Take the system back to the Northern Song Dynasty

Chapter 140 What Will He Do?

The current situation can be understood as: whether there are bandits in Chizhou and whether a state of emergency needs to be entered, this needs to be decided by Cai You, the chief political officer of Chizhou.No one under Zhongshu has the right to make decisions. This is the customary mode of "in charge and deputy judge" in the Song Dynasty.

Cai Youcai was the local guardian appointed by the emperor, and being in charge meant taking the initiative.In this case, if the court also exercised the "main power", it would be a mess, so the court exercised the power of judgment, that is, the power of second judgment.In fact, the imperial court could not tell Cai You what to do, but could only tell Cai You "not to do anything", or Cai You was dismissed and punished if he made a mistake.

For example, Cai You said that if there are bandits under his rule, he can take the initiative to launch a campaign to suppress the bandits, but if there is a disaster, which causes food production to decrease, anger, people complain, etc., the court can say, "Boy, you have caused trouble, and you will be punished with three drinks, and you will not be allowed to use the army in the future." ".

Mostly this is the pattern.

In other words, without the decision of Chizhou Chief Justice Cai You, Huang Wenbing had no right to send troops because he was here to represent the imperial court.Although Huang Wenbing cannot be killed if there is any violation, as long as you have the ability, you can kill the troops he brought into Chizhou as rebels.

But once Cai You made the decision to "suppress the bandits and start a war," nothing would happen to Cai You in the future.Huang Wenbing, who was dual-appointed by the Privy Council and the Central Military Commission, would be responsible for dispatching troops and generals, while Dong Ping and Qin Ming would be responsible for executing the strategy of Huang Wenbing, the commander-in-chief of Chizhou.

In other words, today's situation has become a political confrontation between Cai You and Huang Wenbing.One wants to fight, and the other wants to stabilize the tenure and muddle.

Feeling that Cai You will continue to maintain stability, Yongfeng, who sits and watches without copper, jumps anxiously but does not start a war, and continues to trap the Wuwei Army in Chizhou to wear small shoes.So some old foxes in the hall thought that Huang Wenbing's authorization of a thousand cavalry to be deployed on Xishan Gaogang, which was very close to Wang Xiu, was a political act!
Because Cai You did not judge Wang Xiu as a rebel, Huang Wenbing could not start the war.But there is one exception: if the Royal Forbidden Army is actively attacked by bandits, it will of course be regarded as rebellion.Then there is no need to wait for the judge’s decision and the situation will automatically enter the stage of quelling the chaos.

"The current deployment, in Zhao's opinion, is a military failure! Those who are in Chaos Chi Prefecture must be such subordinates!"

After looking at each other for a while with Dong Ping, Zhao Cheng said something astonishing, almost cursing.

The others were horrified, and even Cai You was taken aback, a little blaming Zhao Cheng for not being calm, and angrily denouncing this tacit confrontation as a military issue.

"You mere scholar, you speak nonsense on this kind of issue, and question my decision to serve as a military judge, how bold you are!"

Dong Ping stood up abruptly, truly astonishing.

"slow……"

Huang Wenbing stopped him, "Sit down, Dong Ping, Zhao Cheng, after you have finished speaking, I am interested in hearing what you have to say on specific issues?"

Zhao Cheng got up and pointed to the map of the military area on the wall, "It's Mid-Autumn Festival, the rainy season has passed, and it has officially entered the season of dry weather and turbulent wind. It is related to the stability of a state. How can the military play games? Suppose a small number of bandits lurk in the Under the high hills, setting fire to the mountain at this time when the vegetation is dense and the wind is dry, it is fine if it is an infantry soldier. My Han sergeant lacks experience in equestrianism. It’s dangerous to do nothing like this.”

Frankly speaking, here are all scholars who are too vague about these concepts and have no specific sense of crisis.I just feel that Zhao Cheng is looking for logic to oppose it from a political level. This is very common among literati in the Song Dynasty.

"Scaremongering, sensationalism!" Wang Fu first scolded with disdain.

In this way, Dong Ping felt more confident, cupping his fists and saying: "Then I have to ask Mr. Zhao, do you think that marching and fighting are too simple? Or do you think that the mere grass bandits of Wang Xiu's tribe are too powerful and too bold?" I have been serving in the army for many years, and I have seen all kinds of bandits and bandits. But if you say they are not mountain bandits, they are called heavenly soldiers. Is there one in Chizhou? But if there is one, I have to ask who it is. Who is behind these bandits and who caused this?”

Cai Wenji, who was watching at the door, also felt that what Zhao Cheng said was too light and bookish.

Well, after thinking for a while, Zhao Cheng also felt that he was thinking too much.

However, it did not affect Zhao Cheng's position. He ignored Dong Ping's provocation and continued to look at Huang Wenbing. Stable. People can have many reasons for doing things. If you want to find them, it is not difficult to find hundreds of them. It is more humane. When you have a position and want to do something, and find a reason to do it, you will deliberately fool those who do not do it. reason."

"It's fine to choose to ignore small things, and there is still time to correct mistakes."

Zhao Cheng continued, "However, at present, in the heavyweight affairs that concern the interests of hundreds of thousands of people in Chizhou, the lower officials think that there is no big harm in being cautious. In this kind of affairs, there can be hundreds of reasons for doing so, but as long as you To find a logic that should not be done, one must consider the consequences, and if the consequences are that you cannot afford to lose, you must return even if the possibility is small. This is called thinking twice.”

Qin Ming and Dong Ping couldn't understand these tongue twisters, they couldn't help but flashed ridicule, and turned their heads away with a sneer.If it wasn't for Zhao Cheng being a civil servant, there would be right and wrong.

However, Huang Wenbing, who has always been cautious and careful, was stunned for a while, "I see that although you don't have any fame, you seem to have read a lot of books. Since you use this logic to argue about specific matters, then I will examine you." You, where did you come up with the logic of saying 'Wang Xiu will take the initiative to attack'? General Dong seems to be a bit ill-considered, but he is really right. It is rare for us to have the kind of bandits you mentioned. Generally in the north where the folk customs are strong, but in the south it is completely absent?"

Zhao Cheng clasped his fists and said, "The lower official has the following answer:"

"First of all, when Mr. Wen Yanbo quelled the chaos in Beizhou, it was the Mani cult. It had great influence and harm, and it failed to eradicate the roots. After some bandit leaders escaped, they have been lurking in the south for many years to develop underground forces. Any sect or organization must develop , the first thing that cannot be separated is not teaching, but money. Therefore, the southeast during this period has their largest soil."

"Secondly, Wang Xiunai is the notorious largest village in Chizhou. Not to mention previous years, this year alone, they have massacred two villages, with hundreds of lives in hand. There is no need to doubt their decisive and decisive nature as a gangster."

"Third, although the situation in Chizhou is tense, there is still a final balance between the officials and bandits. But now the court has made a decision, and the Wuwei Army will enter Chizhou. The officials think that as long as Wang Xiu is not an idiot, he will not think that the Wuwei Army is here to give He paid tribute. This clearly shows that there is going to be a war. If I were him, I would have to consider how to get the upper hand when the war is inevitable. The so-called first opportunity means to strike first, which is common sense."

"Fourth, even if Wang Xiu was stupider, he would have taken a chance and thought that the Wuwei Army was a bureaucratic army that did not dare to fight and was here to show off. But the first thing he saw when he saw the Wuwei Army coming was that he seemed to be provocative without even trying to correct himself. They were deployed at Xishan Hill overlooking Lingzhi Mountain. The imperial general under Mr. Huang is so glass-hearted and jumps at the slightest sign or even without being touched, so he has more than a hundred lives in his hands and it is obvious that he will be killed. In order to defeat the decisive bandit, Wang Xiu not only saw the Wuwei Army entering Chizhou, but also saw it being deployed at Xishan Hill very close to his home. What did Mr. Huang think he would think? Or assume that he was nicknamed "Keep Banging" General Dong, what will he do for this?"

What should be said has been said, Zhao Cheng walked back to sit down, and kept a low profile again.

This time, many scholars really felt it, especially Cai Wenji followed Zhao Cheng's train of thought and thought about it. After careful consideration, it seemed that there were some problems.

(End of this chapter)