A powerful minister of the Song Dynasty

Chapter 108: The Prime Minister is in power (Part )
What happened today was not just Yan Shu writing a letter to fill in the gaps.

Dou Chou, who was also injured, also asked his servant to write a memorial for him.

Wang Congyi wrote another letter to his father, recording in detail what he saw and heard that day.

Song Twelve's action was an accident.

This is a good opportunity to turn Dou Chou into a real dog of the royal family.

Wang Congyi had long thought of Dou Chou's revenge on Song Xuan, but he did not expect that Song would turn the situation around in this way.

He had been waiting for Song Xuan to ask him for help, and it was not without purpose that he left early that day to talk to Song Xuan.

But what Wang Congyi didn't expect was that Dou Chou, who was so angry that he lost his mind, actually said such nonsense.

He broke his leg, not his brain!

But Wang Congyi felt that no matter what, this incident was not a loss for their family.

Lu Lejian, who was also outside the prison, took the opportunity to write a letter saying that he wanted to report his safety to his family.

So as to avoid causing them to worry and also avoid arousing suspicion.

In fact, he was writing a letter to his cousin Lu Yijian.

This is a good opportunity to win over many students from Yingtian to serve the Lu family.

Although the Lu family has many officials in the court, who would mind seeing their power in the court weaken?
His cousin had just been promoted to prime minister, and it was a time when he needed people.

It would be a great opportunity to take advantage of Dou Chou's behavior to win over a large number of students.

After all, such opportunities to bribe students all over the world are rare.

The Lu family must seize the opportunity!
Everyone has their own calculations.

Therefore, more than one letter was sent from Songcheng to Tokyo at night.

Even Zhang Shide and Yang Zijin, who had resigned from their official positions to recuperate, began writing letters.

No matter what, we cannot allow a good student to be easily squeezed out by Dou Chou.

Officials working in Tokyo do not work from nine to five.

On the contrary, it's quite hard work.

The Song Dynasty was an important period for the development and improvement of the ancient drum-beating system.

During this period, the material and technical basis of the timekeeping tools, timekeeping methods, watchtowers and other materials closely related to the gong drum system became increasingly mature.

Tokyo became the place where the drum-beating system was most complete in the Song Dynasty.

The clepsydra provided standard times for court meetings.

The period of time before Song Dynasty officials officially attended court was called Tailou.

Dailouyuan is the place where officials gather and rest when they are waiting for leave.

Although the Song Dynasty treated officials very well, they could have breakfast here and were provided with fruits, vegetables and drinks.

Of course, there are also many small vendors who make a living by waiting for customers to leave the hospital.

Many officials were tired of the food they were given, so they naturally bought some food to change their taste.

Although some officials find these vendors annoying, they are unwilling to go against the crowd.

Existence is reasonable.

However, the rule of Tailouyuan was that ministers had to wait here on time at five o'clock in the morning for court sessions, and ministers had to wait here regardless of the winter or summer seasons.

You have to set off earlier and wait, which is very tiring.

Lu Yijian's relative-in-law Zhang Shixun had been in Tokyo for a long time. When he heard from the Lu family a few years later that he was about to be assigned a good job, he was overjoyed.

Before the imperial edict is issued, you will not go to the Dailouyuan to suffer.

Today, Lü Yijian went to court as usual, riding in a donkey cart.

Horses were still very rare among the people in the Song Dynasty.

Especially the new prime minister should pay attention to certain impacts.

The ox cart was a bit slow, but the donkey cart was just right.

The key is riding a donkey cart, and there is a sense of "political correctness".

In the Song Dynasty, donkeys were an excellent meal substitute for horses.

This is true whether it is the prime minister of the current dynasty or Cao Guolao riding a donkey upside down.

In his hand was a letter written by his young cousin Lu Lejian.

It shouldn’t be about not getting into the college, right?
Yan Shu himself couldn't say anything.

Lu Yijian has always been serving as an official outside.

Because of his good performance, he became a close minister of Zhenzong.

Zhenzong put Lu Yijian's name on the screen, and rumors spread like wildfire that he was going to be promoted to prime minister.

But it has never been implemented.

Before Zhenzong could promote him to prime minister, Zhenzong's health deteriorated and he passed away.

He was not promoted until Renzong came to power.

Lu Yijian also understood the reason behind this. The previous emperor was paving the way for the new emperor.

Therefore, Lu Yijian, the new minister, did not have time to develop a close relationship with Yan Shu, an old minister of Zhenzong.

When Yan Shu was young and wearing a purple robe, Lu Yijian was still gaining experience outside and already had a grandson.

There is a whole generation difference between the two.

But during this limited time, the two also forged a friendship and exchanged poems with each other.

When Yan Shu was exiled before, it was Lu Yijian who stepped in to rescue him and commuted his sentence to Yingtian Prefecture.

Everyone knows that Yan Shu invited talented people to take the entrance examination for Yingtianfu Academy.

Lu Yijian also understood that with so many people, the assessment would be strict.

I hope that my cousin is not too "outstanding" and was rejected by Yingtian Academy, so he came to me to plead for mercy.

Lu Yijian opened the letter.

The first sentence made him raise his brows slightly.

This useless cousin was not doing this for his own benefit, but for the Lu family's affairs.

The letter detailed Dou Chou's targeting of Song Xuan, a student at Yingtian Academy.

And the reason for the rebellion of the student named Song Xuan.

This incident has now caused a huge uproar in Songcheng.

The court officials openly declared that he was the law, and there were also rumors that his son had previously argued with someone and was questioned whether the Song Dynasty had the surname Dou.

Every detail is written down.

At the end, it was said that this was a big deal and I hoped my cousin could prepare for it early.

Lu Yijian had many years of experience abroad and was a capable person. He knew without even closing his eyes that a huge turmoil would inevitably occur in the court today.

With his cousin's advance tip-off, he knew what to do next.

As for the student named Song Xuan, he only has some talent, which is nothing special.

What Lu Yijian didn't know was whether Song Xuan's plan to bring so many students to Dou Chou to ask for justice was his own idea or whether Yan Shu was guiding him from behind.

None of it matters.

The most important thing is to be able to use this matter for your own benefit.

Since the new emperor ascended the throne and the empress dowager took power, the situation in the court has changed for a while.

Now he can be called the Prime Minister.

That is, Privy Councilor Cao Liyong, Jixian Prime Minister Wang Zeng, Deputy Privy Councilor Zhang Zhibai, Co-Zhongshu Menxia Pingzhangshi Lu Yijian, Vice-Chancellor Lu Zongdao, Deputy Privy Councilor Zhang Shixun, and Co-Pingzhangshi Wang Qinruo.

Among these people, Cao Liyong has served as Privy Councilor for the longest time, which has been ten years now.

Among the other prime ministers, the one he disdained the most was Wang Zeng.

Even though Wang Zeng was the first to eliminate Ding Wei and had made great contributions, Cao Liyong believed that his achievements were great enough and was not afraid to do anything about it, often competing with Wang Zeng for priority. Although Emperor Renzong personally established Cao Liyong's position above Wang Zeng, it was not long before Wang Zeng was promoted and his position was once again higher than Cao Liyong's.

But as Renzong comforted him, Cao Liyong became more and more arrogant, and his position was even higher than that of the deputy prime minister Zhang Zhibai.

In short, several people at the core of the court also had their own targets, and Empress Dowager Liu was in power, focusing on maintaining a balance.

The East Wind cannot possibly overwhelm the West Wind. Only when the forces are equal can she better control the political situation.

These prime ministers are among them.

The person with the most power was Wang Qinruo, the Minister of Goiter.

At this time, he was appointed Sikong and Tongpingzhangshi, promoted to Situ, and conferred the title of Duke of Ji.

Lu Yijian sat in the room in the waiting courtyard, closing his eyes to rest, and heard faint whispers in his ears.

It seems that the officials of Yingtian Prefecture and the students whose families had connections passed the news back immediately.

I wonder how Yan Shu would write this memorial to impeach Dou Chou.

Lu Yijian was quite looking forward to this.

I was worried that I couldn't get one of my own people to fill this important position of Hanlin Bachelor, but then the opportunity came.

For Lu Yijian, who had been appointed prime minister not long ago, he needed more support so that he could replace Wang Qinruo in the future.

Wang Qinruo is very old and probably doesn't have many years left to live.

Lu Yijian opened his eyes and glanced at him.

Wang Qinruo's son was recuperating in Yingtian Prefecture, and it was unknown whether any news had been sent to him.

Wang Qinruo was thin and had a tumor on his neck, which was extremely eye-catching.

Regarding the latest news sent by my son.

Wang Qinruo had already seen it at home.

Although his son praised the student named Song Xuan highly, thinking that he was a good candidate to be recruited in the future.

But both the father and the daughter are in poor health. What’s the point of gathering so many people?
Take care of the family?
None of your descendants continued to serve as officials in the court, probably because they died and their debts were settled.

Wang Qinruo was too lazy to get involved in this matter.

He is old and not very energetic.

He sleeps less every night at home, but in this hospital, perhaps out of habit, he often sleeps to catch up on sleep.

Compared to others, Wang Qinruo is willing to get up early to go to work.

As for these prime ministers, only Lu Yijian and Wang Zeng could be considered young and strong.

The rest of them are all very old.

What Wang Zeng held in his hand was an impeachment memorial written by Yan Shu. It was called an impeachment, which meant that everything was recorded truthfully, and the court was asked to make a decision for the ordinary students.

Not only that, he also copied the article written by Song Xuan and handed it in.

Wang Zeng couldn't say that he liked Dou Chou.

This man, relying on his prominent family background and the prestigious position of head of the Hanlin Academy, was extremely arrogant.

He has done such evil things recently. Does he really think that everyone in the world has the surname Dou?
So before going to court, everyone had already prepared their speeches.

At this time, Emperor Renzong sat on the throne, but his mother, Empress Dowager Liu, was still in charge.

To this day, he still believes that she is his biological mother.

It has to be said that Emperor Renzong was still kind. His ancestors allowed the prime ministers to stand while speaking to strengthen the imperial power, but several prime ministers were old, so he specially gave seats to the old men.

As the discussion on some issues came to an end, someone submitted an impeachment memorial written by Dou Chou.

Dou Chou not only labeled Song Xuan an unforgivable person, but also criticized Yan Shu and Fan Zhongyan.

Empress Dowager Liu was extremely surprised when she heard this. Are the students in Yingtian Prefecture going to rebel?

However, she had experienced the court factional struggles, and she forged an imperial edict to use Ding Wei to kill Kou Zhun. Later, she eliminated Ding Wei who wanted to seize power, and even wanted to kill him. However, after being persuaded by a group of ministers, she sent Ding Wei to Yazhou to wait for death.

As the first empress dowager to rule the Song Dynasty, Empress Dowager Liu had rich experience in political struggles.

Therefore, he did not express his opinion first, nor did he believe Dou Chou's one-sided words, but let several prime ministers express their opinions first.

Zhang Zhibai was the first to raise objections, saying that Dou Yuanbin was completely exaggerating the facts. What was his intention?

Several people also agreed with Zhang Zhibai's words.

When it was Wang Zeng's turn to speak.

He took the opportunity to hand over the memorial in his hand, which was submitted by Yan Shu, the prefect of Yingtian Prefecture.

Empress Dowager Liu raised her head slightly. She really didn't expect that Yan Shu would take the initiative to submit a memorial.

Could it be that he has thought it through and wants to bow his head and come back?

With this in mind, Empress Dowager Liu asked someone to read the memorial.

But the first sentence he opened his mouth was to impeach Hanlin scholar Dou Yuanbin, and then he told the whole story, which made everyone frown.

Especially Dou Chou said that what he said was the law of the Song Dynasty.

Even the prime ministers of the time did not dare to speak so arrogantly. This person was so arrogant that he aroused the public indignation of the students.

The last time students threw books at someone was the prime minister.

Empress Dowager Liu was also very annoyed after hearing this. This Dou Chou was really outrageous.

Before the authorities found the murderer, he identified the murderer as an ordinary student because he spoke up for his good son.

This is really unreasonable!
Liu E was originally from the common people. Although she had made some achievements in the political arena of the Song Dynasty, she could not stand officials bullying the people in her heart.

As for the theory of Dr. Wang's son that one should pay attention to personal hygiene to avoid getting sick, it was all ignored by everyone.

We are all very particular people, unlike Dou Chou.

Of the two men's memorials, Yan Shu's was more organized, unlike Dou Chou's which was nothing but calls for war and killing.

But before she could say anything, Song Renzong, who had already entered adolescence, could not help but speak:
"Dou Yuanbin actually abused his power and bullied others without asking any questions. Is he worthy of the salary I gave him?"

He knew very well that scholars were the foundation of the country. If this matter was not handled properly, would the Song Dynasty have a future?

As soon as the emperor opened his mouth, the matter was settled.

"What the emperor said makes sense." Wang Zeng immediately followed up:
"We should send a minister to investigate. If the facts are completely true, I request that Dou Yuanbin be dismissed from his post."

Everyone believed that Yan Shu would not openly falsify his character, but the necessary procedures still had to be followed.

Empress Dowager Liu did not refute, but asked for the opinions of several prime ministers present.

Although Cao Liyong looked down on Wang Zeng, he had a very good impression of Yan Shu.

The two of them had served in the same court for many years, so they were the first to respond at this time.

Zhang Shixun, Lu Zongdao and Zhang Zhibai had no objection.

Wang Qinruo also nodded in agreement, thinking of it as a way to relieve his son's illness.

As for taking Dou Chou as his dog, there is no rush at all. We have to wait until Dou Chou is left with no other options.

It was Lu Yijian who took the initiative to speak:

"Since Prefect Yan thinks that this student Song Xuan is talented, why not share his policy paper with us?"

"can."

After Empress Dowager Liu responded, someone handed Song Xuan's policy proposal to Lu Yijian.

As for the poems spoken by Yan Shu, they were given to other prime ministers to read.

Wang Qinruo's eyes lit up and he pointed at the paper:

"This boy has a way of writing poetry that is eye-opening. Even at such a young age, he knows how to let pure energy fill the universe."

Wang Zeng came over to take a look:
"I think that sentence, 'Master', is quite meaningful and can make my uncle feel embarrassed, hahahaha."

Several prime ministers joked about the teacher of one word.

Zhao Zhen, sitting on the throne, was thinking about the name Song Xuan, but he had never heard of him.

He only remembered a child named Song Wenwan who said his hometown was Yingtian Prefecture.

(End of this chapter)