vrcanaries Chapter 89 The Seed Family
Chapter 89 The Seed Family
Lin Ke sighed softly and continued.
"Shortly afterward, the officials who had previously pleaded for Cai Que were all dismissed. In short, even the neutral faction was suppressed, let alone the New Party itself."
"After another round of court purges, Empress Dowager Gao's power became more and more secure. She heavily relied on Lü Dafang and Liu Zhi, and drove out the old officials from the Xifeng era."
"But what's strange is that both Lü Dafang and Liu Zhi have started to decide to reconcile the factional struggles. Perhaps they are afraid that today's Cai Que will be tomorrow's them."
"But no one expected that the constant turmoil in the court would give the enemy an opportunity to take advantage of the situation."
“And a distinguished leader will emerge among the Jurchen people in the Liao Kingdom.”
"However, the Jurchen people and the Zhezong Dynasty are still too far away. Let's turn our attention to the familiar northwest direction—Western Xia."
"On the other hand, after the old party came to power, the Yuanyou dynasty stopped its past efforts to expand the borders, which naturally affected the generals on the border."
A Ming Dynasty general: Were the status of military officers in the Song Dynasty all very low?
A spoiled young master from the Ming Dynasty: So that's why he got beaten up later!?
Emperor Zhao Kuangyin of the Song Dynasty: !!!
……
There was once a saying: war is nothing more than the continuation of politics through another means. But no ruler would say that; they would always have "righteousness" on their lips, the so-called "just cause for war."
"But sometimes it can also cause misunderstandings among our own people. For example, some ministers in the Yuanyou era used the pretext that invading other countries was an unjust war to suppress the pro-war faction in order to end the war during the reign of Emperor Shenzong."
"That's why they demanded that the territory they had fought so hard to conquer be returned to others. In their minds, as long as the Song Dynasty showed enough goodwill, it would surely win over the Western Xia, and the two countries would definitely make peace."
Liu Zhuzhu, the Great Han: My God, I've finally seen something amazing! How can the people behind me be so stupid!
Emperor Qin Shi Huang: I only know that if the country is not strong, then it is still the people who will suffer!
Empress Li Erfeng of the Tang Dynasty: ...Was this really proposed by a subject? ???
Emperor Zhao Kuangyin of the Song Dynasty: Damn it, another day of being forced to lose face!
……
"If I were a bandit, or a country opposed to the Song Dynasty, I'd really be happy. Isn't this just being taken advantage of? People who are stupid and have too much money, who else would we take advantage of if not you!"
"That's exactly right. The actions of the Yuan You ministers not only failed to please the Western Xia, but even the defeated Tibetans in Qinghai believed that the Song Dynasty was weak and launched an attack."
"Only after being attacked did Yuan You ministers set the national policy to war. The three border generals from the Shenzong era were Wang Shao, Li Xian and Zhong E. However, two of them had already passed away, and Li Xian, who was still alive, was impeached and purged by the censors because he was a confidant of Shenzong."
"Then who can continue to shoulder the heavy responsibility of guarding the frontier?"
"At this moment, a general who had followed Li Xian for many years stepped forward and, with the support of You Shixiong, a disciple of Zhang Zai, thwarted the offensive of Qing Tang and Western Xia, laying the foundation for the later counterattack of Zhe Zong Dynasty."
"And this general is Zhong Yi, the younger brother of Zhong Yi."
A Ming Dynasty general: The Song Dynasty has never lacked outstanding generals.
A scion of a prominent family in the Ming Dynasty: It's just a pity that many generals didn't have good endings.
A playboy from the Tang Dynasty: Alas, it's not just the Song Dynasty; there are many regrettable generals in history!
……
"The Zhong family has always been a rather mysterious entity. They have generals who have made their name through military achievements, but they are actually scholars."
"It has always been known that the Song Dynasty's national policy was to emphasize civil affairs and suppress military affairs. Therefore, the recluse Zhong Fang received preferential treatment from the court. His nephew Zhong Shiheng also started as a civil official when he was young, but he failed the imperial examinations many times, so he switched to a military position."
"From then on, the gears of fate continued to turn. Zhong Shiheng inadvertently became the leader of the Zhong family generals. Although his three sons had the heart of scholars after his death, they still followed fate and became military officers, and they were very successful."
"The Zhong family never imagined that their failure to pass the imperial examinations, which had almost become an obsession, would actually fall on Zhong Shiheng's youngest son, Zhong Yi, who finally passed the examinations."
"I wonder if Old Zhong will be very excited when he finds out!"
A dashing and talented scholar from the Tang Dynasty: Sometimes luck plays a big role in exams!!!
A Ming Dynasty soldier: Then how come he became a general later on?!
A strong peasant girl from the Song Dynasty: This shows that their family is destined to be military generals!