No war in the Northern Song Dynasty

Chapter 42 Bao Zheng
Su Ze sat upright in the Dengwen Drum Courtyard. The longer Zhang Yaozuo stayed in the palace, the more stable his plan to overthrow Lu Yijian would become.

However, contrary to Su Ze's plan, Emperor Zhao Zhen did not directly summon him, the author of the letter.

Is it because he was colluding with Zhang Yaozuo that made Emperor Zhao Zhen unhappy?

Or did he not want to completely defeat the conservatives and cause an imbalance in the court when he was about to reuse reformists such as Fan Zhongyan?

Su Ze thought of many possibilities, but soon felt relieved.

If he doesn't want to meet, then he won't meet. Su Ze needs to know that this emperor, whose posthumous title is "Ren", is not as simple as he seems.

Moreover, even if it was the emperor's "benevolence", it was only "benevolence" towards high-ranking scholars and officials. I didn't even have any fame or achievements, I was just an ant-like character, so it was normal for the emperor not to see me.

Time passed quickly. By the evening, Zhang Yaozuo, looking tired, came out of the palace and returned to Dengwen Drum Courtyard.

Although he looked tired, Zhang Yaozuo was very excited. After he walked into Dengwen Drum Courtyard, he could not suppress his excitement and rushed into the room where Su Ze was.

As soon as he entered the door, Zhang Yaozuo said to Su Ze:

"Lü Yijian has fallen!"

Su Ze was not surprised at this result.

Lu Yijian had been in control of the government for so many years. In fact, Zhao Zhen was already dissatisfied with him when Fan Zhongyan presented the map of officials.

Later, he reused the Four Tiansheng Friends in order to crack down on conservative forces such as Lu Yijian.

It's just that the Four Tiansheng Friends were too high-profile, which made Zhao Zhen suspect that they were forming a clique, which is why the conservatives have continued to this day.

If we use a more familiar example for comparison, the conservatives like Lu Yijian are probably similar to the late period of Yan Song's rule. Jiajing was already dissatisfied with the various actions of the Yan Party, but in order to suppress the upright, he had to use them.

The outbreak of this case concerning the Bian Jing real estate would make Emperor Zhao Zhen realize that if he continued to allow Lu Yijian to sit in the position of prime minister, the interest group formed by the conservatives would have infringed upon the imperial power.

Even if Zhao Zhen was unwilling to eliminate the conservatives, he would definitely not keep Lu Yijian.

The downfall of Lu Yijian was a foregone conclusion, but what Su Ze was curious about was whether Zhao Zhen would be implicated and investigated, and would bring down more conservative officials.

Zhang Yaozuo told Su Ze everything that had happened in the Chuigong Hall recently.

The Imperial City Bureau under the charge of Li Yonghe was quite efficient. Based on the "Along the River During the Qingming Festival" painting, they quickly located several properties in the painting, and found the real estate transaction contracts from the Kaifeng Prefecture's cabinet warehouse, confirming that the owners of these properties were exactly the same as the names written by Su Ze on the "Along the River During the Qingming Festival" painting.

Li Yonghe immediately returned to Chuigong Hall with the relevant evidence. When he saw the facts, Zhao Zhen's anger was completely ignited.

"Immediately send the Imperial City Division to arrest Lü Gongbi and bring him to question!"

Hearing this, Li Yonghe immediately said:

"Your Majesty, Lü Gongbi is an official, and the Imperial City Administration cannot torture officials!"

Zhao Zhen looked at Li Yonghe with anger on his face. This was naturally his uncle's excuse, and he was unwilling to get involved in this political storm.

He looked around and his eyes fell on Zhang Yaozuo.

At this time, Zhao Zhen also calmed down.

How could Su Ze, a mere commoner, know the behind-the-scenes owner of Jingshi Real Estate?
There must be important officials behind Su Ze.

After much thought, Zhang Yaozuo is the most suspicious.

At this time, Zhao Zhen had already identified Zhang Yaozuo as the mastermind behind the incident. Since it was you who caused this mess, Zhao Zhen asked:
"Zhang Aiqing, how do you think we should handle this matter?"

Zhang Yaozuo immediately said:
"This matter should be presided over by the Censorate." Censorate?

The Imperial Censor Wang Gongchen is a member of Lu Yijian's party. What can the censors find out?
Zhang Yaozuo continued:
"I have heard that Bao Zheng, the Supervisory Censor, is a man of sharp judgment, strict in enforcing the law, fearless of the powerful, and impartial. This matter can be entrusted to him."

Zhao Zhen turned around and looked at the screen, and Bao Zheng's name was among them.

Before returning to the capital, Bao Zheng served as the prefect of Duanzhou (now Zhaoqing, Guangdong).

Duanzhou inkstones are world-famous. The previous Duanzhou prefects were promoted quickly because they would collect Duanzhou inkstones and make connections with the powerful.

However, Bao Zheng did not take the inkstone home after serving for a year. When he returned to Beijing, local people saw him off with umbrellas.

"Let Bao Zheng try this case!"

Once the anger has been vented, the next thing to do is to adjust the court.

After all, Lu Yijian has been in control of the government for many years and is deeply rooted in the court. It will take some effort to completely eliminate him.

Zhao Zhen said to the eunuch Zhang Maoze:
"Go to the Privy Council and invite Privy Councilor Yan to come."

To overthrow a prime minister, one naturally had to choose a successor. As the second-in-command, the Privy Councilor Yan Shu was blessed with a chance to succeed him.

However, what happened next had nothing to do with Zhang Yaozuo, the judge of Dengwen Drum. When he returned to Dengwen Drum Courtyard from Chuigong Hall, the lights were already on in the palace. Officials with keen political acumen had received the news that Privy Councilor Yan Shu had entered the palace for a night meeting, and they were all wondering what major changes had occurred in the court?

Was it the war in the northwest? Or the Liao Kingdom in the north?

Or is there another storm in the court?

Zhang Yaozuo said to Su Ze proudly:

"One book brought down the prime minister! It's a pity that Su Lang didn't work in the Censorate, otherwise he would have a bright future!"

The biggest responsibility of the censors is to advise the king and supervise the ministers. Renzong has always strengthened the power of the censors and made them more combat-effective.

The censors all regarded impeaching important officials as a qualification, and being able to impeach the prime minister was naturally a huge political asset.

Su Ze didn't care. In fact, according to his understanding of history, as long as Fan Zhongyan returned, it would only be a matter of time before Lu Yijian fell.

There was no way. It was similar to the reason for Yan Song's downfall. Lu Yijian was simply too old.

Since last year, due to health reasons, Lu Yijian's control over the court has been greatly insufficient, which has led to many government affairs in the court being blocked, and even some normal work cannot be carried out.

Now that the northwest is deploying troops, the north is ready to make moves, and there are constant natural disasters in the local area, it is really difficult for a prime minister like Lu Yijian to take on such a heavy responsibility.

Lu Yijian's victories in several political struggles also made the conservatives arrogant. His son Lu Gongbi, after committing a crime, was so arrogant that he occupied the real estate in Bianliang, which was a sign that this group was going crazy.

Both publicly and privately, Lu Yijian's term as prime minister would not last long, and Su Ze simply accelerated the process.

Zhang Yaozuo was still immersed in the joy of overthrowing Lu Yijian. As the queen's biggest supporter, Lu Yijian's downfall would gain him a lot of points in Zhang Xiuyuan's heart, and he would then get the position he had always dreamed of.

He said to Su Ze, "Su Lang, you should stay in Dengwen Drum Court for a few days. The emperor may summon you at any time."

Su Ze nodded and settled down in Dengwen Drum Courtyard with peace of mind.
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Three days later, the examination and marking of the Ministry of Rites were completed, and Wang Anshi came out of the Imperial Examination Hall, but examiners such as Lu Yijian and Ouyang Xiu had to continue marking the papers in the locked hall.

As soon as he left the Imperial Examination Hall, Wang Anshi heard shocking news.

(End of this chapter)