Chapter 33 3. Taizu's Heart: The Prime Minister's Chair

In the first few years of the founding of the Song Dynasty, Zhao Kuangyin's behavior was mainly to calm things down and calm down others, and he was unwilling to cause too many disputes. He also treated the old ministers with courtesy, rewarded the heroes without hesitation, and showed pity to the common people. Therefore, he has won a lot of praise and support, whether it is the court or the people, they all think that he is a wise lord.Zhao Kuangyin's character is even more famous. Almost everyone thinks that Taizu is not only benevolent but also broad-minded, which can be seen from a small incident.

After inheriting the state of the Later Zhou Dynasty, in order to appease the courtiers and avoid more bloody disputes, Zhao Kuangyin wisely adopted the method of continuing to appoint the old officials of the Zhou Dynasty, allowing most of the Zhou Dynasty officials to stay in their original posts, and the Prime Minister Fan Zhi also continued to do The prime minister of the Song Dynasty continued to maintain the previous treatment and won the support of Zhou Chen.In fact, for most courtiers, being an official is only for wealth and honor, and there are still a small number of people who are truly loyal to the old master and do not serve the second king.However, thousands of years of Confucianism education have made literati cherish their own reputation, so some of these old ministers are caught in a dilemma because of the reality and moral sentiment: on the one hand, they are forced by the situation to accept Zhao Kuangyin as the new emperor. , to assist the Song Dynasty; but on the other hand, the moral integrity requires him to be loyal to the old master.People in this dilemma can only bow their heads and accept it in the face of reality, and temporarily hide their so-called pursuit of fame.

After the establishment of the Song Dynasty, the country maintained stability for a period of time. Zhao Kuangyin hosted a banquet to entertain the officials to reflect the peaceful scene of the monarch and his officials enjoying together, and the officials also went to the banquet happily.When the wine was in full swing, there was a sudden commotion.Zhao Kuangyin asked the valet beside him, "Who is making the noise?" The attendant said cautiously: "It's written by the Hanlin scholar Wang. He seems to be drunk and yelled loudly during the banquet." In view of the current happy scene, Zhao Kuangyin was not unhappy, but just smiled and said to Zhao Pu: "Wang Zhu is really a man of temperament. If you can't drink, you should drink less. Why get drunk?"

But Zhao Pu said: "Drunk people often feel melancholy. Wang Zhu seems to have said some disrespectful things when he was drunk." Zhao Kuangyin asked: "What did he say?" The attendant didn't dare to answer, so Zhao Pu had no choice but to reply: "Wang Zhu is a Hanlin bachelor selected by Enke when Zhou Shizong Chai Rong was in power. It's the most pedantic, so I miss my old master and say something about missing Sejong." "Oh?" Zhao Kuangyin seemed to be interested, "Is there really such a thing? What did he say?" Zhao Kuangyin looked under the banquet with great interest, but all the courtiers were frightened and silent, only Wang Zhu, who was drunk, fell asleep on the table, still muttering: "Give me wine! Fill me with wine!" !"

Zhao Pu said: "Wang Zhu said that Sejong's power was easily lost because his subjects were not loyal. Now everyone is drinking and having fun, calling Mrs. Zhao the emperor. I don't know if Sejong's spirit in heaven will feel disappointed." Such disrespectful words, even though they were uttered by a drunken person, are not small crimes.Most of the ministers at the banquet were Wang Zhu's peers who once served Sejong together. Now that he said something that offended the current emperor, fearing that he would be hurt, they all backed away. Zhao Kuangyin smiled and listened to Zhao Pu's speech, looked at all the ministers, and said, "Do you think what Wang Zhu said makes sense?" It makes sense. You are all former ministers of the Zhou Dynasty. You were supposed to assist the Emperor of Zhou, but you allowed me to take advantage of the loophole and change the surname of the world to Zhao. This is your dereliction of duty."

What he said made everyone puzzled, and they all knelt down on the ground, shouting: "Your Majesty, forgive me!" Zhao Kuangyin said: "Although you are dereliction of duty, it is precisely because of this that I am the emperor. Therefore, I want to thank you! Although Wang Zhu accepted my imperial edict from the Song Dynasty, he still misses the old master in his heart. Do you think he is the emperor?" Guilty?" Some of the ministers said: "Since you are a minister of the Song Dynasty, you should be loyal to the Song Dynasty. The king speaks nonsense after drinking, and please don't blame him!"

Zhao Kuangyin said: "Yes, Wang Zhu is now a courtier of the Song Dynasty, but he is thinking about the previous dynasty. This is his crime. But I don't blame him at all, because I hope that the Song Dynasty also has such a courtier who can be loyal to the emperor. My own emperor, even if the world has changed, he will not change his original intention. Although he is nostalgic for the old master, Wang Zhu's loyalty is very rare! I still admire him very much!" As soon as the words fell, all the ministers shouted long live: "Your Majesty is wise, it is the blessing of the ministers! The ministers must be loyal to the Song Dynasty and share the worries for the majesty!"

Zhao Kuangyin nodded and said with a smile: "Order to send Wang Zhu back to the mansion so that he can rest and sober up." The next day, when Wang Zhuojiu woke up, he broke out in a cold sweat when he heard others talking about his nonsense at the Royal Banquet.He also heard that Zhao Kuangyin didn't blame himself, and a stone fell from his heart.But when he thought that he had offended Tianwei so much, he was still a little uneasy, so he entered the palace tremblingly to ask for an audience. Zhao Kuangyin said: "Mantra after drinking, I believe you miss Chai Rong in your heart. But since you can't look back now, it's better to work hard for Da Song, and I won't treat you badly either!"

Wang Zhu kowtowed to thank him in trepidation, and publicized the matter after he retired from the court, which became a strong evidence of the broad-mindedness of the Song emperor. The reason why Zhao Kuangyin didn't blame his ministers for their unscrupulous words was that Wang Zhuo was not the only one who had such thoughts, and it was the most unwise way to guard against the mouths of the people.For a Hanlin scholar like Wang Zhu, complaining would not have any impact, but if he punished him, it would not be magnanimous enough.Although he doesn't care about Wang Zhu's matter at all, it doesn't mean that Zhao Kuangyin doesn't care about everything about the old minister.

Prime Minister Fan Zhi, because of the meritorious service of Guo Wei and Chai Rong, and because of his advanced age, was given a special chair. He could sit and discuss affairs like an emperor in the court hall, while other officials could only stand .After the establishment of the Song Dynasty, Fan Zhi was still appointed as the prime minister, and this tradition was still preserved.But Zhao Kuangyin has a heart for this chair. The prime minister power held by Fan Zhi is the head of all officials, no matter how big or small the matter is, he needs to report to him, and then Fan Zhi submits it to Zhao Kuangyin for decision.Having been in this position for many years, Fan Zhi is well versed in various government affairs. He often handles some matters well and reports directly to Zhao Kuangyin, meaning to relieve the emperor's worries and not worry about trivial matters.However, Zhao Kuangyin, who has always been afraid of courtiers' excessive power, is different from Guo Wei and Chai Rong. He does not want courtiers to make decisions for him. He was a little relieved.Therefore, whenever he saw Fan Zhi coming to court and sitting upright in front of his eyes, Zhao Kuangyin felt uncomfortable, but Fan Zhi knew nothing about it.

In the summer of this year, it happened that the Yellow River flooded, and many places near Bianliang were flooded.According to the usual practice, Fan Zhi ordered the officials of the surrounding government offices to take out all the grain in the treasury to help the victims. After making arrangements, he wrote the matter into a memorial and reported it to Zhao Kuangyin in the court. After listening to Fan Zhi's report, Zhao Kuangyin nodded and said, "The prime minister shared my concerns, and handled this matter very properly. Just do as you said." Fan Zhi said: "The old minister has written the specific list of selected government offices in the memorial. Please read it, Your Majesty." Zhao Kuangyin looked around and said: "In the past few days, the number of personal guards in the palace has been reduced, and no one has passed on the memorial. Please send it to me, the prime minister!" When Fan Zhi heard this, he quickly stood up, walked tremblingly up a few steps to Zhao Kuangyin's imperial case, presented the memorial, and then saluted and returned it.When he was about to return to his seat, he found that several eunuchs from the Yellow Gate had moved away the chair he had been sitting on.Fan Zhi, who has been an official for many years, knew that this must be what Zhao Kuangyin meant. Although he was puzzled, he didn't dare to say anything, so he had to stand on one side and obey orders like all the officials. Zhao Kuangyin read the memorial and said to Fan Zhi: "I actually have plans for these things, but I didn't expect the prime minister to have already arranged them." Fan Zhi hurriedly said in panic: "The old minister handled it according to the usual practice, so he didn't ask for orders in time." Zhao Kuangyin said: "If there are similar incidents in the future, the prime minister should report to me first and then make a decision, lest you and my monarch and ministers cannot agree, which will make things difficult for the people below." Fan Zhi hurriedly said: "Your Majesty is right. It is the old minister's fault. I will ask His Majesty first for instructions in the future." It is a trivial thing to set up a chair specially for the elderly in the court hall. This is a means to show the emperor's benevolence, but Zhao Kuangyin was very dissatisfied with this and took the opportunity to withdraw Fan Yuan. The high-quality chair made him have to stand and discuss matters like the ministers in the future.In fact, in his heart, what was upset was not an old minister who was sitting like himself, but the power of the prime minister in Fan Zhi's hands.How to weaken the courtiers and strengthen the king is a question that Zhao Kuangyin has been thinking about all his life. It is not only aimed at generals, but also at all courtiers who hold important powers. His removal of Fan Zhi's chair actually represents the removal of the prime minister's power.After taking away the chair, Zhao Kuangyin continued to implement his plan. He didn't want to see the situation where the monarch was weak and the minister was strong, so he often set up more than one chancellor. The post of political affairs is also shared by several people, who restrain each other.The military and political power in the hands of the prime minister was shared by the privy envoys, while the financial power was assumed by the newly established three envoys, which fundamentally weakened the real power of the prime minister. Compared with a chair, it is obvious that the latter is more offensive to the majesty of the king if you say the words of remembering the old master at the banquet.However, Zhao Kuangyin treated Wang Zhu leniently with his outrageous words, without any intention of blaming him. Instead, he praised him, which made the courtiers amazed.However, the chair of an old minister has become his hatred, which also shows that Zhao Kuangyin's heart is only broadened when it is innocuous, and he has always been "careful" about the factors that threaten his rule.In fact, who has not been like this among the kings throughout history?