I studied in modern times

Chapter 938: The Shu-Luo faction struggle, attacking Cheng Yi
After Zhao Xu returned to Funing Palace, he ordered Tong Guan to bring over the copies of the impeachment memorials sent by the Tongjian Division in recent days.

Then, he read all the impeachments carefully.

By the time I finished reading all the impeachments, it had already gotten dark.

The candlesticks in the Funing Hall were lit one by one by the eunuchs.

Zhao Xu held the letter that started it all and opened Pandora's box.

He placed the impeachment letter under the bright candlelight.

The handwriting on the cover is vigorous and powerful, with steady strokes. Anyone who understands calligraphy knows that this must be an authentic work by a famous calligrapher!
"The letter stating that Zhu Guangting is not allowed to be appointed as the Junior Minister of Rites".

The person who wrote this note was Su Da Huzi's good friend, the 47th generation grandson of Confucius, the leader of the Linjiang School, and one of the Three Kongs, Kong Wenzhong, the Left Counselor!
Zhu Guangting was one of the most proud students of Cheng Hao and Cheng Yi, and an elite scholar-official trained at Yigao Academy.

Without even reading the content, one can tell that this letter is intended to stir up party strife.

The reason is very simple. The brothers Kong Wenzhong and Su Shi are good friends and close brothers.

They have similar values ​​and standpoints, so they naturally form an organization that can unite to fight against dissidents.

Ever since the time, Su Shi, the big mouth, publicly mocked Cheng Yi at Sima Guang's funeral, saying that he was the contemporary descendant of Shusun Tong.

The Shu Party headed by Su Shi's brothers was irreconcilable with the Luo Party composed of Cheng Yi's students.

The two sides have clashed many times in the past two years, with both sides winning and losing, and have already shown real anger.

Therefore, once Kong Wenzhong's letter was handed over, it would mean that the Shu Party had declared war on the Luo Party again.

The Luo Party cannot refuse to fight!

What's more, in this letter, Kong Wenzhong directly targeted Cheng Yi.

Cheng Yi was criticized for being useless.

Zhao Xu took the note and read the attack on Cheng Yi by Tong Wenzhong: "Cheng Yi, the storyteller in Jiying Hall, is filthy, cunning and has no integrity... He has no talent or virtue, but is just using the name of Mingdao to deceive Your Majesty! Moreover, Cheng Yi was arrogant and forgot his place in the imperial lectures. He lived in Bianjing, suppressed the nobles, and made many censors. He should be sent back to the countryside as a warning to His Majesty!"

As Zhao Xu read these words, his lips twitched.

Not to mention Zhu Guangting, he got angry when he saw it!

What do you mean?
Am I so easily deceived?

If he scolded Cheng Yi for being stubborn and sticking to his flaws.

Then Zhao Xu would probably applaud and give him a thumbs up.

However, Kong Wenzhong directly criticized Cheng Yi for being "corrupt, cunning, and unsociable", and "having no talent or virtue, but only using the name of Mingdao". In Bianliang, he "suppressed his relatives and nobles and repeatedly made censors".

Is this Cheng Yi?
If Cheng Yi was such a person, Zhao Xu would wake up laughing in his dreams.

Isn’t it just about fame and an official position?

I give it to you!

As long as Cheng Yi could kneel down and be willing to be the repeater of imperial power, that would be enough.

pity……

Cheng Yi was a man of impeccable moral integrity.

He is the kind of person who can never be corrupted by wealth and power, nor bent by might and might, nor moved by poverty and humbleness.

Therefore, all of Kong Wenzhong's accusations against Cheng Yi, except for the accusation that he "usurped his authority and forgot his place" during the imperial lecture, were groundless.

Even the charge of "usurpation and forgetting one's place" during the imperial lecture was actually a false accusation.

Because, which teacher doesn’t mix in his own personal opinions when giving a lecture?
A teacher who doesn't have his own opinions is just a parrot.

Besides, Emperor Zhao Xu hasn't questioned it yet!
Kong Wenzhong jumped up and used this as an accusation.

All I can say is...

People from the same family stick together!

Friends with big beards naturally have big mouths just like their beards!

Therefore, as soon as Kong Wenzhong's memorial was published, the entire Luo Party was infuriated and was determined to fight to the death with the Shu Party!

no way!
Master of Heaven and Earth!
They are taking advantage of me and insulting and slandering my teacher.

If you can tolerate this, you might as well carve "turtle bastard" on your forehead.

but……

It seems difficult to blame Kong Wenzhong for this incident.

It is said that he who teases first is the cheapest!

Zhu Guangting was impeached and was an innocent victim.

Four months ago, Zhang Shunmin, a famous contemporary poet and good friend of Su Shi and confidant of the Three Confucius Temples, was recommended by officials to be promoted from the position of Censor-in-Chief to the position of Secret Pavilion Proofreader and Acting Judge of Dengwen Drum Court.

At that time, Zhu Guangting's fellow apprentice, Cheng Yi's good student, the Censor Jia Yi was the first to jump up and start mobilizing public opinion to attack Zhang Shunmin.

The final result was that Zhang Shunmin was dismissed from his post as Censor-in-Chief and sent to Dengzhou as the Governor and the Tongpan of Dengzhou, to work with the bearded man.

By then, the two sides had already drawn up their camps, set up their cannons, and faced each other through the middle gate. They put all kinds of accusations on each other, stuffed black material into each other's pockets, and reported on each other. It was quite exciting.

In order to prevent the situation from escalating and affecting the political situation, Zhao Xu chose to smooth things over.

On the one hand, Zhang Shunmin was dismissed and kicked out of Bian Jing, and on the other hand, Zhang Shunmin was asked to join forces with the bearded man.

Zhao Xu's original intention was to ease the conflict.

However, they did not expect that after the meeting between Big Beard and Zhang Shunmin, the Shu Party's combat effectiveness would increase greatly!
Now they are directly attacking Cheng Yi!

Cheng Yi’s current identity is not simple.

He is the storyteller in Jiying Hall. In the eyes of the outside world, he is a blatant member of the imperial party and a member of the core circle around Zhao Xu (although the true core knows that he is not).

Is this something that ordinary people can provoke?
"I regret sending Zhang Shunmin to Dengzhou!" Zhao Xu held the notebook and sighed, but the smile on his lips could not be closed.

Yes!

The fact is, Zhao Xu did it on purpose.

How could he not know that the bearded man's big mouth was not guarding the door?

Zhang Shunmin, who was under Gao Zunyu's command, was a professional Yang Xiu.

He has written a large number of anti-war poems.

There are countless poems and verses that are weird and mock the court's warmongering, such as [Thousands of willow trees under Lingzhou city are always chopped down by the government troops for firewood], or [White bones are like rustling sand and snow, general, don't go up to the Wangxiang Terrace].

So that year, Zhang Shunmin suffered a heavy blow - he was demoted to Chenzhou to supervise liquor taxes.

And Zhao Xu's sending Zhang Shunmin to Dengzhou was like adding fuel to the fire.

What can two loudmouths and funny people hold back when they get together?

Therefore, it was natural and inevitable for Kong Wenzhong to criticize Cheng Yi.

Anyway, the Investigation Department reported that in the past few months, there has been an endless stream of letters from Dengzhou to the three Kong families' residences in Bian Jing.

When Big Beard and Zhang Shunmin wrote to the Three Kongs, were they simply discussing poetry?
impossible!

The bearded man always gets carried away when he is successful.

He is now in the limelight and has made remarkable political achievements.

How can I bear loneliness in Dengzhou?
He must want to return to the court and be a leader.

If the Luo Party is eliminated, the Shu Party will naturally rise. When he returns to the court in the future, he will have a strong ruling foundation.

Just ...

Su Shi probably could never have imagined that this fight would turn out like this?
Not only the Shu Party and the Luo Party, but also the passionate confrontation.

Soon both the New Party and the Old Party were also drawn in.

The young men from the Censorate sang war songs with great enthusiasm and joined the battle.

The fight became more and more intense, and the spray became more and more exciting.

Finally, the guns were aimed at Dutang and rumors were spread on the elders.

As a result, the situation got completely out of control.

Since the eighth year of Yuanfeng, the court, which had been suppressed by Zhao Xu for three full years, began to be swept by the storm of party strife.

Moreover, it was a big storm that involved everyone, from the prime minister to the ministers of the six ministries, almost everyone was caught up in it.

And this is exactly what Zhao Xu needs.

If he didn't create some storms like this to test it, how would he know who were the human and who were the ghost among the ministers in the court?
If we don’t distinguish between humans and ghosts, how can we implement and enforce the reforms and policies for next year?
At the same time, he could also take the opportunity to reorganize the court, separate the most stubborn conservatives and the most unscrupulous rumormongers from the court officials, and expel them.

In this way, he achieved the goal of having all the upright people in the court be his loyal subjects.

At least, there will not be large-scale mindless opposition and dissidents who oppose simply for the sake of opposing.

This was an idea that Zhao Xu came up with after learning from the failure of the Xining Reform.

Of course, this requires very sophisticated political skills and quite careful political deployment.

Otherwise, if you are not careful, you might end up shooting yourself in the foot.

Therefore, Zhao Xu deliberately went to the Hanlin Academy every day during this period to create the illusion of being absent.

Zhao Xu was thinking about how to approach and how to use Lu Gongzhu and Li Chang to achieve his goal when he summoned them tomorrow.

Tong Guan quietly came to his side and reported in a low voice: "Everyone..."

"The Empress Dowager has arrived at Baoci Palace!"

"Hmm?" Zhao Xu came back to his senses and looked at Tong Guan: "Shouldn't sister be in Sanniang Pavilion, taking care of Sanniang?"

"I heard that it was Madam Fengsheng Renshou from the Qingshou Palace who followed the order of the Grand Empress Dowager to go to the Imperial Concubine's Palace. Then the Imperial Concubine left the Imperial Concubine's Palace and went to the Baoci Palace to meet the Empress..."

Zhao Xu pursed his lips, paced a few steps, and said to Tong Guan, "Go to Baoci Palace carefully. When my sister comes out, go and ask her what the Empress Dowager's order is. Then report back!"

"promise!"

……

Baoci Palace.

Empress Dowager Xiang listened quietly to what Zhu reported to her.

Her brows were slightly furrowed, and she was deep in thought.

After a long while, Empress Dowager Xiang said to Zhu: "I know!"

"Tomorrow morning, I will go to the Qingshou Palace to apologize to Her Majesty!"

"Go back quickly and take care of the princess!"

"That's right!" Empress Dowager Xiang thought for a moment and instructed her Shang Gong Zhang: "Go and tell Ganquan County Lord to take a few cakes of bird's nests that Jiaozhi Kingdom tributed to her some time ago and give them to the Imperial Concubine. Ask her to take them back to nourish the princess!"

"Thank you so much, Your Majesty!" Upon hearing this, Zhu expressed her gratitude profusely.

Bird's nest is a tribute from Jiaozhi.

It is said that only the bird's nests built by the swallows on the cliffs are of the best quality.

In the first year of Yuanyou, after the government army marched south, Jiaozhi took this as tribute. Due to the scarcity of production, the annual contribution was not much.

It is said that this thing has the functions of nourishing, beautifying and moistening the lungs.

Therefore, even the concubines in the palace could only be given one or two cakes during festivals.

It’s not that Zhu doesn’t have one.

Every time Jiaozhi paid tribute, the government would send someone to give her dozens of cakes.

At the same time, princesses and princes also received rewards.

But attitude is important.

Especially after the comparison!
After seeing Zhu off, the Empress Dowager leaned back on the cushion and closed her eyes.

"Aunt, ah, aunt..."

"What exactly do you want to do?"

She murmured softly, her voice barely audible.

……

Before going to bed, Zhao Xu received a reward from Tong Guan.

After listening to what Tong Guan relayed, he narrowed his eyes.

"The Empress Dowager...is she trying to take advantage of this opportunity to regain control?" He sneered.

Power is something that, once lost, is almost impossible to regain.

Because no one, from top to bottom, inside and outside, will agree!
There is probably only one example like Bao Zong who was able to make a desperate counterattack in the past five thousand years!
The reason was that Emperor Jingtai had no son, and his heir was still the son of Baozong.

In this case, don't blame the ministers for voting with their feet.

And now, the Empress Dowager of Qingshou Palace has in fact been deprived of the power to listen to government affairs.

If she was decent, she would always carry the title of "Empress Dowager in Charge of Government Affairs" and enjoy her old age in Qingshou Palace.

If she is not decent...

Zhao Xuhe and the Empress Dowager don't even need to do anything. The prime ministers have their own ways to make her sensible.

However, this incident still made Zhao Xu feel alert.

"When I come of age, my first priority is to give birth to a healthy son!"

Only by giving birth to a healthy prince, will the hundreds of millions of subjects and civil and military officials of the Song Dynasty truly and wholeheartedly follow him.

otherwise……

All victories and achievements are fleeting.

No matter how powerful an emperor without an heir is, he is nothing more than a wedding dress for others.

For example, Emperor Zhao of Han, Emperor Ming of Wei, and even more like Zhao Xu’s previous life.

and so……

Before going to bed, Zhao Xu lifted up his pants in bed and looked at his development.

Small and somewhat cute!

His adolescence has not yet arrived.

(End of this chapter)