I'm really not King Jing of Zhongshan

While waiting for Zhou Yafu, Liu Sheng couldn't help thinking secretly.

For Chao Cuo, Liu Sheng's personal emotions are actually very complicated.

From the perspective of a superior and a monarch, Chao Cuo's talent is actually very outstanding.

——You must know that at the beginning, that is, when Emperor Taizong Xiaowen came into power, Chao Cuo was as famous as Jia Yi and Jia Changsha at the same age!

Although in the eyes of later generations, the word Chao Cuo is far less recognizable than the word Jia Yi, but at least during Emperor Taizong's reign, or judging from the final outcome of the two, Chao Cuo was undoubtedly the one who adapted to the temple faster one person.

In a sense, it can be said that Chao Cuo won a big victory in the competition and contest with Jia Yi—at least he made greater achievements in that era, and he can't fault it at all.

After all, no matter how famous Jia Yi and Jia Changsha were, during Emperor Taizong's reign, he was nothing more than a prince and prince who was depressed and finally died of depression;

On the other hand, Chao Cuo was a doctor of "Shangshu" first, and then he successively served as the prince's family order and Shaofu, and then he successively served as the internal historian and imperial historian after Emperor Xian Xiaojing succeeded to the throne.

If it weren't for the obvious shortcomings in martial arts and the ridiculously low title, Chao Cuo should have been addicted to being a prime minister as early as the first emperor.

That is to say: Regardless of his lack of military merits and not being a Marquis, in terms of talent alone, Chao Cuo has the ability to become a prime minister.

The reason why Chao Cuo voluntarily asked to release the border gate was precisely to make up for this last shortcoming, to clear the last obstacle for his career as a prime minister, and to stand up to the Duke of Chehou and sit on the throne of prime minister that he had dreamed of.

But that incident back then still makes Liu Sheng brooding on his heart. He has been entangled between 'abandon and kill' and 'forgive and reuse' until now, and he has never been able to make a final decision...

"Tai Temple..."

"Set this precedent. In the future, my Liu family's ancestral temple will never have peace..."

"Ugh······"

"Chao Cuo, Chao Cuo..."

On the imperial couch, Liu Sheng sighed for a while, seeming to be resentful, but even more resentful;

But in the hall, everyone is still reminiscing about the sentence that Liu Sheng repeatedly emphasized: I am very calm...
"Your Majesty, what are you trying to tell us?"

"Or, what did the Empress Dowager say to Her Majesty before..."

Unable to understand what Liu Sheng was thinking, nor what Liu Sheng wanted to express, everyone pondered over and over again, and finally had to put this matter aside for the time being.

Not long after, Zhou Yafu entered the palace in response to the imperial edict, met with Liu Sheng, and got straight to the point.

"Your Majesty."

"According to my opinion, the Huns went south this time, contrary to previous years, more south than the normal after autumn, but at the beginning of spring."

"From this point of view, even if the guards of the four counties of Yanmen, Beidi, Shang, and Dai are suspected of being weak in defending against the enemy and not being on strict guard, it is understandable."

"——After all, no one could have predicted that the Huns would invade the North Wall at the beginning of spring, and they would gather such a large number of troops to go south."

"If you really want to talk about responsibility, I'm afraid His Majesty should pursue the Marquis of Chang'an first, and the guilt of failing to send the news back to Chang'an on time."

"Since the Han Dynasty, the lineage of the Marquis of Chang'an has been favored by the emperor. Even if they can't send back the news of the 'Huns going south', they should at least send back the news that the Huns suffered natural disasters or military disasters last winter."

"If there is news sent back, the border will definitely strengthen its guard, and the final battle situation will definitely be much better than it is now..."

At the first sentence, Zhou Yafu dumped more than half of the responsibility without hesitation to the Marquis of Chang'an, or Donghu King Lu Tazhi, who was far away in the south of the Xiongnu grassland.

However, Liu Sheng did not respond to Zhou Yafu's shirk responsibility, and his move to shirk responsibility for his favorite student.

What Zhou Yafu said makes sense.

It's at least half true.

——Whether King Donghu of the Xiongnu and Marquis Lu Tazhi of Chang'an of the Han Dynasty were responsible, of course they did;

But it is only a theoretical responsibility.

In fact, both the Chang'an Central Committee and the Xiongnu Shan Yuting knew very well that the old Lu's family was on two boats, and that double-faced spies flew up;

What happened this time, the sky is the limit, the Han family can only warn Lu Tazhi at most, other than that, there will be no other adoptive actions, such as 'no longer contacting the old Lu family' and the like.

After all, the old Lu's house was the only channel for the Han Dynasty to understand the internal affairs of the Xiongnu. In the future, there will be many places where the old Lu's house can be used.

This is why Zhou Yafu's words only have 'general truth'.

——Whether Lu Tazhi is responsible or not is really hard to say;

However, the generals of the four northern counties who were invaded were not very responsible, but it was exactly as Zhou Yafu said: there is a responsibility for negligence, but it is also excusable.

After all, who would have thought that the Huns would launch an attack at the beginning of spring like never before?

You must know that since the beginning of the Han Dynasty, every battle between the Han and the Hungarians has, without exception, happened after the autumn!

At the same time, more than [-]% of the Xiongnu who roamed southward to hunt grass valleys and grab things scatteredly happened after autumn;
Even if the remaining [-]% is very evenly distributed in summer and autumn, it rarely occurs in the beginning of spring.

Therefore, Liu Sheng is not dissatisfied with Zhou Yafu's deliberate evasion of responsibility for the guards of the four northern counties, and even agrees with Zhou Yafu's conclusion.

Zhou Yafu was obviously not surprised by Liu Sheng's reaction.

——After all, Zhou Yafu also understood Liu Sheng's temperament quite well after working together in Taiwo for a few years.

Confirming that Liu Sheng could accept what he said, Zhou Yafu pondered for a moment, then continued.

"Let's talk about the responsibility of not being able to defend against the enemy."

"The Xiongnu went south this time. Among the four Beidi counties that were poisoned by the Xiongnu Bingfeng, as the border counties directly bordering the grassland, the Beidi and Yanmen counties were the first among them."

"——As a border county, especially a border county that borders on the grassland, these two counties should have been on guard throughout the year, in case of thieves."

"So in this battle, Chao Cuo, the governor of Beidi County, and Zhi, the governor of Yanmen County, were more at fault, while the faults of Shang and Dai counties were slightly smaller."

"One: Shang and Dai are not adjacent to the side wall, nor are they bordering on the grassland. Although they are located in the north, there is nothing wrong with relatively lax defenses."

"Second: Most of the military disasters encountered by Shang and Dai were actually because Yanmen County was 'captured' by the Xiongnu Youxian King's tribe, which caused the Shang and Dai counties to lose their barriers and changed from the second line to the front line."

···
"In this way, the one who made the biggest mistake in this battle should be Zhidu, the governor of Yanmen County."

"Because what you have to bear is the responsibility of the Yanmen, Shang, and Dai counties being plundered by the Huns;"

"As for Chao Cuo, he only needs to bear the responsibility of the northern land being poisoned by the flames of war."

"As for the two counties of Shang and Dai, the responsibilities that need to be borne are almost none..."

Hearing Zhou Yafu's remarks, all the officials in the palace frowned;
Even Liu Sheng, who was on the imperial couch, suddenly had a look of suspicion on his face.

——Zhou Yafu, are you really so upright?

His favorite student, Zhidu, just took the position of "the first person responsible for this defeat" without hesitation?

Or, without Liu Sheng's knowledge, there was some unhappiness between Zhou Yafu and Zhidu?
After a short period of doubt, all the ministers showed a clear look in order, attracting Liu Sheng to join together again;
After thinking about it for a while, he finally understood what Zhou Yafu wanted to express. Liu Sheng finally shook his head with a strange smile, and immediately fell into a short thought.

According to Zhou Yafu, the Huns went south this time and caused huge damage to the four counties of Beidi, Yanmen, Shang, and Dai. The guards of these four counties need to bear the responsibility for the defeat.

But the size of the responsibility, according to the order of the faults committed by the four guards, are: the first offender is Yanmen Shouzhidu, the second is Beidi Shou Chaocuo, and the last is the guards of the Shang and Dai counties.

At first glance, Zhou Yafu seems to be really "unselfish", pushing his favorite student to the cusp of "the first person responsible for the defeat".

But after thinking about it for a while, it is not difficult to find out: Zhou Yafu is beating around the bush and Bao Chao is wrong.

——According to Zhou Yafu's rhetoric, the first person responsible for this defeat is Zhidu, the governor of Yanmen County.

However, the decisions made by Zhidu in this battle were not wrong in principle.

Being attacked by King Youxian's troops, Yanmen County stopped the line of defense immediately;
It was too late to find out that the control of the field could no longer be regained, and Zhidu resolutely gave up all areas outside the city, and ordered all parts of Yanmen to close the city gates and guard the city.

Although this action caused Yanmen County to no longer have the ability to stop the Huns, causing disasters in Shang and Dai counties south of Yanmen, but also ordered the army and people to withdraw to the city, and closed the gates of Shang and Dai. The two counties also managed to keep the losses to a minimum.

To put it more bluntly: Zhidu at that time had no other choice at all;

Apart from giving up the wilderness and ordering the whole county to retreat to the city to protect itself, Zhi is not even a better choice, not even a similar second choice!
Therefore, even if judging from the results, the four counties in the Northland were tortured this time, and the governor of Yanmen County had to bear the primary responsibility, it would be difficult for the Chang'an Central Committee to punish Zhidu for "making wrong strategic decisions".

Go to heaven, that is, a crime of lax defense that led to the successful sneak attack of the Huns.

And the crux of the problem is precisely here.

——As the first person responsible for this defeat, Zhidu is still only guilty of 'lack of security';

As the secondary responsible person, what crime can Chao Cuo be punished with?
Breaking the sky, that is, the same sentence "lack of security", and then "Zhidu's lack of security caused disasters in three counties, and Chao Cuo's lack of security caused disasters in one county", and the secondary responsible person Location.

If the responsibility is determined according to this standard, then Chao Cuo's final punishment is at most a fine, plus a sentence of "promise him to commit crimes and make meritorious service"...

"I don't know who you are, and you have some personal friendship with Chao Cuo?"

After thinking for a moment, he said something that seemed to be joking, but Zhou Yafu shook his head seriously.

"I have no personal friendship with Chao Cuo."

"It's just the truth."

"—The crime of this battle is not because of Chao Cuo, nor is it because Zhidu is incompetent."

"It's really the infantry of the Han family. When the Xiongnu cavalry occupies the field, it is almost impossible to take back the field with the same force."

"In other words: the crime of this battle lies with my Han family Wuqi..."

Seeing Zhou Yafu say again, he did not forget to emphasize again that the defeat was not caused by the fault of the four northern counties' generals, so Liu Sheng couldn't help but look a little solemn.

"Of course I understand what Tiaohou means."

"But please don't forget, Marquis Tiao: The four counties in the Northland are not the only ones who have been tormented by the flames of war when the Xiongnu bandits went south this time."

"—The flames of war have reached Guanzhong."

"—It even burned to the Ganquan Palace, and burned to a place only a few hundred miles away from Chang'an!"

"You must know that since the Han Dynasty, whether it was the rebellion of the princes or the invasion of the Huns, the flames of war have never spread to the pass!"

···
"And the reason why this war will spread to Guanzhong is precisely because the northern region is almost undefended. The Huns set off from the grassland and went all the way to Xiaoguan without encountering any obstacles."

"In just six days, the Huns sent the vanguard from Henan to Mount Ganquan—under my nose."

"It's an exaggeration, but it's not an exaggeration to say that the Hun knife of the Huns was placed on the neck of Zhen and the Empress Dowager."

"Under such a premise, Marquis Tiao, do you still want to say that Chao Cuo is innocent?"

When he asked a question, Liu Sheng fixed his eyes on Zhou Yafu, as if he wanted to see through Zhou Yafu.

And after Liu Sheng's obviously warning words, Zhou Yafu finally told the truth that no one had dared to say before.

"About four years ago, Emperor Xian Xiaojing issued an edict to change the local county guard to be the prefect, and the county captain to be the captain;"

"And after the restructuring, the county lieutenants who were changed to Chengdu lieutenants changed from the official position of holding a military soldier in a county to the military position of simply holding a captain."

"Does Your Majesty know how many soldiers and horses there are in a captaincy?"

"—5000 people."

"Five people make one team, two five people make one shi, five people make one tun, and two tun make one song;"

"The five songs are the first team, the second team is the one school, and the five schools are one, which is a captain, or the 'first army'."

"That is to say: since His Majesty changed the system, changed the county guards to prefects, and changed the county captains to Chengdu captains, all the county soldiers in the world have been uniformly changed into each county's captain, with a total of [-] soldiers horse."

"Even at the border, it's the same..."

Having said that, Zhou Yafu couldn't help but sighed again, and Fang continued: "Your Majesty knows that there are 5000 people in Beidi County, how many people are left now?"

"—not one left."

"The Xiongnu's Shanyu Suoda army officials personally led a main force of nearly [-]. They raided Chaonasai in the middle of the night, and [-] soldiers were stationed in the north of Chaonasai. In order to delay the Huns, they fought to the death to the last soldier! "

"And after two weeks and one night of bloody fighting, the whole army of the Beidi captain was wiped out, and there was no longer a single official who received the court's rations in the entire Beidi County..."

···
"There is a saying: a clever woman can hardly cook without rice;"

"Could it be that a fierce general can fight a battle without soldiers?"

"But even without soldiers and horses, Chao Cuo still recruited nearly [-] young men to fight hard, slowing down the pace of the Huns."

"If you have to say that there is something that Chao Cuo has done that is not perfect, it means that he is not like Sun Wu, the captain of the Northland, who wrapped his body in horse leather and sacrificed his life for the country..."

"When the entire army of the captain of the northern capital was wiped out and there were no survivors, he could still rely on the young and strong to stop the defense line - the last person who did this was Wei Shang, the guard in the cloud."

"Now, isn't there another Wei Shang from my Han family?"

···
"Back then, Wei Shang's reputation spread all over the grasslands, and the Huns even made a statue of Wei Shang to worship him in the morning and evening."

"Your Majesty wants to let the minister wait to discuss how to punish Chao Cuo?"

"If this is the case, then the minister can only say: Your Majesty, you really deserve to be the descendant of Emperor Taizong Xiaowen."

"It's just that now that Chao Cuo has suffered such injustice, and Feng Tang, who once excused Wei Shang, is no longer in Chang'an..."

Sorry, I fell asleep on the keyboard, and woke up with keyboard prints on my face...
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