The Happy Life of Small Officials in Northern Song Dynasty

Ouyang Xiu has been in a bad mood recently. Since the New Deal started, Ouyang Xiu thought he could show his skills and become one of the important officials of the central government. For this reason, he made a major choice, and even gave up the strategy of keeping up with Yan Shu. He did not hesitate to waste the good relationship established between Su Jin and Yan Shu for a long time.

Of course, this can't be completely blamed on Ouyang Xiu for climbing another branch. The New Deal is the general trend, but Yan Shu has an attitude about it. Of course, he can't follow in Yan Shu's footsteps. What makes him unable to understand is Su Jin's attitude. He thought he was a firm believer in the reform. The supporters did not expect that the four giants came to invite them but they were all deflated. Su Jin's attitude was actually to oppose this radical reform and persuade them to proceed slowly.

Ouyang Xiu can't wait any longer. He has been in the court for more than ten years. His official position can be said to be big or small, but he has never been able to enter the core of power. He used to impeach officials to find a sense of presence in the court. Ouyang Xiu felt that such an approach was definitely not the right way; to truly become a member of the core of power, one could only accomplish one big thing, and this New Deal was the best opportunity.

In view of this, he resolutely joined the camp of the upstart Fan Zhongyan, Han Qi and others to advise them, and led the admonishers to criticize officials who opposed the New Deal round after round. The more you rely on him, the more he will be consulted for everything, which gives Ouyang Xiu a great sense of satisfaction.

In fact, Ouyang Xiu didn't think much about the pros and cons of the New Deal itself. On the contrary, he somewhat agreed with Su Jin's statement. With the implementation of the New Deal, this feeling became more and more intense. Even the forced death of the abolished officials, and even the conspiracy and tricks behind the scenes made him feel that the new policy was too fast and the counter pressure was huge. [

Looking inside and outside the court, there are very few people who support the new deal, most of them are against it, and some are just waiting and watching; when the fire of the new deal was on the heads of the officials in Beijing, many old officials did not hesitate to kneel outside the palace gate to put pressure on the emperor .

But Ouyang Xiu doesn't care about these, Zhao Zhen stands behind them, as long as Zhao Zhen supports, the New Deal will definitely go ahead, no matter how others oppose it, how much criticism there is from inside and outside the court, with the support of the emperor, you don't have to care about anything, this is the biggest In fact, this is the final reason why Ouyang Xiu chose to actively carry out the New Deal with Fan Zhongyan, Han Qi and others.

To put it bluntly, trying to figure out the holy will and doing what the emperor wishes to do is better than hugging anyone's thigh.

However, a series of recent incidents made Ouyang Xiu feel very angry, and other things are fine. The most important thing is that the attitude of the emperor seems to have changed. In the past, Han Fan Fubi and himself would be summoned after each dynasty, and they would ask about the progress of the New Deal and the situation in a gentle manner. The remarks from the outside world, and occasionally a few words of relief, helped to draw attention, but since the year, Zhao Zhen's alienation has become extremely obvious.

Ouyang Xiu privately analyzed the reasons and believed that it was the case of Shi Jie and Fu Bi that aroused the emperor's vigilance. After all, it involved conspiracy.

However, this morning, Zhao Zhen announced the evidence of the case provided by Su Jin, announcing that the case was solved, someone forged Shi Jie's letter to frame Fu Bi, and comforted Fu Bi; but then Fan Zhongyan put forward several memorials related to the New Deal However, the proposals were still dismissed one by one. Zhao Zhen said that they should consider it more carefully, but everyone could see that Zhao Zhen had no interest in these memorials; The memorial to form a crony and fight against dissidents seemed extremely interesting, and ordered all officials to reflect on themselves, with an extremely severe tone.

Ouyang Xiu was extremely disappointed, everything was turning in the direction he didn't want, the emperor's attitude was enough to explain everything, and his dream of taking advantage of the New Deal to enter the central core position seemed out of reach.

Ouyang Xiu got out of the carriage with a gloomy face and returned to his mansion. The old official He came up to say hello, and then helped Ouyang Xiu hold the official hat and Chaowu, and accompanied Ouyang Xiu to the inner hall.

"Master, the fragrant cakes in the flower hall have already been burned. Go inside to warm up. I ordered someone to make some porridge for the master. The master didn't eat breakfast this morning, so it should be a pad for the stomach."

Ouyang Xiu sighed: "Where is the appetite, is there someone from the house to visit this morning?"

This is a question Ouyang Xiu often asks recently. Ever since he became a man of the new political administration, Ouyang Xiu has a lot of visitors at home, which makes Ouyang Xiu feel a little bit in power. But recently, the family has been neglected. These people's sense of smell is extremely sensitive. I don't want to come.

"This...not really." Lao He naturally understood his master's thoughts, and seeing Ouyang Xiu's face showing disappointment, he hurriedly said: "But someone sent a letter, a servant dressed as a servant, and asked who he is He didn't answer, but he called the name and asked the master to see it in person.

"Oh? Where is the letter?" Ouyang Xiu asked.

"It's in the study, the villain will get it." Old He walked away.

"No need, I'll go to the study by myself, you just order someone to light the incense cakes in the study."

"Obey!" Old He hurried to make arrangements.

Ouyang Xiu wiped his face with hot water while being served by the maid, changed into casual clothes and went to the study room. The study room was already smelling warm and pleasant. Su Ji Baoshan Fragrant Cake is indeed a good thing. It smells like this winter The cake was quite difficult. Although Su Jin disagreed with his political views, he still couldn't bear to refuse the 100 catties of fragrant cake he gave him. In any case, he was a friend of his, and Su Jin didn't forget it. Own.

The letter was on the desk, and Ouyang Xiu reached out to pick it up and looked it over and over again. There was no money or identification on the envelope, and it was impossible to tell who left it.

"Who is sneaky? Do you want to learn from others to use conspiracy and write a letter of conspiracy to slander me?" Ouyang Xiu sneered and tore open the seal and said to himself: "Why should I be afraid of these little tricks?"

The letter paper was taken out and unfolded, the contents of the letter were extremely concise, Ouyang Xiu quickly read the letter in less than a few dozen breaths, and his face turned ashen, this letter was obviously written by an official, and It is a close minister trusted by the emperor, and the content of the letter is a secret conversation between the emperor and the letter writer, a secret conversation about the cronyism between the court and China.

It can be seen from the letter that the emperor attaches more importance to crony affairs than he imagined, and the remarks in it are quite severe. It is conceivable that the emperor is afraid of crony troubles in his heart.

The writer's final suggestion is: Ouyang Zhongcheng should inform the gentlemen, write a letter to confess himself, and veto the fact that there is a faction. The Holy Majesty is already quite afraid of this. Regarding the theory, you must not speak out against the wind and see it as if you see it. This is the top priority. The matter of the New Deal will be delayed until the matter subsides before it can be attempted again. Lord Zhongcheng be careful!

Ouyang Xiu sat down slumped, his mind blank. If the matter is really as serious as the letter said, it means that not only the new political law will go ahead, but also himself and Fan Zhongyan and others will criticize and self-criticize. Having said that, the so-called DPRK-China crony refers to Fan Zhongyan, Han Qi, Fu Bi, himself and several other officials, that is to say, this unhealthy trend is directed at himself and others.

what to do?How authentic is this letter?Is the person who wrote the letter good intentions or malicious?Will the emperor make a fuss and treat them as cronies and the source of the court's troubles to be on guard?How should I face it?Many questions came one after another, filling Ouyang Xiu's frustrated head.

Sitting for a long time, Ouyang Xiu picked up the letter and read it back and forth carefully several times. When he saw the sentence "New Deal matters are delayed", Ouyang Xiu jumped up and thought with a sneer: "I was almost deceived, this must be someone's trick If one plan fails, another plan will be created, and coercion will fail. This is a tactic to attack the heart; Mr. Fan and Mr. Han mean that we are implementing new policies under the orders of the emperor. How can the emperor be afraid of us and others discussing new policies together? This is an obvious provocation An act of alienation! The emperor asked about the pros and cons of cliques in the court. Fan openly and honestly stated that as long as it is for the country and the people, even cliques need to make a fuss. , and now this inexplicable letter pops up again, the purpose of which is to let me delay the implementation of the New Deal, it is really deliberate."

Ouyang Xiu sneered a few times, tore the letter paper into pieces with both hands and said angrily: "I don't want you to do what you want, not only that, I also want to write to the emperor to clarify the matter of cronies, so that no one will make a fuss about this, I want to explain to the emperor It is clear that not all cliques are for harming the court and endangering the country, it is true that I, Ouyang Xiu, formed a clique with Mr. Fan, Mr. Han and others, but if we are determined to serve the country, how can we be half-disasterd?"

Ouyang Xiu got up abruptly, spread out the white paper, rubbed the ink and brushed it hard, and after a while, a piece of "Party Theory" appeared on the paper. Come and get ready to drive into the palace.