Chapter 22 Chapter 21 The Way of Self-Retirement

The little baby died young and had no chance to fulfill his father's wish.We doubt whether poets and painters can be successful officials.It should be possible in peacetime, but "Taiping" is a relative term, and there is no period in politics without hot issues to contend with.Poets and painters are full of superb philosophical views, so it is difficult to concentrate on political issues, and they are willing to play politics and suffer torture.After he tried a few times, he often laughed at himself for not going into politics.

Su Tungpo avoided politics, but politics pursued him.He and Sima Guang had political disagreements—independent hearts never fully agree—but he had been in the capital for half a year before Sima Guang passed away.Su Dongpo fell into a prominent and taboo position.Soon the storm hit him, and the court battle immediately centered on him.By January of the following year, dozens of petitions attacked him.As soon as Sima Guang died, political parties were formed - the "Hebei faction" headed by rationalists, the "Henan faction" and the "Sichuan faction" headed by Su Dongpo.Judging from the records and Su Dongpo's intention to withdraw, he had no idea what "Sichuan School" meant.But his political opponents were very angry with him and wanted to fight him fiercely.To be fair, the fight was started by his younger brother Ziyou.In the early years of Yuanyou's reign, he entered Beijing as the right secretary. He believed that he had the responsibility to clean up the government and remove the remnants of the wall-riding faction and Wang Anshi's party.Later, Huiqing was finally expelled, and Cai Que, Cai Jing, and Zhang Dun were temporarily demoted, but they fought back vigorously in the future.However, Ziyou also made seven memorials to impeach a leader of the Hebei faction, and in the end that person collapsed. He also said that other members of the Hebei faction were "rice bags".

The struggle raged on.There is no point in quarreling among politicians, because this time is not like the debate over Wang Anshi's new policies last time, and this time has nothing to do with policy principles at all.Su Dongpo once opposed the restoration of the conscription system, but the party members were not arguing about this issue, they were purely provoking with excuses.He served as the examiner of the secret court examination, and once asked the candidates to explain the following questions: "The current court wants the loyalty of the ancestors, and fears that the officials will not perform their duties and may steal. If they want to learn from the gods, they are afraid of supervising the teachers. Obey the order without knowing its meaning, but enter into the engraving." Emperor Wen of Han ruled by doing nothing, which did not cause any disadvantages.Xuanzong worked hard to govern, and there was no phenomenon of being too strict.He asked candidates to explain the mystery of the golden mean.Politicians criticized this test question, and Su Dongpo repeatedly submitted forms to the Queen Mother, asking her to uphold justice.They accused him of slandering Renzong and Shenzong.

As usual, the Empress Dowager put the petitions in the cabinet, and the officials followed up with several petitions.From mid-December of the first year of Yuanyou (1086) to January 10 of the second year of Yuanyou (1087), the court received four or five petitions to impeach Su Dongpo.On January 12, the Empress Dowager ordered the courtiers not to speak again.On January 13th, Baiguan received the imperial edict in Zhongshu Province.That group of people disobeyed their orders, and they went to the table again the next day.At this time, Su Dongpo didn't want to reply, but asked to leave Beijing four times.On the 16th, the Empress Dowager told the courtiers that Su Dongpo meant that officials were too lenient or too strict, and did not intend to slander the late emperor. She obviously supported Su Dongpo's position.He even said that those who impeached Su Dongpo would be punished.

At this time, Su Dongpo decided not to ask for a release, but to fight this matter to the end.On January 17, he wrote a 2,000-word long letter to the emperor, pointing out his position and blaming politicians and villains.He upholds the principle of disagreement.The letter pointed out that "if what is allowed at the top, it can be done at the bottom without asking whether it is right or wrong. What is not allowed at the top, regardless of whether it is straight or wrong, will be rejected by the bottom." This is not good for the country.The monarch and the ministers should provide advice to each other. If the officials are obedient, they will become followers of what Confucius said is "enough to destroy the state".He then cited his and Sima Guang's disagreements on the issue of conscription.They have different views but respect each other's opinions.Now that Sima Guang has passed away, these people follow his policies and only want to obey the monarch.In fact, he believes that Sima Guang does not ask others to obey his opinions forever, and the Queen Mother does not want everyone to obey.Another objection he made was that, out of the 30 million guan collected by the exemption law, half of the cost of the Northwest War was removed. The government should buy land in the suburbs of the city to accommodate retired veterans and reduce the number of soldiers by half. "The power of the people should be used by the people again."He has consistently defended these arguments, offending many people.Around the 12th, he wrote a letter to his friend Yang Gui (Yuan Yuan), criticizing those people again.Quite proud of his independent mind:

Finally, on the 23rd, the imperial court ordered Su Dongpo to stay in his original post, and on the 27th it decided to pardon the officials who impeached him. Su Dongpo was in a dilemma.The queen mother supported him, but his political opponents failed to achieve their goals and lost face instead, so he had to stay in his original post.In order to repay the Queen Mother's kindness, he decided to be more frank and straightforward, and put forward opinions to her that others dared not say.Now there are many policy theories and letters in the complete works of Su Dongpo, all of which were written in the next two years.The petitions are dated and we can see what issues he is fighting for.

First of all, he strives to "open up the way of speaking".Had he been born in modern times, he would have fought for free speech or sound public opinion.This is the theme he plays again and again.He pointed out that a good government and a good emperor are always willing to see anyone.For example, Tang Taizong—perhaps the best emperor in China for four thousand years—even allowed people without official rank to come to the palace to speak.If the people ask to see the emperor, the imperial guards are not allowed to block the palace gate.Su Dongpo reminded the queen mother that in the early Song Dynasty, low-level officials and scholars without official rank could also meet with the monarch.Now there are not more than a dozen people who can see her.How can these dozen people know what is happening in the whole country?If the dozen or so people are mediocre and dare not tell her the truth, the Empress Dowager will think that the people have no grievances.Isn't this a big sickness?Although other officials can write a letter, once the book is banned, it is like a stone sinking into the sea, and there is no news.How can the queen mother discuss the issue in detail if she doesn't summon her personally?What's more, there are many things that should not be written with a pen.Some things are too complicated to explain verbally, let alone letters!He also said in another letter that horses cannot complain about their illnesses, "Although people can speak, they are separated from each other and cannot complain to themselves, so they are no different from horses."

But freedom of speech is useless if scholars lack the spirit of independent thinking and bold criticism.In this regard, he admired Ouyang Xiu and belittled Wang Anshi, because Ouyang Xiu encouraged free criticism, but Wang Anshi tried his best to suppress it.Su Dongpo was very concerned about the dead atmosphere at that time, and scholars forgot to think for themselves.During this period, he wrote to his disciple Zhang Lei, saying: "The decline of writing is not as bad as it is today. Its source is actually from the Wang family. Wang's writing may not be bad. The problem is to make others feel the same. Since Confucius cannot make people the same. Yan Yuan’s benevolence and Zilu’s courage cannot be replaced by each other. But Wang wants to use his learning to be the same as the world. The beauty of the land is the same as the living things, different from the ones born. Only the barren and bitter land, They are all yellow grass and white reeds. This is the same as the Wang family."

In August of the first year of Yuanyou (1086), Su Dongpo finally made the court no longer practice the young crop law.In April of the same year, the imperial court issued an edict to abolish this move.The Changping warehouses were restored, but farmers' loans were still issued to the people, but the amount was limited to half of the value of the warehouses.The imperial court has very good intentions.Officials are not allowed to go to the village to gather people in the village and spread loans hard, let alone go door-to-door to collect debts from people's homes.However, Su Dongpo believed that this semi-reform was not enough and would cause the disadvantages of the past.On August 4, he wrote to the Queen Mother, first asking the government to stop implementing the Young Crop Law, and asking the government to forgive the debts of the poor, both principal and interest.He likened the April decree to a thief determined to reform, but declared that he would only steal one chicken a month.The allusion comes from "Mencius". "Since my minister Fujian Xining, I have practiced the two laws of exempting young crops from service for more than 20 years. The law is getting worse, the people are getting poorer, the punishment is getting more annoying, and the robbery is getting more and more serious... and the officials have no status. When they are scattered, they must be ordered. There are drummers and prostitutes in the wine department, or they close down the wine-selling brands. Farmers even return home empty-handed. But every time the young crops are scattered, the number of wine classes increases sharply. This minister has seen it with tears. In the past twenty years, because of There are countless people who owe young crops, even sell their fields and houses, sell their wives and daughters, and throw themselves into the water.” Su Dongpo asked, how can a monarch humble himself and lend money to the people to earn interest?He suggested that the government order those who owed government debts to repay the debts in ten installments, one installment every six months. He even hoped that the emperor would realize that the debtors had paid a lot of interest, and show mercy to forgive the debts of the poor below the fourth grade.Next month, the government will announce a strike against the young crop law.However, the proposal of debt relief for the poor was not accepted by the court until six years later, after Su Dongpo's repeated efforts. He stands alone against the corruption and incompetence of the government.He wants to reform the administration of officials from the grassroots.The imperial examination is the basis for selecting officials, but the examination system has been lax.He served as the chief examiner for three or four times, tried his best to select talents, and sometimes rescued the papers abandoned by other examiners.Once a candidate took the exam under the supervision of the inner court guards. Su Dongpo was startled by the arrogance of the guards.Patrolling the inner court and yelling at the examiners is like ordering recruits.One or two people were taken under their belts, and they were helped out of the hall, and the soldiers shouted loudly.There was a lot of noise, and then the ministers who patrolled the shop restored order, just like calming down chaos.They deliberately insulted Juren, so Su Dongpo immediately wrote two letters to dismiss the two ministers. The biggest problem with the government at the time—as it has been in every dynasty in China—was that it was full of redundant officials.There are too many literati and too few official positions, which has become a frequent disadvantage in Chinese society where "students who are good at learning are officials".Unless this perception is changed now, universal education can bring the country down.How are we going to provide official positions for 450 million intellectuals?If the public office system is strictly followed and only talents are selected, the number of people who pass the exam will naturally be limited, and the quality will also improve.But kinship was prevalent in Su Dongpo's time.Many candidates from various provinces were recommended by relatives and friends, and got official positions without taking the exam.If there are three or four hundred people who are elected as officials, there are eight or nine hundred people who are exempted from the examination.The Ministry of Rites can recommend two or three hundred special exemption students, and the others are recommended by the Ministry of War and royal relatives.During the spring festival, many scholars were exempted from the exam by the emperor's "Executive Grace".Su Dongpo said that as a result, "the gate of one official is guarded by four or five people. There are many competitions, and the shame is lost. Zhongcai is a small official, and Que Yuan is poor. After reaching the official position, he seeks profit and does nothing. The people are ill." carry on".He also said: "The ministers have to see the people who have won the official list. They are distributed in the prefectures and counties. They are all old. They have no hope of progress. They only think of returning to the goods. Corruption and embarrassment, ten out of ten people are nine. There are thousands of people on the list of beneficence, but I have never seen a person who can work hard on himself, and it has been heard in the time. There are countless people who have lost their officials. Everywhere they went to the prefectures and counties, they suffered from their harm. It was the beginning of the accession to the throne. Excessive actions, the kindness of Wei, is not recognized by the ministers." Su Dongpo suggested reducing the number of people who are exempted from the examination, and strictly limiting the sons, relatives and people recommended by the royal family to become officials. Su Tungpo felt it was his duty to tell the Queen Mother about the officials' laziness, incompetence, and deception.He wrote many confidential forms.Many letters were added with a postscript, begging her to keep the letters herself, and not to send them to the Ministry of Education. For example, during the barbarian riots in the northwest, nearly 10,000 Chinese farmers were killed.Military generals refused to report the truth to the court.Even when the news reached the capital, the imperial court sent a special historian to investigate. In line with the ancient tradition of "officials and officials protect each other", he said that only "a dozen people" were killed.Specially minimized the disaster, asked for forgiveness from the defending generals, and slowly investigated the case.Two years passed without any movement.As a result, the villagers who should be pensioned were deprived of a lot of benefits.Su Dongpo wrote a letter to the queen mother, pointing out that it would be difficult for the government to win the love of the people by ignoring the people's sentiments. "Officials and officials protect each other" naturally results in "officials facing the people".There is also Tong Zheng, the guard general in Guangdong, who was unable to put down the bandits and killed thousands of innocent people.But other officials all reported that he was a great hero for his meritorious service in suppressing the thieves.There is also Wen Gao who trapped and killed nineteen civilians, only to demote them.In order to ask for a reward, a small official entered a private house in broad daylight and killed a family of five or six people, all of whom were innocent women.He cut off the head and claimed to have killed many robbers.There were too many cases to cover up, and the imperial court ordered an investigation, but the officials argued that they could not distinguish between men and women when they were killed.With such tyranny in place, Su Tungpo could not remain silent. The one who complained the most was Zhou Ting's big case.Su Dongpo couldn't bear it anymore.Wang Anshi's remnant party lost power and planned to launch a counterattack.The leaders Huiqing, Cai Que and others have all been dismissed, but many of their friends still serve in the capital.In order to test the imperial court's attitude, they asked an unknown professor of state studies, Zhou Wei, to come forward and suggest that the imperial court put Wang Anshi's spiritual tablet under the Shenzong tablet in the royal ancestral hall, and share the sacrifices of the emperor Shenzong.If the queen mother grants permission, it means that they can come out and act publicly.Su Dongpo saw what they meant and lashed out at these speculators.He listed sixteen treacherous party figures, saying that they were "louses", "maggot flies", "evil villains", and "giant beetles of the country".For the first time, he did not hesitate to talk about Wang Anshi, but publicly called him a big liar.He told the queen mother that if Fu Bi, Han Qi, and Sima Guang were still there, "this rat" would not dare to show his face.He warned that if this conspiracy is not stopped, "there is no need to worry about Huiqing, Cai Que and others. There is no need to worry about Qingmiao, Shiyi and other methods."According to his own observations, these things must happen sooner or later.In fact he was determined to leave the court.He said that a gentleman is hard to find like a lin and a phoenix, and a villain is "easy to enter like maggots and flies, gathered by fishy smells, and tens of thousands in an instant."The implication is obvious: if a person does not want to get dirty with the flies, he has to leave the garbage by himself. In the past two years, Su Dongpo's strong individualism and bold remarks offended many people, including the Hebei and Henan factions.He has become a thorn in the side of Wang Anshi's party members!If Su Dongpo does not leave, these people will not be able to gain power again. Some of the impeachment warrants are interesting.Perhaps the most interesting was Su Dongpo's appointment of Lu Dafang, Wang Anshi's political opponent, drafted by the emperor.The imperial edict praised Lu Dafang's bravery, and said that Wang Anshi would no longer be in power, "the people are tired, and I would like to hear about the period of rest."This is an old saying that everyone can use.From the "Book of Songs", a poem satirizing a tyrant.The censors' eyes lit up. They said that Su Dongpo slandered Shenzong and compared him to King Li of Zhou.When the censors heard that their beloved late emperor had been slandered, their feet trembled with anger. Another case involved a poem written by Su Dongpo when he returned to Beijing from Nandu a few years ago, saying that he was overjoyed to hear that the imperial court allowed him to go to Changzhou.He passed through Yangzhou and once carved three poems on a temple wall.Read the three poems together, and the theme is determined to be correct: he has always wanted to live in peace, but to no avail, and now he is really happy to retire and spend the rest of his life.His third poem says: