armyinform Chapter 1229 Multi-party game
Chapter 1229 Multi-party game
Chapter 1229 Multi-party game
Soon the emperor summoned Zhang Yue.
The emperor asked, "Shen Kuo reported that the Liao ruler once again stationed troops in Yunzhong and forced the Tangut ruler to kill Liang and marry the Khitan princess to form an alliance. Is this true?"
Zhang Yue said: "Your Majesty, I think this is probably true."
The emperor said, "It is so difficult for me to pacify the Tanguts within a few years. I never expected that the Tanguts would be so tantamount to serving the Liao Kingdom."
"Even if I take Liangzhou, it will be nothing but a mirage. The troops stationed in Liangzhou will consume a lot of manpower and material resources in the future."
"If the Liao Kingdom wants me to give up Liangzhou and return the old land to the Tanguts, what should I do?"
Zhang Yue also found it funny to hear the official say this.
The government's understanding of things is divided into three steps.
The first step is to have a goal in mind, but never reach it. A poor kid looks at the busy life of rich people and spends money lavishly, and feels lingering envy in his heart, longing to live such a life.
After the second step, you get it after all the effort, but find that you paid too much and in the end it is not what you want.
This step is common in TV dramas where villains try their best to gain wealth and glory, but in the end they lose their love and family, and end up being deserted by everyone and left alone.
After working hard for a long time, it all ended up in vain.
This is the government finally realizing that if you want to get something, you have to pay a price. Behind every benefit there is a disadvantage.
Of course, this is also the principle of the philosophy of lying down, telling you that everything is empty.
The third step is to do nothing after one or two steps. When you are about to die, you begin to regret why you did not live the life you wanted.
Zhang Yue said: "Your Majesty, everything in the world is nothing more than a positive and negative. At first, Your Majesty thought that taking Liangzhou seemed to be beneficial, but now that the Liao Kingdom has intervened, it has become harmful."
"Your Majesty, it makes sense that you are worried that the Liao Kingdom will use this to threaten our dynasty to give up Liang Province, or attack our country."
The emperor said, "I do have this concern, so I asked this question. If Liao wants me to give up Liangzhou, will I do it?"
Zhang Yue said: "Your Majesty has far-sighted plans. I think the country now has a method for dealing with the Tanguts and the Khitans. We can conquer and make peace. We should conquer and make peace at the same time."
"The most taboo thing in the world is to be one-sided, with only conquest and no peace, or only peace and no conquest. The court must conquer the Tanguts and also make peace. The same is true for the Khitan. When it is time to fight, we must dare to fight, and after the fight, we must also compromise."
"We fought against Liao in order to compromise, and we compromised with Tangut in order to fight again in the future! We must not mistake the purpose and the means."
After hearing Zhang Yue's words, the emperor calmed down and said, "You are the one with far-reaching strategies."
Zhang Yue said: "I don't deserve it. The Khitan national policy is to test the loyalty of allies and vassal states by making demands on them."
"For example, the previous Chanyuan Alliance, the Qingli tribute increase, and the boundary demarcation between the two countries during the Xining period. The Tanguts forced Li Bingchang to kill Queen Liang and marry a Liao princess, and the tribute of eagles to the Zhenhe Five Kingdoms."
"The diplomacy of the Liao Kingdom, in my opinion, is to exert extreme pressure. They keep in touch with you at all times and gradually push down your bottom line. Once you go back on your word, all your efforts will be in vain. At the same time, by intensifying the conflict, we can resolve the conflict and eliminate all hidden dangers before they are even born."
"But every advantage in the world has its disadvantages."
"As long as there is a challenger, the Liao Kingdom will do its best to suppress it in order to prevent other vassal states from complaining. If it fails to suppress it, other countries will also rebel."
"Among the countries surrounding Liao, only our dynasty has the strongest military. The best strategy for Liao is not to become an enemy of Song. Once we become an enemy and cannot defeat it, other tribes will not be able to suppress it."
This is the same as what happened in the late Qing Dynasty. The imperial court could no longer maintain its authority, and the situation of mutual protection in the southeast emerged.
After hearing what Zhang Yue said, the emperor calmed down again and took a sip of tea from the red clay stove beside him.
"I understand what you mean. The Liao Kingdom will not launch a large-scale military operation against the Song Dynasty."
Zhang Yue said: "Your Majesty is wrong. The Liao Kingdom will use military force. Once they feel that our dynasty is really going to change its mind, they will join forces with the Tanguts to attack. Don't count on the Liao Kingdom not to use military force against our country."
The core of the Liao Dynasty's logic is the loyalty test, which is unchanging. So it was correct for Fu Bi to increase the annual tribute by 200,000 yuan, otherwise the Liao Dynasty would have attacked. It was precisely because of the money that the Liao Dynasty was able to boldly use troops against the Dangxiang.
For the Liao Dynasty, the only difference between countries was the different negotiation space. The Liao Dynasty usually made a high offer to the Song Dynasty, the most powerful country around it, and basically did not bargain, and even gave you a feeling of taking advantage.
Next is Korea and Tangut. We can also negotiate with them. As long as you obey me, we can discuss it slowly. If you don't obey me, I will beat you until you obey me.
As for the Jurchens, the Zhubu tribe, and the Five Kingdoms tribe, they were like Liangshan. If you obey me, you must kneel down. If you dare not obey me, I will kill you. When Emperor Tianzuo did not kill Wanyan Aguda who refused to dance at the first fish banquet, he knew that the Liao Dynasty was strong on the outside but weak on the inside.
The official couldn't help but put down the tea that was about to reach his lips and said, "Isn't this normal?"
Zhang Yue said: "Your Majesty, this is not ordinary. The dispute between Liao and Song cannot be seen as a game between two countries. The Liao ruler did not want to fall out with the Song Dynasty, but intervened in the Tanguts, turning the game between the two countries into a three-way game. This is where the Liao ruler was wise and far-sighted."
"In a three-party game, whichever side is the arbitrator can win over one faction to fight against the other. In the current dispute between our dynasty and the Tanguts, the Liao Kingdom will be the arbitrator. But we must also break the mindset and not be tied between the Tanguts, Liao Kingdom and the Song Dynasty. For example, the Song Dynasty, Goryeo and Liao, or the Song Dynasty, Jurchen and Liao, are they not the same three kingdoms?"
“We need to turn a two-party game into a three-party, four-party game, or even a multi-party game. This can transfer and share risks, but it can also muddy the waters!”
The emperor felt a sense of excitement when listening to Zhang Yue's words, just like a master playing chess, you make a brilliant move, I also return a brilliant move. Since Liao and Dangxiang have reached an alliance, the Song Dynasty is at a disadvantage in the three-party game. We can't just go ahead and force it, let's open up a new battlefield. In short, I can't let you, Liao, concentrate all your efforts to deal with me, I want to distract your attention.
The emperor asked, "Are you advising me to form an alliance with Goryeo?"
Zhang Yue said sternly: "Your Majesty, in fact, it is not my opinion to unite with Goryeo to control Liao."
"As early as during the reign of Emperor Renzong, Fu Bi proposed the Twelve Strategies for Hebei, which advocated restoring relations with Goryeo to contain the Liao Kingdom."
"In the first year of Xining, the merchant Huang Shen secretly crossed the sea to meet the King of Goryeo on your Majesty's orders and conveyed your intention to make peace with Goryeo."
"At that time, Goryeo responded that it would accept Liao as the legitimate dynasty and continue to interact with Song under the condition of paying tribute to Liao. Your Majesty was wise and agreed to this proposal at the time, so our dynasty did not grant the title of Goryeo's king. However, Goryeo also kindly concealed the Liao's reign title in its letter to the Song Dynasty."
"In the ninth year of Xining, the Liao army was approaching the border to discuss the demarcation of the border. The government sent An Tao and Chen Mu to Korea as envoys, as a roundabout way."
The emperor was secretly happy after hearing this. Yes, this is exactly my original national policy.
"But An Tao told me that Goryeo has been alienated from our dynasty for a long time, and the king is very cautious and will not turn against Liao."
Zhang Yue said: "Your Majesty, the things in the world are always better. As far as I know, although Goryeo is respectful to Liao, it pays tribute and greets the country all year round."
"However, the Liao Dynasty had been trying to set up a trading market for Liao and Goryeo at the Yalu River, but the ruler of Goryeo stated that as long as the Liao Dynasty did not withdraw from Baozhou and Dingzhou, there would be no trading market."
"Although the country of Goryeo is not big, it has great ambitions. Its ambition to seize the chicken first and then tie the duck is obvious. If it cannot take Baozhou and Dingzhou, the strategic position of the Yalu River will be meaningless. At the same time, Goryeo regards the land of the Jurchens as the former Goguryeo and also has the intention to annex it. But the Liao Kingdom regards the Jurchens as its vassal state and will certainly not agree. As far as I know, there are a large number of Jurchens who are not registered in the Liao nationality in the land of Helandian between Liao and Goryeo. We can make friends with Goryeo and communicate with the Jurchens."
After listening to Zhang Yue's suggestion, the emperor nodded slowly. Contacting Goryeo and Jurchen to deal with the Liao Kingdom was exactly what he wanted.
Zhang Yue said: "I ask Your Majesty to go to sea in the name of treating the King of Goryeo, and let Su Shi be the envoy."
When the emperor heard Su Shi's name, he frowned and asked, "Must the envoy be Su Shi?"
Zhang Yue said: "Su Shi's literary reputation is well-known, and Goryeo admires Chinese culture the most. If Su Shi goes to Goryeo, its ruler may allow us to contact the Jurchens in consideration of China's sincerity."
The emperor was silent for a moment, and it was obvious that he was still angry towards Su Shi, and even unwilling to forgive Su Shi from the bottom of his heart.
But as an emperor, his political reason still prevailed over his emotions. Finally, the emperor said: "I am afraid that even if Su Shi is reinstated, he will still have complaints in his heart."
Zhang Yue said, "Your Majesty, I guarantee that Su Shi will change his ways and will never speak frivolously again."
After hearing what Zhang Yue said, the emperor said, "For your sake, I will use Su Shi once more and let him return to his post as an envoy to Goryeo!"
Zhang Yue said: "I thank your Majesty! I also thank you on behalf of Su Shi!"
The emperor said, "Don't thank me. Without your foresight, I would not have pardoned Su Shi so easily."
"I am worried that our contact with Goryeo and Jurchen will not anger the Liao Kingdom?"
Zhang Yue said: "Yes, so we must be prepared for a battle and then negotiate peace with the Khitan."
The emperor was worried when he heard this and asked, "In your opinion, what is the outcome of this battle?"
Zhang Yue said: "Your Majesty, if you want to fight, you must win. Otherwise, what's the point of fighting? How can you make peace if you can't fight?"
Seeing the emperor's hesitation about going to war with Liao, he finally made up his mind and said, "We can do this. Even if we lose, we can negotiate peace with Khitan later. If we don't take this step, I will never be satisfied."
Zhang Yue retorted: "Your Majesty, this is wrong. There is no logic in war. There is a saying that if you can win, fight. If you can't win, retreat."
"Winning can make you successful. The winning self must be better than the previous self. And the losing self must be worse than the previous self."
“Not fearing failure is something that only the strong can do. We should consider ourselves as the weak. The weak should accumulate small victories into a big one, and replace the previous self with a winning self to become stronger. The losing self will destroy itself.”
"If the country becomes afraid of the enemy as soon as it talks about fighting the Liao army, and thinks of the failures of the two northern expeditions during the reign of Emperor Taizong, it will never succeed."
"So I think we should fight a battle first, and dare to fight this battle to overcome this difficulty!"
Upon hearing this, the emperor said decisively: "What you said is very reasonable. I agree with it!"
PS: Some of the opinions in this chapter come from Toutiao author Hu Niuer Reading.