Meishan Su family, Su Yun is the most virtuous

Chapter 293 A massive political struggle! (5.4k)

This time the Western Xia army was heading for Mizhi, but not all of the 300,000 troops were heading for Mizhi. Instead, they were divided into three groups.

One route starts from Hongzhou to attack the Bao'an Army, one route starts from Longzhou to intimidate Yanzhou, and the other route is the focus of this time, starting from Yinzhou, bypassing Luowu City and heading straight for Mizhi.

Faced with the massive attack from Western Xia, Su Yun decisively implemented the policy of fortifying the city and clearing the countryside, abandoned the Langshan Salt Field, evacuated the people back to the nearby fortress, and defended the fortress to the death.

When the news of the Western Xia's attack reached the court, the court was in an uproar.

The court first cursed Xixia for being treacherous. It was obvious that the peace agreement had been preliminarily agreed upon, and both sides had submitted it to each other for review. Even the Song Dynasty had almost finished the discussion, and Zhao Xu was ready to use the seal. But now they suddenly launched a large army to attack the Song Dynasty. If this isn't treason, what is it?
But soon the Western Xia and Liao envoys arrived. The Western Xia envoy was still led by Li Binglin. When Li Binglin saw the Song ministers, he immediately flew into a rage and accused the Song Dynasty of betrayal. He asked why the Song Dynasty wanted to cut off the salt route when the peace agreement had already been reached. He also said that the Song people had no sincerity in stopping the war.

This scolding made Cai Jing, the Zhongshu Sheren who was in charge of the reception, a little stunned. He had originally intended to use these words to scold the Western Xia envoy, but he didn't expect that the envoy seemed to be much more angry than him.

Cai Jing then realized that there must be a hidden story, so he quickly comforted Li Binglin and got the details from Li Binglin.

After Cai Jing learned the details, his expression was somewhat uncertain. He first sent someone to inform Cai Que, Zhang Dun and others, then secretly released the news, and then hurried to see Zhao Xu.

However, before Zhao Xu could react, rumors that Su Yun was destroying diplomatic relations and deliberately provoking war had already spread.

The Western Xia delegation arrived on April 2nd, and by April 4th, news had spread widely in Bianjing City that Su Yun was secretly boiling salt on Fuyan Road, cutting off the Western Xia salt route, selling salt at high prices on Fuyan Road, and using military force to compete with the people for profits (using soldiers as servants and forcing salt merchants who were sincere in their business to close down).

There is even a very sinister theory mixed in, saying that Su Yun secretly boiled salt in order to bribe the army, which was clearly an ill-intentioned move, and that this time he cut off the Xixia salt route in order to provoke a war, which was a way of nurturing the enemy to protect himself.

Therefore, Su Yun can be killed, should be killed, and must be killed!

Such remarks even reached Bing Jingwu, who passed the news to the palace. After reading it, Zhao Xu became furious and said, "These people just can't tolerate the emergence of a capable man who can fight in the Song Dynasty?

I have been on the throne for so many years, and finally met a capable minister like Su Yun, but they want to destroy him. If they destroy him, who will resist Xixia for me?

They deserve to be killed, they must be killed... Those who spread these rumors are the ones who deserve to be killed, they must be killed!"

Zhao Xu's anger subsided for a while, and then he said to Sun Sigong: "Bring over Ju Zheng's memorial to Fuyan Road."

Sun Sigong quickly asked, "Is it the most recent one?"

Zhao Xu said: "Bring them all here!"

Sun Sigong was stunned when he heard this, and then quickly called a few eunuchs together. After a while, three or four eunuchs came in one by one, each holding memorials that were taller than their heads. With three or four people together, there must be two or three hundred memorials!
Zhao Xu laughed as soon as he saw them. He opened them one by one and read them personally.

"…Your Majesty, I have been in Suide Army for a month, and today is still the same, eating and sleeping with the soldiers.

Alas, the soldiers’ eating conditions are indeed very poor. Although I am tired and hungry every day, I still feel that the food is like pig food and is really hard to swallow.

When I find out the situation, I will focus on improving the soldiers' food. Without good food, they won't have a good body, and naturally they won't have a strong fighting spirit..."

Zhao Xu looked down and saw his own comments below: The idea is good, but you must take care of your health.

"… Your Excellency, it is raining in the northwest today. Every autumn rain brings a chill. The wind in the northwest is already biting cold. I guess it should be cold in Bianjing as well, right?

Officials get up early, so they need to wear an extra layer of clothing. The weather must be dry. I have a recipe that can relieve the dryness in autumn. The recipe is listed below:
One snow pear, three red dates, half a white fungus, some wolfberry... boil it into a sweet soup. Let the imperial kitchen and the imperial physician discuss the specifics..."

Below is Zhao Xu’s own comment: Got it. I have given the recipe to Sun Daban. I will comment on it after he finishes drinking it.

There is a comment at the end, but the handwriting is different, so I think it was added later. It says: This pear and tremella soup is indeed useful. My throat doesn’t hurt anymore after drinking it. Thank you, Ju Zheng.

There are also many memorials in it, some of which are Su Yun talking about his military training, some are post-war summaries, and some are about the recent governance of Fuyan Road, the construction of fortresses, post-war work and other meaningful things.

But there are also many things like, "It's raining today, and I miss you very much; it's windy today, and I lit a stick of incense, hoping that the wind will bring the fragrance to you," and so on.

Seeing this, a smile appeared on Zhao Xu's face.

Then he rummaged around in there for a while, found a memorial from three or four months ago, and began to read it carefully.

"…After the five-pronged attack on Xia and the battle of Yongle City, and after the battle of Mizhi, the Xia bandits were almost exhausted. Now was the best time to destroy Xia. If we could launch a large-scale attack at this time, Xia would surely perish.

However, our dynasty has been through several years of war and its vitality has been greatly damaged. If we forcefully destroy Xia, I'm afraid the Liao will take advantage of us. Western Xia might be destroyed by then, but it will be in the hands of the Liao. We will work hard, but will only help the Liao. Therefore, it is not appropriate to destroy Xia at this time.

...However, although it is not appropriate to destroy Xia at this time, we must deal it a heavy blow when it is at its weakest, directly breaking the backbone of the Xia bandits and forcing them to linger on. This will allow our dynasty to recuperate for a year or so, prepare in the north to resist interference from the Liao Kingdom, and then destroy Xia in one fell swoop!
Therefore, I plan to do this: first cut off the salt route of Western Xia, use Mizhi rock salt as bait, force Western Xia to show all its strength, and then I will fight the Battle of Mizhi again. I do not seek to annihilate the enemy completely, but to consume the main army of Western Xia!

The relationship between the Western Xia court and the various tribes was not as good as imagined, and there were ups and downs between them. If the court weakened and the tribes rose, Western Xia would be in danger of civil strife.

I want to unbalance the internal forces of Xixia, so that the tribes become stronger and the Xixia court becomes weaker. This way, they will consume each other. While my dynasty is accumulating strength, Xixia will be caught in internal strife. Then, the next time we fight, the offensive and defensive forces will be different! ..."

Zhao Xu looked at his own comments at that time: Liang is treacherous and I am afraid he will not be fooled. You can give it a try.

Zhao Xu recalled some of the details reported by Cai Jing. The key points matched, but some details were very different.

Zhao Xu sneered. The Liang family of Western Xia was also scheming. It was clear from the current situation in Bianjing that Liang Yimei wanted to take advantage of the internal party struggles of the Song Dynasty to transfer Su Yun away from Fuyan Road. Then Western Xia would take back the lost land and snatch the rock salt to continue to maintain the sales of blue and white salt!
As for the rumors that Su Yun had evil intentions, that the Fuyan Road Army was already known as the Su Family Army, that the officers and soldiers did not know Your Majesty but only knew that they were the young General Su, etc., those were just nonsense!

Thanks to Su Yun's memorial almost every two or three days, Zhao Xu had a very clear understanding of the situation in Fuyan Road. Su Yun also reported to Zhao Xu without reservation on the reform of the army.

Su Yun even complained to himself that the Privy Council, the Third Class Court, and the Ministry of War were too dishonest and had embezzled all the food and wages. He wanted to train troops, but it was like a housewife without rice, so he had to do some side business.

However, Su Yun also advised Zhao Xu not to cause trouble to these three departments, saying that he also understood, but this matter was like a thorn in his throat, and he just wanted to vent to the emperor...

Thinking of this, Zhao Xu's face became not very good again. What good ministers they had, but why were there so many bad people?
Especially those salt merchants, huh, and those ministers behind the salt merchants!
Sun Sigong came hurriedly at this moment, handed over a dozen memorials, and said, "Your Majesty, these are memorials submitted by the censors and some ministers in the court."

Zhao Xu took it and read through it one by one. The more he read, the angrier he became. After seeing the last part, he threw the memorial away and said angrily, "How short-sighted! Greedy! Stupid! How could I let these people occupy high positions? I... I... Damn them!"

Sun Sigong panicked and whispered: "Your Majesty, be careful with your words, be careful with your words, the daily records are still here!"

Zhao Xu closed his eyes slightly, and then said: "All these memorials will be kept in the palace and not sent out. From now on, all memorials impeaching Ju Zheng will be handled in the same way!"

Sun Sigong whispered: "Over at Bingjingwu..."

Zhao Xu looked at Sun Sigong and said, "Investigate who is behind those salt merchants. Find out how much money they have embezzled from the salt administration over the years. The court is in some difficulties now and needs some financial support from them."

However, Zhao Xu kept the impeachment memorial in his possession and did not send it out. This was originally an attitude, but it instead led to more impeachment memorials.

Zhao Xu was also angry, and kept all the information in his pocket, thus confronting those who impeached him.

However, this angered the censors in the court.

On April 8, Huang Jiang, the Censor-in-Chief, advised Zhao Xu in person that Su Yun had become arrogant because of his great victory in Mizhi and wanted to make another great contribution and take the initiative to provoke a war. He must be transferred away from Fuyan Road immediately to avoid provoking Xixia, etc. Zhao Xu was furious and demoted Huang Jiang to a lower level to deter others.

However, on the second day, the censor Zhang Ruxian once again advised Zhao Xu in person, saying that Su Yun had become arrogant since he was young and successful, and he must be suppressed, otherwise it might lead to a greater disaster. The matter of Fuyan Road must be settled by a steady old minister.

As for the request of the Western Xia delegation, it can be agreed to at your discretion. After all, the Western Xia had no intention of starting a war, and it was Su Yun who deliberately provoked trouble.

After hearing this, Zhao Xu exiled Zhang Ruxian to a local place as well.

Then on the third day, censors such as Zhai Si, Zhu Jing, and Lai Zhishao came one after another to impeach Su Yun.

At the same time, impeachment letters from other officials also flew into the Forbidden City like snowflakes. Without exception, they all asked Zhao Xu to transfer Su Yun away from Fuyan Road, and some even demanded that Su Yun be punished!
All of a sudden, the public was in an uproar, and Zhao Xu was so angry that he fell ill and was unable to handle affairs for a while.

Zhao Xu fell ill, but the attacks from the censors and other officials did not stop. Instead, they became more severe. However, this time they were not admonishing the emperor, but were directed at Cai Que and Zhang Dun.

Some people began to dig up old accounts, saying that Su Yun's previous military exploits were forged with the help of Zhang Dun and Cai Que. Some of his so-called military exploits were real, but they were taken from others. In particular, the previous annihilation of hundreds of Tangut cavalry was done by a sharpshooter named Wang Shunchen under his command, but Su Yun took the credit for it.

As for evidence, their reasoning was that Su Yun was just a scholar, and most of his energy was focused on imperial examinations and writing books. How could he have the energy to learn martial arts?
If you don't believe me, ask yourselves, is there anyone in the court who is outstanding in martial arts?

Everyone's time is the same. If you spend your time on reading, you will have no time to practice martial arts. If you want to practice martial arts and make a difference in the imperial examinations, that is just a pipe dream. As for the saying of being both civil and military, it means nothing more than that warriors can read and scholars understand military affairs. It does not mean that scholars are brave enough to kill generals and seize flags.

This statement was actually agreed by many people, and they all believed that Su Yun's repeated achievements were actually forged with the help of Cai Que and Zhang Dun.

Cai Que and Zhang Dun are naturally not pushovers. You can make up stories that I fabricated military achievements, so I will say that you colluded with Western Xia and wanted to frame meritorious officials, and you also mobilized your own officials to attack the other side.

Cai Que even began to launch a campaign of investigation and inspection on officials, and began to use this powerful weapon to deter his opponents.

However, Wang Gui, Zhang Xu and others launched a number of investigations. One was a reinvestigation of the excessive amount of public funds spent by Wang Shao on the development of Xihe River. Another was an investigation into corruption in the implementation of the Changping Law and the Exemption from Military Service Law.

Wang Shao's corruption case was a major public case in the sixth year of Xining.

Wang Shao opened up Xihe Road and spent too much public funds. Guo Kui, the commander-in-chief of the Qinfeng Road army, impeached him for his crimes, and the court issued an edict to let Du Chun investigate the case.

After investigation, Du Chun reported to the emperor: "The amount of public funds used by Wang Shao is unclear and cannot be investigated."

Wang Anshi believed that what he said was untrue, so he sent Cai Que to review it.

Cai Que was ordered to handle the case and stated Wang Shao's grievances.

It was Cai Que's fair handling of cases that ensured that Wang Shao's development of Hehuang would not be interrupted. In the second year, he conquered five states, namely He, Dang, Min, Die and Tao, and expanded the territory by 2,000 miles.

But now Wang Gui, Zhang Xu and others say that there are still doubts in this case, and that someone at the time deliberately covered up Wang Shao's fault.

As for who covered up the mistake, it goes without saying. It must be Cai Que, who is in charge of this case.

As for the investigation into corruption during the implementation of the Changping Law and the Exemption from Military Service Law, it was aimed at officials related to Cai Que.

After Wang Anshi was dismissed from his post as prime minister, Cai Que was promoted to the position of Chief Censor and was in charge of the Sino-Agricultural Temple. The Sino-Agricultural Temple was the main agency for implementing the Changping Law and the Exemption from Military Service Law at that time, and most of Cai Que's officials came from the Sino-Agricultural Temple.

At this time, Wang Gui wanted to investigate the corruption that occurred in the implementation of the Changping Law and the Exemption Law. Needless to say, what his purpose was.

This matter made Cai Que feel creepy. If Wang Gui, Zhang Xu and others were really allowed to intervene in it, then there would be no telling how many officials in his faction would be brought down, and he might even be implicated in the end!
Cai Que naturally could not sit idly by and wait for death, so he immediately launched an investigation into the Wutai Poetry Case in the second year of Yuanfeng.

Tsai Cong believed that the Wudai Poetry Case was a false accusation deliberately made against Su Shi. It was a naked political frame-up and Su Shi must be cleared of the charges.

As soon as this investigation came out, Wang Gui, Zhang Xu, Li Ding, He Zhengchen and others also felt that a disaster was imminent!

Zhao Xu was ill for a full month, from mid-April to mid-May. Hundreds of officials were dismissed from their posts for failing the examination, demoted for corruption, or held accountable for framing Su Shi. For a time, everyone in the court was in danger, and no one paid attention to the dangerous war in the northwest.

Not only that, no one even contacted the Western Xia delegation or the Liao delegation. At this point, who has the heart to care about this?
Zhao Xu just came to his senses a little, but when he heard that the court had become so chaotic when he was seriously ill, he was so angry that he almost fainted again.

But he could not faint at this time, and he forced himself to stay healthy. He called Wang Gui and Cai Que to the front of the dragon bed and scolded them. Then he fined them as a punishment, and asked both parties to stop their investigations.

The chaotic situation in the court finally came to a halt.

Fortunately, the fighting in the Song Dynasty was not bloody, and there was no tragedy of property confiscation, extermination of clans, and beheading. If it had happened in the Han, Tang, and Five Dynasties before the Song Dynasty, the streets of Bianjing City would have been filled with people, and the Jiaofangsi would have had thousands of new wives of convicted officials.

Zhao Xu felt very tired. After dealing with this matter, he quickly asked about the war in the northwest.

Fortunately, the war in the northwest was relatively stable, which made him feel somewhat at ease.

In the northwest, the Western Xia came with great force. As soon as they arrived, they occupied Langshan, then besieged the Suide Army, and even made a gesture to besiege Yanzhou City, but that was all.

This time, the Western Xia army did not deliberately try to eliminate the fortresses on the front line of Fuyan Road one by one like they did last time. I think they knew that doing so would not be worth the cost.

Last time, Ye Bei Ma eliminated the front-line fortresses one by one, and it seemed that the results were remarkable, but because of this, a lot of strength was consumed in the early stage. Later, the soldiers were tired, which allowed Su Yun to break it in one fell swoop.

This time, the Western Xia army learned its lesson and only captured the Yanshan Mountain, then surrounded the Suide army without attacking it.

In fact, the behavior of the Western Xia army is understandable. What Liang Yimei wanted was to force Su Yun to leave Fuyan Road, and then take over the salt mountain so that the Qingbai salt could continue to sell well in the northwest. In this way, his goal would be achieved.

These 300,000 troops are the last resort of Western Xia. If they are further consumed here, Western Xia will really perish.

Therefore, during this period of time, the Western Xia army surrounded but did not attack, in order to put pressure on the Song court and force it to transfer Su Yun.

But what Liang Yimai did not expect was that because of the oppression of the Western Xia army, a large-scale political struggle actually broke out in the Song court!

Of course, it seems like a good thing for Xixia, but in reality it feels like things have been delayed.

Although the court of the Song Dynasty was in chaos, Su Yun was still guarding the northwest steadily. The Western Xia delegation could only eat melons every day in Bianliang, and there was no room for negotiation at all.

For Western Xia, the best outcome would be that the Song court immediately admitted defeat, transferred Su Yun away, and then ceded Langshan to Daxia, the market would open as usual, and Qingbai salt would continue to sell well in the northwest.

Well, in the end, it comes down to this: Qingbai salt continues to sell well in the northwest.

But now the Song court is in chaos and no one can take care of these things. Su Yun is blocking the northwest, and the Western Xia army is suddenly in a dilemma of being unable to advance or retreat.

After all, the Western Xia army did not really want to fight, they just wanted to scare the Song Dynasty, but now they can neither fight nor retreat!

If the salt mountains are not distributed to the tribes this time, it will be very difficult to summon the tribes to fight again in the future. If the blue and white salt loses the market, Xixia will become weaker and weaker in the future!
As they were unable to advance or retreat, a bigger problem arose. The 300,000-strong army had been spending a month and a half in Suide, and the food and fodder they needed were huge. They could not rely on the enemy for food. Every bite of food had to be transported to the front with great effort from the rear, and the logistics department had long been complaining!
(End of this chapter)