Chapter 14 Chapter Fourteen

This sentence may be controversial, but it is clearly written in the history books. After the founding of the Song Dynasty, there were many people who served as privy envoys with military backgrounds.For example, Wu Tingzuo, Li Chongju, Chu Zhaofu, Wang Xian, Zhang Xun, Chai Yuxi, Wang Jiying, Ma Zhijie, Cao Lili, Zhang Qi, Xia Shouyun, Wang Deyong and others.But there is a difference, military rank and military commander are not the same, such as the famous Cao Li, he played a big role in the front line during the Chanyuan Alliance, but has he been to the scene of the murder?Have you ever hacked someone with your own hands?

This is the difference. For example, a civil servant has served as a privy envoy, that is, he has experience in military service, but his essence, that is to say, the degree of danger, is still a civil servant.He will not be noticed by the officialdom of the Song Dynasty.Of course, there are also some alternatives, such as Wang Deyong.This is a real military general, but when he became a privy envoy, to be precise, he was already a former military general. He beat up Li Jiqian when he was a teenager, and fought against Empress Dowager Xiao when he was young. The military's first senior privy envoy.The reason for this is that the selection criteria of the Xifu in the Song Dynasty were at fault.You are a general who can kill people and usurp the throne. When you are young and middle-aged, no matter how much credit you have made, you should be a good boy.

It wasn't until he was about to die of old age and there was no danger at all that he could be promoted and become a statue of a god.This was the collective fate of the generals in the Northern Song Dynasty up to Di Qing.Now it's Di Qing's turn, can it be any different? The prime ministers of Zhongshu Province are responsible for discussing meritorious deeds. The prime ministers will introduce you first.Since Wen Yanbo was taken down, Pang Ji has now become the only prime minister. Under him, there is a political adviser named Liang Shi.This is a typical official of the Renzong Dynasty in the Northern Song Dynasty that should be described in detail. His promotion and fortune are quite common at that time.

First of all, the society is developing. A hundred years after the founding of the People's Republic of China, a network of contacts has been formed in the officialdom. Taking this road is not as good as the scientific examination in form, but it is faster and more stable, just like Liang Shi.His father was Liang Hao, a former Hanlin scholar.His father died very early, but Hanlin scholars met with the emperor almost every day, which gave him a shortcut to start and develop.When he was very young, he submitted his father's posthumous works, together with his own articles, to the then emperor Song Zhenzong.

After Zhao Heng read it, he said a sentence - "Liang Hao has a son." Just this sentence made him a lifetime of glory and wealth.He has become an official, and he is the official name of the Secretary Province, a small clerk. It is not well-known, and it cannot be found after being thrown into the crowd.But this is a step up. Liang Shi worked in obscurity in the capital for a period of time and made another decision in his life.He asked to be released, even if it was just a county magistrate, he was willing to be a magistrate. This is a decisive turning point. If he is still in the capital, his father's influence will be exhausted. At that time, he will be a very ordinary dude, and he can only go with the flow and live his life better than ordinary people. .Being an official in a foreign country is different, at least one thing, no matter whether it is good or bad, he has qualifications, and he will "grind" once every five or six years, and that is the chance for promotion.

Liang Shi is a caring person, and he works soberly. When it was time to work, he left some practical records in his biographies. Since they are all details of work, he will not list them one by one. The most important turning point in his life was when he was promoted A direct bachelor of the Privy Council, when he was the magistrate of Yanzhou.He took a leave of absence and said that he would go back to his hometown to repair his father's tomb. When he passed by Kaifeng City, he went in. People like this, after entering Kaifeng City, have a way to meet the emperor.Not to mention anything else, his father's colleagues back then were all over the country's competent departments, and anyone they could find could sneak into the Jinluan Palace.He has seen the emperor, pay attention, the history books say that he "was squeezed out by his cronies before speaking."In other words, he himself stated that he was driven away by Fan Zhongyan, Fu Bi, and Ouyang Xiu, a group of New Deal gentlemen.

This is very important. At that time, the Qingli New Deal had just died, and the emperor had a headache when he mentioned the gentlemen.It is not easy to suddenly appear a young and middle-aged cadre with a good background, practical work in other places, and an easy-going temperament, who is silent even when he is pushed out of the court.The country needs talents, so Mr. Liang Shi was left behind and became... Don't be surprised, his son followed his father's career and was a Hanlin bachelor. The highest scribe title in the empire, Hanlin Bachelor, was held by a person who had not been scientifically tested and was not a Jinshi.This is an out-and-out scandal, it doesn't matter if you have a wrong background, the promotion process is obviously tricky, which makes the Yushitai staff very angry, without saying anything, let's fuck this guy and knock down this brand-new villain!

Liang Shi just fell down. He was kicked out of the capital, went to Chanzhou as a magistrate as a bachelor, and later transferred to Qinzhou.But don't be afraid, this process is a resume, no matter how embarrassing it is, he used to be an official of the two systems of the country, and he is a high-ranking academician in the two systems.In the Song Dynasty, in all the dynasties in China, the resume is the most formal business card, which will always convince the officialdom more than a person's real ability. Liang Shi soon returned to the capital, and he entered the trial court with the title of Deputy Privy Envoy.

The status has risen very high, surpassing his father.But the higher the position, the higher the desire, is there a limit to promotion?Of course, it was only two steps away.First, the privy envoy is the deputy; second, this is the West Mansion, not the East Mansion Zhongshu Sheng. Liang Shi kept busy with his work, and did two things in the position of Deputy Privy Envoy.The first one, as mentioned earlier about Zhang Yaozuo's promotion to officialdom, he served as four envoys in one day, which made the official circles of the Song Dynasty furious.Headed by Bao Zheng, Taiwan's admonishers fought against the emperor, which was so intense that it reached the level of Queen Guo's deposed incident.When both sides were in dire straits, Liang Shi said something.

——"Taiwan admonishes and discusses things. It's a professional ear. Yao Zuoen has made mistakes, and I'm afraid it's not the whole story." The first half of the sentence appeased the Taiwan admonishers. They are very out of line, but they are all within the scope of their duties.The second half of the sentence is also a step down for the emperor, you are too kind to Zhang Yaozuo, be careful that excessive favor will cause disasters and troubles.Neither side should be offended, and it is even more clever to stand on both sides at the same time.He is both a good courtier and a good colleague.

According to his biography, Zhang Yaozuo's two titles were removed in this way.A well-behaved word is more useful than Bao Zheng and others' desperate persuasion. The second matter is related to the Liao Kingdom.Under the leadership of Yeluzongzhen, the Liao Kingdom will always have continuous tricks. After Li Yuanhao's death, he dreamed of a superpower again.The specific performance is that he is not greedy for money anymore, his picture name. Looking through the history books, he found that names such as Liao and Khitan were too local, and they were not enough to flaunt the international status of his current empire.For this reason, he wrote a letter to the Song Dynasty, suggesting that we all change our names.Recommended for the current situation, my name is Beichao, your name is Nanchao, concise and to the point, there are precedents in history, how good this is, do you agree? The emperor and ministers of the Song Dynasty hesitated.To be honest, the territory of the Liao Kingdom is really larger than that of the Northern Dynasties during the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, and the foundation of more than a hundred years is even more important. It is a bit apologetic to call yourself the Northern Dynasty.Regarding this point, modern historians all have the view that the Liao Kingdom at that time was the Zhengshuo and the Song Dynasty was a side branch. But promise?This is related to the morale of the people, especially the Han-standard way of thinking.Confucius taught us, "It is not as good to have a king in barbarians as in China." No matter what, we are all excellent races, how can we compare with barbarians?At this time Liang Shi spoke.He said that the Song Dynasty was the Song Dynasty because it was ordered by heaven, and no one has the right to change it.The same is true for Khitan. Take the Southern and Northern Dynasties as an example, they both had the titles of Wei and Jin respectively. How could they be collectively referred to as "Southern and Northern" dynasties? The emperor was very happy to hear that. Liang Aiqing was right, so she wrote back to reject Yelu. This matter cannot be compared to yours.At the same time, Liang Shi was promoted and went to work in Dongfu immediately. His title was to be a political adviser. The above is Liang Shi's version of the story of promotion in the Song Dynasty.Is it too easy and too pediatric?Yes, it was not too difficult to be promoted during the reign of Emperor Renzong of the Northern Song Dynasty. Correspondingly, there were two problems. First, it is easy to rise and fast to lose.The replacement of officials in the Song Dynasty, especially the Minister of Zaizhi, was an assembly line.You go up and down, almost the credits as big as a sesame seed will be awarded, and the crimes as big as a grain of rice will leave; second, it is true that the political affairs are very high, but there is a super high threshold ahead.One step away, the difference between heaven and earth.That is from participating in politics to prime minister. This is a fundamental difference, from power to treatment, nothing can compare.Correspondingly, the price to be paid is much higher to step over.How can we cross this last threshold and set foot on the highest peak of the empire?This proposition was generated in Liang Shi's mind. He was observing, thinking, and judging the occurrence of every opportunity all the time. Until Di Qing won the victory and returned to the court, the Dongfu discussed meritorious service and promoted him. The matter is very clear, Di Qing, as the deputy envoy of the Privy Council, cannot be promoted to the East Mansion, so it is imperative to remove the word "deputy", this is the only official position that can be promoted.But it was rejected, and Pang Ji, the only prime minister of the empire, opposed it with all his strength.He told the emperor that Di Qing was not worthy to be a privy envoy for the following reasons. According to the usual practice, for example, when the founding of the country, Murong Yanzhao won Jing and Hu in one fell swoop, with a radius of hundreds of miles, without bloodshed. What kind of credit is this?Emperor Taizu just rewarded money.Another example is Cao Binping in the Southern Tang Dynasty, capturing Li Yu, expanding the land for thousands of miles, and being the first in the founding of the country.Want to get a ambassador, what is the result?Emperor Taizu only rewarded money.This is an unchanging principle, the rules of the ancestors, military generals can never be privy envoys.What's more, Di Qing's contribution is far from the level of the two above, and it is very difficult to be a privy envoy. The above words can be said to be classics of civil servants despising military generals. From Pang Ji's mouth, they are very suitable from position to status.But it depends on who listens, some people can hear tears in their eyes, and realize that in the filthy and cold officialdom, there is also a warm and pure friendship. Some people could hear a series of tricks and money, power and status.For example, Liang Shi, he suddenly saw a bright road from political participation to prime minister. When people live in this world, it is really a great question to distinguish who is good to you and who is bad to you.Now, please turn into Di Qing and watch the conversation between the prime minister and the political leaders to distinguish who is the one who really cares about him. Liang Shi stood up and refuted the words of Pang Ji above.He said, Mr. Prime Minister, you are not fair.Not long ago, Wang Ze rebelled and only occupied the city of Beizhou. Wen Yanbo sent troops to recover it and became prime minister when he came back.Now that Di Qing has calmed down the two roads in one fell swoop, how does the credit compare to that?Why can't you be a privy envoy? To be fair, the contrast is clear.Compared with two roads (two provinces), which one is more important?Pang Ji should have nothing to say.But no, the face of the prime minister has become very hideous. Pang Ji said that Beizhou's reward was already too much, so it can't be too much now.You are participating in politics, don't you know that the civil servants in our court are prime ministers, who come and go impermanently, and military officers are privy envoys, who cannot be dismissed unless there is a serious crime.There are two problems here.First, the current privy envoy Gao Ruona, what crime has he committed, and he should be deposed to make way for Di Qing?Second, Di Qing is still very young, if he is given the position of head of the West Mansion at this time, how will he be rewarded for his meritorious service in the future?I am treating him well, not just cherishing the national treasures. Liang Shi sneered, do you want Di Qing to pay for Wen Yanbo's mistakes?Or don't reward him at all, so who will contribute to the country in the future?And Gao Ruona, how could the current privy lord be right?When he was traveling not long ago, the subordinate staff who cleared the way beat innocent pedestrians to death, and he is being impeached by the Taiwan admonisher. The servant has committed the crime of the master.Di Qing's promotion is not only a matter of course, but also a matter of course! Up to this point, anyone with a little bit of sense can tell that Liang Shi's words are reasonable, and that Bao Zheng's arch-rival and villain in Pang Ji's novel is making trouble for no reason, jealous of the virtuous and capable.So how to deal with it?The result was rather depressing. The emperor actually obeyed Pang Ji's words and cut off Di Qing's path to promotion. Di Qing's remuneration has become a lot of honorary titles, such as Jiedu Envoy of the National Army, Inspector Tai Tuo, and a large sum of money for his four sons who have been promoted to several grades.This matter was over, and the state and Di Qing settled the payment. The dust settled and the country got busy with other things.But Liang Shi didn't give up, he quietly pondered whether there was any change in this matter.Looking back, first of all, he was psychologically prepared for the emperor's decision, and the reason was the relationship between Pang Ji and Di Qing. The emperor never lost his mind. These two people are from the Northwest Department, and their friendship was formed on the battlefield.In this counter-insurgency in the south, the friendship has been raised to a higher level.The reason why Di Qing was able to take command was recommended by Pang Ji, and it was Pang Ji who fought for him to become the leader of the Lingnan military and government. No matter how you look at it, he is Di Qing's great benefactor. Therefore, when others suppress Di Qing, they are looking for an opportunity to retaliate, and they have ulterior motives. Whatever Pang Ji does is open and aboveboard.So being open and aboveboard plus the rules of the ancestors, can't it be changed?Liang Shi didn't think so. In order to jump from political participation to prime minister, he had to make Di Qing a privy envoy!To this end he did three things. First, write secret documents to the emperor.Cry out for Di Qing, and warn me again that this is not the time of our ancestors, internal and external troubles require generals, treat Di Qing too thinly, and be careful to cool the hearts of the army; Second, he wrote a letter to Di Qing, copying all the content of the argument with Pang Ji, which aroused General Di's anger and made the parties more active; Third, Liang Shi took an inside line.He found a famous eunuch in the palace, Shi Quanbin, the guard of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. This is a great eunuch who has the qualification of supervising the army. He is not only very close to the emperor, but also has weight.Liang Shi asked him to speak for Di Qing, and the price was to share the benefits equally. He recommended Shi Quanbin as an investigator. After three strokes, Zhao Zhen's heart was activated again.He was going to reward Di Qing a lot, but he mentioned in his commendation letter to Di Qing that he would never be a monarch like Cao Cao and Li Cunxu who had no beginning and no end, and whose rewards and punishments were unknown. He knew the current situation of the country very well. .The Di Qing in front of him is obviously a national elite, if he is not promoted, who will he promote? A few days later, Renzong suddenly summoned the ministers of the two governments, and he issued frequent orders in a stern voice-promoting Di Qing as a privy envoy, Sun Mian as a privy envoy, Shi Quanbin first gave the observer a salary, and was officially promoted a year later.Gao Ruona, the former privy envoy, was dismissed, but he was promoted to a higher level, with a bachelor's title and an official of the scriptures (accompanying the emperor to study). Pang Ji is a little confused, you changed it too quickly, let Chen discuss it after returning to the Ministry of Education, can you reply tomorrow? no!You will discuss in the hall gate pavilion, and I will wait in the hall. Speaking of this, the prime minister or the ministers of the two governments together dare not refute.On the same day, all the appointments were unanimously approved, and Di Qing finally became the first head of the military and the privy envoy of the Western Mansion.The news spread all over the capital in an instant. Both the military and the people of the Song Dynasty applauded this general who was born as a commoner, and even a criminal. The country finally has clear rewards and punishments!As long as we mediocre people work hard and contribute to the country, we can still stand out! Everyone was happy, and Liang Shi was the happiest. His goal was finally approaching. Di Qing went up and Gao Ruona went down. He has an abacus in mind.Now that Pang Ji is the sole chancellor, and the second prime minister is vacant, who will be promoted?According to the order of Dongfu, it should be him, Liang Shi.However, Gao Ruona, the Privy Councilor of the West Mansion, was more qualified. Whether it was his seniority as an official or his current official title, he was overwhelmed. Getting rid of Gao Ruona is imminent!Tianzhao Ying, Di Qing suddenly became popular, at this time, he used Di Qing to suppress Gao Ruona, once successful, Xifu would become the world of military generals, and military generals were doomed not to be prime minister, and the position of second prime minister could only be his in the end. The abacus clanged, and the actual operation was successful.Throughout the ages, many historians have attributed Di Qing's superiority to Emperor Renzong's cheering up, saying that Zhao Zhen finally saw the status quo of the empire, with constant turmoil, and a general must be in the center.However, Mr. Liang Shi's dream of being a prime minister was ignored.At this time, an interesting pattern is formed. Prime Minister Pang Ji, who was born as a genuine Jinshi, has qualifications as a civil servant, and meritorious service as a border minister. It can be said that he is highly respected and the head of civil officials; , is the leader of military generals for granted; the second prime minister, Liang Shi, is a miscellaneous yamen, talking about life, without any outstanding achievements.Comparing these three poems by the chief executive of the country, one can clearly conclude that Liang Shi is a piece of rubbish, not worth mentioning at all. Then it will be very interesting to look at the fate of these three people's promotion in the future.It is almost the epitome of officialdom in the late Renzong Dynasty. Through it, you can clearly see the office rules at that time, and why those so-called famous officials turned into exquisite puppets who can only smile, salute, and humbly. Speaking of Liang Shi, he has a high mind and great ambitions, and he is not satisfied even when he reaches the second phase.Desire determines a person's achievement, and the bright avenue in front of him leads directly to the position of the prime minister of the empire. Is it necessary to stop at this point?No, never!He began to look for Pang Ji's weakness.This is a bit difficult, Pang Ji, his reputation is not very good in the hearts of Chinese people.This is all thanks to various opera novels, such as "The General of the Yang Family".There, he and Di Qing worked hand in hand and did a lot of evil. He was the deadly enemy of the Yang family, the Huyan family, Kou Zhun, and the Eight Sage Kings. Of course, the result was also miserable. Pang Ji's family was killed, and he was also killed by his sworn enemy Hu Yanqing.Di Qing didn't do well either, and was actually cut to death by a thousand swords.Why is this so? This topic is very big, and it is related to the traditional Chinese thinking. It will be discussed in appropriate historical events in the future.What I want to talk about now is that Pang Jiben is a good official who has done great things for the country and the people. How could something happen to him? Something really happened to him.In fact, once you achieve the position of the prime minister of the empire, no matter who you are, you will become a kind of person—a bad person.Not only people like Liang Shi will be staring at you, but almost all the officials in the official circle will be staring at you. Look for every mistake of the Prime Minister. Pang Ji lost the prime minister, the process and reasons are almost a replica of the former privy envoy Gao Ruona.The cause of the incident was far away in Qizhou, where there was a scholar named Huangfuyuan.It is said that the pedant's responsibilities are very specific, which is to manage the students, organize training, and closely cooperate with the local education series, so as to send more Jinshi to the empire.It's so simple, but Brother Huangfu has other great talents, it's really unbearable to use skills, so he has to use them. He loved catching thieves, and he did catch thieves.This is a good thing. The state clearly stipulates that as long as the thief is caught, there will be a reward.Whether you are pedantic or not.But Huangfu was not satisfied with his pedantry, money is a trivial matter, and I still want to be promoted. He wrote several letters to the relevant departments, expressing his eager desire to be promoted.The result... was returned. Depressed, academics want to be promoted, as urgent as participating in a coup d'état!In desperation, he thought of some tricks.If it doesn't work, let's go.Facts have proved that Mr. Huangfu is even better at making connections. He was able to walk to the house of the prime minister, the number one official in the empire! He knew a Taoist priest named Zhao Qingkuang.Daoist Zhao and Pang Ji's sister's family have relatives. With this line of family affection, Huangfu pedantically pursued his desire to be promoted. Note that the history books are very vague here, and it didn't say whether Pang Ji knew about it or not.Instead, it said, "Ling is from Yuanbai".Ling, refers to deceit, coaxing.It is obvious that we are setting up a trap to deceive the fans of Huangfu officials in small remote cities. We will report the matter to the Prime Minister for you, so that you can achieve the goal of promotion. This kind of thing is inseparable from money, Huangfu bribed, Zhao Qingkuang accepted bribes, in order to show sincerity and skill, he also brought in an official under Pang Ji, saying that this would be an insider, so this little official also got a share money.Things went wrong with this little official.It is likely that the spoils were not evenly distributed, so the petty official went to Kaifeng Mansion to tell the whole story. Bribery cases are common, but not many involving the current prime minister.This matter was dealt with seriously and strictly.The result was fair. Both those who gave bribes and those who accepted bribes were relocated. The prime minister was not aware of the matter, so it didn't matter.In this way, Pang Ji has survived this hurdle.But don't worry, things have taken a fatal turn.Zhao Qingkuang died mysteriously on the way to exile.At this time, an official from Kaifeng Mansion named Han Jiang (note, he will be a big shot in the future) stepped forward, saying that Pang Ji used the prime minister's power to suppress relevant personnel, and killed Zhao Qingkuang on the way to silence him. In short, there is no evidence of murder, but public opinion is more terrible.Pang Ji's reputation was damaged.The hero turned into a bad person. He resigned three months after Di Qing became the privy envoy, and went to Yunzhou to be the prefect.With the first pick, Liang Shi was promoted from the second minister to the prime minister, and finally became the number one official in the empire. Finally, Di Qing is a bit strange, he is the protagonist, but he disappeared in the whole incident.Is this Di Qing's promotion story, or Liang Shi's official show?Unfortunately, it is the latter.Although General Di was wise and powerful, after returning to Kaifeng City, there was no room for him to speak. Some are just statements after the fact. When Di Qingrong was promoted to a privy envoy, when he entered the palace to thank him, the emperor stared at him for a long time, and then said something with gentle and sad feelings.Di Qing, I have an imperial doctor who can remove the gold seal on your face, restore your original appearance, and don't always wear the old tattoo. Di Qing was moved for a while.He knew that in the century since the founding of the Song Dynasty, the chief ministers of the two prefectures had never had tattoos of supporting troops, which was a shame, or at least a sign of despicableness.The emperor was completely thinking of him, and asked him to change his appearance, so that he could look up as a man from now on.But Di Qing refused, and he said a word to the emperor. From then on, he left an indelible impression in the hearts of the emperor and hundreds of millions of common people in the world. ——Your Majesty promotes ministers, regardless of his disciples. It is precisely because of this golden seal on his face that ministers are able to serve the country.I would like to have tattoos on my cheeks, so that the lowly children in the world will know that the imperial court treats each other with this name. Zhao Zhen was moved, he could hear the words from the bottom of his heart.As a result, he was even more convinced that he had done the right thing. Di Qing was not only capable, but also did not forget his roots. He was a rare good minister.As of now, Di Qing has won the emperor's heart, and he can be said to be invincible in the officialdom.But everything has a good and a bad side. This sentence has won the hearts of the emperor and the people, so what about other people, that huge group that is neither the emperor nor the common people, what would they think?This year, Di Qing was just 45 years old. He was young and vigorous, with outstanding achievements in his time. He was the head of the official residence in Xifu. He truly stood at the pinnacle of his life. How can one be so proud and cheerful in the sticky and filthy officialdom? However, he also became a different kind, different from others, sometimes not in exchange for admiration and admiration, but a crime of causing disaster.Looking back at this period of history, sometimes I really want to ask General Di, you are proficient in the art of war and victorious in every battle, have you forgotten the situation in front of you? There are civil servants everywhere, so there are no allies for you.Going deep alone with no support from inside or outside, this is death!