Tang Dynasty Xie Lu Lang

Chapter 509 Aggressive Approach, A Battle is Inevitable

That night, Zhang Dai didn't learn any valuable information about the border from Prince Xin'an; instead, he listened to the prince's endless complaints.

Zhang Dai originally wanted to comfort Prince Xin'an, but as he listened, he sensed that something was amiss.

Prince Xin'an is, after all, a great general who guards a region and has just completed a major expansion in border affairs. Even if we don't consider his mood, his character should at least be brave and strong. How could he be like a complaining woman, full of grumbling and grievances at the slightest trouble or problem?
Moreover, most of the things he complained about were things that I had no say in or could not intervene in. In other words, complaining to him would be useless and would only leave him somewhat confused.

After listening for a long time, Zhang Dai finally realized that Prince Xin'an was not complaining to him at all, but clearly wanted to use him to convey these situations, as well as the person's feelings and attitudes, to his boss, Pei Guangting.

Realizing this, Zhang Dai couldn't help but recall Pei Zhen's reminder to Li Xia at noon. Li Xia must have gone home and told his father, which led to the Prince of Xin'an's outpouring of grievances.

Zhang Dai listened carefully to Prince Xin'an's complaints. Although the main theme was the structural conflict between the border town and the imperial court, the main content of his complaints was a series of policies implemented by Yuwen Rong. Clearly, he was dissatisfied with Yuwen Rong.

The reasons are quite simple. First, as the prime minister in charge of finances, Yuwen Rong did not provide sufficient military funding to the border towns. Second, some of the policies implemented by Yuwen Rong directly harmed the interests of the border towns.

Zhang Dai originally wanted to explain that the opening of the border was based on his suggestion and that implementing this policy would bring long-term benefits to the border defense, but after realizing this, he simply stopped mentioning it.

These disputes and conflicts arise from the actual exercise of their respective powers and cannot be explained away by so-called misunderstandings. It is impossible to persuade one party to concede by appealing to the supposed overall or global interests.

Either one party can come up with a compensation plan that satisfies the other, or they can use a tough attitude and means to force the other party to endure the growing pains of reform and push things forward quickly. Once there is positive feedback, the so-called dispute will naturally disappear.

The problem now is that Yuwen Rong can't come up with a solution that satisfies the Shuofang Army, while Prince Xin'an is unwilling to submit to his authority and accept this painful period. Therefore, he is trying to find help from the court to fight against Yuwen Rong.

From Zhang Dai's perspective, he certainly hoped that the opening of the border law could be successfully implemented and play a significant role in border affairs as soon as possible. However, the establishment of the system, the integration of personnel, and the creation and standardization of various processes all require an objective process of establishment.

From the perspective of Prince Xin'an, he had just risked his life to penetrate enemy territory and made great contributions, which expanded the territory of Hebei by thousands of miles. The rewards had not been fully distributed. Now, when he turned around, a large part of the rights and interests of the Shuofang Army were to be taken away. How could he tolerate this?
The Shuofang army followed him through thick and thin, yet he couldn't even protect the basic rights of his soldiers. How could he lead such an army?
Since Yuwen Rong is clearly targeting him, Prince Xin'an naturally needs to retaliate. Therefore, choosing a suitable partner is of paramount importance.

Although there is currently a prime minister named Xiao Song in the court who comes from a military background, as the saying goes, one's position determines one's perspective. Xiao Song has made a lot of personnel arrangements in the Hexi Corridor and naturally does not want a powerful figure in the border region who can disrupt his personnel arrangements.

Prince Xin'an was someone Xiao Song couldn't control. If Xiao Song allowed Prince Xin'an to continue growing stronger on the border, the situation there would gradually slip out of his control.

The generals of Helong were all his subordinates and mouthpieces. Their differing opinions on Shibao City reflected their disagreements on border affairs. After capturing Shibao City, Prince Xin'an did not take up a post in Helong, but remained stationed in Shuofang. This also shows that Xiao Song did not want Prince Xin'an to continue interfering with his arrangements in Helong.

Since Xiao Song couldn't be allied with, the only option was to contact Pei Guangting. Pei Guangting had previously served as the Vice Minister of War and was not completely ignorant of military affairs. However, due to Xiao Song's presence, he had no voice on military matters and no border strategies to implement. If he could reach a certain understanding with Prince Xin'an, it would undoubtedly be a win-win situation for both parties.

So the problem facing Zhang Dai now is either to help the Shuofang army alleviate its pain and compensate for its losses, or to stick to his own side and not act as a rational observer, detached from reality, and try to persuade others to consider the overall situation.

Realizing that he only needed to act as a mouthpiece, Zhang Dai stopped expressing his own opinions and simply listened to what Prince Xin'an had to say.

However, he still felt somewhat resentful, since the Opening of the Middle Way was his idea, and Yuwen Rong was also vigorously promoting it, but now it seemed to have become an act that created a powerful enemy for him.

Although he had mentioned this possibility to Pei Guangting when he first made the suggestion, now that it had become a reality, he couldn't help but sigh at how difficult it was to get things done and how factional strife could ruin the country.

However, this level of strategic maneuvering was beyond his capabilities, and he could only stand aside and observe how things developed, drawing lessons and summarizing experiences from it.

After the Autumn Festival, Zhang Dai still had several days of vacation left, but after receiving so much negativity from Prince Xin'an, he returned to the Censorate early the next morning to relay the situation to Pei Guangting. "Yuwen Rong was commendable in all his previous positions, both inside and outside the capital, and was a virtuous man widely respected. However, since becoming Chancellor, his actions have been often tedious and disruptive, greatly alienating the people. Even a powerful minister like Prince Xin'an, who commands respect on the border, finds him unbearable; it's truly regrettable!"

After listening to Zhang Dai's account, Pei Guangting sighed and said, "The Prince of Xin'an has just achieved great merit. The vast territory needs such a loyal, diligent, wise and brave minister to be in charge so as to deter the villains and prevent anyone from daring to offend him. Even the central government must carefully consider this matter and not act rashly and impulsively, lest it go against the will of the people and make things difficult to achieve."

Pei Guangting naturally welcomed Prince Xin'an to align himself with him, so after listening to Zhang Dai's account, he immediately began to belittle Yuwen Rong without any politeness.

Zhang Dai was certainly aware of these political matters, but when he heard Pei Guangting accuse Yuwen Rong of acting arbitrarily, he couldn't help but think to himself that what goes around comes around, and when Yuwen Rong implements the "qualification-based" system in a while, he will inevitably face similar criticism.

After expressing his views, Pei Guangting said to Zhang Dai, "Recently, there have been those in the Imperial Secretariat who say that 'the most important matters of the state are war and sacrifice.' Prince Xin'an is in charge of military campaigns and holds the position of Grand Minister of Rites. He has too much power and influence in all these matters. I have temporarily dismissed such statements. Zongzhi, since you have received such appreciation and courtesy from Prince Xin'an, please convey this message to him on my behalf."

Zhang Dai was now considered a staunch confidant of Pei Guangting and could even speak with Prince Xin'an, naturally becoming a mouthpiece for the collusion between the general and the prime minister. Upon hearing Pei Guangting's words, he quickly realized that this was also Yuwen Rong's way of targeting Prince Xin'an.

In addition to serving as the military governor of Shuofang, Prince Xin'an also concurrently held the position of Minister of Rites. Of course, this was only a nominal post, and he would not actually be in the court handling the affairs of the Ministry of Rites. Some people have criticized Prince Xin'an for this, saying that he was responsible for both important military and sacrificial affairs, which is obviously nitpicking and making trouble out of nothing.

The person who would do this is clearly Yuwen Rong. Firstly, Yuwen Rong rose through the ranks of the Censorate and still wields considerable influence, making him capable of instructing censors to make this statement.

Secondly, in addition to preparing for the opening of the middle school, Yuwen Rong is also conducting a survey of the hidden households of monks and Taoist priests in temples and monasteries, and the registers of monks and Taoist priests are managed by the Ministry of Rites.

To ensure things proceeded smoothly, Yuwen Rong needed to strengthen his control over the Ministry of Rites. Since Prince Xin'an was occupying a position without contributing, Yuwen Rong naturally wanted to remove him and replace him with his own people.

Since Prince Xin'an had expressed his willingness to align himself with Pei Guangting through Zhang Dai, Pei Guangting naturally had to reciprocate by relaying this information to Prince Xin'an.

So Zhang Dai, like a carrier pigeon, fluttered his wings and went to the Prince of Xin'an's house again to relay the story.

"Yuwen Rong has gone too far!"

Upon learning of this, Prince Xin'an was furious. He had only nominally accepted the position of Minister of Rites and did not value it highly; if there were any disputes, he would not have hesitated to resign.

However, Yuwen Rong repeatedly provoked him, practically forcing him to attack, displaying an aggressive and domineering attitude as if he wanted to establish his authority. How could Prince Xin'an tolerate this?

Seeing the Prince of Xin'an's angry expression, Zhang Dai couldn't help but sigh inwardly, realizing that human affairs truly have their own inherent inertia.

Historically, Yuwen Rong lost his life because he failed to subdue Prince Xin'an. Now, even without Yuwen Rong's previous scheme to open the Zhongfa, a clash between them was inevitable in Yuwen Rong's efforts to strengthen the consolidation of temple and monastery households.

After relaying the relevant information, Zhang Dai took his leave and did not want to get too involved in the matter.

Although he was opposed to Yuwen Rong in terms of stance, he still admired and respected Yuwen Rong emotionally. After all, he also disliked those monks and Taoists, who were full of vices and had desires that were even greater than those of ordinary people. They deserved to be severely punished and taught a lesson.

However, one is often caught up in the complexities of life, and each level has its own set of rules. Zhang Dai didn't want to get involved in the power struggles among the prime ministers, but he still faced personnel challenges commensurate with him.

A few days later, Zhang Yi, who had left Chang'an at the beginning of the year to return to Luoyang to oversee various affairs, hurriedly returned to Chang'an. Upon seeing Zhang Dai, he said with a serious expression, "My lord, something terrible has happened! It seems someone is plotting against my family's money-making business..."

(End of this chapter)