Chapter 28 Five cut out dissidents

In the official selection system of the Song Dynasty, civil officials belonged to the Court of Appeals, and military selection belonged to the Privy Council.At this time, the privy envoy was Wen Yanbo. Wen Yanbo opposed the reform. In order to deprive Wen Yanbo of his power, Wang Anshi proposed to reform the official selection system. He suggested that the trial court should be divided into east and west courts, with the east court responsible for the selection of civil officials and the west court for the selection of military officers.If it is carried out in this way, Wen Yanbo will be emptied.

Wen Yanbo asked Zhao Xu for a theory, and the trial court also elected civil and military officials, so what's the use of the Privy Council?If he is deprived of the power to appoint a military attache, let him retire. Although Zhao Xu comforted and persuaded Wen Yanbo to stay, he still divided the trial court into two parts. Hu Zongyu of Zhijiayuan opposed the practice of separate trial and Li Ding's appointment. He was also expelled from the capital and demoted to Tongju Zhenzhou. At this time, Jing Zhaoshou Qian Mingyi reported to the court, saying that Zhu Shouchang of the Guangde Army abandoned his official position to find his mother, and found his long-lost mother.

Zhu Shouchang abandoned his official position to find his mother. This is a very touching story. Zhu Shouchang is from Yangzhou, his father's name is Zhu Xun, and he once served as the guard of Jingzhao.Zhu Shouchang's biological mother was not the main wife, but his father's concubine. When Zhu Shouchang was three years old, he was kicked out of the house by his father and remarried to a family surnamed Dang.After Zhu Shouchang grew up, his father died of illness. He missed his mother very much, and visited everywhere, but he never heard about his mother. Zhu Shouchang had worked in several counties and counties. Apart from official duties, he entrusted his colleagues to help find out the news of his biological mother, but there was no news of him.In order to show his sincerity in finding his mother, he became a vegetarian, abstained from sexual desires, burned his back, prayed to God and worshiped Buddha.

In the early years of Xining, he taught the Guangde Army. After taking office for several months, he couldn't let go of the matter of finding his biological mother. He said to people, "I'm already fifty years old and I haven't seen my biological mother. How should I behave? The ancients said it well How can I be loyal if I haven’t fulfilled my filial piety yet? How can I be loyal if I have not fulfilled my filial piety?” So he abandoned his official position, bid farewell to his family, and embarked on the road to find his biological mother . He travels through mountains and rivers, summer and cold come, as long as there is a little clue, no matter how far the road is, he will go to find out the truth.Perhaps his sincerity moved the heavens. By chance, someone gave him information that the family with the surname Dang might be in Tongzhou, Guanzhong.

Zhu Shouchang rushed to the Tongzhou area of ​​Guanzhong and questioned him village by village.On this day, in a small mountain village, he met an old woman leaning on the door to look around, so he stepped forward to inquire about the whereabouts of his biological mother, Mrs. Liu. Seeing the question, the old woman seemed to be moved, so she let him into the room and questioned him carefully.Zhu Shouchang then introduced the situation to the old woman.Suddenly, the old woman shed tears and said tremblingly, "Are you Zhu Shouchang, Zhu Xun's son?" Zhu Shouchang nodded expectantly.The old woman said that she was the Liu family, and told the story of how she remarried to the Dang family after being expelled from the Zhu family, and then moved her family to Tongzhou.It was completely consistent with what Zhu Shouchang knew.Mother and son recognized each other, hugging their heads and crying loudly.

What happened later was that Zhu Shouchang took his biological mother and several half-brothers born in the party's family home together. The matter of Zhu Shouchang's abandonment of office to seek his mother was reported to the imperial court, and a group of senior and prudent ministers said that he was outstanding in filial piety, and that he should be promoted and reused as a reward for those who are filial. Zhu Shouchang abandoned his official position to find his mother, and Li Ding refused to recognize his biological mother and refused to report to Ding You, forming a sharp contrast.Hundreds of officials in the court discussed these two matters, saying that Zhu Shouchang wanted to be rewarded and Li Ding wanted to be punished.

Wang Anshi protected Li Ding, and he knew that if Zhu Shouchang was rewarded, Li Ding would be untenable in the court.Therefore, he invited Zhao Xu to say that Zhu Shouchang had violated discipline by abandoning his official position, and ordering other officials to return to his original post was a compliment. Wang Anshi's suggestions are always accurate, and Zhao Xu certainly agrees with him.On the grounds of supporting his biological mother, Zhu Shouchang asked for the judgment of Hezhong Mansion. Wang Anshi was especially gracious and asked the emperor for permission. Although Zhu Shouchang was only reinstated as an official and did not receive any awards, the literati and bureaucrats praised this event very much and wrote poems as gifts one after another.The prison officer told the court that Su Shi also presented Zhu Shouchang with poems. In the preface to his poems, he clearly praised Zhu Shouchang and implicitly damaged Li Ding.

Li Ding has read Su Shi's poems and prefaces, and holds a grudge.The poem presented by Su Shi also laid the foundation for his future framing. In order to oppose the new law, the censors went on and on.Whose turn is next?He is Cheng Hao, the supervisory censor. Cheng Hao is from Henan, and he is Cheng Cheng, the elder brother of the "Er Cheng" Neo Confucianists in the Song Dynasty.At the beginning of Wang Anshi's implementation of the new law, he cooperated with Wang Anshi. Later, he gradually turned into an opponent of the new law.Wang Anshi respected his character and did not embarrass him.

This time, Cheng Hao once again complained about the court's reuse of Li Ding and the Green Crop Law, saying that the abusive use of the Green Crop Law offended the heavens.He also said that Li Ding was a low-brow with corrupt morals. He was neither a Jinshi nor a scholar, but also corrupt. Zhao Xu commented on his memorial and had an idea, so he went directly to Zhongshu Province to reflect it. Cheng Hao followed the order to report the problem to the Ministry of Education, and it happened that Wang Anshi and Chen Shengzhi were on duty that day.Seeing Cheng Hao coming in, Wang Anshi glared at Cheng Hao knowing what he was coming for, and refused to give up his seat.

Cheng Hao said quite gracefully: "Old friend, I am here on order today. What I am discussing with you is not a personal matter or a family matter, but a major national matter. Can't you just listen to me calmly? If it is possible, you will Accept it; if it’s not feasible, you deny it. Why do you have to be so domineering?” From the perspective of Confucian moral cultivation, Cheng Hao's words made Wang Anshi very embarrassed.Knowing that he had lost his composure, Wang Anshi felt a little embarrassed, and awkwardly leaned over to give up his seat to Cheng Hao. Just as Cheng Hao sat down and was about to speak, suddenly his colleague Zhang Jian came.

Seeing Zhang Jian coming in, Wang Anshi's face changed slightly. It turned out that Zhang Jian and Wang Zishao, a Taiwanese official, jointly named Shangshu, accused Wang Anshi of disrupting the law, and impeached Zeng Gongliang, Chen Shengzhi, Han Jiang, Lu Huiqing, Li Ding and others.Wang Anshi suppressed his memorial and did not report it.He knew that Zhang Jian must have come for this matter.With a sneer, it was regarded as a greeting. Zhang Jian stood on the spot and said angrily, "I'm too straightforward. It's not surprising that you sneered at me, but it's only two or three of you who laugh at me, but I'm afraid there are people all over the world who laugh at you." Chen Shengzhi, who had just returned to work on sick leave, interjected: "Right and wrong have their own opinions. Since Zhang Yushi knows this truth, why come here to argue?" Zhang Jian seemed to have come to quarrel, and before Chen Shengzhi finished speaking, he scolded angrily: "Wang Anshi messed up the law, so you are not guilty?" Chen Shengzhi was taken aback when he heard this, and just about to explode, Wang Anshi immediately said: "Don't be as knowledgeable as him, this is a lunatic, let him bark!" Zhang Jian knew it was unreasonable, so he spat heavily on the ground, turned around and left angrily. Cheng Hao had come here for the new law. Seeing that Zhang Jian and Wang Anshi had torn their faces, he knew that it would be futile to say anything, so he stood up and left without saying anything.The next step is to request resignation on the form. The next day, the order came down, and Cheng Hao was expelled from the capital and demoted to Jiangxi as a criminal officer.Cheng Hao resolutely refused to go, so he was instead awarded the title of envoy of the Zhenning Army Jiedu Judge who signed the letter. Zhang Jian and Wang Zishao also asked to go. Wang Anshi was about to deal with them, since he took the initiative to resign, that would be the best.He invited Zhao Xu to demote Zhang Jian to Gong'an as the magistrate, and Wang Zishao to Shangyuan as the magistrate.You Zhengyan, Li Chang, also relegated to Huazhou as a general judge because of his refutation of Junshu, Qingmiao and other laws. In a month's time, the elimination of dissidents at Yushitai has been completed.Before and after, there were as many as eleven censors who were dismissed for opposing the reform, as well as three admonishers in the palace. The censors of the Song Dynasty were all hard-headed. They dared to speak out about the military and state affairs of the court, even if they lost their black hats, they would not hesitate. Wang Anshi merged the Department of Regulations of the Three Departments into Zhongshu Province, and all officials of the Department of Regulations were awarded official positions.He recommended his in-law Xie Jingwen to serve as the censor.Lu Huiqing also judged Sinong Temple and took charge of the new law. Lu Gongbi, the privy envoy, wrote a memorial to impeach Wang Anshi. Before the memorial was sent out, his nephew Lu Jiawen stole it and gave it to Wang Anshi.Wang Anshi acted first, and asked the emperor to demote Lu Gongbi from the capital to become the magistrate of Taiyuan Prefecture. Those who opposed the reform were like stumbling blocks, and were kicked out one by one. Zeng Gongliang, the prime minister, also asked to resign on the grounds of old age and illness. Zhao Xu dismissed him from the post of prime minister and appointed him as Sikong and servant, and as an envoy to watch the jubilee. In the early years of Xining, Zhao Xu appointed five ministers: Wang Anshi, Zeng Gongliang, Tang Jie, Fu Bi, and Zhao Bian. People at the time jokingly called the five people "life, old age, sickness and death". "Sheng" refers to Wang Anshi, who is vigorously preparing for the reform; "Old" refers to Zeng Gongliang, who is nearly seventy years old; Died; "bitterness" refers to Zhao Yan, who disapproved of the reform in his heart, but was powerless to stop it, and complained all day long. Although it is a humorous word, it is also appropriate. Wang Anshi was eliminating dissidents and vigorously promoting the new law. Suddenly, an alarm came from the western border. Xia Zhu Bingchang led his troops into the Song Dynasty in a large scale, Huanqing Road was filled with smoke and fire, urgent documents flew to Bianliang like snowflakes, and went straight to Zhongshu Province, where they were placed on the imperial case of the emperor. Wang Anshi asked to go to the frontier to supervise the battle. Han Jiang said in a memorial that the court cannot do without Wang Anshi, and he cannot be allowed to leave court affairs and go to the border to fight.Request that he go to the west border to supervise the battle. Xixia invaded, and the two important ministers rushed to defend against the enemy. Of course Zhao Xu was happy.He also felt that he couldn't do without Wang Anshi, so he appointed Han Jiang as the Xuanfu envoy of Shaanxi, and gave him several blank appointment letters with seals, and asked him to appoint his own officials.Zhao Xu has no doubts about employing people, and he has extra trust in Han Jiang. At the beginning of Zhao Xu's succession to the throne, Liang Zuo, king of Xixia, invaded the border of Song Dynasty.Later, Liang Zuo died of illness, and his son Bingchang succeeded to the throne. Zhao Xu still canonized Bingchang as King Xia, and the two countries lived in peace. The military conflict between Song and Xia countries this time was due to a man named Wang Shao. Wang Shao is the manager of the Jianchang Army. He once went to Shaanxi to learn about the situation on the border. After returning to Beijing, he wrote an investigation report called "Three Strategies for Ping Rong". had a great impact. Wang Shao is a rare military talent. He put forward a bold proposition in "Three Strategies for Ping Rong"-suggesting that the imperial court first recover Hehuang, make Xixia suffer from enemies, and then control Tubo and Qiang tribes; and then attack Xixia.In this way, Xixia can be recovered in one fell swoop. Wang Shao believes that from the south of Wuwei (Gansu Wuwei) to Tao, He, Lan, Shan (Qinghai Ledu) and other prefectures, they are all the original ruled areas of the Han regime, where there are large tracts of arable land, which can be used in large quantities. the servants of the people.However, these areas were all carved up by the Qiang tribes and were torn apart.He suggested that the court take action to recover the land divided by the Qiang tribes, and the Xixia Li family was also under the control of the Song Dynasty. He also suggested Enjie Qiang people and ordered them to unite the clan party for my use.Because the Qiang people are the descendants of Jiao Siluo, Li Jixian, the ancestor who assisted the Song Dynasty in attacking Li Bingchang in the Taizong Dynasty, the Xixia people are most afraid of this family, and take them for their own use. . Zhao Xu attached great importance to Wang Shao's "Three Strategies for Ping Rong" and immediately sought Wang Anshi's consent. After watching "Three Strategies for Ping Rong", Wang Anshi immediately voted for it. Zhao Xu ordered Wang Shao to be the local manager, and appointed Jiao Siluo's son Dong Zhan as the Taibao, who succeeded the Baoshun Army Jiedushi. When Wang Shao arrived in Qinzhou, he asked for the construction of the upper and lower cities of Jing and Wei, and stationed troops to support the tribes of the Tao River. Qin Feng's strategy made Li Shizhong oppose Wang Shao's suggestion.Wang Anshi deprived Li Shizhong of his military power for the crime of obstructing Wang Shao's management of the border. Wang Shao wrote another letter, requesting to set up a Shiyi Division to carry out border trade, and use the profits as funds for reclamation. Wang Anshi is about to implement the Market Change Law, how can there be any reason not to follow it?That is to say, the decree is requested: Li Shizhong is ordered to allocate funds as the principal of comprador goods, and Wang Shao is ordered to manage the affairs of the market. Li Shizhong wrote a letter again, saying that the gains would outweigh the losses, and that the fertile land Wang Shao mentioned was actually a training ground for soldiers, and the sand and gravel land could not be cultivated at all.He said that the establishment of the City Yisi in Guwei is really a disturbing move to the people, and the people of Qinzhou may not be at peace from now on. Seeing Li Shizhong's dissent twice, Wang Anshi was furious, so he read Li Shizhong's book, saying that he deliberately obstructed the reform. The reform was the top priority at that time, and whoever obstructed the reform would suffer bad luck.Li Shizhong was no exception, as soon as a paper transfer order arrived, Li Shizhong was dismissed from Qin Feng's authority, and was demoted to Shuzhou to be a prefect. After Li Shizhong was dismissed, Dou Shunqing went out to know Qinzhou, and Zhao Xu ordered him and eunuch Li Ruoyu to investigate the barren fields. After field investigation, Dou Shunqing and Li Ruoyu concluded that the land that can be reclaimed is only one mu, and it is still owned by the owner.They truthfully reported the investigation situation to the imperial court. Wang Anshi said that they were concealing the truth, so he asked Zhao Xu to demote Dou Shunqing and ordered Han Zhen to take his place. When Han Zhen arrived in Qinzhou, he discovered through investigation that what Dou Shunqing said was the truth. Han Zhen knew that Dou Shunqing caused trouble for telling the truth, and if he told the truth, he might end up worse than him.In order to keep the black hat, he had no choice but to follow Wang Anshi's wishes, take nothing for nothing, and attached Wang Shao's statement, and made a false report to the court. After Zhao Xu received Han Zhen's report, he immediately promoted Wang Shao to the crown prince Zhongyun. In May of the third year of Xining (1070), Xixia built Naoye Fort and stationed troops on the border of Song and Xia. Li Fugui, the magistrate of Qingzhou, heard that the imperial court was going to attack Xixia, and wanted to make a contribution. He sent Li Xin and Liu Fu to lead 3,000 Fan and Han soldiers to attack Naoyebao, but was defeated by Xia soldiers. After Li Xin and Liu Fu fled back with the remnant soldiers, Li Fugui did not conduct self-criticism, but put the responsibility for the defeat on the two, pushed them out of the camp and beheaded them in public.He also led soldiers to pursue the Xia people, killed 200 old, weak, sick and disabled Xia soldiers, and then wrote a letter to the court, reporting the great victory in Qingzhou. The Xixia people were rebellious and rebellious. They confronted Song, just wanting to take advantage of it, and never thought of losing money.It is already very good for him to kill people, set fires, and rob property in the Song Dynasty, so it's their turn to suffer?This time, it was Song Jun who provoked the disaster first, and even killed their people, how could they let it go? It is only natural that Xixia sent troops to attack. Han Jiang was ordered to be the governor of Shaanxi Province to supervise the battle on the western front. When he rushed to the front line of Shaanxi day and night, Guo Qing and Gao Min, who were in charge of Qian, had already died in battle.Han Jiang set up a shogunate in Yan'an and selected Fanbing as the Seventh Army. Han Jiang is a literati and not very good at military affairs. He appointed Zhong Er as the governor of Yan Yanqian, the educated youth Jiancheng, and all the generals were under the command of Zhong Er. Zhong Er is the son of Zhong Shiheng, a general of the Song Dynasty. He inherited his father's shade as an officer. In the early years of Xining, when Zhao Xu first came to the throne, he was convicted and dismissed from office and demoted to Suizhou for provoking a war between Xixia and Song Dynasty. The soldiers on the front line in Shaanxi knew everything about Zhong Er, but now they had to listen to his command. Of course they were not convinced, and many of them complained. Han Jiang and Zhong Er plan to attack Hengshan. Guo Kui, the appeasement envoy, resolutely opposed the attack on Hengshan. He said that Zhong Er was just a crazy student who could not fight at all. event. Han Jiang disagreed, and still went her own way. In October, Prime Minister Chen Shengzhi's mother resigned and Ding You resigned.Prior to this, another prime minister, Zeng Gongliang, had resigned, and Chen Shengzhi was worried that the position of prime minister would be vacant. In December, Zhao Xu promoted Wang Anshi and Han Jiang as Tongzhongshu's subordinates. Wang Anshi finally achieved the right result and became the leader of the country under one person and above ten thousand people. Han Jiang is still on the front line in Shaanxi.When he learned that he had been promoted to Tongping Zhangshi, he was very excited and prepared to show his talents on the battlefield again, so that he would become a generation of Confucian generals and go down in history.He impeached Guo Kui on the table, so that Guo Kui was recalled to the capital.Because Guo Kui looked down on Zhong Er and opposed the battle plan to attack Hengshan, removing this thorn in his side would remove a hindrance. Although Guo Kui was recalled to the capital, it was a blessing in disguise, because some bad things on the battlefield since then had nothing to do with him. Han Jiang expelled Guo Kui, ordered Zhong Er to lead 20,000 troops to occupy Luowu, and built a castle to garrison Luowu, and built Yonglechuan and Shangzhaoling two villages.The governors Zhao Pu and Yan Da were assigned to repair the old city of Funing, and they built a military camp in Sanquan, Tuhunchuan, Kaiguangling, and Jialuchuan. Han Jiang was still fighting hard there, and the Xixia army had captured Shunning Village and surrounded Funing. When I was in Suide, I learned that Xia's army was driving straight in. I was so frightened that I didn't know how to deal with the enemy.Li Nangong, the judge of Yun, was by his side, and when he saw Zhong Er's appearance, he comforted him and said, at worst, he should give up Luo Wu, why should he be afraid? At this time, Zhong Er had no idea at all, and without saying a word, he even cried with his head in his arms.The battle had just started, and Zhong Er was so frightened. It can be seen that Guo Kui called him a madman who would never lead troops to fight. Seeing that Zhong Er had no claim, Li Nangong sighed and retreated quietly. Then, alarms came one after another, and all the newly built castles and military strongholds were successively captured by the Xia army. Thousands of soldiers became the ghosts of the Xia army, and they were still helpless. Han Jiang knew that the overall situation was over, and it was impossible to hide it, so he had to write a letter to impeach Zhong Er.He also knew that he could not escape the guilt, so he asked for punishment. The order of the imperial court was issued quickly, to abandon Luowu City, demote Zhong Er as the deputy envoy of Ruzhou regiment training, and resettle Tanzhou. Han Jiang was dismissed from the position of prime minister and demoted to the magistrate of Dengzhou. Han Jiang had only been in Pingzhangshi for a few months, and he was dismissed before he formally sat in the official office of Pingzhangshi in the capital for a while.This is all caused by his misuse of kindness. Xixia took back Luowu City, and also retreated with its troops. The dispute between Song and Xia ended in disgrace for Song. First, Wang Anshi praised Wang Shao's "Three Strategies for Ping Rong", and later Han Jiang misused Zhong Er.Han Jiang and Zhong Er were demoted because of their defeat in the war, but Wang Anshi was at large, alone, and sat on the prime minister's chair.