Chapter 53 5. The "acquiescence" of superiors is a kind of magical power

When Kou Zhun entered the ruling group, Emperor Taizong of Song Dynasty once said something meaningful to Prime Minister Lv Mengzheng: "Kou Zhun is very sensitive to the matter, and now he is promoted again, and he wants to do his best. If you go long, you will never be able to do anything up and down." The meaning has been made very clear, although Kou Zhun is young, but he is sensitive to the situation, today you are officials in the same dynasty, you must be of one heart and one mind, implying that Prime Minister Lu's next work will be based on Kou Zhun is the center.Lu Mengzheng heard the overtones, he couldn't afford to be offended, he could hide, so he resigned immediately and was replaced by Lu Duan.At that time, there were Lu Duan, Zhang Ji, Li Changling, and Kou Zhun in the ruling class. In terms of age and seniority, Kou Zhun was the youngest, but in terms of prestige and relationship with the emperor, no one could surpass him.

Song Taizong in his later years seemed to have found a spiritual pillar in his work, and he almost obeyed Kou Zhun, which was directly reflected in the matter of Li Chu.Zhao Heng, Emperor Zhenzong of Song Dynasty, was the third son, and he was initially granted the titles of King Han and King Xiang.He was not the heir to the throne at first, and after fierce struggles within the royal family, he was finally favored.When Kou Zhun came back from Qingzhou, Song Taizong asked, "Which one of my sons can pay the magic weapon?" Which child can inherit the throne?Kou Zhun did a round of Tai Chi, Song Taizong understood, stepped back from the left and right, and asked: How is King Xiang?Kou Zhun replied tactfully that there is no better way to know a son than to know a father.In fact, Kou Zhun agreed with the leader's proposal, so he changed King Xiang to Shouwang and made him the crown prince.

Kou Zhun was trusted to such an extent, just imagine who would dare to go against him?At that time, the three prime ministers who played tricks completely became the foil, shrouded in the radiant shadow of Kou Zhun.Lu Duan was clever, pretending to be confused, and Kou Zhun made up his mind on everything.Zhang Ji was an old minister of the Southern Tang Dynasty, had seen Kou Zhun's sharpness before, and had a very warm relationship with Xiao Kou.Another prime minister, Li Changling, was also old and had no ambition to forge ahead, so he had no choice but to be obedient to Kou Zhun.Kou Zhun's strong personality was very popular in the Taizong Dynasty in his later years, and at the same time it also laid hidden dangers for the official career of the next Zhenzong Dynasty.

Kou Zhun has many personality flaws. Although he himself lives a corrupt life, his general direction is very principled. He never considers the interests of the interest groups behind him when he is promoted to an official. He is promoted entirely based on his judgment of the official's ability, and he is promoted with integrity. Dirty and incompetent suppression.The empire is very fortunate to have such a prime minister.Personnel promotion does not take into account the seniority of officials, but judges based on likes and dislikes. This creates unfairness and will inevitably affect the balance of official interests.

In the second year of Zhidao (996), the southern suburbs offered sacrifices, and all officials were promoted to rank.Peng Weijie's official position has always been below Feng Zheng's. During this promotion process, Kou Zhun transferred Peng Weijie's official position above Feng Zheng's, which caused Feng Zheng's dissatisfaction.Feng Zheng is not an ordinary opponent either, his father was once the chief steward of Prime Minister Zhao Pu's residence.It can be said that Feng Zheng grew up in the prime minister's mansion, and he was obsessed with some of Zhao Pu's methods.Zhao Pu often played chess with Xiao Feng Zheng when he was free, which frightened Lao Feng at a loss. Zhao Pu said that this child would be a noble person in the future, "this son will be an official to me in the future" ("Dongxuan Records").Feng Zheng and Kou Zhun had some quarrels at first, but Feng Zheng, who couldn't bear it anymore, sued the imperial court and exposed Kou Zhun to the big leaders to exercise power below.Taizong was furious, how can you change the rules of the empire just by changing them?The court's suburban gift was originally intended to buy people's hearts, not for someone to use it to rectify political opponents.Song Taizong called Lu Duan to ask what was going on, and Lu Duan said: "Zhun's nature is just self-responsibility, and the ministers don't want to fight, and worry about hurting the state." It shows that the good old man Lu Duan has a lot of opinions on Kou Zhun. On the one hand, it shows Kou Zhun's self-willed administrative style.Song Taizong was right about the Feng Zheng incident, Kou Zhun defended himself, insisting that he had discussed the order with Lu Duan and other prime ministers, and challenged the leaders at that time.Emperor Taizong of the Song Dynasty said that when the court debated, it was a violation of the political system.Kou Zhun was unmatched in his stubbornness, the master who bit the pegs and gave them twists and turns, went all the way to the dark.In Song Taizong's view, this is not a big deal, it just needs Kou Zhun's attitude.It was already wrong for you to change the rules of collective promotion in the imperial court without authorization, but now it is so rampant, bow your head and admit your mistake and say soft words, can you die?Kou Zhun's extreme behavior broke the balance of the officialdom. Even the exclusive power of the prime minister should be under the acquiescence of the imperial power, and be consistent with the emperor's interests, rather than confronting the imperial power.Kou Zhun refused to let go, and showed the fighting power of pulling the dragon robe back then, and recorded the case file of Zhongshu to the emperor, and he had to argue for a long time.This time the emperor was finally angry, and scolded: "Squirrels still know people's wishes, how about people?" Although the leader trusts you, you must be restrained in your actions, and you must not break the balance of the officialdom.The emperor has given you a step down, why can't you give the emperor face, it's a bit shameless!Song Taizong, who was completely enraged, dismissed Kou Zhun, drove him out of the central government, and learned about Dengzhou.

Soon Song Taizong died, and Song Zhenzong Zhao Heng came to power. Kou Zhun, who has contributed to the support of the new king, thought that spring would come again, but he never expected that Song Zhenzong would put him aside.For seven years, Song Zhenzong successively used Lu Duan, Zhang Qixian, and Li Hang as prime ministers, and he had a shadow over Kou Zhun. "Luozhijing·Shishang": "The master should not like strong ministers, and ministers must guard against false thoughts. Strong ministers will die, and delusional thoughts will lead to death. Zhou Gong is still afraid, let alone others?" Song Zhenzong's scruples about Kou Zhun are here Therefore, suffering from its uprightness is difficult to be alone.Kou Zhun was too strong, the first emperor could still deal with him, but with Zhenzong's ability to govern, he might not be able to deal with him.And because the appointment and removal of a prime minister usually represents the core value of an interest group, it does not mean that whoever is employed can be employed. This is the result of political games.If Song Zhenzong recalled Kou Zhun as soon as he came up, it would inevitably arouse the dissatisfaction of other parties and cause a certain degree of turmoil in the ruling.Struggles are struggles, there must be someone in the empire to do the work, right?Therefore, after Song Zhenzong came to power, he actually kept paying attention to Kou Zhun. After six or seven years of small promotion, Kou Zhun was promoted to Tongzhong Shumenxia Pingzhangshi in the first year of Zhenzong Jingde (1004), and his status was second only to The old prime minister, Bi Shi'an.

Kou Zhun's ability to become prime minister again is largely due to his age advantage. The old guys in the previous dynasty died and retired, and there are not many smart and capable people.The new Bi Shi'an was able to work, but he was old and probably couldn't last for a few years.In case something happens to the empire, someone has to come out to preside over the great affairs.The forty-three-year-old Kou Zhun is young and capable, and has meritorious support, which is exactly in line with Song Zhenzong's wishes.After seven years of training, Song Zhenzong has almost mastered the skill of controlling the officials, and he has never returned his favor to Kou Zhun. This time is the right time, place and people.Perhaps it was the induction of heaven and man, Kou Zhunbai was quite a year when the Liao State aggressively invaded the Song Dynasty.Kou Zhun's political talents were fully displayed at the critical juncture and reached the pinnacle of his official career.If Kou Zhun hadn't been prime minister at this time, then China's history would probably have to be rewritten.

The Chanyuan Alliance was not only a military struggle between Song and Liao, but also a political struggle of interest groups within the Song court.At that time, the decision-makers included Bi Shi'an, Kou Zhun, Wang Qinruo, Chen Yaosou and others.Faced with the large-scale invasion of the Liao Kingdom, Song Zhenzong's attitude was vacillating. Wang Qinruo, a political adviser, secretly told the emperor to move the capital to Jinling, and the privy envoy Chen Yaosou said that he should go to Chengdu.No matter where they go, their attitude is the same, advocating escape.Bi Shi'an and Kou Zhun advocated the imperial conquest in person under Tong Zhongshu's door.In addition to his own personality flaws, Kou Zhun also has a traditional prejudice, that is, he despises southerners.Many areas in the south belonged to the five dynasties separatist regimes, and were successively destroyed by the Song Dynasty.In the eyes of the local scholar-bureaucrats of the Song Dynasty, they belonged to subjugated slaves, and the supreme leader once said that southerners should not be regarded as prime ministers. The traditional prejudice left over from history has led to an extra layer of excuses for the struggle.The critical moment of Liao's invasion is related to the survival of the country, and the political positions of the two sides are sharp.Wang Qinruo was from Jiangxi, Chen Yaosou was from Sichuan, Bi Shi'an was from Shanxi, and Kou Zhun was from Shaanxi, forming two factions geographically, the North and the South.At the critical moment, Bi and Kou showed the heroism of Kansai men, and the Sa family did it with them!

Song Zhenzong panicked and didn't know what to do, so he asked Kou Zhun if it was okay to move the capital. Kou Zhun immediately said no. Your majesty is very powerful, and the ministers are in harmony. If you go to the army to conquer, the thief will flee. Otherwise, if you are surprised to thwart his plan, stick to the old teacher, and lose the power of labor, I will win. How can I abandon the temple and want to be lucky? , Shuyuan, where the hearts of the people are broken, and the thieves take advantage of the situation to penetrate deep, can the world recover from evil?" There are five meanings in this passage: First, whoever comes up with the bad idea of ​​escaping can be killed directly, and where will the people of the Central Plains be left by escaping at a critical moment?What's the use of keeping officials who don't care about national interests or national interests?It directly hit the political enemies Wang Qinruo and Chen Yaosou of the Southerners.Second, encourage Song Zhenzong and appease his nervousness and anxiety.Leaders don't need to be afraid, they must believe that they are wise and powerful monarchs.Third, the civil and military harmony of the current imperial court, without major turmoil, is the rear guarantee for defeating the enemy.Fourth, the enemy has come from afar and is at the end of his strength. If we block by surprise, we will definitely consume the enemy's vigor. This is a good strategy to control the enemy.If you give up Kaifeng and flee south, the people will be disappointed and their hearts will collapse, which will indirectly fuel the enemy's arrogance.Fifth, if the capital is moved and the capital is lost, who will bear the responsibility for "abandoning the clan"?

Kou Zhun became prime minister at the age of thirty-three, so he definitely has two brushes. The words are progressive, and each sentence is more serious. Political struggles, enemy dynamics, and general situation judgments have all reached the point of perfection.Being able to make judgments and organize language requires talents with a wide range of perspectives.Especially the last sentence is the most serious. No one dares to bear the crime of "abandoning the clan", not even Song Zhenzong.If Song Zhenzong did not adopt Kou Zhun's opinion but fled to the south, judging from the situation, the Central Plains would inevitably be in chaos and become an occupied area. The big hat of "abandoning the Zongshe" must have made Song Zhenzong unbearable. One day, if the courtiers provoked it, the officials who advocated running away would be in danger. Not to mention killing to vent their anger, there must be a very serious statement.As Song Dynasty Chen Yingzhong said: "If there were no Kou Zhun at that time, the world would be divided into north and south." In the end, with the insistence of Kou Zhun and Bi Shi'an, Song Zhenzong led the expedition in person. The soldiers in front saw the emperor, their morale was greatly boosted, and they defeated the Liao army The invasion finally reached the Chanyuan Alliance, and the taxes of the two counties were exchanged for a hundred and twenty years of peace on the border.