Chapter 3 third quarter

the next day. When Shi Yue got up early in the morning, he found that a thick layer of velvet had accumulated outside.Shi Rui followed Awang to greet him, and then flew off to play in the snow; Zi'er was also busy, and had to tell his servants to prepare gifts for Shi Qi's family for the New Year, check and send them to various families in Beijing The daily necessities for relatives and friends to spend the winter; and to prepare trivial matters such as rent collection and settlement with Shi Jian, and there is no time for Li Shiyue.After reading the newspaper for a while, Shi Yue hailed a carriage and went to Shangshu province to attend a routine meeting of the two governments—this was a convention that was broken when Wen Yanbo and Lu Huiqing were in charge of the two governments.At that time, Lu Quanquan and Wen were senior, and the two of them would not want to get together for a discussion unless they had to.But since the emperor went to the small hall of the inner east gate with illness, the relationship between Shi Yue, Sima Guang and Han Wei can be regarded as the best among the previous prime ministers of the Xining Dynasty. It was impossible for the two governments to strengthen coordination, so the two-government meeting system was naturally restored.

There was no new news this day, which already made Shi Yue heave a sigh of relief.The current situation between the government and the opposition is actually a mess, what Shi Yue is most afraid of is adding chaos to chaos. In the two major cases in the seventeenth year of Xining, in the case of Chen Shiru, the emperor had already pardoned most of the officials involved, and replaced the presiding judge. The facts of the case became clear very quickly. The one whose suspicion was difficult to clear up, found a small fault, and each was demoted to a rank. Only Su Song and Lu Gong were more unlucky-Su Song's crime of breaking the law was almost confirmed, and he was about to enter the political affairs hall. He was actually relegated to Luhuizhou, Shaanxi Province to be the magistrate; although Lu Gong was wronged and disappeared halfway because Empress Dowager Gao intended to protect him, but it also fell into the limelight because of this. It was also intolerable.Although Zhao Xu wanted to take care of Empress Dowager Gao's face, Sima Guang tried his best to recommend him, and Lu Gongzhu himself repeatedly defended himself, but the emperor sent him to Luoyang to serve as a judge for the Henan government while comforting him.

The case of Yongshun Bank is also difficult to pursue.Shen Qi, the treasurer of Yongshun Bank, committed suicide by taking poison in prison. Fang Ze was charged with all the crimes alone. There is not enough evidence in this case. There are already different voices within the old party on whether to pursue it further.Some people hate Lu Huiqing deeply and want to chase after him fiercely; but some people are getting tired of it. They are worried that this case will turn into a mutual revenge between the old and new parties, and hope that the court will not be distracted too much by these things at this juncture. The spirit, so it is recommended to accept it as soon as it is good.The emperor also intends to calm things down. He is more concerned about the money in the treasury. Xue Xiangyi, the Minister of Taifu Temple, cannot afford to be ill, and Zhang Shangying, the new Minister of Taifu Temple, has not yet arrived. Siqing, urging to collect back the banknotes lost from the left treasury.

It was Cai Jing who really benefited from the Yongshun Bank case.Sima Guang appreciated him very much and recommended him to be the doctor of the household department. Within a few days, Cai Jing found a lot of high-sounding excuses such as the complicated affairs of the household department and the fact that he needed to avoid suspicion in the judicial process, and completely dismissed the case. Throw it to Ma Mo and Li Shunju, and happily go to the Ministry of Household Affairs. It's hard for Shi Yue to judge whether Sima Guang is "wooing" Cai Jing, but he is not worried about it. Although Cai Jing is showing courtesy on both sides, it is too early to say that Cai Jing will rashly join the old party.Shi Yue recommended Su Zhe to the emperor to take over the post of Minister of the Household Department of Sima Guang, and he had already obtained Sima Guang's approval, which was obviously much more important than Cai Jing; in return, Shi Yue also tacitly accepted the old party who was less than fifty-five years old The famous official Liu Zhi served as Zhongcheng, the censor of Quan - this Liu Zhi was one of the famous "Heshuo Three Orders" during Renzong's time. In the early years, Xining was highly valued by Wang Anshi, and he was first promoted to be the official of Zhongshu Procurator. The new law also said to Zhao Xu, "I am from Hebei, and I don't know Wang Anshi." Although he was demoted later, the emperor defended him very much. He served as a local official in various states for nearly ten years, and finally recalled him. Bianjing, from the doctor of the Ministry of Rites to Shaoqing of Zongzheng Temple, Shaoqing of Taichang Temple, and Jijiu of Guozijian, the speed of promotion is also frighteningly fast-this is also a candidate acceptable to both parties. Liu Zhi is a member of the so-called "old party" A typical example, although he is regarded as an "old party" by the new party, but he is tall and tall, but he is a figure that even the gentlemen of the old party do not want to get close to. He has few close friends in the court, probably because he also hates himself The son and nephew got the official position through their father's shadow, but the Liu family's son and nephew had a very good relationship with the Zhang Dun family's son and nephew.Therefore, rather than thinking of him as an "old party", it is more appropriate to say that he is a so-called "lone minister".

However, this was a belated victory for the old party.As far as Shi Yue is concerned, the chance of him getting involved in Yushitai is not great, and at this time, he has no intention to get entangled in the struggle for power distribution.From Shi Yue's point of view, there are countless troubles in front of him, Southwest Yi is a trouble, Fuyu County is a trouble, Yizhou is a trouble, paying banknotes is a trouble, such as the Chen Shiru case, Yongshun Bank case, Yushi Zhongcheng, Hubu Shangshu... These are just troubles one by one.Some troubles affect the whole body and are entangled with each other, which is a big trouble; while some troubles can be solved alone as long as they are cautious, they are small troubles.Compared with how to solve the problem in Yizhou, how to maintain the credit of paying banknotes, stabilize the ratio of money to banknotes, and how to curb rising prices, the distribution of power in Bianjing is far less of a headache.The political situation in Bianjing seems to be developing in a positive direction, but the situation in Yizhou and the issue of handing over banknotes make Shi Yue worry that they will continue to deteriorate, and he has no idea what new troubles they will cause...

However, worry is nothing to worry about. Although people place high hopes on him, Shi Yue does not have any panacea for the time being, which can achieve miraculous results immediately. If you want to remotely command the military operations in Yizhou from Bianjing thousands of miles away, you will only have disastrous consequences.The emperor once wanted to adopt the opinion of the Shufu. On the one hand, he ordered Gao Zunhui and Chen Yuanfeng to deploy Xiangjun, Xiangbing soldiers, and archers to deploy defenses in Fuyu County and the counties around Pengzhou, and tried to stabilize Chen Sanniang and his group; For the time being, Murong Qian should not act rashly against the Southwestern Yi. Feng Jing, who entered Shu, should control the strength of the imperial army, and put down the riots in Fuyu County first.But this plan was strongly blocked by Shi Yue.Shi Yue didn't give Zhao Xu a better plan. He just urged the emperor to issue identical edicts to Gao Zunhui, Chen Yuanfeng, Wang Hou, and Murong Qian respectively: before Feng Jing arrived in Yizhou, allow him to act cheaply; After Jing arrived in Yizhou, all military and political affairs in Yizhou were controlled by Feng Jing.

There are no legendary tricks in the bag, no magic to predict the enemy thousands of miles away, and no complete and detailed response plan. Such a suggestion does not make the emperor feel at ease. Even though Sima Guang and Han Wei admire it on the surface, they are not without it in their hearts Doubtful and worried.Everyone always feels that they have to do something by themselves to feel at ease. Not only that, Shi Yue also prevented the Shufu's plan to massively increase troops to Yizhou Road to quickly suppress the rebellion.However, this matter has been supported by Sima Guang sincerely. Increasing troops means increasing the supply pressure in Yizhou. Sima Guang has tried his best to deliver materials to Yizhou, but entering Shu is far more difficult than leaving Shu. Water is also hard to quench my thirst.

However, although Shi Yue believed that increasing troops blindly would do more harm than good; in secret, he prayed every day that Mrs. Chen San would not become a bandit. It will be a big trouble to become a rogue. Not only are the dry firewood all over the place easily ignited, but there has been no effort-saving way to deal with rogues since ancient times.At that time, Song Ting will only be forced to increase troops.Shi Yue was not as confident as he imagined. Therefore, in the eyes of those who don't know, Shi Yue has done nothing.And the daily meetings between the two governments are as meaningless as plain water.

However, Shi Yue didn't have the heart to take into account other people's aesthetics. After the routine meeting, Shi Yue wrote a letter to Su Shi, telling the emperor's worries about the Liao Kingdom, and ordered the hall officials to send it, and then left the political affairs hall.The emperor should be summoning Wang Anshi alone at this time. There are hundreds of officials in Bianjing eagerly waiting for the result, but since Shi Yue met Wang Anshi yesterday, he no longer worried about this matter. He has to go to trouble to solve another trouble first, the trouble of Sang Chongguo.

One of the advantages of being a prime minister is that you can ride a horse and leave the palace outside the political affairs hall; and one of the disadvantages of being a prime minister is that you must also carry a standard guard of honor while riding a horse outside the political affairs hall. Like many scholar-bureaucrats in the Song Dynasty, Shi Yue disliked grandiose traveling—a bad habit left behind by Li Linfu—so, after leaving the inner city, Shi Yue withdrew his guard of honor and only brought his sword servant and a few entourages with him. Go to Baishuitan.He had already asked people to make it clear that Sang Chongguo was neither living in Sangzhai on Panlou Street nor in his new house in Xianyifang these days, but in a newly purchased garden near Baishuitan.

After Shi Yue and his party arrived at Baishuitan, it took a lot of effort to find the garden of Sangchong Kingdom.From the outside, the garden looks rather unattractive, a path that is particularly muddy after snowfall leads to the gate of the garden, a few thin and crooked willows are planted outside the mottled whitewashed walls, only two rich gates look a little newer.Shi Yue got off his horse outside the wall, handed the horse over to his attendants, and without knocking on the door, pushed open the door and barged in. Entering the garden, Shi Yue was stunned.Except for a few thatched huts, the garden is actually all small fields.Under the thick snow cover, it is obviously the seedlings of winter wheat.From a distance, I saw Sang Chongguo standing by the window of a thatched cottage, drawing something with a brush.Sang Chongguo had obviously seen Shi Yue, he was startled holding his pen in his hand, and wondered, "Ziming, how do you know this place?" "Changqing is so elegant," Shi Yue walked over with a smile, "actually pretending to be a hermit." While walking quickly into the thatched cottage, he leaned over to look at Sang Chongguo's painting, but it was a painting of wheat seedlings covered by heavy snow.He couldn't help laughing and said, "Will Changqing want to be Chen Xiang and Chen Xin?" "Ziming was joking." Sang Chongguo smiled blushingly, and said, "This small piece of wheat field was planted by me and my two Highnesses..." Seeing the suspicion in Shi Yue's eyes, he quickly explained with a smile Said: "Of course we didn't do the sowing. We bought it. We only took care of it for a few days. The two highnesses watched the wheat break through the ground and germinate. Because it snowed yesterday, we asked the villagers here that the wheat was covered by snow. The harvest will be even better next year, but the two Highnesses are still a little worried..." Shi Yue shook his head with a smile: "Is this a painting for your two highnesses? ——But Changqing, you are quite bold enough to act recklessly." "In ancient times, there was the ceremony of Jitian, but later emperors Jitian, just for show, how do you know the hard work and preciousness of farming..." "Did Changqing work in the fields when he was a child?" Shi Yue asked with a smile, seeing that Sangchong was at a loss in Mandarin, he laughed again: "Actually, I also think it is very boring for children to recite "Thousand Characters" and "Mengqiu" every day. ..." But Sang Chongguo heard Shi Yue's implication, and quickly defended: "Ziming thought I let the two highnesses lose their minds? No, no. The two highnesses are very smart, "Thousand Characters", "Meng Qiu" and so on, I have been very familiar with it for a long time, and I can even memorize a lot of Tang poems; I also learned arithmetic very well, but I still need to work on writing and painting. It is not necessary to learn these things too well, too good will be a bad thing... After all, the two His Highnesses are still young, and they can't understand the "Book of Filial Piety" when I tell them, and it feels boring. It's better to learn more in the deep palace. Things that you can't see in the house, serious homework, in fact, there is no delay at all." Seeing him like this, Shi Yue didn't know what to say when he remembered his reason for coming, so he could only laugh dryly: "It's really a blessing for the country." "It is indeed the blessing of the community." Sang Chongguo also smiled, but it was a kind of approval from the heart. "However..." Shi Yue hesitated for a moment, and finally said, "I think the real blessing of the country does not lie in this." Only then did Sang Chongguo realize Shi Yue's abnormality.Shi Yue sat down opposite Sang Chongguo, looked at Sang Chongguo, and said: "For a long time, we so-called 'scholar-bureaucrats' have exhausted the energy of generations. Let the country live in peace for a long time, and the people can live and work in peace forever?" "Different people will look for answers from different places. Some people look to the experience of history, some look to the classics left by sages, some want to find clues from the laws of nature, and some simply rely on themselves There are some people who don’t believe in anything, and would rather let themselves be part of the experience..." "Which category does Ziming belong to?" Sang Chongguo also sat down and asked with a smile. "I believe in experience more." Shi Yue confessed, "Whether it is historical experience or real experience. Tell me thousands of reasons, it is better to present one fact." Sang Chongguo said with a smile: "The emptiness I want to convey is not as good as the profound insight I see in my actions-but Ziming's vision is not limited to experience, so it is unconvincing." Shi Yue shook his head and said with a smile: "Actually, there is no escape." He didn't want to talk about this issue, so he continued, "To find a way to govern the world, you must first understand what determines the rise and fall of a country. " "In my opinion, there may be more than one person who determines the rise and fall of a country. The quality of the monarch, the quality of the ministers, and the integrity of the ritual system, laws, and systems are all extremely important." "Changqing is right. But I think that these things are still difficult to guarantee long-term prosperity." Shi Yue said with a smile. Things. Whenever the emperor is wise and his ministers are virtuous, the etiquette and system are often relatively perfect; and the perfect etiquette and system can also continue the state of the monarch and minister. But after two or three hundred years, no matter how good the etiquette , the system, will be completely destroyed; Mingjun Xianchen, it seems that in a blink of an eye, it seems that all species are extinct..." "Everything has the way of yin and yang, and things that only prosper and never decline do not exist in the first place." Sang Chongguo couldn't help laughing, "Zi Ming said before that one generation can only manage the affairs of one generation. If one generation can create After two or three hundred years of prosperity, what is there to be dissatisfied with? Ziming said just now that he only believes in experience, so has Ziming seen anything that can escape the cycle of ups and downs?" Shi Yue was immediately speechless by Sang Chongguo's question. In the human history he knew, there had never been such a thing. He originally just wanted to tactfully persuade Sang Chongguo to put his limited life on "more meaningful" things. Things like cultivating the future emperor are actually not that important...but at this time he suddenly woke up. He didn't know much more than them about the answer that the scholar-bureaucrats had been looking for. But Sang Chongguo smiled meaningfully and said, "Ziming came to me, didn't he want to talk about this?" Shi Yue knew that Sang Chongguo had found out, so he nodded and said, "I came to Changqing to tell you something." Sang Chongguo looked at Shi Yue quietly, he had vaguely felt something. Shi Yue felt his throat was a bit dry, he avoided Sang Chongguo's gaze, pretended to be nonchalant and said: "The emperor has decided to order General Yue to pay homage to the servant and to calm the important military affairs." Sang Chongguo was stunned for a moment, and it took a while to understand the meaning of these words.He looked down at the painting in his hand, gently put down the pen, then raised his head, with a forced smile on his face, "I know." After finishing speaking, he was silent for a while, and then said: "This is not the only reason. Bar?" Shi Yue silently nodded. Sang Chongguo turned his head out of the window, stared blankly at the snow field outside, after a long while, he smiled self-consciously, and said: "I really didn't want to be a teacher of the emperor back then, but after more than a month of direct lectures at Zishantang, I'm a bit reluctant." Shi Yue just wanted to comfort him, his lips moved, Sang Chongguo turned around, looked at Shi Yue, and said with a smile, "But I'm relieved to leave it to Mr. Cheng. Although Ziming is expensive now As the prime minister, there are much more things to worry about than me." Shi Yue smiled helplessly, but heard Sang Chongguo say again: "However, even so, I still have an unfeeling request, and I want Ziming to help..." "Your Excellency, you don't care." "After Baishuitan resigned himself, the professors' joint meeting elected Mr. Sun to be the head of the mountain. Although Mr. Sun is not yet sixty, his health is not very good. Ziming also knows that Mr. Dacheng is seriously ill, and Mr. Fan has returned Now, Mr. Xiaocheng gave a direct lecture at Zishantang. Although Mingli College has a lot of talents, it may take time to say that the reputation can be convinced by the professors of both colleges. As for Gewu College, it may be within a hundred years. It is impossible to be a mountain..." "Can't Changqing continue to be the head of the mountain?" Shi Yue had heard the meaning of his words, and couldn't help asking a little strangely. Sang Chongguo was silent for a while, then said with a smile, "I just plan to go back to Bianjing News." Shi Yue stared at Sang Chongguo, and it took him a while to realize.In history, although Neo Confucianism originated in the Northern Song Dynasty, it could only be regarded as a small school with little influence throughout the Northern Song Dynasty. It mainly relied on private lectures to continue its own learning, and its reputation could only depend on individual outstanding scholar.But in the seventeenth year of Xining in this world, with the help of the influence of Baishuitan College, after absorbing and merging many viewpoints of Shi Xue, Er Cheng has leapt to become a very influential university school with as many students as possible. , in Baishuitan Mingli College, it is completely enough to compete with Shi Xue.Sang Chongguo obviously knew about Cheng Yi's students' impeachment against him. If he returned to the post of head of Baishuitan, even if he did not cause controversy within Baishuitan, he would be a ticking time bomb when dealing with affairs in the future. "Then who does Changqing want to invite to be the head of the mountain?" "It's not me, it's Mr. Da Cheng. A month ago, when Su Zirong was still in prison, Mr. Da Cheng told me that Su Zirong is a rare all-rounder nowadays. In terms of the classics and meanings of articles, the Academy of Sciences is second to none; On arithmetic, astronomy and calendar, and even machinery and pharmacology, he also gave lectures in the Gewu Academy, which was also convinced by everyone. It's just that Su Zirong was going to enter the cabinet to worship the prime minister, and we couldn't invite him. Like back then, Fan Mr. Gong, Mr. Sun, and even Mr. Dacheng himself, if they hadn’t suffered setbacks in their official careers and were determined to make progress, they would never have reached Baishuitan. But when there is no hope of making meritorious deeds, those outstanding people will inevitably think about retreating and stand up. Mr. Dacheng wrote a letter to the professors' joint meeting. If Su Zirong is safe and sound, then let it go; I have already wanted to resign and return to my hometown several times. To tell the truth, a few days ago, I was thinking about how to invite Su Zirong to come to Baishuitan to be the head of the mountain. But if there is no emperor's order, I am afraid that Su Zirong will not dare to come..." "Changqing's calculations are well planned." Shi Yue couldn't help laughing, "The emperor is indeed very annoyed with him. However, if you can invite Su Zirong to be the head of Baishuitan, I can also persuade the emperor to allow him to take up his official position." At that time, Cheng Hao was just a low-level official, and he didn't have a strong will to be an official, so he abandoned his official position; but Su Song was already an important minister of the court. Prime Minister, the two have a very good personal relationship, how can Su Song not have the chance to make a comeback?Shi Yue never believed that Baishuitan could persuade him to become an official and become the head of the mountain. But Sang Chongguo seemed to have the winning ticket in his hands, stretched out his palms, and said with a smile: "It's an oath by clapping hands, it's a deal!" Shi Yue also stretched out his palm, slapped Sang Chongguo three times, and said with a smile, "It's a deal."