I traveled with them to the Northern Song Dynasty

Chapter 120 Beating the Mandarin Ducks
...

Zhao Mingcheng came from a family of officials and scholars. He received a good education since childhood, reading classics and reciting history. In addition, he was smart and hardworking. After he became an adult, he was admitted to the Imperial College and had a bright future.

Recently, Zhao Mingcheng's father, Zhao Tingzhi, was again valued by Zhao Ya and began to reform the crucial currency system.

This money law reform is not only an important part of the political reform, but also the reform that can most directly increase the court's financial revenue.

You should know that during the reign of Emperor Zhezong, the emperor and his ministers, Zhao Xu and Zhang Dun, strongly advocated opening up borders, that is, launching wars against foreign countries, which enabled the Zhao Song Dynasty to achieve very good military achievements.

But at the same time, in order to support the war, the economy of the Zhao Song Dynasty was also severely consumed. Especially after the ten years of transformation of the old party, the new financial system established by Wang Anshi and Song Shenzong had never been restored, and the court's ability to concentrate and allocate national resources was very fragile.

However, Zhang Dun also attached great importance to people's livelihood and insisted on adopting the Yuanyou spirit to strengthen the people's strength.

The practice of constantly waging wars while failing to develop financial resources directly led to the treasury becoming increasingly empty.

In addition, the chaos caused by Sanyi Huihe, as well as some natural and man-made disasters, required the court to continue to spend money.

As a result, when Zhao Ya succeeded to the throne, he took over a poor court that was extremely poor and in dire need of food.

At this time, it became particularly important to carry out currency reform and create some economic reserves for the court.

Logically speaking, for such an important matter, Zhao Ya should have found a prime minister to be responsible.

However, there were many prime ministers during Zhao Ya's reign, but they either lacked the ability to make money, or had important matters on hand and could not devote themselves to reform, or were in poor health.

Coupled with the struggles and games between the new and old parties, this important task fell on Zhao Tingzhi.

Now, although Zhao Tingzhi has not yet become the prime minister, the current people in power, Zhang Dun (65), Zeng Bu (64), Han Zhongyan (62), Xu Jiang (63), Su Zhe (61), Su Shi (63), Lu Huiqing (68), and Li Qingchen (68), are all quite old and will be eliminated sooner or later. The young Cai Jing, Cai Bian, and Zhang Shangying are all from the New Party. If Zhao Ya wants to strike a balance, Zhao Tingzhi is likely to become the prime minister, or even the chancellor.

It is no exaggeration to say that Zhao Tingzhi has become a political star in the old party, and perhaps he will be the most likely person to compete with Cai Jing for the next prime minister.

With such a father, Zhao Mingcheng had already been promoted to the ranks of first-class yamen.

Just like women in later generations like to marry tall, rich and handsome men, women nowadays are also willing to marry a promising young master like Zhao Mingcheng.

However, Zhao Mingcheng looked down upon those vulgar women. He already had someone in his heart.

The young lady that Zhao Mingcheng could not forget was Li Qingzhao.

Not long ago, Zhao Mingcheng accidentally heard his classmates talking about Li Qingzhao's poems, and he became curious. From then on, he paid attention to Li Qingzhao's poems.

As a result, Zhao Mingcheng became obsessed with Li Qingzhao's beautiful poems and even gradually fell in love with this extraordinary woman whom he had never met.

Later, Zhao Mingcheng found out that Li Jiong was Li Qingzhao's cousin, so he deliberately made friends with Li Jiong.

Given Zhao Mingcheng's family background and his deliberate efforts to make friends with him, how could Li Jiong not become Zhao Mingcheng's best friend?
During the Lantern Festival this year, Li Jiong invited Zhao Mingcheng to visit Daxiangguo Temple.

The Great Xiangguo Temple was open five times a month, and people from all walks of life came to trade in a rich and diverse array of goods, from birds, cats, dogs, and rare animals to daily necessities like cattails, bamboo mats, and screens, as well as cultural items like books, toys, and paintings, as well as local products, incense, and medicines brought in by officials from all over the country.

The book market in the temple is the most important book trade market in Tokyo. It opens eight times a month, where scholars sell historical books and contemporary essays. The main consumers are scholars and officials, and it has attracted many literati and scholars such as Huang Tingjian and Mi Fu to come and "shop".

During the Lantern Festival, the Daxiangguo Temple is extremely lively. Many young ladies who usually stay at home will come out to play on this day.

Zhao Mingcheng thought, "Will Miss Li come here for a visit?"

Thinking of this, Zhao Mingcheng readily accepted Li Jiong's invitation.

On the day.

All kinds of colorful lanterns are hung everywhere on the trees, under the eaves, inside and outside the windows, and on the pillars of Daxiangguo Temple, making the temple dreamy and like a sea of ​​lights.

There are various performances inside and outside the temple, including puppet shows, sword dancing, acrobatics, etc., as well as storytellers, singers, and performers of various dramas. The wonderful performances are dazzling.

But faced with such a magnificent scene, Zhao Mingcheng had no intention of watching it. He kept looking among the crowd, hoping to see Li Qingzhao, although he didn't even know her.

However, fate is so wonderful.

Zhao Mingcheng and Li Jiongzhen met Li Qingzhao in front of a stall selling lanterns.

Seeing that Li Qingzhao was exactly the same as his dream, Zhao Mingcheng fell in love completely and vowed to marry no one else in this life.

Although from beginning to end, Li Qingzhao never said a word to Zhao Mingcheng.

It feels like a male fan falls hopelessly in love with his favorite superstar and swears to marry her in this life.

After Zhao Mingcheng returned home, he wrote a riddle "言与思合，安上已脱，志芙草拔" and gave it to his father.

Zhao Tingzhi understood his son's intention. "言与思合" is the word "Ci", "安上已脱" is the word "Nu", and "志芙草拔" is the word "zhifu", which means that Zhao Mingcheng wants to be the husband of a Ci woman and wants him to help propose marriage.

Zhao Tingzhi loved his youngest son the most. Now that Zhao Mingcheng was of marriageable age, he was naturally happy to help Zhao Mingcheng.

So, Zhao Tingzhi asked Zhao Mingcheng which girl he liked and helped him propose marriage.

At first, Zhao Mingcheng was quite shy and refused to say who he liked.

After repeated questioning by Zhao Tingzhi, his eldest brother Zhao Cuncheng, and his second brother Zhao Sicheng, Zhao Mingcheng finally said, "The young lady from the family of Li Yuanwailang, the Minister of Rites."

What Zhao Mingcheng never expected was that as soon as he finished speaking, Zhao Tingzhi and his two sons, who were originally very excited, suddenly fell silent.

Zhao Mingcheng was puzzled and looked at his father and brother.

Then, all three of them had gloomy faces.

Soon, Zhao Tingzhi said in a tone that brooked no negotiation: "No."

Zhao Mingcheng had already made up his mind to marry Li Qingzhao in this life. Now his father told him not to marry Li Qingzhao. How could he accept this?

Zhao Mingcheng asked excitedly, "Why not?"

Zhao Sicheng said on Zhao Tingzhi's behalf, "If you want to ruin the future of my father, son, and brother, go ahead and provoke this woman."

Zhao Mingcheng was very puzzled. He just wanted to marry Li Qingzhao, so why would his future be involved?
Zhao Cuncheng, who was standing by, told Zhao Mingcheng the reason: "This woman once entered the palace with my fourth sister to take the imperial examination." "What?!!!"

Zhao Mingcheng was shocked.

Although Zhao Mingcheng didn't know that Li Qingzhao had also participated in the palace imperial examination, how could he not know that his sister Zhao Mai participated in the palace imperial examination and then stayed in the harem to become Zhao Ya's concubine?
Moreover, Zhao Mingcheng knew very well why a group of ministers sent people to participate in the imperial examinations. To put it bluntly, they were sending women to Zhao Ya and expressing their willingness to follow Zhao Ya. It can be said that this was a group of ministers marrying into an alliance with Zhao Ya and taking sides with their feet.

In theory, since he already knew about this, Zhao Mingcheng should have immediately cut off all unrealistic fantasies about Li Qingzhao.

But Zhao Mingcheng really wanted to marry Li Qingzhao, so he couldn't help but say with a sense of luck: "Since Miss Li didn't stay in the palace, she must not want to become your majesty's concubine, or..."

Zhao Tingzhi, hearing this, interrupted Zhao Mingcheng with a look of frustration, saying, "If she has such thoughts, and is so young and ignorant as to think that just because she doesn't like me, she doesn't need to serve His Majesty in the palace, then my Zhao family must not accept such a naive girl. Otherwise, she might lead us to kill everyone in my family!"

Zhao Mingcheng was still unwilling to give up and asked, "Perhaps Your Majesty is also not interested in Miss Li?"

Zhao Cuncheng directly shattered Zhao Mingcheng's fantasy: "Although Miss Li did not stay in the harem, Your Majesty bestowed a gold plaque on her. If Your Majesty did not like Miss Li, how could he do this?"

Zhao Mingcheng was also determined to become an official, so how could he not know the famous gold-lettered plaque?
Zhao Ya even gave Li Qingzhao a gold-lettered plaque, and his intentions were self-evident.

Zhao Sicheng explained to Zhao Mingcheng, "Since Li Yuanwailang has already sent Miss Li to take the imperial examination, he has already made his intentions known. Even if my family were to propose marriage, it would certainly be futile."

Zhao Cuncheng also said: "Marriage is a matter of great importance. It is decided by the parents and the matchmaker. Miss Li has also studied the classics. How could she disobey her parents? You should just forget about Miss Li..."

After being forced to separate by his relatives, Zhao Mingcheng had to reluctantly give up his dream of marrying Li Qingzhao. He was so deeply in love that he fell seriously ill.

Not only Zhao Mingcheng, but also those who had wanted to marry Li Qingzhao before, after hearing that Li Qingzhao had participated in the imperial examination and received a gold medal from Zhao Ya, no longer dared to come to the Li family to propose marriage.

The key point is that Li Kefei had no intention of finding a husband for Li Qingzhao, who was already of marriageable age.

It seemed that the only way left for Li Qingzhao was to become Zhao Ya's concubine.

Li Qingzhao didn't hate Zhao Ya, she just didn't want to be trapped in the deep palace and lose her freedom.

Therefore, Li Qingzhao kept delaying and refused to take the initiative to go to the palace to find Zhao Ya.

Two days ago, the censor Chen Guan took advantage of the national history case of the Zhezong Dynasty to impeach Zhang Dun, Zeng Bu, Cai Bian, Cai Jing and others again. He believed that it was absurd for the Shaosheng Dynasty to use Wang Anshi's diary as a reference material for compiling the "Shenzong Shilu". This was clearly intended to praise Wang Anshi and slander Song Shenzong.

Taking advantage of this momentum, many members of the old party tried again to overthrow the new party.

——It is worth mentioning that these old party members are not commanded by a group of old party bosses. Instead, most of them are censors, each of them is a moral gentleman, and they cannot stand the bad things done by Zhang Dun and others.

Zhao Ya, who had completely regained the imperial power from Empress Dowager Xiang, did not indulge the old party this time. Instead, he issued an imperial edict criticizing:

"The reason why I met the ministers of Yuanyou in this way is that they are virtuous and diligent in following the teachings of the Holy Lord, and are committed to working together to achieve the beauty of the continuation of the legacy and to ensure prosperity, honor and prosperity... If you pretend to be public-spirited but secretly form a clique, I will openly punish and rebuke you as a warning to those in power. I have no regrets for you, but you have failed me greatly and brought disaster upon yourself. It will be too late to regret..."

Zhao Ya was saying directly that I gave you, the Ministers of Yuanyou, face so that you could do your job well, assist me in inheriting my father and brothers' ambition to reform, and govern the Zhao Song Dynasty well. If you continue to form cliques and secretly make trouble under the guise of being public-spirited, don't blame me for being rude to you.

It is understandable that Zhao Ya got angry this time.

These people from the old party were not only incapable of resolving the difficulties encountered by the Zhao Song Dynasty, but they were also making trouble by impeaching one person today and doing another tomorrow. How could Zhao Ya not be angry?

In addition, during this period, Zhao Ya had sex with Wei Zhi and Cai Xuan, both of whom were women offered by the prime ministers of the New Party. As for Chao Min, Han Yu, Li Chun, Zhao Mai and other women offered by the prime ministers of the Old Party, Zhao Ya has not touched them yet.

Not to mention, Zhang Dun’s granddaughter Zhang Nan is already pregnant.

The situation of the old party seemed very dangerous.

Even from the perspective of harem politics, the old party is now completely defeated.

The key point is that Empress Dowager Xiang is out, and the old party has lost its biggest umbrella of protection.

Moreover, Su Che received news that Cai Bian was dissatisfied with the old party for using his most beloved father-in-law Wang Anshi to cause trouble, and was preparing to launch a counterattack against the old party.

Perhaps the old party members will be driven out of the court again, or even suffer more severe retaliation.

Su Che found Li Kefei again and explained the unfavorable situation of the old party to Li Kefei clearly.

This time, Su Che focused on telling Li Kefei about the grudges between the brothers Cai Jing and Cai Bian and their Su family. He made it clear that if they were expelled from the court again, everyone might not have a good ending, and Li Kefei would definitely be regarded as a member of the Yuanyou Party and be liquidated together.

At this point, Li Kefei could no longer indulge Li Qingzhao.

So, returning home, Li Kefei said to Li Qingzhao:

"Our bodies and hair are inherited from our parents. The decision of a child's marriage must be made by their parents. Whether or not a child enters the palace should be decided by their father. This is common sense. How can you be so presumptuous?"

"You have disobeyed my wishes, which is a great act of treason! If you do not enter the palace again, it may affect the life and death of my Yuanyou Party."

"If I, your father, cannot teach you to enter the palace, I will be ashamed of my teacher's teachings and betray the trust of my comrades. How can I live in this world with dignity?"

"..."

Under the pressure of Li Kefei, Li Qingzhao had to put away her temper and meet Zhao Ya, whom she didn't want to see and didn't dare to see.

Because of the golden plaque, Li Qingzhao had a smooth journey to the harem.

After arriving at the harem, Li Qingzhao didn't know where to go for a moment. Should she find Chao Min, or Zhang Chun and the others?
Li Qingzhao thought about it and felt that if Chao Min and the others were capable, she would not have had the chance to enter the palace. However, Zhang Chun and the other women were all very favored. She should hang out with Zhang Chun and the others so that she would have a better chance of sleeping with Zhao Ya and fulfilling the trust of the Yuanyou Party.

So, Li Qingzhao came to find Zhang Chun and others.

What Li Qingzhao never expected was that Zhao Ya was also here.

This really caught Li Qingzhao off guard.

So, as soon as she saw Zhao Ya, Li Qingzhao immediately remembered the good things she had done that night, and her pretty face turned red.

In order to hide her guilty conscience and embarrassment, Li Qingzhao quickly forced herself to bow to Zhao Yaying and said, "I, Li, pay my respects to Your Majesty..."

……

(End of this chapter)