Chapter 370 Objections and Concerns
Looking at the officials who were silenced by his rogue tactics, Zhao Xing laughed inwardly.
On the surface, he remained calm and said, "Well, I summoned you all here to discuss the matter of increasing our troops. Today is a good opportunity, if we can seize the opportunity to occupy Hehuang, we can expand the territory of the Song Dynasty by thousands of miles."
Gu Tingye had less than 50,000 men under his command, and he left some troops behind for defense.
Even if Gu Tingye could take Hehuang with such a small number of troops, he still had to be on guard against Western Xia.
Therefore, the matter of increasing troops is imminent.
"His Majesty!"
Li Jin, the envoy of the Privy Council, stepped out and said, "First, 100,000 troops were dispatched to the north to protect the construction of the Great Wall. When floods occurred in Jiangzhou and other places, Your Majesty dispatched 20,000 troops. Later, when a rebellion broke out, another 50,000 troops were dispatched to suppress the rebellion."
"There are only a little over 200,000 soldiers left in the Western Suburbs Camp. If we continue to mobilize troops, the capital's military strength will be weak. If something unexpected happens, the consequences will be disastrous."
"Moreover, the Hehuang region has always been submissive to the Song Dynasty, and is close to the Western Xia. If the Song Dynasty sends troops to occupy Hehuang, it will not only be unpopular, but will also arouse the vigilance and hatred of the Western Xia!"
The Minister of Revenue stepped out and said, "Your Majesty, although the autumn harvest has already begun in various places and the autumn taxes have been collected one after another, the people in Jiangzhou and other places will still have to rely on the court for relief, and the construction of the Great Wall in the north also requires a large amount of grain."
"Food and grass are already stretched thin. If we send troops to conquer Hehuang, we will have to spend a lot of food and grass. I'm afraid it will be difficult to sustain."
"I have my own way of dealing with the food and fodder issues, and you don't have to worry about the safety of Bianjing.
The Liao Dynasty is now in civil strife and has no time to worry about other things. Even if the Western Xia sent troops, the northwest defense line would not be broken by the Western Xia in a short time, so there is no need to worry.
However, the Hehuang area is very important to the Song Dynasty. Taking over Hehuang can not only expand the territory, but also extend the border between the Song Dynasty and Western Xia. The defense alone can tie up nearly half of Western Xia’s military forces.
After taking over Hehuang, the threat from Western Xia will be greatly reduced.
When Grand Chancellor and Grand Chancellor Fan worked together on the Northwest Defense Plan, they should have known the importance of Hehuang." Zhao Xing said.
Food and fodder were indeed a problem, but he had Sheng Wei and his son do business for many years and hoarded money in order to deal with Western Xia and Liao.
After Sheng Wei returned to Bian Jing some time ago, he secretly purchased grain from various places under the instructions of Zhao Xing.
There is no land in the world, and the farmer still starves to death.
Although the person who wrote this poem was a corrupt official and had no sympathy for farmers, his poem vividly depicts the situation of the ancient people.
Even in times of peace and prosperity, there are still people who cannot get enough food.
The difference is just more or less.
The food problem has been a problem that has plagued all dynasties in ancient times.
Food shortages have occurred in every dynasty.
But in fact, unless a large-scale natural disaster occurs, there will be no food shortage problem at all.
Those landlords and gentry families controlled a large amount of land and stockpiled a lot of grain.
Whenever there is chaos in the country and the people suffer, the princes can quickly raise an army to dominate the world with the support of the aristocratic families.
In troubled times, people are worthless. What the aristocratic families provide is money, food and talents.
The flood in Jiangzhou is the biggest natural disaster that has hit the Song Dynasty in recent years.
Although there had been natural disasters before, the scope of the disaster was not actually large.
Overall, the weather was good and the landlords and gentry secretly stored a lot of grain.
As long as the money you pay is slightly higher than the market price, you won't have to worry about not being able to buy food.
"The Hehuang area is indeed of great strategic significance. Taking over Hehuang will bring more benefits than disadvantages!" Han Zhang stepped out and said.
"Everything your majesty said is based on the premise that we can take over Hehuang, and the speed cannot be too slow."
Hu Zhongyan said: "The civil strife in Liao Dynasty left no time for other matters, but the battlefield was changing rapidly, and no one knew when the civil strife in Liao Dynasty would end.
If the army was sent to capture Hehuang, the civil strife in Liao would end before it was taken. Neither Liao nor Xixia would allow Song to occupy Hehuang, which might lead to a joint military campaign between the two countries.
Even if the Song Dynasty could occupy Hehuang before the civil unrest in Liao ended, it would take time to stabilize Hehuang.
The most important thing is that although occupying Hehuang will increase the defense range of Western Xia, it will also increase the defense range of the Song Dynasty.
Although I am not familiar with military affairs, I know that the Song Dynasty has spent a huge amount of money in recent years on defending against the Western Xia and Liao Kingdoms.
Isn’t the increase in border area a burden to the Song Dynasty?
Your Majesty is a man of great talent and strategy, and the Prime Minister is both talented in civil and military affairs. Your Majesty and the Prime Minister both say that occupying Hehuang will bring more benefits than disadvantages, so of course the benefits outweigh the disadvantages.
But in my opinion, sending troops at this time is too risky and will do more harm than good."
Zhao Xing ignored Hu Zhongyan and looked at the other officials in the hall.
Facing Zhao Xing's gaze, everyone except Han Zhang lowered their heads, silently expressing their lack of support for sending troops.
"What if I must send troops?" Zhao Xing said calmly.
"Your Majesty, please consider the overall situation!" Hu Zhongyan knelt down.
Seeing this, the other officials also knelt down.
"Okay, very good!"
Zhao Xing looked at everyone coldly and said, "Let's stop here for now. The Grand Master will stay, and the rest of you can leave."
"Your Majesty, Holy Might!"
Everyone shouted in unison, then stood up, saluted, and left.
"I am wise because I listen to them. If I don't, won't it be long before people in the market spread the rumor that I am incompetent and don't listen to my advice?" Zhao Xing sneered.
Han Zhang remained silent after hearing this.
Zhao Xing did not expect him to answer, and said, "My Lord, I must send out this army. Do you have any ideas?"
Han Zhang was silent for a while after hearing this, and then said, "If Your Majesty wants to send troops, you need the support of the Privy Council!"
The fact that the civil officials of the Song Dynasty led the military was not only reflected in the fact that the Privy Council was headed by civil officials.
Instead, the ministers not only have the right to participate in discussing government affairs, but also have the right to participate in discussing military affairs.
But the Privy Council is in charge of the mobilization of troops throughout the world. With the insistence of Emperor Zhao Xing and the support of the Privy Council, it would not be difficult to send troops.
In fact, Zhao Xing could have sent troops regardless of the opposition from court officials.
But doing so would leave the impression that he did not listen to his subjects and acted on his own, and he would lose the support of the people.
Future generations can judge emperors by their achievements, regardless of whether they are powerful or not.
However, nowadays, what matters is not merits and demerits, but the humility with which one can accept advice, which is the standard for judging whether a ruler is wise.
The common people have no ability to distinguish between benefits and disadvantages. When all the civil and military officials in the court oppose it, the common people think it is wrong.
Moreover, the people are generally tired of war, and they will not gain any tangible benefits even if they win the war.
On the contrary, since ancient times, war has almost always meant increasing taxes.
For Zhao Xing, he actually doesn't care what people in the world think of him.
But now that rebellions have broken out in Jiangzhou and other places, no one knows what the secret wizard cult is up to.
Once the people are in turmoil, it will only give wizards an opportunity to teach.
This was the reason why Zhao Xing was not willing to send troops by force before.
Zhao Xing was silent for a while, then said, "Who do you think can serve as the Privy Councilor?"
(End of this chapter)