vrcanaries Chapter 91 Su Zhe: This land must be abandoned!
Chapter 91 Su Zhe: This land must be abandoned!
Lin Ke continued:
"The military and financial power of Xihe Road were all in the hands of one person, and there was a serious lack of supervision in the system. Although the responsibility lies with Emperor Shenzong of Song, it lies more with Li Xian."
"If he hadn't relied on the emperor's power to do those things that were harmful to the people's livelihood, he wouldn't have been targeted by Liu Zhi. Of course, those officials who spoke out were not necessarily innocent either."
"Sure enough, not long after, Li Xian also enjoyed a life of leisure, and the veteran general Liu Changzu succeeded him. Unlike Li Xian, Liu was close to the old party, and this transfer was also due to the Yuanyou ministers who wanted him to resolve the remaining problems of Li Xian in Xihe Road."
"Their meaning is actually very simple. When there was a war, they naturally needed you, so they gave you so much military power. Now that there is no war, they naturally don't need these people anymore, so they have to reduce their power."
A scion of a prominent family in the Ming Dynasty: Good heavens, you guys have really figured out how to use someone and then discard them!
An old farmer in the Tang Dynasty: I'm making the most of it!
A spoiled brat from the Ming Dynasty: They don't think there won't be any more wars in the future, do they?
……
"And this point was also supported by Mu Yan, a clerk under Li Xian."
"He was a Jinshi (a successful candidate in the highest imperial examinations), but he was extremely talented when he served as an official in the local government. Later, he followed Han Jiang and Zhong E to expand the border in the northwest."
"After the defeat of the five-pronged attack on Xia, the impulsive and hot-tempered Zhong E wanted to forcibly rebuild the army and continue the attack. It was only thanks to Mu Yan's persuasion that he calmed his agitated heart."
"After following Li Xian, Mu Yan also supported his policy of expanding the borders in the northwest. However, he hoped that the court could strip him of his authority over the finances of Xihe Road. Perhaps Mu Yan had already noticed the loopholes in the finances of Xihe Road."
"With his cooperation, Liu Changzuo smoothly transferred the financial power of Xihe Road to Shaanxi Road, and the current leader of Shaanxi Road is Sun Lu, a civil official who previously followed Li Xian."
"Like Mu Yan, he was very clear about the situation of Xihe Road. After adjustments, the annual expenditure of Xihe Road was reduced from 3,683,000 guan to 1,897,000 guan."
A young female merchant from the Tang Dynasty: My God, I can't believe how cheerful I would be if I could spend so much money!
A scion of a prominent family in the Ming Dynasty: "The reduction is by almost half, doesn't that mean that half was an unnecessary expense in the first place?!"
Emperor Zhezong of Song (vomiting blood): !!!
“But Sun Lu was not close to the old party, so he did not agree with the censors’ assessment that Xihe Road would only lose money. However, he was still willing to cooperate with Mu Yan to reduce financial expenditures. But no one expected that their cooperation would lay the groundwork for the later preservation of Xihe Road.”
"But the task that Minister Yuanyou gave to Liu Changzuo was far more than that. Soon, he took action again and dismissed the archers of Xihe Road from the Tianfan Division."
"This is also related to Li Xian's victory. He was good at pacifying the barbarians, but the court no longer needed these people and did not want to waste money supporting them, so they were naturally abandoned."
"In just a few months, not only did Li Xian's organization that relied on recruiting barbarian soldiers disband, but the foundation he had built up over decades was also completely destroyed by the court."
"Who could bear this? Li Xian was heartbroken. He was in the prime of his life and planned to retire, but the court refused and recommended him to live in Luoyang. Although he had already yielded, Liu Zhi still refused to let him go."
"He said that a treacherous minister like Li Xian should be exiled, not sent to a convenient place like Luoyang. Fortunately, Empress Dowager Gao was not interested in Li Xian and rejected Liu Zhi's opinion."
A young man from a prominent family in the Ming Dynasty: Liu Zhi, is he alright?!?
A spoiled brat from the Tang Dynasty: I'm so puzzled, isn't the imperial court afraid of war?!
An official from the Ming Dynasty: Liu Zhi impeached everyone who opposed him, didn't he?
……
"As a tool of the Yuanyou Dynasty, Liu Changzuo has made a series of questionable moves, and his interpersonal relationships on Xihe Road have become increasingly marginalized."
"So, after serving as a border commander for less than two months, he was hastily transferred to Jingyuan Road despite the hostility of the officers on Xihe Road."
"But to everyone's surprise, Liu Shunqing, who was close to the Yuanyou ministers, succeeded him in this position."
"And these power struggles between leaders have nothing to do with Zhong Yi. He was just a junior officer who could only report the unusual activities in the border areas to his superiors, but unfortunately no one took his words to heart."
"But did Liu Shunqing really know nothing? As a military officer in charge of the three armed forces, he was actually quite politically astute."
"He knows very well that the current court, let alone countering Qinghai-Tibet, even wants to abandon Xihe Road, the very land beneath our feet. So, can he be like Li Xian? Times have changed."
Big Han Liu Zhuzhu: Why does it feel like the Northern Song Dynasty was starting to decline?
First Emperor: That's true, especially when the emperor is still young.
General Judy, the Conqueror of the North: Actually, they knew whether or not to abandon this land when they looked at the late Tang Dynasty!
Li Erfeng of the Tang Dynasty: ...
During the reign of Emperor Taizu of the Song Dynasty
Zhao Kuangyin was so angry when he saw the actions of the scholar-officials that he jumped up and down!
What kind of mess was the Song Dynasty?!
Is this land so easily abandoned?!
The porcelain in the hall was shattered all over the floor, and the palace servants were all trembling with fear, terrified that His Majesty would punish them.
Zhao Kuangyin just collapsed on the ground, panting heavily. After calming down, he suddenly recalled a sentence Lin Keti had said.
"The Ming Dynasty almost split apart like the Northern and Southern Song Dynasties!"
So after the fall of the Northern Song Dynasty, the surviving royal family established the Southern Song Dynasty?
And who started the Jingkang Incident, which was mentioned earlier?
Damn it, Zhao Guangyi's bloodline is really bad!
……
Meanwhile, Lin Ke's live stream continued.
"Liu Zuo's conjecture was indeed true. As early as October of the eighth year of Yuanfeng, Fan Chunren, who had recently returned to the court, proposed abandoning the border and negotiating peace. Han Wei also echoed him, both believing that Xihe Road was a place where nothing could be done except spend money, and that it was a losing proposition."
"The old minister Wen Yanbo also agrees with this point. He believes that all the lands that Emperor Shenzong painstakingly conquered were barren and desolate, completely ignoring the fact that the land in Lanzhou was fertile."
"Liu Zhi took this opportunity to criticize Wang Shao and Li Xian again, and then Liu Zhi's close friend Wang Yansou also joined the impeachment."
Liu Zhi of the Northern Song Dynasty: ...
Wang Yansou of the Northern Song Dynasty: What you're saying is slander against me! What close friend you're talking about!
"Su Zhe, a Sichuan native who had a say in the tea monopoly law, also agreed with their views, but he was more radical than any other minister on the issue of giving up Lanzhou."
"He not only believed that Lanzhou had no economic or strategic value, but also felt that the Song army could not defend Lanzhou. This place was both expensive and provocative to the Western Xia people, and was a completely unprofitable business."
"With this money, we should build a large city within the city and use the money to bribe the tribes along the border and station two or three thousand people there. The Western Xia people will definitely not dare to cause trouble."
"If there are not enough troops on Xihe Road, then deploy troops and resources on Qinfeng Road, which has convenient transportation. This way, we can provide support at any time without worrying about insufficient troops."
"Many people in later generations disagreed with Su Zhe's view on this point."
"Qinfeng Road is the heartland, and the enemy can easily seize resources here, which could easily put Xihe Road in a situation where it is attacked from both sides. When there is a war, who will care about you? Will they obediently stay on Xihe Road and fight you? Wouldn't it be better to cut off your retreat?"
"It is true that Su Zhe was good at domestic affairs and finance, but he was really not good at military affairs. We cannot assume that this is the case based on his opinion."
"It's better for professionals to do professional things. But the most outrageous thing is that after the fifth year of Yuanyou, even Liu Zhi and Wang Yansou, who were good friends in the impeachment, became advocates of war, while Su Zhe still insisted on abandoning the land. I really don't know what to say!"
"Even Sima Guang, who was criticized by many, was much more objective in his treatment of abandoned land."
"It's mainly because of the border officials Sun Lu and Mu Yan. They used the Tang Dynasty's Anxi Army as an example. As we've mentioned before, it left behind a lot of trouble. So, Sima Guang later understood the importance of Lanzhou. Kudos to Sima Guang!"
Sima Guang of the Northern Song Dynasty: ...
Li Erfeng of the Tang Dynasty: That's true, it's best not to give up!
Optimistic Su Dongpo: Brother! Listen to what Miss Lin says, she's definitely from the future! @Professional Scoundrel Su Zhe
Su Zhe (emo), a professional at fishing: Bro, I got it!
Su Xun, the father of three Su brothers: Ahem @Su Zhe, the expert at "Lao Ge" (a popular online figure), Dad has an article to show you, called "On the Six States".
Su Zhe, a professional at reselling goods: ...Yes, Father!