The prince is more stable

Chapter 876 Drinking and Reminiscing
Funing Hall.

Zhao Xiaoqian and Su Zhe were drinking together.

Tonight's imperial banquet was not Zhao Xiaoqian's spur-of-the-moment decision. After deciding to take action against the Council of State Affairs, while the Imperial City Guard was interrogating Li Shao and Hong Tao, Zhao Xiaoqian issued an edict inviting Su Zhe to come and have a drink and reminisce.

Sitting on the emperor's throne, one must be adept at the art of ruling.

While suppressing one faction, they simultaneously win over and support the other.

The establishment of the Censorate made Zhao Xiaoqian see the current state of the court. When most of the officials in the court were from the New Party, the emperor's decisions would encounter many obstacles if they did not conform to the interests of the New Party, to the point that the emperor's decrees could not even leave the Council of State Affairs.

Is this right?
Now Zhao Xiaoqian finally understood why Zhao Xu did not completely eradicate the old party when he decided to fully implement the new policies, but instead kept them hanging on by a thread.

Clearly, the dominance of one party in the court posed a significant threat to imperial power.

Zhao Xiaoqian's banquet for Su Zhe tonight is intended to send a strong signal to the outside world.

The rise and fall of the new party was determined by the emperor. If you go too far, the emperor can dump you like a scumbag dumping his ex-girlfriend.

The palace banquet tonight was very lavish, and Zhao Xiaoqian unusually added a few extra main dishes.

Su Shi was a big foodie, and his younger brother was also very picky about food; he would never eat anything that wasn't truly delicious.

Several years ago, Zhao Xiaoqian knew very well the likes and dislikes of the Su brothers, so tonight he specially asked the chef recruited from the Chu Prince's Mansion to take charge of the cooking.

One dish of steamed mandarin fish, one dish of stewed whole chicken, one dish of braised pork, and one dish of green vegetables.

Three meat dishes and one vegetable dish, with the emperor and his minister drinking together, a solemn occasion that avoided waste.

Su Zhe indeed praised the food highly, tasting it repeatedly as he ate.

The wine was a fine tribute yellow wine from Jiangnan, made for the palace. Zheng Chunhe placed the small wine pot in boiling water to scald it, and the amber-colored wine was fragrant and warm and smooth on the palate.

"Mr. Ziyou, is this wine good?" Zhao Xiaoqian asked with a smile.

Su Zhe nodded repeatedly: "Good wine, good wine! Your Majesty, I thank you for your lavish banquet."

Zhao Xiaoqian laughed and said, "There are only a few dishes and a pot of wine, so it can hardly be called a 'feast'. You and I are old friends, so why don't we put aside our status and drink to our confidant?"

Su Zhe also smiled: "Your Majesty rescued me from the Ministry of Justice prison back then, and I have always remembered this kindness. Your Majesty took a great risk for me at that time, and it is truly fortunate that I am still alive today to drink with Your Majesty."

Zhao Xiaoqian sighed, “Drinking with you, sir, I can’t help but think of Mr. Zizhan. With Mr. Zizhan’s discerning palate, I’m afraid these few dishes in front of me today will hardly satisfy him.”

Su Zhe laughed loudly: "That's right. My elder brother is extremely picky when it comes to food. If he were here today, he would probably go to the imperial chef himself and watch him cook. He might even kick the chef aside and cook for himself."

"After Mr. Zizhan was transferred to the position of Inspector of Jiangnan Circuit, he sent me several letters. In the letters, he said that he had been deceived. He said that Yuhang was a place with beautiful scenery and many scholars. Everywhere was the beautiful scenery of Jiangnan. Unfortunately, the local food was really hard to swallow. In just a few months, he had lost several pounds."

Su Zhe smiled slightly: "With his abilities, he would never wrong himself. Before long, he will find delicacies that others cannot find, or cook for himself. If he is transferred back to the capital one day, the Emperor will definitely find that he has gained weight."

As he spoke, Su Zhe's smile faded, and he sighed, "My brother and I are both over sixty years old. In a few years, we will probably have to retire and return to our hometowns. We will not have many days left to serve the Emperor."

Zhao Xiaoqian said earnestly, "As long as you are willing to stay in the court, I am willing to use you indefinitely."

Su Zhe shook his head and smiled bitterly: "To be old and not die is like a centipede with a hundred legs. When one's thinking becomes rigid and one's conduct becomes stubborn and pedantic, it is not a good thing for the country. When it is time to retire, one should retire decisively and not ruin the great foundation of the Song Dynasty."

"The situation that Your Majesty has built for the Song Dynasty over the years has not come easily. If the issues of the new policies and the Censorate can be resolved, the Song Dynasty will be free from worries about its internal affairs for decades to come."

"In a few more years, the Song Dynasty will have accumulated enough national strength. Your Majesty can then issue an edict to launch a northern expedition, destroy the Liao and Xia dynasties, and unify the Song Dynasty. My life's wish will be fulfilled."

Seeing that Su Zhe had brought up the new policies and the Censorate at will, Zhao Xiaoqian asked with great interest, "Does Mr. Ziyou also think that my decision to establish the Censorate is inappropriate?"

Su Zhe shook his head: "On the contrary, I think it is very reasonable. The official system of the Song Dynasty has had both advantages and disadvantages over the past century. Its advantage lies in the fact that the Song Dynasty is not bound by any rules, encourages merchants, allows the people to accumulate wealth, and makes the national treasury very full."

"The drawbacks are also obvious, namely, the lack of supervision by local officials. When central government orders reach the local level, they are often misinterpreted and distorted by officials. What the court clearly intends to do is turn into bad governance when it reaches the local level. What is missing here is the central government's supervision of the local areas."

Su Zhe slowly said, "Wang Anshi's reforms had supporters and opponents in the court. People called the Yuanfeng Party the 'New Party' and the Yuanyou Party the 'Old Party,' and I was also a member of the Old Party."

"Why do I oppose the new laws? It is because Wang Anshi's new laws do more harm than good. It is not that the new laws themselves are bad. In fact, I agree with many of the contents of the new laws. However, having served as an official for many years, I know that it is almost impossible for the imperial decrees to be successfully implemented at the local level."

"The common people are ignorant and do not understand. The right to interpret the new policies is entirely in the hands of local officials. They deliberately distort the new policies for their own benefit and use the distorted interpretation of the new laws to exploit the people and enrich themselves. The people are full of complaints, but they dare not resist the court. They can only swallow their anger and struggle to survive."

When Su Zhe got carried away with his conversation, he dipped his finger in the wine and drew three circles on the table.

"The imperial court, local officials, and the common people—the new laws of the imperial court are not malicious, and most of the people are kind-hearted. So where does the problem lie?"

As he spoke, Su Zhe pointed forcefully to the circle in the middle and said, "It comes down to local officials. Without the supervision and oversight of the imperial court, they are local tyrants, regional warlords. In their own territories, they have the final say."

“If this continues, the Great Song Dynasty will surely perish. Your Majesty’s proposal to establish the Censorate after your ascension to the throne is timely and should serve as a strong warning to local officials.” Su Zhe cupped his hands to Zhao Xiaoqian and said, “The nation is fortunate to have a wise ruler. I am willing to support Your Majesty to the end regarding the establishment of the Censorate.”

Zhao Xiaoqian nodded.

He knew that Su Zhe's words were not empty politeness, nor were they a deliberate attempt to curry favor in order to gain a foothold in the old party.

In fact, when Wang Anshi was still alive in his early years, Su Zhe had refuted the new laws to him face to face, especially the "Green Sprouts Law".

Su Zhe said to Wang Anshi, "It is not a blessing for the country to allow the people to get money by chance, and it is not good for the people to rely on the law to urge the people to repay their debts."

The "Green Sprouts Law" was a timely help for the people to overcome difficulties in the central government.

However, in the general public, it became a form of usury that led to the ruin of families and even death.

Why is there such a large discrepancy? It's because of the local officials' misinterpretation of the situation, and the imperial court's lack of policies and effective oversight of local areas.

Having said this, both the emperor and his ministers were satisfied.

Zhao Xiaoqian suddenly laughed: "We agreed to have a good drink and reminisce with Mr. Ziyou, so why did we end up talking about politics and state affairs? Come on, Mr. Ziyou, let's drink a cup together as a penalty."

Su Zhe laughed heartily, raised his cup, and drank it down with Zhao Xiaoqian in one gulp.

Then Zhao Xiaoqian and Su Zhe tacitly stopped mentioning the new policies and the Censorate, and started chatting about romance and nature.

When ancient people talked about romance and nature, especially the part about courtesans, they would often talk about their meetings with courtesans, how they composed amazing poems, how she composed amazing poems in response, how good their poems were, and how wonderful her poems were.

A thousand years later, when men gather to talk about romance and nature, all they say is, "I slept with a girl yesterday, she was very juicy."

Then other men would righteously and sternly accuse, "Where is morality? Where is humanity? Where is the address?"

Humans have evolved.

They have learned to accomplish simple things in a simple way, omitting the most tedious and brain-intensive parts.

Every penny was spent wisely, and no unnecessary things like knowledge or talent were mixed in during the process.

Zhao Xiaoqian and Su Zhe chatted happily. Two of his women had been courtesans, and he himself was the famous Zhao Banque. A man like him would definitely be in high demand in a brothel.

As they chatted animatedly, Su Zhe was talking about a poem he had written in a brothel years ago when Zheng Chunhe quietly entered the hall and whispered, "Your Majesty, Zhang Dun is requesting an audience outside the palace."

Zhao Xiaoqian was taken aback and exchanged a glance with Su Zhe.

Su Zhe smiled wryly: "His Majesty was merely having a drink with me, yet Minister Zhang is so hasty."

Zhao Xiaoqian smiled slightly: "It's time to make him anxious, otherwise he'll get more and more arrogant and really think I'm a pushover that's easy to manipulate."

After thinking for a moment, Zhao Xiaoqian turned to look at Zheng Chunhe and said, "It's late today, so I won't see him. Tell him that I had a very pleasant conversation with Mr. Ziyou."

Zheng Chunhe was taken aback: "Just this one sentence?"

“Yes, just this one sentence.” Zhao Xiaoqian smiled maliciously. “I can guarantee that with just this one sentence, Minister Zhang will definitely have trouble sleeping tonight.”

…………

Dejected, Zhang Dun left the palace and returned to his residence.

That night, as expected, Master Zhang suffered from insomnia.

He didn't know what the Emperor and Su Zhe had talked about, but he really wanted to know.

The pressure in his heart grew heavier and heavier. Zhang Dun tossed and turned on his bed, seriously reflecting on the various actions of himself and the New Party since the Emperor ascended the throne.

Finally, he came to the conclusion that he and the New Party were indeed in a bad way.

The Council of State Affairs' delaying and procrastination in establishing the Censorate is tantamount to going against the emperor.

So, what in the world is indispensable without Zhang Dun? Would the court really be unable to function without him?

Inside and outside the Hall of State Affairs, countless people coveted his position as prime minister, and countless others were willing to pledge unconditional and unprincipled loyalty to the emperor. But what had Zhang Dun done?
Thinking of this, Zhang Dun finally couldn't hold back any longer. He suddenly got up, dressed, and walked from the backyard to his study. After lighting the candlesticks, Zhang Dun sat down at his desk and wrote furiously.

"Your Majesty, I, Zhang Dun, humbly submit to Your Majesty's will. The establishment of the Censorate is of lasting benefit to the nation and its people, and I believe it is feasible..."

(End of this chapter)