Chapter 14 Siyuan Yuchanghua

Empress Dowager Gao can be called "Yao and Shun among women", which shows that the government under her rule is clear and bright. However, the most intense and cruel party disputes in the history of the Song Dynasty also occurred during this period, and even lasted from the Yuanyou period to Song Zhezong's personal administration. Therefore, the ruling ministers, whether they are conservatives or reformists, are inevitably involved in fierce party struggles.Among them, the complexity and subtleties are hard to describe. There are political disputes between conservatives and reformists, as well as conflicts between Song Zhezong and Empress Dowager Gao, and there are many unexplainable personal grievances.

After Sima Guang came to power, he shifted the responsibility for the reform to Wang Anshi, attacking "Wang Anshi did not develop the political system, dedicated his own opinions, messed up the old chapters, and mistakenly appointed the former emperor as envoys"; In addition to benefits", "It is called loving the people, but it is actually sick people, and it is called benefiting the country, but it is actually hurting the country."Most of the new laws were abolished, and the old laws were restored one by one.Sima Guang lived in seclusion in Luoyang for fifteen years during Song Shenzong's political reform. He abolished the new law thoroughly. It cannot but be said that he was influenced by his own political depression for several years.However, Empress Dowager Gao not only blindly trusted Sima Guang and entrusted him with important tasks, but also carried out his anti-reform measures to the end after Sima Guang died of illness, and appointed a large number of conservative figures such as Wen Yanbo, Lu Gongzhu, Fan Chunren and Lu Da Fang et al.This is the so-called "Yuanyou Genghua" in history.

In fact, Wang Anshi’s reform has been going on for more than ten years now. Whether they are conservatives or reformers, most of them have different attitudes towards the reform. For example, the conservative Su Shi wrote to his friends Zhang Dun's letter revealed his reflection on the radical words and deeds of the reform, and Zhang Dun among the reformists also believed that there were many drawbacks in the new law that needed to be corrected.This fully shows that after more than ten years, both sides have seen the advantages and disadvantages of the new law.It is a pity that Sima Guang's coming to power made it impossible to reconcile the contradictions between the two factions, and the party struggle entered a white-hot state.

Conservatives entering the court means that reformers may go out of the field.Sensing the crisis, the ministers of the reform faction attacked Empress Dowager Gao for not arbitrarily changing Song Shenzong's new law with the rhetoric of "three years of no change to filial piety" in order to preserve power, and made the young emperor Song Zhezong unfilial and unrighteous.Empress Dowager Gao said sternly: "The grandson is young, and he cannot be in charge. Since the old man presides over the political affairs, it is not the emperor changing his father with his son, but me changing my son with my mother! Besides, I am only returning to the old system of Emperor Renzong's ancestors. , who said it is inappropriate?" In this way, the defeat of the reformists has been revealed.

Here is a special mention, "change the son with the mother" means to change the political measures of the Song Shenzong Dynasty in the name of Song Shenzong's mother, the Empress Dowager Gao. This is the most powerful rebuttal of the Queen Mother Gao, but it also buried her and The fuse of grandson Song Zhezong's discord. Sima Guang also fanatically opposed the new law under the banner of "changing mothers with sons".At that time, some clear-headed people once advised Sima Guang to put himself in the place of the young Song Zhezong. If someone taught "father and son righteousness" in the future and instigated Song Zhezong to oppose today's "mother to change son", the consequences would be disastrous.Sima Guang actually said: "If the sky is like Zuo Zongshe, there will be nothing like this!"

In the second month of the first year of Yuanyou (1086), the reformers began to be expelled from the court in a planned way. The first one was Cai Que, who had made trouble in the establishment of the reserve.After Song Shenzong's death, Cai Que became the "Shanling Envoy" and was responsible for managing Song Shenzong's funeral.The censor Liu Zhi and others impeached him for not staying in the house to guard the spirit, and he was disrespectful, so he was expelled from the court, and he was appointed as a scholar of Guanwendian to know Chenzhou.Soon, because of the crime of his younger brother Cai Shuo (Jinshi in the second year of Zhiping) recruiting power and accepting bribes, Cai Que was implicated, removed from his post, and demoted to Anzhou (now Anlu, Hubei).

When Cai Que arrived in Anzhou, he visited Chegai Pavilion and wrote ten impromptu poems.Chegai Pavilion is a scenic spot in Anzhou, where Emperor Wei Wen left a poem "there are floating clouds in the northwest, and the pavilion is like a car cover", so it has this name.However, these ten poems written by Cai Que randomly became the basis for Wu Chuhou (from Shaowu, Fujian Province), who knew the Hanyang Army, to vent his personal anger and frame Cai Que.Wu Chuhou used to be an official under Cai Que, and he held a grudge because he was not recommended by Cai Que.Wu Chuhou submitted Cai Que's poems to the imperial court, saying that "five of them are all ridiculed, but two of them are especially ridiculed, and they are about the emperor's relatives."Among them is the sentence "Hao Zengshan, a famous official who corrects and corrects, speaks honestly and honestly to Shangyuanjian".Zengshan, a native of Anzhou, was a loyal and upright man during the reign of Emperor Gaozong of the Tang Dynasty.Tang Gaozong once gave up the throne to Empress Wu Zetian, but Hao Zengshan opposed it.Wu Chuhou distorted the poetry, saying that here he compared Empress Dowager Gao to Wu Zetian.Empress Dowager Gao was furious when she saw it.The admonisher Liu Anshi took the opportunity to get greedy, saying that Cai is indeed "criminal, so there is no need to analyze it."Zhang Tao, Fan Zuyu, Wang Yansou and others all asked the Queen Mother to convict Cai immediately.Cai Quexian was demoted to Guangluqing.However, Fan Zuyu believed: "Cai Que's crime is not tolerated in the world. Now that he is still a Lieqing, I am afraid that he will not be able to appease the public's anger." The executive ministers Wu Anshi, Liang Tao and others also took the opportunity to add insult to injury, thinking that the punishment was too light and should be severely punished.Therefore, Empress Dowager Gao demoted Cai Que to Xinzhou (now Xinxing, Guangdong).

Cai Que was demoted to Xinzhou, creating a precedent for courtiers from the Song court to be demoted to Lingnan.At that time, Lingnan was considered to be "the worst miasma" and had the title of "hell on earth".In that era, being demoted to Lingnan was actually equivalent to being sentenced to death.Su Shi once wrote a poem: "Ask Weng Dayulingtou, how many times have you seen moving south?" It means that few people who were demoted to Lingnan survived, which shows that the environment in Lingnan is harsh. Although Cai Que's reputation is not good, there are some people who don't want to see him die, not to mention that the case of Chegaiting's poem itself is fabricated out of thin air, and it has been fabricated.Lu Dafang and Liu Zhi once argued that Cai Que's mother was old and the road to Lingnan was far away, so they advocated moving to another place.Empress Dowager Gao resented Cai Que for slandering her plan to abolish Song Zhezong and Zhao Xu, and said categorically, "Mountains can be moved, but this state cannot be moved."

When Cai Que was demoted, Fan Chunren (Fan Zhongyanzi) said to Lu Dafang: "The Lingnan Road has been covered with thorns for seven or eighty years. If it is reopened today, we will inevitably end up like this in the future." Although Fan Chunren is a conservative, but But he didn't want to see Cai really end up like this, so he specially asked Song Zhezong to intercede with Empress Dowager Gao.However, Song Zhezong was afraid of his grandmother and only protested with silence.After Song Zhezong came to power, he demoted a large number of Yuanyou ministers appointed by Empress Dowager Gao to Lingnan, which confirmed Fan Chunren's worries that day.

Che Gai Ting Poetry Case is a literal prison created out of nothing.The conservatives took advantage of Empress Dowager Gao's dissatisfaction with Cai Que, and began to liquidate the reformists.Shortly after Cai Que was demoted to Xinzhou, he contracted a local disease and died in the demotion.After Cai Que fell, Zhang Dun became the next target. Zhang Dun, styled Zihou, was born in Pucheng, Jianzhou (now part of Fujian).When he was young, he was handsome and chivalrous, knowledgeable and good at writing.Song Renzong Jiayou two years (1057) Jinshi.At that time, his nephew, Zhang Heng, who was ten years older than him, was the first Jinshi. Zhang Dun felt ashamed that his uncle was inferior to his nephew, so he refused the imperial edict.Afterwards, in the case of extremely fierce competition, Zhang Dun again referred to the Jujia Division and transferred it to Shangluoling.

Zhang Dun and Su Shi were friends, and they once traveled to Nanshan together.When I walked to Xianyou Lake, I saw that there was a very short horizontal log on the cliff facing the Wanren cliff at the bottom of Xianyou Lake.Zhang Dun asked Su Shi to write an inscription on the wall.Su Shi leaned over and looked down the pool. The smoke was dense and deep, and he shook his head immediately, not even daring to say anything.But Zhang Dun calmly walked to the edge of the pool, hung the rope and climbed up the tree, lifted his clothes and climbed down, and wrote on the wall with a brush: "Su Shi, Zhang Dun." Then he climbed the tree and rope, returned to the edge of the pool, His face did not change, his expression remained the same.Su Shi immediately patted Zhang Dun on the shoulder and said: "You will be able to kill people in the future." Zhang Dun asked in puzzlement, "How do you know?" Dongpo said: "Those who can judge their own fate can also kill people." Zhang Dun listened lol. It is said that when Zhang Dun was born, his parents didn't want him and planned to drown him in a water basin, but was rescued.In a poem presented by Su Shi to Zhang Dun, there is a sentence "the abbot is immortal, and he loves Shuiyun Township with high love". Zhang Dun thought it was a mockery of himself and was very unhappy, so the two turned against each other.Later, when Su Shi was in trouble, Zhang Dun attacked Su Shi many times. After Song Shenzong appointed Wang Anshi to take charge of the government, Wang Anshi appreciated Zhang Dun's talent very much and used him as a corrector for Zhongshu.At that time, the imperial court was dealing with the ethnic minorities in Nanjiang and Beijiang, and appointed Zhang Dun as the envoy to visit Hunan and Hubei.Referring to the prison, Zhao Ding said that the ethnic minority people in Xiazhou suffered from the exploitation of their chiefs, and they are discussing to attach to the imperial court.A commoner named Zhang Qiao in Chenzhou also said that some ethnic minorities in Nanjiang and Beijiang wanted to belong to the Song Dynasty.Wang Anshi then assigned Zhang Dun the matter of recruiting ethnic minorities.Zhang Dun recruited exiles Li Zi and Zhang Hong to Liangjiang to enroll.These two guys were lecherous, they only cared about having sex with local women, but they were found and killed by the chief, who was furious and sent troops to challenge Song Dynasty.Song Shenzong deeply blamed Zhang Dun for disrupting his life and making mistakes, so he demoted him to the daily life note, and later recalled him to the capital to learn about the affairs of the Privy Council.Zhang Dun and Cai Que had a close relationship, and the two once sang together, pretending to be meritorious in supporting Song Zhezong's decision-making, which was taboo by Empress Dowager Gao. In October of the eighth year of Yuanfeng (1085), Empress Dowager Gao suddenly decreed that Fan Chunren, the prefect of Gyeongju, was promoted to Zuo Jianyi doctor, Zhiqianzhou (Ganzhou City, Jiangxi), Tang Shuwen was Zuo Sijian, Zhu Guangting was Zuo Zhengyan, Su Zhe For the right to advise, Fan Zuyu is for the right to speak.After the list of appointments reached the three provinces and the Privy Council, the Empress Dowager Gao asked the ruling ministers what they thought of the promotion of the five. As a member of the Privy Council, Zhang Dun didn't even know about the appointment of these five people in advance.He felt that he had been left out and was unhappy, so he couldn't help asking: "According to the usual practice, the two systems (Hanlin Bachelor, Zhizhigao) officials recommend to Zhongshu, and then the ruling minister reports to the emperor. After the emperor approves I will make another announcement. This time I appointed Fan Chunren and others as admonishers. As the ruling minister, I have not received any recommendation from the two officials. I don’t know where the Empress Dowager got the list. Could it be that it was recommended by the left and right ministers? It is not advisable to go against the old system of the ancestors." The tone was already quite aggressive.Empress Dowager Gao had no choice but to argue: "These five people were recommended by the ministers, not the eunuchs and other close officials in the palace." Zhang Dun said coldly: "If they are recommended by the ministers, they should be aboveboard." For a while, Empress Dowager Gao was extremely embarrassed.Lu Gongzhu, Sima Guang and other veteran officials had to stand up to defend the Empress Dowager Gao, arguing: "The reason why Fan Zuyu, Fan Chunren and others are recommended is because they have a close relationship with us." Now Zhang Dun caught the pigtail, He immediately refuted it according to the ancestral law: "Taiwan admonishment officials are set up by picketing the mistakes and mistakes of the ruling minister. If the ruling minister proposes to promote relatives and recommended people to serve as Taiwan admonition officials, the recommended people must be appointed to other official positions. This is the law of the ancestors and cannot be violated." Sima Guang had no choice but to say: "Fan Chunren, Fan Zuyu and others are expected to serve as admonishers. They cannot block the promotion of virtuous ministers because of me. If it must be so, then I would rather resign." Proud, he did not forget to teach the other party a lesson: "I also know that Han Zhen, Lu Gongzhu, and Sima Guang will not cheat for personal gain, but if a treacherous minister comes to power one day, use this as an example to promote an admonisher, and use closeness as the standard, It would be meaningless for Taiwan’s admonishing officials, which would cause political darkness and concern the country’s security.” After this incident, Empress Dowager Gao had to issue an edict to affirm the old system of the ancestors, Fan Chunren was also reassigned to the Tianzhang Pavilion waiting system, Fan Zuyu was the author Zuo Lang, and the other three remained the same.Zhang Dun won the round and forced Sima Guang and others to make concessions, but he deeply offended Empress Dowager Gao and Sima Guang. After that, Sima Guang mobilized all Taiwan's admonition forces and began a major counterattack against Zhang Dun.The censor Liu Zhi and the supervisory censor Wang Yansou immediately wrote to the Empress Dowager Gao, impeaching Zhang Dun for interfering in political affairs beyond the scope of his authority, saying that the emperor had originally approved five people as admonishers, which was in line with the old system of the ancestors.Later, Liu Zhi, Wang Yansou and others took advantage of the topic and slammed Zhang Dun, accusing Zhang Dun of colluding with the arrogant and lawless Song Yongchen.Zhang Dun's situation became more and more difficult. Soon, Cai Que was demoted from the imperial court, and Zhang Dun felt uneasy, and the conflict with the conservatives became more and more intense. He even argued with Sima Guang in front of Empress Dowager Gao's curtain, and his words were extremely sharp.Empress Dowager Gao was furious, and Liu Zhi, Zhu Guangting, Wang Yansou and others took the opportunity to play to accuse Zhang Dun.As a result, Zhang Dun was demoted from the court.Since then, everyone in the reform faction is in danger and panic.The reformist Lu Huiqing didn't even dare to drink cold water when he was demoted, for fear of getting sick and being caught by the conservatives. In September of the first year of Yuanyou (1086), Sima Guang, the leader of the conservative faction, died of illness.Although Sima Guang was prime minister for only eight months, he allowed the conservatives to completely control the power of the government.Later, Wen Yanbo (who was eighty-one years old at the time), Lu Gongzhu, Lu Dafang, Fan Chunren and others came to power successively. During the eight years of Empress Dowager Gao's curtain, the conservative faction not only controlled the entire court, but also consistently attacked and suppressed the reformists, and never relaxed.Some reformist officials at all levels were demoted, some were sentenced, some were expelled from the court, and so on.Not only that, but the conservatives have also created a new pattern of "three sages" and "three traitors", hailing Sima Guang, Fan Chunren and Han Wei as the "three sages", while Cai Chue, Zhang Dun and Han Zhen were denounced as "three sages". Three traitors".In addition to completely abolishing the new law, the conservatives Lu Dafang, Liang Tao, Liu Anshi and others also included eighty or ninety ministers who supported the reform under the names of Wang Anshi, Lu Huiqing, Cai Que and others. The list is posted on the list to warn the people of the world. After the conservatives gained the upper hand, they began to split into several small groups.Cheng Yi (Cheng Hao's brother, Cheng Hao was dead at the time) regarded himself as the emperor's teacher, and became increasingly opposed to Su Shi, a Hanlin scholar.Therefore, Cheng Yi formed a clique with Jia Yi, Zhu Guangting and others. Because the leader Cheng Yi was from Luoyang, it was called the Luo Party.The brothers Su Shi and Lu Tao belonged to the same party. They were from Shu and were called the Shu Party (also known as the Sichuan Party).Liu Zhi, Liang Tao, Wang Yansou, Liu Anshi, etc. are one party. They are from Hebei, and they are called Shuodang.The three parties attacked each other and fell into a chaotic struggle, which lasted throughout the Yuanyou period, known as the "Yuanyou Party Struggle" in history. It is worth emphasizing that during the Yuanyou period, all the actions of the Song court were carried out under the control of Empress Dowager Gao. Song Zhezong was unable to participate in political affairs at all, and it became a decoration.Therefore, some people call it "Queen Dowager Hanging Curtain, Shadow Emperor".In fact, the seeds of conflict between the little emperor and his grandmother were deeply planted as early as the beginning of Song Zhezong's accession to the throne.Song Zhezong was always brooding about the saying of "changing mothers with sons" mentioned earlier, but he also couldn't let go of Empress Dowager Gao's attitude towards his biological mother, concubine Zhu. Concubine Zhu was born in poverty, and her father died of illness when she was young.Zhu remarried with his mother, but was not tolerated by his stepfather.The mother had to send her to a relative's house.Living under the fence for a long time has developed Zhu's gentle and submissive character.After she entered the palace, she was Song Shenzong's maid first, and later she was blessed by Song Shenzong and gave birth to the prince Zhao Xu, but it was not until the year before Song Shenzong died of illness that she was promoted to the title of Concubine De.Zhu's character is gentle, and he served Empress Dowager Gao and Empress Song Shenzong with respect and courtesy.After Song Shenzong died of illness, Concubine Zhu De, as the widow, escorted Shenzong's coffin to Yongyu Mausoleum for burial, passing through Yong'an.At that time, the veteran Han Jiang served as the magistrate of Henan Province and went to Yong'an to meet Song Shenzong's coffin in person.When Han Jiang learned that Concubine De was also following Lingjia, she ran forward for several miles regardless of her aging body, kneeling down to greet her.Later, when the Empress Dowager Gao found out about this, she was furious and scolded Concubine De, saying, "Han Jiang is seventy-three years old this year. He is a veteran of the first court, served as a prime minister, and has outstanding political performance. From a rational point of view, it should be you who came to the door." Go to visit him, how can you accept his big gift?" Concubine De was overwhelmed by her mother-in-law's strictness, so she could only apologize with tears. After Song Zhezong ascended the throne, Empress Xiang was honored as Empress Dowager, and Concubine De was only honored as Taifei.The son is the emperor, but the mother cannot be more precious than the son.Even if the factor of family affection is not counted, the factor of face is very important to the emperor.Previously, Song Yingzong (Song Zhezong's grandfather) withstood tremendous pressure and staged an earth-shattering Puyi, in fact, to fight for his biological father's name.At that time, Song Yingzong's biological father had already died, and this was true for the dead, and the living had to fight for it. It is unbelievable that although the concubine Zhu was revered as a concubine, she did not receive the treatment she deserved.There are still different opinions in the court on how to treat Concubine Zhu.Some people wanted to take the opportunity to flatter the empress dowager and suggested lowering the rank of the emperor's birth mother, so as to show the dignity of the empress dowager who was hanging down the curtain.It can be seen here that Empress Dowager Gao doesn't like Concubine Zhu very much.If the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law are in harmony, there will be no loopholes for others to take advantage of.However, some people thought that Song Zhezong would eventually be in power in the future, and suggested that Concubine Zhu should be respected to show the emperor's filial piety.Empress Dowager Gao took a repressive attitude on the issue of Concubine Zhu. It was not until the autumn of the third year of Yuanyou (1088) that Concubine Zhu was allowed to be treated the same as the empress, but it was still better than the empress dowager. Much lower. Although Song Zhezong was young at the time, he was not ignorant. He saw all these things and kept them in his heart.Like a dormant undercurrent, there will be a day when it will erupt violently.After Song Zhezong came to power, the first thing he did was to order that the treatment of his mother Concubine Zhu be raised to be exactly the same as that of Queen Mother Xiang. Song Zhezong was a smart young man, he could recite words at the age of eight, and could write beautiful characters, so he was quite loved by his father Song Shenzong.Soon after Song Zhezong came to the throne, the Liao Kingdom sent envoys to participate in Song Shenzong's condolence activities.The prime minister at that time was Cai Que. He was worried that Song and Liao had different costumes, and the young Song Zhezong would be scared when he saw the Liao envoy, so he repeatedly explained to Song Zhezong the clothing etiquette of the Khitan people.Song Zhezong remained silent all the time, and when Cai Que finished his long-winded speech, he suddenly asked seriously: "Is the envoy of the Liao Dynasty a human being?" Said: "Since you are a human being, what are you afraid of him doing?" The words were extremely sharp, not at all like what a ten-year-old child would say.Cai Que was speechless, so he retreated in fear. Regarding the treatment of Song Zhezong's biological mother, it reflects many subtle and complicated political struggles.As Song Zhezong grew older, he became more and more dissatisfied with his grandmother's control of the government, and some people with ulterior motives instigated discord, and Song Zhezong began to hold a grudge against his grandmother. When Empress Dowager Gao listened to the government behind the curtain, she repeatedly stated that she was quiet by nature, and she had no choice but to participate in the government.But power is quite attractive, once you get it, it is not easy to let go.Throughout the ages, few people can escape its temptation, and so is Empress Dowager Gao.In the court hall, Song Zhezong's throne was opposite to that of Empress Dowager Gao. Song Zhezong was supposed to govern and Empress Dowager Gao listened to the government, but at that time all military and state affairs were handled by Empress Dowager Gao and her trusted ministers, and Song Zhezong had no right to speak.The officials also believed that Song Zhezong was young, and political affairs depended on Empress Dowager Gao as a matter of course, so they always faced Empress Dowager Gao and their backs to Song Zhezong when they performed the affairs. righteous.What Song Zhezong saw in the court hall was "only the buttocks and backs", but in fact he only saw the backs and buttocks of the officials.What a humiliation this was for a precocious young emperor. The young and mature Song Zhezong knew that Empress Dowager Gao and the ministers did not take him seriously, and occasionally expressed dissatisfaction in his own way.Every time the ministers reported to Song Zhezong and Empress Dowager Gao, Song Zhezong remained silent, and no one took the initiative to ask for his opinion.But suddenly once, Empress Dowager Gao thought of the little grandson opposite, and asked Song Zhezong strangely why he didn't express his views.Song Zhezong replied: "Your Majesty has already punished me, what else do you want me to say?" He implied that the emperor was just a decoration, and his tone already showed strong dissatisfaction. Song Zhezong liked to use an old table. Empress Dowager Gao saw it once and sent someone to replace it, but Song Zhezong sent someone to move it back.Empress Dowager Gao was puzzled, and asked why, Song Zhezong replied, "It was used by Daddy (Shenzong)." Empress Dowager Gao was shocked when she heard this.Because she has been emphasizing "change mother to son" since she came to power, and completely abolished the new law promoted by her son Song Shenzong.What the grandson said obviously meant that he admired his father more.Empress Dowager Gao was very worried about this, and she did not dare to hand over her power easily. Song Zhezong held a big wedding when he was seventeen years old, and made Meng Shi the queen, and Meng Shi was the Huayang leader mentioned later.According to the usual practice, the emperor's big marriage means becoming an adult, and Empress Dowager Gao should return to power, but she has no intention of giving up power at all, and continues to actively listen to politics.All the ministers were appointed by Empress Dowager Gao, and they knew it well, and they did not persuade Empress Dowager Gao to withdraw the curtain, and they still played Empress Dowager Gao in advance.The attitude of Empress Dowager Gao and the ministers annoyed Song Zhezong. He must have sworn more than once in his heart: All these grievances will be completely retaliated and liquidated in the future.Because of this, Song Zhezong immediately and vigorously denounced Minister Yuanyou after taking office. In the eighth year of Yuanyou (1093), Empress Dowager Gao was seriously ill, and she knew she couldn't afford it.She called Lu Dafang and other ministers to meet, and said with a sigh: "In the past few years, I have done my best for the sake of the emperor and the country. I only hope that the world will be peaceful, that I will live up to the legacy of my ancestors, and live up to the expectations of the people. I just don't know." , My sincere heart, do the officials know? Do the Xianggong and the world know?" At that time, Song Zhezong was also on the side, and Empress Dowager Gao's words were actually intended for the emperor to hear.Surprisingly, before the ministers had time to speak, Song Zhezong said, "Lu Dafang! You stand down!" His tone was extremely cold.The ministers looked at each other.At this time, everyone present realized that the era of Yuanyou Chengping was coming to an end. Afterwards, Empress Dowager Gao privately said to Lu Dafang and Fan Chunren: "After I die, the emperor (Song Zhezong) will not reuse you again. You two should have self-knowledge, take the initiative to retreat earlier, and let the emperor use someone else." , to protect her family and her life.” This was Empress Dowager Gao’s foresight, she had expected that once she left, the reformists would definitely take advantage of the conflict between her and her grandson to make a comeback. A few days later, Empress Dowager Gao died of illness at the age of sixty-two.The death of Empress Dowager Gao means the end of an era, and another era that belongs entirely to Song Zhezong is coming. The nineteen-year-old Song Zhezong finally took charge of the government, and he immediately changed the name "Shaosheng", which means to explain the politics of Song Shenzong, and Shaoshu means to inherit.On the one hand, this means that the Yuanyou era when Empress Dowager Gao was in power is over, and on the other hand, it means that Song Zhezong will fully restore the new law of Song Shenzong. The tragedy of the matter is that Song Zhezong, like Sima Guang whom he hated, has a strong sense of personal catharsis in his political ambitions.The reason why he vigorously admired Song Shenzong was not because he worshiped his father and wanted to realize his father's reform ideals, but because when Empress Dowager Gao was in power, he was dissatisfied with Yuanyou politics. Negating the new law of Song Shenzong.Therefore, the so-called "Shao Sheng Shao Shu" is entirely out of a personal revenge psychology. Song Zhezong first appointed Zhang Dun, a reformer, as prime minister.Zhang Dun's character has been seriously distorted after experiencing the cruel strife of the conservatives during the Yuanyou period.Like Song Renzong who was in power, he had a strong sense of revenge against the conservatives who were in power during the Yuanyou period.Zhang Dun vigorously promoted the reformers Cai Bian, Lin Xi, Huang Lu, Lai Zhishao, Zhou Xia, Zhai Si, Shangguan Jun and others to important positions.In this way, with the support of Song Zhezong, the reformists regained power.Song Zhezong followed Zhang Dun's suggestion, pursued the posthumous titles given by Sima Guang and Duke Lu after their death, and destroyed the steles erected; , Wen Yanbo and others left the court.While demoting conservative officials, Song Zhezong, Zhang Dun and others gradually restored the new law.This is what is called "Shao Sheng Shao Shu" in history. Before this series of big counterattacks started, Lu Dafang and Fan Chunren followed the advice of Empress Dowager Gao and had already written to request their resignation.And Su Shi also felt the momentum of "the rain is coming", and he took the initiative to ask to be released as an official.Even so, the three still could not escape the fate of being demoted again. After that, Song Zhezong was still angry, and chased and demoted Sima Guang, Lu Gongzhu, and Wang Yansou again; Lu Dafang, Su Shi, Su Zhe, Liu Zhi, Liang Tao, Fan Chunren and others were exiled to Lingnan; Liu Anshi and more than 30 people held official positions.Almost none of the officials who impeached the new party and dismissed the new law when Empress Dowager Gao hung the curtain was spared retaliation, and almost all the living ministers of Yuanyou were demoted to Lingnan one after another.Zhang Dun and Cai Bian also asked to dig up the tombs written by Sima Guang and Duke Lu, split open the coffin, and exposed the corpses.Fortunately, some ministers remonstrated with him that "it is not a matter of great virtue to send people's tombs", so Song Zhezong did not agree.But the descendants of Sima Guang and Lu Gong were implicated and demoted. At the beginning of Shaosheng, it coincided with the great ceremony of the suburban sacrifice. According to the usual practice, the emperor will issue an edict to amnesty the world, and the death row prisoners can generally be exempted from the death penalty.At that time, a minister asked Song Zhezong tentatively: "Can your majesty pardon those conservative ministers who were relegated?" Song Zhezong replied very simply, "No way!" This shows that Song Zhezong hated Minister Yuanyou deeply. . When Zhang Dun deposed Minister Yuanyou, he also used the name of the person who was demoted to determine the demotion place.For example, Su Shi’s character was Zizhan, so he was demoted to Dan (sound dan, the same as Dan) state, because “Zhan” was similar to “Dan”; Liu Zhi’s character was Xin Lao, so he was demoted to Xinzhou, because the sound of “Xin” was similar to “Xin”. ; Huang Tingjian's character is Lu Zhi, and he was demoted to Yizhou, because the word "Yi" resembles "Zhi".When I arrived at Liu Anshi, some people said that Liu Anshi had fortune-telling, and his fate was very good. Zhang Dun pointed at Zhaozhou and said, "Liu's fate is good, let him go to Zhaozhou to try." Su Shi once said that Zhang Dun could "Fate" is really unfortunate. Zhang Dun also organized people to compile the chapters and chapters of Yuanyou ministers and bureaucrats, that is, to compare and classify all the chapters and books that attacked the new party and the new law after April of the eighth year of Yuanfeng, and then convict those who wrote the chapters and books in turn.This is a rather severe measure, and the workload is not small, and it has been carried out when Song Zhezong was in power. It is especially important to mention here that Zhang Dun himself is quite capable, but he has a domineering personality and is extremely competitive, which can be seen from the fact that he took the imperial examination twice.In addition, he crazily retaliated against conservatives, bullied the weak, supported party members, and eradicated dissidents. His reputation was very bad, so he was included in "Biography of Treacherous Officials" in "Song History".In fact, judging from Sima Guang's methods of attacking reformists after he came to power, how could he be better than Zhang Dun?Therefore, official history is often simplified, and historical figures are usually measured by moral concepts, and this moral concept is often quite superficial. Although Zhang Dun had a prominent position, he did not grant official titles to his relatives and friends. Except for his second son, Zhang Yuan, who once worked as a school secretary, the rest of his four sons were mediocre officials who were not prominent.This is very commendable.His first wife, Mrs. Zhang, is dignified and virtuous, and the husband and wife have a very deep relationship.When Zhang Dun entered the prime minister, it happened that Zhang was dying of illness. Before she died, she told Zhang Dun: "My husband is the prime minister, and you must not rely on power to report personal grievances." After Zhang's death, Zhang Dun was distraught. It has been unforgettable in my days, and I often express my thoughts of my dead wife to Dr. Chen Guan.Chen Guan sneered: "It's useless to mourn yourself, how can you read the words he gave you at the end of his life?!" Zhang Dun was speechless. When the reform party hit the conservatives, there was another episode.Wang Anshi died of depression shortly after Sima Guang came to power.According to Sima Guang's intention, the Song court bestowed upon Wang Anshi the posthumous posthumous posthumous honor on the surface.Su Shi, who was a member of Zhongshushe at the time, wrote an article "Wang Anshi Presents the Taifu System", which is full of praise and derogatory everywhere, obviously adhering to Sima Guang's intention.When Wang Anshi died, it was in the harsh period when the conservatives "changed the laws of the previous dynasty and abandoned Anshi's party", so most people dared not come to mourn, for fear of getting involved with Wang Anshi. Only Wang Anli and Wang Anshi cried bitterly in front of the mourning hall. First class relatives.Wang Anshi, who once made a sound in the world, turned out to be so bleak after his death. In addition to the bleakness of the world, it more reflects the unprecedented tense political atmosphere in the Yuanyou period.After Song Zhezong came to power, Cai Bian Shangshu, the core figure of the Reformist Party, asked to revise the "Records of Shenzong". "Shenzong Shilu" was edited by Fan Zuyu and others that day, and it vigorously attacked Cai Bian's father-in-law Wang Anshi.After obtaining Song Zhezong's permission, Cai Bian republished "Shenzong Veritable Records" based on Wang Anshi's "Rilu", and Wang Anshi's status was reaffirmed.After that, under Cai Bian's vigorous promotion, Wang Anshi pursued the posthumous posthumous Duke Wen and deserved to enjoy the court of Song Shenzong. One of Cai Bian's henchmen knew that Song Zhezong hated Sima Guang, so he suggested destroying the original edition written by Sima Guang.The writing of the book lasted 19 years, and Song Shenzong named it himself for his "in view of the past, he is worthy of governing the Tao".The whole book starts from the 23rd year of King Weilie of Zhou Dynasty (403 years ago), and ends at the 6th year of Emperor Shizong Xiande of Zhou Dynasty (959 years).In addition to the seventeen histories, there are 322 kinds of unofficial histories, biographies, anthologies, and genealogical records.Assistant editors include Liu Tun, Liu Shu, Fan Zuyu, etc., each with their own directors, and responsible for each section. First, the materials are compiled into a "congmu" and then compiled into a "long compilation". .The content is mainly political and military, slightly less economical and cultural.The whole book runs through 1,362 years of historical events. There are "examinations" to clarify different materials, and there is a "catalogue" for reference. It is systematic and complete, and has high historical value. After the news of the destruction came out, righteous people did not dare to argue openly, for fear of angering the reformists even more.In order to save this masterpiece, Chen Guan, a doctor of Taichang, took advantage of his time as an examiner to quote Song Shenzong's "Zizhi Tongjian Preface" and made policy questions to examine scholars.According to the usual practice, policy questions should be asked in the tone of the emperor. Since the emperor has to quote the content, it can no longer be destroyed.In this way, under Chen Guan's indirect and indirect good intentions, Sima Guang's life's hard work was preserved. Although the reformists came back to power, they split again: Zhang Dun disagreed with Li Qingchen, Li Qingchen was impeached, and went to the Henan government; Zhang Shangying disagreed with Lai Zhishao, Zhang Shangying was demoted and went out; Cai Jing disagreed with Sun Er, and Sun Er was dismissed from office; Zeng Bu attacked Lu Huiqing, and Lu Huiqing could not be in power;The reform faction has made a comeback this time, and its power was originally weak, and its internal divisions have weakened its power even more. In the first month of the third year of Yuanfu (1100), when Song Zhezong was trying to get rid of the shadow of Empress Dowager Gao and display his ambitions, he fell ill and died young at the age of 25. He reigned for fifteen years and truly ruled In less than seven years, I have left infinite regrets. However, Yuanyou's case did not end there, on the contrary, it deduced more turmoil.Song Zhezong had no sons, and Queen Mother Xiang had no other sons. With the support of Queen Mother Xiang, Song Zhezong's younger brother Zhao Ji succeeded to the throne as Song Huizong.After Song Huizong came to the throne, he was grateful to the Queen Mother and asked the Queen Mother to listen to the government behind the curtain.Empress Dowager Xiang was an opponent of the new law. After she came to power, the reformists were hit hard again.The queen mother appointed Han Zhongyan, the son of Han Qi, as prime minister.Zeng Buyin agreed with the Queen Mother on the matter of succession, and was also reused.Han Zhongyan and Zeng Bu recommended Chen Guan, Zou Hao and others to take control of the government and restore the official position of Fan Chunren, who had returned to his hometown for retirement. Almost all the reformers Zhang Dun, Cai Jing, Cai Bian, and An Dun were demoted from the court. Empress Dowager Xiang died of illness, Song Huizong was in charge, Zeng Bu, who was good at speculation, encouraged Song Huizong to introduce his father and brother, Song Huizong also wanted to eliminate cronies and stabilize the regime.However, the party disputes went through the two generations of Yuanyou and Shaosheng, and it was no longer possible to reconcile. Song Huizong simply dismissed Han Zhongyan and Zeng Bu as ministers, demoted them from the court, and reappointed Cai Jing (Cai Bian's elder brother) as minister. Cai Jing's ability to become prime minister is also due to Tong Guan, the eunuch next to Song Huizong.Although Cai Jing belongs to the Reform Party politically, he is a typical opportunist who is good at playing around the wind.At that time, Cai Jing was relegated to Hangzhou, and it happened that Song Huizong sent his confidant eunuch Tong Guan to Hangzhou to search for calligraphy and painting kits.After Cai Jing heard the news, he did everything he could to curry favor with Tong Guan, and contributed with the screens and fans he had painted.After Tong Guan returned to Beijing, he strongly recommended Cai Jing to Song Huizong, and Taoist priest Xu Zhichang also performed activities for Cai Jing in the palace.Therefore, Song Huizong called Cai Jing to become prime minister. After Cai Jing became the prime minister, he reappointed the Reform Party. In order to consolidate his position, he also wanted to "drive out all the officials of the old party in the Yuanyou era." Twenty-two people including Su Zhe, Fan Chunli, and Lu Dian, forty-eight people including Su Shi, Fan Zuyu, Chao Buzhi, Huang Tingjian, Cheng Yi, etc., who are waiting to be appointed, thirty-eight people including Qin Guan, the remaining official, eight people including Zhang Shiliang, the internal minister, and military officials. Wang Xianke and four other people, a total of 120 people, were convicted of crimes and called traitors.Encouraging Song Huizong to personally write the name of the traitorous party, engrave it on a stone tablet, and stand in front of Duanli Gate of the Inner Palace, called "Yuanyou Party Membership Monument", also known as "Yuanyou Party Member Monument" and "Yuanyou Traitorous Party Monument".The descendants of party members are not allowed to stay in the capital, and they are not allowed to participate in scientific examinations, and all those listed on the stele will be "never hired."后来，更增“元祐党人”为三百零九人，蔡京还亲自书写他们的名字，然后发到各州县，仿照京师立碑“扬恶”。 好笑的是，蔡京的用意原本想昭告天下：元祐群臣都是“奸邪”，变法派才是“忠良”，要让天下人唾弃这些元祐大臣，赞美变法派的新法新政。结果适得其反，百姓对此议论纷纷。甚至有刻碑的石匠要求，不要把自己的名字刻在碑后，显然是以刻碑为羞。后来因为天上星变，宋徽宗也害怕了，接受建议，毁“元祐党人碑”，解除党禁。而那些“元祐党人”的家属后代，却以祖、父、兄长能名列“元祐党人碑”为荣。 至此，跟“元祐”相关的人和事就基本结束了，但关于王安石，还有后话。宋徽宗崇宁三年（1104年），在蔡卞的建议下，王安石追封舒王，配享孔子庙，列于孟子之上，与颜回相对。这样，王安石就成为孔子和孟子之外的第三个圣人。至此，王安石达到了尊荣的顶点，地位已经到了所能达到的最高点。然而，这过于抬高王安石的行为，反而惹来了世人和后世不少的非议。而蔡卞自己，因为在政治上主张遵循王安石，与忙于搜刮民财的兄长蔡京不合拍，被排挤出朝廷。