One Piece of Song Dynasty

The minister Geng Nanzhong believed that China was weak and the Jin people were strong, which would be harmful to the Jin people in using troops. Three towns should be cut off to bribe them, so that peace could be maintained and the country could be preserved. Seven people, including Xie Kejia, Sun Zhan, Li Zhuo, Li Hui, Wang Jizhi, Wang Shiyong and Liu Guan, formed a party and unanimously supported Geng Nanzhong and agreed to negotiate with Jin Ren.

However, Li Gang, who knew the Privy Council, believed that the ancestral land had righteousness that could not be abandoned. If you cede territory and seek peace, it will only make the Jin people more powerful, and at the same time make the people trapped in a foreign land. Isn't this the way to parent the people?

Song Qinzong thought about it again and felt that if he ceded the three towns to the Jin people, he would really be sorry for his ancestors and the people of Li, so he decided to adopt Li Gang's suggestion and refuse to cede territory to seek peace. Song Qinzong knew that if he did this, the Jin people would not evacuate Taiyuan. So, he asked the ministers to study how to organize troops to rescue Taiyuan again.

Wu Min and Geng Nanzhong believed that if Taiyuan was rescued again, Li Gang must be appointed as the governor of Hedong instead of Zhong Shidao, so that they could win. This suggestion coincides with Song Qinzong, who also had such an idea. However, Li Gang refused, saying that he was not talented as a general and could not take on such an important task.

The imperial censor Zhongcheng Chen Guoting and the imperial censor Chen Gongfu also said that Li Gang was just a scholar and did not know about military affairs. If he was allowed to lead the army, he would be defeated. They even discussed privately that Li Gang was loyal, upright and outstanding, and would be framed by ministers sooner or later. In the future, you will die if you succeed, and if you fail, you will die.

But Wu Min and Geng Nanzhong insisted that other generals were mediocre, and no general could surpass Li Gang in terms of ability or courage. Moreover, Li Gang went to supervise the generals as a minister of the imperial court. Who dares not to obey his orders?

At this time, Taiyuan's pacification envoy Zhang Xiaochun sent several people to Beijing to ask for help with wax letters. Song Qinzong had a premonition that Taiyuan had reached the last moment, and if it did not rescue the siege, it might really be lost. On June , Emperor Qinzong of the Song Dynasty issued an order to appoint Li Gang as the Propaganda Envoy of Hebei East Road to supervise the officers and soldiers and then relieve the siege of Taiyuan.

The next day, Li Gang came to the Ruisi Hall and said to Song Qinzong: "I am a scholar and I don't know about soldiers. When the Jin people besieged the city, I had no choice but to take care of military affairs for your majesty. This is really not what I am good at. Now I am the commander-in-chief. , I am afraid that I will be incompetent and interfere with national affairs, and death will not be enough to satisfy me."

Li Gang repeatedly declined, but Song Qinzong refused. Song Qinzong also ordered officials from Shangshu Province to draft an edict immediately, and Song Qinzong wanted to award Li Gang in person.

Li Gang said: "If the envoy does not consider his ability, he must choose a day to receive the edict for your majesty. Today, paying homage to the general is like calling a child, okay?" Song Qinzong then agreed to choose another day and formally grant the edict.

After Li Gang returned home, he immediately wrote a letter stating that he was on sick leave and asked to become an official. In the memorial, he once again stated the reasons why he could not be the commander-in-chief, and said that if someone in the court made this suggestion, he must not be subject to the court. Li Gang submitted the memorial ten times in a row, but Song Qinzong refused to agree and urged Li Gang to accept the appointment many times.

Taiwan official Yu Yingqiu and admonisher Chen Gongfu successively reported that Li Gang should not leave the court at this time.

Song Qinzong thought that they were lobbying for Li Gang, and was furious in court. He dismissed the two from their posts and drove them out of the court. From then on, no one dared to complain about this matter.

Xu Han knew that Li Gang was pretending to be ill at home, so he came to visit Li Gang that day and said: "Do you know that the original intention of the Holy One in sending you to Hedong is not for side affairs, but because someone wants you to leave the court. If you are asked to leave for this reason, then Everyone in the capital has nothing to say. Now that you are pretending to be sick at home and lying down, it will be more convenient for those who sow discord in front of the Holy One. If the Holy One gets angry, something unexpected will happen. What will you do then? "

After saying that, Xu Han picked up a piece of paper and wrote the word "Du You" on it. Du You is a place name, also called Du You Pavilion. The famous general Bai Qi committed suicide here. Bai Qi was a distinguished general under King Zhao of Qin, but he was at odds with his favorite minister Fan Sui. King Zhao of Qin ordered Bai Qi to lead troops to attack Handan several times, but Bai Qi repeatedly complained of illness and refused. King Zhao of Qin was furious and ordered Bai Qi to leave Xianyang immediately. When Bai Qi left Xianyang and went to Duyou, he received a sharp sword from someone sent by King Zhao of Qin, telling him to kill himself.

Li Gang understood that Xu Han was hinting to him that if he continued to complain of illness and refused to accept the order, his life would be in danger. Li Gang had no choice but to go to court and reluctantly accepted the appointment.

Song Qinzong was very happy to see that Li Gang had finally figured it out. He personally copied a biography of Pei Du and gave it to Li Gang. Obviously, Song Qinzong hoped that Li Gang would become a minister who made significant contributions to the court like Pei Du.

When he went to court the next day, Li Gang talked about his experience of reading Pei Du's biography. He said: "Wu Yuanji used a mere place surrounding Cai to fight against the Tang Dynasty. Compared with the Jin people, the strength of their power was not equal at all. And Compared with Pei Du, the minister is not one percent as good as Pei Du. The comparison between Pei Du and the minister is really unbelievable.

I remember that Zhuge Liang said when he was a teacher: "Being close to virtuous ministers and staying away from villains is why the Han Dynasty prospered in the past; being close to villains and being distant from virtuous ministers is why the Han Dynasty has declined since then." Gentlemen and villains seem to have nothing to do with the use of soldiers, but Zhuge Liang believed this deeply. This is because external troubles can be eliminated with force, but when a villain is in power, it will damage the root cause, and internal troubles are difficult to eliminate. When Pei Du was assisting Emperor Xianzong of the Tang Dynasty, he believed that the treacherous minister Yuan Zhen must be eliminated before the expedition to the east could succeed. Looking at the history of the country, the superior and the villain are at odds with each other, and this has been the case since ancient times.

The beginning of His Majesty's succession coincided with the invasion of the Jin people. Your Majesty spends his days worrying and working hard, working hard to eradicate his shame, and his virtue of diligence and frugality far exceeds that of the ancient emperors. However, gentlemen and villains have confused themselves with the court, and villains have become collusive and have not retreated yet. Your Majesty should be careful and careful. If the court is upright and gentlemen lead the way, it will not be difficult to eliminate foreign troubles. "

After finishing speaking, Li Gang presented some important passages from Pei Du's essay on Yuan Zhen to Song Qinzong.

Li Gang clearly had his intention in using this example to illustrate the difference between a gentleman and a villain.

Song Qinzong told Li Gang: "The Xuanfu Division has now assembled more than troops." In fact, there were only troops at that time.

Li Gang asked: "Please ask the court to allocate military expenditures immediately. One million each in silver and silk."

Song Qinzong said: "Now the imperial court is financially strapped and can only give yuan."

Then, Song Qinzong told Li Gang: "There may not be enough horses in the army."

Li Gang said: "Then how can we fight without war horses? Now that there are no war horses, how can we show the power of the army? In the last years of Tang Xuanzong Tianbao, Feng Changqing sent troops to Youji. People saw that his army was not in good shape, and they all rebelled. Now that I have sent troops, it is also There will definitely be people observing in secret. This is a matter of national importance, not a trivial matter. The matter is very urgent. Please ask Your Majesty to immediately issue an order to collect horses from the capital and purchase them at a price. In this way, we may be able to obtain thousands of horses."