Meishan Su family, Su Yun is the most virtuous

Chapter 281 What is the root? (3k ha)
Zhang Qie smiled. He could naturally see that his niece-in-law wanted to test him, but he didn't feel offended.

Although he is superior to Su Yun in both seniority and age, in officialdom, rank is the most important thing.

Even though he is now the governor of Fuyan Road, it seems that he is only one level lower than Su Yun, the governor of Fuyan Road.

But in fact, the official positions of the two were very different. Su Yun was already a third-rank official, while he was only a fifth-rank official.

Besides, Su Yun is already a Hanlin scholar, and is only one step away from becoming the prime minister!

The difference in their official positions was so great that Zhang Yu naturally did not dare to regard himself as an elder, and hurriedly said, "I am a newcomer and do not understand the affairs here. I have seen some things, but there are definitely many mistakes and omissions, so I cannot say more.

But since the governor wants me to talk to you, I will try to review it?"

Su Yun smiled and said, "Don't be so cautious, Chief Zhang. In terms of official position, you are the chief of Fuyan Road. In terms of our personal relationship, you are still my uncle. In terms of age, although you are not the oldest here, you are also an elder. You don't need to be so cautious."

Zhang Qi smiled calmly.

He has always been such a cautious person. Maybe he was full of vigor and vitality when he was young, but after his grandfather Zhang Pin offended Empress Dowager Liu and was dismissed from office, and his father Zhang Fang was imprisoned, his wildness had long disappeared.

This was demonstrated very vividly throughout his life.

He was very frugal, and when he first came to Sichuan to serve as an official, his wife and children accompanied him. His wife rode on a donkey, and he held the reins beside her; his two children were still young, so they rode on the donkey together.

Compared with other officials, when they took office, they either rode on a big ship or a luxurious horse-drawn carriage. The poorest ones would ride on an ox cart. There was no reason for them to ride a donkey.

He was also very strict in educating his children, because he was worried that his sons would become indulgent and slack, so he locked them up in a study during his free time.

Later, the eldest son Zhang Yu and the third son Zhang Wei both passed the imperial examinations successfully and achieved considerable success in poetry and prose.

His caution and ability to advance and retreat were useful. He served as the commander in Jingyuan for four years, during which he established one state and nine cities. In the struggle against Western Xia, he was the most meritorious person in the Song Dynasty.

However, when Song Huizong ascended the throne, Zhang Yu resigned from his post on the grounds of old age and lived in Henan.

Afterwards, Emperor Huizong of Song summoned Zhang Yu and tried to retain him, granting him the title of co-director of the Privy Council and the title of Tongyi Dafu.

At the same time, he let Zhang Yu's son Zhang Yu be an official in Kaifeng so that he could take care of Zhang Yu nearby. In the same year, at Zhang Yu's request, Song Huizong abolished the Archery Department.

On July 26, the first year of Chongning, facing Zhang Qi's strong request to resign, Song Huizong had no choice but to appoint him as a scholar of the Zizhi Hall and an envoy of the Zhongtaiyi Palace, and agreed to his retirement.

Although he died not long after that, the fact that he got Emperor Huizong of Song to agree to his retirement showed that his cautiousness and prudentness were useful.

Look at his cousin Zhang Dun. After Song Huizong ascended the throne, he repeatedly resigned, but Song Huizong just didn't agree. Why? Was he waiting to punish him?

“In fact, I was also a little surprised at first, because what the governor did was indeed somewhat shocking.

First, he boldly led his troops to plunder the war horses of the Liao and Xia delegations twice, and then he randomly found a residential building with extremely harsh environment to dry out the two delegations. After that, he repeatedly mobilized food and soldiers in the city. I thought a war was about to break out.

At that time, I felt that Su Jinglie was so arrogant and domineering, which was different from the Su Jinglie I knew. Could it be that because he won the battle and was promoted quickly, he became arrogant because of his success at a young age?

But during the subsequent negotiations, Li Binglin was so anxious that he even took the initiative to propose conditions for peace talks. Only then did I understand Su Jinglie's plan.

When our officials of the Great Song Dynasty negotiated with the barbarians, we always maintained the magnanimity of a great country, but these barbarians were always arrogant and entangled, so that we were never able to maintain the results of our battles.

For example, in the Treaty of Chanyuan, the Liao army was alone and deep in the territory, and the siege was unsuccessful. In addition, the Liao army commander Xiao Talina was shot and killed. At that time, Emperor Zhenzong led the army in person, and the morale of hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians was greatly boosted, while the enemy was exhausted. We should have taken advantage of this opportunity to control all the important roads, encircle and annihilate the enemy, and then take advantage of the victory to march north to recover the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun... ahem!
I have gone off topic. What I meant is that, under such circumstances, it was extremely beneficial to our dynasty, but after the peace talks, we signed a treaty that was a loss of power... and was not worthy of the war results we had achieved.

As for the Qingli Peace Agreement, although Xixia had the upper hand on the battlefield at that time, the years of war made Xixia's already fragile economy unable to bear the burden of continuing large-scale warfare, and the whole country was in trouble;

When Fan Wencheng and others' Northwest Strategy had begun to show results, the military defense capabilities of the dynasty had been significantly strengthened, and they built strong defenses, cleared the fields, and strictly guarded the cities and fortresses, avoiding a head-on confrontation with the Western Xia, making it difficult for the Western Xia to take new actions.

At that time, our dynasty was on good terms with the Liao Kingdom (in fact, the Khitan took advantage of the Song-Xia War to demand more annual tribute from the Song Dynasty and its demand was met), and we also put pressure on Western Xia. Western Xia and Khitan became enemies and faced a dangerous situation of being attacked from both sides.

In fact, in this situation, if there is a capable person like Jinglüe to negotiate, I am afraid that Xixia will have to pay annual tribute to our Song Dynasty."

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone burst into laughter.

Zhang Yu smiled and said, "I have figured out some of Su Jinglue's strategies, which is to create the illusion that he is eager to make achievements, or even wants to provoke Song Xia to continue fighting.

After the three large-scale battles of the Song Dynasty, the Five-Way Expedition to Xia, the Battle of Yongle City, and the Battle of Mizhi, Xixia is now as exhausted as during the Qingli period! I heard that it is becoming increasingly difficult for Xixia to gather troops. According to their military system, young people from all tribes are engaged in production during peacetime, and everyone is a soldier in wartime, either serving as a regular soldier or doing miscellaneous work.

At the sound of the call, the tribe leaders would lead the troops and set out immediately, and they had to provide their own horses and food.

Since the fourth year of Yuanfeng, Western Xia has been fighting with the Song Dynasty for years, leaving the fields uncultivated and the cattle and sheep ungrazed. Even many tribal leaders are opposed to further fighting.

Xixia had suffered heavy losses in human, material and financial resources, and had even fallen into a great crisis.

In addition, after several years of war, the market was basically closed, causing the people of Western Xia to complain that "there was no tea to drink and clothes were expensive."

Therefore, when the governor created a strong determination to continue the war, the only ones who were afraid were the Western Xia. "

Su Yun listened to Zhang Yu's extensive citations, which not only analyzed the current events clearly, but also analyzed the decisive war situation between the Song Dynasty and the Western Xia and Liao Kingdoms very clearly. He knew that Zhang Yu's talent was indeed extraordinary.

No wonder he was able to achieve such a great victory in the Northwest. It is not surprising that he has such wisdom.

Zhang Qi looked at Su Yun and nodded repeatedly, feeling quite happy in his heart, knowing that Su Yun had recognized his talent.

In fact, he could have made it clear in just a few words why he brought up the Alliance of Chanyuan and the Qingli Peace Agreement. It was just to show his talent.

Zhang Qie knew very well that for a young man like Su Yun, his future was in Bian Jing and it was impossible for him to stay in the Northwest for a long time. On the contrary, he could make achievements in the Northwest.

In this case, although he is not a military general, the same principle applies to him. If he wants to establish achievements in the northwest, he must have the support of the prime minister in the court, otherwise nothing can be accomplished at all.

Although there is Zhang Dun's cousin in the court now, wouldn't it be better if there was Su Yun?
Therefore, Zhang Qie said a few more words, and between the lines, he praised Su Yun a lot.

Of course, the flattery of literati is also very artistic. After recounting the regrets of the Qingli Peace Talks and the Treaty of Chanyuan, he only added one sentence, "If there were a capable person like Jinglüe to negotiate, I'm afraid Xixia would have to pay annual tribute to our Song Dynasty."

This may seem like a joke, but in fact the person being praised is already very happy.

After the review, everyone chatted some more, but not for long because they were all busy.

Zhen Shixuan hurried back with the peace agreement. He had to report the results of the talks as soon as possible.

This peace talk not only preserved the legitimacy of the Song Dynasty, but also abolished the insulting annual gift. Decades of shame were washed away in one day, and the land conquered in several wars was preserved. This was comparable to a great achievement on the battlefield!
Su Yun sent Zhen Shixuan away, and then entrusted the affairs of Fuyan Road to Zhang Yu, while he himself was still immersed in military training.

In Su Yun's opinion, both Wang Shao and Zhang Qie's strategies in the northwest were extremely aggressive. In fact, even Fan Zhongyan's strategy of building fortresses was actually very good.

In other words, strategically the Chinese have never lost to other countries, the key lies in the military.

No matter how good the strategy or tactics are, they will be useless without an army to execute them.

The reason why the Song Dynasty was trapped throughout its entire history was ultimately because of its incompetent army.

Even during the reign of Emperor Zhezong, with the presence of Zhang Dun, Zhang Qie, and Zhe Keshi, they only gained the upper hand. Although Song Zhezong's early death left suspense, even if he had continued to live, could he have destroyed Liao and Xia?

Probably not.

It is too difficult to destroy a big country!
Without a strong army capable of destroying everything in its path, it would be a pipe dream to want to destroy a great country.

But did Song Zhezong have such a strong army?

Of course not.

You have to know that among the Three Kingdoms of Song, Liao and Xia, if one wanted to destroy one, the other would definitely come out to stop it, otherwise the balance would inevitably be destroyed.

Therefore, no matter which country the Song Dynasty wanted to destroy first, it had to deal with Liao and Xia at the same time. This required that the Song Dynasty not only have to accumulate wealth several times that of Liao and Xia, but also have an army with combat effectiveness several times that of the two countries.

After all, to destroy a country one must penetrate deep into the heart of the empire, and without an army that can directly penetrate the enemy's defense line, everything would be wishful thinking.

Therefore, even if he had Zhang Qie, Zhe Keshi and others in place, in the final analysis, the army still had to be built up!

(End of this chapter)