A powerful minister of the Song Dynasty

Chapter 87 I'm Really a Conservative
The Liao Kingdom mobilized an army of 500,000 but failed to defeat Li Mingde, which made him more confident. He would definitely continue to send troops to break through the border and test the reaction of the Song Dynasty.

If any of our Song Dynasty border generals showed even a little weakness, he would be able to detect it.

At that time, Li Mingde will send a stronger force to the border of the Song Dynasty to take advantage.

In my opinion, we have to fight no matter what.

But how to deal with the Western Xia army, which is composed entirely of cavalry, is a practical issue that needs to be considered.

You must not rush forward just because you are impulsive.

The Liao emperor has set a bad example, and we in the Song Dynasty cannot learn from him.

Now the Song and Liao countries have been at peace for a long time, and the soldiers are lacking in training.

The Song Dynasty does not have many war horses, so it is better to build cities to support each other and adopt a passive defense.

Wait until the soldiers are well trained, and then make a judgment based on the situation on the battlefield.

At the same time, he sent envoys to the Liao Kingdom, hoping that the Liao emperor could control Li Mingde of Western Xia.

If Li Mingde doesn't listen, it will inevitably exacerbate the conflict between the two sides.

This is good.

This is to prevent the Song Dynasty from going to war with the Western Xia and the Liao Kingdom from joining in the fun.

Fighting on two fronts is more stressful.

As long as the Western Xia and the Liao Kingdom become hostile to each other.

At that time, the small country of Western Xia would be severely beaten by the two countries, and at the same time, both sides would close their trading posts to Western Xia, slowing down the economic cycle of Western Xia.

Only by taking these two approaches can we weaken the strength of Western Xia.

This is from the overall perspective.

When dealing with individuals, the imperial court should reward soldiers promptly and mobilize local people.

According to my observation, the soldiers of the Song Dynasty's imperial guards were well treated, but the soldiers from various places were poorly treated.

The soldiers on the frontier had a harder life. Their salaries were not high and it was difficult for them to support their families.

How can we expect them to report to the country if they can’t even support their own families?
That is even more nonsense.

Because I dare to suggest that in addition to selecting soldiers who dare to fight and training them and increasing their salaries, we can also give appropriate rewards for military merit and allocate newly occupied land on the border.

This allowed the soldiers to take root in the frontier and guard the territory for generations.

The new military merit awards are not just rewards for one individual, but for the collective merits of the entire city, battalion, and army, forming healthy competition and stronger cohesion within the army.

The pensions of soldiers who died in battle should be prevented from being deducted, and the wounded should also be given a certain reward to sustain their future life.

The people in the border areas have always been brave and the imperial court can also mobilize the people to fight against the vassal troops.

Whether they gather intelligence or attack and kill vassal soldiers, they will be rewarded.

The last step is to use the feudal troops.

Many tribes were not friendly with the Western Xia.

By winning over this group of people and using them for the Song Dynasty, we can obtain more sources of intelligence in the future.

Only in this way can the court be placed in an advantageous position.

If Li Mingde wants to start a war, it is up to him to decide, but when he wants to end the war is not something he can decide.

I personally think that the examiner's questions are a bit idealistic.

There simply aren't that many ways to have the best of both worlds.

Most of the time there is only one choice.

Many favorable conditions for our side at the negotiation table were all won through fierce fighting on the battlefield, with swords and guns hurled and blood shed.

If you want to make those barbarians surrender just by engaging in verbal battles.

It’s simply wishful thinking!

When two countries have land disputes, they put them aside when they are poor and they have been doing so since ancient times when they are rich.

How to kneel before fighting?
How can this be possible in the world!

Even if the imperial court wanted to negotiate, it would have to send troops to intimidate the barbarians and fight a few battles before they would calm down and listen to you.

After Song Xuan finished writing this argumentative essay in a very eloquent manner, he recalled what Yan Shu had taught him.

Words written on paper, content that can leave a mark.

Don't be too aggressive.

Then Song Xuan added another sentence at the end.

This is what the scholar said.

If the imperial court wanted to actually implement it, it would have to go to the scene to conduct an investigation.

The most important thing is that without investigation, there is no right to speak. We scholars should not rely on our own assumptions and make national policies at the court on a whim.

Song Xuan first put on armor and conservative clothes.

This way.

The words written on paper are not too radical.

After writing the last word, Song Xuan finally breathed a sigh of relief and put down the brush.

Song Xuan rubbed his sore wrist and looked around.

He saw that many people were still scratching their heads and were reluctant to put pen to paper.

What's so hard about this?
Many people have the skill of building a government.

Whether it's learning a few things on a forum or listening to the taxi driver chatting.

Or, at the New Year’s party, the parents start bragging.

The worst case scenario is that you are just talking nonsense in the group, or watching others talking nonsense.

As for many big players, they can see the essence through the phenomenon and analyze many problems.

Song Xuan learned a lot from all of them, as they were all very powerful.

Wang Congyi had been an official and had experience in governing.

It's just that he is in poor health and has resigned temporarily.

I happened to be recuperating in Yingtian Prefecture, and out of boredom I took part in this exam.

He thought the question posed by Fan Zhongyan was really too complicated.

How could ordinary students come up with a solution that would satisfy both needs?
This is simply asking too much.

Could it be that Fan Zhongyan made the exam questions so difficult because there were so many students applying for the exam?

Want to eliminate as many students as possible?
Shi Jie took advantage of the gap between the ink-dipped pen to look up.

He found that most of the students in the room were still thinking, only Song Xuan put down his pen.

Did Song Xuan finish writing it so quickly?

It shouldn’t be!

Song Xuan acted so impulsively.

How could he possibly come up with a solution that would satisfy both parties in such a short time and write it down on the test paper so quickly?

Just thinking about it makes me feel that Song Xuan doesn't have this ability.

You know.

Especially Song Xuan's behavior of rolling up his sleeves just now further strengthened Shi Jie's image that Song Xuan was accustomed to solving problems with force rather than brains.

Many people just write with gritted teeth, but when the gong rings to close the papers, many people are still sighing.

Not finished yet.

According to the rules, everyone must put down their pens and not write anymore.

Anyone who writes it again will have their test paper invalidated.

There are no special exceptions made for you in the imperial examination.

People walked out of the examination room in groups of three or four, sighing.

Song Xuan and Su Xun joined Bao Zheng and Zhang Fangping and walked out together.

Bao Zheng actually didn't like checking answers after the test, so he didn't come to look for Song Xuan or anything at noon.

He just sat obediently in his seat and rested. When he went to the toilet, he heard about Song Twelve's deeds.

Although Bao Zheng was also tough, he was full of melancholy.

Although Bao Zheng agreed that Song Xuan was precocious and had excellent interpersonal skills, he was still a commoner and offended the son of a man who was more powerful than the prime minister.

He may suffer in the future, which will be disadvantageous to his success in the imperial examination.

On the other hand, Su Xun, a poor student, likes to answer questions:

"Twelfth Brother, I see you write very quickly. Could it be that you already have a draft in mind?"

"This kind of question is very simple."

After hearing what Song Xuan said, Su Xun chuckled twice.

To be honest, he didn't quite understand the question, so he didn't know how to agree with Song Xuan.

Zhang Fangping's eyes lit up:
"I'm relieved that Brother Twelve also thinks it's easy. I was wondering if the examiner was secretly letting me off."

Bao Zheng: ???
(End of this chapter)