Chapter 10 Chapter Nine Man-made Evil Deeds

Now the court is quiet and lifeless.When Su Dongpo left the capital with his family, all the famous officials under Renzong's rule had been dismissed from office and scattered in various places.Ouyang Xiu lived in seclusion in Fuyang, Anhui.Zhang Fangping, a good friend of the Su family, lives in Huaiyang (Chenzhou) in Henan. From the first year, Zi was appointed as the state professor of the place.Ziyou is very strange, he is not as stubborn as his elder brother, he always does not give up his integrity to protect himself wisely, find a safe and indifferent position, and live with a certain university student, but it is also the same.Later Zhang Fangping retired and moved to Shangqiu (called Nanjing or Nandu at that time), and Ziyou was also sent there to serve. In the next few years, when Su Dongpo went to and from the capital, he always stayed at Zhang Fangping's house on the way, asking him for advice, and loving his uncle and nephew.In the next few years, Sima Guang and Lu Gong had been living in Luoyang, the "Xijing". Lu Hui was seriously ill and was about to die. Before he died, he presented a riddle for the emperor to guess:

Fu Bi, the old official, cannot live in seclusion safely.He was once demoted to be the prefect of Bozhou, and he failed to distribute "green crops".Moreover, he boldly wrote a letter to the emperor saying: "With this method, the wealth will be gathered at the top, and the people will be scattered at the bottom." Just as Wang Anshi's subordinate Deng Wan reported Fu Bi for obstructing the New Deal, the old official was stripped of all honors and transferred to Another area served as prefect.Wang Anshi was still not satisfied. He told the emperor that Fu Bi's crimes were like the "four murders". If only his official title was cut off, how would he deter other traitors?The emperor refused to listen to Wang Anshi's words and allowed Fu Bi to continue to serve as a minor official.Fu Bi went to the new office, passing through Nandu, and visited Zhang Fangping on the way.

The veteran said to Zhang Fangping angrily, "It's hard to know people." "You mean Wang Anshi?" His old friend said, "I don't think it's difficult to get to know him. I was in charge of the township examination with him, and he overturned all the rules. I was dismissed by him. In my later years, I often stared at the ceiling and sighed silently. " Su Dongpo was about to leave Beijing when a riot broke out in Beijing.The Baojia Law was implemented in the winter of the first year.Bingyong stayed in the village for military training.Villagers near the capital doubted the intentions of the training, thinking that the government was about to send them to the north to fight a war, so they protested.The peasants were asked by the authorities to provide their own armaments—only bows and arrows, in fact—which also contributed to the riots.Father and son embraced each other and cried, and some villagers cut their wrists and fingers to avoid being called up.This riot caused Wang Anshi to lose his last friend, Han Wei, who was the prefect of the district and was also dismissed due to the circumstances of the riot.

A clear and obvious punishment from heaven, coupled with the denunciation of a small official who "attached to the door", Wang Anshi finally collapsed.In the sixth year of Xining (1073), the "sacred mountain" Huashan suffered a landslide. The emperor panicked and moved to another palace according to the rules, expressing respect for God, and at the same time eating crude meals.From the summer of the sixth year of Xining (1073) to the spring of the seventh year of Xining (1074), the emperor was very worried and didn't know what to do.He asked Wang Anshi, and Wang Anshi said:

"Floods and droughts are natural disasters. There were also floods and droughts in the Yao and Shun era. We just need to continue to practice good governance." "That's what I'm afraid of," said the emperor. "I'm afraid we're not doing good governance. I've heard many people complain about commercial taxes. Everyone in the court has heard it, even the empress and queen dowager know." Another minister, Feng Jing, who was also present, said, "I heard that too." "I heard nothing," Wang Anshi said. "Feng Jun heard complaints, because dissatisfied people flocked to him."

Now a small official with a heavy responsibility has appeared.He is Zheng Xia, the little official who drew pictures of the disaster victims.He presented a scroll of New Deal disaster victims chained to cut down trees and earn money to repay public debts, and he also attached a note to the emperor. The emperor brought the rolled sleeves into the palace.He showed it to the royals.The Empress Dowager (Empress Renzong, not Empress Yingzong) spoke first: "I heard that the subsidy and young crop funds have harmed the people. I think we should not change the legacy of our ancestors." "The New Deal benefits the people, not oppresses them," said the emperor.

"I know Wang Anshih is very talented," said the Queen Mother, "but he has made too many enemies. For his own good, I think you should suspend him." The emperor said: "I found that among the ministers, only Wang Anshi is willing to take the big post." Shenzong's younger brother, King Qi, happened to be standing beside him."I think you should take your grandmother's advice into consideration," he said. The emperor got angry: "Okay, okay, I don't know how to govern the country. You come." "That's not what I meant." King Qi said.

Everyone was silent for a while.The queen mother said: "Wang Anshi has caused a lot of trouble. What are your plans?" The next day the emperor removed Wang Anshi from his post, but left Huiqing and Deng Wan behind.The emperor was determined to abolish eighteen measures, including commercial tax, young crops, labor support money, Baojia law and Fangtian equal tax. When the rain comes, it can be seen that God is happy! But Wang Anshi's moment was not over yet.According to the law, Zheng Xia was impeached.At first, he followed the normal track to offer maps, but the officials in the palace refused to accept them, saying that he was a petty official and was not qualified to correspond with the emperor.So Zheng Xia went to the official station outside the capital city, told the messenger that there was an urgent military report, and told him to send him to the palace quickly.Due to the illegal use of official posts, the censors interrogated Zheng Xia.

History books do not record the results of the interrogation.But in January of the following year, Zheng Xia presented the emperor with a copy of "The Career Map of the Upright Gentleman and the Wicked Man".The picture shows several famous loyal and traitorous officials in the Tang Dynasty. Although the current government is not directly mentioned, the stories of the traitors in the previous dynasty are very similar to those in power today.Even if the implication is not obvious, the legendary story in the picture also points out everything.Because Wang Anshi had resigned as prime minister, Zheng Xia, in addition to the album, also submitted a memorial, recommending a loyal minister to be prime minister.Now that Huiqing is in power, Deng Wan turns his full loyalty to Wang Anshi to Huiqing.So the two demoted Zheng Xia to far away Guangdong (Tingzhou).

Before leaving, a censor came to see him, "All the censors dare not speak, thanks to your hard work, the responsibility of admonishing and criticizing the government seems to fall on a court official."After speaking, he gave him a pack (two volumes) of advice from famous ministers, "I entrust you to keep these materials."But Huiqing got the news from a secret agent and sent Shu Yu to intercept Zheng Xia and search his luggage.Huiqing, Deng Wan, and Shu Yu got the two reports and found out the names of all the people who criticized the government, and they reported them one by one and sent them to prison.Huiqing wanted to execute Zheng Xia, but the emperor stopped him and said: "Zheng Xia cares about the country and does not care about himself. I admire his courage and justice, and he cannot be severely punished." So Zheng Xia was allowed to go to the place where he was demoted (relegated to Yingzhou Editor).

After Su Dongpo's death, a collector surnamed Huang obtained a rare manuscript of Su Dongpo, which contained his famous saying: "It is easy to live in poverty, but it is difficult to live in wealth. It is easy to work hard, but it is difficult to be idle. It is easy to endure pain, but it is difficult to endure itching. Be at ease, endure wealth and honor, endure itching, and truly a man of virtue.” Every revolutionary party can show its greatest strength and unity before it gains power, but once it gains power and eradicates the opposition, it begins to split due to internal strife.There is no doubt that the desire to overthrow the powerful brings out the most beautiful instincts in human nature, but the power to rule others brings out the ugliest.Things went smoothly, everyone had an official job, and Deng Wan, Hui Qing, and Zeng Bu were too busy to argue.Wang Anshi collapsed, the situation deteriorated, and the party members immediately fell one by one. Long before the Event, they had planted the seeds of their own internal decay.Wang Anshi's young master hated Huiqing, and Huiqing hated Zeng Bu.Deng Wan ran with the rabbit and chased the hounds at the same time, very busy.It is a great misfortune that Wang Anshi only left such a son.His son is shrewd, eccentric, and cruel, and he is responsible for many of the evils of the New Deal.Now that he has grown up, all the family finances are in his hands, and his uncle can no longer freely use Wang Anshi's money.As the son of a full-fledged prime minister, he was arrogant, thinking that bad behavior was enough to show extraordinary.It is said that in the early days of the New Deal, Cheng Hao, a Neo-Confucianist, went to Wang's house to discuss business matters with Wang Anshi. Young Master Wang came out barefoot with a woman's scarf in his hand, and went directly to his father and asked what they were talking about. "Mr. Cheng and I discussed the new law criticized by the ministers." Wang Anshi said. His son fell on the cushion they were sitting on, laughed and said, "As long as we cut off the heads of Han Qi and Fu Bi, no one would dare to object." We soon understood the pain Wang Anshi suffered for his son. up.The family was not happy, and the two uncles disapproved of Wang Anshi's style of work, especially warning Wang Anshi to be careful of the double-faced Huiqing.Confucius once said that people should "drive away the sound of Zheng and stay away from sycophants".One day when Wang Anshi was talking with Huiqing, his younger brother Anguo was playing the flute outside.The prime minister yelled at his younger brother, "Can you drive Zheng Sheng away?" His younger brother replied, "Can you stay away from sycophants?" Now the group is worried about the future.Huiqing did not give up hope. He saw that he had a chance to replace Wang Anshi.Some people in the world shed tears as they said, but Hui Qing and Deng Wan "wept together in front of the emperor", which was touching.When they think of state affairs, they are very sad.Their eloquence finally won back the emperor's heart, and Huiqing ascended the throne. The dispute has officially begun.Lu Jiawen, the city affairs officer across the country, was impeached.The report of Shi Yiwu's misconduct naturally reached the ears of the emperor. Wang Anshi was still in the capital, so the emperor asked about it. "Jiawen has always adhered to the law of the country, so he has made many enemies. It is only now that he is attacked." Wang Anshi replied. The emperor said: "However, the commercial tax paid into the treasury every year is indeed very small. And I don't like selling fruit, ice and charcoal. It hurts the emperor's dignity." Wang Anshi said: "Your Majesty shouldn't bother with these trivial matters. These matters are handled by small officials. Your Majesty only needs to care about the government's major policies." The emperor replied: "Why does everyone in the court regard it as an oppressive measure?" "Please tell me the names of those people." Wang Anshi said. We need not dwell on these indecent extremities.The problem is that as Lu Jiawen's power grew, he began to violate the Department of Regulations and insult an official named Xue Xiang.Zeng Bu sided with Xue Xiang and attacked Lu Jiawen, and Lu was dismissed.The emperor sent Hui Qing and Zeng Bu to investigate the case.The two have always been at odds, and they have a close relationship with Wang Anshi, similar to Stalin and Trosky under Lenin.During the investigation, Huiqing started to attack Zeng Bu, Zeng Bu started to attack Huiqing, and Zeng Bu collapsed. The problems are just beginning.Huiqing became the sole leader of the government.Not only did he take advantage of the Zheng Xia case to depose Wang Anshi's younger brother Wang Anguo, but at the same time, with the assistance of Deng Wan, he tried to draw Wang Anshi himself into the rebellion initiated by a prince in Shandong.Wang Anshi was charged with conspiracy because he was on good terms with a rebel figure.Another minister—who was also the prime minister in name—was at odds with Huiqing and wanted to bring Wang Anshi back to the court to stop Huiqing.In addition to asking the emperor to depose Huiqing and restore Wang Anshi's position, he also sent a secret report to Wang Anshi.The crime of treason was not trivial, and Wang Anshi was rushed from Nanjing (Jinling) to the capital within seven days. In fact, Wang Anshi had nothing to do with the rebellion. In February of the eighth year of Xining (1075), he served as prime minister again.Deng Wan was at a loss and decided to fight for time limit, betrayed Hui Qing, and joined Wang Anshi's lineup.In order to get Gong Anshi's favor, he decided to betray Huiqing.He didn't tell Wang Anshi, and he and Wang Anshi's son sued Huiqing for extorting five million dollars from a businessman in Huating. The court dismissed Huiqing and transferred him to be the prefect.Deng Wan and Lu Jiawen were unwilling to reconcile, and brought Huiqing back to Yushitai Prison to await trial. Those in power were demoted one by one.Deng Wan is no exception.He was still full of energy, and seeing Huiqing's downfall, the emperor gradually became impatient with Wang Anshi, thinking that his next master should be Wang Anshi's son and son-in-law.He wrote to the emperor asking for the promotion of these two men.But both Wang Anshi and the emperor were tired of Deng Wan's traitorous tricks, and instead of being grateful, they dismissed him.Now Deng Wan has lost confidence in life. While awaiting trial, Huiqing launched a final attack on Wang Anshi. Over the years, he had kept many private letters from Wang Anshi with the intention of blackmailing him. Now he handed over the letters to the emperor, saying that Wang Anshi was unfaithful, because several letters contained the words "no order know this post".The emperor was very tired of these people, and now that he read these few letters, he was really dissatisfied with Wang Anshi.Wang Anshi scolded his son for attacking Lu Huiqing rashly behind his back.His son obviously didn't know that Huiqing secretly blackmailed his father with these letters.He regretted his recklessness and was reprimanded by his father. Soon he fell ill and developed a nasty sore on his back.Wang Anshi has always believed in Buddhism.He looked for monks and doctors, but they couldn't save his son's life.The death of Wang Yu was a big blow to Lao Xiangguo.He was equally disappointed in politics and life, and he was exhausted, so he asked himself to step down.In October of the ninth year of Xining (1076), the emperor allowed him to retire, but retained several of the highest titles.Not derogatory.A few years later, he was seen muttering to himself while riding a donkey in the countryside of Nanjing (Jinling).