White-robed Minister

Chapter 250 0248 [To Sit or to Stand: That Is the Political Question]

In the past, in order to promote Wang Anshi, the emperor also promoted many other officials, so as not to make Wang's appointment too abrupt.

At its peak, there were four prime ministers, breaking the previous limit.

Now that the reformists have gained the upper hand, those who should resign have resigned, and those who should be demoted have been demoted, resulting in a significant reduction in the number of central officials.

Prime Minister: Wang Anshi.

Vice Chancellors: Wang Gui and Feng Jing.

Privy Councilors: Wen Yanbo and Lü Gongbi.

Deputy Privy Councilors: Wu Chong and Cai Ting.

Commissioner of the Three Departments: Xue Xiang.

Cai Kang was serving as the Deputy Privy Councilor last year. When the emperor promoted Cai Ting to the Privy Council, Cai Kang immediately resigned to avoid suspicion of conflict, so as to prevent the two brothers from working in the same department.

Cai Kang was indeed old, and his relationship with Wang Anshi and Wen Yanbo was not good. Even if his younger brother hadn't been transferred back to the capital, he had already planned to resign.

The emperor tried repeatedly to persuade Cai Kang to stay, but to no avail. So he promoted Cai Kang to a lower rank and then sent him to serve as a prefect. This year, Cai Kang finally resigned from his post as prefect and returned to his hometown to live out his remaining years.

Gong Dingchen was serving as the Deputy Privy Councilor three months ago. Because of his strong opposition to the Exemption from Service Law and the Baojia Law, he had a major falling out with Wang Anshi and others, and took the initiative to request to be transferred to Chengdu as the Prefect.

Xu Lai's old superiors and friends have all left the central government. Su Song, in particular, has been demoted and banished from the capital.

Although Cai Ting was still serving as the Deputy Privy Councilor, he was transferred to Hedong to deal with the invasion of the Western Xia.

A group of officials were waiting in a side hall for the upcoming lecture. As soon as Xu Lai entered, many members of the old party took the initiative to greet him. The old party members unanimously believed that Xu Lai must also be a member of the old party, and that he founded the "Duosheng" magazine to oppose the reform movement.

Few members of the New Party were able to attend the business banquet.

Lü Huiqing, Zhang Dun, and Zeng Bu are not qualified. They are currently in a position of low rank but with great power, issuing orders to the whole country through the Ministry of Agriculture.

Xu Lai glanced at Wang Yirou, finding it hard to understand why Wang Anshi valued this person so highly.

Wang Yirou ruined the Qingli Reforms, and now he is actively participating in the Xining Reforms. Half a year ago, he was promoted by Wang Anshi to the position of Imperial Edict Drafter.

What's even more interesting is Han Wei.

Han Wei once enthusiastically recommended Wang Anshi to the emperor, and his brothers Han Jiang and Han Zhen were also reformists.

However, Han Wei himself had a falling out with Wang Anshi over the Green Sprouts Act. Now he and Xu Lai held the same official positions, both being Hanlin Academicians and Lecturers, but Wang Anshi had already removed them from their important posts.

Xu Lai sat down next to Xue Xiang and casually asked, "Chancellor Xue, I heard that Liangzhe is also implementing a labor service exemption law?"

Xue Xiang smiled and replied, "Scholar Xu misheard."

Xu Lai didn't ask any further questions.

Xue Xiang returned to the capital half a month ago and now holds the reins of the finance department of the three ministries. He knows the southeast region very well and is certainly aware that some officials are misbehaving.

At present, the exemption from corvée labor law is only being piloted in the four capitals and three circuits, and has not been implemented nationwide at all. Local officials, in order to curry favor with Wang Anshi, have taken it upon themselves to implement the exemption from corvée labor law.

In particular, the Liangzhe Circuit not only arbitrarily implemented the exemption from corvée labor, but also levied over 70 strings of cash beyond the quota, and even reported this as a political achievement to the imperial court. This caused widespread resentment among the people of Liangzhe Circuit!

This is not the first time this has happened.

When Wang Anshi piloted the Green Sprouts Act in the north, Sichuan officials followed suit on their own initiative. The reform was clearly out of control, but Wang Anshi tacitly approved it and even secretly encouraged it.

Xue Xiang was unwilling to talk much with Xu Lai, but Yuan Jiang, another key member of the reform faction, chatted happily with Xu Lai.

Wang Anshi glanced at it, pretending not to see it.

"The last time we met was at Scholar Xu's wedding," Yuan Jiang said with a smile.

Xu Lai said, "I must thank Mr. Yuan for his presence, which has made my wedding so special."

Yuan Jiang said, "I have read this issue of 'Duosheng'. The discussion on inner sagehood and outer kingship is extremely brilliant. Given time, it will surely be accepted by scholars all over the world."

"Just my humble opinion," Xu Lai said with a slight smile.

Yuan Jiang is currently a Hanlin Academician and acting Prefect of Kaifeng. He happened to be passing through when Xu Lai got married in Shaozhou and attended the wedding.

Yuan Jiang and Yu Jing were old friends, so he treated Xu Lai as a nephew or niece.

What could Wang Anshi possibly say while they were reminiscing about the past?

At this time, Yuan Jiang had a nickname: "Wang Anshi's servant".

Wang Gui was as famous as Yuan Jiang and was known as "Wang Anshi's servant".

These are, of course, labels deliberately attached by the old party.

Yuan Jiang chuckled and asked, "Xingzhi's novel, was it an allusion to me? After all, some people called me a slave of the Wang family."

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Xu Lai laughed heartily: "How could that be? It's just a fictional novel, about events from the Shenlong era of the previous dynasty, and it doesn't allude to anyone in the present day."

"It's good that it wasn't me; you really startled me." Yuan Jiang was still in the mood to joke.

The officials lined up to enter the main hall, and after a short wait, the emperor appeared.

Zhao Xu smiled and said, "Please offer Mr. Xu a seat."

Xu Lai stepped forward and bowed: "Your Majesty, please grant all of us ministers a seat. Firstly, during the lectures, ministers expound the great principles of the former kings to the emperor; this scene is akin to that of teacher and student. Secondly, before Emperor Renzong, all ministers were granted seats. Emperor Taizu granted a seat to Wang Zhaosu to lecture on the Book of Changes; Emperor Taizong set up a separate seat for the lecturer Li Jue; and Emperor Zhenzong decreed that lecturers sit in order to lecture."

Upon hearing this, the expressions of those present varied.

Because when Wang Anshi first returned to the capital, he gave a lecture to the emperor and said something similar.

Xu Lai's repetition of these words is tantamount to stating his stance: I am going to establish my own independent entity, and I will be in power in the future.

At this moment, Wang Anshi finally understood. Xu Lai's grand-scale publication of the magazine was a ploy to create his own political faction. Moreover, Xu Lai also intended to implement reforms, albeit different from the current new laws.

Wen Yanbo's face was grim. Wang Anshi's reforms had already turned into this mess. If Xu Lai were to implement further reforms, wouldn't it bring chaos and destruction to the entire country?

"His Majesty!"

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Wen Yanbo decided to suppress this trend and took the lead in opposing the granting of seats: "The lecturers at the Imperial Lectures only explain the classic texts of the old Confucian scholars and have no real authority as imperial tutors. Although Emperor Zhenzong allowed the lecturers to sit, it was merely out of concern for his subjects. The granting of seats by Emperors Taizu and Taizong was just an exception. It is the ancient custom for the lecturers to stand while lecturing."

Xu Lai laughed and said, "Where did this ancient custom come from? During the Han and Tang dynasties, emperors and ministers would sit and discuss the Way. If Your Majesty wishes to recreate the glorious era of the Han and Tang dynasties, you can start by granting seats at the imperial lectures."

These words struck a chord with Zhao Xu.

The emperors and ministers of the Han and Tang dynasties all sat down and discussed philosophy. Why can't the emperors and ministers of our Great Song dynasty do the same?

Wang Anshi, however, was thinking: Why didn't I use the Han and Tang dynasties as examples? His Majesty would surely love to hear that. Xu Lai is even more difficult to deal with than Wen Yanbo; this man has already figured out His Majesty's preferences.

Wen Yanbo said to the emperor, "Your Majesty, the customs of the Han and Tang dynasties are different. There were no chairs or stools at that time, and the emperors of the Han and Tang dynasties all knelt. If the lecturer were to stand and speak, it would be difficult to offend the emperor by looking down on him. Therefore, the emperors and ministers of the Han and Tang dynasties sat to discuss the Way, and the sitting at that time was kneeling."

Xu Lai said, "During the mid-Tang Dynasty, chairs and stools were already popular, and emperors and their ministers would sit and discuss philosophy."

Wen Yanbo said, "This is a continuation of kneeling."

Xu Lai, too lazy to argue any further, directly bowed to the emperor and said, "Your Majesty, please restore the ancient rites of the pre-Qin, Han, and Tang dynasties!"

Emperor Zhao Xu was actually indifferent to this matter. He had initially agreed to grant Wang Anshi the seat he requested. However, due to the large number of opponents and the fact that Wang Anshi had just arrived in the capital, Zhao Xu compromised and let the matter of granting the seat fall through.

Zhao Xu looked at the other ministers.

Vice Chancellor Wang Gui lowered his head and remained silent. Although he was called "Wang Anshi's servant," he was not a true reformist; he simply did not want to offend the chancellor.

Moreover, Wang Gui was unwilling to offend anyone.

He avoided offending Wang Anshi, Wen Yanbo, and Xu Lai.

Another vice prime minister, Feng Jing, had a good relationship with Xu Lai. It was Feng Jing who recommended the hot air balloon and telescope to Fu Bi. Xu Lai's achievement of becoming the top scholar in the imperial examination was also due to Feng Jing's special favor.

However, Feng Jing firmly opposed the reforms. After a slight hesitation, he said, "Your Majesty, we can restore the old rites from the time of Emperor Taizu and Emperor Taizong. We should grant seats to highly respected lecturers, and all other ministers should stand."

This was a compromise, saving face for Xu Lai while also expressing one's own attitude.

Neither Wang Anshi nor the reformists spoke. On the issue of granting seats at the imperial lectures, they couldn't possibly oppose Xu Lai. Because Wang Anshi had said the same thing, opposing Xu Lai now would be tantamount to opposing Wang Anshi from several years prior.

Seeing that the emperor was already interested, Lü Gongbi supported Feng Jing's view: "The Great Song Dynasty has its own etiquette and laws, and we should follow the old system established by Emperor Taizu and Emperor Taizong. Emperor Zhenzong's granting of seats to all the lecturers was an act of excessive benevolence towards his subjects."

Xu Lai retorted, "Is the current emperor not benevolent?"

Lü Gongbi angrily retorted, "When did I ever say such a thing? Don't slander me without cause!"

Xu Lai continued to bow to the emperor: "Your Majesty is wise."

Zhao Xu then looked at Wu Chong.

Wu Chong lowered his head and remained silent, seemingly checking whether his clothes were crooked.

Han Wei was the first to publicly support Xu Lai: "Your Majesty, we should restore the old rites of the pre-Qin, Han, and Tang dynasties!"

Yang Hui stood up to object: "Your Majesty, we should restore the old system established by Emperor Taizu and Emperor Taizong. Only those of high moral character and prestige should be given seats, and all other lecturers should stand."

The other ministers also expressed their respective positions.

Zhao Xiang already knew what was going on.

The people in front of me have already been divided into four factions.

Wang Anshi's faction led the reforms.

Wen Yanbo's faction opposed the reform.

Ministers such as Wang Gui and Wu Chong belonged to the middle faction, trying not to offend anyone.

Xu Zi formed his own faction, but was outnumbered and outmatched, and only received support from Han Wei present.

Xu Lai couldn't help but look at Han Wei, wondering why the other man supported him.

Han Wei kept his eyes straight ahead.

Han Wei had always wanted to implement reforms, so he strongly recommended Wang Anshi. However, Wang Anshi's Green Sprouts Law greatly disappointed Han Wei.

In the past two months, Han Wei has carefully read "The Sound of the Bell". He was attracted by Xu Lai's academic theories and believed that Xu Lai's reforms might succeed in the future, so he tried to stand on Xu Lai's side.

At this time, Zhao Xu already had some reservations about Wang Anshi's new laws, but he had no choice but to persist.

After much deliberation, Zhao Xu decided to give Xu Lai a hand: "Since the ancient custom was for the ruler and his ministers to sit and discuss the Way, then we should restore the ancient custom."

"Please be seated!"

The eunuch immediately took action, leading a group of guards to bring over the chair.

Xu Lai, Han Wei, and Wang Anshi were the first to sit down, followed by the reformist officials.

Wen Yanbo, Lü Gongbi, and others stood beside the chairs.

Wang Gui, Wu Chong, and other centrists hesitated for a moment before choosing to sit down.

Xu Lai questioned Yang Hui, who was still standing: "As the Imperial Censor, do you not know etiquette? The Emperor has offered you a seat, showing his benevolence to his officials. Are you going to refuse?"

Yang Hui sighed inwardly and could only sit down helplessly. The other censors all followed suit and took their seats.

In the end, a few stubborn individuals remained, and they simply stood by the chair.

Xu Lai thought to himself: Stand if you want.

Zhao Xu looked at Wen Yanbo and Lü Gongbi. The two had no choice but to sit down, and their cronies followed suit.

Everyone present, regardless of their faction, had already felt Xu Lai's dominance.

This is not a matter of standing or sitting.

This is a struggle for the right to speak!

Wang Anshi failed, but Xu Lai has succeeded.

Wen Yanbo was deeply worried about this, believing that Xu Lai was more powerful than Wang Anshi and that if reforms were to be implemented in the future, it would likely lead to bloodshed.