Gao Jiong said that "the intentions and motives of Qimin Khan's tribute are not pure", "cannot be fooled for small profits", "everything cannot be generalized", not only mentioned the key to the problem, but also did not coincide with Yang Guang's thoughts. And together. Just when Yang Guang was happy to hear this and regarded him as a close friend and good minister, Gao Jiong suddenly changed his mind and said, "Why don't we wait until King Wei's class teacher returns to court before making a final decision?" This made Yang Guang dislike hearing it and made him very unhappy.
Although Yang Guang did not lose his temper in public, he did not want to let Gao Ji go. He glanced at Gao Ji displeased and said calmly: "King Wei is far away fighting in the Andong Protectorate. After the war, he still has to resettle the people. He still has to deploy the garrison and draw up borders with the three countries of Haidong. Even if he has thousands of ingenious plans, he can't solve the current matter. No matter what Gao Qing has to say, it doesn't matter."
"Old minister, let me just say that if I am inappropriate, I hope that the saints will forgive me." Gao Jiong bowed deeply. He knew that the emperor did not like Su Wei, a smooth minister who was willing to play both sides. Much better than Solvay. So after he said that last sentence, he felt very regretful. Fortunately, the emperor kept asking questions step by step. If he stopped asking questions, it would mean that the emperor had given up on him.
When Gao Qiao slowly regained consciousness, he couldn't help but look at Su Wei from the corner of his eye, and found that Su Wei's face was pale. After thinking for a moment, he guessed that Su Wei had come to his senses. He probably regretted it so much that his intestines were blue. When the emperor asked him just now, if Su Wei had the courage to take responsibility, he would be able to impress the emperor and save his image. However, he refused to change his mind and missed a God-given opportunity to mend the rift. After this incident, the emperor I will definitely be extremely disappointed and give up completely.
This is a lesson learned from the past! It cannot be imitated.
How could Yang Guang have thought that Gao Jiong would have so many thoughts in an instant? After hearing these words, he raised his hand to Gao Jiong with a slight expression on his face and said, "Please speak, Gao Qing!"
"Old minister, I obey!" Gao Jiong calmed down and said with a solemn expression and a sonorous tone: "Qimin Khan survived and prospered because of our Sui Dynasty at the critical moment of life and death, but he failed again and again. The third one used the Great Sui Dynasty to deceive the Great Sui Dynasty. When Bujia Khan invaded Liangzhou southward, he not only concealed his strength, but also played both sides of the Great Sui Dynasty and Bujia Khan. Later, he ordered his son to lead an army to attack the Great Lakes area and capture the guards. On the Queen's Road, his wolfish ambitions are obvious. In view of this, the veteran believes that the famous saying "Those who are not of my race must have different hearts" are best embodied in Qimin Khan. If you talk about benevolence and righteousness with them, you will be helping the tiger and raising the tiger to cause trouble. "
Su Wei glanced at Kang Di's passionate look, and thought with disdain in his heart: "You didn't say that before. If you hadn't proposed sending another princess to marry, you wouldn't have ended up abandoning your official position."
Although I thought so, I could only keep these words in my heart. If I said them out of control, I would definitely get burned.
Just when Su Wei was thinking wildly, Gao Yan said again: "We used to talk about benevolence and righteousness. Although Qimin Khan used to send envoys to pay tribute every year, his tribute never exceeded one million sheep. Now he has The sudden need to pay tribute to such a large number of animals and the initiative to build a white road are enough to show that our Sui army has already frightened him. At the same time, he is even more worried that after my Sui Dynasty destroyed Goguryeo, the sword will point north, so he wants to bribe my court."
"It's just a bribe, but he also used the name of uniting the various ministries. If I, the Great Sui Dynasty, listened and believed it, Qimin Khan would definitely attack each ministry and seize their money in the name of my Great Sui Dynasty. The ministries did not know what they were doing. He must have thought that we, the Sui Dynasty, were asking for too much, and then turned away from morality and took refuge in Qimin. In this way, Qimin Khan could unify the grassland without a single blow, and then, like Shabolue and Bujia, send their troops south to invade us. frontier."
As soon as these last words came out, the officials in the Xuanzheng Palace were in an uproar. Some ministers who advocated peaceful coexistence gradually calmed down. When they heard that Qimin Khan had paid tribute to so many animals, they were overjoyed and rejoiced. They really thought that Qimin Khan was extremely loyal to the Sui Dynasty, and they all came to him for him. Sing a hymn. However, after Gao Jiong analyzed them one by one, they all realized that based on what Qimin Khan had done before, it was really possible that he was cheating again.
Yang Guang nodded secretly after hearing this. Gao Jun is worthy of being Gao Jun. Once he gets serious, he is smarter than anyone else. Once these words are spoken, he will definitely silence the many "Zhuhe faction" who follow the crowd and follow what others say.
"Sage, I second the proposal!" Zuo Pu shot Yang Da out of the queue and said, "Enlighten the people.
After less than twenty years of independence and self-reliance, he immediately launched a rebellion and raised more than 100,000 troops to attack the Great Lakes area. His evil intentions were known to everyone on the road. "
"Had it not been for the gratifying progress of our army in Liaodong and the series of great victories this time, Qimin would have raised his troops to respond to Gao Yuan. Now he is clearly forced to resort to tricks to confuse the enemy. The target he wants to confuse , is the delusional Duke Gonggun! Judging from the current situation, his goal has been achieved, just because those who "speak for justice" on his behalf occupy most of the court. "
Zhang Heng, the imperial censor, also walked out of the train and saluted Yang Guangshen: "Sage, ordinary people and petty officials cannot distinguish right from wrong. They are deceived by the Turks, which is understandable. All court officials are outstanding people in the world. , however, many people secretly occupy high positions, but put the country and the country at risk and desperately promote the loyalty of enemy chiefs. Therefore, I suggest a thorough investigation."
Having said this, Zhang Heng waved his hand with a serious face and said in a serious tone: "Anyone who accepts bribes from the Turks or maliciously adds fuel to the flames will be punished with treason, and the three tribes will be punished to set an example. As for those who frequently say "Sages have said so" ”, and those who follow what others say, are all rhetorical people with mediocre talents and unworthy virtues. Such mediocre people have no practical talents and lack the knowledge and foresight that officials should have. It is useless to keep them and harmful to use. They should be kicked out of the court. Hall, never hired. "
Zhang Heng's words were like a thunder exploding in the Xuanzheng Palace, making the civil and military officials present dizzy and dumbfounded. Some officials who blindly followed the public were frightened when they heard this. They admitted that they had some selfish motives, but they never thought about betraying the Sui Dynasty or helping Qimin Khan. They were just discussing the matter. Why? Have you become a boastful person with mediocre talents and unworthy morals?
If there are those who accept bribes from Turks or maliciously add fuel to the flames, then it is natural that the imperial court will punish them. However, those who frequently follow what others say and follow what others say do not have bad intentions. If they are punished, who will dare to speak out and speak uprightly in the future?
For a moment, all those who had made peace were filled with indignation and looked at Zhang Heng angrily.
Ordinary officials did not dare to scold Zhang Heng, who was a censor and prime minister, but upright and honest Confucian scholars such as Xue Daoheng, Li Gang, and Xu Wenyuan did not care what official or position Zhang Heng held. Although they were pedantic, their character was beyond words. One after another they reprimanded:
"Exaggeration, alarmism!"
"It is an unpardonable crime to harbor evil intentions!"
"Any words that harm the country should be punished for their crimes!"
"..."
Yang Guang glanced at the angry courtiers below, waved his hand to calm them down, and turned to Zhang Heng and asked, "Why did Zhang Qing say this?"
Zhang Heng bowed his hands and said in a deep voice: "Sage, the ambitions and intentions of Qimin Khan have been thoroughly analyzed by Prime Minister Gao and Yang Pushe, so there is no need to elaborate further. However, there are so many ministers in the hall, not only cannot they spy on his sinister intentions , on the contrary, everyone sang praises for him. The speech and behavior of this kind of minister, to put it mildly, is a serious dereliction of duty, and he does not even have the basic ability to distinguish right from wrong. How can such a mediocre official govern the world and benefit the people? To put it seriously, , is to deliberately influence the judgment of the saints and the people, and shake the foundation of our Sui Dynasty. Once the saint ignores and underestimates Qimin Khan, his purpose will naturally be achieved. "
"No matter how serious or serious it is, it is of no benefit to the country or the people. In the words of King Wei: Such officials shirk their responsibilities when they have something to do, and they can cause big troubles even when they have nothing to do. Their existence not only does not benefit us in the Sui Dynasty, but it is a huge disaster." There are hidden dangers and it is imperative to abolish them.”
"But compared with the former, officials who do bad things with good intentions are more terrifying. Such officials are well-educated, eloquent, and eloquent. Apart from rhetoric and rhetoric, they have no practical talent. Not only do they not know the sufferings of the people, they even don't know the grain. They can't tell the difference. However, they have extraordinary influence among scholars and the people, and are regarded as models for many people to follow. Therefore, whenever they say something wrong, countless people will cheer for them, and their wrong words will also be criticized. Spread it widely throughout the world."
After saying this in one breath, Zhang Heng's mouth became a little dry. He paused for a moment, and then said: "It's just ordinary mistakes, but when it comes to major national affairs, the problems become serious. For example, this time, there were many People followed them and said that Qimin Khan was loyal and lost his vigilance towards the Turks. If things go on like this, the Turks will surely be conquered by him.
They exaggerate them into moral saints, and the people will yearn for them and treat them kindly, unaware that these Turks are all murderous robbers. It is precisely in view of this that I believe that the harm of such officials is far greater than corrupt and mediocre officials, and the court should clean them up. "
Although the surname was not mentioned in these words, even Xue Daoheng, Li Gang, Xu Wenyuan and others knew that Zhang Heng was talking about them. Their faces turned the color of pig liver at this moment, and they were speechless for a while.
But the terrible thing is that although their minds are full of classic knowledge and Zhang Heng is not bad, but apart from these, they have nothing else, but Zhang Heng talks matter-of-factly, but they have no way to argue.
Unlike Xue Daoheng, Li, Xu and other Confucian scholars, Li Yuantong, the Minister of the Ministry of Justice, who was also classified as a series, was very angry when he heard: After Zhang Heng and Zhang Jianping took charge of the Yushitai, they helped the saints to overhaul the Yushitai. System, while cleaning the officialdom many times. Since he became the Prime Minister of the Council, he has become more and more arrogant. His power is so great that he has vaguely suppressed the Ministry of Punishment and Dali Temple. At this time, he speaks arrogantly, clearly treating the courtiers as nothing. I really think you are Yang Ji. ah?
He said angrily: "Prime Minister Zhang, what we are talking about now is the future relationship between the Sui Dynasty and the Turks. You are going too far by digressing, right?"
"Li Xingbu, this is not off topic. This is exactly the problem that occurred in the Sui Dynasty-Turkish relationship. These untalented, incompetent, and unscrupulous people in our Sui Dynasty are like patients. If we don't be cruel at this time, To deal with it, by the time it threatens life, it is already too late to deal with it. Are there many examples of people hiding illnesses and refusing to seek medical treatment?"
Zhang Heng knew that redundant officials and overstaffing existed in every dynasty. For this phenomenon involving too many people and too many forces and interests, dynasties in history chose to let it go, so as not to shake the foundation of the country. However, this has also led to more and more redundant officials and redundant personnel. When this group reaches the point of endangering the country, it is no longer possible to deal with it. However, Yang Guang was aware of this danger from the beginning, so as soon as he ascended the throne as emperor, he vigorously eliminated redundant officials and eliminated countless idle officials. This courage was unprecedented. However, the civil service sector has not been touched yet, but Zhang Heng believes that it will happen sooner or later, which is also the fundamental reason why he mentioned this matter.
However, the matter was serious and urgent, and the top priority was to establish a good relationship between the Sui Dynasty and the Turks. So after arguing, he returned to the business. He bowed his hand to Yang Guang and said: "Sage, the interests of countries are often conflicting, and backwardness One side is bound to face provocation and plunder from the strong. Blindly making peace will only make the other side push forward and press forward step by step. To truly recuperate is to use strength and swords to frighten the aliens, making them fearful and flee. Only in this way, Only then can we ensure border stability and manage people's livelihood with peace of mind. Our Sui Dynasty's prosperity today was not achieved through peace, but through war and killing."
"I remember in the second year of Kaihuang's reign, the Turks sent an army of more than 400,000 people southward and sacked seven counties in our Sui Dynasty. At that time, our Sui Dynasty only had the land of the Northern Dynasties, and the south had to defend Nanchen. However, the late emperor counterattacked domineeringly. In just three years The mighty Turkic Khanate was defeated in just a matter of time. The late emperor’s achievements in the past three years far exceeded the sum of Liu Bang, Liu Ying, Liu Heng, Liu Qi, and Liu Chezhi. Today’s Sui Dynasty is invincible in the world, and the Turks are not the original Turks. Khanate, what’s there to worry about?”
"Anyway, our soldiers are idle, and they are all happy when they hear about the war. If Qimin is really disloyal, at worst, we will just have to fight again."
Yang Guang and the generals liked these words, and they were all delighted when they heard them.
"What's more, Qimin Khan's bad intentions of annexing various parts of the grassland under false pretenses have been revealed to us in the Great Sui Dynasty. Even if we don't fight, we can still target him."
"How to target it?" Yang Guang asked with interest.
"It's actually very simple!" Zhang Heng said: "The tribute paid by Qimin Khan is extremely valuable. If you don't accept it, people will be unhappy and think that I, the Sui Dynasty, are unreasonable. I, the Sui Dynasty, have to give me this face!"
"At the same time, we sent envoys to Xue Yantuo, the Huihe tribe, the Qigu tribe, the Nanshiwei tribe, the Beishiwei tribe, and the Xue Hu tribe, saying that the Turks had paid tribute to our Sui Dynasty of five million sheep, one hundred thousand cattle, and ten Thousands of war horses, the purpose is to hope that we, the Sui Dynasty, will support the Turks to unify the grasslands; but we, the Sui Dynasty, are still considering it, and you can decide for yourself. If you behave to the satisfaction of those who support the Turks, we, the Sui Dynasty, can turn a blind eye. .”
"Xue Yantuo, Uihe and other important officials
By paying tribute on his own, Qimin Khan had no reason to put pressure on various ministries in the name of our Great Sui Dynasty, and the tributes he promised and the Baidao he promised to build all fell on the Eastern Turks. If he dares to betray his promise, then let's go to war! "
Having said this, Zhang Heng made a summary: "We, the Sui Dynasty, are a civilized country. We should respect the traditional customs of all grassland tribes and treat them according to the laws of the weak and the strong."
"Sage, I second the proposal!" Duan Wenzhen, Minister of the Ministry of War, bowed out and added: "According to the purpose of the grassland people, the Sui Dynasty, as a strong man, should kill all directions and take control of all directions. If not, then it is not right. Respect them."
Yang Guang was extremely happy and excited when he heard this. He asked Li Yuantong below, "Li Qing, what do you think?"
When Li Yuantong saw that Wei Shikang, Xue Daoheng, Li Gang, and Xu Wenyuan were all hiding, he had no choice but to say: "Sages, since ancient times, those who have gained the Taoism have received more help, while those who have lost the Taoism have had few. I believe that the Turks are capricious and dishonest. The world, its power cannot last long! I, the Sui Dynasty, cannot imitate it, but should inspire it with benevolence and righteousness."
"Li Shangshu's benevolence and righteousness are beyond my reach." Yang Guang was too lazy to argue anymore. He nodded solemnly, and then said to Li Yuantong: "From today on, the imperial court will use Li Qing's name and the salary of Li Qing's father, son and brothers." , Shiyi, and give it to the suffering Turkic people in order to fulfill Li Qing’s high righteousness.”
After talking about Li Yuantong, Yang Guangyou was not relieved, and then said: "Wei Shilang, Xue Sili, Li Youcheng, Dr. Xu and others are just like Li Shangshu, they are all people with unparalleled benevolence and righteousness, and they will be the same in the future."
Yang Guang's loud remarks were like a huge stone being thrown into the lake, and immediately set off waves of chaos in the palace, and all the ministers in the palace were talking secretly.
The emperor's attitude is really as tough as ever.
"The sage is wise, I second my opinion!" Zhang Heng immediately said: "Confucius said, "The beauty of a gentleman is not the evil of a man. The villain is." The saint has now fulfilled the aspirations of Li Shangshu, Wei Shilang, Xue Sili, Li Youcheng, Dr. Xu and others. He has the style of the sages, and I agree with him. "
Although Zhang Heng is also a great Confucian, he is completely different from the corrupt Confucians. The Confucianism he inherited is authentic Confucianism, so he has a clear-cut character between grudges and enemies. Whenever he heard those colleagues who had no regard for the life and death of their own people talking loudly about how the Sui Dynasty should be benevolent and righteous to foreigners, he felt a sense of absurdity in his heart. Many times, he almost exploded with anger. Yang Guang's method surprised him to the extreme.
Haha, haven’t you always sympathized with foreign races? Haven't you always asked the court to treat foreigners kindly? Haven't you always accused the imperial court of being too violent towards foreigners? Well, then, let's start with you yourself and show kindness and righteousness to the foreigners. If you don't agree and are unwilling, then you are a duplicitous villain.
"The saint is wise, I second my opinion!"
"The saint is wise, I second my opinion!"
"The saint is wise, and the general will second my opinion!"
"..."
Under the huge momentum, Li Yuantong, Wei Shikang, Xue Daoheng, Li Gang, Xu Wenyuan and others were stunned. At this moment, their minds went blank.
It is true that they do not lack this kind of money, and these salaries are dispensable for them who come from aristocratic families, but the question is what do the people think? What do you think of them?
After today's court meeting, the news that they would rather give all their salaries to foreigners than use a single amount of money to help the people of their own race will surely spread throughout the world at a speed visible to the naked eye.
By then, they will be notorious and reviled by everyone in the world.
