No war in the Northern Song Dynasty

Chapter 44: A Friend of the Child
March, spring of the second year of the Qingli period.

A month has passed since the storm in the court.

A lot of things happened this month.

But these storms in the court have nothing to do with Su Ze for the time being.

After presenting the map on the drum, Su Ze temporarily stayed at Zhang Yaozuo's house.

Although Zhang Yaozuo's character was not very good, he was able to pass the imperial examination and was a man of real talent and knowledge. His home had a large collection of books, so Su Ze stayed at his home and read books behind closed doors.

As Zhang Xiuyuan's relative, Zhang Yaozuo has also suffered from the exclusion of his colleagues in recent years. Zhang Yaozuo also admires Su Ze, a capable scholar, in his heart.

Moreover, Zhang Yaozuo received instructions from Zhang Xiuyuan, and with his matchmaking, the marriage between Su Ze and Zhang Chulan has been settled.

Zhang Daocheng was also very happy.

Because of the downfall of the Lu family, the persecution of Song Qi also came to an end. The government withdrew the investigation into the corruption case of the Imperial College, and Su Ze's eligibility for studentship was restored.

If you fail the exam today, you can always take it again next time!

When she entered the palace, Zhang Xiuyuan, who was always aloof, praised Su Ze a few words, and said that the emperor remembered Su Ze's name and that her son-in-law would have a bright future.

How could Zhang Daocheng let go of such a good son-in-law, especially since his daughter was devoted to Su Ze.

Matchmaking and betrothal were all completed under the arrangement of Zhang Daocheng and Zhang Yaozuo. The only thing that made Su Ze feel relieved was that the second year of the Qingli period was a year without the Beginning of Spring. According to folklore, women who got married this year were more likely to become widows, so the official wedding date was set for next year.

Just like that, Su Ze, who had traveled for more than a month, finally had a fiancée.

Lu Yijian's well-timed stroke saved face for both the monarch and his minister.

The government's investigation into the Lu family finally stopped at Lu Gongbi.

Lu Gongbi's punishment was the most severe since Renzong ascended the throne. He was sentenced to destroy all his writings since his birth, and his official status was reduced to that of a commoner, and he could never hold an official position again.

The yamen officials who shared the same style as Lu Gongbi were also dismissed from their official positions.

Zhao Zhen still felt unsatisfied, so he personally issued an order for the criminals involved in the case to return to their hometowns and completely drive them out of the city of Bianjing.

However, what Su Ze appreciated was that Zhao Zhen handed over all the houses illegally occupied by Lu Gongbi and others to Kaifeng Prefecture to track down the original owners, and gave them one year to redeem the houses at the original price.

Renzong returned the properties to the people whose houses were occupied, which is worthy of the word "benevolence".

If it were a Taoist emperor, or his greedy grandson, these properties would be confiscated by the royal family.

Zhao Zhen retained Lu Yijian's position as prime minister, but Lu Yijian suffered a stroke and was unable to perform duties, so it was only a matter of time before he was dismissed.

However, the biggest beneficiary of this political storm was not the New Party that was in direct conflict with the conservatives, but the neutral Privy Councilor Yan Shu.

Since the prime minister was unable to handle government affairs, Zhao Zhen gave the title of Vice Prime Minister to Yan Shu, who was then the Privy Councilor.

Yan Shu became the prime minister who was in charge of both the Political Affairs Hall and the Privy Council. The previous prime minister who was in charge of both the Political Affairs Hall and the Privy Council was Kou Zhun during the reign of Emperor Zhenzong.

Although Yan Shu was politically neutral, his son-in-law, Han Qi, was a key reformist. Han Qi himself was a mentor and friend of Fan Zhongyan and Ouyang Xiu. Astute officials had already sensed the shift in the court's direction. However, the subsequent personnel appointments demonstrated the unique power checks and balances of the Zhao Song dynasty, namely, the "interference of differing opinions."

Xia Song, the conservative leader who had been exiled for his defeat in the northwest war, was transferred back to Bian Jing and served as the deputy privy envoy.

Wang Gongchen, the Chief Censor who was originally implicated in the case, was also personally protected by Renzong and continued to be in charge of the Censorate.

Judging from this incident, this emperor did not fully support the new policy. At least when Emperor Shenzong carried out reforms in later generations, he expelled all the conservatives in the court.

Speaking of Wang Anshi, the palace examination was also held this month.

The emperor himself set the questions for this palace examination. Originally, the examiner for the palace examination was the examiner of the Ministry of Rites examination, but because Lu Yijian suffered from rheumatism, the examiner this time was changed to the Privy Councilor Yan Shu.

The palace examination was different from the Ministry of Rites examination. There was only one question in the palace examination, which was a policy essay. The issues discussed in the policy essays in the Song Dynasty were all related to the problems encountered in the court.

For example, the topic of this palace examination was set by Renzong himself - "Shouting for Heaven with Facts, Not with Literary Essays".

This topic is about how to deal with the frequent disasters that have occurred throughout the country since the Qingli period, and the slowness of the court's disaster relief measures. Often, after the disaster has passed, local officials use rhetoric to whitewash the situation, and disaster relief measures are not implemented in practice. The scholars participating in the palace examination are required to propose solutions.

Of course, most of the people who participated in the palace examination were young scholars who had never served as local officials, so this kind of palace examination could only be discussed in empty terms.

But among so many empty discussions, the Privy Councilor Yan Shu, who was reviewing the papers, saw a good article written by Wang Anshi.

Yan Shu ranked Wang Anshi's articles first, but when Renzong arranged the order, he violated the taboo.

It turns out that Wang Anshi wrote a sentence "Ruzi his friend" in the article.

This sentence also has an allusion, from the Book of Documents, the original text is "Ruzi's friends, Ruzi's friends go."

The original meaning was: "Young monarch, from now on, you must get along harmoniously with your ministers." This meant advising the emperor to get along harmoniously with his ministers in order to govern the country well.

Who knew that this sentence violated a taboo? You should know that Song Taizu Zhao Kuangyin was originally a general under Chai Rong of the Later Zhou Dynasty. Before his death, Chai Rong entrusted his son to Zhao Kuangyin and said similar words of entrusting his son to Zhao Kuangyin.

Because Wang Anshi violated a taboo by using allusions, he was demoted to fourth place, and the top spot was taken by Yang Zong, the younger brother of Yan Shu's son-in-law.

Of course, there was another version of this incident in the court. It was said that Yan Shu's son-in-law Yang Cha wanted his younger brother to win the championship, and Yan Shu deliberately circled Wang Anshi's words and presented them to the emperor, which eventually led to Wang Anshi's dismissal.

But no matter what the rumors were, the spring examination of the second year of the Qingli period had already ended.

The following events, such as "Imperial Street Praise of Officials" and "Qionglin Night Banquet", had nothing to do with Su Ze, a student who did not take the Ministry of Rites examination.

However, Wang Anshi did not forget Su Ze's friend after he passed the imperial examination. He made inquiries and found Zhang Yaozuo's house. He finally got away from the many activities of the new imperial scholar and asked Su Ze and Zeng Gong, who failed the exam this time, to meet at his house again.

Su Ze naturally agreed. He had been hiding from Wang Anshi before because he was afraid of dragging Wang Anshi down and secondly because he was afraid that Wang Anshi would not be able to concentrate on preparing for the exam.

Now that the dust has settled, Wang Anshi has ranked fourth in the first class, just as in history, so Su Ze naturally doesn't need to hide from him anymore.

The series of storms caused by the evil book finally calmed down. Su Ze read for a while, locked the door, picked up a book at random, and silently recited to enter the Peach Blossom Spring.

After a dizzy spell, Su Ze entered the Peach Blossom Spring again. This time, the Peach Blossom Spring had completely changed!

(End of this chapter)