Chapter 30 3. Nepotism hides many evils

Chen Zhizhong was implicated and lost his job because of the fire in the backyard. His son Chen Shiru did not live up to his expectations and performed a living tragedy.The problem of family members making mistakes has always been difficult. Officials themselves can try their best to be clean, but no one is perfect, and everyone shows their abilities in front of interests. If you don’t take it, there is no guarantee that the family members will not take it.If the family members do not take it, there is no guarantee that the diners and servants will not make mistakes.All nepotism with officials, the consequences of the fault must be borne by the officials themselves.The process of another prime minister, Song Xiang, losing his position and dismissing his prime minister was similar to that of Chen Zhizhong.

Song Xiang was originally named Song Jiao, the number one scholar in the second year of Tiansheng (1024) of Emperor Renzong of Song Dynasty. He and his younger brother Song Qi were called "Second Song Dynasty" at that time, and they had certain attainments in literature.Song Xiang successively served as Dali judge, Prince Zhongyun, judge of the household department of the third division, Zuo Zhengyan, Zhizhigao and other positions.When Song Xiang was working in the Criminal Court, he found problems in the review of criminal cases, which had a great impact on his official career.In a place in Mizhou, Wang Xie, a rich man, made bootleg wine. At night, four neighbors, father and son, came to arrest Wang Xie and seized the money from the government.Wang Xi told the slaves that these people were thieves who stole things.The house slaves were very honest and beat the father and son to death on the spot, and a murder case occurred.The state government sentenced the house slave to death, Wang Chen found a scapegoat, and the house slave was safe and sound.The case was discussed at the central government, and Prime Minister Chen Yaozuo defended Wang Xie.

Chen Yaozuo is the second son of Chen Xinghua, a Zuo Jianyi doctor, and a native of Langzhong, Langzhou, Chengdu Fulu (now Langzhong City, Sichuan Province).Speaking of Chen Shenghua's three sons, everyone can only envy and hate. The eldest son Chen Yaosou, the second son Chen Yaozuo, the third son Chen Yaozi, and a son-in-law named Fu Yaoyu, the four sons were all selected.Among them, Chen Yaosou was the number one scholar in the Ji Chou family in the second year of Duangong (989) of Song Taizong, and Chen Yaozi was the number one scholar in the Gengzi family in the third year of Xianping (1000) of Emperor Zhenzong of Song Dynasty.Although the second son, Chen Yaozuo, did not win the first prize, he was the only one among the four sons who worshiped the Prime Minister, and his historical contribution was hard to compare with other brothers. He was a famous water conservancy expert in the Song Dynasty.On the night of June in the third year of Emperor Zhenzong of Song Dynasty (1019), the Huazhou section of the Yellow River (now Huaxian County, Anyang City, Henan Province) overflowed. The imperial court sent water conservancy expert Chen Yaozuo to supervise the river affairs in Huazhou.Chen Yaozuo worked out the "Wooden Dragon Water Killing Method" after field surveys and hand-drawn drawings. He used wood to make a wooden comb shape and inlaid it on the edge of the river embankment to comb and strengthen the embankment. It is known as "Chen Gong embankment", which stretches for thousands of miles and effectively prevents the flooding of the Yellow River. , The downstream states and counties all benefit from it.

Chen Yaozuo was born in a family of officials and eunuchs, and he tried to protect Wang Xie probably because of the protection of the local landlord class.Song Xiang was born in a poor family, so he didn't know this, so he fought hard with Prime Minister Chen Yaozuo.At Song Xiang's insistence, Wang Xie was sentenced to death.Because of this incident, Song Renzong wanted to promote him to be a right admonishment doctor and a member of the Privy Council.Someone in Zhongshu spoke, probably from Chen Yaozuo.Both Zhizhigao and Hanlin Bachelor were the emperor's secretarial consultants, and Hanlin Bachelor's political qualifications were higher than Zhizhigao, so Song Xiang was appointed as Hanlin Bachelor, indicating that the emperor gave him a good background and hinted that he was ready to reuse him.

At that time, Li Shu, a scholar of LongTuge, was extremely intelligent and became an official as a child prodigy. She was particularly alert and insidious.Li Shu was afraid that Song Xiang would enter the central decision-making level before him, so she said that Song Xiang's name was unlucky.Song Xiang was originally named Songjiao, and Song was the name of the country where he was appointed. "Jiao" and "jiao" have the meaning of "alternation", and the combination of names is an ominous omen.Li Shu came to make a prophecy prophecy, "Songjiao" implied that "the Great Song Dynasty will alternate", when he was young, he said that Song Renzong would be laid off, and when he was old, he said that the Song Dynasty would perish.Prophecy is a very scary thing. The scary thing is that it is said to be miraculously effective.After the Jingkang Incident, there were a lot of prophecies, and people remembered some details of their previous life and used them as an afterthought.For example, "Fengchuang Xiaodo" records that before the Jingkang Revolution, the door gods on the doors of ordinary people in the capital looked like tigers with helmets. Qin Qiong and Yuchi Jingde painted hideous faces, unlike the Central Plains people.The door gods of high-ranking officials and noble families are inlaid with gold rims.After the Jingkang Incident, some people said that the man with the tiger head was a "captive", and the door god hung a gold ornament, which means that the golden captive is at the door.Although this kind of prophecy has nothing to do with the facts, the superiors are bothered by it.Li Shuyi said that it was in the heart of Song Renzong, and he issued an order to change the name of Songjiao, so he changed it to "Xiang".

Li Shu's tricks could not stop Song Xiang from paying homage to the prime minister. Song Yang hadn't been in charge of political affairs for a few years, and was just catching up with Song Xia's war.During the Battle of Sanchuanzhai, Fan Zhongyan, the deputy commander of the front line, wrote a letter to Li Yuanhao of Xixia, saying that the suzerain Song Dynasty did not recognize the independence of Xixia, and Fan Zhongyan was suspected of "collaborating with the enemy" when writing letters to the enemy during the war.When the news spread to the government and the opposition, Prime Minister Lu Yijian and Song Xiang, a political adviser, demanded that Fan Zhongyan be executed on the grounds that "people and ministers have no diplomacy".Later, Lu Yijian suddenly changed his opinion. Lu Yijian and Song Xiang were at odds, and they always accused him of being a crony.Lu Yijian suddenly changed his opinion, obviously sold Song Xiang, and let him do the offending people alone.Under the attack of Lu Yijian, Song Xiang left the central government.After the Qingli New Deal, he returned to the central government. A few years later, in the middle period of Huangyou, Song Xiang became the prime minister.The road to promotion can be described as stumbling, and at every critical moment, there are always people behind to make trouble.Song Xiang was fifty-three years old when he paid homage to the prime minister, and he had been in official career for twenty-five years.At the same time, Wen Yanbo, who was the prime minister, was only forty-three years old and had a career in office for twenty-two years.

Before the Song Xiang brothers became officials, their family was in financial difficulties. After becoming officials, their lives gradually improved.The Song Xiang brothers have a long history of corrupt living. Maybe they were afraid of poverty before, so they became officials and had an income to squander on their lives. "Qian Shi's Private Records" records that Song Xiang was reading "Book of Changes" in the yard during the Shangyuan Festival, and heard that his younger brother Song Qi's courtyard was just lit, drinking wine and prostitutes, and engaged in a whole night.The next day Song Xiang ordered his confidants to bring a message to Song Qi, I heard that you were extremely extravagant last night, and fought at night with the lights on, do you still remember the experience of eating leftovers at school with our brothers on the Lantern Festival?Song Qi smiled and said after hearing what his brother said, the days of eating leftovers are going to be long, I don't know what year you are talking about, big brother?From this short story, it can be seen that the Song Xiang brothers entered the official position as poor scholars, and their study experience was very difficult.After making a fortune, he is like a nouveau riche, desperate for extravagance, wishing to live another five hundred years to enjoy life.This kind of atmosphere can easily infect those around you and make mistakes.Song Qi didn't listen to his elder brother's advice, and continued his life of debauchery, without thinking about his elder brother's image, and something happened.

Song Qi was called "Xiao Song" at that time, and he was supposed to be the number one scholar because the ethical order ranked tenth. "Dongxuan Transcripts" appraised him as "erudite and capable of writing, with profound talents", and he has profound attainments in literature and history.Song Qi and Ouyang Xiu cooperated in the revision of "New Book of Tang". He was the one who raised the famous "three redundancy and three expenses" problems in the finance of the Song Dynasty.Song Qi has every reason to be corrupted by capital. The full lyrics of his famous song "Mulan Flower: Dongcheng Jianjue's Scenery" reads: "Dongcheng gradually feels that the scenery is good, and the ripples welcome guests. The green poplar smoke is cold outside, and the red The apricot branches are full of spring. Floating growth hates the lack of joy, and I am willing to love a daughter with a light smile. Hold wine for the king to persuade the setting sun, and take evening photos among the flowers." The upper part of the poem is full of spring, and the lower part is about life's pride, explaining Without Song Qi's character, in Song Qi's eyes, all one needs to be happy in life is to be happy.Because of the famous sentence of "red apricot branch spring makes trouble", people at that time called him "Hongxing Shangshu". This is the most romantic official nickname in the Song Dynasty and even in the history of China. "Donkey Cart Shangshu" Dai Dunyuan is several levels above.

Song Qi's life orientation has influenced the next generation. His son is friendly with Zhang Yanfang, the retainer of Concubine Zhang Guifei's biological mother, Mrs. Cao's family of Yue.After thinking about it, I thought of selling officials.During the reign of Emperor Renzong of the Song Dynasty, officials were clearly marked with prices. Dali judged affairs 10,000 guan, chief bookkeeper and county lieutenant 6,000 guan, and the lowest level of civil servant general Shilang 3,200 guan. Astray.The two of them are not yamen, and they are not qualified to sell officials, which does not bother them.The two "forged imperial edicts", forged official documents of the imperial court to appoint people as supplementary officials, and used the guise of their uncle Song Xiang as the prime minister of the current dynasty to fool some people who were eager to become officials, and received commissions from them.But when they did this, they did not think of the seriousness of the consequences.Fudge comes and goes, flicks and things happen, fake ones will never be true.Song Qi's son and Zhang Yanfang were arrested by relevant departments and sentenced to death.At present, let alone whether the two children can be saved, it is difficult to say whether the uncle's status and the father's official position can be kept.The incident gave ruling and opposition officials a powerful reason to attack.

Bao Zheng of Zhijiayuan impeached Prime Minister Song Xiang on the grounds of indulging his children.There was a lot of noise about this incident, and everyone in the capital knew about it.It is not clear whether Song Qi's son and Zhang Yanfang will make a final decision. It is true that Song Xiang and Song Qi were implicated.Let me talk about Song Qi first, who was then a Shizhong and a Bachelor of Longtuge. He was kicked out of the imperial court because of a crime committed by the Yamen.Of course, the one who suffered the most from the impact of the incident was Prime Minister Song Xiang, who had been fighting for twenty-five years.Under the attack of the admonisher, Song Xiang had no choice but to take the blame and resign.When you get old, you lose your reputation.Therefore, the fault of personnel who have a nepotism with officials must be paid by the officials themselves, and the risk probability of paying the bill is usually proportional to the official position.The higher the position, the greater the responsibility.

The moral problem reflected behind the incident of "indulging children" is "the father's fault if the teaching is not strict".According to our tradition of respecting teachers, this is an extremely serious moral issue. "Guoyu · Jinyu I": "People live in three ways, and things are as one. Fathers give birth to them, kings eat them, and teachers teach them. They can't be born without their fathers, they can't grow without food, and they don't know how to live without teaching, so it's one thing. "That is to say, the teacher is promoted to the same level as the father and the king, and the atmosphere of "respecting the teacher and respecting the way" appears in the society.A person's highest moral values ​​are filial piety, loyalty to the emperor, and respect for teachers.That's why people have a very ugly saying when they scold others - they are raised by their mothers, but not taught by their fathers.