A powerful minister of the Song Dynasty

Chapter 117: Boasting and Loopholes (Part )
Shi Jie's outlook on life and world view, which he had always been proud of, were shattered by Song Xuan's few words.

So much so that he has been hesitating for a long time now.

Could it be that I have been walking on a path that I thought was right from the beginning, but was actually wrong?

Otherwise, how could Song Xuan easily reveal what was in his heart?
If he were to be honest, Shi Jie always felt that he was very strong inside.

I don't indulge in food, nor do I like to wear fancy clothes, and I just want a house that can shelter me from wind and rain.

Just now, Song Xuan kept saying that he was just trying to endure hardships, but that's not the real way to temper one's will.

Shi Jie always felt that his heart was strong.

He later studied under Fan Zhongyan and passed the imperial examination. More than ten years later, he founded an academy and accumulated a wealth of experience.

Later, he became a lecturer at the Imperial College, and the number of students suddenly increased from dozens to thousands. The prosperity of the Imperial College began from then on.

In particular, Shi Jie was one of the three masters of the early Song Dynasty. After experiencing the chaos of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, Shi Jie re-sorted out the "Confucianism and Taoism" thread and traced it back to Han Yu and Mencius. He was indeed the founder of the revival of Confucianism and Neo-Confucianism.

Even Cheng Hao, Cheng Yi and Cheng Yi, who were more famous than him, and Zhu Xi had to stand on his shoulders and carry the banner of Confucianism forward.

Shi Jie was also a penman for Fan Zhongyan's reformists, and he fiercely attacked Xia Song, who opposed reform.

As a result, he offended Xia Song, and under Xia Song's manipulation, he strongly criticized the reformists. Shi Jie became the target of public criticism and received a lot of criticism.

After all, Shi Jie's character is not strong enough.

He suffered such a great blow that he died of illness all of a sudden.

Even though Shi Jie was dead, Xia Song had no intention of letting him go. Instead, he said that Shi Jie faked his death and secretly went to Khitan to borrow troops, and that Fu Bi was his accomplice in the court.

Not only did he hit Fu Bi, but he also openly opened the coffin for an autopsy, insulting Shi Jie and his family.

In particular, opening a museum was considered an extremely serious immoral act in ancient times.

Then Song Renzong issued two orders to verify the matter, and was protected by Du Yan, Lu Jujian and Gong Dingchen.

It was not until Lu Yijian made the final decision and gave Zhao Zhen some advice that the emperor realized that it was Xia Song's false accusation. The matter was settled and Shijie's wife and children were released to return home.

Shi Jie thought he was well-trained, but in reality, when he encountered some difficulties, his faith in Taoism collapsed.

This is enough to prove that his method is useless.

Seeing Shi Jie standing aside without saying anything, Song Xuan continued to practice writing on his own.

Shi Jie stood up and wanted to thank Song Xuan, but he saw the words written on the paper and immediately read them out loud:
“Even if the road ahead is full of thorns, I will still walk with my sword in hand. In this world, there are no destined losers, only cowards who dare not draw their swords.”

Shijie couldn't help but ask, "Is this what Shi Erlang wrote to me?"

"of course not."

Song Xuan put down the brush in his hand:
"Such childish words, I wrote them for Su Sanlang to read. He likes them at his current age, but I don't know what you like."

Shijie's face was a little gloomy, and he thanked him again:

"I'll go home first and tell my parents about this, and then come back. Thank you Twelve Lang for your hospitality."

"Well, I know you're leaving." Song Xuan took out a purse from the side and placed it on the table:

"Since you don't spend much on a daily basis, and you're using it as travel expenses, you should think carefully about whether you should continue to live this kind of pretend poverty. In fact, it doesn't do much good for your character."

“Sometimes there’s no need to look for it. Life will give you a slap in the face from time to time, which is enough to hone your character.”

"Thank you, Twelve Lang, for your kind words and deeds."

This time, Shijie did not refuse Song Xuan's kindness.

The words just now kept lingering in his mind.

Why should you reject other people's kindness? Doing so will only make you close yourself off, which is not conducive to the growth of your mind and character.

"On this journey back and forth, I must try my best to experience the real life."

Song Xuan looked at this living contradictory person and left.

He stood at the second-floor window, thinking about how to deal with Gu Zimo, the magistrate of Yingtian Prefecture.

Inside the Tokyo Imperial City.

Cao Liyong came back with Dou Chou's suicide note.

This time the prime ministers were all speechless.

No one expected Dou Chou to be so stubborn.

He didn't want to wait for the imperial court to order his dismissal, but wanted to take the position of Hanlin Bachelor with him to his grave.

But such behavior really made Empress Dowager Liu E a little annoyed.

Doesn't this give others another reason to criticize me?
Liu E also planned to wear a dragon robe to the palace in the future.

For the sake of so-called fairness, she sent people to deal with the Dou family members who were bullying others by taking advantage of their power, which was also to accumulate reputation for her subsequent steps.

Who would have thought that Dou Chou would use his own life to overturn all the tables that everyone had set in advance.

Now I have to hold my nose and look at the blood letter he wrote.

It's really disgusting.

Does blood writing smell nice?

It would have been fine if he had just been disgusting with his foul odor when he was alive.

Even after death, he cannot rest in peace and continues to disgust people with his foul smell.

Empress Dowager Liu felt a little sick when she saw the blood letter, so she asked the eunuch to take it away and not show it to the young emperor, so as to avoid...

Just let those prime ministers see Dou Chou’s disgusting remarks.

The young Zhao Zhen had no idea that Dou Chou, who was always known for his stench, would do such a disgusting thing.

He felt that this was not right.

My order hasn't even been issued yet, but you've already made your own judgment.

If this isn't the Emperor as seen by a child, then what is it?
Zhao Zhen’s father once told him that being an emperor meant both title and power and could not be delegated to others.

The Queen Mother is in power now because she is young and she is her mother, which is understandable.

The relationship between me and my mother is that of mother and son. You, Dou Chou, dare to do this. It is obvious that you do not take me seriously.

Chi Guoguo's provocation.

Zhao Zhen is now young and frivolous, and is naturally in the rebellious period of his youth. His mentality is not as peaceful as it was in the later years.

Prime Minister Wang Qinruo originally wanted to follow his son's wishes.

Wait until Dou Chou is demoted, then give him a hand and make him a dog.

As a result, he committed suicide and wanted to push his son to the front.

What a no brainer!
You can't even beat that kid named Song Xuan, but you think your son can beat him?

Fathers always have unrealistic fantasies about their own offspring!

Wang Qinruo, who had been in the court for many years, had long noticed the flash of disgust on the Queen Mother's face. He would not speak for the dead. The dead had value, so what did it matter?

Wang Qinruo immediately threw the blood letter aside:
"Empress Dowager, Dou Yuanbin always looked down on the emperor. Now, without even waiting for the emperor's order, he has committed suicide. This further proves that he still looked down on the emperor in this way until his death. What kind of situation has this put the Empress Dowager in?"

Wang Qinruo's words made Liu E very satisfied. Although she was angry, she did not show it.

After many years of political career, I have learned to remain calm in the face of difficulties.

Liu E was able to go from being a singing girl who entered the harem without any name or status to becoming the queen, and then step by step reached the highest position in the Song Dynasty today.

She was able to govern smoothly, abandoned her husband's ten-year-long Heavenly Book Movement, influenced the direction of party struggles, and became the first female ruler to rule the Song Dynasty. Naturally, she was not a naive person.

As for Prime Minister Wang Qinruo, although everyone else disliked him, Liu E felt that everyone had his unique position in the court.

Even Kou Zhun, who is liked by everyone, has some major shortcomings.

In the struggle between Kou Zhun and Ding Wei, it was already Liu E who controlled the government at that time. She knew exactly how Kou Zhun and Ding Wei were defeated in their fight.

Wang Qinruo and Ding Wei were not on good terms, and both father and son were demoted by Ding Wei. His son Wang Congyi even resigned and recuperated in Yingtian Prefecture until Liu E sent a letter to Wang Qinruo, saying that she wanted to promote him to be prime minister again.

It can be said that Wang Qinruo’s greatest reliance in the court was the empress dowager sitting next to the emperor.

Now that Wang Qinruo had spoken, Cao Liyong thought of Song Xuan, one of his "son-in-law candidates," and also spoke:

"Dou Chou, a high-ranking official at the imperial court, deserted his post without reporting to the authorities. He committed suicide out of fear of punishment."

Back then, Wang Qinruo was attacked fiercely by Ding Wei and was forced to leave his post because of seeking medical treatment. He confessed his guilt in panic.

Although the old matter was brought up again, Wang Qinruo, who was "generous by nature", did not say anything again.

The past is gone.

Because Ding Wei had already gone to Yazhou to eat insects.

He also boasted that the largest prefecture in the world was Yazhou because the prime minister of the court was the Yazhou Sihu.

In addition, Wang Qinruo used to be afraid of Ding Wei because he did things to the extreme, but he looked down on him from the bottom of his heart.

Back then, he wiped Kou Zhun's beard and was jokingly called the origin of flattery. After that, in order to clear himself, he spared no effort to exclude and frame Kou Zhun.

Prime Minister Wang Zeng was very unhappy about the outcome of the Dou Chou incident.

The original outcome was demotion. Wouldn't this give the young official the reputation of killing scholars and officials?

When the emperor takes power in the future, how can he win over the scholars of the Song Dynasty with this stain on his head?

"Empress Dowager, Your Majesty, I believe that Dou Chou's letter still shows no remorse."

Even Wang Zeng, who is always serious, made such remarks. The main reason was that the matter did not develop as they expected and was out of control.

If people later follow suit, and once they make a mistake, they commit suicide out of fear of punishment in order to leave a good future for their descendants, wouldn't that be encouraging officials to commit crimes?
How many officials will the Song Dynasty be able to appoint in the future?

If this continues, will there still be officials in the Song Dynasty who come from commoner backgrounds?

Zhang Zhibai and others naturally agreed with Wang Zeng's words. Seeing that he did not express any opinion, Lu Yijian's relative Zhang Shixun also sat aside and did not say anything.

Lü Yijian also guessed Dou Chou's thoughts, and he immediately said:

"Empress Dowager, Your Majesty, Dou Chou is already dead. According to custom, the court will not pursue his case too far. However, this act cannot be tolerated. Since Dou Chou has escaped punishment, his son must be punished in his place to demonstrate filial piety."

When Dou Chou died, his son had to resign from his official position to observe mourning. How could he still want to become an official again after the limelight had passed?
Lu Yijian wanted to kill him immediately, so you should just observe the mourning period for a few more years.

"can."

Seeing that the prime ministers had reached a consensus, Liu E did not argue for Dou Chou and also expressed her agreement.

The main thing is that Dou Chou did it in a very authentic way.

Since you took the initiative to overturn the table, don’t blame us for not letting your son sit at the table!

"That student named Song Xuan, Minister, have you come into contact with him?"

Cao Liyong really didn't expect that Empress Dowager Liu would take the initiative to ask about Song Xuan. He didn't understand what was going on and said thoughtfully:

"He's quite a bright young man. He should have taken the path of a child prodigy, but his family held him back."

Cao Liyong then told the story of Song Xuan's life, which naturally aroused the sympathy of Empress Dowager Liu.

Although she was born into a family of officials, her parents died when she was still a baby. She lived with her mother's family, Pang Shi. However, she became a singer at a young age and married the silversmith Gong Mei. She lived on the streets performing for a living and did not have a good life for many days.

However, Gong Mei couldn't make any money by bringing her to Tokyo, so he sold her. Only then did he have the opportunity to be introduced to Zhao Yuanxiu, who was the King of Han at the time.

Among these prime ministers, even Wang Zeng, who had the hardest life, was orphaned at the age of eight and was adopted by his uncle and treated like his own son.

He is the grandson of the Marquis of the Tang Dynasty, and his ancestors were once glorious.

Wang Qinruo also lost his father at a young age and was raised by his grandfather. Zhang Shixun lost his mother due to complications at birth and was raised by his aunt.

The only people who lived a privileged life since childhood and never had any bad things happen to them were Zhang Zhibai, Cao Liyong and Lu Yijian.

"This boy has a strong character and a sense of justice. He is truly a kind person."

Wang Zeng also commented: "If he can remain humble and studious while studying, he will definitely be able to pass the imperial examination."

Although he and Song Xuan had similar experiences at the same time, there is a big difference between having someone to take care of and train you and growing up completely on your own.

The fact that Song Xuan has not gone astray so far is something worthy of praise.

Cao Liyong listened to Wang Zeng's words and pursed his lips.

He finally understood the scholar's saying that one can know a person's face but not his heart!

You don't even think about it carefully. How could he, with a father who was a gambler, a mother who remarried, and a young child with no one to take care of him, build up such a large family business and have several employees who were willing to work for him?

After Cao Liyong went there once, he felt that Song Xuan was a good person, not to mention that he treated his "guys" very well, not at all like slaves.

Those guys didn't have any "slave" look on their faces, but instead they all showed confidence.

How did Song Xuan influence them?

Along the way, Cao Liyong was recalling the details of his conversation with Song Xuan and the reactions of the people around him.

Can anyone use the method of using public anger to counter Dou Chou?

This guy is resourceful and scheming, but the key is that he makes people think that he is a good person. He is definitely good at hiding his true intentions.

Lu Yijian disagreed with Wang Zeng's praise of Song Xuan, and his cousin brought him another message about staying in prison for three days.

Song Xuan could have taken so many people directly to the prison, but he deliberately took a detour back home to sober up many hot-blooded students.

It can be said that Song Xuan was thinking about others and did not want these students who had made trouble with him to go to jail.

But thinking from another perspective, isn't Song Xuan deliberately selecting friends who are worth making close friends with in the academy in the future?

In addition, Song Xuan set up a table in prison with great fanfare, which impressed both the jailers and his classmates.

Just the act of throwing money around is not something that someone with a family background like Song Xuan should do.

So Lu Yijian was wondering, did Song Xuan get all his money through legitimate means?

(End of this chapter)