Zhang Chu is a veritable old man in the Black Banner Army. He has followed Fang Jie since Fang Xie had not decided on the number of the Black Banner Army, only a little later than Sun Kaidao. He chose to stay by Fang Xie's side when Fang Xie went to Langru Mountain in the northwest to take over the Sui army.
In these years of ups and downs, he has also done a lot for the Black Banner Army.
However, although this person is cautious in doing things, he can control the small situation but not the big picture. Wu Yidao's evaluation of him is that this person can be both literary and military, and he is a talent. But the vision is too small and the ability is limited. Wu Yidao's comment is very pertinent... It is difficult for Zhang Chu to govern Yidao. If you give him a county, no one can do better than him. Give Zhang Chu 100,000 horses, he is unable to control the final defeat and dies. Give him 10,000 horses, and the army will be organized in an orderly manner, with small victories and no major defeats.
But Fang Jie is the person who values friendship the most. Zhang Chu has been with him for a long time, so it is inevitable that he will take care of him more. In order not to let Zhang Chu feel wronged, Fang Jie put him in a very important position after thinking about it. Although his official position is not very high, even if he can't do everything with his ability, there will be no trouble.
But who knows, in such a position, he still disappointed Fang Jie.
a banquet
jug of wine
Zhang Chu sat there, looking in a daze at the full glass of wine in front of him.
Fang Jie didn't speak, just drinking one cup after another.
"My lord..."
Zhang Chu raised his head and glanced at Fang Jie, hesitant to speak. In the end, he just let out a long sigh and drank the wine in the glass in one gulp.
Fang Jie picked up the jug and filled a glass for him, and said in silence for a while, "I've been thinking these days, what kind of excuse can I give you. Think about all the credits, and then discount your sins and see how to deal with them."
"My lord, this is wrong."
Zhang Chu put down his wine glass, and said bitterly: "My lord has set the rules for the Black Banner Army. If you have meritorious service, you will be rewarded; if you have done something wrong, you will be punished. I have done some things before, but my lord has already rewarded them, and the rewards are very generous. .Now that there is a fault, there is no reason to exchange the previous credit... credit is credit, and fault is fault."
Fang Jie looked at him: "I always knew that the person with the strongest principles in the Black Banner Army is you, but you clearly know this, why do you want to break the law?"
"Because of you, my lord."
Zhang Chu drank the wine in the glass again, and then smiled: "Now that it's here, my subordinates have nothing to be afraid of. In fact, my subordinates have a lot of things that I want to say all the time, but many of these things can't be said out loud …There is no doubt that the lord is the best lord. Counting all the heroes in the world, no one can treat his subordinates better than the lord. If anyone doubts this, the subordinates are willing to fight with their lives."
"In terms of rewards, the Black Banner Army is the highest. In terms of welfare, the Black Banner Army is the best. In terms of salary, the Black Banner Army is the highest."
Zhang Chudao: "but... my lord."
He stood up, a little emotionally: "Do you know where you feel the most uneasy?"
"What?"
Fang asked.
"It's because you care too much about affection."
Zhang Chu said loudly: "The lord is not enough to be a hero. It is true that brothers follow you because you have love, but there is another reason... that is, everyone hopes that following the lord will lead to a good future and a good destination. Feng Houbai General, the lintel of glory. But many of your decisions, my lord, have disappointed your subordinates..."
"Speak."
Fang Jie said.
"First, the lord is too nostalgic for things. For example, the eldest princess is in the big camp now. What a flag it is? If the lord holds this flag to send troops, it is justified! But the lord, he just raised this princess in the big camp. Here, it’s delicious and delicious, so I don’t need her at all!”
"Secondly, the lord has already been sitting on one side of the world, but what about the name? Someone persuaded the lord a long time ago to be promoted to the throne first. In this way, the rewards for the people below are also worthy of the name. But the lord has not been until the eldest princess comes. Afterwards, he accepted the position of a duke of the country. The title of duke of the country is not low, but how to reward his subordinates? The Black Banner Army went out to fight everywhere, and the generals made great military achievements, but the generals under the lord have the title of general, and their rank Is it? No!"
"Thirdly, what is the inference from the two points mentioned before? It's because the lord doesn't have the heart to fight for the world!"
Zhang Chu lamented: "the third point is the most uneasy. Everyone follows the lord because of the lord's good and for their own good. There is no doubt about it. But everyone can't see the lord's ambition Ambitious, so you can't see your future clearly."
"so… "
When he reached this point, he involuntarily paused.
"So, you guys are starting to find a way out for yourself."
Fang Jie sighed softly and took a sip of wine: "You guys think that my mind is not on world wars, but that I want to be a great general of the Sui Dynasty. Otherwise, I won't respect the eldest princess that much, otherwise I will not be promoted to the throne. If I only want to be a great general of the Sui Dynasty, then the people under me will naturally not be able to become a great general in the future. If I help the Tai Sui restore the world in the future, then the credit is so great, My subordinates don’t get everything they deserve, and I feel reconciled.”
"more than!"
Zhang Chudao: "Because the lord's flag is not clear, people are uneasy. If the lord is really fighting the rebellion for the Sui, then no matter who inherits the throne in the future, how can the lord not be afraid of the lord who holds a heavy army? At that time You must find a way to take back the military power from the lord, and you must suppress the lord's generals. Just like Li Xiao, the great general during Taizong's reign, even if Taizong paid more attention to him and trusted him, but for the sake of the country, he was forced by other people's pressure. Let's do it. Once that time comes... where do we people go?"
…
…
Fang Jie was silent for a long time.
Zhang Chu looked at Fang Jie's face, and said apologetically: "Actually, I'm just making excuses for my fault. The fault is still on the subordinates and others, just because they don't trust the lord. In fact, the subordinates deeply Knowing that this is their own fault, like Dugu Wenxiu, like Cui Zhongzhen, like Xiahou Baichuan, and even like Sanjin Hou Wuyi, they would not do such a thing, because they firmly believe that the lord will have great achievements in the future."
"They're all strong-minded people."
Zhang Chudao: "my lord didn't notice it?"
Fang Jie raised his head and glanced at him: "What?"
"The subordinates and others are not the first to commit such a thing in the Black Banner Army. For example... Sun Kaidao."
Zhang Chudao: "my lord, what do we have in common?"
Without waiting for Fang Jie to answer, Zhang Chu said by himself: "What we have in common is that our abilities are limited, but because we have been with the lord for a long time, we are placed in a rather important position. We are not Sanjin Hou, not Dugu Wenxiu, not Cui Zhongzhen, because they are the most powerful people under the lord's command, and they will certainly be above us in the future. As for us, we will not even be as good as we are now... "
"Now when the lord is fighting the world, each of his subordinates has their own responsibilities, and they are all important. In the future, no matter whether the lord goes to rule the world, or he is in peace for the Sui Dynasty, after the war is over, the world will be peaceful. Shouldn't the time be as good as now?"
He smiled wryly and said: "People like us, the best home in the future is that the lord rewards a dispensable official position, a title that is neither high nor low, and lives on that salary... In this case, why didn't I advance Save some money for yourself? Regardless of whether the lord will be the emperor or assist the emperor in the future, we will not have a bright future, so we simply take risks and save a large amount of money for our future retirement."
Fang Jie nodded: "You guys think like this, it's because I don't think enough."
Zhang Chu was suddenly a little angry: "My lord!"
He said loudly: "My lord, you must have a heroic heart! You must have the aura that this world is mine! After I said this, the lord does not need to listen, apologize, or even meet his subordinates, just follow the instructions of the Black Banner Army." The military law just pulled us out and cut us down! Why should the lord feel guilty because of the nonsensical justification of a man who committed a capital crime? If the lord really has the world in mind, he should withdraw his subordinates now and kill them with knives!"
Fang Jie shook his head: "There are some things that I didn't consider carefully, thank you for reminding me. You said that I don't need to listen to your excuses, which is wrong... I want to listen to your heart, because I want to prevent such things from happening. .I can raise the knife countless times against the enemy, but I don’t want to raise the knife once against my own people.”
He stood up and paced slowly: "I heard you say this, and it's not that you are still thinking about how to commute your sentence. I didn't think about it for a few days, but it was because I had actually planned to kill you in my heart." Determination. If not, how could there be no reason?"
"Military law..."
Fang Jie looked at Zhang Chu: "It's the military law. I missed it once before, and I won't make another mistake in the future. I should have killed Sun Kaidao but I didn't. This fueled your greed. If I don't kill you now, the military law will be wrong." It’s useless. And no one respects me as the leader.”
"yes!"
Zhang Chu nodded heavily.
"If there is only one Sun Kaidao, I can put the responsibility for this incident on the word greed. But after you, there are so many people, how can I still deceive myself? It's because of greed? Isn't it because of myself? Didn't do it well enough?"
Fang Jie said slowly: "So, I want to find out my shortcomings from you. Then I have to deal with what happened in the future. Now, how can I go back?"
Zhang Chu was startled, and suddenly laughed: "If I had seen the Lord's eyes like this earlier, I might not have the death penalty today...My Lord, in your eyes just now, there is the momentum of whoever has the power in the world."
"My crime today will inevitably lead to doom sooner or later."
Zhang Chudao: "People are doing it, and the sky is watching. Even if the lord doesn't investigate, I will not end well sooner or later. In fact, during these days, every time I think that I have collected money to protect corrupt officials, I can't sleep at night. It's not that the subordinates haven't thought about confessing everything to the lord, what is lacking is courage."
"you are wrong… "
Fang Jie turned his head and looked at him, and said word by word: "When people are doing it, the sky may not necessarily be watching. When people are doing it, others are ultimately watching. What is the sky?"
A gleam of deep meaning flashed in Fang Jie's eyes: "The common people cannot rely on their own strength to maintain fairness, so they pin their hopes on the illusory sky, thinking that the gods can be just and selfless. In fact, they themselves don't know that the sky is ruthless. Unrighteousness? Geniuses don’t care about human affairs, no matter how great the injustice is. People are doing it, and the sky is watching. It’s just a fantasy of the people, a kind of sustenance... In other words By the way..."
Fang Jie said: "Whoever lets the common people see justice and fairness, who can make the decision for them... whoever is, is God!"