The Happy Life of Small Officials in Northern Song Dynasty

In a disdainful tone, Yan Shu revealed to Su Jin what the reformers Fan Zhongyan, Han Qi, Fu Bi and others had done in recent days.

It turns out that since the first day of the Yuan Dynasty, Zhao Zhen has expanded the number of admonition officials in response to Fan Zhongyan and others, and called Bao Zheng, Yu Jing, Wang Su, and Cai Xiang as admonition officials. It may be that he is afraid of the coming pressure. The people decided to act first, and first let the admonishers impeach the important ministers of the court.

In March, apart from Bao Zheng who felt that things should not be rushed and was unwilling to participate in the performance, Ouyang Xiu took the lead, followed by Yu Jing, Wang Su and Cai Xiang, and the first target was the Deputy Prime Minister Wang Juzheng.

Wang Juzheng is indeed a person who can be blamed. This person is usually obedient and taciturn, and he pursues the policy of being wise and protecting himself in the court. The secret of Zu Yin's entry into the official position, from being an official to the deputy prime minister, is not only that he has no responsibility, but he has no credit, but he can't find any mistakes in him, and it is this that became the reason for the four admonishing officials The reason is that as an important minister of the central government, he can't do his best to serve the country.

In order to express his support for the reform, Zhao Zhen immediately acted, dismissed Wang Juzheng as deputy prime minister, expelled him from Beijing and became a state official in another place, and appointed Fan Zhongyan as deputy prime minister at the same time. [

The reformists who had tasted the sweetness made persistent efforts, and the four admonishers came out here, and this time they pointed the finger at a big tiger—Lv Yijian, who had been ill for a long time, and Lu Yijian was already unable to handle political affairs. Zhao Zhen really couldn't bear to issue an edict to dismiss him , So he ordered someone to ask Lu Yijian to write a memorial form of his own invitation to be an official. Zhao Zhen granted him the post of Taiwei and became an official. After fighting for a lifetime, Lu Yijian was kicked out of the prime minister's position.

But Zhao Zhen did not hand over the position of prime minister to one of the reformers. Originally, Yan Shu was a strong candidate for the next prime minister, but because Yan Shu did not agree with the reform, Fan Zhongyan, Han Qi and others strongly opposed Yan Shu's appointment as the new prime minister. Under this, Zhang Dexiang, the deputy prime minister, was righted and ordered to act as prime minister temporarily.

The four admonishers did not give up, and for the third time pointed their finger at Xia Song and Du Yan, the main figures in the court who opposed the reform. The reason was that these two men had little military merit and could not take important positions in the Privy Council; this time the reason was extremely far-fetched , Zhao Zhen also felt that it was not easy to handle, and Zhao Zhen also keenly felt that once these two people were impeached again, the factions in the court would be different, and the remaining officials, big and small, would fall to the reformist faction. Zhao Zhen was a little flustered.

Although Zhao Zhen is determined to change the law, he does not want the family to dominate the court. One of the secrets of being emperor taught by the Queen Mother is the theory of political balance. He must keep the voice of opposition as a pawn of restriction, so that he can sit on the mountain Watch the tigers fight.

So Zhao Zhen only removed Xia Song from the post of deputy privy secretary, and retained Du Yan's post as privy secretary envoy.

As a result, the reformist faction was in power in the court, with the deputy prime minister and deputy privy envoy Fan Zhongyan, the privy deputy envoys Han Qi, Fu Bi, and Yushi Zhongcheng Ouyang Xiu. The reformists had the absolute upper hand. Shanghai seems to have become popular; and for some reason, Yan Shu was not targeted by the reformists, probably because of the relationship between Su Jin and Fu Bi, and Fan Zhongyan and others still showed some sympathy.

After listening to Yan Shu's narration, Su Jin was shocked. He didn't expect such a drastic change in the court in just a few months. He didn't even know about it. He never read the palace newspaper. Every day wandering around the horse farms, pastures, fields, and water canals, the eight fortresses with selected locations in the north of Weizhou are also under construction.

"Su Jin, do you think they have gone too far? This old man really can't bear this good situation to become turbulent. Chaos is most likely to occur when people are in panic. Although I have spoken to the emperor several times, the emperor seems determined this time. If you want to let them mess around, what's the point of going on like this?" Yan Shu sighed, as if he was a few years old.

Su Jin understood Yan Shu's mood. The prime minister's position was in vain, and the reform was not what he admired, and the reformist's approach was too radical, which also made Yan Shu faintly feel that the fire would be burned on himself sooner or later, why? Don't let him sigh; not only him, but many officials in the court are now in a state of dormancy, but this kind of dormancy is the prelude to an outbreak, and a huge crisis is brewing anyway. Which of these impeached people is easy to provoke?Which is the soft persimmon that is easy to pinch?The reform faction gains power for a while, and I am afraid there will be a storm of blood and blood waiting for them.

Seeing that Su Jin was silent, Yan Shu sighed and said, "I understand that you are actually in favor of the reform. According to what the old man said, the detailed rules for the reform that will be announced this time are derived from your ten evils. Fan Zhongyan, Han Qi and the others Is what you want to do exactly what you want to do? Forget it, this old man won’t tell you these things anymore, what should come will come naturally, what should go will naturally go, and this old man has the right to interfere with your behavior.”

Su Jin cupped his hands and said: "What did the Lord Sansi say? I'm not hiding the truth. He is indeed in favor of reform. There are too many abuses in the imperial court. If there is no reform, it will be dragged down by waste of money and corrupt officials sooner or later. But I don't agree. This kind of radical method is carried out. In troubled times, heavy codes are used. Now it is a peaceful and prosperous age. If the method is too drastic, it will cause chaos. Last time, when Lord Han Qi and Lord Ouyang Xiu went to Qinzhou to celebrate the child’s full moon, I also spoke with them. I said it; but they are getting excited now and think that I am not enough friends. You have seen this time when I returned to Beijing, none of them came to pick me up, so they are angry with me."

Yan Shu said happily, "So you are standing with the old man?"

Su Jin said with a smile: "I have always stood with Yan Sansi, but I also stood with Master Fan and Master Han. The idea is good, but the method still needs to be discussed."

Yan Shu said: "Can you explain this to the emperor? The emperor seems to be a little hot-headed. Your words still carry weight. Why don't you tell the emperor to hear it?"

Su Jin shook his head and said: "Master Sansi, the emperor's mind is not hot. What you said just now just shows that the emperor is awake."

Yan Shu said: "Sober? The emperor didn't stop such impeachment of important ministers. You still say that the emperor is sober?"

Su Jin raised his head and thought for a while, "Master Sansi seems to be too angry, anger blinded your wisdom, you did not think carefully about the emperor's actions, all the emperor's actions have a bottom line, didn't you realize that? "

Yan Shu was stunned and said, "Bottom line? Are you talking about it?"

Su Jin smiled and said: "I don't know if the guess is right or not. I'm not good at trying to figure out the meaning, but in this matter, the emperor's behavior does have something to figure out; Lord Sansi, now the three divisions and two governments Who are the main brains and officials of the Communist Party of China, have you thought about it carefully?" [

Yan Shu said: "The Political Affairs Hall is headed by Zhang Dexiang, the Privy Council is headed by Du Yan, and the third secretary is still an old man...you mean..."

Su Jin smiled and said: "Isn't this enough to explain everything? It seems that the people in charge of the three divisions and the two governments are not controlled by Fan Zhongyan, Han Qi and others. Since the emperor is determined to change, why not give the position of prime minister to Fan Zhongyan, the privy envoy If Han Qi is given the position, the third division will directly replace you with Fu Bi? On the contrary, they were all given deputy positions, so it can be seen that the emperor only cares about it."

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Yan Shu suddenly shouted: "Oh, that's really the case, but does the emperor have other plans? Then why do you pamper and trust them so much?"

Su Jin said solemnly: "Master Sansi, you are against reform, but as far as I know, Fan Zhongyan, Han Qi and others did not have any selfish intentions in making reforms. The heart of serving the country is open and aboveboard, so even if the Lord Sansi disagrees, he still needs to insult them, they are not villains, and they are not the kind of dog, this must be recognized."

Yan Shu nodded and said, "Yes, Han and Fan are upright people, and they act without favoritism. They are indeed upright people."

Su Jindao: "It's best that the three divisions think so, and the emperor must have seen their desire to serve the country, so he is very supportive of them; I guess the emperor doesn't want to get out of hand, so the main duties of the two government and the three divisions do not allow them It is precisely because of this that I am quite sweating for Mr. Fan, Mr. Han, Mr. Fu."

Yan Shu said in amazement: "You should sweat for the old man. Maybe next time you return to Beijing, the old man will be old, and their next target will be the old man."

Su Jin shook his head and said: "Definitely not, the emperor's intention to protect you is quite obvious, and no matter whether the four admonishers will point the finger at you, even if you are the third envoy, the emperor will definitely reject it." .”

"How did you see that?" Yan Shu asked.

Su Jin smiled and said: "Let Lu Xiangxian go, you should have taken over the position of prime minister. Although this matter is not a certainty, it is almost a conclusion; the emperor has also said in private on different occasions that the third minister will take over. ;This time, I just let Zhang De like such a mediocre person take the place of mediocrity. I think the emperor doesn't want to put you on the forefront at this time. Once you sit on the position of prime minister, you will definitely exercise the power of prime minister. Singing against Mr. Fan and Mr. Han, you will also veto some of their proposals, and in that case, you will be the target of public criticism when the reform is carried out."

Yan Shu stared at Su Jin in a daze for a long time, and sighed: "Scholars will treat each other with admiration for three days. Is this the Su Jin I know? The consideration is so difficult and detailed that I didn't even think about it that much."

Su Jin said: "I'm not saying that you will understand sooner or later, you just didn't calm down because you were too angry."

Yan Shu laughed, feeling much better, and asked: "This time when you return to Beijing, do you have anything to say to the emperor?"

Su Jin felt that there was no need to hide Yan Shu's private trade of war horses, so he told Yan Shu in detail about the Heye Li tribe's deal of exchanging food for war horses.

Yan Shu was so startled that his eyeballs jumped on the ground. This kid was so courageous that he dared to do this in private, but since he had Zhao Zhen's approval in advance, it wasn't too out of the ordinary; I don't know how this kid did it in exchange for precious war horses. Could it be that the Xixia people are all stupid?

"Master Sansi has to prepare a large sum of money to be deposited in my Huitong Yinzhuang. I will keep [-] of the [-] horses for breeding, and the other [-] horses must be taken over by the imperial court quickly, otherwise my money will be in short supply. It doesn’t work, this time the emperor ordered to accept it.”

Yan Shu said with a smile: "Of course the money is the first to be paid. The emperor must be very happy."

Su Jin said: "I hope so, there is another matter I also want to ask the emperor, before I ask the emperor, I have to ask Lord Sansi first."

Yan Shu said, "What's the matter?"

Su Jindao: "I beg Lord Sansi to remember the sincerity of Lord Fan, Lord Han, Lord Ouyang, Brother Fu and others to serve the country with sincerity, and don't feel resentment towards them. One day in the future, don't use extraordinary methods against them."

Yan Shu was stunned and said, "Where did you say that?"

Su Jin said quietly: "According to my prediction, the reform will surely fail. In the future, they will inevitably be settled after the fall. I don't want to watch them die."

Chapter [-]: The Death of Change ([-])