Chapter 15 Chapter fifteen

Put down Di Qing, let us jump out of the long and chaotic officialdom of the Renzong Dynasty, jump into the sky of Kaifeng City, look down, find the main line of the country's major events back then, and discover the secrets of the Song Dynasty's national destiny. How it flourishes and how it decays.At this time, the contradictions and variables were concentrated in the Zhihe and Jiayou years (AD 1054-1063).This period of time is a rare era in the history of the Northern Song Dynasty, when the country was prosperous and the people were peaceful, and the years were peaceful. In the impression of Chinese people, celebrities come out in large numbers, the prosperity is like brocade, and the years of leisure and enjoyment refer to this time.According to precise calculations, Di Qing was promoted to the Privy Council just a year before.After that, good things continued to happen. Two months later, Tang Jie, the most powerful and tough speaker, also returned to Beijing, and he still served as the censor.All signs showed that Emperor Renzong wanted to cheer up again and let the country thrive in a situation of constant disasters and rebellions.

That's great, but it's a pity that the sky didn't follow people's wishes, Zhao Zhen's sorrow suddenly came, and his most beloved person died.On the eighth day of the first month of the sixth year of Huangyou (1054 A.D.), Concubine Zhang Guifei died of a sudden illness at the age of 31.From then on, Emperor Renzong's mind and body were severely hit. He couldn't bear the departure of his beloved, and gradually became in a trance and remained silent. At this point in history, the records in the history books have become very subtle. As a modern person and as a person of the Song Dynasty, there is an essential difference.Speaking of the officialdom in the Song Dynasty, the death of Zhang Guifei made them very happy.I am not exaggerating, I am not referring specifically to the official system including Bao Zheng, but the entire officialdom of the Song Dynasty.

The death of Concubine Zhang caused the so-called Zhang Group to collapse suddenly, and there was no such thing as pillow style. Let's see how Zhang Yaozuo, Wen Yanbo and his like can get promoted and get rich, and eat a vegetarian meal in their corpses.This is really gratifying, and the world has become just again from then on!As for how the emperor himself feels, that is not their business scope. In the cognitive system of all officials cultivated with Confucianism, people are alive, and there are laws and regulations such as "rituals" to regulate them. There are also various corresponding standards to bury.

sad?That's easy to handle, you can use the methods of quitting court, taking over, posthumous gifts and so on to express it.There is a system for everything, and you are guaranteed to live and die with dignity. So they became angry, and they really didn't understand, how could the emperor go out of line like this? !Zhao Zhen set the funeral etiquette for his beloved woman to the highest standard. It was actually buried with the queen's ceremony! Strictly speaking, he has a criminal record for doing so.Empress Guo, who was abolished by him back then, died suddenly, and he also sent it as a queen's gift, completely ignoring the feelings of Empress Cao who had just married into the door.But at that time, it was a coincidence. After all, Mrs. Guo used to be the mother of the world. Except for the "slap door" incident, there was nothing wrong with it.At this time, the Zhang family could not be equated at all, she was just a noble concubine, and she often interfered in politics, and the scandal of accepting bribes involved a lot of high-ranking officials such as the prime minister at the time and Yushi Zhongcheng.

There is also her uncle who is not reconciled to being a butcher.Such a woman would be cheap if she didn't enter the cold palace, so why should she be named a queen again? Zhao Zhen didn't care about these, no matter who objected, he insisted on going his own way.On the fourth day after Zhang's death, he was posthumously conferred the title of Empress "Wen Cheng" and held a funeral for her in the Hall of Emperor's Rites. On the 20th, he led all the civil and military officials to escort the spiritual seat out of the palace and into Fengxian Temple. The standard of all these is the impeccable funeral ceremony of the queen. To be honest, even his adoptive mother, the Empress Dowager Liu E, was not able to enjoy it.It was originally destined to be prepared for only one woman, that is, the current Lord of the Eastern Palace, Empress Cao.But she disappeared again, and there is no record of her at this time in history.The virtuous lady of habit continued to remain silent.But the power she should have is naturally protected by others.

Maintenance actions are divided into pre-bereavement and bereavement. Before the funeral, for the title of empress, the entire Yushitai, led by the current Zhongcheng Sun Yan, went to battle, and fought with the emperor to the death.It is not an exaggeration at all, because the emperor did not compromise afterwards, they really all resigned, and quit. The confrontation reached its climax during the mourning. At the most important time of mourning, the name of the deceased was justified. When reading the book of mourning, a big mistake happened.Sun Mian, the deputy privy envoy originally designated, suddenly put down the mourning book and said: "At the funeral of Empress Zhang Mu, the two officials (Hanlin Bachelor, Zhi Zhigao) read the mourning book. Now Empress Wen Cheng is posthumously named, and instead Ask the ministers of the two governments to act. This is not in line with etiquette, and the minister refuses to read the book."

The incident happened suddenly, and the emperor and ministers were all stunned.This Sun Mian was Di Qingnan's deputy in the suppression of the rebellion, a very obedient person, especially a person who had just been promoted and should be obedient and obedient to repay the emperor's favor, how could he suddenly turn his face? Zhao Zhen was filled with shock and anger, but for the smooth progress of the funeral and for the final comfort of his beloved woman, he held back, and instead sent someone to persuade him, Sun Aiqing, you should go to school. Sun Mian said a word with awe-inspiring righteousness. "You can read the book as a minister and Sun Mian, but you can't read the book as a deputy envoy!" After finishing speaking, he put the book of mourning on the table, and without asking anyone for instructions, he withdrew by himself.

It was completely cold.Zhao Zhen looked at the ministers who were standing all over the courtyard in black in front of him, and felt dizzy for a while.He is 45 years old this year, and has been emperor for 32 years since he ascended the throne at the age of 13.For nearly half a year, it can be said that he was super kind to his courtiers.He used to play in the back garden, where there were many concubines and waiters. He looked back frequently as he walked, as if he was looking for something, but he never said it out.It wasn't until I got back to the palace that I hurriedly said to fetch water. I was dying of thirst all the way.

The concubines were very puzzled, why didn't the officials ask for water outside, making them so thirsty? He smiled wryly, and said that he looked back several times, but he didn't see the person who served the water.If water was required at that time, wouldn't those in charge suffer?So bear with it until you get back to the palace. Another time, he suddenly wanted to eat roast mutton in the middle of the night. After thinking about it, he finally suppressed it.The person next to him asked why, and he said that once he wanted to eat it, it would become a routine, and every night the imperial kitchen would kill sheep for preparation.Killing and killing every day, how can I bear it?

There are many such things, and he treats the ministers in front of him even more lightly. Needless to say, the usual salary is thicker and thicker. .This is so good, why can't I get some sympathy and understanding back? This woman who is close at hand, no matter what unreasonable things she has done before, she has accompanied me through the days of turbulent wars, constant rebellion, and annoying factional disputes.Ministers, you have a dignified appearance and a saintly face, do you really have no stains on your body?Aside from going around openly fooling around in the bars after work on weekdays, there are countless other scandals.

As far as you are concerned, Sun Mian, it is not a good thing. Sun Mian is greedy for money and lustful.Ordinarily, as long as he is a man, there is nothing wrong with these two things, but there are not many people like him who are out of line.Generally speaking, he managed to lust everywhere, get rich wherever he went, greedy all the way, and never failed. Let’s talk about money first. When he was an official in Bingzhou, the officials and soldiers in the yamen often went out on business, running in all directions and running super diligently.But it was not for official business, but with the travel expenses of the imperial court to sell yarn, silk, silk, paper and medicine to Sun Mian.It was annoying, but it was the fashion of the time, and almost every official did it. At the same time, there are more than one million Imperial Army and Xiang Army, and the small officials and servants in each yamen will have a living, so they won't be too idle. The above is routine, and the following is exciting.When Sun Mian was greedy for money, he was vicious. As long as he blocked his way of getting money, no matter who it was, he would be careful that his family would be destroyed.When he was an official in Hangzhou, there were two things that were very representative. The first is to continue to do business. Sun Mian personally went out to discuss the price of yarn with a Xiaoshan native named Zheng.Zheng Mou didn't know the real face of officials and businessmen for a while, so he offered a very high price, and he didn't counter the price.Sun Mian had no choice but to go out with a grudge. The more he thought about it, the more angry he became, and he decided to be ruthless.He sent someone to investigate Zheng's case. After diligently checking the accounts, he found out that this person had evaded taxes. With the handle in hand, the price is easy to negotiate.It's a pity that Zheng took the matter too lightly. Sun Mian wanted his love, not to mention his life. For a little tax evasion, he was sent to another state, and all his family property was confiscated! This is still a matter of the past, after all, Zheng's hands and feet are not clean, which gave Sun Mian a reason to punish him.The next thing is purely the nature of a wicked person, a despicable animal behavior. Hangzhou has been prosperous since ancient times, and besides being an outstanding place, it is also quite rich, and there are always some strange treasures among the people that are occasionally exposed.Xu Ming, a citizen of Hangzhou, owns 100 pearls of excellent color, round and huge, and an "Eagle Picture" painted by Guo Qianhui.Authentic treasures and antiques made the knowledgeable Sun Mian drool.In order to get these two things, Sun Mian used his brains a lot and came up with a stratified, super-asshole plan. There are two things, and they must be broken one by one.Beware of Xu Ming's impulsiveness, destroying the treasure, and destroying everything.He asked his brother-in-law to buy pearls first. He bid 32,000 yuan for 100 rare large pearls, which is 320 guan!Almost even a pearl is enough to buy it.But it was a deal. This is the cleverness of the means.Sun Mian got Xu Ming's psychology right. Xu Ming loved pearls and "Eagle Picture" even more. He always wanted to pay some price to get rid of the plague god, so he didn't take pearls seriously. After Pearl, "Eagle Picture" became Xu Ming's lifeblood, and Sun Mian knew that he had to play hard.Now, friends, please hide your papers and meditate, what kind of means should be used to make Xu Ming obediently hand over the treasure and have to give in? Thousands of years later, I feel incredible.Sun Mian actually found out that Xu Ming had a baby name when he was a child, "Da Wang'er".This is a crime, a commoner, usurping the king, you want to rebel! Xu Ming was assassinated and exiled into the army, and "Eagle Picture" fell into the hands of Sun Mian smoothly.It wasn't until after Sun Mian was transferred from Hangzhou that Xu Ming cut off his arm in the camp until he was called to prison to appeal for injustice and was released. The above is an example of Sun Mian's greed for money. Let's look at his lust. Sun Mian's lust has reached the level of collecting and storing, and will not refuse anyone who comes.The specific manifestation is that whether it is a woman from a good family or an official prostitute in the military camp, as long as he takes a fancy to it, he will be doomed and will eventually get it. When he was an official in Chuzhou, he met a woman named Bai Mudan when he was out on a trip. He suddenly became excited and couldn't restrain it, so he lured (the original characters in the historical books) back to the official residence, and so on.This is the first one. The second happened in Bingzhou. On the way to take office, he openly accepted prostitutes along the way. Considering the victim's identity above, prostitutes and the name Bai Mudan are not legitimate professionals. Sun Mian's behavior can only be attributed to misbehavior, a small crime of flirting.Then see the next example.It also takes place in the picturesque Hangzhou. Hangzhou has been full of beauties since ancient times, and there is always love on the edge of the West Lake.Sun Mian used to linger there day and night.As a result, he saw a super beautiful girl named Zhao.It's a pity that the famous flower has a master, and she is betrothed to a man named Xin Dan.Sun Mian used his brains, how could he unreasonably but absolutely legally take Zhao Meimei as his own? There will always be a way, as long as you have the power and the desire.Sun Mian attacked Xin Dan's family first, and he took Xin Dan's mother to the government on the pretext that she had an affair with the monk.He also appointed official prostitutes to guard Zhao Meimei's mother, and changed her appearance to act as a savior, took Zhao Mei away, and stayed together day and night... This is the privy deputy envoy who was upright and upright at the funeral of Concubine Zhang Gui Sun Mian, Mr. Sun's true nature. Such a person is actually able to be an extremely human minister, and still calls himself benevolence, righteousness and morality at every turn. I really don't know that there is a word of shame in the world.In fact, it wasn't just him, almost all the ministers in the officialdom of the Song Dynasty had unclean hands and feet.Taking this funeral turmoil as a limitation, and describing in detail the prominent figures, we can see what the scholar-bureaucrats in the prosperous world look like. The next person to appear was Prime Minister Chen Zhizhong.As mentioned earlier, after Pang Ji left the field, Liang Shi was promoted to prime minister, but he was not qualified to be a prime minister. Soon the emperor's teacher and benefactor Chen Zhizhong returned to the court and took a share of his pie.At this time, Sun Mian suddenly showed his morality in public, and put down his picks. In the crisis, Chen Zhizhong stepped up and firmly supported the emperor. If the privy envoy does not read the mourning book, then the prime minister will read it.Chen Zhizhong made Concubine Zhang's funeral suddenly upgraded, and the treatment was higher than before.The funeral was successfully concluded, the emperor was full of gratitude to his mentor, and the ministers wanted to scold this old scumbag to death. This is the enmity between scholar-bureaucrats. As a modern person, it can be ignored, because after all, Chen Zhizhong lived according to the way of being an official in the Song Dynasty in that specific era.What we need to see is what kind of deeds he has done as a "person". Half a year later, something happened to his family.According to official records, a maid named Ying'er died.He was covered in bruises and bruises, and the Kaifeng government investigated and found that he was beaten to death.There are two versions of the incident.First, it was Chen Zhizhong who beat the maidservant to death by himself; second, it was his concubine, Mrs. Zhang, who had always been cruel and cruel, and beat her to death. According to the official conclusion, no matter what it is, Chen Zhizhong has an inescapable incumbent. There is another version of the record, from Sima Guang's personal notes "Sushui Jiwen", that not one maidservant died, but three.Ying'er was only 13 years old at the time, just a girl. I don't know what mistakes she made. Under Zhang's instigation, Chen Zhizhong personally beat her many times. die.The other two maids were named Haitang and the other was unknown. Haitang was beaten to death, and the nameless one was cut bald and hanged herself. Is this the work of a dignified prime minister's mansion, a wise scholar? !Chen Zhizhong was courteous and courteous to everyone, but he never expected to be so cruel and cruel behind his back! The incident came to light, and Chen Zhizhong was impeached by Yushitai, suspended from his post and returned home to await punishment.From the general consciousness of people at that time and now, he is finished.Think about it, during the Renzong period of the Song Dynasty, such a thing happened. Besides the law, is there any other answer?The result is there.It was a feudal era, people were not equal, and there was no market for modern human rights awareness. No matter how benevolent Emperor Renzong was, he could not equate the lives of a prime minister with the lives of several servant girls.He hesitated, this is just a private matter, at most it is nothing more than a scandal, is it possible to dismiss the old teacher, or even bring him to justice? His hesitation directly led to the judiciary's efforts to hear Chen Zhizhong's case.Despite all the mobilization of Yushitai and continuous impeachment, Chen Zhizhong's title of prime minister remained unchanged.Until Ouyang Xiu, the first quarrel king and impeachment king of the Renzong Dynasty, returned to Beijing. Ouyang Xiu, a great talent who was demoted to other places during the Qingli period, finally returned, and his position was assigned to a very suitable and competent place, as a Hanlin Bachelor in the two officials.Leisure and rich, but he can't stay.Immediately rushed into the vortex, spared no effort to suppress Chen Zhizhong, he vowed not to give up until he knocked down this seemingly loyal and extremely shameless gentle scum! As for why he was so impulsive, he knew it himself, and the whole Song Dynasty also knew it.That involved another huge scandal, indirectly caused by Chen Zhizhong. During the Qingli New Deal, Ouyang Xiu was even more brilliant than the protagonists such as Fan Zhongyan. His whirlwind legs soared into the sky and shot every corner of the Song Dynasty, making almost all officials feel ashamed and labeled as villains.There is retribution for doing so. When something happens to a good man, the first scandal in the Renzong Dynasty and even the Northern Song Dynasty fell on him. The thing is like this, Ouyang Xiu's second brother-in-law died early, and his younger sister brought her daughter Zhang to live in his house.Ouyang Xiu raised his niece and married his distant nephew.But his education is obviously not enough. This girl from the Zhang family has a bad habit. She likes to have affairs, and has an affair with the staff in her husband's yamen.After the incident, it was handled by Yang Riyan, the governor of Kaifeng at that time. Yang Riyan is unknown in history, so he has no impression in Ouyang Xiu's heart.He has crushed too many people, too many to count.This Mr. Yang once served in Yizhou for corruption and dereliction of duty, and was impeached by Ouyang Xiu, who was an admonisher at the time, and lost his position.Complaints against resentments, revenge against others, originally a nasty matter of the younger generation, unexpectedly contacted Ouyang Xiu of the older generation. According to the trial report, Mrs. Zhang confessed that in Ouyang Xiu's house, she had committed adultery with her uncle and exchanged money.As soon as this report was released, the world immediately went into an uproar.Oh my god, this is incest, the most despicable and disgusting scandal, and it actually happened to Ouyang Xiu, who is the crown of contemporary wits! Will it be true?People all over the world are asking, but the officialdom is unanimously convinced.real.There are two reasons. First, Ouyang Xiu has a criminal record. He is a romantic and lustful man. He hanged out with official prostitutes in his early years and left behind a lot of exquisite poems. , the money belongs to himself.This is evidenced by the contract, and there is nowhere to deny it. At the time, public opinion had everything to say.Some people think that Ouyang Xiu was framed, which is revenge.You can't say that having money is adultery, right?It is normal for relatives to borrow money from each other.It was Yang Riyan, the villain, who was doing the trouble.Another theory that accounts for the vast majority is that flies do not bite unsewn eggs. All signs show that Ouyang Xiu is an incest! As a result, he was demoted from the capital, and the other places woke up.What I want to point out is that the chancellor at that time was Chen Zhizhong, and he was at worst an acquiescing in the rebellion incident, so Ouyang Xiu hated him to death.At this time, the scandals took turns. When I came to Chen's house this year, wouldn't I be willing to take revenge? Ouyang Xiu's attack was the most terrifying impeachment weapon during the reign of Emperor Renzong of the Northern Song Dynasty.In terms of record, not to mention the weak Chen Zhizhong, even the eternally famous and ruthless Bao Zheng. Chen Zhizhong collapsed, he survived the violent bombardment of the entire Yushitai, and even Yushi Zhongcheng Sun Yan resigned for him, and he wanted to perish together without incident, but as soon as Ouyang Xiu arrived, he was immediately driven out of the capital and went to Bozhou Reflect on it. Things can come to an end here.To sum up, in general history books, what happened in the Song Dynasty during this period are all trivial and trivial things, there is nothing to pay attention to, and nothing can be summed up.Then it entered the Zhihe and Jiayou years (1054-1063), when it was more peaceful, more peaceful, and more trivial.There is no way to tell the whole thing. But after careful study, I found that it is not always the case.The above-mentioned events are the turning point of the Song Dynasty, at least the Renzong Dynasty, from prosperity to decline.Before the Renzong Dynasty, despite constant external and internal strife, under the leadership of Zhao Zhen, everything was smooth and orderly.After the death of Concubine Zhang Gui, Zhao Zhen's mind and body have undergone tremendous changes, which directly led to his policy program and leadership. The Song Dynasty began to change. The death of Concubine Zhang Guifei was originally a trivial matter. Apart from the fact that the titles of the two empresses overlapped, and the repeated contempt and disrespect for Empress Cao, is there any other major event?Yes, since ancient times, the spouse of a leader has had a huge influence on the leader, even affecting the operation of the country.For example, Tang Gaozong Li Zhi, if he was always healthy, how could it be Wu Zetian's turn to approve memorials and manage state affairs?Closer to Liu E, Zhao Heng was in a state of insanity in his later years and was unable to work, so she stepped onto the stage.More recently, Cixi, her husband also died of illness early, and her son was too young, so it was her turn to be in power. To sum up, it is very clear.If the husbands of these strong women had been healthy and normal, they would have no chance of leaving the harem and looting their homes.The evidence is that none of them dared to make trouble before their husbands got sick. As for Zhao Zhen, Concubine Zhang Gui died, so he had to find a new woman.This is not only the need of life, but also the need of work.He had to give birth to an heir to the century-old foundation of the Song Dynasty.So women choose more and more, and there are 10 favored concubines, known as "Ten Pavilions". 10, this kind of work intensity caused Zhao Zhen to have health problems very quickly. At first he was listless, then gradually his condition worsened, and he suddenly became unconscious for 3 days.After that, his health went from bad to worse, and he never recovered.This has two consequences. 1. The legendary prosperous age appeared.The country is safe with the situation, and the officials are safe with the country. Just like his body, stability is above everything else.No matter what the reason is, he managed to rest with the people; 2. The legendary famous official appeared.The emperor fell ill, and the country had to be managed by someone. A large number of famous officials came out. They not only took good care of the emperor, but also managed the country well. This made the officials of all dynasties admire them, and created their immortal legends. The specific development process started when Chen Zhizhong dismissed get out of class.Both he and Liang Shi left, and the Zhongshu Province was replaced by Wen Yanbo and Fu Bi.Among them, Fu Bi, Zhong Cheng Bao Zheng, who took office later, Hu Yuan, a great Confucian who served as a lecturer of Jingyu, and Ouyang Xiu, a scholar of the Imperial Academy, are called "Four Truths".That is to say, Fu Bi is the real prime minister, Ouyang Xiu is the real scholar, Bao Zheng is the real censor, and Hu Yuan is the real gentleman. As for Wen Yanbo, who made his official career so long, with ups and downs in the middle, when it was time to evaluate the four truths, he dived again, and his title was temporarily deprived. The Dynasty of the Four Truths is a rare legend in the history of the Song Dynasty, and it has been repeatedly praised by later generations, so let's start with them and see what happened during this period of time and who did what.Among the four, Hu Yuan was the first to be excluded.This Mr. Zhen is a master of Confucianism. In addition to his profound knowledge, the most admirable thing is his moral grandeur.He never talked about anything and mixed everything when he was close to the emperor. So outside of the scriptures, there is no heaven and earth.Hu Yuan took care of himself alone. Bao Zheng has no role to play for the time being. He impeached Zhang Yaozuo too hard before, and he is still recovering.Only Fu Bi, Wen Yanbo, and Ouyang Xiu remained.These three people used to live on the cusp of the storm, but it was a pity that Fu Bi had to be removed, and he really became the "true prime minister" of the Renzong Dynasty.He set a record. Clean and flawless, spotless.Throughout his life, no one impeached him. This is the first of its kind, even Fan Zhongyan can't do it.What is the reason? This person has changed.After being hit by Xia Song's rumors and demoted from Kaifeng, Fu Bi's mind underwent a great change, making the real man who was passionate for the country and the people, negotiating with Khitan at the expense of his life, and talking about reforms regardless of his wealth become a true man of the Song Dynasty. The most classic consul becomes the "true prime minister". Apart from comments such as sadness, or maturity and decay, the reasons and process of this transformation of the soul are enough to become the epitome of the continuous decline of the Song Dynasty and the winter of leap November in 1126 AD.The fall of the empire is actually the fall of the hearts of the people. Going a little further, only Ouyang Xiu and Wen Yanbo were left among the five.These two men are both newly returned to the capital, and their ability and style made them immediately famous. It started with the Yellow River flood that plagued the Song Dynasty for almost eight years.