Chapter 12 The Ideals of Er Shenzong and Wang Anshi

After Song Shenzong Zhao Xu (sound xu, Tongxu) ascended the throne, he respected his biological mother Empress Gao as the empress dowager, respected Empress Dowager Cao as the empress dowager, and made his concubine Xiangshi (the great-granddaughter of the late Prime Minister Xiang Minzhong) the empress.These three women who were distinguished because they were married to the emperor had important influences on the political situation of the Northern Song Dynasty in different periods. In particular, Xiang's insistence on making the frivolous Zhao Ji the emperor directly led to the demise of the Northern Song Dynasty.

Before Song Shenzong, Song Renzong and Song Zhenzong were well-known successors, and basically completely inherited the policies formulated in the early Song Dynasty-that is, the "ancestral law" formulated by Song Taizu and Song Taizong.By the time Song Shenzong came to the throne, the Song Dynasty had been founded for nearly a hundred years, and the evils were getting worse, the domestic crisis was becoming more and more serious, and the border was still facing serious threats from the Liao Kingdom and Xixia.Song Shenzong was just 20 years old at this time, young and full of vigor, and he was very anxious about the situation of internal and external troubles, and wanted to alleviate the crisis and enrich the country and strengthen the army.The young Song Shenzong firmly believed that reform was the only way to change the status quo.When he was a prince, he liked reading books like "Han Feizi" very much, and he had the desire to reform the law and strengthen the country.At the beginning of his accession to the throne, he once said to Prime Minister Wen Yanbo: "There are many evils in the world, and reforms must be made." It can be seen that the reform was not an impulsive move taken by Song Shenzong on a whim.

Reform is a major event, which will inevitably involve politics, economy, military and other aspects.However, the important ministers of Song Shenzong's dynasty were all left over from Song Renzong's dynasty. Most of these important ministers were Confucian scholars, gentlemen, advocating the way of Confucius and Mencius and Huang Lao's quiet and inaction thoughts, which were incompatible with Song Shenzong's reform ideals.Therefore, it is almost impossible for Song Shenzong to obtain support from the current important ministers.Under such circumstances, Wang Anshi came into Song Shenzong's sight.

Wang Anshi, nicknamed Jiefu, nicknamed Banshan, and small character Badger Lang, was born in Linchuan, Fuzhou, and was known as Mr. Linchuan in the world.Wang Anshi was good at reading and had a strong memory. In the second year of Qingli (1042), he was ranked fourth in the list of Jinshi in Yangzhen.When Wang Anshi served as a local official for many years, he was able to care about the sufferings of the people's livelihood, and "had the ambition to change the world and change the customs." Wang Anshi was famous for his literary talent when he was young, and he was called "Eight Great Masters of Tang and Song Dynasties" together with Han Yu, Liu Zongyuan, Su Shi and others.After reading Wang Anshi's articles, Ouyang Xiu, the leader of the literary world at that time, couldn't help admiring and said: "Three thousand poems of Fengyue in the Hanlin, and two hundred years of articles by the official department. When you grow old, you still have self-pity, and who will compete with you later." Comments on Wang Anshi extremely high.

Such a famous person is only a small magistrate, and it is inevitable that he will be suspected of burying his talent.The strange thing is that many people recommended Wang Anshi at that time, but Wang Anshi did not make any excuses.Even important court ministers like Ouyang Xiu and Wen Yanbo expressed their hope that Wang Anshi would serve in Beijing, but Wang Anshi refused.In the eyes of ordinary people, Wang Anshi's behavior is quite incomprehensible.Perhaps Wang Anshi's mentality at that time was somewhat similar to that of Wang Mang in the Western Han Dynasty, who wanted to retreat in order to gain greater fame.

In October of the third year of Jiayou (1058), Wang Anshi was finally transferred to the capital after repeated refusals to be invalid.Two years later, Wang Anshi was appointed as a daily life note for fellow practitioners.Although this official position is idle, it is an important position, and there is a great chance of promotion, but Wang Anshi declined it many times, but he just refused to accept it.The Song court had no choice but to send someone to send the letter of appointment directly to Wang Anshi's home, and Wang Anshi hid in the toilet.In desperation, Wang Anshi reluctantly accepted this official position.

It was during this period of time in Beijing that Wang Anshi wrote ten thousand words to Song Renzong, systematically proposing his proposals for reform, demanding the implementation of the policy of enriching the country and strengthening the military, and changing the situation of "poverty and weakness" in the Song Dynasty.However, Song Renzong was a staunch ruler of success, and he didn't pay much attention to Wang Anshi's letter, but Wang Anshi became famous because of it. In the eighth year of Jiayou (1063), Wang Anshi's mother died, and Wang Anshi resigned.But he was not idle. For the next four years, he set up an academy in Jinling and began accepting apprentices to give lectures. Lu Dian, Gong Yuan, Li Ding, Cai Bian (Cai Jingdi, Wang Anshi's son-in-law) and others were all Wang Anshi's disciples at that time.For a time, Wang Anshi became famous, and people all over the world commented: "It is Wang Anshi's misfortune and the court's misfortune that Jinling Wang Anshi did not become a minister in power." big celebrity.

It is particularly important to mention here that before Song Shenzong, the only treacherous ministers recognized by the public were Ding Wei of Song Zhenzong's dynasty; after Song Shenzong, Cai Que, Zhang Dun, Lu Huiqing, Cai Jing, and Cai Bian were all regarded as Northern Song Dynasty officials. Traitor.But these treacherous officials in the Northern Song Dynasty all started their careers directly or indirectly on Wang Anshi's recommendation.The reason for this is that the reform is a very important opportunity.It can be seen that Wang Anshi is not good at knowing and employing people.

Song Shenzong had read Wang Anshi's Wanyan book to Song Renzong before he came to the throne, and he appreciated the insights in it very much.It happened that Han Wei was responsible for explaining the history books to Song Shenzong, and Song Shenzong often praised him.Han Wei was also a supporter of Wang Anshi, so he took the opportunity to say: "The views favored by Your Majesty are actually not mine, but those of my friend Wang Anshi." Therefore, Song Shenzong had also admired Wang Anshi for a long time. But there are also rumors that are not conducive to Wang Anshi.During the reign of Emperor Renzong of the Song Dynasty, one day the emperor had a banquet in the palace garden and decided that the ministers would go fishing in the pond by themselves as the main course of the banquet.Everyone went fishing happily, but Wang Anshi sat absent-mindedly and ate up all the bait on the plate in front of him.From this, Song Renzong believed that Wang Anshi was a treacherous person, because it was justifiable to accidentally eat a piece of bait by mistake, but it was really unreasonable to be able to eat up the whole plate of bait in a daze.Some people think that Wang Anshi's face has "white eyes", which is the appearance of a treacherous minister.Su Xun (Su Shi's father) even wrote an article specifically aimed at Wang Anshi, titled "Distinguishing Traitors".The core point of this article is: it is human nature to wash your face and change your clothes.Only treacherous and evil people will go against human nature, be unkempt all day long, eat pig and dog food, and talk sloppily about poetry, books, rituals and music, so as to gain a reputation for being unconventional.Wang Anshi was famous for his unkempt appearance at that time. He rarely changed clothes, and it is said that he did not take a bath.

Even so, after Song Shenzong ascended the throne, he still decided to call Wang Anshi to his side. He first appointed Wang Anshi as Zhijiangning Mansion, and soon he was called as Hanlin Bachelor and Attendant.Although the ministers headed by Zhang Fangping and Su Xun firmly opposed Song Shenzong's reuse of Wang Anshi, Wang Anshi was ordered to enter Beijing in April of the first year of Xining (1068).When Song Shenzong heard that Wang Anshi had arrived in the capital, he was as excited as a child, and immediately called Wang Anshi into the palace. In this confrontation, Wang Anshi advocated the art of enriching the country and strengthening the army, and put forward the idea of ​​reforming financial management, which is exactly the same as Song Shenzong's ideal.So the two monarchs and ministers decided to carry out the reform for the common ideal, and thus an important political event in Chinese history was born: the Xining Reform.

In February of the second year of Xining (1069), Emperor Shenzong of Song Dynasty formally appointed Wang Anshi as a political adviser (deputy prime minister) to be in charge of political reform.The five ministers in power at that time were known as "life, old age, sickness and death".Among them, "sheng" refers to Wang Anshi, because he is full of vitality and is preparing for reform. "Old" refers to Zeng Gongliang who is already old. "Disease" refers to Fu Bi. He got this nickname because he opposed the reform and claimed that he could not get sick. "Death" refers to Tang Jie, who resolutely opposed the reform, and was worried and angry day and night for it. As a result, as soon as the reform began, he died of sores on his back because of worry. "Bitterness" refers to Zhao Bian, who disapproved of the reform, but was unable to stop it, so that he complained all day long. In order to express his determination to reform, Song Shenzong deliberately established a new organization to preside over the reform: "Three Divisions and Regulations Division", and appointed Privy Council members Chen Shengzhi and Wang Anshi to lead the reform, in fact, both were presided over by Wang Anshi.Reform and implementation of the New Deal is not the work of one person. Wang Anshi needed to find a group of people to be his assistants, and there happened to be a group of people who wanted to use the New Deal to get ahead.Under the premise of being driven by such interests, the future outcome of the New Deal can be imagined.Wang Anshi appointed a group of newcomers, mainly Lu Huiqing, Zhang Dun, Zeng Bu, Han Jiang, Lu Jiawen, Shen Kuo and others. The new method introduced by Wang Anshi is basically a copy of Sang Hongyang during Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty.At that time, Sang Hongyang forcibly implemented the "counting order".This is a law that collects property tax on merchants. It stipulates that merchants must declare their property to the government, and then tax according to the property, and collect every two thousand yuan, that is, one hundred and twenty yuan.However, in order to pay less or no tax, businessmen usually conceal or underreport their property.Therefore, not long after, the Han court began to implement the "reporting order", that is, to encourage the common people to report on those businessmen who did not abide by the "reporting order".The accused businessman was fined to guard the border for one year and his assets were confiscated.The person who informs can get half of the property of the accused businessman as a reward. With the "reporting order", businessmen across the country were hit hard, and businessmen above the middle level basically went bankrupt.Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty followed Sang Hongyang's suggestion and transferred the monopoly rights of salt, iron, wine and other commodities to the central court.These commodities are related to people's lives and national stability, and have huge benefits.Afterwards, the state was responsible for the management of these commodities from cooking, smelting, brewing to sales, and laws were enacted to strictly restrict private operations.Sang Hongyang did not use commercial organizations and merchant capital to enhance the government's functions, nor did he use government authority to support the development of commerce. The core idea of ​​Wang Anshi's reform is actually to use the state monopoly management method to compete with the people for profit, which is exactly the same as Sang Hongyang's thinking in the Western Han Dynasty.In this way, the conservative Confucianists in the court will naturally strongly oppose it.Yu Shi Lu Hui wrote to impeach Wang Anshi, Song Shenzong refused to listen, and came out of Lu Hui to know Dengzhou; as soon as the Qingmiao Law was promulgated, Prime Minister Fu Bi resigned saying he was sick; Sima Guang, a Hanlin scholar in Haozhou, publicly opposed the Qingmiao Law, and Lu Huiqing Debating in front of Emperor Shenzong of the Song Dynasty; Su Shi, an official from the Kaifeng government, published a long memorial of more than 7,000 words, vehemently opposing the reform; The government wrote an all-out attack on the Qingmiao Law, and Zeng Gongliang, Chen Shengzhi and others also echoed it. Faced with these pressures, Song Shenzong was a little shaken, so he asked Wang Anshi: "Now people are talking about the reform everywhere, criticizing the reform is not afraid of changes in the sky, do not listen to public opinion, and do not abide by the rules of the ancestors. What should I do?" Wang Anshi had expected these reforms. He resisted, so he replied calmly: "Your Majesty handles political affairs seriously, how can there be a change in the sky? Your Majesty often asks for opinions, how can you say that you have not taken care of public opinion? As for the rules of the ancestors, they should be changed to adapt to the new situation." Song Shenzong Encouraged by Wang Anshi, he decided to continue to implement the new law. Legend has it that Wang Anshi has always been extremely simple in his personal life.Even Wang Anshi's staunchest political opponents could not fault his character.Even after he became the prime minister, he didn't even know how much his own salary was. He always took a bag home and gave it to his family to spend casually, never counting the amount.In this way, it is even more apparent that Wang Anshi carried out reforms, neither for promotion and wealth, nor for satisfying personal ambitions, but out of loyalty to the emperor and patriotism.This undoubtedly moved Song Shenzong very much.Therefore, after the implementation of the new law, although there were waves of opposition from the ruling and opposition parties, people who slandered Wang Anshi followed one after another, Song Shenzong also wavered for a while, but in the end he still firmly stood by Wang Anshi's side. The most important reason was that Trust in Wang Anshi's personal qualities. Naturally, Wang Anshi also wanted to repay Song Shenzong's kindness without favoritism.In the process of implementing the new law, the imperial court confiscated part of the property of Empress Xiang's father, and the younger brother of Empress Dowager Cao was also accused of violating the Shi Yi Law.Worried about harming their own interests, some descendants of the clan stopped in front of Wang Anshi's horse and begged, "We and the emperor have the same ancestor, so please don't embarrass us." But Wang Anshi sternly refused. Song Shenzong faced much greater pressure than Wang Anshi.The Empress Dowager Cao in the harem believed that "the ancestral laws should not be changed lightly", and always said to Song Shenzong: "Wang Anshi is messing up the world!"When he saw his grandmother always crying about the reform, he often felt deeply disturbed.Song Shenzong's biological mother, Empress Dowager Gao, was also an opponent of the new law, and often discouraged her son from changing the ancestral law without authorization.In this way, the emperor was always wandering in ideals and self-blame, and the boredom in his heart can be imagined.Seeing that Song Shenzong was upset, the younger brother Zhao Hao persuaded his elder brother to follow the advice of Empress Dowager Cao and abolish the new law.As a result, Song Shenzong lost his temper and said, "You all say that I am ruining the world, so you can do it!" Zhao Hao was so frightened that he burst into tears on the spot. Coincidentally, since the implementation of the new law, abnormal natural phenomena have continued to appear all over the country, such as sudden strange winds in Jingdong and Hebei, and the collapse of Huashan Mountain in Shaanxi.The ancients believed in celestial phenomena so much that people were panicked for a while.Some opponents of the new law took the opportunity to explain that these visions were a warning from the heavens against the reform. In the seventh year of Xining (1074), Jian'an came to the door, and Zheng Xia, the judicial officer of Guangzhou, joined the army and wrote a letter to Song Shenzong.He believes: "Since last year, locust plagues have been rampant, and there has been no rain and drought in autumn and winter, causing the wheat seedlings to dry up and die, and crops such as millet and hemp cannot be sown. The life and death of the people. However, the Liao Kingdom took the opportunity to make things worse, and repeatedly sent envoys to ask the Song Dynasty to cede territory. These phenomena were caused by the many injustices of the ruling ministers.” In order to prove his point, Zheng Xia also sold the common people’s sons and daughters Tragic scenes such as pawning his wife, demolishing houses, and cutting down sangzhe are drawn into a "Picture of Refugees".As a result, this real and vivid "Picture of Refugees" greatly shocked Song Shenzong.Song Shenzong's ideal was to make the people live and work in peace and contentment through reforms, but in the "Picture of Refugees" he saw, the people were displaced.Song Shenzong couldn't sleep because of this, and fell into deep reflection. The next day, Song Shenzong ordered the temporary removal of 18 decrees including Qingmiao, Exemption, Fangtian, and Baojia.Although these laws and regulations were revived soon after at the request of Lu Huiqing, Deng Wan and others, Song Shenzong's move undoubtedly indicated that he began to hesitate about the new law, and his compromise also implied that a rift had begun to appear between him and Wang Anshi . Later, Zheng Xia wrote to Song Shenzong again, arguing that the long drought without rain was entirely caused by Wang Anshi, and threatened that as long as the emperor deposed Wang Anshi, it would rain from heaven.The royal family and officials also echoed, which shows how unpopular Wang Anshi's new law was at the time.Wang Anshi retorted angrily: "The drought was caused by Anshi. If you go to Anshi and there is no rain for ten days, you will be begging and beheading the minister outside Xuande Gate for the crime of deceiving the king." It means that since the drought was caused by me, Wang Anshi , then please depose me, Wang Anshi, but if it does not rain after ten days after deposing me, please behead the minister who wrote the letter outside the Xuande Gate for the crime of deceiving the king. Although Song Shenzong didn't express his position, he began to waver amidst the public opinion.Under such tremendous pressure, Wang Anshi took the initiative to submit his resignation to Song Shenzong, requesting his resignation as prime minister.Song Shenzong did not agree at first, but Wang Anshi wrote many times.Song Shenzong had no choice but to appoint Lu Huiqing as a representative to meet Wang Anshi with the emperor's edict, and let him take up idle positions such as Taishi and Taifu, and still stay in the capital.But Wang Anshi resolutely refused and asked to serve as an official in another place.However, Wang Anshi recommended Han Jiang as the prime minister, and Lu Huiqing assisted Han Jiang to continue the reform.In April of the seventh year of Xining (1074), Wang Anshi dismissed his prime minister for the first time and became the magistrate of Jiangning Prefecture (now Nanjing, Jiangsu). After Wang Anshi stepped down as Prime Minister, Han Jiang and Lu Huiqing recommended by him continued to serve as ministers in power. They basically followed the line, principles, and policies formulated by Wang Anshi before, and insisted on implementing the new law. ", Lu Huiqing is the "good god of Dharma protection". Zheng Xia, the petty official who had written twice before, made another astonishing move. He wrote the letter for the third time, and this time it was Prime Minister Lu Huiqing who was impeached.Zheng Xia believed that Lu Huiqing was treacherous by nature and that he was a crony with Wang Anshi, so he proposed to depose Lu Huiqing and appoint Feng Jing as prime minister.Zheng Xia also pointed out that Yuan Jiang, Wang Jie, Sun Yong, and Feng Jing are benevolent and righteous people who can take on the important task of ruling ministers.Lu Huiqing was furious about this, and as a result, Zheng Xia was demoted to Tingzhou (now Changting, Fujian) and was not allowed to enter an official career again. At this time, the backbone of the reform faction began to take different paths for their own interests.Lu Huiqing was originally a very ambitious person. He attached himself to Wang Anshi at the beginning, but for his own benefit, and wanted to use the New Deal to get ahead.After Wang Anshi left, he vigorously promoted relatives Lu Shengqing, Lu Heqing and others, hoping to support his own power through nepotism.The most chilling thing is that Lu Huiqing also spared no effort to crack down on other members of the reform party under the banner of reform, hoping to take the opportunity to replace Wang Anshi as the leader.Lu Huiqing's reckless behavior caused widespread dissatisfaction among the ministers in the DPRK and China.Han Jiang and others wrote a letter, strongly requesting Song Shenzong to call Wang Anshi back to Beijing for reinstatement.Song Shenzong also believed that only Wang Anshi could save the situation.In February of the eighth year of Xining (1075), Wang Anshi returned to Beijing to resume his post ten months after he was dismissed for the first time. Although Wang Anshi has returned to Beijing, he has not been away for a year, but the situation has changed too much.Lu Huiqing is no longer the right-hand man who actively helped Wang Anshi to reform the law. Instead of assisting Wang Anshi to implement the new law, he keeps creating a wedge between Song Shenzong and Wang Anshi.Song Shenzong discovered Lu Huiqing's conspiracy and demoted him from the capital, but the reformist camp had already begun to split.Although Wang Anshi still wanted to concentrate power in his own hands and carry out the reform, the actual situation showed that he was powerless.The biggest problem is that Wang Anshi and Song Shenzong disagreed on how to reform.Song Shenzong was nearly 30 years old at this time, and the experience of the past ten years was enough to mature the once immature emperor. He had his own understanding and plan for the reform, and he no longer wanted to rely on Wang Anshi for everything.Now that the differences between the monarch and his ministers are getting bigger and bigger, it is inevitable that the road to reform will become more and more difficult. In June of the ninth year of Xining (1076), Wang Anshi's beloved son Wang Yu (sound pang, Tongpang) died of illness.Wang Yu is shrewd and capable, and is a powerful political supporter of Wang Anshi.The early death of his son was a great blow to Wang Anshi, coupled with his unsatisfactory politics, which made him physically and mentally exhausted. Wang Anshi asked for retirement, and Song Shenzong also readily agreed.In October, Wang Anshi dismissed his prime minister for the second time, and left the capital with regrets of unfulfilled ambitions.From then on, he retired to Jinling and devoted himself to the study of knowledge, never caring about political affairs. After Wang Anshi returned to Jinling, he received a family poem from his second daughter: "The west wind does not penetrate the small window screen, and the autumn air should pity me and remember my home. I can see the hatred of thousands of miles in the south of the Yangtze River, and look at the yellow flowers with tears in front of me." The poem is full of love for relatives. .Wang Anshi wrote a poem and replied: "The autumn lanterns reflect the cage gauze a little, and it is easy to read Shurangama and Mo Yijia. When all fate is like a dream, there is only a wonderful lotus in the world." Not only did he not let his daughter go home to visit her relatives, but also persuaded her She ended her fate in the yellow scroll and green lantern.It was not that Wang Anshi was really unkind, but that his second daughter married the son of former prime minister Wu Chong. Wu Chong had just resigned as prime minister the year before last.It can be seen from this incident that the relationship between Wang Anshi and Song Shenzong has already undergone essential changes. Wang Anshi left, and Song Shenzong lost his most powerful ally, but he did not give up his ideal of reform.In the second year after Wang Anshi dismissed his prime minister for the second time, Song Shenzong came from behind the scenes to the front stage, personally presided over the reform, and deliberately changed the year name to "Yuanfeng".However, the reform did not go smoothly just because the emperor presided over it. In the process of implementing the new law, there were constant objections, which inevitably made Song Shenzong, who had little ambition for change, feel a strong sense of frustration.Faced with numerous criticisms and tremendous pressure, Song Shenzong was very angry. He decided to use the authority of the emperor to implement the new law with stronger means.The best way to show the emperor's authority is to find a few conservative ministers who oppose the reform and punish them mercilessly, so as to kill chickens and scare monkeys.And the famous university scholar Su Shi happened to be on the cusp. Su Shi, courtesy name Zizhan, nicknamed Dongpo Jushi, was born in Meishan, Sichuan.A famous writer, calligrapher and painter in the Northern Song Dynasty.Poetry is bold and unrestrained, and he is one of the eight famous masters of Tang and Song Dynasties.Su Shi was famous for his talents, and he was well-versed in classics and history. He was a Jinshi in the second year of Jiayou (1057), and he became famous all over the world after that.He is endowed with loyalty and love, talks about Yingfa, and has made great achievements in all states and counties.His articles and political affairs are admired by the world, even surpassing Ouyang Xiu as the leader of the literary world.Su Shi's calligraphy is also very good. Together with Huang Tingjian, Mi Fu, and Cai Xiang (one said Cai Jing), he is called the four great calligraphers of the Northern Song Dynasty. Personality and unrestrained style of calligraphy dominated the Southern Song Dynasty calligraphy circle and influenced all generations.Su Shi "has been good at books since he was a child, and he is tireless when he is old."He often uses lying brushes and slanted fronts, with plump and smooth strokes, and bold and vigorous strokes in the turbulence of the strokes. Huang Tingjian praised him as "the best book in the dynasty, and he should be the first". Song Yingzong had heard of Su Shi's great reputation before he came to the throne, and admired him very much.After he ascended the throne, Song Yingzong originally wanted to call Su Shi into the Imperial Academy in accordance with the practice of the Tang Dynasty and grant him the post of Zhizhi.But Prime Minister Han Qi said: "Su Shi can become a great weapon, and he will definitely be reused by the emperor in the future. As long as the court cultivates him well, then all scholars and scholars all over the country will serve the emperor. There are objections to this. If Su Shi is suddenly reused now, the scholars and bureaucrats in the world may doubt his ability, which will be extremely detrimental to Su Shi." Song Yingzong was still unwilling, and asked Han Qi: "How about letting Su Shi repair the daily life note? "Han Qi said: "The nature of repairing daily notes is the same as that of Zhizhi's official position, and the official rank is close, so I am afraid it is not suitable." Due to Han Qi's repeated obstruction, Song Yingzong had to appoint Su Shi to try out in the history museum.When Emperor Shenzong of the Song Dynasty was in power, Su Shi was highly valued, and he was appointed Minister of the Ministry of Rites and a Bachelor of Hanlin, but he was demoted out of Beijing soon because he opposed Wang Anshi's reform. In April of the second year of Yuanfeng (1079), Su Shi was transferred to Huzhou (now Wuxing County, Zhejiang Province).After arriving in Huzhou, Su Shi wrote "Huzhou Xie Shangbiao".In fact, this is just a routine matter, as long as there is a brief description of the lack of political achievements of the minister in the past, and then a description of the greatness of the emperor's grace, it can be handed over.However, Su Shi has a bold personality, does not stick to small details, and he added a sentence in the thank you form, "Knowing that his life is not at the right time, it is difficult to chase after newcomers; check that his old life is not troublesome, maybe he can shepherd the common people", In fact, it means to complain, to express dissatisfaction with the new law. Originally, when this kind of thank you letter was sent to the imperial court, not many people would pay attention to it. However, Su Shi’s literary fame is all over the world.Since "Xinjin" alluded to the newcomers introduced by Wang Anshi, it angered some newcomers who were still in power.They accused Su Shi of slandering the imperial court and venting their dissatisfaction with the new law in the name of "thank you", and asked him to be severely punished. There are many people in the world who are dissatisfied with the new law, and Su Shi's complaint is not a big crime.In order to put Su Shi to death, a premeditated net was quietly unfolded. Censors Li Ding, He Zhengchen, Shu Quan and others impeached Su Shi for "playing with the court and ridiculing state affairs", and specifically cited Su Shi's "Hangzhou Chronicle Poem" as evidence.In order to weave greater charges, these people even deliberately found individual sentences from Su Shi's other poems and prose, and convicted them out of context.For example, Su Shi blamed himself for "reading thousands of volumes without reading the law, so that Jun Yao and Shun know nothing about it". He originally said that he did not understand the law and so on, so he could not help the emperor become a saint like Yao and Shun. It is said to be satirizing the emperor's failure to teach and supervise officials with the law; while Su Shi's two lines of singing about the juniper tree "the root reaches the nine springs without music, the world only knows the stinging dragon" is alleged to be alluding to the emperor. "The emperor is like a flying dragon in the sky, but Su Shi wants to look for the dragon under the nine springs. There is nothing more disobedient than this"! In this way, Su Shi's crime will be serious, and he has reached the point of heinous crime, and he must die. Although there were many people who wanted Su Shi dead, and Song Shenzong was very angry with Su Shi, he was still unwilling to kill him. He only agreed to arrest Su Shi, and specifically requested that Su Shi not be put in prison overnight on the way to Beijing. In July of the same year, Yushitai sent Huangfu Zun to arrest Su Shi.After hearing the news, Su Shi's close friend Wang Shen urgently sent someone to inform Su Zhe, and Su Zhe immediately sent someone to deliver a letter to his brother.After Su Shi heard the news, he immediately asked for leave and stayed at home.After Huangfu Zun arrived, Su Shi was so frightened that he didn't even dare to come out to meet Huangfu Zun.Later, Huangfu Zun repeatedly explained that he did not come to arrest him, so Su Shi reluctantly came out to meet him. In the second chapter, it was mentioned that Gao Qiu was exiled in the capital before he made his fortune, and was introduced by a friend to seek a job in Su Shi's mansion.This little Wangdu Taiwei is Wang Shen.Later, for Wang Shen's birthday, he specially invited his younger uncle Duan Wang Zhao Ji. Gao Qiu was good at Cuju, so he was appreciated by Duan Wang Zhao Ji who loved Cuju. On the way to Beijing, Su Shi heard that the crime was serious, and he didn't know what his fate would be like on this trip, so he wanted to commit suicide by diving several times, but he was worried that his younger brother Su Che would be implicated if he died, so he didn't make up his mind.After Su Shi left, his wife Wang Runzhi burned all the manuscripts of Su Shi's poems and essays in order to avoid disaster, so many of Su Shi's works were lost.Su Shi later mentioned this matter in a letter to Wen Yanbo: "The prefectures and counties were watching the wind, and the officials were dispatched to search for them around the boat. The old and the young almost died of terror. After leaving, the women cursed and said: It is good to write a book, and the book is finished." What do you get, and I am so afraid of it? Take it all and burn it. Compare things to decide, repeat the reasoning, and seven or eight of them will perish." ("Huangzhou Shangwen Lugong Book") After arriving in the capital, Su Shi was formally arrested and imprisoned, and handed over to Yushitai for interrogation.Twenty-nine ministers and celebrities who were close to Su Shi, such as Sima Guang, Fan Zhen, Zhang Fangping, Wang Shen, Su Zhe, Huang Tingjian, and even the deceased Ouyang Xiu, were implicated. Taiwan Poetry Case". After Su Shi was imprisoned, his eldest son Su Mai (born by his first wife Wang Fu) went to the prison every day to bring him meals.While waiting for the final court ruling, since the father and son could not meet, the two secretly agreed: Su Mai usually only sends vegetables and meat; if he gets bad news about the death penalty, he will send fish instead, so that Su Shi can be mentally prepared.Coincidentally, one day Su Mai happened to be busy and couldn't deliver food to his father, so he entrusted a friend to do it for him.The friend was very enthusiastic and specially prepared a fish for Su Shi.As a result, Su Shi was frightened when he saw the fish, thinking that the court had sentenced him to death, so he wrote two desperate poems and asked someone to bring them to his younger brother Su Zhe.The two poems are: