Chapter 6 Chapter 6 Open Battle

If I remember correctly, this is the first public battle between Zhongshu Province and the Privy Council in the history of the Northern Song Dynasty.The methods and purposes used by both sides have truly revealed the style and humanity of their respective supervisors. The Privy Council issued a memorial to the emperor in June of this year, requesting to straighten out the working relationship of all the staff in the court.This request is not too much, it can be said that there is no more duty.But it directly violated the rights and interests of Zhongshu Province. There is a backlog of things in history. It starts from the days when the war with Xixia started during the Qingli period. At that time, out of the needs of the war, the Ministry of Education and the Privy Council worked together to improve efficiency.After the war, the Ministry of Education quietly weakened the authority of the Privy Council, such as the number of serving officials.The Privy Council has a total of more than 1,100 members, but only holds a half of the membership.The rest are scattered in the two systems, Taiwan remonstrance, and the Ministry of Education, and their death, appointment, promotion, punishment, etc., have nothing to do with the Privy Council.

Fu Bi wanted to straighten out the relationship, firstly, for the convenience of future work; secondly, he was confronting Han Qi.But no matter what, he kept a bottom line and did not harm the national interest because of personal grievances.In contrast to Han Qi's approach, it is really "bold and lively, regardless of everything".He doesn't care about the interests of the country, or even the lives and injuries of the people, he doesn't care about him. Han Qi suggested to Zhao Shu in November at the end of the year that in order to prevent the Xixia people from invading again, a large number of volunteers should be recruited from all walks of life in Shaanxi.The scale is very large, reaching the level of "Three Dings Stabbing One", that is to say, for every three adult men, one will have a tattoo on his face and become a brave man.

A total of 156,873 people were assassinated from all walks of life in Shaanxi, except for Shang and Guozhou. Anyone with a discerning eye knows that this is Zhongshu Sheng infringing on the authority of the Privy Council. The most fundamental family law of the Song Dynasty is to divide the power of the prime minister into three, turning it into Zhongshu, Privy Council, and Sansi.Now that Han Qi is openly using Zhongshu Province to manage the military, it is clear that he is playing with fire.What's more, the assassination of volunteers in Shaanxi is a sensitive area, and big troubles are about to happen.

Fu Bi was very hesitant. He couldn't understand Han Qi's domineering behavior, but he never wanted to let it get out of hand. What should we do? At the critical moment, Sima Guang stepped forward.To be fair, Sima Guang's heart is too deep, full of strategy and wisdom. A person's officialdom survival skills have reached this level, and he will always unconsciously make the most beneficial choice for himself. On the other hand, his self-cultivation makes him full of sense of justice, but he will not try his best to persevere like Fan Zhongyan.All kinds of historical facts can be analyzed, but he only made about 80% of his efforts.Of course, this is already quite remarkable.In this matter, he wrote six memorials in one go, and one of them was sent directly to the Ministry of Education.Remind Han Qi and Zhao Shu that since the war in the northwest of the country, people's livelihood has been in decline, and more than two-thirds of the population has been lost.In addition, in recent years, the floods, droughts and floods have been endless, and suddenly there are repeated stabs, and the civil uprisings are carefully created, and the Xixia people take advantage of the situation, and there is no way to deal with it!

His voice was ignored like Fu Bi's memorial. What Han Qi wanted was to re-establish his prestige. What is a word of speech? It means that no one can speak except me. But he was wrong this time. Sima Guang is not Fu Bi. Fu Bi can be said to be the last survivor of the gentlemanly ministers of the older generation in the Northern Song Dynasty. After him, no one has that kind of modesty and grace. Dadu, almost every minister has sharp teeth, wags his lips and tongue, taking pleasure in quarreling and fighting.Sima Guang is the originator of the mountain. He went directly to Zhengshitang and questioned the prime minister in public.Mr. Han, may I ask that the northwest is the place where the regular army of the empire is densest and has the largest number of people. It has been proved in the war that it is absolutely sufficient. Why do you want to suddenly attack?

Han Qi smiled slightly, young man, there are too many things you don't understand.For example, the military. Now that the little king of Xixia is about to move, we must respond.The law of war says "the first is the first and the second is the truth." We suddenly increased our troops by 200,000, and Xixia will definitely be shocked. Han Qi thought with satisfaction that this would be enough to get rid of the scholar in front of him who had never been on a battlefield.Who made him himself a general among civil servants? It's a pity that Sima Guang's eloquence is fine, and he has been floating between the second and third in the ranking of quarrel kings in the history of the Northern Song Dynasty. Eat suffocation.Han Qi was no match at all.

I saw him sneering, Mr. Xiang must be confused, even the basic logic is confused.May I ask why the "first voice" is used in the art of war? It is because there is no strength and one must bluff.Can only be deceived for a while.Now we have added 200,000 troops, but within 10 days, the Xixia people will know the truth. What should they be afraid of? If we really want to call, what do we use to resist? Han Qi was speechless, and after a long silence, he resentfully said, now that the notice has been posted, it is just a matter of not allowing the common people to serve as border guards in the future.

Speaking of this, it is basically tantamount to surrendering. This time, for the sake of my prime minister's face, I have to do it. I promise not to play with the head office in the future.Sima Guang's answer was no. He replied coldly, I can't even believe your words. Han Qi has a righteous face, I am here, you just believe it. Sima Guang looked directly at him, not only I couldn't believe it, I'm afraid Xianggong himself is not so confident! Han Qi was finally furious, why do you despise me like this? Sima Guang said, if you are in this position, of course you can do it.But there will always be a day when you leave. When other people become prime ministers and see your precedent, can you guarantee that they will not copy it as it is?

At this point, Han Qi was finally at a loss for words, Sima Guang said everything to the point, and he was not given a chance to dodge at all.Under the watchful eyes of everyone, Han Qi still has a way to make Sima Guang's efforts come to naught. He walked away in anger, even though he lost face, even though it was unreasonable, but I just don't listen to you, what can you do to me?Shaanxi's assassination of volunteers is still done correctly.A large number of people were thrown at the border and sent to take risks under the swords and guns of the Xixia people. What can we say about this kind of behavior, we can only give Han Qi four words-political hooligans.

It has been a year and a half since Renzong's death and Zhao Shu ascended the throne.Fu Bi was very sad to find that absolute power really brought absolute corruption.Compared with before, Zhao Shu and Han Qi were completely different people. Zhao Shu before was so self-denying and polite, indifferent to fame and fortune.Before he entered the palace, there was an incident that was widely circulated, which gave him a lot of impression points for his success in the election.It was when his father had just died, and he had 28 sons in total. He didn't want anything when the family property was divided, and he barely left behind a gold belt worth 500,000 guan.Later, in a hurry to use money for a certain matter, I entrusted someone to sell it, but the person was negligent for a moment and lost it.

The man was frightened and came to plead guilty, but Zhao Shu laughed it off.lost?Forget it... Broad-minded, unrestrained and open-minded!Why are there so many problems with being an emperor? The previous Han Qi was even more speechless. He shouted loudly in every aspect of the battlefield and officialdom. Although he was a bit tougher, he had never been a villain.Part of what he did now was due to helplessness. If he chose Zhao Shu, he had to stand up to the end. On the other hand, he could only speak from his background.When Fu Bi was the prime minister, everyone was convinced, but when he was in charge, he would drag the country down! Facing the current situation, Fu Bi made a decision, he decided to retire.I believe that if Renzong is in power, he will not back down to Han Qi, and believe that he is determined to fight, and Han Qi's life will not be easy.No matter what, Han Qi couldn't compare to Yelu Zongzhen, the emperor of the Liao Kingdom back then. As far as Fu Bi was concerned, what was there to be afraid of?It's a pity that it's Zhao Shu's world now, and his confrontation will only lead to endless destruction, just like the stabbing incident this time, Han Qi has already lost his mind. Some people disagree with Fu Bi's decision.It is believed that giving in to evil forces is a crime against light and justice.But backing down is also a kind of courage, "You can't do it, you can float in the sea." He saw the true colors of Zhao Shu and Han Qi, and leaving was the best choice for himself and the situation at that time. Fu Bi first used more than 20 memorials to resign from office, and then used eight memorials to refuse the post of envoy after retirement, and left the capital with only an ordinary position.Before he left, he left the last letter of thanks in the Yingzong Dynasty. That was dissatisfaction and warning to Zhao Shu and Han Qi.He clearly pointed out that the reason why he resigned was because of official strife like partisanship. There is no limit to attack and retaliation. It is not only a personal attack, but also endangers the national situation.This is a dangerous signal. The top officials in the Northern Song Dynasty had always maintained a peaceful and reserved working atmosphere.From the perspective of ordinary spectators, this is a pool of stagnant water. No passion, no fun. But if you compare it later, you will find the value of this atmosphere.Without quarrels, problems rarely intensify, and once they intensify, the country's main energy will be spent on internal struggles, power struggles, purges, and revenge.The country is over. In fact, the Northern Song Dynasty perished in this way. After Fu Bi left, Zhao Shu became as free as he wanted. Looking at the government and the public, no one could stop him anymore.He did some pretty amazing things over the next four-plus months. Being an emperor is fun. He is like playing, using the country's top official title as a toy.For example, the Privy Council after Fu Bi left.There is a man named Wang Chou, who was originally a Hanlin scholar. He has achieved this position as an official. Needless to say, his literary talent is rare. What is rare for Wang Chou is his eloquence.One night, he and Zhao Shu chatted by chance, but they didn't expect that they were very speculative with each other. Zhao Shu was very happy. Two days later, he was suddenly appointed as the deputy privy envoy.Generally speaking, Hanlin bachelors are officials in two systems, and it is logical and no problem to enter the two governments from the two systems.But when it comes to Wang Chou, there are big problems. There was a rule in the Song Dynasty that no matter who was appointed as the governor of the two prefectures, he must have the experience of being a governor or above in other places.On the one hand, this will allow the candidates to have the experience of handling affairs independently; on the other hand, it will prevent those veterans from the officialdom who have always lived in the capital and have reached a certain level of qualifications from sneaking into the highest authority. This Wang Hanlin is just an authentic and authentic old fritter in the officialdom. He has not left Kaifeng for 35 years since he was admitted to the imperial examination. He lives in a paradise on earth. How can he know the difficulties of governing and the suffering of the people? Seeing that something went wrong, fortunately, Qian Gongfu, who was on duty to write the imperial edict that day, was a sensible person, and he used the power of the two officials-"returning the word head".The prefix is ​​the appointment of the emperor that has not yet taken effect. The appointment will only take effect after the two officials write a formal edict according to the prefix.Once the two officials feel that the appointment is inappropriate, he has the right to return the initials, refuse to write the imperial edict, and terminate the appointment process. This is a very enlightened and wise policy of the Song Dynasty government.Just like when Zhao Pu asked Zhao Kuangyin to wait two months for a small bamboo cage, the purpose was to restrict the imperial power and prevent abuse. Specifically, it is to prevent Zhao Shu's second-hand behavior.However, the reason why the two poles are two poles is that there is a head with few strings.Zhao Shu actually went crazy, and he didn't think about the countless prefixes that were sealed and returned in the Northern Song Dynasty for more than 100 years. Fundamentally speaking, it was because the two officials were working hard and were responsible to him, the emperor.What he thinks is that this is the first time he has appointed officials from the two governments since he took office, but he was rejected, which is really embarrassing! He ordered Qian Gongfu to be demoted from office, and he knew that he should not do it, and went to Chuzhou to be the deputy envoy of the regiment.Unexpectedly, when the word got out, it was sealed back by another Zhizhi Gaozu Wuze.This punishment is too heavy and totally against the rules. Zhao Shu was going crazy with anger, he felt seriously despised by the ministers.In order to restore the influence and enhance his prestige, he decided to demote Zu Wuze and get rid of them all! It was a pity that this order could not be fulfilled. His dear Prime Minister Han Qi rushed over and quietly told him that it was simply out of character to do so, and the emperor didn't act like this. Zhao Shu calmed down a bit, after all Han Qi was the person he trusted the most.But it must be punished. Qian Gongfu must be relegated to another place. Zu has no choice... Zhi Zhigao will continue to be a finer of 30 catties of copper.This incident came to an end, and through this incident, the ministers at that time had a little understanding of Zhao Shu in their hearts.I think he is more emotional than rational. Then it will be easy to handle, as long as it takes a few days, it will be easy to handle when the anger subsides.Everyone was waiting. A few days later, Lu Shizong, a direct scholar of Longtu Pavilion, thought the time was ripe. That day he went to the side hall to report to the Jury, and found that Zhao Shu was in a very good mood.So he euphemistically put forward everyone's views on Qian Gongfu's demotion to other places. It is really too serious. Would you reconsider? Zhao Shu looked at him that day and said nothing, Qian Gongfu was still demoted, and a year later, Lu Shizong was demoted to the Guangde Army. It's surprising that such a trivial matter can still be remembered after a year.But referring to the next thing, you will find that Lu Shizong was very lucky. There was a man who basically did nothing wrong, and after more than a year, he was still demoted from the capital to become a magistrate. Cai Xiang, a great talent and a famous official in Qingli. Cai Xiang was the third envoy at that time, and his style was very gentle. Except for his early poem "Four Virtuous One Unfilial", he was basically indifferent.He is the kind of good comrade who works silently and behaves in his own right.But for some reason, Zhao Shu hated him extremely since he came to the throne, and would beat him up every now and then. Cai Xiang asked for a day off one day, and he was the third minister in the empire. What's the big deal about taking a day off?Zhao Shu became angry, and he went crazy on the spot.It is said that the Sansi Province is in charge of the world's money and food, and has a lot of affairs. Cai Xiang has asked for leave four times in the past ten days (wow, I remember clearly), why not use someone else? The consequence of asking for leave is actually dismissal... Han Qi and Ouyang Xiu hurried over. Cai Xiang is their old friend, especially since he has never been as ruthless as Fu Bi and Fan Zhongyan, and has to protect everything. Han Qi said that the Sansi Province has not made any mistakes in its work in recent years, and the dismissal has no name.What's more, at this time, there is no one to find someone with better talents than Cai Xiang. Zhao Shu's face was still tense, and he didn't even give Han Qi any face. Ouyang Xiu chose to be emotional, saying that Cai Xiang asked for leave to fulfill his filial piety.His mother is more than 80 years old, and she has been sick recently, so he has no choice but to take care of her.What's more, Cai Xiang only asked for leave of absence from the court, and he didn't miss his daily life, let alone his official business, so he really shouldn't be dismissed. Zhao Shu didn't want to finish it, so he reluctantly stopped pursuing it.But the ministers were surprised to find that attacking Cai Xiang had become Zhao Shu's main job. From then on, the emperor would pay attention to the work of the lower three provinces from time to time, finding faults in different ways. In short, he must drive Cai Xiang away. step down. The situation got serious, several old friends of Qingli got together in private, and asked Cai Xiang what did you do to provoke the emperor like this.Cai Xiang tried hard to remember, but couldn't remember.I am really wronged, what are you doing if you have nothing to do with the emperor? In the end, it was decided that Han Qi should come forward and find out the reason.Afterwards, I saw Han Qi coming back with a rather ugly face. After careful identification, it was not a trouble of difficult things, but a scare. It turned out that it involved a secret incident when Zhao Shu was still the crown prince.It is said that after Zhao Shu was chosen, Renzong cried alone in the middle of the night. He thought of his three sons who died young. It was almost dusk, and he didn't even have a biological son. How could he not be sad.At this time, close servants appeared, such as Ren Shouzhong and others. They complained that Renzong established the prince too hastily, so they can choose again calmly. This is not ideal! Among them, there are also "one or two well-known" close officials, and these people also wrote some memorials, all about the establishment of another prince.Fortunately, these memorials have been kept on Renzong's bed, and they were all burned shortly after Zhao Shu ascended the throne.But no one is sure whether Zhao Shu has seen it, especially who are the "one or two well-known" close officials. Judging by Han Qi's face, he knew the seriousness of the problem.It's not just that Han Qi may have a heart disease, he had other thoughts at the beginning, and wrote that kind of memorial.Rather, the most frightening situation is that Zhao Shu has never seen it with his own eyes, but knows that there is such a thing.This is a fatal heart disease. If you suspect anyone, you will be in bad luck, and there is no way to explain it! But they can't just let it go, the big bosses thought about it and decided to make it clear to the emperor that this is not just Cai Xiang's business, it might be troublesome for everyone.