A powerful minister of the Song Dynasty

Chapter 116 I Really Think I’m Radical, But You’re Too Radical (Part )
"Ha ha ha ha."

Su Xun couldn't help laughing, and then his laughter stopped abruptly.

Although Song Xuan had his back to Su Xun, he saw that everyone had stopped smiling, and he immediately felt that Cao Liyong must have made a surprise attack.

As expected of someone who has been in the army for many years, he is no less cunning than a scholar.

So without waiting for Su Xun to wink at him, he said with a smile:

"Hahaha, Sanlang, you didn't really believe what I said just now to tease you, did you?"

"Shi Er Lang doesn't need to be so careful."

The person behind him was the chubby Zhang Kang. As he was speaking, Song Xuan turned around and heard:
"I also wish my father-in-law was the prime minister, but unfortunately none of the prime ministers took a liking to me."

Song Xuan saw that the person who had returned was not Cao Liyong, so there was nothing to worry about.

"Zhang Tuiguan is teasing me too. There's no way this kind of thing will happen."

Song Xuan waved his hand nonchalantly and invited Zhang Kang to come over for a glass of cold drink.

Zhang Kang immediately came over and sat down, holding his fat belly, and drank a full cup of cold soup, then he burped comfortably.

"I've been in the inn for a long time. I don't know if it's the smell of the sinus itself, or if it's the heat that's giving off the corpse stench."

Zhang Kang didn't mind at all. He just picked up the food and started putting it into his mouth. He was so fat that he just couldn't control his mouth.

“There are quite a few people going there.”

"Hey, I died before the imperial edict came down, so I have to hold my nose and admit it. I was a Hanlin scholar."

"Is it possible to give him the reputation of committing suicide out of fear of punishment?"

"I advise you not to be so reckless. If you still trample on someone who has already died, you will be retaliated even more severely."

Song Xuan said nonchalantly:

"I've already made an enemy, so how much worse can it get? And why should I be blamed for everything that happens to Dou Chou? This is a blatant false accusation."

"It's up to you." Zhang Kang kept tapping his chopsticks and talking non-stop: "I just wanted to remind you to study hard in the academy."

“In the future, when you take the imperial examination, you can protect yourself only after you pass the exam. You will also have the opportunity to sit at the table, so you don’t have to defend yourself everywhere.”

Song Xuan nodded.

He was sure that Dou Chou died suddenly. How could he not leave any explanation before his death?
The power of their Dou family currently has no chance to vent their anger on others, so it doesn't take much effort to deal with a little student like themselves.

Both Cao Liyong and Zhang Kang came to give a reminder.

I'm afraid the days ahead won't be so peaceful.

Song Xuan is not a person who likes comfort, otherwise he would not stir up trouble and act on impulse.

He believed that it would not be long before Gang Leader Cao would be able to send back information about all the members of the Dou family. Only after understanding the enemy could he formulate a better counterattack plan.

"Mr. Yan asked me to tell you that the magistrate of Yingtian Prefecture, Gu Zimo, is a student of Dou Chou. I'm afraid he will deal with you in the future. The county magistrate is better off taking care of you now."

Zhang Kang asked the waiter to give him another bowl of rice. Even though he had been in Dou Chou's place for a long time, he was still able to eat.

"Can't Mr. Yan find a way to transfer Gu Zimo away?"

"He's doing an average job. Does he have any political achievements? How can we transfer him?"

Song Xuan lowered his voice and said, "Give some money to his superiors and transfer him to another place. Is there any room for maneuver?"

"You, shut up."

Zhang Kang thanked him and continued to stuff his food into his mouth:

"If something like this happens, you'll lose your job. Who would be willing to take such a big risk?"

"That's it." Song Xuan counted on his fingers and said:

"Although there were several Tongpans in Yingtian Prefecture, their respective responsibilities included military and civilian affairs, finances, household registration, taxes and labor service, and judicial proceedings.

Gu Zimo is in charge of the military, civilians, and taxes and labor service. There will be a lot of trouble in the future!"

Zhang Kang stopped overeating and glanced at Song Xuan sideways: "Have you already found out?"

"I don't have that kind of information. It's just that when Dou Chou wanted to plot against me, someone told him who was in the room."

Song Xuan did not hide his network of relationships.

He is local.

At least he has the support of a large group of fellow villagers.

For officials from other places like Zhang Kang, this has nothing to do with them.

Otherwise, how could there be the phenomenon of strong officials and weak officials in the Song Dynasty?

If you, a temporary official, want to govern well in a new place, you need the cooperation of your subordinates.

These hereditary officials will not cooperate with you. No matter how capable you are, you can only display two or three-tenths of your ability.

"Indeed, Yingtian Prefecture has finally produced such a prestigious figure, how could they not be on your side?"

Zhang Kang no longer asked who provided the information to Song Xuan.

He would not be like Xiang Yu and tell Liu Bang directly that it was your subordinate Cao Wushang who told him.

After something like this, who would still be willing to secretly communicate with the Overlord to pass on messages?

You were hiding this, but the person you wanted to serve sold you out!

Song Xuan naturally tried his best to avoid this kind of thing from happening. Even if he had a good relationship with Zhang Kang, there were some things he would not tell him.

"Actually, I didn't come here to eat for free." Zhang Kang asked Tao Hong to give him another bowl of rice:

"Shi Erlang, Dou Chou is dead, but the turmoil surrounding this incident is far from over. Just be mentally prepared."

"Once the court's factional fighting begins, it can only be stopped when one side collapses. As for the snails that are crushed by the road, they never care."

Zhang Kang took the bowl and continued eating.

Song Xuan nodded again. Although he was determined to fight for his life, his strength was still too weak.

A truly powerful person can do many things at his command with just a word.

Through the Dou Chou incident, Song Xuan became famous in his hometown and his status improved, but he was still a commoner after all.

He hasn't even started his official career.

Gu Zimo bought a high-quality coffin, and now he sent people to carry Dou Han.

The coffin of the Hanlin scholar was to be returned to the capital with Cao Liyong, and then transported back to his hometown in Shaanxi.

"Brother Gu."

Gu Zimo took out a dagger and cut off a corner of his robe:
"Today, I sever my ties with you in accordance with my mentor's last wishes. You must control your temper from now on. My mentor died for you."

Although Dou Han knew what was going on, he couldn't bear it either in his heart or on his face.

If he had not abused his power to bully others, his own father would not have been forced to hang himself, and the future of the Dou family's descendants could not have been preserved.

But how could Dou Han blame himself? If he had to blame anyone, he should blame Song Xuan.

If he had just endured it obediently, such a big commotion would not have occurred.

It's all his fault!

Cao Liyong stood at the bow of the boat, watching Dou Chou's son and his students perform this grand drama of cutting off robes and sleeves.

He couldn't help but sneered:
"Even if Dou Chou committed suicide, he had arranged many things early on, which is quite admirable." Ding Du understood what Cao Liyong said. Not everyone has the courage to commit suicide.

Especially since Dou Chou had a broken leg, it was enough to show how determined he was.

After Gu Zimo threw his robe on his teacher Dou Yuanbin's coffin, he turned around and walked away in order to prevent his tears from flowing.

Many people who saw this scene talked about it, and none of them knew what was going on.

When Gu Zimo returned home, he finally burst into tears.

He took out the tablet of his mentor that he had secretly carved last night and placed it in the study. He didn't even dare to burn incense, but knelt on the ground and kowtowed.

You, Song Xuan, are a righteous man who is not afraid of power, but you forced my old mentor Dou Yuanbin to death.

I, Gu Zimo, am definitely not a villain. I swear to avenge my mentor!

These two days, Song Xuan held a banquet to celebrate his admission into the academy.

Those who came were neighbors and a few acquaintances. Captain Ding was grinning from ear to ear, as he was able to attend such a high-end banquet.

Considering that his son is sitting third on the left and first on the right, he has a very good chance of winning.

After Ding Zhe returned home in the evening, he spoke much more confidently.

He first went home to get the gold back, and today he made friends with scholars, and his status rose sharply.

His wife even began to praise him for how wise he was in the beginning. He wanted to cause trouble for Song Xuan, but he also lost face and endured thirty beatings in front of Song Xuan's house. From then on, he became Song Xuan's strongman, which led to his current situation.

When Ding Zhe heard his wife praising him like that, he immediately burst into laughter and felt very proud.

It was not until his son said he wanted to sleep with his mother at night that Ding Zhe threatened and coaxed him into sleeping in the next room.

Tonight, he will show his prowess!
Zhang Fangping decided to go home, and Su Xun also planned to travel to Tokyo for a while and then say goodbye to his twelfth brother when he came back.

Bao Zheng also wanted to go home. He wanted to personally teach his parents to practice Ba Duan Jin to improve their health.

As for Shi Jie, he gave Song Xuan an inkstone as a thank-you gift that he had prepared long ago.

"I've been disturbed a lot these past few days and haven't had a chance to talk to Twelve Lang."

Shi Jie has become extremely polite.

He was no longer like before, thinking that Song Xuan was not a person who was willing to study just because he liked to wield swords and guns.

From the results of the exam to the present, Song Xuan has never bowed to power, which naturally made Shi Jie look at him with admiration.

"I was blind and looked down on Twelve Lang before. I hope Twelve Lang won't blame me."

"I don't care what others think of me."

Song Xuan laughed heartily, just to give Shi Jie a way out:

"Anyway, I know where my future lies. I'm happy when others share my ideals, and I welcome them even when they're my enemies. At least I won't be lonely on my life journey."

Song Xuan's free and easy personality really surprised Shi Jie.

How could the world produce someone like Song Xuan!

He had never seen it.

"Shi Er Lang, I have a question in my mind. I wonder if you can answer it?"

Shi Jie bowed again, he really wanted to learn something.

"Just tell me, I'm a person who likes to talk nonsense."

"I've been honing my will to endure hardships, but I see that Shi Er Lang doesn't seem to care about what I've done at all. Instead, he's full of contempt, and the same goes for those guys."

Shi Jie strolled a few steps and said, "I have been thinking hard for several days, but I still don't understand what I did wrong to make you despise me so much."

"Do you want to hear the truth or lies?"

"I know honest advice doesn't go down well with the ears, but this is what I pursue in life. I hope Twelve Lang won't hide it from me."

Song Xuan pondered for a moment before speaking: "I call your behavior 'suffering without suffering'!"

"You're not going to suffer?"

Shi Jie nodded, and the summary was quite correct.

He found that Song Xuan was very good at grasping the key points, and such a person must have a high level of insight.

"My understanding of suffering is that you should never believe that suffering is worth it. Suffering is suffering. It will not bring success and is not worth pursuing."

“The reason we must temper our will is that suffering is unavoidable. True strength lies not in resisting, but in allowing everything to happen and fighting against it.”

Shi Jie was stunned and didn't speak for a long time.

It turns out that those actions of mine that I thought were good for sharpening my mind were just like those of a clown in Song Xuan's eyes, so stupid!

"I don't know!"

Shi Jie was still a little bit upset: "You are so young, why do you have such profound thoughts?"

"Confucius said, 'When three people walk together, there must be one who can be my teacher.'" Song Xuan took out his folding fan and fanned it a few times.
"You've been studying hard in your hometown since you were little. Your family members all went through the same thing, and the values ​​they shaped in you are also like that."

"But you have no idea what I went through as a child, and of course you won't understand what I'm saying. Why did it enlighten you?"

Shi Jie admitted in his heart that Song Xuan was right, but when the time came for his honest advice to be unpleasant to the ears, not everyone could easily accept it.

Song Xuan's words suddenly negated the rules and outlook on life that he had adhered to for so many years, but Shi Jie still resisted stubbornly.

Although through this conversation, huge cracks had already appeared in his inner rules and outlook on life.

"It doesn't matter if you can't figure it out. People always have to learn to grow up slowly."

Song Xuan stood up and began to grind ink:
"Let me take a look at this inkstone you gave me."

Shi Jie said that he was willing to learn from him humbly, but he was still in his twenties. Even if he was convinced in his heart, he would still be stubborn.

"Shi Er Lang, do you believe in the existence of gods and Buddhas, and in immortality?"

"Of course I don't believe it."

Song Xuan glanced at Shi Jie, who was about to burst into pimples from holding back his anger. "You don't still believe this, do you?"

"I certainly don't believe it."

Ishisuke breathed a sigh of relief.

In this way, he and Song Xuan had something in common, and he expressed his own views:
"I also think there are too many obscene sacrifices and shrines. The imperial court should ban them on a large scale."

"Hey, just banning it isn't enough. I think those who aren't producers have taken a lot of land and money, and they don't have to pay taxes. Over time, the things you mentioned will become more and more common. We should follow the example of the Wuzong emperors of previous dynasties."

Shi Jie was stunned again when he heard this.

He thought his ideas were a bit radical, but he never expected that Song Xuan's ideas were even more radical than his.

Can we casually imitate the behavior of Emperor Wuzong of the past who destroyed Buddhism?
Shi Jie didn't know what to say for a moment, and just stared at Song Xuan grinding ink.

Song Xuan began to grind ink using the inkstone given to him by Shi Jie, speaking casually.

He didn't quite understand Shi Jie's train of thought.

Could it be that just a few words from me had such a huge impact on his outlook on life that he started talking nonsense now?

His mental quality can't be that bad, right?

It's obvious at first glance that he has never experienced the real harshness of society and is still living in his own little circle.

(End of this chapter)