Tiantang Splendid

Chapter 5091: Warlike
"You are smart and clever, and you are a rare talent. That's why the Marshal and I both look at you with a different eye and are willing to entrust you with important tasks. But you have a slightly erratic personality and lack of calmness, which is a shortcoming. You must be more careful and not act rashly. You must calm down and think carefully and weigh the pros and cons. Only then can you achieve success."

Su Dingfang really liked this kid and couldn't help but nag him a few words.

Di Renjie listened respectfully and thanked him repeatedly.

"Okay, I know you young people don't want to listen to us old people's nagging, so I won't treat you to a meal. Please leave quickly."

Su Dingfang waved his hand to drive the guest away, but after taking a look at the other person's round face, he couldn't help but nag: "Take care of your health in the future and eat less!"

Being so fat at such a young age, what will happen to you in the future?

Di Renjie said with a shy smile, "It's the same old saying, 'Only delicious food should not be wasted'! However, I will always keep the Grand Commander's warning in mind and take it as a warning."

"Get lost now! You are so sharp-tongued, I have ten more things to say to you. When you become too fat and have trouble walking in the future, you will realize the value of my advice today!"

It's more than just the inconvenience of walking.

A fat person has weak strength and poor blood circulation. He can neither be strong nor last long. In the future, he will probably be complained by delicate ladies in the boudoir...

*****
In October in Chang'an, the weather is clear and cool.

The crops have begun to be harvested, the leaves are turning yellow, the fruit trees are fragrant, and the city is filled with the joy of harvest.

Due to the continuous huge investment in water conservancy, the Guanzhong area has thousands of acres of fertile fields and convenient irrigation. Even though there has been excessive rainfall in the past two years, no large-scale flood disasters have occurred. Grain harvests have been good year after year, and with the continuous purchase of rice from overseas, the grain price in Guanzhong has always remained at a stable level, and the people's happiness index remains high.

Officials in the court were naturally delighted with this political achievement. Under their rule, they felt that the prosperous scene of "rice flowing with fat, corn turning white, and public and private granaries being full" would appear, which would surely be recorded in history.

Everyone in the court was filled with joy.

However, a memorial from Huating Town broke this peaceful and festive atmosphere, and public opinion was surging both inside and outside the court.

……

In the imperial study, the court officials gathered together, making the seats near the window a little crowded. The atmosphere was very heated, even filled with a smell of gunpowder...

Imperial Censor Liu Xiangdao's face flushed, and he said angrily: "The navy has been arrogant for a long time. People from all walks of life have complained about it, but because of its achievements in opening up shipping routes and protecting maritime trade, it has been tolerated. But this time, it condoned the Duke of Yun to start a war without authorization, occupy islands, and exterminate his people. It is really too much! Let me ask the Duke of Yue, is this navy still the army of the Tang Dynasty, and is it still under the command of Your Majesty?"

He was furious and directed his anger at Fang Jun.

All the purple-robed officials remained silent, but all their eyes turned to Fang Jun, who was sitting on the left side of His Majesty.

Fang Jun has a slightly dark complexion and a handsome face. He is wearing a purple official robe and sitting among a group of ministers. He looks even more youthful, promising and heroic.

Sipping his tea, he said slowly with drooping eyelids: "The Imperial Censor supervises all officials, investigates crimes and makes judgments. He should think clearly and speak with substance. How can he make random accusations and speak nonsense?"

Liu Xiangdao was very angry and said angrily: "How can I frame you so recklessly and speak so arrogantly?"

Fang Jun put down his teacup, straightened his back, and raised two fingers: "There are two facts."

"First, I am the Grand Commandant of the Tang Dynasty and the Duke of Yue, and I do not hold any position in the navy. What the navy does have to do with me?"

"Secondly, the Duke of Yun was the Governor-General of Luzon appointed by the Ministry of Personnel, not a naval commander. Whether he killed people and robbed goods or started a war without authorization, what does it have to do with the navy?"

"You can't even distinguish the responsible parties, or you are deliberately confusing them. To say that you are making false accusations and making irresponsible remarks is a mild statement. If your words are more serious, it would not be too much to say that you are 'like a dog barking', right?"

"You brat! How dare you bully me like this?"

Liu Xiangdao's face flushed and he was furious: "Don't stop me, I'm going to teach this traitor a lesson today. Either he dies or I die!"

The ministers on both sides were speechless. They didn’t want to stop them, but how could they let them fight in front of His Majesty?
I had no choice but to grab his clothes and arms tightly and force him to sit on the seat.

Liu Li was speechless and reprimanded, "You are being disrespectful in front of the emperor. Doesn't the Imperial Censor have any respect for His Majesty? You should be reasonable. How can you be so unreasonable? Do you still have any rules?"

Liu Xiangdao glanced at Li Chengqian's gloomy face, and then reluctantly gave in...

Liu Li then looked at Fang Jun and said in a deep voice: "We are not asking the Duke of Yue for an explanation. This matter has nothing to do with the Duke of Yue. Even if the Duke of Yun named the occupied island 'Princess Gaoyang Island'..."

Fang Jun: "..."

The corner of his mouth twitched and he was speechless, but in his heart he had already cursed Zhang Liang's ancestors.

This move of "diverting trouble to the east" is indeed good...

Liu Li paused and continued, "In the opinion of Duke Yue, is it inappropriate for Duke Yun to start a war like this?"

Fang Jun spoke cautiously: "But the Duke of Yun did make a mistake this time, but such incidents cannot be generalized. After all, the situation changes at any time. We cannot simply prohibit such cases just because the Duke of Yun made a mistake. We should still give the navy the right to make decisions on the spot. Otherwise, if we ask for instructions and follow orders all the time, we will inevitably miss the opportunity to fight and cause immeasurable losses when we are thousands of miles away from Chang'an."

You Pushe Pei Huaijie said: "Let's talk about the facts. Let's just talk about the behavior of the Duke of Yun this time. He was so reckless in starting a war and relying on the power of weapons to kill without restraint. We should take this as a warning."

The calmer Liu Xiangdao echoed, "Although the imperial army is powerful and invincible, we should also remember the words of the ancient sages: a country may be great, but it will perish if it is warlike!"

Fang Jun picked up the teacup again, looked around, and found it interesting.

Li Chengqian's face was as gloomy as water, showing no emotion, and he tried hard to act like a master with profound knowledge and determination. Li Ji always pretended to be deaf and dumb, and did not care about matters that did not concern him. The civil servants headed by Liu Li seemed to have reached a consensus long ago: no matter what, the matter of Zhang Liang had to be defined.

The purpose of the characterization is not to punish Zhang Liang, but to put a shackle on the Tang Dynasty military. It will no longer be able to fight wherever and however it wants. All major military actions must be brought to the court and studied carefully. The most important thing is to take into account the interests of all parties.

The military's power has gradually grown and has seriously encroached on the interests that originally belonged to the civilian system.

Fang Jun didn't care about this. The civil servants and the military each had their own interests and demands, and in many places they were in conflict with each other. Either the east wind prevailed over the west wind, or the west wind prevailed over the east wind. The civil servants had their advantages if they had the upper hand, but the military also had its benefits if they had the upper hand.

In the current situation, we should focus on expansion and seize wealth from all over the world in the shortest possible time. This is the top priority.

As for stability, development, and clean governance, those are things that need to be considered after wealth has accumulated to a certain level...

After taking a sip of tea and holding the cup in his hand, Fang Jun looked at Liu Xiang in surprise and said, "Doctor Yushi, are you bullying me because I haven't been to school? You only said 'A country may be big, but it will perish if it loves war', but why didn't you mention the next sentence? In your eyes, the army is like a flood and a beast. It seems that as long as the army starts a war, no matter what the reason is, it is a heinous crime. I am not interested in arguing with you. Now you can say in front of His Majesty and the ministers, 'Strictly restrain the Anxi Army and do not start a war without authorization'. You will bear any consequences, and I will have nothing to say."

What is the next sentence of "A country, no matter how big it is, will perish if it is warlike"?
"Even if the world is at peace, forgetting war will lead to danger"!
Liu Xiangdao was choked and stared with his eyes wide open. He didn't expect Fang Jun to give him a heavy blow here.

Even if he supports the interests of civil servants and wants to restrain the military, he would never dare to say something like "restrain the Anxi Army from starting a war without authorization." Now the Arab Empire has assembled a large army and is ready to move, and may send troops to the Western Regions at the next moment.

Does it mean that once the Arab army reaches the city of Suiye, the Anxi Protectorate will have to send people all the way to Chang'an to ask for permission to go to war, and then return to Suiye City after receiving the imperial decree allowing the Anxi army to go out of the city to fight?

Moreover, the situation on the battlefield changes rapidly. Even if the Arab army attacks and the Anxi army defends, if the Anxi army finds an opportunity to fight and takes the initiative to attack, they will strictly abide by the order of "not starting a war without authorization", resulting in missed opportunities?
Pei Huaijie frowned and said, "'Even if the world is at peace, forgetting war will lead to danger' is correct, but 'Even if a country is big, it will perish if it loves war' is not correct? These two famous sayings are about how to balance the relationship between 'loving war' and 'forgetting war'. The general only cares about the latter and ignores the former. It is obvious that he did it on purpose."

Cui Dunli saw that he was being aggressive, so he asked back with a cold face: "You Pushe's words seem to make some sense, but in fact they are nothing but metaphysical and empty talk. I would like to ask, according to You Pushe, how to balance 'warmongering' and 'forgetting war'? When should we be 'warmongering' and when should we 'forgetting war'?"

Many truths are specious, and many words of ancient sages are suspected of being "two-faced", sometimes "good fortune lies behind misfortune", and sometimes "good fortune lies behind misfortune". The truth is naturally correct, but when applied to reality, it is completely confusing.

When is "blessing"?
When is the "disaster"?
When should we “forget about the war”?
When is it “belligerent”?
This is actually a philosophical question.

Pei Huaijie couldn't answer, because he realized that no matter how he answered, he would fall into the other party's trap and be refuted like a storm...

Somewhat cold.

Ma Zhou pondered and said, "But no matter what, it is always wrong to start a war without authorization, drag the country into the quagmire of war, sacrifice the lives of soldiers, and consume national treasury resources. War is a major event for a country, a place of life and death, and a way of survival and destruction. We must be careful about it."

Although he is considered a direct descendant of Fang Jun's faction, he is not without his own opinions or just following the crowd. Instead, he always maintains his own position and bottom line.

(End of this chapter)