I studied in modern times

Chapter 936: Song Dynasty Tradition - Internal Struggle among Scholars and Officials
In the next few days, Wen Jifu began to host banquets for Li Ziyi intensively and brought him into contact with various upper-class dignitaries in Bianliang.

Cao, Liu, Yang, Xiang, Gao...

One by one, the noble sons of the Central Plains relatives who seemed out of Li Ziyi's reach got to know him through Wen Jifu's introduction.

Then, he took Li Ziyi to participate in one poetry meeting after another in Bianliang.

He got to know some of the top poets and painters in the city of Bianliang.

He also took him to linger in brothels, sleep drunk in prostitutes, and interact with the big names in the major brothels in Bian Jing.

All of this made Li Ziyi immersed in it and unable to extricate himself.

Unconsciously, he had quietly regarded himself as an important figure in Bianliang.

Indistinctly, he subconsciously regarded the other members of the Goryeo delegation who came with him, especially the middle and low-level officials, as aliens. He felt that he was different from them and should belong to a higher-level circle.

People with this mentality have a very appropriate adjective on the modern Internet - Dalit foreman.

And, what’s funny is that no one in the Goryeo delegation noticed his change.

I just feel that Li Ziyi seems to have changed a little.

But what exactly has changed?
No one can explain it clearly.

This is because Goryeo itself was a country that attached great importance to the order of hierarchy.

There is a strict feudal hierarchy not only among the nobles.

Even within the same family, there is a huge gap between legitimate and illegitimate children.

Even if they are both legitimate sons, there is a difference in status between the older brother and the younger brother.

This strict feudal hierarchy is so tenacious that even in modern times it is still deeply rooted in the societies of North and South Korea and permeates every aspect of life.

Therefore, to the Goryeo people, top dignitaries like Li Ziyi were inherently arrogant.

Now, it's just more arrogant.

Isn't this still the same?

While Wen Jifu was busy taking Li Ziyi to various circles, a turmoil arose in the Song Dynasty court this winter.

The old problems of civil servants and literati have come back again!
Simply put, it was an internal conflict.

Moreover, this is not just an ordinary internal conflict.

A big mix-up!

In just seven or eight days, the entire northwest Shanxi region was in chaos.

Almost all factions were involved.

Everyone started to bite their political enemies.

This was the first time that Empress Dowager Xiang encountered such a complicated struggle among civil servants since she took power.

Lack of experience and hesitation in response also, to a certain extent, contributed to the infighting and attacks among the civil servants.

By the twelfth day of the eleventh month of the second year of Yuanyou, things had become out of control.

Empress Dowager Xiang had no choice but to send someone to call Zhao Xu to Baoci Palace after the morning court session that day.

Since the beginning of winter, Zhao Xu moved back to Funing Palace.

This was mainly because Zhao Xu was growing up.

As Baoci Palace was frequented by ladies-in-waiting, Empress Dowager Xiang took the initiative to let Zhao Xu move back to Funing Palace to live in order to avoid suspicion of being incompatible with other people's affairs.

Of course, she did not forget to ask her trusted palace lady, Mrs. Zhang, to bring a team of carefully selected female officials over 40 years old to the Funing Palace to serve Zhao Xu's daily life.

This is to prevent the little sluts in the palace from seducing the emperor and harming his body.

This can also be considered as the pain of growing up.

When Zhao Xu arrived at Baoci Palace, he paid his respects to Empress Dowager Xiang, sat down beside her, and asked, "I wonder why you called me here, mother?"

Empress Dowager Xiang looked at Zhao Xu, sighed, and said, "The other day I ordered the officials to copy the note for Sixth Brother. Have you read it?"

Zhao Xu nodded: "I've seen it!"

He raised his eyebrows: "I remember that I gave mother some advice at that time..."

"We should resolutely rebuke the relevant ministers and order them to retract their remarks!"

"..." The Queen Mother lowered her head and was silent for a long time before she said, "I was too soft-hearted..."

"A moment of hesitation has now led to disaster!"

She looked at Zhao Xu: "At the morning court today, the left prime minister Lu Gong submitted a petition to retire..."

"Li Chang, the Minister of the Imperial Household, has also submitted a petition to beg for a county..."

Zhao Xu listened and pursed his lips: "How could it become like this in just three days?"

But, this is just an excuse.

The fact is, after entering November, Zhao Xu's energy was almost entirely focused on the Hanlin Academy.

He would go to the Hanlin Academy almost every day to inspect the installation progress of the Yuanyou Armillary Sphere.

Then, accompanied by Su Song, Han Gonglian, Chen Yijian and others, he would go to the Imperial Medical Academy to inspect the extraction and preparation experiments of allicin.

These two things have been his main focus recently.

The main thing is that these two things have reached a critical point.

Especially the Yuanyou Armillary Sphere, which was completed after two years of investment at all costs.

This behemoth, which integrates many functions such as astronomical observation, timing, and time reporting, is powered by hydraulic power and uses a large number of the most advanced technologies of the contemporary era. It has entered the final stage of assembly, debugging, and verification.

If everything goes well, starting from the first month of next year, the Imperial City of the Song Dynasty will have a mechanical clock that will strike the hour non-stop every day.

If successfully applied, next year's imperial examination will be the first imperial examination in history to be accurately timed and reported by a machine.

It will also have a huge promoting effect on industrial production - the precise concept of time is the product of the modern industrial revolution.

Conversely, it can also be said that precise time is beneficial to industrial production.

Therefore, it is understandable that Zhao Xu pays attention to this engineering equipment.

As for allicin, it is easier to understand.

After all, no one cares about his life more than Zhao Xu.

Allicin is the antibiotic that is easiest to successfully prepare under current technological conditions.

The only problem is that both projects are expensive.

Take allicin for example. If the preparation fails once, hundreds of thousands of strings of cash will be wasted.

In order to speed up the progress, Zhao Xu set up ten allicin preparation groups in the Imperial Medical Bureau.

Over the course of two years, hundreds of thousands of strings of cash had been burned through.

Under the violent impetus of this great force, the allicin preparation technology of the Imperial Medical Bureau made rapid progress.

Today, a series of technical difficulties have been solved/broken through.

We are just one step away from preparing usable allicin.

Under such circumstances, Zhao Xu would naturally go to the Hanlin Academy more and more frequently.

However, this does not mean that his control over the outer court has declined.

He still insisted on listening to the daily briefing given by Shi Deyi on behalf of the Investigation Department every night.

Before going to bed, he would still order people to mark the daily changes in the prices of major daily necessities in Bianjing on the walls of his bedroom in the Funing Palace, and make a chart out of it to track the rise and fall of prices in Bianjing.

Naturally, he couldn't be unaware of the earth-shattering events taking place in the outer court.

He simply allowed the scholars and officials in the outer court to bite each other.

Because Zhao Xu knew too well the character of these literati in the Song Dynasty.

If I don’t fight for three days, I’ll feel uncomfortable all over!
In Zhao Xu's previous life, during the Yuanyou era, after the old party completed the unification of the court, they immediately fell into mutual infighting.

Suddenly, the old party, which had been "united as one" when facing the new party, split into the Shu party, the Luo party, and the Shuo party. They bit each other and fought each other.

You call me a villain, and I call you a treacherous villain.

You accuse me of being 'talentless', and I accuse you of being 'talentless and virtuous'.

You say I am a 'lucky villain', and I will say you are 'fawning on the powerful'.

In this process, all those great and glorious gentlemen in modern history books have become embarrassed.

Su Shi, Su Zhe brothers and their friends, Cheng Yi and his students, Sima Guang's disciples...

They all rolled around in the mud, and each of them made himself look dirty.

In terms of the intensity of the struggle, it was no less intense than the struggle between the new and old parties during the Xining and Yuanfeng periods.

By Shaosheng, the new party came to power and cleared out the old party.

The New Party was also instantly divided.

Xining School, Yuanfeng School...

Zhang faction, Zeng faction, Li faction, Deng faction, Han faction...

At a glance, the hilltops on the court were densely packed.

All kinds of alliances, all kinds of pulling each other's legs, tripping each other up, and stabbing each other.

It was because Zhang Dun was very capable and he had the trust and support of Zhao Xu that he did not go too far.

However, during the Shaosheng and Yuanfu years, Zhang Dun was often humiliated by others.

If you are not careful, you will often be shot like a hornet's nest by all kinds of arrows.

Therefore, Zhang Dun could only submit petitions regularly to ask to leave.

Every time Zhao Xu had to act with him, proclaiming to everyone and everyone that Zhang Dun had the emperor's favor, in order to protect him.

Since the eighth year of Yuanfeng, the court has been generally peaceful.

Although there were occasional disturbances in the middle (for example, Wang Yansou, Liu Zhi, Shangguan Jun and others all wanted to engage in party struggles, but were strongly suppressed by Zhao Xu), but in general, the leaders of the new and old parties were under the control of Zhao Xu and could only hold their noses, choose to work together and temporarily stop fighting.

But, it's like a pressure cooker.

Long-term suppression has caused internal conflicts to accumulate, but there is no way to vent them.

The political conflicts among various factions are becoming increasingly serious.

If this continues, it will explode sooner or later.

In particular, the political system of the Song Dynasty was designed to induce political struggles.

Under the ancestral system of keeping the big and the small in check and letting different opinions coexist, the officials in the capital might be able to compromise, trade, and make concessions in order to achieve harmony and political stability.

But, the young people below, those radicals who are eager to stand out and make progress.

But they don't care about the overall situation or stability.

They will not compromise or tolerate those who they consider to be villains and treacherous officials.

In their view, Lao Deng always talks about the "big picture", "forbearance" and "unity".

In fact, it is a domineering behavior to weld the car door shut after getting in the car and not give yourself the opportunity to improve.

Zhao Xu could kill Wang Yansou, Liu Zhi, and Shangguan Jun, but new Wang Yansou, Liu Zhi, and Shangguan Jun would quickly fill the gap.

Whenever they get the chance, they will try every possible means to stir up trouble.

From this perspective, these people are actually the so-called modern supporters of the "Lunyu" thought.

Well, it is to interpret the saying "Confucius said: If I hear the truth in the morning, I can die in the evening" into "If I find out your home address in the morning, you can prepare to die in the evening."

Therefore, at the beginning of the turmoil, Zhao Xu did not choose to suppress it forcefully.

Because he knew that if these bastards didn't vent their dissatisfaction and make a mess of the court, they would start to get scared.

Even if they are suppressed now, they will explode sooner or later.

Moreover, the next time there is an outbreak, they will definitely cause an even bigger mess.

Next year will be an extremely critical year.

Many reforms and policies will be implemented.

The imperial examination system will expand, cotton and sugar trade will flourish, maritime trade will begin to explode, and the salt and tea laws will undergo changes.

So many things happened in one year.

Zhao Xu knew that if he didn't let these guys have a good fight and vent their anger now.

By next year, these bastards might take advantage of the opportunity to cause trouble, or even create big news that would embarrass Zhao Xu.

So, Zhao Xu chose to watch from the sidelines.

Watch him build tall buildings, watch him entertain guests, and watch his buildings collapse!
The facts turned out to be just as Zhao Xu had expected. Within a few days, the radicals within the New Party and the Old Party joined forces to put on a good show for Zhao Xu.

The fighting was fierce, the biting was crazy, and the situation was chaotic.

It can be said to be one of the most intense chaos since the Xining Reform!

The only political situation that can be compared to the current chaotic situation in the court is probably the political situation before and after Wang Anshi was first dismissed from his position as prime minister.

At that time, the new party and the old party were fighting fiercely.

There is also fierce fighting within the new party and the old party.

Lu Huiqing's fame was established during that chaos.

With his own strength, he put the Prime Minister Han Jiang under pressure to the point where he could hardly breathe.

At the same time, it suppressed the New Party's competitors including Zeng Bu and Zhang Dun.

Moreover, all those people from the old party who dare to stand out and question will be crushed!

As a result, from then on, people from both the government and the opposition, both the new and old parties, turned pale at the mention of Lu Huiqing.

So much so that even now, there are still people who fear Lu Huiqing more than tigers and leopards.

After all, tigers and leopards would not rush into the city of Bianjing to bite people.

But Lu Huiqing can!
Thinking of this in his heart, Zhao Xu only heard the Queen Mother say: "Sixth brother, now the people are in chaos inside and outside the court, and there are thorns everywhere in the halls. If we are not careful, I am afraid that the stability of the country and the peace of the court since Yuanyou will be destroyed in an instant!"

"If this is the case, how can I have the face to meet the late emperor at the Yongyu Mausoleum?"

The commotion this time was really too big!

Empress Dowager Xiang, who had no experience in dealing with chaos and political struggles of this scale, had almost no idea what to do!

But reality forced her to make a decision as soon as possible.

Because she knew that if the chaos continued to spread, Qingshou Palace might find an opportunity to resume court.

Empress Dowager Xiang's current mentality towards the Qingshou Palace is completely different from that in the eighth year of Yuanfeng.

At that time, she was able to accept the two palaces ruling the country from behind the scenes in order to ensure Zhao Xu's ascension to the throne and to stabilize the court and the country.

But now, she can no longer accept returning to Qingshou Palace.

After experiencing this year's series of disturbances, Empress Dowager Xiang now suspects that the Qingshou Palace may have some inappropriate expectations of Prince Yang.

Otherwise, it cannot explain why Qingshou Palace has always been partial to and protective of Prince Yang.

It is even more inexplicable why the Qingshou Palace cares so much about Prince Yang’s name and reputation!
He even went so far as to violate patriarchal ethics and persecute the innocent Princess Yang!

Prince Yang is just a prince!

What does a prince want with fame and reputation?
Shouldn't the normal thing be to go with the flow and let Prince Yang admit his mistake and come to my sixth brother and myself to cry and apologize?
Could it be that the Qingshou Palace thought that she, the imperial sister-in-law, and her sixth brother, the emperor, would punish and embarrass Prince Yang?
The homework of Prince Gongsu of Yan (Zhao Yuanyan) is right there, why not copy it? !
Empress Dowager Xiang could only conclude that the Empress Dowager of Qingshou Palace had never given up since the eighth year of Yuanfeng.

This was something that Empress Dowager Xiang absolutely could not accept or tolerate.

It has touched her bottom line!
She would never and could not give in!
If she retreats, not only will her Sixth Brother be in danger, but she and the entire Xiang family may also be in danger.

(End of this chapter)