits everywhere. If I want to put down the rebellion, how can I stabilize Jiangdong as quickly as possible?"

"Is the government seeking the best strategy, the middle strategy, or the worst strategy?"

Yuan Zai asked slowly with a smile on his face. He had been smiling almost all the time since he came in.

"What's the next best option?"

Fang Zhongyong asked calmly, not seeming to be very concerned, with an expression of "let me just listen for now".

"The worst option is for the government to personally lead the rebellion immediately. This would be laborious and time-consuming, and it would also likely lead to more problems.

Even if we win, we still have to guard against the betrayal of Li Qi who is stationed in Yangzhou. It is really not worth it."

Yuan Zai's worst plan was the one Fang Zhongyong was preparing to implement. Yuan Zai bluntly pointed out the risks of this plan: sending troops too early would make them easy targets for manipulation.

"What about the middle strategy?"

Fang Chongyong asked again.

"The so-called middle strategy is to take Jiangdong as a supplement and Huainan as the main.

The government stationed troops in Shouchun, training them every day and being ready for battle at any time. They could even send some cavalry to harass the enemy troops.

However, we had to sit back and watch Yangzhou being attacked and besieged by the enemy army and absolutely could not rashly send troops to rescue it.

By that time, Li Qi will definitely not think about anything else and will only want to surrender.

When both sides were exhausted, the emperor would lead his troops to make a concerted effort to first lift the siege of Yangzhou and then lead them across the Yangtze River.

By then, at least Huainan will have been taken, and the land north of the Yangtze River will be in the hands of the government."

Yuan Zai said what he thought was the middle policy. In simple terms, it was the so-called "aiding but not rescuing", which was to keep drumming up support and cheering Li Qi on, but not go to Yangzhou to rescue him.

After both sides had almost exhausted their energy, he would appear in Yangzhou as the "savior".

He took care of both parties in one go.

I have to say, whether it is good or bad is another matter, but this plan is indeed vicious enough.

"What's the best strategy?"

Fang Zhongyong immediately became interested. Yuan Zai was indeed quite capable, at least he didn't talk nonsense.

"Send some capable soldiers to infiltrate the enemy army.

Let them go to various places in Jiangdong to incite rebellion and make the fire burn more fiercely.

The more people there are, the less food and fodder there is, and the more these people will come into conflict with local wealthy people.

Let them go crazy and attack each other, the more chaotic the better.

In this way, the enemy's momentum will be unstoppable like a prairie fire.

However, these bandit leaders were just farmers who did not know how to develop production. There were too many troops, so the food and fodder to support the troops was bound to be insufficient, and the problem of food shortage could not be solved.

Therefore, the more soldiers there are, the faster the country will collapse.

At that time, the king's army will be like a divine army descending from the sky, crossing the river to suppress the bandits, and will certainly be warmly welcomed by the local wealthy families.

With local people as insiders, it will not be difficult to defeat the enemy.

Then, the government first killed the leaders of the rebel army to appease the people, and then killed the local tyrants and evil gentry to calm the public anger.

The ownerless land will be distributed to the people who have lost their land. Then Jiangdong will be stabilized and the government will respond to everyone’s call.”

Yuan Zai said to Fang Zhongyong with a serious face and saluted with his hands crossed.

As for Yangzhou, Yuan Zai did not say anything, and it seemed unnecessary to say anything. Because the rebellion in Jiangdong was spreading like wildfire, Li Qi was so scared that he dared not negotiate with Fang Chongyong.

I am afraid that before Fang Chongyong even opens his mouth, the prince will take the initiative to request to come to Bianzhou to "retire".

I have to say that Yuan Zai's strategy is indeed effective, except that he himself does not treat others as human beings.

In fact, Yuan Zai’s evil plan is really simple.

Most of the leaders of peasant uprisings lacked the corresponding command ability, and did not understand the importance of developing production, and often behaved like bandits.

After eating up all the food in one place, they moved on to another. Like a snowball, the number of people increased and the logistical pressure became greater and greater.

In the later stages, the combat effectiveness of these "rebel" teams did not become stronger, but weaker!

Even feeding the soldiers became a problem.

At this time, the local bigwigs could no longer control the "devil" they had released. Even the leader of the "rebel army" could not control it as he wished, and the small leaders under him began to act on their own.

Who to kill and who not to kill, who to rob and who not to rob, the "rebel leaders" have no say in this.

The local big families and these "rebels" will completely fall out.

Once they have made enough noise, won’t Fang Chongyong’s chance come?

"Fang's best strategy is your worst strategy.

But do you know why I didn't use your best strategy?"

Fang Chongyong asked in a deep voice.

"Please enlighten me, sir."

Yuan Zai said this calmly. He had always been very confident and had a smile on his face until this moment when he became serious.

"If you follow your plan, Jiangdong will be devastated and people will cry all along the way."

Fang Zhongyong said with a long sigh.

"Your Majesty, the land of Jiangdong will only belong to the court and the emperor if it becomes ownerless.

Otherwise, those would be the lands of the local wealthy families, the landlords, and the powerful.

It is true that the government was soft-hearted and did not kill people, but those who were supposed to die in the civil unrest did not know that they would die. They would not be grateful to the government, but would only feel that it was unpleasant for the government, an outsider, to suddenly break into Jiangnan and seize their land to quell the public anger.

At that time, not only will they not cooperate with the government, but they will become spies of the rebel army or even reserve troops.

I am afraid that those who dodged the sword of the enemy army at that time would not be able to escape the sword of the government, and in the end nothing would have changed.

Please think twice about what to do next.

Yuan is just a Jinshi now, he has not been appointed as an official yet, and he is not a member of the court.

Everything is decided by the government.”

"I am recruiting you as a military advisor, with no rank for the time being, to accompany the army south to Shouchun."

Fang Chongyong looked at Yuan Zai and said in a deep voice.

"Thank you, sir! Thank you, sir!"

Yuan Zai knelt down excitedly and bowed deeply to Fang Chongyong.

It was not until this moment that he finally could no longer control his emotions and showed a look of ecstasy.

I just said so much, wasn't it just to be able to follow the army south and make military achievements? Now that he got what he wanted, Yuan Zai felt that losing Xue Yaoying was not so painful for a while.

At least, the opportunity to get it back is rare.

Yuan Zai left with many thanks, but Fang Chongyong sat at the desk, lost in thought.

He remembered a famous saying: The eyes of the people are sharp, but the people also need to be educated by the pain of reality.

As Yuan Zai said, if Fang Chongyong rushed to quell the rebellion, would the people of Jiangdong be grateful to him?

In fact, it will not, at least the effect is far inferior to Yuan Zai’s best strategy.

Only when the local situation has become so chaotic that no one can bear it anymore, will the people and forces who intervene forcefully and forge a new order be accepted and supported by all the local people.

Even if the latter situation happens, countless more people will die than the former.

In other words, the more people die in Jiangdong and the more chaos there is, the easier it will be for Fang Zhongyong to reap the benefits.

In order to win fame and love, should you become a scumbag who says one thing and does another?

Or should you remain calm and do your job of saving people despite being cursed and rejected?

In fact, Fang Chongyong is not without the wisdom of Yuan Zai, it's just that his bottom line as a human being is slightly higher than Yuan Zai's.

If we follow what Yuan Zai said, this will be a great opportunity to establish the foundation of the country. Winning this game is almost like winning half of the world!

Do you want to be a scumbag just for the sake of power?
Fang Zhongyong was a little hesitant for a while. After thinking it over, he called Rosa over and told her the whole story.

It’s not that Yan Zhuang and others are not smart, but these people probably have the same ideas as Yuan Zai.

In the face of power, those dead people are like grass and can't make any waves at all.

"If it were you, what would you choose?"

Fang Zhongyong looked at Rosa and asked.

"Didn't Alang say that the royal nobles and their thugs are just treating the lower-class people like cattle and sheep. They are exploiting and squeezing without any bottom line.

In this case, in order to achieve their goals, they do not have to treat these people as human beings, just like those people in high positions in the past.

But in this case, what Alang is going to do will be the thing you hated the most in the past, and he will be no different from those people you criticized and satirized in your manuscript.

Ah Lang should have the answer in his mind, right? The manuscripts that I read were written by Ah Lang. "

Rosa said slowly, gently holding Fang Zhongyong's big hand.

Although she didn't say what she wanted to express, she had already hinted at her opinion.

That is, she did not want Fang Zhongyong to become the people in the other party's manuscript. At the very least, he should not know clearly what the consequences will be and deliberately do it.

"Your brain seems to have been damaged by me."

Fang Zhongyong laughed and rubbed Rosa's hair, all the hesitation in his heart was gone.

(End of this chapter)