Chapter 3 3. Han Qi's resignation
Eight months after Shenzong succeeded to the throne, Prime Minister Han Qi was dismissed.
This is not a small matter, but it should be said to be a big thing.Because this Anyang native of Henan was not only the elder of the three dynasties of Renzong, Yingzong and Shenzong, but also the frontline commander who once fought side by side with Fan Zhongyan against Xixia, and he was also half the sky of the imperial court during the Yingzong period.Without him, both Yingzong and Shenzong might not be emperors.
The story may really have to start from the beginning.
It was the early morning of the first day of April in the eighth year of Jiayou (1063), Prime Minister Han Qi and other ministers received news that Emperor Renzong, who had recovered from the Eucharist, died suddenly at midnight last night.Fortunately, Empress Cao was very calm.She ordered that the gate of the palace must not be opened at night, and immediately secretly sent a secret message to the assistant ministers to see him at dawn.Therefore, when Han Qi and others arrived, Empress Cao was already standing in front of the curtain in a filial piety, pear blossoms and rain.
The queen cried: Mr. Xiang, the official family has no sons, what can I do?
Han Qi said: Isn't there a prince?
The prince mentioned here is Yingzong Zhao Shu.He was originally the son of Song Renzong's cousin, but because all three of Renzong's sons died young, he was raised in the palace by the emperor, and was established as the prince under the urging of Han Qi, Ouyang Xiu and others.
The queen said: He is not the son of the first emperor.If he is established, no one will come to fight?
Han Qi said: How come!
The queen said: Well, I will listen to you!So he ordered the curtain to be opened, and said to the person hiding behind the curtain: Shu'er, now you are the emperor!
Zhao Shu was taken aback: I dare not be that!I dare not be!
After speaking, turn around and run away.
The ministers couldn't help but rush forward to surround Zhao Shu, some helped him untie his hair, and some helped him change his royal clothes, making a mess.Han Qi made a decisive decision and turned around to issue an order to Wang Gui, a scholar of the Imperial Academy, asking him to draft the will immediately.
Wang Gui was also terrified and at a loss.
Han Qi stopped drinking: How long has Emperor Daxing been in power?
Only then did Wang Gui know how to write, and only then did Zhao Shu become emperor.
However, Da Song seems to have a bad fate.Only three days after Yingzong succeeded to the throne, he suddenly fell ill on the fourth night of April, almost insane.When he went to court on the eighth day of the lunar new year, he actually ran around everywhere.Han Qi had no choice but to step forward and hug him, and he had no choice but to invite Empress Dowager Cao to listen to the government behind the curtain.As mentioned in the later story "Great Song Revolution", in order to keep Yingzong's throne, Han Qi even bet on his own wealth and life.
Next, it is time to work hard for the queen mother to withdraw the curtain and Yingzong to take charge of the government.
A year later, Yingzong recovered from illness.Han Qi picked out more than a dozen political matters, went to the West Pavilion to ask Yingzong for approval, and then took the documents to the East Hall to report to the Empress Dowager one by one.
After hearing this, the queen mother said: The punishment is very decent!
Han Qi said: This is the emperor's instructions, and the instructions are well written.It is really a blessing in the world that the emperor can listen to the government like this, and the blessings of the ministers and others.After the tomb of the first emperor is restored, the ministers should withdraw from the center.Now, you can ask the Queen Mother to bestow a county.
The queen mother was taken aback: how can the husband retreat?It is old to retire.The old man was supposed to live in the deep palace, and it was really a last resort to sit here every day.Please don't leave, my husband, you must stay in the government, and let the old man retire first.
Han Qi knelt down and said: Empress Dowager Shengming!But I don't know when the curtain will be removed?
The queen mother did not answer, but stood up and left.
Han Qi immediately ordered the etiquette officer sharply: "Remove the curtain!"
The curtain fell quickly.In a hurry, the figure of the queen mother can still be seen.
Han Qi, isn't Yingzong half the sky?
In fact, even when Shenzong succeeded to the throne, he had the merit of supporting him.In December of the third year of Zhiping (1066), Yingzong was seriously ill, but the memorial to the crown prince was detained.Zhao Xu, the eldest son who has been named King Ying, looked worried and asked Han Qi what he should do.
Han Qi said: May the king stay with the emperor day and night.
Zhao Xu said: This is originally the bounden duty of the Son of Man.
Han Qi said: Not for this.
Zhao Xu understood, and has been guarding his father day and night ever since.
Han Qi said to Yingzong: If the prince is not established, the world will be uneasy, please Your Majesty.
Yingzong was too sick to speak at this time, so he just nodded.
Han Qi handed the pen and paper to Yingzong, and Yingzong tremblingly wrote down the words "make the king the crown prince".Han Qi said again: "It must be King Ying, please write it in your own hand again, Your Majesty."Yingzong had no choice but to approve three more words: Ying Wangxu.
After finishing writing, the emperor burst into tears.
Privy envoy Wen Yanbo quietly said to Han Qi: Did you see the emperor's expression?At this time, even between father and son, it is impossible to have no thoughts.
Han Qi said: This is how state affairs should be, so what can we do?
As expected, Emperor Yingzong couldn't afford to be ill, and died a month later, and Zhao Xu inherited the throne logically.However, when the ministers asked Zhao Xu to succeed him, a strange thing happened: the dead Yingzong suddenly moved his fingers.Second Prime Minister Zeng Gongliang was taken aback, and hurriedly said to Prime Minister Han Qi: Do you want to wait?
Han Qi said, "Why panic!Even if the first emperor was resurrected, he would still be the Supreme Emperor.
All of these are of course very supportive for Zhao Xu.So when someone wanted to frame Han Qi later, Shenzong couldn't agree.He said: Let me tell you, if it weren't for him, Han Qi, I would be just a relative of the emperor.
However, Han Qi was dismissed, and because of a trivial matter.
This trivial matter is called the prime minister's shift.According to the etiquette system, when the emperor came to the court, someone had to lead other officials to salute the mountain and shout long live, called the escort.However, in the Tang Dynasty, it was the supervisory censor who was in charge, and in the Song Dynasty it was stipulated that they were prime ministers and deputy prime ministers.However, the prime minister and deputy prime minister are busy with their official duties, so they have no time to attend the ceremonial court meeting, and of course they are not on duty.
This makes people grab the handle.
The person who came forward to complain was Wang Tao, and his position was Yushi Zhongcheng.According to the supervisory system of the Chinese Empire, the supervisory officials of the central government were all called Yushi. The supervisory agency was called Yushifu in the Western Han Dynasty, Yushitai after the Eastern Han Dynasty, and the Metropolitan Procuratorate in the Ming and Qing dynasties.The chief of Yushitai is called Doctor Yushi, and the deputy chief is called Yushi Zhongcheng.However, in the Tang Dynasty, the post of Yushi doctor was not often held by officials. In the Song Dynasty, it was only an honorary title. In the Yuan Dynasty, the crown prince or noble relatives served concurrently.
Other supervisory officials are called Taiwan officials.
Taiwan officials have the right to supervise, but Wang Tao decided to be courteous before soldiers.In the name of Yushitai, he wrote Zhongshu Sheng, asking the other party to explain why he was not detained, but Zhongshu Sheng ignored it.Wang Tao wrote the prime minister again in the name of Yushi Zhongcheng, but the other side ignored him.So the head of the station went to the emperor to formally impeach Prime Minister Han Qi and Vice Minister Zeng Gongliang for being domineering, manipulating the power of the country, and despising the monarch.He pointed out that a weak monarch and a strong minister are by no means a blessing for the country, and the dismissal of the two is the love for them.
Han Qi and Zeng Gongliang also immediately went to court to punish them.Han Qi said: Your Majesty only needs to send a small eunuch to take the minister away. Why is the minister domineering?Zeng Gongliang said: "It's been a long time since the prime minister was not in custody, and it's not the two of us who broke the rules."An official next to the emperor also said: "Although the prime minister is guilty, it is too deceptive to accuse him of being domineering."
When Shenzong heard this, he was moved.
Wang Tao saw that even the last few chapters were muddled, so he announced a strike.He said: It seems that what I said is useless, how dare you meddle in other things?I implore Your Majesty to expel the minister from Beijing.From today onwards, the minister is only waiting for the crime in his private house, and dare not enter Yushitai again.
Similarly, Han Qi also announced that he would no longer go to work in the name of impeached ministers should wait for punishment.Shenzong had no choice but to make peace with Wang Tao and transferred Wang Tao to be a Hanlin scholar.Deputy Prime Minister Wu Kui was filled with righteous indignation when he got the news.He said to Shenzong: Wang Tao spitting blood, but got a good job, what kind of monarch will the world think of your majesty?
Therefore, Wu Kui also said that he was ill.
Of course, the prime minister, the deputy prime minister, and the censor Zhongcheng went on strike together, which was of course very serious. The final result was that Wang Tao, Wu Kui, and Han Qi left their original posts one after another and went to other places to become magistrates.Of course, there have been repetitions.For example, in order to appease Han Qi, Wu Kui, who had been deposed, was restored, but Han Qi resolutely refused to be a minister again, so Shenzong had no choice but to be respectful rather than obedient.At the farewell, it is said that both the monarch and his ministers were in tears.
But this is only the prelude to the tragedy.Both Han Qi and Shenzong understand that their cooperation has come to an end, and it is even more impossible to rule the world together, so it is better to say goodbye and leave their thoughts and friendship behind.In fact, Wang Tao is not just looking for trouble, and Han Qi's only fault is that he is a veteran and old man.Shenzong must use new and cutting-edge people, otherwise he cannot make great efforts to govern.What's more, he already has a candidate.
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