A piece of edict, an envoy, and a mouth can persuade the barbarians and make the barbarians a vassal state of the country, avoiding the loss and bloodshed caused by the war. What kind of credit is this? Great credit to PoTian! It is a great contribution that will definitely go down in history and be praised by all generations!
This idea is the most real and urgent desire of civil servants at present.
As for whether this idea is feasible, it is a matter of opinion. Others may think that since the human race and the barbarian race are feuding people, how can they be "gentle and gentle" apart from fighting each other? Isn't this nonsense?
But in the eyes of many civil servants with dreams, nothing is impossible. Isn't defeating the enemy without fighting the highest honor that civil servants yearn for? Nowadays, the power of the barbarians is weak, but the power of the Jing Dynasty is strong. As long as the barbarians know a little bit about current affairs, they should be soft and take advantage of the situation. Isn't this "conquering the enemy without fighting"?
Therefore, in the eyes of civil servants, it is not impossible to persuade the barbarians and change the future situation of the two tribes through means other than war.
Including Left Prime Minister Ye Lansheng is also a supporter of this idea.
Anyway, the fighting is endless, why not try [txt fo] a different way to get along with the barbarians?
But not everyone sees it that way, at least not because of this change in the Ministry of War. For example, Bai Changqing, the Minister of Household Affairs.
Bai Changqing took over the conversation and had a negative view of the emperor's control of the Ministry of War: "Although His Majesty has always been in the middle between us and the army, in my opinion, Your Majesty is actually the main battler. Otherwise, he would not let the Daoxing General Manager in the south go. Zuo Yuliang actively practiced military formations and deployed outside the pass. In addition, you may not know it yet, but just a few days ago, His Majesty ordered the activation of the national storage granary to transport grain on a large scale to the south, and the quantity was more than ten times the previous amount."
Bai Changqing's words seemed to reveal secrets, but the people present here were all leaders in the civil service group, so they would not talk nonsense about it.
Ye Lansheng frowned slightly and said in a deep voice: "What Shangshu Bai means...is that His Majesty not only leads the battle, but also secretly promotes the progress of the military front? And we are only keeping an eye on the army but are kept in the dark. ?”
"Yes. I think it will be more difficult to achieve our ideas now that the Ministry of War is under the control of His Majesty. Your Majesty is eager to take charge of the battle. After all, the last time he fought against the barbarians, he personally won a great victory. Regardless of the previous results or experience, I’m afraid His Majesty won’t even “sit down and talk” with the barbarians.”
"Your Majesty is in charge of the war, but people's livelihood is the most important thing! Once the war breaks out, what will be consumed is not the national treasury? It is not as cost-effective to spend this money to build more canals. Besides, how many people will die in the war? We should do our best to persuade Your Majesty needs to ask Your Majesty to change his mind."
"Yes! Isn't this our duty as officials in the government?"
"Tsk tsk, your duty is correct, but your Majesty's character... I find it difficult to understand!"
"So what if it's difficult? Why don't we just give up?"
Bai Changqing's words completely ignited the discussion. After all, everyone here is considered a smart person. After understanding it, they will naturally understand the meaning behind the words, but they can't help but want to give up.
"Actually, if you think about it differently, it may not be good news for us that the Ministry of War is now controlled by His Majesty. This is equivalent to His Majesty siding with the Ministry of War. Will he in turn suppress us?"
As soon as these words came out, there was another silence in the study. It's true, and others have thought of it too.
Ye Lansheng turned the teacup as if thinking about something, and the surrounding discussion gradually became quiet because of his long silence.
"grown ups?"
"I'm wondering if I can find some people who can speak out in front of His Majesty to help advise. The war in the south is urgent. If it continues, once the war officially starts, I won't be able to stop." Ye Lansheng, as a As the leader of civil servants, Zhu He also follows his lead. Once Zhu He is suppressed, he will definitely be affected the most. No matter what, we cannot let the war start so soon.
"Help? But aren't the people in the court who can help now all on our side? Who else?"
He also reacted quickly and hesitated for a moment before saying: "Mr. Zuo, do you mean those princes?"
Princes?
The eyes of everyone present were fixed on Ye Lansheng, expecting the leader to give a definite answer.
"That's right. To be precise, they are His Majesty's seven princes. They have been active in the past two years or so. I know that some of you must have been in contact with them. But I have warned you before not to take sides easily because you haven't yet When the time comes, now I think I should be able to borrow the power of these princes."
After saying that, Ye Lansheng glanced around. Everyone around them either lowered their heads, pretended to look away, or pretended to whisper to the people next to them as if they didn't notice. Anyway, they just didn't meet Ye Lansheng's eyes.
These words are not easy to answer, especially for the person who comes forward, who is easily remembered.
Ye Lansheng has long been used to this situation. People say that civil servants are too evil-minded, but that’s not true at all. Who here doesn’t put self-preservation first? Looking for the prince to take advantage of the situation, this is to put it nicely, but to put it badly, it means getting involved in the "imperial power struggle". If you don't do it well, you will lose your head.
But Ye Lansheng couldn't handle this kind of thing alone, so he directly called his name: "Master Bai, what do you think?"
Bai Changqing twitched the corner of his mouth and thought to himself: Why is it me again? !
However, when Ye Lansheng called him by name, Bai Changqing couldn't pretend to be deaf and dumb, otherwise he would be disrespecting the other party's leader's status. So he thought for a moment and then said: "Have you noticed that His Majesty's control over the princes has become increasingly loose in recent years?"
"Indeed. But what does Mr. Bai mean?"
"I think... His Majesty is deliberately letting the princes move around, and at the same time he is testing them. He is probably preparing for that. So, is it appropriate for us to take advantage of the princes now? ?”
Smart people usually say that seven points hides three points. Ordinary people will think this is pretentious and hard to listen to. But the advantage is that "you will naturally understand it if you understand it", and it is easy to deny: I didn't say anything, it's you. Figure it out!
Obviously, Ye Lansheng and others are all smart people. Even if they are divided into high and low, it is not difficult to understand Bai Changqing's words.
"Hiss... Master Bai said that, it's true!"
Some people only reacted with surprise, while some people were very calm, obviously they had discovered it a long time ago but didn't say anything.
Ye Lansheng is the one with a calm expression, but he is not in a hurry to speak. Now that Bai Changqing has started talking, let others discuss it first, while he listens, and finally he is the one who makes the conclusion.
Sure enough, after Bai Changqing became the "first bird", it was impossible for the others to just listen. One by one, they began to make calculations in their minds, but they also made excuses with their mouths.
