Pang Tong's idea can indeed be said to be well-founded. Zhuge Liang is not unable to refute it, but in the end it is inevitable that he will fall into a situation like the dispute between Qin Mi and Zhang Fei, where each has his own reason.
The dispute between Qin Mi and Zhang Fei is not a big problem. After all, although Qin Mi has a high position, he does not have much weight. No matter how fierce his quarrel with Zhang Fei is, it will not affect the normal operation of the government. Zhuge Liang and Pang Tong are different.
Both of them were important officials in the imperial court and held considerable power. Obviously, Zhuge Liang did not want to have a dispute with Pang Tong in this regard, which would cause unnecessary internal strife.
Therefore, Zhuge Liang suggested that the governors from various states such as Zhang Xi, Zhao Yun, Jiang Xu, and Wang Ji be recalled to Chengdu to discuss with Pang Tong, Fazheng, Yang Hong, and other six important ministers who stayed in Chengdu, and finally make a decision.
Of course, the decision made in this way cannot satisfy all parties, but even if the strategy finally formulated by everyone is not in line with their own wishes, at least it will not cause internal friction.
In this regard, Zhuge Liang really worked hard to maintain internal balance.
As Zhang Xi and others returned to Chengdu, Zhuge Liang sent an invitation to discuss matters together in front of the emperor.
Actually, Liu Chan really didn't understand why Zhuge Liang had to place the meeting place in his palace with such great fanfare this time, and also discuss it in front of himself. As in the past, when discussing matters in the Prime Minister's Mansion, he sent his own Wouldn't it be enough for Fu Qian or Jiang Wei to observe? !
What a waste of time. If you have this time, it would be better to spend more time with the queen in the harem, fight cocks, or walk the dog.
Really, that is to say, Liu Chan did not say this directly. Otherwise, Zhuge Liang would probably be so angry that he would be injured internally.
This is Zhuge Liang giving Liu Chan an opportunity to participate in important national affairs, not only to let Liu Chan learn, but also to help Liu Chan accumulate prestige in front of governors from various places. This kid actually still wants to play? !
Well, fortunately Zhuge Liang didn't know, and although the little fat man was indeed a little heartless at this time, he still knew that state affairs were important and was not absent.
Then, in front of the emperor, in front of the emperor, Zhuge Liang described in detail the situation facing the Han Dynasty, and then asked all the important officials in the court to express their opinions.
Qin Mi was the first to stand up and expressed his opinion. He believed that the Han Dynasty should recuperate, restore people's livelihood, accumulate strength, wait until the country is rich and the people are strong, and then it is not too late to go on the Northern Expedition.
Also standing up with Qin Mi were Yang Hong, the governor of Shu County, Dong He, the official secretary, and others.
When Zhang Fei saw this situation, he immediately stood up and opposed it, expressing that he should take advantage of the change of power in Cao Wei and the chaos of the people to immediately send troops to the north. Once he attacked Luoyang and captured Luoyang, the general trend would be settled. It would not be too late to rest and recuperate at that time.
Most of those who supported Zhang Fei were military generals, and most of them were not in the palace at this time, so Zhang Fei almost stood up to express his opinions on his own.
As for Zhao Yun and Zhang Xi, although they are also subordinate to the rank of military commanders, they are now in charge of the government and cannot express their stance easily.
Besides, Zhao Yun and Zhang Xi did not think that now was a good time to attack the Central Plains.
Zhang Fei suddenly seemed a little embarrassed. He was just a polished commander and seemed to be at a disadvantage in terms of numbers.
Just when Zhang Fei was a little embarrassed, Pang Tong stood up.
He supported sending troops, but he did not support the Northern Expedition. Instead, he suggested that the court should march eastward to attack Soochow on the grounds of dishonesty and betrayal of the alliance.
Until now, Soochow has not had a single argument or reason for betraying the alliance, and has always been in a stalemate. It just so happened that it was justifiable to take this opportunity to attack Soochow and recapture the two counties of Jingnan.
The specific reason is what Pang Tong told Zhuge Liang before. In addition, now that the new king of Cao Wei has succeeded, there is no need to worry about Soochow will form an alliance with Cao Wei in the short term. Soochow can only rely on its own military strength to fight the Han Dynasty. This is the solution. The perfect time to put your worries behind you.
Although Pang Tong and Zhang Fei had different purposes, Zhang Fei, who supported the use of troops after all, kindly leaned towards Pang Tong and expressed his support for Pang Tong.
At this time, Wang Ji suddenly stepped out, stood behind Pang Tong, and expressed his agreement. But soon, Wang Ji withdrew to his original position and explained the reason to Zhuge Liang.
Supporting the expedition to Soochow was the instruction given by Guan Yu before Wang Ji rushed from Jingzhou to Chengdu. Guan Yu hoped that the court would seriously consider the possibility of sending troops to Soochow. The second master had disliked these Jiangdong rats for a long time, and after two backstabbings, The second master really has the energy to completely solve the idea of such a Jiangdong rat while he is still able to move.
But Wang Ji himself did not support this idea, so he stood up to support Pang Tong, but in the end he withdrew his position.
Standing up to support expressed the opinion of the Han general, while withdrawing represented the opinion of Wang Ji, the governor of Jingzhou.
But even so, Pang Tong was very satisfied.
After all, that was the support from the Han general. Really, if Guan Yu hadn't been in Jingzhou for a long time and was in poor health now, this matter would have been settled by now.
How can a Shu group represented by Qin Mi fight against a Jingzhou group backed by a general? !
Zhuge Liang really did not expect that Guan Yu would endorse Pang Tong so easily. Considering Guan Yu's potential influence, Zhuge Liang was not suitable to continue hiding at this time, so he quickly came out and expressed his thoughts to the emperor.
Zhuge Liang also doesn't think that now is a good time to send troops. At least before this autumn harvest, it is not a suitable time.
Qin Mi is right. It has been less than three years since the last Northern Expedition of the Han Dynasty. Last year, it just encountered a three-pronged attack. Although they were repelled, they inevitably lost a batch of grain, grass and ordnance, which was far from enough. When launching a war.
As for Soochow, although it is a scourge and needs to be solved, it does not mean that it cannot be solved through political means. There is no need to fight with weapons from the beginning.
Under the current situation, no one among the three forces in the world can destroy each other in a short time. Once a war starts, it will definitely be a big war. No matter which direction the troops are used, it is not Zhuge Liang's best choice.
Therefore, Zhuge Liang's suggestion was still the same old one of "harmonize with the Rong outside and cultivate political principles internally", recuperate and accumulate national strength, wait until Guanzhong matures and Jingzhou is free from worries, then proceed to the Northern Expedition and conquer the Central Plains in one battle.
In other words, Zhuge Liang agreed with Qin Mi's opinion at this moment.
To be honest, no one here except Fazheng and Zhang Xi thought of this statement.
Qin Mi and Yang Hong did not expect that Zhuge Liang, who had been suppressing the Yizhou faction, would actually choose to support the suggestions put forward by the Yizhou faction at this time.
Zhang Fei and Pang Tong did not expect that Zhuge Liang, who had always been a hawk on foreign affairs, would not advocate the use of foreign troops.
That is to say, through Fazheng's daily observation of government affairs, Zhang Xi understood through his historical understanding of Zhuge Liang that although Zhuge Liang was a staunch hawk, he was not a brainless hawk.
When it comes to fighting, in the final analysis, what you are fighting is national strength and what you are fighting is logistics. Without adequate logistical support, you cannot win any war at all.
Fa Zheng was the Minister of Finance and was in charge of the implementation of the Six Ministries. He was very aware of the current amount of grain and five-baht coins in the Ministry of Household Affairs. He also knew the amount of ordnance inventory in the Ministry of Industry and the number of new additions every year. The current Han Dynasty really could not support a large-scale war.
As for Zhang Xi, it was because he knew very well that in history, Zhuge Liang had accumulated enough strength after five years of development, reversed the overall decline of the Han Dynasty after the Battle of Yiling, and first took advantage of the South, which was easier to handle. The Central Barbarians practiced their skills and found that there was no problem, so they launched the first Northern Expedition.
Although Zhuge Liang often went on Northern Expeditions, he never delayed the economic construction of Shuzhong. He would only launch the next Northern Expedition after he had accumulated enough strength. This was a completely different concept from Jiang Wei's Northern Expedition in order to realize the prime minister's long-cherished wish.
There is a saying that Jiang Wei's loyalty and spirit are indeed worthy of praise, but his Northern Expedition is indeed somewhat suspected of being militaristic. He was just for the Northern Expedition and had no regard for the domestic economic situation.
Of course, this is also directly related to Liu Chan's later period when the Shuzhong family controlled the government.
How could a group of aristocratic families from central Shu really carry out the Northern Expedition for the benefit of the Han Dynasty? As soon as Qiao Zhou's "Qiu Guolun" came out, no one cared about this matter.
Since Chen Zhi, Ji Han no longer has the kind of talents who can deal with the economy and people's livelihood. How can a bunch of people who only care about their own selfish interests work hard to help Jiang Wei's Northern Expedition? It's not good to just lie in Shu to make money. Well.
At worst, if the enemy army comes, we will surrender. This world is not my family's world. As long as it does not interfere with my family's interests, it doesn't matter who becomes the emperor. This was the true thinking of the Shuzhong family that controlled the Jihan Dynasty at that time.
Therefore, Jiang Wei's Northern Expedition caused so much controversy and was considered to be militaristic. But in reality, Jiang Wei should not be the only one to bear the blame.
Well, that’s a long way off. Let’s bring it back to the present.
Because Zhuge Liang agreed to recuperate, the main battle group was caught off guard. Zhang Fei turned his attention to Zhang Xi and Zhao Yun.
That boy Wang Ji is unreliable. He stands up and then withdraws, which itself represents his attitude. As for Jiang Xu, Zhang Fei is not familiar with him, so he can only count on Yuan Chang and Zilong? !
But... Zhang Xi and Zhao Yun looked at each other slowly, with helpless expressions on their faces, and chose to stand behind Zhuge Liang.
The two parties that are actually in power are aware of the actual difficulties in their respective states and counties.
If the imperial court insists on the Northern Expedition, they will do their best to support it, but both of them actually know that forcing the Northern Expedition will not be a good thing for the people under their rule.
Therefore, if possible, they also hope to have two or three years of recuperation time, so that at least the people's lives can be stabilized. They do not ask for a good life, but at least there will be no more forced displacement and selling of children and daughters.
As soon as these two people expressed their stance, Zhang Fei's nose almost became angry. Two traitors appeared among the generals.
There was no other way, Zhang Fei had no choice but to pin his hopes on Fa Zheng, an important minister who still expressed his opinions and a representative of the Dongzhou faction.
Fazheng, on the other hand, just smiled slightly, walked up to Zhang Fei, nodded slightly, then turned around and walked behind Zhuge Liang.
(End of chapter)
