The first prince of Song Dynasty

Chapter 21

When Zhao Xu, Zhang Yongde and Zhao Kuangyin arrived at Chai Rong's bedroom, Chai Rong hadn't rested yet and was still looking at the map.

At the same time, he coughed from time to time. It seemed that Chai Rong was already sick, but he didn't have an attack.

Although the poisoning did not kill him this time.But the root of the disease may have been planted.

He didn't expect that Zhao Xu and the others came out so quickly. He asked everyone to go out, and only Zhang Dejun was the eunuch.

When Zhao Xu showed the most original password one by one in front of the four of them, they knew it very well!

The password shows Chai Rong's whereabouts!

For example, to find out whether Chai Rong was recruited personally, and the last thing about Chai Rong's daily necessities is to wait for an opportunity to poison Chai Rong.

Not counting this, the words of the secret order of Wang Zhaoyuan of Hou Shu actually appeared in it.

It is very clear who Wang Zhaoyuan is, the favorite minister of Meng Chang in Later Shu.

The latent spy at this time is too bad, and they signed their names?
Chai Rong was furious and determined to attack Houshu, but he was not overheated. He knew that this matter had to be discussed in the long run.

Zhao Xu and the others had been busy all night, and this time they could finally go back to rest. The next day, Chai Rong ordered all the ministers to write a memorial about the unification of the world.

All the ministers hurried back home after the morning court to write policies.

During this period, the wealthy sons were also taken back by their fathers after being locked up in the Dianqian Division. Of course, several of these people have changed their past.

Even the dandy Tao Bing later became a high-ranking official. After that, he worked conscientiously for the Song Dynasty and became an upright official.

Han Wei hated Zhao Xu even more, so much so that he was killed by Wang Yansheng along with his father.

One after another, ministers have presented their views on unifying the world, but they are all different!

Before Chai Rong had time to sort out these things, there was another big shock in the court-Prime Minister Feng Dao died of illness.

Feng Dao is the only "senator of ten dynasties" in history.

After the history of Jieyan Emperor Liu Shouguang, Later Tang Zhuangzong Li Cunxu, Later Tang Mingzong Li Siyuan, Later Tang Emperor Min Li Conghou, Later Tang Emperor Li Congke, Later Jin Emperor Shi Jingtang, Later Jin Emperor Shi Chonggui, Liao Taizong Yelu Deguang, Later Han Emperor Liu Zhiyuan, Later Zhou Taizu Guo Wei, a total of four To the ten emperors.

Basically, he is reused in every dynasty, and he is a veritable "official roly-poly, with students and former officials all over the world, and has a high prestige.

However, he has changed owners many times, and he will die, which is quite controversial. From the perspective of traditional Chinese Confucian ethics, Feng Dao should be despised.

But in a specific historical environment, whether they are emperors, generals or traffickers, how can their personal destiny transcend the constraints imposed by that environment?

It is true that their personal characters also played a decisive role in it, but the evaluation of them by later generations and history books placed morality above historical reality.

How to look at history, how to look at these historical figures who were really alive, is really a problem, but we can't make arbitrary evaluations according to our own wishes

His death caused Chai Rong great grief and indignation, and he ordered a generous burial, posthumous title Wenyi, and because he was from Jingcheng, Yingzhou (now northeast of Jiaohe, Hebei), he was named King Ying.

His eldest son, Feng Ping Enyin, was a living man of the sixth grade, and he was worthy of Feng Dao, the famous job-hopping prime minister.

It was ordered that Li Gu, who was the Minister of Zhongshu and Pingzhangshi at that time, be conferred the titles of Youpushe and Jixiandian University Bachelor, replacing Feng Dao's position.

It took several days for something to happen before Chai Rong began to deal with government affairs properly.He found that a man named Wang Pu had contributed a policy theory, which aroused his interest.

At that time, Wang Pujin, a doctor of Bibu, offered a policy essay, known as Ping Bian Ce in history. In his policy theory, he thought:

"The imperial court of the Central Plains lost Wu, Shu, Youzhou, and Bingzhou because they lost the way of governing the country.

Now we must first investigate the root cause of the loss of land, and then we can know the method of collecting the lost land.

When the land was lost at that time, it was always a fatuous monarch who was in power, causing political chaos, the army was arrogant and disobedient to the rule of law, and the people were increasingly impoverished.

Traitors and rebellious parties are hot inside the court, and strong generals are rampant outside. The small forces are not suppressed, and they grow from small to large, and they accumulate.

If the powerful are not suppressed, they will not be able to govern, which will cause them to rebel and usurp the throne. "

When I saw this, I took it for granted. How did the great ancestor of my Great Zhou establish the Great Zhou? Isn't it relying on force?It seems that the power of warriors must be limited.

Wang Pu's theory went on to write:

"Therefore, the strategy for pacifying the world is to go against the way of the Tang and Jin Dynasties, and first to recruit the virtuous and stop the traitors to clean up the politics.

It is necessary to appoint people with outstanding talents, and to be kind and trustworthy to unite the hearts of the people.To depose those villains who only know how to flirt and fear horses is to be close to the virtuous and far away from the sycophant.

We must actively reward those who work hard, and at the same time severely punish those who commit crimes, so that rewards and punishments are clearly defined, so that the subjects of the whole country can be united. "

Chai Rong watched and applauded, and clapped his hands happily when he was excited.He continued to read:

"Advocate saving and accumulating national wealth, so that the corvee can be reasonably beneficial to the people. Wait until the national treasury is sufficient, the materials are strong, and everyone is united to serve the country, and then calm down the Quartet.

If the people on the enemy side see our country's government is clean and people are harmonious, the top and bottom are in harmony, the country is strong and rich, the soldiers are strong and horses are strong, and the soldiers are united, they will definitely yearn for it.

Then the situation of the other party will change in our favor:
Those who know the situation will be our insiders, and those who are familiar with the terrain will be our guides.At this time, the other party's people's hearts are the same as ours, that is, we have followed God's will, and if we have followed God's will, then nothing will happen.

The strategy of attacking unification should start from the easy place. Now it seems that Wu State is the weakest, so we should start with Wu State first.

Wu State has a large territory, with the sea in the east and the river in the south, and the border with us is also very long, two thousand miles long.Let's harass its weak defenses first.

If they stick to the east, then we will harass their west, and if we reinforce the west, we will harass their east. In the process of their running east and west, we can find out the reality of their borders and the strength of their troops.

Then concentrate your forces to attack its weakness, and you will be invincible and sweep the enemy army, but don't mobilize the crowd too much.

At this time, it is only necessary to harass with light troops. The enemy has always been cowardly. Knowing that our army is going to attack, he will definitely fight with heavy troops. This has been done several times.

The other party must be exhausted, even if we don't send heavy troops, then we will benefit greatly, he will be exhausted and I will benefit, and soon the territory of Jiangbei will belong to me.

After getting Jiangbei.We can also use its people to enrich our army and strengthen our strength, and Jiangnan will not be difficult to pacify.

This way of using troops, the effort is small but the harvest is big, and the land of Wu is as wide as my big Zhou's bag.

At that time, we can try to recruit the land of Shu. If they don't surrender, they will advance in all directions, and the heavenly soldiers will sweep the land of Shu.

Once it is settled, Youzhou will return home, but Bingzhou is occupied by the doomed bandits, and they cannot be appeased with kindness, but must be attacked with heavy troops.

But now it is not enough to threaten the border, you can take it last, wait for a favorable opportunity, and win a battle.

Now our army is strong and strong, the supplies are sufficient and complete, the officials are united and know the law, the generals obey orders and work hard, and when the crops are harvested again, we can use our troops to pacify the border.

After the summer and autumn of this year, you can store military rations and supplies in the border area first, and make preparations for a great cause. I am just a student, and I am not enough to talk about state affairs. If there is anything inappropriate, please forgive me."

When Chai Rong asked the ministers to write policy theories, he already had the ambition to unify the world in his heart, and he had already carried out a series of reforms, which had achieved initial results.

The country began to become stronger and stronger, and the general situation at that time was also conducive to reunification. The people yearned for reunification, so that they would never be ravaged by war.

But many ministers under Chai Rong like to be content with the status quo and do not support Chai Rong's great cause of unification. When Chai Rong mentions this matter, many people keep silent, so asking ministers to write policy is to find someone who fully supports him. Assist him to complete this grand plan.

Wang Pu's article is not many words, but every word speaks to Chai Rong's heart. This time, there are only four people he admires: Yang Zhaojian, Dou Yi, Tao Gu and Wang Pu, and Wang Pu's theory is the most suitable for him.

In order to further understand Wang Pu's thinking, Chai Rong summoned Wang Pu to the palace several times for talks. Chai Rong was very satisfied with Wang Pu's response, who was known to be well-versed in governing the country.

To sum up, Wang Pu's "Strategy for Ping Bian" consists of the following steps:
It is proposed to attack the Southern Tang first, obtain the Southern Tang and Jiangbei, and then further control the southern countries.In the future, we will take Houshu and Youzhou, and finally solve such a clear strategic thinking of Khitan's border troubles.

At the same time, he proposed the political strategy of winning the hearts and minds of the people of all countries under the rule of the world.

For weak conquests, suggestions such as avoiding the real and attacking the false are implemented. This is a bit like guerrilla warfare, but it is indeed clearly conceived and the strategic intention is clear at a glance.

In history, Chai Rong adopted most of these policies and successfully launched a series of unification and annexation wars.

It can be said that most of the series of unified annexation wars launched during the Chai Rong period in the Later Zhou Dynasty contained the figure of "Ping Bian Ce".

Later, when Chai Rong personally conquered the state of Wu, he appointed Wang Pu as a privy envoy to preside over military and political affairs, and Wang Pu became an important minister of the state.

In history, it was this Wang Pu who achieved great success with a flat policy, but in fact he catered to Chai Rong's ambition at the time.

Zhao Xu was also impressed by this person.No wonder this person became the minister appointed by Chai Rong to assist Chai Zongxun at that time, it seems that he was not a mediocre minister.

The old generation of courtiers are old and dead, and Chai Rong has also begun to cultivate his cronies. He not only needs generals like Zhao Kuangyin and his son.

Civil servants who govern the country are also needed. Wang Pu came into his sight at this time.

Chai Rong has also started his path of reform...

(End of this chapter)