Chapter 537: Dragon and Tiger in the River

Li Shimin didn't have much feeling about the Northern Song Dynasty.

There weren't so many considerations, he just felt that the war in the Northern Song Dynasty was really boring.

Going to the battlefield in person, inspiring bravery to defeat the enemy, singing to celebrate the victory, this is the war he likes.

He also admired Li Jing's way of leading troops, hitting the target with one blow, and winning by surprise attack.

These two tactics would definitely not be implemented in the case of the emperor and prime minister of the Song Dynasty who were suspicious of and humiliated the generals and sent military supervisors to hinder them.

Just like Yang Ye, what's the use of being experienced in border affairs? What's the use of knowing the enemy's situation? Loyal and brave men were entrusted to the wrong people, and their lives were at stake, and in the end they could only say it was a pity.

And whether it was the great creation of the Heavenly Book by Zhenzong in the reign of Emperor Zhenzong or the annual tribute to replace war, they all made him despise.

Therefore, after a simple sigh, Li Shimin did not put down the pen in his hand. He stroked his beard with his left thumb and index finger and was very pleased:

"My literary talent is excellent."

Changsun Wuji agreed with a smile:

"The poems written by your majesty will be used in the congratulations of Chang'an in the future, which shows that your majesty's literary talent has been passed down for thousands of years."

"Your majesty may write an article to give to the younger generation, which will comfort the younger generation."

Changsun Wuji's statement immediately made Li Shimin a little moved.

When later generations mentioned the loss of the national treasure "Lanting Preface", Du Ruhui had a joking remark asking him to send the treasure to the future generations.

Although it was just a joke at the time, Li Shimin did seriously consider it later. After all, although this thing is precious, it is only used for copying and appreciation, but it is of extraordinary significance to the younger generation.

Also, although the treasure is precious, in terms of effectiveness, it is not as good as what you get from the younger generation.

But... this is Wang Xizhi's original work after all, and once it is given away, it cannot be retrieved. Doesn't it mean that if I copy it and appreciate it once, I will get one less time?

This tangled mood made Li Shimin very conflicted, but at this time, when Changsun Wuji said it, Li Shimin suddenly thought:

For future generations, I am afraid that my original work can also be a treasure. In this case, why not just copy a copy of "Lanting Preface" and give it to others?

The more he thought about it, the more feasible this idea seemed to him, and Li Shimin couldn't help but be happy.

"Lanting Preface" will definitely be given to the younger generation as a reward in the end, but it will not affect the preservation of the treasure for a while.

[Logically speaking, the Northern Song Dynasty was so respectful of literature and suppressed martial arts, and there were places for scholars and officials to show their skills everywhere. There should be one or two that can be taken out to show off, right?

But unfortunately, the martial arts level of the Northern Song Dynasty scholars and officials cannot be said to be nothing, but only to be worthless.

Some modern scholars who study the history of the Song Dynasty have been quite sarcastic, saying that the civil service group of the Northern Song Dynasty had a strong tendency to self-deception, that is, they liked to deceive themselves very much.

And the formation of this mentality is generally believed to have been formed during the Zhenzong period.

We have previously mentioned that Zhenzong made a great book of auspicious signs and went to Mount Tai, which was embarrassing. The history books of the feudal era often avoided mentioning it for the sake of the respected, and characterized this incident as "the flatterer caused chaos and the monarch was blind."

But in modern times, we don't need to care about the emperor. To be honest, both the book of heaven and the Fengshan ceremony were huge in scale. Without the cooperation of the entire central system, Song Zhenzong and one or two flatterers would basically not be able to accomplish anything. So this incident was actually a peacemaking and deification between Zhenzong and the literati.

The self-deception attribute of the book of heaven and the Fengshan ceremony was clearly stated by Wang Qinruo, who offered advice at the time.

"The alliance under the city is a deep shame in ancient times. It is not a sign of good fortune from heaven... It is not enough to scare the Liao people and cover up this shame."

It can be seen that the literati during the Zhenzong period understood very well: the Chanyuan Alliance was indeed very shameful, so let's just make a heavenly book to scare the Liao people and cover up the shame.

Later, Liu E took power and sent the heavenly book to Zhenzong's tomb, which finally stopped this farce, but the self-deception of the literati in the Northern Song Dynasty could not be stopped.

In addition, it is undeniable that since the reign of Renzong, the literati in the Northern Song Dynasty have adhered to the life creed of "being a sage inside and a king outside, and taking on the affairs of the world", and basically have a strong intention to make achievements.

When the Song-Xia War broke out, the outstanding literati of the dynasty, such as Han Qi, Fan Zhongyan, Xia Song, Pang Ji, and Wen Yanbo, all rushed to the front line, which reflected the mentality of being eager to make achievements, but unfortunately it was useless.

Di Qing once said privately that military affairs were not his responsibility. This general, who came from a low-level background, gave a very sharp evaluation of the civil and military problems of the Northern Song Dynasty, but no one cared about his opinion.

Regarding the leadership achievements of a group of literati, "Rulin Gongyi" recorded it very clearly:

"At the beginning of the Qingli period, the Xia invaders were rampant, and the four routes in Shaanxi were all led by Confucian generals, but they failed for a long time."

"The rebellion lasted for many years, and the government army was defeated frequently", and bluntly said that the government army "was not as good as one battle".

As a result, as the border defense line continued to advance towards Bianliang, the self-deception and passivity of the literati who had little to show for it took effect again. First, the word that Xixia had no intention of fighting spread in the rear area:

"Don't care about Yanzhou. Now the little Fan Laozi has tens of thousands of armored soldiers in his belly, and he is not as easy to deceive as the big Fan Laozi."

Later, they even opened champagne directly:

"There is a Han in the army, and the Western bandits are scared when they hear it; there is a Fan in the army, and the Western bandits are frightened when they hear it. Yuan Hao was afraid of it and then surrendered."

But in fact, such words are just for listening. Who doesn't know what the Song-Xia war was like?

Mei Yaochen wrote "Guyuanji", Su Shunqin wrote "Qingzhou Defeat", and Fan Yong's "Ji Xixia Shi" clearly admitted that the defeat was caused by underestimating the enemy.

And Han Qi, who said loudly that "when using troops, you should put victory and defeat first" was wiped out in the battle of Haoshuichuan. Zhang Yuan, who failed in the test and later defected to Xixia and became the prime minister, ridiculed "Xia Song never thought so." , Han Qi is not surprised. The dragons and tigers in Manchuan are still talking about military plans."

Regarding the battle between Song and Xia, Li Tao only said that the Confucian commanders were "good at planning but rarely successful" when he revised "Zizhi Tongjian Changbian".

Historians of the Ming Dynasty were more straightforward: Song people were boastful and boastful, but their reputations and reputations were untrue.

Wang Fuzhi, the troll, almost chased after others and cursed: There are no generals outside the Zhong clan, and no strategy within the central government. Di Qing's reputation has just begun to show that he is not worthy of command. .

There were three main battles in the first Song-Xia war. Among them, only the initial Battle of Sanchuankou was barely a draw between Song and Xia. The subsequent Battle of Haoshuichuan and the Battle of Dingchuanzhai were both major defeats.

The first peace negotiation between the two parties had little to do with the Northern Song Dynasty. It was mainly due to the deterioration of the relationship between Liao and Xia. In order to avoid being attacked on both sides, Li Yuanhao chose from a political perspective to accept the annual coins and openness to the market given by the Northern Song Dynasty, and reached the first peace negotiation.

In a sense, scholar-bureaucrats did play an irreplaceable role in the Song-Xia war:

If the scholar-bureaucrats had not been hung up and beaten in various ways, Li Yuanhao would not have been so carefree and picky about the terms of the Northern Song Dynasty peace negotiations. 】

In the Han Chang'an Mansion, Zhang Fei muttered:

"I know that the younger generations are very angry when talking about the Song Dynasty."

"This battle outside the Song Dynasty is really... a blow to the crotch."

Zhang Fei always listened to the younger generation talking about it, so Zhang Fei simply learned and used the new words now.

It has been more than twenty years since he responded to the imperial edict and put down the Yellow Turbans. Zhang Fei feels that it is not too much to call himself a veteran now, and he should be well-informed about war.

And it’s not like we have never seen wars involving crotches. For example, at the beginning of the An-Shi Rebellion in the Tang Dynasty, famous generals were killed in the camp instead of dying on the battlefield. It was embarrassing enough.

But looking at the performance of the Northern Song Dynasty, Zhang Fei couldn't help but shook his head and added:

"If this Confucian commander wanted to save the Song Dynasty, he might as well go to Liao or Xia, and the Northern Song Dynasty might get a chance to breathe."

"Yide!" Liu Bei said with a slightly louder voice: "Don't make such idle remarks."

But this is just a show, after all, Zhao Da is no stranger to him now, so speaking like this is suspected of being behind someone's back.

Zhang Fei curled his lips inexplicably, picked up the cup and drank the tea in one gulp: I'm not even thirsty.

Pang Tong stared blankly at the light curtain, then turned to confirm with Kong Ming:

"I remember... this alliance of Chanyuan, should the Song Dynasty win and the Liao Dynasty lose?"

Next to him, Lu Su also came over curiously. He had not seen enough of the light screen and was not very clear about it. Seeing this, Kong Ming nodded, pointed at the map behind him with a small ruler, and confirmed with the explanation:

"According to what later generations said, the Liao army sent troops from the north to surround Bianliang, and all the ministers were afraid and were discussing moving the capital and fleeing south."

"Fortunately, the Prime Minister and Assistant Minister asked the Emperor of Song Dynasty to personally conquer, and finally formed an alliance with Chanyuan. The annual tribute coins are equivalent to the kingdom of brothers..."

"Now that I think about it, it is difficult for the Liao to break the city and it is difficult for the Song to retreat. If the Liao defends for a long time, the Liao will be lost. Therefore, it is not wrong to count the Song as the winner."

Pang Tong was silent, shook his head and said:

"I thought the people of Song Dynasty didn't know what an alliance under the city is."

"I have never heard of anyone who decided to make an alliance under the city based on victory."

Everyone nodded in agreement, Fazheng was keenly aware of the similarity in time, and logically guessed:

"My descendants said before that Di Hanchen left the battlefield of Song and Xia to guard against the Liao Kingdom. That means that the Song and Liao Dynasties did not start another war."

"So after the war between Song and Xia ended and peace was negotiated, the Northern Song Dynasty would need coins from both countries every year?"

No wonder later generations have emphasized more than once that the Song Dynasty was rich.

"In the Northern Song Dynasty, while raising healthy children for the sake of Confucian and Commander-in-Chiefs, they also invested the enemy's country's annual coins in order to maintain peace, and also imposed exorbitant taxes and siphoned off the people's wealth."

"If you do this, you can still live for more than 160 years..."

Liu Bei shook his head and could only sigh that he really learned a lot today:

"Since ancient times, when it comes to military use, I have only heard of those who risked life and death in order to win. I have never heard of those who led troops without risking victory or defeat."

"Leading troops in battle only strives for victory. If victory and defeat are ignored, what do you want on the battlefield?"

Perhaps because he was determined to start a full-scale war with Cao's thieves this year, or because he knew how difficult it would be for his second brother to resist Cao in Jingbei and prevent him from entering Jingzhou without retreating, Liu Bei's judgmental words were rarely full of emotion.

After saying that, I felt a little lucky: Fortunately, all my subordinates are pragmatic people now.

On the other side, Zhang Fei whispered to Ma Chao:

"Meng Qi, look at me, brother, you just told me not to gossip, but in the end, you are even more angry than me."

Ma Chao remembered Zhang Fei's silent and distant appearance just now, and now he also imitated:

He sat upright and said nothing, moving a little further away from Zhang Fei.

…

In the Bianliang Hall, several small Huangmen were doing their work with their heads down, not daring to raise their heads or take a breath. Liu Han, the minister of medicine and medicine, also had his face raised and was a little embarrassed.

The officials summoned him straight in, but said nothing. Just then they suddenly became excited, and now they suddenly looked like they were mourning for their heirs. This was completely different from the officials he knew who could handle everything calmly.

The problem naturally lies in the light screen, but looking at the thoughtful look on Mr. Zhao Pu's face and the familiar expressions of the servants behind him, Liu Han can only guess that there is indeed a big problem with the light screen.

Could it be that everything mentioned in it is basically something closely related to the Song Dynasty?

Liu Han was just obsessed with medical skills, so he was dull in words and less intelligent than in deeds.

In fact, just after listening to the officials and Duke Zhao talking about the Northern Han Dynasty and Yang Ye's affairs, Liu Han already had a vague guess in his mind.

It's just that this guess was too nonsense, so Liu Han didn't know what to do for a while.

"Liu Fengyu?" Zhao Pu called softly, waking Liu Han up from his immersed thoughts.

Zhao Kuangyin was in a daze, and then suddenly thought of something:

"Is this Zhenzong Zhao Dechang?"

It's just that the younger generation has briefly described everything before and after the Song Dynasty, and when talking about the sound of the candle shadow axe, he said that the eldest son of the younger brother was crazy and the second son was dead, but he skipped the choice of the younger brother's heir.

Now that the younger generation has put before them the fact that Song Zhenzong succeeded his younger brother after his death, Zhao Kuangyin suddenly realized:

Zhenzong of Song Dynasty should still be living in Prince Jin's Mansion, feeling anxious all day long.

Zhao Pu recalled it carefully and said:

"De Chong is crazy, and De Ming died, and future generations will talk about it. Since there is nothing to say after that, Dechang should be the one who was established as the crown prince."

Zhao Kuangyin nodded, and soon realized that this was probably the reason why he had not immediately realized that Song Zhenzong was still in the Jin Palace.

The younger brother did not sit on the throne, so the names of several of his heirs have not been changed. For example, the younger brother's eldest son, Zhao Deshong, should be the same person as the Zhao Yuanzuo mentioned in the light curtain, but it is really difficult to realize it at the first time.

Zhao Pu waited for the order, and Zhao Kuangyin thought for a while and sighed:

"This child is only eight years old, so why worry?"

"When the restructuring of the Imperial College is completed, let them enter the Imperial College or study or practice martial arts. Don't seek fame only for the sake of ridicule for future generations."

He is not willing to nip an eight-year-old child in the bud. His younger brother, who is really capable of causing trouble, is now being flattened and rounded in his hands.

After making the explanation, Zhao Kuangyin raised his head and sighed again, and read out the name that just passed by:

"Zhang Yuan..."

And therefore thought of another person: "Huang Chao..."

Immediately his eyes fell on Zhao Pu again: "Zeping."

Zhao Pu was immediately frightened and almost swore to heaven that he would never have any different intentions. Zhao Kuangyin quickly comforted him, saying that he did not mean any insult.

To be honest, Zhao Kuangyin was not unfamiliar with people like Zhang Yuan who surrendered to the enemy and became princes and prime ministers after repeated attempts. After all, such experiences were not uncommon in troubled times, and even Zhao Pu was somewhat similar.

He was fond of studying when he was young, but had no hope of taking the imperial examination, so Zhao Pu just traveled around, and finally met Zhao Kuangyin in Chuzhou and worked with him.

It was also because of this that Zhao Kuangyin was deeply touched when the younger generation talked about the contradiction between Taixue and the imperial examination.

If one can be fair and impartial in selecting talents, even a poor family can be appointed a marquis and prime minister based on their talent, and become famous all over the world.

On the contrary...this yuan is the best example.